December 2014 – The Kinetic Canuck

First off, I must apologize for my 2 week WordPress hiatus. I hoped I’d never go so long between posts, but between trips to northern Guizhou with the school and terrible flues and colds, I haven’t had much time to sit in front of a computer. But it would appear that I’m back into the swing of things today! We have all but finished cleaning our (terrifying) kitchen, and our Christmas tree is up and glowing 🙂 We even made time to visit Grandma’s kitchen today, where we enjoyed some fantastic western food. It’s been a good weekend 🙂

Dave's Super Burger — Dave’s Super Burger from Grandma’s tonight. It’s fully loaded with ham, bacon and an entire fried egg…

Meitian is too small to be included on a map like this, but it's right above Zunyi. Guiyang, where we live, is right in the center of the province — Meitian is too small to be included on a map like this, but it’s right above Zunyi. Guiyang, where we live, is right in the center of the province

So I suppose I’ll start this post on the more positive topic: our trip to Meitan, Guizhou province. Meitan itself is a tiny town that is famous for its red tea production. After spending a year in Xiamen, where Oolong and Green tea are most popular, I was eager to learn about the red tea of Guizhou province.

We made several stops in the area, viewing gigantic tea pots and statues built to honor the tea making traditions of Guizhou province. We were especially happy to get out of the school bus that transported us 4 hours north of Guiyang. Although the bus meant a free trip to the hot springs, it is designed to transport 8 year olds and even the shortest of us (myself included) couldn’t sit with our knees facing forward. It was a bit of an uncomfortable ride!!

This is the same school bus that greeted us at the airport in August 🙂

The whole foreign Interlingua crew (minus Naveed, who couldn't come). — The whole foreign Interlingua crew (minus Naveed, who couldn’t be there)

The lady who answers the phones at Interlingua. She doesn't speak any English but she always laughs at my jokes when I try to make them in Chinese. — The lady who answers the phones at Interlingua. She doesn’t speak any English but she always laughs at my jokes when I try to make them in Chinese.

One of many gigantic tea pots around town. One of them is actually a hotel!! — One of many gigantic tea pots around town. One of them is actually a hotel!

Our bus driver must have been a tour guide in another life-time, because he knew all the best places to stop. After having some lunch in downtown Meitan, we headed for the tea fields, which I hadn’t seen since my time in Fujian.

Turned to get a shot of this field and saw Jumoke way out in the distance haha! His eccentricities are what make him a good teacher. His students adore him :) — Turned to get a shot of this field and saw Jumoke way out in the distance haha! His eccentricities are what make him a good teacher. His students adore him 🙂

Of course, he did need to find his way back afterward, and he didn't want to damage the tea leaves, so he sort of flipped over each line until he made it back — Of course, he did need to find his way back afterward, and he didn’t want to damage the tea leaves, so he sort of flipped over each line until he made it back

This was a natural point for us to stop and try some of Guizhou’s finest tea. Manny, the recruitment guy for all 3 Interlingua Branches, knows how much I love tea, so he made sure to let me know we’d be doing it all traditional style. I was pretty excited, not only because I love tea, but also because a lot of the Mandarin I know is useful in a tea shop. I spent a lot of time in them in Xiamen, and being in them now always makes me feel so fluent! I don’t think anyone there noticed that I knew what she was saying (other than the poor saps who were stuck sitting beside me, listening to me yammer excitedly…Sorry Dave and Lexie!).

Lexie and I....notice the look of giddiness on my face....that's what I refer to as my 'caffeine face' lol! — Lexie and I….notice the look of giddiness on my face….that’s what I refer to as my ‘caffeine face’ lol!

The boys, waiting patiently for their tea :) (From front to back we have Jumoke, Andrew, Daid and Mauricio. I even got Ouyang in the shot, although he isn't paying a whole lot of attention! — The boys, waiting patiently for their tea 🙂 (From front to back we have Jumoke, Andrew, Daid and Mauricio. I even got Ouyang in the shot, although he isn’t paying a whole lot of attention!

After making some purchases at the tea shop, we head out to our hotel, which was located quite remotely, but was clean and quite nice. It even had indoor heating, which didn’t work in everyone’s rooms, but still! It worked in some!!!

After the all you can eat buffet (where Ouyang had us try some fermented tofu…which tasted like you might think rotten tofu should taste…), we got into our bathing suits and headed down to the lobby for the main reason for this trip: Hot Springs!!! Unfortunately I couldn’t get many pictures because the steam didn’t allow for much, but I did get a few of the entertainment. Not only were there girls waving their arms (aka:dancers) to watch, but there was even a male performer who came up and serenaded unwilling females. And of course, he came over and welcomed the lao wai to the hotel!

Lexie, Lumi and I enjoying the heat :) — Lexie, Lumi and I enjoying the heat 🙂

Tried to get a pic of the boys but Dave's hotness was steaming up the picture :P — Tried to get a pic of the boys but Dave’s hotness was steaming up the picture 😛

One of several performers that entertained us while we soaked

Things were going well for the Interlingua clan at this point. We were all relaxed and enjoying the steamy baths. It felt good to unwind in the ‘wine pool’ (that smelled like sulfur and alcohol) and the ‘rose pool’ (which sounded like sulfur and flowers). But then David’s stomach started to go south…(not my David…Brittish David). By the following morning, 3 of the crew had been throwing up (including MY David) and several more of us felt under the weather. It was a long 6 hour bus ride back to Guiyang, including the hour we stopped for lunch (when Huang took the opportunity to have Ouyang find stomach meds for her ailing teachers). Of course, Chinese medicine is a tad different from ours. Dave was told to quickly drink this little vile of liquid and that it would help his nausea.

IMAG1000 — They also told him that it would taste like crap. Seeing as he couldn’t even keep things that tasted GOOD in his stomach, the meds never stood a chance…

Several days later, Dave was feeling better, but then of course my time came to be sick. After a trip to the doctor to get a sick note (my first sick day in nearly 3 years…) and a trip to the pharmacy to get something to help with the vomiting, I came home and realized that I had no idea what I was even ingesting. My best guess is that one of them was ground up ginger. Other than that, all I knew was what Naveed though to ask (how many does she take?). I’ve gotta say that I’m extremely glad he was with me, because I never would have thought to ask myself!! haha!!

Here's a different type. How much of this do you understand? Yeah...we understand about the same amount!! — Here’s a different type. How much of this do you understand? Yeah…we understand about the same amount!!

Being sick sucks…but being sick in another country is a completely different experience. My hope is that I don’t have to deal with anything as awful as that flu again while I live in the Orient, but in case I do, I’m sure glad my mom already has Gravol on the way!! You never know what you’re going to miss from back home until you have it!!!!

And that sums up my last week!! Nothing particularly exhilarating but they were experiences I won’t be soon forgetting nonetheless.

Thanks for checking in! I’ll be back with a post about what it’s like living in a Chinese apartment soon! (A request from my nephew 🙂 Super pumped to know people are interested in even the mundane stuff here!)

This weekend was a little exhausting, but still managed to be a lot of fun! I think I’m FINALLY getting over my 4 week cold (the joys of teaching my little germ infested monkeys!), and I finally got to participate in the school’s cooking activity Sunday night! I made deviled eggs, Guiyang style. I substituted paprika for La Jiao and boy were they a hit! I had a couple of hecklers in the front row (kids can be so cruel!!) telling me they smelled bad and were going to be gross, but BOTH of them tried coming back for thirds, so I was pretty pleased with myself!!

The event involved all of the teachers cooking western dishes for the students; A brilliant marketing activity on the part of my boss! Not only did the kids learn some new words, but they got to taste western food they’d never heard of before. A full western experience!

1386014_10152817209946488_475755466912213924_n — My sous-chef, Maggie, and I. She is a teacher at the JinYang branch, and she is lovely 🙂 Behind me, you can see a fellow Canadian Lao Wai…I keep telling him his face is going to get stuck that way….

As much as we would have loved to spend another weekend in another corner of Guizhou province, Dave and I opted to spend this Monday and Tuesday recovering our health and tackling the daunting task that is ‘cleaning our kitchen’. We still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it since we moved in a month and a half ago. It took nearly a week to get the rest of the place sanitized, and we needed some pretty heavy duty degreasers to get the layers of filth off the walls, so until now, we’ve just kept the door shut and avoided that room.

Of course, cooking on Sunday made me miss having a kitchen SO much that we’ve decided to make that our project tomorrow. So here I am, doing the next best thing to actually traveling: writing about traveling!

After a gorgeous and relaxing night in Zhenyuan Ancient town, we set off for our River Cruise Tuesday morning. A van picked us up at the hotel at 8:30am and we traveled to the Wuyang River dam with 2 other couples (both Chinese), which is located about an hour from the Ancient town. The road there was bumpy and pretty scary at some points, but we got there in one piece, perhaps thanks to our Chinese friends in the van, who continually told the driver to slow down because they didn’t want the Lao Wai to think badly of Chinese roads or drivers! One of them spoke English, which was great. I’m very proud of the amount of Mandarin I can speak (Dave told me about a month ago that he was SHOCKED when we got here…all of a sudden I could speak a 3rd language!), but it’s so nice getting a bit of a break now and then as well!

A pagoda with Guizhou mountains in the background :) — The pagoda where our boat docked

We were the only La Wai on the cruise, which was both nice and a bit of a nuisance. It was nice being the only westerners because so many of the people we’ve met on cruises in China have been very closed minded and extremely judgmental of the Chinese. But on the other hand, because we were the only light skinned occupants on the boat, we became a tourist attraction ourselves. Although the views from the boat were terrific, people seemed to be more interested in snapping photos with US…instead of with the scenery. We obliged for a few people (the ones who had been in the van with us), but then hid away from the crowds, where it was warmer and where we could enjoy the views, just the two of us 🙂

The most famous rock formation near Zhenyuan.

Beautiful Guizhou mountains, and our boat's flag :) — Beautiful Guizhou mountains, and our boat’s flag 🙂

Roughly 3 and a half hours after the van picked us up, we were dropped off at our hotel, where we had to check out. The hotel’s owner was kind enough to hold our luggage for us while we walked through the ancient town once more. This time, we viewed the south side of the Wuyang River during the day time, which turned out to be just as beautiful of an experience as it was at night!

The gorgeous pagoda we’d visited the day before

Steps lead into the water all over the ancient town

My favorite shot of the whole trip. I nearly dropped my camera in the river while taking it…but it was worth the scare!

This was the first time we’d felt sunshine in about a month. We were so excited that I quickly snapped a picture! The sun is a wonderful thing!!!

We had supper on the other side of this bridge the night before. Like I said…just as beautiful as during the day 🙂

Eventually, we found the old city wall, that was built around 2000 years ago, and has since been restored. As the sun shone down on us, we walked along the clean path and enjoyed the gardens and the sounds of the river.

We took the north side of the river back to the hotel and enjoyed such a contrast in environment! After our serene walk along the old wall, we were met with the hustle and bustle of a Chinese city.

A construction site. Notice the lack of any safety gear…

Chickens…they’re everywhere. Today, in Guiyang, we saw a woman carrying a live on in a bag over her shoulder…oh China!

There were children playing under this mess of wires. I can’t help but cringe, and wonder what the stats are on random electrocutions due to an insane lack of safety regulations in the country!

Squatter toilets for sale!! Get your squatters here! On discount, today only! Get your squatter toilets here, ladies and gentlemen, you won’t regret it!!

Still, as we wound our way down alleys and smaller streets during our final hour in Zhenyuan, we enjoyed unique sights and absorbed all the ‘new’ we could. There’s nothing quite like traveling, and I feel so incredibly lucky to be in a situation where I can just pack up for the weekend and experience something like Zhenyuan Ancient Village. I’m living the dream 🙂

Another one of my favorite shots from Tuesday. This was the view between two random buildings on the way back to the hotel. Just beautiful.

An alleyway we explored, in search of a hostel we'd seen a sign for. We have every intention of returning to Zhenyuan (there's so much we didn't have time to do!), and although we'd love to stay at the same place again, a traveler knows that back up plans are a must! — An alleyway we explored, in search of a hostel we’d seen a sign for. We have every intention of returning to Zhenyuan (there’s so much we didn’t have time to do!), and although we’d love to stay at the same place again, a traveler knows that back up plans are a must!

I can't be certain...but I'm pretty sure Bowser is waiting to fight me on the other side of this door....unfortunately for him...he has NO IDEA how many hours I spent learning how to defeat him in my youth!!! — I can’t be certain…but I’m pretty sure Bowser is waiting to fight me on the other side of this door….unfortunately for him…he has NO IDEA how many hours I spent learning how to defeat him in my youth!!!

Thanks again for tuning in, and check back soon! I still have so many posts to write!

Month: December 2014

Rugged Guizhou / Rugged Health

Zhenyuan: Guizhou’s Eastern Gem – Part 2