Thanksiving China Style

One of the other American teachers Jerry and I ate lunch with some English teachers who went to the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The food there was excellent and the price was very affordable. So when Jerry and I were talking about where we could go to have Thanksgiving dinner we thought of UAA. We contacted Dou Jing and Li Jing and they invited us over again. But this time we insisted on paying.

Again the food was great. We had an egg and shrimp dish omelet like dish, string beans with red peppers, shredded potatoes cooked in spicy vinegar, beef and Chinese cabbage in a spicy broth and a chicken with celery dish. It turned out to be a great meal and we had a nice conversation with Li Jing and Dou Ying also.

Happy Birthday to Me

So I am going to celebrate my birthday in China. The cooks at the cafeteria told me they were going to make me some noodles tomorrow. I guess in China they serve noodles for birthdays instead of cake. I am not sure whether the noodles come with candles or not. I don't teach on Tuesdays so I told my students today they sang me the first line of the Happy Birthday song, but that was all they knew. I tried to lead them with the rest of the song but that did not work so well. Si I figured it was the thought that counts. More on my China birthday "bash", tomorrow.

It isn't tomorrow yet but I have had a great birthday. I have had many text messages, some birthday, some presents, several birthday songs and noodle soup for good luck.

Happy Birthday to me . . .

Suzhou and Shanghai Silk Railroad Trip

Last week I unexpectedly had Thursday and Friday off and had to work on Saturday. So I hopped on the train and went to Suzhou and Shanghai. My main plan was to meet with with friends in Shanghai. But I also wanted to do some sight seeing and shopping.

In Suzhou I wanted to go visit a silk factory. But it was raining and I didn't want to wander around in places I did not know, so I went to the center of town where I stayed in March and strolled around the market and temple area there. One place I happened upon was a stall selling hand made pottery from what I could tell were hobbyists.

From Suzhou I went on to Shanghai where I met with friends for dinner and lunch. Unfortunately since I had such little notice for my schedule change I did not get to contact everyone I wanted to contact in Shanghai. But next time I will. But since most of the people I know there work during the day I had time to go to the Shanghai Museum and my favorite place in Shanghai the Urban Planning Museum.



More photos to come but I am tired from getting lost tonight on my way back from Carrefour. I'm going to bed

Great Road of Language

A side note to my ramblings about Missouri enacting Amendment 1, which will only serve to put up barriers between people of different cultures, is the suggestion to promote Esperanto as a common language for global dealings. My father first mentioned it to me years ago and of course being a dutiful son; I told him I would look into it and promptly forgot about it.

A few weeks ago I was talking to a teacher from China who had done some traveling and he mentioned Esperanto. Thanks to my father I could actually tell him I had heard of it.

It is now on my "A" list of things to look into. Maybe my father may have something here; adopting Esperanto for global communication might be a good idea. What do you think?

The Great Languge Wall of Missouri

The good election news is the drama over Obama is no longga. He won.

The bad news is Missouri has taken a giant step backward, with Amendment 1. I am not a lawyer but there seems like there could be a lot of confusion putting this law into effect in a global economy.

What exactly does this amendment mean. I would assume that if a foreign delegation came to talk with a government agency that everyone will have to speak English, no translators would be allow, since the translators could only speak English. What are the penalties if someone inadvertently says ""gesundheit" after some sneezed in an governmental meeting (gesundheit is used very often in St Louis)? Will the state have to hire "language police" to monitor elected officials?

What does this say about Missouri's willingness to engage with the rest of the world. I have been deeply troubled with the United States growing isolation from other nations. Do we really think we can just wall ourselves in and dictate to other countries. The history of barriers and walls is not good. Just ask France, China, North Korea and the former Soviet Union. Did their walls and barriers help them.

One of the darkest times in Europe was during feudal times when anyone with any kind of resources hid behind castle and estate walls. Those walls may have stopped people from coming in, but is also kept ideas and knowledge from being exchanged. Civilization actually regressed.

In a time of economic hardship and accelerating globalization anyone who turns their back on their neighboring nations will be left behind. Missouri is not really doing that well on many economic and social indicators, discouraging people who may have fresh energy and new ideas is counter productive.

The most rapidly growing economy in the world, right now, is China. China is actively encouraging and enabling its citizens to learn new languages, especially English, so they can compete on the world stage. People here have made me feel welcome and are genuinely interested in listening to me talk about he USA. In my efforts to learn Chinese I have discovered a whole new world of history, culture and friendship.

Missouri you don't know what you are missing.

From Temple of Heaven

Absentee Voting

In case anyone was wondering, I did vote in the general election. At least I think I voted.

After two months of searching the internet for the right form to ask for a ballot, filling out the wrong forms, filling out the correct form, trying to find out where to mail the form, mailing the form, waiting, waiting, and waiting for the ballot; I got my absentee ballot in the mail last Thursday night, four days before the election. It takes at least ten days for mail to get to the USA. So I had to call FedEx and send it by express delivery for 250RMB (about $36). The ballot was supposed to have gotten to the Election Board on Monday.

There is a "free" service offered through FedEx, to request a ballot, but I would have had to go to Shanghai to send it. Which is a two and a half hour train ride, costing about 100RMB one way. Yes I did contact FedEx about sending for a ballot from their Nanjing office but I had no luck.

All of this would have been easier if I could have just downloaded a ballot off the internet. But it seems that Missouri is still living in the last century and does not provide for something as simple as a PDF ballot form. There are many other states that do, but not the Show Me state.

But I did vote and I am eagerly awaiting election returns.