The Here and Now

This has been one hell of a week.
Full of fun.

And of course, by fun I mean suffering and sacrifice for the sake of development.

I have not taught all week. While others have teachered I have been sitting in the teacher workroom, working.

Sitting before my computer with any number of power point presentations open on my desktop.
Working.

Attempting to write lessons about the expression of ones opinion. And music.

Now I like music. Some music. Music that is decent.
Music that is not written by poppy premadonnas made famous by their dancing proficiency.

Between today and yesterday I have spent 5 hours staring at my computer screen with headphones stuck in my ears. Listening to terrible music. Watching atrocious music videos. Allowing my brain to slowly seep out my ears.

There is some really bad music out there.
Really bad.

Many times this week I found myself missing the old days. Back when music was good and lesson planning was not a full week activity.

Fear not, the whole week was not one of ouch-y pain. I spent time surfing the internet.
The entire thing I think.

I researched the possibility of grad school.
The conclusion was reached that I do indeed what to start on my masters. Soon. While I am here.
The problem resides in finding a school that will not charge several appendages and have their classes online.

I’ll find one if it takes me all afternoon. Or day.
Or possibly semester.

If you happen to know anything about this school thing please for the love of God tell me.

(By the way, I am looking for a masters in ESL. (ESL stands for English as a Second Language. This major also goes by several other names.)

Thanks for your assistance in advance.

This image is of Shanghai. It was one heck of a city.

This is just another view of the wall, but I believe it to be a much more artistic shot.

Ah, pictures.
Here is a picture of a wall.
A big wall.
A long, winding, mammoth, brick filled wall of epic proportions.

To put it in a different way, it was a damned big wall.

Ok, China.
Apparently the cursory summary of my trip was not enough for some of you.
You all are so demanding.

I suppose I could give you a few more details. If you insist.

Last week was the Chinese New Year. And surprisingly enough, China is not the only Asian country to celebrate such a delayed new years eve.

Korea is among the many that all but ignore the western tradition placed on January 1st. I had to work on New Years Eve and day this week.
Sadly dragging my way through the New Years haze.

However, we were given an entire week off for SeoulNal. (Korea’s name for this February celebration).

A full week off means something near and dear to my heart. A week off means vacation.
It means leaving the village, going somewhere new and different, escaping the mundane, and of course, not working for 7 beautiful days.

So yes, I scampered to China.

And there is something about China during this specific week that I had not expected. Something that I should have realized.
Some bit of knowledge that resided in the “History” section in my brain.

This tiny tidbit of information is, the Chinese invented fireworks.

Once again.
The Chinese invented fireworks.

This invented them, they love them, and they have a hell of a lot of them.

If you have ever been to the American south, you have seen fireworks.
You have seen the showers of sparks that fill the sky for several days surrounding the 4th of July. You might even think the Americans do fireworks better than the rest of the world.
That we do them right.

You would be wrong.
Very very wrong.

Never in my life have I seen the amount of fireworks I witnessed last week.
At times I thought I had skipped right over China and landed somewhere in Bosnia.

Every street corner was masked in a cloud of smoke.
Flashes of light sparked from every alleyway.
Bangs and bursts of sound rang out, echoing around the jungle of concrete and glass.

Ash rained with each gust of wind.
Possibly lead paint, it is China after.

Fireworks made up such an important part of the cities background noise that most, going about their business, didn’t notice when the flashes and bangs occurring mere meters away.

They didn’t seem to notice. They did not seem to hear it.

The Chinese invented fireworks. They put our tiny shows to shame.

This week I faced an issue that we all face on a fairly regular basis.
Something that strikes deep into our souls. An issue that makes or breaks the enjoyment of an evening activity.

Something that can turn cold a would-be exciting event.

A chilly toilet seat.

There is nothing worse that slipping into the bathroom, dropping your drawers, and freezing your fanny on a frigid piece of porcelain.

Luckily, I have found the prefect solution. Somewhere in Korea there is a toilet. A beautiful toilet that has, get this, a heated seat.

A heated throne.

A toilet that toasted my tushy.

A blazing backside.

A roasted rump.

My bum feels great.

This week has been a hectic one, full of interest and intrigue.
Airplanes and airports.
Temples and palaces.
Even a really big wall. One might even call that wall great.

China was a good time.
I stayed 3 days in Beijing and 3 more in Shanghai.
I saw the Forbidden City, which is much more inviting than I would have liked.
The Great Wall was freaking huge, curling around mountains and sneaking up cliffs.

Mongolians were attacking from the north. We defended China with our very lives.

Shanghai was beautiful. It was clean and shiny. Big buildings with interesting architecture.
And the shopping was amazing.
I have a new pair of Armani jeans (6 bucks)
A kick ass pocket watch (2 bucks)
A Prada bag (3 bucks)

Then there was the food.
Would actual Chinese food be as good as the yummy western version. Or would be all gross and foreign.
I am happy to report delicious-ness.
Chinese food in China is almost better than it’s American counterpart.

Hip hip!

All and all it was a good trip. Fun was had.

I am currently in China.

Weird, eh?