Giving thanks

When we first arrived in the Philippines on November 15, I had a blonde moment.  Christmas decorations were everywhere and I thought, "It happens here, too!  They get ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving!"  And then I remembered that the fourth Thursday in November is just celebrated in the States.  While there was no turkey for us, we did celebrate in spirit as we chowed down on tocino, Filipino beef steak, fresh fruit shakes, and adobo!

The last few months have driven home just how much we have to be thankful for, both tangible and intangible.  

First, the support from everyone is overwhelming.  Friends and family are looking after our precious pup, serving as power of attorney to help us take care of business stateside, connecting us with their friends and family overseas, emailing us so that we can stay up to date with their lives, and opening up their homes to us.   It is humbling and inspiring to be blessed with such loving family and friends.

Our travels have also helped me realize what I take for granted.  We've walked through slums, been without electricity and hot water on freezing cold days, witnessed the devastation of natural disasters on communities & of communities on nature.  Walking by a row of shanties or learning that the few dollars we spend on lunch is equivalent to a day's wages for most people of a town puts my "problems" into perspective.

And last, I am incredibly thankful to have this opportunity to explore the world, to discover myself, and to grow closer to my amazing travel partner.  Every day I see beauty and goodness in unexpected places and I better appreciate the depths of my husband's love (he did sacrifice his butt so that I wouldn't get attacked by monkeys-that's pretty spectacular). 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.   Much love.

Good-bye China, Hello Philippines!

On November 15, we bid farewell to China and headed for the Philippines.  Before we start sharing our adventures on the islands, I feel like I've got to offer some closing thoughts on our time in China.

The People

The one thing that I will always remember about the people we met in China is their kindness.  Random strangers would see us struggling with our map and they'd stop to translate for us and then point us in the right direction.  Between Brian and I, we took 5 trips to hospitals and if kind souls didn't help us get to the right place, who knows what we would've contracted by now.  People we met on the buses, trains, and boats paid for our meals because, as they put it, they were Chinese and we were guests in their country.  And we received so many other gifts - for example, in a museum students gave us their book with information about all the exhibits (it was in Chinese, but they were so excited to present it to us how could we refuse?).  A little kindness doesn't just go a long way - it can make all the difference.  

The Government

Time to address the elephant in the room: communism.  Although the Communist Party is the ruling party, China didn't exactly feel like a communist country.  For example, healthcare is not universal.  People who cannot afford health insurance aren't able to have surgeries or other procedures.  Also, we were told that students without the grades to go to the best universities can buy their way in (provided they have the money to do so, of course).  If we had to describe China another way, we might go with a capitalist country with a dictator or authoritarian capitalism.

Some of the ways things are run made it difficult for us to travel around: foreigners are only allowed to stay in certain hotels; everyone has to register any time they go to a different city or they can be fined; the internet is monitored like crazy. But there were aspects that really impressed us: public work projects get done quickly; co-pays at the hospital were around $2; and the tangible emphasis on the value of education is refreshing.

Other stuff that we learned worth noting:

1. Politics and government are inaccessible to the vast majority of people because the Communist party (which runs everything) isn't open to everyone.  Folks have to apply and then they are "watched" for a period of time before a decision is made to accept them or not.

2. Not all individuals working in the government are members of the Communist Party.  China's huge, both geographically and in terms of the number of citizens, and considering that a lot of things are state run (the mobile providers, for instance) they need (wo)manpower to keep the ship afloat.

3.  Just because the Communist party is in power doesn't mean that every citizen supports them.  We met a number of people disappointed in the government, but since they can't vote, their options for expressing their dissatisfaction are limited.

After two months of observing and listening to stories, we won't claim to have more than a superficial understanding of China's government.  There's still a lot to learn.  However, what we know for sure is that we are leaving China with a newfound appreciation for our freedom to vote.

The Food

Chinese food in the states that we've eaten pales in comparison to Chinese food in China.  Sichuan style, beef noodles, sweet and sour chicken, and Peking duck will forever hold a place in our hearts ... And stomachs.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, we didn't ever see dog on the menu.

The Language Barrier

The Chinese character for the verb "listen" is made up of the symbols for ears, eyes, and heart.  I found that when others used their ears, eyes, and hearts to listen to us, it didn't matter that we couldn't speak Chinese and they couldn't speak English.  This wasn't always the case, though, and there were some days when I was frustrated to the point of tears.  These contrasting experiences made me realize that language is only a barrier if we let it be a barrier.

So, one country down, the rest of the world to go...

A sanctuary by the sea

After visiting Shaolin monastery (the birthplace of Kong Fu) and then spending a week catching up with the Crooks and catching up on our laundry, we started the trek to Beijing.

Our first stop was Qingdao...and that's been our only stop. The first night we arrived in this gorgeous beach town I had a reaction to the amoxicillin I'd been taking for the past week to clear up a respiratory infection.  Within twelve hours my whole torso was speckled red.  Brian said I looked like a red and white bullfrog.  I told him I preferred to be compared to the much more dainty robin's egg.  

When the rash continued to spread to my legs, arms, and neck and it started to burn, off we went to the hospital.  I'm not quite sure what all the doctors gave me, but it's working.

While we weren't planning to stay in Qingdao as long as we have, it's been the perfect place to recover.  Ironically, our hostel is in an old church.  I guess you could say we found sanctuary here (bah-dum-ching!).  Qingdao was occupied by Germans at the turn of the 20th century and the architecture still reflects their presence.  The streets are curvy and hilly and lined with big trees boasting of fall, which is quite different from what we've found in the rest of China.  And then there's the glistening sea and the beaches covered with broken shells and sea glass galore.  It kinda feels like a New England town and definitely made me long for home.

Tomorrow (11/11) we leave for Beijing, our last stop in China before we head to Manila, Philippines.  Hard to believe month two and our time in China is already coming to an end.

Just an average morning for Kong Fu students.  Do you see those swords!?!

The King George crew.  Brian and Andrew, our gracious host in Nanjing.

Yes, we are going ridiculously fast on the train from Nanjing to Qingdao.

The rash in its early phase.  I never had the chicken pox, but now I think I can empathize.

Two's my lucky number (for real).

If we're gonna be stuck some place, I'm glad it's here!

A Chinese Yangtze River Cruise: the best (& only) way to celebrate getting a rabies shot

Today Brian got his third and final post-monkey bite shot.  While this is cause for celebration, we actually decided to celebrate after his second shot just in case he didn't make it (a lot could've happened in the two weeks between vaccinations!).  After traveling to a different city every other day for the past four weeks, we figured a 3 day cruise on the world's third longest river, the Yangtze, would be a treat.  Although we had the option to take an international liner that catered to westerners, we opted for the Chinese cruise knowing that this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity...but not really knowing what to expect.

On October 24th, the good folks at Yangtze River Hostel took us to the docks in Chongqing where we quickly realized it was called the Chinese cruise because only Chinese people took it and the guides only spoke Chinese.  From there, we hopped on buses with 200 of our newest and soon to be closest Chinese friends and drove for four hours to another pier where we finally got to board our boat.  

Our time on & off board over the next few days wasn't without challenges (we ran out of hot water by 8am the first day and we got up close & personal with Three Gorges Dam security after misunderstanding our guide's instructions to leave pocketknives on the tour bus), but, as you can see below, the good far outweighed the bad.

Our first-class cabin came equipped with the ever important hot water thermos.  The cruise was BYOM (bring your own meals) and we brought the Chinese version of cup-o-noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so we  grew quite fond of our blue Mickey Mouse thermos.

Everyone else stood on the top deck to see one of the gorges, but Brian got to sit!  (He actually sat so as to not block the view.)

Oh, you know, just drifting down the third longest river in the world!

Showing off my tags that answered everyone's questions about whether we were with the right cruise.

Brian was as much of a tourist attraction as the world's biggest dam.