Nerves and a Trip to Chi-town

We are now days from our departure and the nerves and excitement are getting to me. Tonight we had dinner with some great friends whom Nikolai and I have known since college and now we won’t see them until next June. Saying goodbye to people and places that I know I will not see for almost a year has proven difficult, but what has been most difficult is explaining to people how I am feeling about the move.

Don’t get me wrong, I am giddy with excitement as I think about the students I get to teach and the amazing travels I get to take and it is hard for me not to smile as I think about all of the amazing food and sights I am going to experience over the next two years. There is so much ‘newness’ that is about to happen.

But with this ‘newness’ comes nerves. Nerves about silly things such as: will I know how to order a meal at a restaurant so that I know I am not eating sheep’s brain or pig intestine on my first meal? How long will it take me to get used to the 11hour time difference? Will I ever be able to understand Mandarin or Cantonese enough to get around on my own? Will I ever be able to run outside in China? Will the air make me sick? Will I ever get lost on the city streets? Will my visa go through? The list goes on and on.

This week, Nikolai and I had to face the last question, about our visas, head on. We found out last minute that there was mistake found on my work permit that had to be fixed. With that being said, my Chinese Work Permit did not arrive in the US until this Monday. This left us less then a week to get a temporary work visa to get us into China before we could apply for our final long term work visa. What this delay meant for us is an impromptu trip to Chicago to visit the Chinese Consulate. We booked airline tickets, a hotel and read up on how the “El” worked so we could get around on our 24hr whirlwind tour of the Windy City.

The first thing I noted about this trip was the ease of transportation in Chicago. There was NO need for us to even think about renting a car there (at least for our purposes). UNREAL! I began to realize that living in China I would have access to the same type of transportation and great bike system as well. Living without a car for the next 2 years might not be that bad.

Once we found the Chinese Consulate, we had to go through stacks of visa papers, which fit the type of employment visa we were looking for. This was harder than I had anticipated as all of the papers were in Mandarin with only a few of them translated into English. As Nikolai and I were busy filling out passport numbers and dates of entry, Nikolai leaned over towards me and said, “Look who is over there.” I looked at him perplexed as I tried to figure out who I would know sitting in the Chinese Consulate in downtown Chicago. As my eyes scanned the crowd I immediately found a face I recognized…Pin! Pin was a Chinese native who was a student at the school that I used to teach at in Minnesota. I went over to say hello to him and realized that he was just as shocked to see me as I was him. It was great to see him and make some small talk as we waited for our numbers to get called. Funny thing is, it turns out that the town we are going to teach in (Foshan, Guangdong) is about an hour from where he used to live. What a small world!

After about 30min of waiting, our number was called and we had an awkward discussion with the service lady behind the glass window. But, after several trips to the copy machine and handing over our passports we were told to return at 2pm to get our visas. We took that time to go eat some great deep-dish pizza at Pizzeria Due and visit the Apple and Nike stores on the "Magnificent Mile"…we were in that part of Chicago anyway, so why not? We came back promptly at 2pm and after another line and a hefty credit card charge we had our visas!

We checked into our hotel and then crashed on the plush beds. It felt good to just be still!

That night we went up to the North Loop off of Belmont and ate at a GREAT Mexican restaurant (on the recommendation of some adult TLC campers that come every year from Chicago). We also took a walk towards Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan. We were then treated to a Blue Man Group performance by one of the same campers. After a day of hectic traveling, applying and waiting it really was what I needed to relax and laugh.

We returned to Minneapolis today…just in time to start packing for China.

You Are Going Where?

Since our trip last summer to Scandinavia, Nikolai and I have bee looking at living and teaching abroad. We had our eye on Europe, but became interested in China when a UEA graduate school friend of Nikolai’s (Lucien) started to email and instant message us about his recent move to Foshan. We started the application process in October, interviews in November and December and got the final word we both were accepted in early January. Since then, we have spent much of our time preparing for the move and telling close friends, family, coworkers and casual acquaintances about our new adventure.

I guess I really didn’t know what to expect to get as a reaction from people, but I have become increasingly more aware at how differently people have responded to the news. The vast majority of people have been very supportive and expressed their own interest in traveling and living abroad. Many people we have talked to have even told us of their own time living in a different culture and how much of an impact it had on their lives. There have been, however, a few people, mostly casual acquaintances, who have expressed a genuine fear for our safety while in China.

In one particular instance, I was talking with a young TLC camper who had come to camp several times and I have gotten to know a little over the years. When in the conversation another camper asked me about my move to China this camper stated, “Why would you want to go to that country?” I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts and responded, “Why not?”

The conversation evolved into one where he expressed his underlying fear of the country, its policies and its less then stellar humanitarian record. Taking on a more of a teacher role than a tennis instructor role I began to question, or should I say prod, his statements. Being that he was going to be a senior in High School I knew he could handle the discussion.

“I mean, they are communist.” he said.

“ Yeah, they are.” I replied.

“Doesn’t that scare you?”

“Not really. I mean, look at their current policies on business. Some might say they are becoming more capitalists then we are. Hong Kong is a perfect example of them trying it out.”

The conversation went on and on with the topics ranging from what they eat (yes, eating dog did come up in the conversation and yes, we will be in a region where that is a perfectly acceptable part of the culture) the one child law to the difficulty of both the Mandarin and Cantonese languages. Throughout the whole discussion I was amazed at how many questions/fears he actually had. “You know, Jen, I couldn’t do it, but I will pray for you when you are there.” He stated at the end. I simply replied back, “Thanks, you have know idea how much that means to me.”

I know I will have many things in China that will make me uncomfortable, homesick, confused and maybe even angry but I know there will be some incredible positive aspects to our living abroad. A part of me is excited to go as a representative of our American culture. I know that I will now be a part of a minority group and just like here in the US, people tend to judge entire groups based on the actions of a few or even one. Hopefully, Nikolai and I can use this to our advantage and help spread a positive vibe about our country and its people.

The biggest reason, however, that I am going is to become a better person with a bigger worldview. I have gotten way to comfortable and I need to be jolted a little. My entire life I have spent living within the boarders of Minnesota. Now, it is true that I have ventured out and traveled many places. But, as my world traveler husband will tell you (who has lived in both England and Denmark), “Visiting a place and living in a place are NOT the same thing.”

The Big Move

As many of you may know, Nikolai (my husband) and I are in for some big changes. On July 24th we will be moving to Foshan China to teach at Nanhai International Education Center (NIEC). It was a difficult and exciting decision to make to move completely to the other side of the world and immerse ourselves into a new and very foreign culture. We are keeping this blog in hopes of keeping people informed of what we are up to as well as to keep a personal record of our experiences while living abroad. Who knows if we will even have access to it while we are over there!

Our home in China will be Foshan, Guangdong. It is in the far southeast corner of the country and located about 1.5 - 2 hours by train to Hong Kong and a bit over an hour to Macau. Foshan is a "smaller" suburb of 6 million inhabitants that is located out side of a larger more well known city of Guangzhou (formerly know as Canton) which has a population of about 10 million.

We will be keeping those interested posted as we get closer to our travels!

New Mexico Day 4

New Mexico Day 3

Today was our day we decided to bum around town. We took a hike to an over look of the city.  It was quite the fun trek to the top as you wound your way up a set of stairs that had a time line

of the city as you went. It is hard to imagine this high desert town 600 some years ago. As the day progressed, we wound our way down to the plaza. Busy shops, all over priced and Native artisans lined the streets. I found myself drawn to the silver work of a particular man. He and his family had sold on the Plaza for 3 or 4 generations. Needless to say, his great story made me feel like buying some of his wonderful work.  

For lunch, Nikolai had his 3 meal (in a row) that consisted of a burrito. He was thrilled at this idea! We did spend some time after lunch at a great geology shop called Dinosaurs and More. Yes, the science nerd in me getsecstatic when I see a shop with old fossils and older rocks. I was really excited to get a few things formy classroom. I think my best find was 300-million year old dino poo! My 8th graders are going to love that! Nik and I also took some time to quietly stroll through the halls of the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.  What an amazing woman.

Our night ended with another trip to Harry's Road House and then a relaxing dip in the outdoor hot tub. We couldn't have asked for a nicer way to end the day.

New Mexico Day 2

 

Day 2 of our adventure took us to 3 interesting places.  Before we went anywhere, we enjoyed a WONDERFUL breakfast at Casa Cuma of blueberry pancakes with a berry and almond syrup.  Yummmmm!  After that, we were were off north of Santa Fe to Los Alamos. 

Many of you may know Low Alamos as the home of the infamous Manhattan Project from the 1940s.   I was impressed with the Bradbury Science Museum, in the heart of down town.  Nik and I spent some time going through the museum.  We both tended to focus on the History section more than the current science sections.  Nik even found the picture of a father of professor of his in college who worked in Los Alamos in the 1940s in a book that cataloged all of the workers in the City.  It is hard to go into detail all of the history that took place in this city and its impact on today's society.  Bradbury himself seemed to struggle with his impact on the world with the creation of the atomic bomb, much like Alfred Nobel did with his invention of dynamite.

After a lunch stop at a Bagel shop we were off to Bandelier National Monument.  Nik and I climbed the high alcove, up 4 ladders and what seemed to be 200 feet of elevation gain to a huge high cliff dwelling that use to house 23 homes and a kiva.  I found it some what funny that the only warning they had for this climb was a sign that said (for what I can remember) "If you are afraid of heights, we do not recommend this."  When I got to the alcove and sat down for a moment to look out over the canyon, I realized how old this place was.  Now, I am not talking geologically old, I am talking human history old.  Simply amazing that I was sitting in the same spot that people did hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

Our last stop on our drive was the Valles Caldera National Preserve.  Even though the preserve itself was not open yet (due to snow).  We still enjoyed the trip up into the Jemez Mountains to look at this ancient volcano.  The geology teacher inside of me was fascinated with the size of the giant eruption that rocked this area millions of years ago.

When we made it back into town we decided to go out to eat where the locals go.  We had talked to some people who recommended this place called Harry's Roadhouse.  It took us a LONG to to figure out how to get there with the curvy roads and streets whose name change part way (don't even get me started on this one).  However, when we got there, it was worth the drive!     

New Mexico Day 1

This past week, Nikolai and I took an extended trip to Northern New Mexico.  I had only really driven through New Mexico over a decade ago, so I really had no idea what to expect.  We drove in late to Santa Fe, where we were spending 3 out of 4 of our nights.  The sky was black and the lights of the city were gleaming as we came into the valley of this high mountain town.  

I was immediately struck by  the beautiful curvy streets of this old town.  However, when I was driving at night, I was a little more annoyed than please at these aesthetics.  After an hour and a half of driving from the Airport in Albuquerque, we snuggled into our plush bed at Casa Cuma Bed and Breakfast, excited for the adventures of tomorrow.