Welcome to the mutianyu Great wall next time

That is what the welcome sign read as we approached the wall. Word for word. Capitalization included.

I was so happy with our Wall experience. Being in China during the New Year's weekend did pose small issues with things being closed including most tours and even just public transport to the Wall. Apple (our hostel hostess) was kind enough to set up a cab to take us to the wall, wait for 2 hours and return us to the hostel for a flat fee. We woke up nice and early on New Years Day to get out to the Mutianyu section of the wall and ended up being close to the only people up there. For a majority of the time we saw no one. Amazing. It's so much easier to appreciate the vastness of this man made marvel in silence. I had been so worried that going to the wall was going to be a horrible tourist attraction, but the section we went to was so beautiful. It only felt like a tourist trap for a brief moment as we were returning to the parking lot and we had to walk through the alley way of sidewalk vendors. Unfortunately, at this point we experienced what can only be described as retail rape. We were attacked and followed by multiple vendors as we walked by. They just didn't seem to understand that no means no.

All in all, though, very good time were had. So happy we did not do an organized tour. We had heard from someone in the hostel that she was given about 20 mins on the wall itself to take a picture before being loaded back on the bus. The trip the hostel organized did sound quite wonderful. It was a full day trip that included a 5 hour hike across the wall. Apparently they go into Mongolia for awhile. But at the time that is was presented to us we had just arrived and would have to wake up very early the next morning to do it. We just weren't ready to make that kind of commitment. I think it worked out for the best, because the things we did end up doing on Sunday morning and Monday afternoon were pretty much the highlight of the trip for me. If we had decided to hike to Mongolia those things never would have happened.

The Opera

Still on Beijing - actual date January 24, 2009

Our wonderful "travel guide" Megan had mentioned that we could go see a traditional Chinese opera one night if the three of us so desired. Of course, everyone all ready knows what my vote was. We ended up going on our first night in town.

When they say "traditional", it's really just a tourist attraction. The opera is a permanent fixture in a hotel theater and they have a performance almost everyday of the week. Another selling point is that they put the makeup stations in the lobby so you can watch the performers put on their makeup. Part of me felt bad for them, but I was still right up in their faces with my big camera snapping away. They seemed pretty used to it.

As we sat in general admission seats along with a bunch of other tourists we were handed a drink menu. Being the economical women that we are, we decided to order a bottle of wine, which inadvertently up graded us to one of the empty tables in front of us and came with a free bag of popcorn. Bonus.

I was surprised by the performance. I'm not really sure what I expected...I guess more singing. Silly me. The show was in three acts, each a completely different story and type of performance.

Act 1 - The crossroads: Two guys acting as a comedy duo. Most of the act was in complete silence as the tried to find/fight each other in total darkness. It made for some very entertaining posing on their part, and impressive gymnastics. They could jump and land without making a sound, just like ninjas!

Act 2 - Ridding on Auspicious Clouds: One woman "singing" (if you can call it that) and ribbon dancing. By far my least favorite...but made for decent pictures.

Act 3 - The Great Immortal Herb Robbery: One woman fighting (by the end) four guys. Some singing, some talking and lots of acrobatics. By the end they all had long red batons symbolizing weapons and had a kind of juggling act going on. The woman stood in the middle and would kick the batons back to the man that threw it at her perfectly. I felt like I was watching Blue Man Group or something.

This was such a tourist attraction that pictures of the performance were highly encouraged. I was clicking away while Maranda caught a bit of each Act in video mode. Sadly, none of the truly great acrobatic moments are on video, but this is still a pretty good representation of what we saw. Enjoy!

Talent

I know I'm supposed to be talking about Beijing, but just had to report that we will be teaching a child star starting in March here at Song-pa Kid's College. A small child, his name I can't remember now of course, graced us with his presence today during elementary classes. I came back after our break to a classroom of children yelling this kid's name. It took at least 5 mins for me to finally understand what my kid's meant when they said "moives" "playroom" and the kid's name. As far as I can tell this is on par with getting Macaulay Culkin in your school during his Home Alone days.
God help the teacher that gets him in thier class.....

Also, it's in the 50's here...bring on spring time!

The Forbidden City

It's huge!

Sadly that is the extent of my expertise of the subject. We ended up running through the world's largest palace complex in one hour just before is closed at noon on New Years Eve day. We had intentions of perhaps coming back at the end of the trip in order to fully absorb all the historical significance that is contained in a place that housed emperors from two dynasties for over 500 years, but we ended up wondering along a souvenir alleyway instead. The trip itself had happened so organically that it seemed unfit to force a visit to a place we had already been. But back to actually being there....

Even though I did not really know much about what I was looking at, there was a definite air of amazement while walking through the complex. It took a full hour just to walk from one end of the grounds to the other with just a little bit of time spent stopping to stare. Being there at closing time presented the great benefit of being relatively alone by the end. Sitting on some stairs in an empty courtyard and imagining who had once lived within those walls was one of those moments where things really start to sink in. I had many of these moments on this trip, but at this time in particular it really hit me. I'm in Asia. This world is so big and it's history is even bigger. It's possibly the smallest I have ever felt.

Fireworks

New Years celebrations are a totally different animal in Asia. The Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) is spent with your family, not rowdy strangers. The streets of Beijing were relatively quite while we were there. Many of the stores and restaurants were closed the entire time.

We had no expectations for festivities except for a magnificent fireworks display. Now my only experience with fireworks is going to a city funded show where people gather to look in one direction as the explosives are set off over a body of water far from the spectators. Very regulated, very safe. No such thing in Beijing. First of all, the sound of fireworks were basically constant starting on New Year's Eve morning and lasting over 36 hours. There was no need to seek out one place to go see them because they were everywhere.

After the sun went down we decided to go walk around a lake that is known for having many restaurants and bars. Along the way we stopped at countless store fronts to watch families setting off their own fireworks. We would stop partly for safety, because they were right on the sidewalk, but mostly in awe of what was going on around us. These were not little sparklers or roman candles, these were heavy duty fireworks. We spent most of the walk slightly on edge for fear of being blown up on the side of the road. I also jumped and sometimes screeched from the startling loud crashes too many times to count. Car alarms were constantly going off. It was like walking through a war zone.

Beyond the explosives on the sidewalk, there was not that much night life to be had. Most restaurants and bars were closed for the holiday, so after a leisurely walk out in the cold we decided the best thing to do was go to bed so that we could be refreshed for our early morning trip to the Great Wall the next day. We had lights out by 11:00 pm. Then midnight rolled around....

I am a heavy sleeper. When I'm out it usually takes a very loud noise for a very extended period of time before I am aroused from my slumber. A little after midnight I awoke thinking our building was being bombed. The fireworks chaos had escalated to an extravaganza. I laid in bed for a bit just looking out the window. Then got up to really look out the window. Finally Maranda and I realized that this insanity was not dying down any time soon and threw on coats over our pjs and ventured out into the night.

It was immediately apparent why I had thought our building was under attack when I first woke up. A bunch of foreigners were right outside the hostel lighting some of the smaller firecrackers that just sound like gun shots. It was at this point that I saw the most people out on our street. It was basically the same experience we had had earlier in the night, but increased in intensity 10 fold. Yet again I stood in awe, elated by what was happening around me.

I was too much of a tourist in this moment to feel like I was a part of the festivities, but was happy to just be an observer. There was a moment that I witnessed amongst some of the other hostel patrons that really affected me for some reason. Nothing special really, just a few drunk young white British guys setting off fireworks and hanging on each other yelling happy new year, but some how that was the moment that finally made me understand the weight of this whole experience. I was in China, on New Years, witnessing a part of their culture with many other people from all around the world. It was just really cool.....

An Asian Rejuvenation

a.k.a- New Year take two

Just got back from Beijing and I can comfortably state that it was the best city bound vacation I have ever had. Every moment of the past 4 days have been wonderful, even the bad ones. It was magical because Megan, Maranda and I were not only in the same place, but the same mind set the entire time we were there. We all had very little expectations for the trip, so we were able to take things as they came and just enjoy random experiences to their full extent (and there were many of them). I have plans to flesh out some highlights here within the next couple of days...they may have to come in installments though. I have many wonderful moments to share and hundredes of pictures to post, but just wanted people to know as soon as possible that Beijing is the bomb. I am back revilaized from a great trip...just what I needed to start off the new year.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

All the peps back home can't stop talking about the blizzard and I've been nothing but jealous of all the beautiful snow they get to play in. Well this morning I woke up to big beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky. Nothing like a reminder of home to brighten up the day. =)

Korean fun fact: when it snows people walk around with umbrellas. The scene really made me wish I had my camera with me this morning.

Korean Moments and Impressions

I thought it would be interesting to collect the memories and impressions from the fam. and share them with everyone. These are direct quotes with my additional elaborations in italics.

Mom:

-I didn't realize just how much South Korea would like to be re-united with N. Korea.. as evidenced by the already built beautiful train station, and the statue of the world torn in half being pushed back together.

-I was impressed by the number of elderly people hiking in the hillsides and climbing some very steep/deep stairs along the way. They are in great shape, I didn't see any obesity while traveling around Korea.

-I can't believe i had fish munching on my feet while I was drinking wine.

-Kimchi is far more than kimchi..:).

-I expected more smoking, but was delighted to see the actual separation of smoking rooms vs nonsmoking rooms at Tom n Toms (a coffee Starbucks look alike).

-Out door shopping at Insadong was remarkable, I loved it...

-The subway system was very clean and very efficient and felt safe. Luckily Michele knew how to get around on it.

-I enjoyed the trip despite being way out of my "comfort" zone.

Dad:
-Seoul is enormous and very crowded, and the people deal with the cold weather better than we do based on the number of bicycles and scooters/motorcycles on the road.

-I was impressed with the contrasts; the modern buildings and familiar American venues vs. the temples, burial mounds, and the DMZ.

-Korean food is interesting but not my favorite, and not anything that could sustain me for a long time.

-It was fun seeing how the boys did traveling to a very foreign country.

Kyle:
-no traffic laws, and crazy cabbies (this is a reference to the well known late night cab driving rule of completely blowing through all red lights)

-basketball game with cheers, free balloons, and a visiting team fan section

-outbacks everywhere (that's Outback Steakhouse)

-the race in the subway to the green line at the transfer (there is almost always a race on the subway, no matter what line you are getting on. Thrown elbows and boding checking is also a regular experience.)

Ross:
-surprising number of people spoke English

-Seoul tower sucks (on their last night in town (New Years Day, which is a national holiday here) we tried to go to the top of the tower. It's kind of like the space needle. It's possible that we picked the busiest day of the year to go. We left without actually going up to the observitory and by the end we all hated people. People are the worst.)

-Koreans almost seem like tourists with how many pictures they take(walking around with tripods)

-sweet mountains mixed in with big city

-sadly not much warmer than Chicago

-they think kimchi is a miracle food (I totally disagree)

I had two moments that I think are also worth mentioning:
- a cabbie asked us where we were from. When I responded with "US...Chicago" he siad, "Ah, Chicago. OBAMA!"

-I was in a cab with Dad on New Years Day. We were talking, but in a lull of conversation the driver interrupted us apologetically. This is approximately what he said to Dad: “I’m sorry. I know I should not say this, but you have a very nice voice. It’s very deep and mysterious. Like Sean Connery. You must have done some very heavy drink last night.”

Oh, Korea.

Back to school, back to school

Well, the Korean lifestyle never ceases to amaze me. More specifically the Korean work lifestyle. I was warned that I should be ready to operate on a day-to-day basis and be open to last minute changes, but I think today was a new extreme.

We were told at the beginning of December that the school had decided to open more classes and get additional teachers. In order to do this they would be renovating the entire third floor, which used to be just the library, TV room, teacher's office and a few dark cell like classrooms for some of the classes taught by the other school in our building (owned by the same family that runs us). In just one week the floor was completely revamped. Now only the library looks the same. It was like walking into a totally different building this morning. Most of the teachers came in early to try and set up their space and get things together for the day. Of course most of us had copies to make and worksheets to print. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, we walked into what can only be lovingly described as a "shit show", which is used to describe most "organized" events at Kid's College. Computers, printers and the copier were not set up yet. No clock and we couldn't hear the bell on our floor. We didn't even have chairs for our desks until about 15 mins before school started. We all just stood around twiddling our thumbs, thinking of what we could with our kids without any worksheets. Heaven forbid! To top it all off, I was told 5 mins before going down to greet my children that one student had dropped out and was already replaced by another...good thing I had already been down in the classroom setting up the name tags for their new seats...thanks for the heads up guys. I was also delighted to find that I have a new student in my elementary class. The good times just keep on coming.

Two new teachers are due to arrive at the end of the week. Apparently we will have full time classes on the third floor by the end of next week. This is going to be a major change, as we are used to peace and quite during our 10 minute breaks between classes. Soon there will be no escaping the children. We even get to share a bathroom with them...yikes!

There is one thing I can say about this whole experience. If you are in a rut or just unhappy with the situation you just have to wait a month or two, because chances are everything will be completely different....

The Johnson's Take on Korea Part 2

Well, they are gone, but not without some very memorable moments I think. Having my family here made it seem even less like being in a foreign country, if that makes any sense. It seemed like any other family vacation in the states, except when I had to order food for everyone and couldn't really do it.

One might say it was a whirlwind tour. We went around Seoul, took a train to Gyeongju and stayed over night, went hiking, saw a basketball game, lots of old stuff and lots of new stuff, but mostly Korean stuff. Good times. Over 900 pictures were taken between by two cameras. I was able to pair them down to just over 700 yesterday. And yes, all of them are posted. Enjoy!