Tigers and Bears and Grasshoppers?, oh no!

Hi! Part of the reason I've been absent from the blog for the past month is that I had a business trip in Thailand. The conference itself was for a week (and exhuasting, but that's another story)... but I tend to crave a bit of adventure in my life. So I decided to travel by land to get there! Maybe I'll tell ya some stories later about that.....But now onto the grasshoppers!


No sense in waffling about things, let me tell it straight. People eat some stuff in Asia that most of us in the west would consider pretty weird. Most of ya from my home town would say disgusting. Well, I like to try new things, so.... Please pass the grasshopper!

(crunch, crunch, anyone got some chai to go with this?)

Okay, the picture quality is pretty bad....So let's look at the before shot:

How did it taste? Kinda crispy! The smaller ones were okay, but the big ol' man eating size was a bit much for me.... What's the overall verdict? Well, I think I can say in all honesty that it's not going to become a favorite snack for me... :)

And no, I didn't try the silk worms that you see next to the grasshoppers. You've got to draw the line somewhere, right?

Happy New Year (again)

Xin Nian Kuai Le! That's right, for us foreigners in China we are privileged to be able to celebrate two New Years!! Here we observe the Lunar New Year! :)



And let me tell you something.... Although it's a little bit of comparing pears and apples, I've got to say that even New York City would have trouble comparing with what goes on here for New Years. Fireworks GALORE! Yep, seeming unending amounts of exploding loud colorful pyrotechnics - it is not just a site to be seen, it is a complete experience. They've been going on for quite awhile already, but it began to culminate at 11:45pm - the noise and colors became constant with no breaks in between. This went on for about 45 minutes, dying down only by small amounts thereafter.



It sounded like a warzone. Really. I'm not the expert that Scott is (buddy of mine in the military) but I've experienced a bit when I was involved in humanitarian work in Kosovo a couple of months after the war was 'officially' over. The second night there a bomber blew up a shop down the block from where I was staying. Things that sounded like gunfire were just that - gunfire. For New Years Y2k, gunfire errupted everywhere and the power went off. A bunch of years later I visited some friends in Pakistan. Atleast it was Pakistan on the Pakistani maps....yeah, I was in Kashmir. Every day you could hear the artillery booming from over the mountain...



Where was I?



Oh yes, so it really did sound alot like a warzone. Different rhythm to the 'gunfire', and it was missing the faint 'zing' that the barrel makes, but all in all pretty close. And I've got a confession to make. It makes me really nervous and anxious. I associate sounds like those with guns being fired at people, not celebration. I think I slept between about 2am and 6am when it died down. But at 6am people were up and going again! :) Should go on for about a week or so.



I haven't posted for a week because I made a trip to Thailand - by land! It was great and I've got alot of photos to share too. Look for much more coming SOON!



Let me offer you a photo I took here in Kunming as a peace offering......:

Adventures in Technology - building a computer in Kunming

So here's the deal. :)

Part of my work is dealing with video & photo/design stuff. Over the course of the last two and a half weeks I've built myself a decent desktop system. Video and Photo are especially demanding so I couldn't just get a Dell system or some such.

Armed with a sense of humor (thank God) and a page with some computer components translated into pinyin and english, I ventured into the sprawling technology area surrounding the minority school! I'll spare you the details, rest assured I bought components from over half a dozen shops and made alot of funny faces and noises in my quest to communicate. Good fun!

What really struck me the most was when I was hunting for a nice big LCD screen...! I saw a couple of screens that I was interested in, and asked some prices.... Then I saw this massive screen! Maybe 21"! Way out of my price range I already knew, but I had to ask anyway.. The lady happily told me the price and talked about the features (look! Laowai! He might actually buy this expensive thing!). Okay, I only understood the price, but I managed to look smart and nod at the appropriate times.
And then she showed me the fancy tea set in a nice gift box that went along with it! What? While perfectly natural here, to the mind of the average guy from New York it seems odd, perhaps even absurd, to bundle a tea-set with a lcd screen! The confusion crossed my face but I tried to quickly replace it with an expression of appreciation for the quality of the tea set.

While I find many things here surprising, and often confounding, I have to make a confession.

I usually like it.

Taiwan, Internet, & my apartment

What happened to Richard?

Well, it all started with an earthquake. If you're reading this from inside the U.S., you might not have even heard about it. Taiwan had a pretty big earthquake and one of the results is that most of the underwater internet cables were severely damaged. These cables form the main link from Asia to the U.S..... To make the story short, I (and many others) are now having trouble accessing anything, email and blogger included. Could be worse - I could have been living in Taiwan and had my home & everything I own destroyed!

... One strange thing however. My internet is ADSL through China Telecom (the largest provider). All others here with that same service seem to be sharing the problem of internet connectivity. A friend nearby has broadband service through China Unicom. His service didn't get worse with the earthquake....is there a method to this madness?

Here's the first few long-overdue photo's of my apartment. Two from when I was first moving in, and one taken from the balcony a couple of days ago. When things get cleaned up I might post a couple of the place with furniture in it. :)

(Living Room - it's Huge!)

(My really small kitchen)

(View from my balcony)

You've got to laugh.....

It is imperative that you have a sense of humor if you're going to live outside your own country and culture! No exceptions! So what happened today?

I finally got a bike! Not a moment too soon, I had been on the bus so much that I think they were going to offer me a job as a driver.......Anyway, winter (such as it is) has arrived here in Kunming and I have NO heat. 32 degree's farenheit isn't that cold to a guy from New York... But when it's that way inside you get a little cold.

Okay, to the point! In order to buy a heater, I needed a way to get it home - I.E. a rack on the back of my bicycle. I'll spare you the details of going to 8 bicycle stalls till I got what I needed and fast forward to paying for the thing that was just installed. A couple of words can make a big difference! I confused ¥16 for ¥60... And proceeded to try and bargain with him for what I thought the correct price should be - ¥20. In Chinese you say ten six to mean 16. I thought I was hearing six ten.... Well, you've just got to laugh! The guy selling the stuff sure enjoyed me arguing to raise the price... :)

Project Grace

Wow, time certainly flies! It's almost Christmas and I've only posted once this month... My appologies! :) Several weeks ago I had a chance to visit Project Grace. This School for the Disabled is located near Bai Ma right here in Kunming. A friend of mine invited me to come have a look at what they, maybe visit an English class.

If you've been in contact with disabled or have really thought about it, there is quite a challenge there! In my home country it can be difficult for a moderate to severely disabled person to find a decent job with which to support themselves. In many Asian nations, including here in China, it is difficult indeed. With such a large labor pool and so many things done by physical manpower, what niche can you find if you are for instance missing an arm? I believe that in general our lives are what we make of them. Yes, disabled people can be happy & satisfied with their lives!! A bold statement, but I believe it. However it would be foolish to ignore the fact that they face many additional challenges as a result of their state.

(Teaching English at Project Grace)

Enough of that. if you're interested in hearing more about Project Grace, check out these links on it (or google for your own): Homes International, Bangkok Post (older article).


So! Invited to visit an English class? That was apartently code for teach the English class! Uh oh! Thank God for Palm Pilot... I was grouped with 3 girls and a guy, all of whom had rather meager English skills at this point. So on my little palm screen I showed pictures of family, picture of home, pictures of animals, etc... Simple questions of what is this animal? Is it rough or soft? What sound does it make? You get the idea... :) We had a great time! I'm so pleased to see what this place is doing and I believe it will make a huge impact in the lives of the children!

Engrish

Engrish. For those who are perhaps unaware, Engrish is not exactly a misspelt word. Instead it cleverly displays a truth of many Asian nations... There isn't exactly a sound for "R". Nor is there quite a sound for "L". Instead there is a sound somewhat inbetween. Okay, so what's the point?


There are many things I enjoy about China, and the ... interesting signs you come across are one the great joys I get to stumble upon almost daily! Some are easy to find, there for everyone to see. Some are a bit more recluse. I found this one after climbing up a trail on West Mountain for maybe 40 minutes! You're following a path through beautiful forest and hills, enjoying the first clean air since .... well, since the last time you went to West Mountain, and suddenly you come upon this!

(Sign on a West Mountain Trail)

Strictly forbilden! No felling plants! Or else! :) This is absolutely NOT a slam on the nationals. Their language is very different to English and translation can be challenging. But it does bring a smile to my face every time I find it!

Oh, and I couldn't help but spot the irony of this next photo. Advertising tries to be clever, but sometimes it loses due to similarities and coincidence... or am I the only one to find humor in this? :)

If you've got any Engrish that you've come across, please share it!