Sim Sim

This is my new dog, Sim Sim. He was previously owned (along with Trixie, Luke and Kat's new dog), by our friends Angelyn and Jessica. Sadly, they were not allowed to house dogs in their apartments, so we lovingly took the puppies in. Although I would never reccommend owning a puppy when you live on the 7th floor of your apartment building, I wouldn't trade this little guy for the world. Its nice to have some company in my apartment as most visitors are entertained in Lukat's place (where the leather furniture is). So Sim Sim and I are enjoying our co-bachelor pad.

Well, in any case, here are some pictures of the little guy.

More to come soon!

-Finn

New Years Resolution

Sooo....remember that time I made a New Years resolution to blog more often? Well I've never been good at keeping up with those, but I suppose forgetting to post until March is a little extreme. Sooooo, I'll do my best to give you the rundown on what happened.

Spring Festival:

OK, so as you may or may not know, China's big Christmas-like holiday is Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. Now, when I say that it is Christmas-like, keep in mind that it is nothing like Christmas....except for the long holiday that everyone recieves.

After getting back to China in mid-January, I set out on a 3-week vacation with my friends Trent and Jesse. I'll give you the super-short rundown of the trip, and post a link to my photos on facebook. I would put some up here but it would be frustrating seeing as I have like 300 photos...150 of them on facebook.

1st Stop, Xian:
Although our initial travel wish was to travel to Harbin for the famous Ice festival, tickets there were impossible to find. We eventually wanted to travel to xinjiang province, in the west, so we decided it made sense to go west first anyways. Although Trent had been to Xian before, he patiently visited there so that Jesse and I could get a glimpse of China's ancient capital. We had a nice hostel downtown close to a beautiful bell tower. We stayed long enough for Jesse and I to venture out to the home of the Terra Cotta warriors (a magnificent display of an excavated ancient army of clay soldiers built to protect the tomb of the first emporer of China). Before we left the city, we also caught the fountain show at the Big Goose Pagoda, which was cold but beautiful (and also the future site of Trent and Jessica's engagement!).

2nd Stop, Urumqi:
After a 38 hour train ride from Xian, we arrived in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang province. Although we had been warned, nothing quite prepares you for the temperature in Xinjiang in winter. If the actual temperature wasn't enough to freeze you, the piercing winds would usually do the job. We saw some beautiful sights in the city such as Hongshan park, but it was tempting to simply remain in the lobby of our hostel, which had a wonderful heated floor! Now the ethnic makeup of the Xinjiang region is mostly Turkish-muslim, and not Han Chinese. We saw a nice mixture of the two cultures in Urumqi, but our next 2 stops were like visiting a different country. Before we left for the next city (Kashgar), we ventured out to Tian Chi or "Heavenly Lake". Beautiful does not even begin to describe this place. It took us all day to get there, but it was well worth it. We arrived to see a frozen lake, blanketed in snow, and surrounded by beautiful snow-topped mountains. We walked around for about an hour, taking way too many pictures. Trent and I couldn't resist heading on to the surface of the lake itself...and Trent couldn't resist making a snow angel in the surface of this glorious lake. We had to return because our cab driver was not too happy with us, but we could have stayed up there all day. It was simply breathtaking....easily the most beautiful scenery I have seen in China...or maybe anywhere.

3rd Stop, Kashgar
Kashgar, which I'm convinced translates to "thousands of men standing around in furry hats", is in the far western portion of the province. We took a 24 hour train to get there, and spent about 3 days in the city. Since the tourism industry isn't very busy during the winter, the hotel we stayed at was completely deserted save for 1 cleaning lady. While there, we experienced a great deal of Turkish-muslim culture, food, and architechture. We visited the city mosque and a beautiful tomb as well. The food mainly consisted of lamb kebabs placed inside of traditional muslim bread and folded in half for a "Lamb Taco" which we enjoyed almost daily.

4th Stop, Hotan:
Well the bus ride to Hotan was epic. Trent shared his love for music with an old arabic man, Jesse shared his hatred for arabic music with the whole bus, and Trent and I performed both an arabic song parody and a new song "Bus to Hotan" to the tune of "A Whole New World" much to the chagrin of our fellow passengers. I will say that I have never laughed so hard during a bus ride. Once we got to Hotan, we dropped our things at the "Happy Hotel" which had mattresses that made us not-so-happy, but we weren't complaining. Soon after we met up with a Japanese friend named Kuro who we had met earlier in Kashgar....small world. With his Chinese fluency we were able to score some cross-desert bus tickets for the next afternoon and we had dinner together to celebrate. We left just after visiting the ancient city walls...they were about 200 years old. Not very impressive once you've been to the Great Wall. Sorry Hotan.

5th ...err...ride?
We then took the Sleeper bus express across the Taklamakan desert. The trip was interesting. Maybe it was watching poor Jesse attempt to fit his 6'6 frame into a compartment built for a 5'8 Chinese person...or maybe it was the viewing of "Prey" (a movie where lions come out of tall grass to devour people) and the subsequent rest stop in the middle of nowhere with tall grass all around. Fun times.

6th stop: Back in Urumqi.
Out of money, somewhat under the weather, and travel-weary, our crew rested at the wonderful Matian youth hostel for around 3 days while waiting for the train to Chengdu. The only noteworthy event was a glorious trip to the Texas Cafe...mmmm....nachos.

7th stop: Chengdu
After some guy-time out west, it was time to reunite with my fellow Brelands in Chengdu. Luke and Kat awaited our arrival from a dismal 50 hour train ride in which an old lady and her terribly behaved grandson hijacked my bottom bunk. In Chengdu, Lukat happily showed Trent, Jesse, and I the sights and sounds of their former home. We ate more tex-mex, we saw beautiful Dufu's cottage, and we even somehow managed to get return tickets to Shiyan in time for Trent's classes! We did not, however, make it to see the pandas :-(

After Chengdu, we came back to Shiyan on a 16 hour train. Although it was the 2nd shortest train ride I had been on for that vacation, it felt like the longest by far. We were so ready to be home that we stayed up and chatted excitedly as we approached the city at 1:00 AM.

OK, here's the link to my facebook pictures. The Spring Festival albums are in chronological order there so start with one and work toward 3. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2039582&id=147800604

You might have to have facebook to look at the pictures, I'm not sure. If it says you have to be my friend to look at them, feel free to add me if we're not already friends.

OK well I'm off to bed. I have classes early in the morning tomorrow, so I need my sleep.

OH! We are now the proud owner of 2 puppies! Our friends at the automotive college couldn't keep the dogs that they were given as a gift, so they gave them to us because our school allows pets. My dog's name is Sim Sim, and Lukat's dog's name is Trixie. I will post again soon about our lovely puppies and I promise actual pictures will go up of them.

I hope you are all doing well! I miss you guys back home, but life is getting more interesting here by the day, so we are keeping busy. I will post again soon.

Peace,
Finn

On the Road again

So this Spring Festival (the big one in China...think Christmas with more explosives), and Trent, Jesse, and I have hit the open road in search of adventure and enlightenment...ok maybe just adventure.

Our trek was scheduled to go through Beijing, but due to China craziness, we had to reroute through Xian, which is nearer to our city of Shiyan, and closer to the far western province of Xinjiang where we hope to end up. The change in plans has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, as I have gained a great appreciation for the city of Xian. Although it is pretty expensive, the sites are really cool, and it has some great Western food availability (we had DQ blizzards today!!!!).

So far, we have seen a fountain show at the Big Goose Pagoda, done some intense bargain shopping in the Muslim quarter, gone to see the Terra Cotta warriors (google it if you're not familiar, you'll be amazed.), and walked along the top of the ancient inner-city wall of Xian, which is really well preserved and nicely decorated for the festival.

Tomorrow morning, we leave at 5:30 on a train to Xinjiang, the far western province of China that is famous for outdoorsy things like huge mountains, vast deserts, oh, and of course camels. Seeing as it is sandwiched between Tibet and Siberia, you could infer that its a pretty chilly place in the winter, so we've stocked up on layers, gloves, hats, etc etc. The train ride will be 36 hours long, and probably the worst part of the travel experience. We are lucky to have good sleeper tickets, though, so we should be OK.

We should have internet in the hostel in Urumqi (again, google it if you need visual help), so more posts should follow after we do some AMAZING sightseeing out west. I am sorry to say, however, that I will not be posting pictures until I return to Shiyan, so you'll have to wait on that.

I miss you all back in the states. Stay healthy and warm! I'll try to post again soon.

-Finn

Home again, home again

Well, I've had a wonderful visit back to the states. Ryan and Karen had a beautiful wedding and, try as we might, we 3 bedraggled Brelands could not detract from its splendor. Christmas was equally as majestic and perhaps a little more crowded, as we fit over 20 people in the house in Decatur for fun and festivities. Then I proceeded to Nashville for a few days to visit with some old friends and ring in the new year. It was great to see so many friends and family together while we were back. I could not have asked for a better gift. As we were making preparations for the return, Luke and Kat decided they hadn't had enough Mexican food, and elected to stay for another week, which meant fun for Finn alone in China! Having almost no knowledge of the Chinese language, and about 3 days of travel time ahead of me, this was shaping up to be a fun event. I'll give you a rundown of what its like to travel to China all by your lonesome.

DAY 1:
5:00 AM- Arrived at Nashville airport only to be told that my flight to Newark has been cancelled. After much typing, airline attendant tells me that I will switch flights, going now through Chicago. Flight leaves Nashville at 9:30
5:30 AM- went back to take a nap at the hotel
9:30AM- said goodbye to Mom and Chris and boarded Plane to Chicago
12:10PM- Landed in snowy Chicago and rane Home Alone 2 style through the airport to catch the 12:30 flight to Beijing
12:25PM- was told that the flight to Beijing would be delayed until 4:00 PM
4:00PM- Was told that flight to Beijing would be delayed until 6:00 PM
4:30PM- Had a strange conversation with an ex-military guy and a bartender who was convinced that the US military could control the weather.
7:30- Finally departed for Beijing

DAY 2:
Skipped due to international date line

DAY 3:
12:20 AM- Landed in Beijing
12:40 AM- Got offered a taxi ride for 250 kuai. Attempted to barter down to 75 kuai and got laughed at.
12:45 AM- Tried my luck with a metered taxi outside...resulted in a 50 kuai taxi ride. Nice.
1:30 AM- After a drive-by ticket/ink swap with Andrew, arrived at Beijing train station to wait for the 3:30 train to Shiyan.
3:30AM- Boarded 26 hour sleeper train to Shiyan.
6:00 PM- Got offered snacks by a little Chinese boy.
6:30 PM- Got my book stolen by a little Chinese boy.
6:45 PM- Read two pages of said book out loud in English to a little Chinese boy.
6:46 PM- got a very funny look from a little Chinese boy.
9:00 PM- Went to sleep

DAY 4:
4:00AM: Got woken up by the train-ticket-giver-man
5:00 AM: disembarked in Shiyan
5:20 AM: arrived at the bottom of 7 flights of stairs with 80 pounds of luggage. Booooo
6:00 AM: Passed out in Chinese bed.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Well it certainly was an interesting feeling, rolling into a Chinese city at 5:00 in the morning and thinking, "ahh, I'm home". It is nice to be back in Shiyan. Today I ate at my favorite noodle place and watched Die Hard 3...then slept. It was a pretty productive day, to say the least. Well....all you folks back home should know that I arrived safely, and am alive and well. Those of you in China should know that I'm back and looking forward to some vacationing, China style! I suppose thats enough for tonight. You all should know that IF I had made a new years resolution, it probably be to blog more frequently. But since I didn't, I'm not sure what you should expect ;-)

Peace,
Finn

Top 10...or 20...whatever

OK, well our first semester in China is coming to a close. Hours of grading papers, doing laundry, Christmas shopping, airline ticket purchasing, and other such wonderful activities have filled my recent weeks, and thus I absolve myself from any lack of blog posting on my part. But lets not make tonights post about filling you in on weeks of incredible stories and long-winded account of China craziness...no no this week deserves a succinct expression of my soul's true feelings...

A top 10 list.
well, 2 to be exact, but lets not be picky. Enjoy.

Top 10 things I will do when I arrive in the States.


10) Stare at white people...they will be everywhere
9) Speak English to anyone and everyone who will listen. Total strangers especially.
8) Watch Football at a time other than 3:00 in the morning
7) Taco Bell
6) Five Guys and Fries
5) consume copious amounts of Pepto
4) Drive a car for the first time in 4 months (not counting my gas station commercial)
3) visits to friends and family, of course
2) Engage in some much needed football gloating (watch out Auburn fans)
1) 2 words....Cheese Dip


Top 10 things I will miss about China


10) Getting stared at while I walk down the street...I'm kind of famous here
9) My students. They really are so incredibly nice...don't worry I have pictures
8) My favorite Fried Rice guy/Drink stand lady/restaurant owner that wave at me every day
7) Chinese taxi rides...the only way to travel. Part transportation, part sheer terror, part amusement.
6) Walking 7 flights of stairs 2 or 3 or 4 times a day...ok not really.
5) Sim Sim and Trixie, Ang and Jessica's new puppies. Don't worry, I have pictures of them too.
4) Droves of middle school students walking by and shouting "HELLO" at random intervals.
3) DVDs... 7 kuai (1 dollar). Can't beat that with a stick.
2) Random text messages wishing me a "Happy Everyday"
1) My Shiyan Family. They mean the world to me.


Well, if you are still a loyal blog post reader, that probably means that I will see you soon upon my return to the states. Pray for us as we travel...we have a LONG process ahead of us. Hit me up stateside for various stories, pictures, slideshows, etc. I can't wait to tell everyone about our life here. See you soon!


-Finn

Fun in Shiyan (with pictures this time!)

Well, as winter closes in on our little Chinese city, we are enjoying the holiday spirit that is growing among our little band of Americans...well except for Trent (he's holding out until after Thanksgiving to think jolly thoughts). Amid this budding holiday atmosphere, us Americans have met a few times to celebrate in recent weeks.

I have already blogged about the Bama party in my last post, but I just couldn't deprive you all of some pictures. Thanks to Mom and Chris, we were able to decorate pretty well for the party.

The next week was pretty special. With 2 birthdays and Haloween just a few days apart, it was pretty hectic. It all ended in a glorious Halloween party hosted by the folks over at the auto school. The party had an 80's theme (which is oh-so-perfect for China), so I decided to go as Goose from Top Gun, while Luke and Kat went as the couple from the A-ha music video for "Take on Me" (youtube it if you've never seen it...its worth it). Here are some random pictures...enjoy!

You would think we would be all partied out by now, right? Wrong. Last night, after hearing the election results, myself and some fellow Obama supporters gathered to celebrate the event. After youtubing some Obama speeches and comparing our electoral map predictions, we proceeded by voting on a variety of election-style activities. The leading vote-getter was the "pin the lips on a pig" game (thanks Kat). This was followed by Obama trivia, "youtube your favorite George W. Bush quote", and eventually a viewing of "Recount", a cinematic retelling of the 2000 election problems in Florida. Sure, the events of the night were rather partisan, but let it be known that an invitation was extended to all, but only Obama-lovers accepted...so we played Obama-loving games :-)

Lest our intentions be mistaken, let it be known that we are simply excited for the future of our country. No gloating was intended to be sure. Over all, we pray that God's will would prevail, no matter who the leader of the country is. OK, enough political sidestepping. Here are the pictures!

As you can see, we were pretty excited and had a lot of fun. We are so fortunate to have so many good friends here (on both sides of the aisle, for that matter), they really make life in China much easier to swallow.

Well thats about all for tonight. Sorry for skipping over the usual strained attempts at humor, but it just takes much energy for pictures AND creativity. I hope you are all well back in the states. Take it easy and drop us a line sometime. We love to hear from home, and we miss you all terribly!

Peace,

Finn

Yes...It's true, I stink at consinstent blogging.

Well, folks, a LOT has happened since my last blog post. An overwhelming mixture of remorse, excitement, guilt, and a strong desire to put off my lesson planning has led to this: my first post in weeks!

Yes, I am still alive and well. Classes have been going smoothly despite the odd absence from some of my students who have been cajoled into volunteering for the "3rd World WuShu Championships". I know... some friends of ours tried to tell them to put "3rd International", but what can you do? My missing students, however, have been replaced by the 2 or 3 random visitors per class that come in just to observe a foreign teacher...all the while messing up my beautiful seating charts! They have now begun to put in requests ahead of time and usually insist on participating in class discussion/homework etc. Such is China.

It is starting to get a little chilly here in Shiyan, so I have been trying my best to take advantage of the dwindling opportunity for outdoor activity. Yesterday, a group of us Americans went hiking up by the lake. Jessica and Trent somehow ended up taking a free boat ride around the lake with some Chinese strangers while the rest of us took a refreshing (and sometimes muddy) hike along the mountains. It was simply beautiful, and a nice change of pace from the busyness of city life.

And now for something completely different

Shortly after our return from October holiday, my friend Trent and I were asked a strange favor by one of our Chinese friends. They wanted us to be in a Chinese commercial...for a gas station. I know, I know, props to China for having an eye for excellent acting talent...err white people. So the next day, we are picked up in a car and driven to the office of this China Petrol place. They drove us out to their gas station and gave us a 30-second explanation (through a translator) of the commercial plot. We were to drive the Boss's car up to the pump, converse with the friendly gas station attendant, go inside to pay, and then drive off. Asking us whether we could legally drive in China, I shrugged and showed my Alabama driver's license. Apparently this was enough because they began to usher us to the car (after a round of rock-paper-scissors between Trent and me to decide who the driver would be). And then....the unthinkable happened.

As we are walking to the car, a van comes out of nowhere and nearly careens into a couple in matching jackets that is walking along the sidewalk. Thinking of it as no more than a drastic driving error (they are common in China), I was waiting for the expected apology and parting of ways. No such luck. After a seemingly endless stare-down between the driver and pedestrians, I watched in disbelief as the driver slowly disembarked and marched toward the male half of the couple. The next five minutes of my life were probably some of the stranger ones in my experience. The driver attacked the guy who had been happily strolling along just 30 seconds before. Props to the pedestrian, though for keeping his head down and trying to minimize the situation...not that there was anything minimal to the jumping-karate-kick to the back that he recieved. The girl (who was clearly previously involved with the crazed driver), tried to restrain said driver and put him back in the van....bad idea. Just as I thought he would start his van and be on his way, the driver throws it in reverse and BACKS INTO the girl, knocking her to the ground (no injury apparent thankfully). He gets back out of the car, begins shouting at the girl and shaking her, and then picks up a large rock to go after the other guy with. To this point, the 7 or 8 men in their 20's and 30's who were standing around the area had done nothing but watch. Trent decides that he has had enough, and throws down his umbrella to walk toward the driver. In retrospect it was probably not a GREAT idea seeing as he spoke no Chinese and was likely to recieve a rock to the face, but it was at least enough to spur our onlooking hosts into action as they managed to get the driver to leave the station with his ex/present girlfriend/sister/whatever she was.

Yeah...woah. Imagine if an American guy had dared assault a girl in the presence of 7 or 8 bigger guys in public. I've never seen it happen, but I'm reasonably certain that a severe beatdown would have ensued.

So, naturally, we proceeded with the commercial as if nothing had happened. So with no script, and my commercial director and his translator in the backseat, I got in the car, pulled up to the pump, and the gas station attendant asked me in perfect english "Hello, welcome to China Petrol. How many Liters do you want?" LITERS!? After a millisecond-long flashback to high school Chemistry conversions, and a subsequent millisecond-long deliberation on the fuel capacity of the Honda crossover prototype, my brilliant mind landed on "Fill 'er up." Thankfully, the attendant nodded, and directed me inside; cameras in hot pursuit. I approached the counter and was faced with episode two of my conversion nightmare. "How many liters did you purchase?" I kept my cool long enough to muster a random guess: "13?"

"OK" she says, "That will be 100 Yuan".

I opened my wallet to reveal the 60 yuan inside. I sheepishly offered it to the lady with a whispered apology, but she seemed to indicate that this was acceptable. I turned to leave the room and walked until the camera went off, then turned back quickly to retrieve my 60 yuan (they had promised to give me money to use in the commercial so I was surely not going to let them keep mine).
"Oh well" I thought to myself, "we'll get it right on the second take."

there are apparently no second takes in China (sorry, but I'm going to ignore a possibly brilliant segway to something deeper here), so we went on our way and had some lunch.

The answer to your question? Yes, they are supposed to send me a tape, and no, you can not put it on YouTube.



In addition to relaxing hikes and crazy commercials, we have enjoyed some American comforts as of late. Thanks to our AWESOME grandparents, the Breland crew was able to host an Alabama Football party last night. After recieving the Bama-Georgia game in the mail on Friday, we quickly invited all of our American friends to come and enjoy Fajitas and Football (kinda catchy come to think of it). All went well until some imposters posing as our real friends pulled out handmade Georgia signs late into the 3rd Quarter (the first time UGA scored a touchdown) and began to wave them around and dance. I have since forgiven the heinous act, but have resolved to confiscate any Anti-Alabama materials upon the next football watching ;-)
So thanks to our stateside friends and family for the WONDERFUL packages, and thanks to our American friends here for keeping the SEC rivalry feeling alive and kicking.

I suppose thats enough for tonight. I still have to come up with a lesson plan about Halloween and its getting late. We have an exciting week coming up with 2 birthdays, Halloween, and the promise of KTV. So maybe I will have more to blog about in a week or so.

Take it easy back there in the states. Take some time out of your election-season fervor to remember your friends here in China. And remember that whether your party wins or loses this year, we are called to a higher Kingdom defined not by our differences but our love for one another. There's your mushy thought of the week.

Peace,

Finn