Olympic Park Earth Hour

I made it to Olympic Park for the first time... finally. My father was lucky enough to attend the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, but I had not been back since 2007, so had yet to make it there. I have been here 6 months already but it is quite far from where I live, and it's been cold almost since I got here.

Tonight we had an event for our students called Earth Hour. It is celebrated around the world (but never heard of it while in the states). It's a moment when all lights and electricity is to be turned off for one hour. Now we weren't able to turn the Birds Nest off, but we had activities and games for the kids. I was in charge of painting the t-shirts... which was a giant cluster of people... and hello... paint doesn't dry that fast. It ended up being extremely cold and windy. Was only supposed to last 2 hours, but after an hour and a half we had maybe 20 students. Most of the people had already left it was so cold. My fingers and toes are still numb.

It was definitely a pleasurable experience and nice to see the kids all having fun together. Also, getting to meet and hang out with many of my colleagues I have never seen before. Not sure why I got myself into working until 830 at night when I have a class at 845 tomorrow morning... but oh well. I can now say that I have been to the Olympic Park and that I celebrate earth hour--- in a non-envrionmentally friendly way, unfortunately... toxic paint, lots of paper, lighting, etc doesn't make for a ecofriendly world... it was still an experience.

                                    

This was the 3rd shot of this picture... but it was so windy the shirt wouldn't hold still and neither would my freezing hand.

Reading...

So I have made it back to Beijing. Enjoyed my four days in Hong Kong... was able to breath clean air and enjoy the warm weather. Did some shopping, wandered around, dinner with old friends. It was nice to be away, but I didn't want to leave and now dislike Beijing even more and want to move to HK even more. I was sitting around a table reminiscing about BJ after 9 years of seeing my friends and the only things I could come up with about how Beijing has changed were all negative.... hmmmm. I do enjoy the international life and always having something new to do... but I'm over Beijing. Just six more months to go.

In the meantime... while on travels and in downtime I have been reading a new book. It was given to me by a friend as a birthday present. If you are a woman or just love a good read... you have to read this. It is called How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.

Some may have heard of it already... if you come by a copy... check it out. Moran is a British author who I have been heard as the Tina Fey of England. I wanted to highlight my favorite passages in the book.

"You know, when it comes to sex, you really do have to remember men are blessedly forgiving creatures. They don't care what kind of knickers you're wearing. By the time you've taken your skirt off, you could be wearing Gregg's paper bag with holes torn in it, and it wouldn't put them off. THERE ARE MEN OUT THERE HAVING SEX WITH BICYCLES. Men don't remotely care if you're wearing sexy pants or not."

The next is at a wedding.. I was similarly lacklustre at Cathy and John's wedding, when Cathy's dad gave me a tour of their beautiful, all-white house, as I trailed behind, swigging red wine.
'And this is my favorite view,' Cathy's dad said, as we reached the master bedroom, and he strode over to the window. 'On a clear day, you can see right down the valley.'
Then a bat flew in through the window, and right into my face.
I don't know if you've ever had a bat fly into your face, but you don't have an enormous amount of time to work out your coping technique. You kind of...ride on instince. My instinct, it turned out, was to scream 'WHAT THE FUCKING?', and hurl my red wine right across the world's whitest room."

Love it.... yes it's crass and sometimes over the top... but hilarious... I actually busted out laughing on the plane a few times... that's all for now...

The weather

I think it is an appropriate time to introduce everyone to the wonderful world of weather here in Beijing.

I can't find any very descriptive words to explain the changes the city has seen in the last few days with respect to weather. But, I don't think my cold/body/lungs appreciate the changes in temperature, pollution, and psychotic wind episodes.

Hong Kong was very warm and I loved being there. It was absolutely amazing and the weather stayed around the 70s the whole time we were there. When coming back to Beijing I thought to expect the worst. I found the temperatures slightly mild, still cold, but not too bad. Then I got sick and feel like I have been locked up in my headcold/apartment for forever (it was only two days but my head was foggy for a few after that).

I woke up Monday morning hearing the sound of water on the road. Having lived in Bellingham/ PNW for so long, I have grown accustomed to waking up in the morning and being able to hear what the weather was like. Strange, I know. I realized this as I lay in my Beijing bed, hearing water on the road, hoping it was raining. I miss the sound of rain, I miss rain.

Anyway, I got up, open my curtains... and there it was, snowing.... I didn't realize it had been that cold. But guess it decided to snow. For a few hours, some of it stuck... some didn't. Anyway... snow. cold. Kind over it.... so there's the snow.

Tuesday, I wake up, walkout side and its warm. I dressed for snow mind you. By the time I get to my bus and get on, I have taken off my jacket, sweatshirt, hat, scarf, gloves, and ready to take off my work shirt, but figure I shouldn't completely strip on the bus in front of all the people that are already staring at me like I am an alien. (I do get stared at a lot, not only for being white and having blonde hair, but also because I am the only non-Chinese person on the bus... and I think also something to do with my skin... people talk about it a lot.)

Wednesday rolls around.. not sure what to expect at this point. Slept in late not worrying about the time. I get outside and it's even warmer. The sun is out. It's a nice day for once. I can tell spring is coming and being outside makes me happy for the first time in a while.

Now today... Thursday. I woke up this morning to strange buzzing sound. First I went to open the curtains to see what it looked like outside, and nothing out of the ordinary. I gray (maybe a slightly orange haze) hazy-looking day. I sit down at my computer and hear the buzzing again. So I walk to my window and look outside again and realize the wind is out of control. Trees look like they are about to fall down, people are holding on to hats, shit is flying around everywhere.... then it dawns on me.... It's almost March... which means time for our Gobi Desert storms..... oh joy oh rapture. The orange haze is due to the sand being blown into the city. The wind has picked up because the weather is getting warmer which means the sands will continue to fill the city causing for an even more enjoyable pollution/sand-filled/whathappenedtothesunblueskiesclouds city. I have grounded myself for the day. I refuse to venture into the orange world out my window. (yes the photo blow has been instagramed.. so no it is not that orange... but it helps add to the effect).

On a side note... I only have 6 and half months left. Everything has been settled to start Grad school September 16th (except financial aid which I should have no problem with, but won't find out until August.) I do appreciate and love my experiences here, and love the people I am around... but I think there are other cities around the world I could find the same experience... and still be able to hear the sound of rain, see the sun and clouds.. and blue skies. I'm happy to going back home. But still have a lot to do and learn while I am here.

Ice, ice baby

Apologies for the prolonged absence. Not going to update as there is too much to right and I want to keep this short and sweet.

Today started off not so well. I did get to sleep in as I do not have class until 1. But as I was leaving my home, I had a TIC moment (this is china!!)...

As many of you know the pollution in Beijing is at a pretty much all time high. I no longer have visibility beyond a few hundred feet. The sky is no where in sight. And clouds? What's that? It's always fun trying to teach children about the weather. No one ever knows what to say when you ask "what's the weather like today?"

I looked out my window, as I do every morning to see another grey day. To my dismay, this grey was due to some sort of rain/snow/mist happening. This rain/snow/mist made the ground very wet this morning (obviously), but then the temperature dropped leaving a thin sheet of ice covering Beijing. Oh joy, oh rapture, as my mother would tell her students to say instead of a complaint. I shuffled my way to the bus missing two along the way as I didn't want to risk running and falling on my ass. When I made it to the bus stop my bus was pulling up. I got to the door just as the driver closed it. I turned around and a man yelled, "it stopped" as there was a red light a few feet away. So I once again walked to the bus door and banged on it. The bus attendant looked at me and shooed me away.

I gave up, and took a taxi, getting there before the bus. Hah!

I am currently working 6 days a week and required to be in the office at least 40 but will be working closer to 50 this week. I have a 3.5 hour class this morning and had to stay for another one at 5:45. But, luck was on my side and my class was cancelled. I was able to leave and come home earlier than expected. Won't have to be back again until 1 tomorrow but will have to stay until 8.

I'd love to post pictures of the pollution but I just can't be bothered. Just imagine a grey world of nothing. And it can't be compared to a cloudy day because at least you know it's going to rain. this is just dirt. And now that there is moisture, the dirt is raining/snowing on to us. Here's to hoping the pollution subsides and the ice melts.