Times change and so can people too!!!

The past few weeks I have been experiencing an incredible change in my attitude.  To be honest, I had to re-examine a bit why I decided to come to China in the first place and think about what were my major goals.  I decided that it was time for me to put all my effort into improving my spoken Chinese before coming home this year for the summer.  This decision has allowed me to really appreciate my time in China and focus the greatest part of my attention on a noble and attainable goal.  I did come to China with a little background knowledge of their history, but I would say that nothing in my life had created a passion in me for Chinese culture previous to coming to China like I have know.  The little history I thought I know about China evolved after taking a history course from the visionary guidance of Professor Bohr.  The real watershed moment came for me after I made the decision to purchase a twelve-hour Chinese podcast last month.  After finishing the first tape, I purchased another six-hour podcast and have been spending a great amount of time each day devoted towards oral Chinese.

The other great change came from the books I had been reading prior to my Kindle’s demise last week.  The end of my Kindle came as I was engulfed in the reading of a “George Washington” biography.  After falling asleep I forgot to put the Kindle away on the shelf, and you guessed it, I rolled over and elbowed it during the night.  The past few books greatly had changed my perspective on a wide variety of topics.  I really took the life of George Washington to heart as I began to realize that I shared a characteristic trait with one of the founding fathers.  I too believe greatly in self-improvement and lifelong learning which I feel both are noble pursuits.  Therefore, I decided that I needed to tackle the one area which I felt most lacking in my life right now and that was oral Chinese communication.

I pushed myself each day and spent countless hours of listening, speaking, practicing note cards, and taking notes on oral Chinese.  As time wore on, I discovered that spending time working on Chinese no longer felt like work but seemed more like a passion to me.  My desire to learn Chinese grew as I pursued conversations more eagerly.  Each conversation seemed to go more smoothly and produced in me a greater sense of confidence after I was slowly improving my listening comprehension.  My spoken Chinese is not bad; however, I was really have a tough time understanding what people have been asking me which left me feeling very frustrated at times.  The next evolution in my studying of Chinese came when I started watching Chinese movies with subtitles which pushed my listening comprehension skills more. Coupling my personal studying habits with time spent walking with my friend Maggie, an eighteen-year English studying veteran, has helped me to improve my Chinese of late. 

In the past two weeks I have gone out and ordered all the food and drinks at a restaurant, done my own dry cleaning, and frequently taken taxis around town.  With my confidence growing I spent the past two Sunday’s chatting with my good friend, Emma in Chongqing using mostly Chinese.  That change along with the start of a new semester of teaching has really changed my outlook at my entire experience in China.  I now feel a lot more passion for being in China and understand that I can one day reach my goals of speaking Chinese fluently if I put my mind to it.

In the past few weeks I have decided that I dream of being able to next year travel somewhere in China using only Chinese.  With this being said, I also am planning on visiting Cambodia and Thailand next year, so I know I will need to work very hard to save up my salary as much as possible starting this month.  Having this tangible and attainable goal has put a new face on my studying of Chinese and really encouraged me to keep working at it.  My Chinese friends are great at being patient with me while I work steadfastly at improving my oral Chinese and have reminded me what it means to be a patient listener. 

I really have come to respect the level of friendship which I find very unique to Asian cultures.  I have no where in my life been able to say that I would with the same frequency help out friends in need in the United States.  I understand now that a lot of Asian cultures promote saving-face and pressuring people to do certain things regardless of their intrinsic motivation.  Even so, I have had some very open conversations with friends and found that they would most times do the same things for honest people even without the Chinese cultural expectations.  I truly believe that before I came to China I wanted to be a good person in life and do the right things if given the chance.  China has shown me a whole other level of kindness which I hope I will remember when it comes my time to help a friend in need.

From really engrossing myself in Chinese culture I discovered a greater personal appreciation and respect for it.  I have recently been watching Chinese movies which have covered a variety of topics from Confucius to the Cultural Revolution.  After reading the latest Lisa See Novel titled, “The Dreams of Joy” which describes with great detail the disastrous effects of Chinese Great Leap Forward a real sadness developed in me for the people of China.  This attempt to pass the modernized western world in a few years time with suspect harvesting policies, propaganda, threats, murder, and fear is but a glimpse into the defects of a unitary state system. 

Unfortunately, I often wonder to myself what becomes of a place which celebrates someone responsible for so much destruction and builds them up into a demigod for posterity’s sake.  What Mao did to his own people in order to pursue his own personal agenda resembles Stalin in Russia, Hitler in Germany, Cesar in Rome, etc.  One of the things which people in China often say is that it was not Mao’s entire fault since he had some bad people in his gang of four running the country with him.  My response to that is that a leader is responsible for the people they put around them to run a government.  If those around them reflect poor governing tendencies than it is the responsibility of that leader to appoint new leaders.  This is especially true in places which do not reflect democratic tendencies. 

I found that some of China’s traditional films depicted peace and harmony as being superior to war and loss of life.  I feel that at the heart of most Chinese people is a great desire to be at peace with others.  This tendency has many different reverberations throughout society some which are positive and others which I feel are negative.  One of the more interesting ones I find is the sense of being almost ambivalent towards the outside world and news outside of China.  There is a feel that China still and always has been the “Middle Kingdom” literally “Zhong Guo” (pinyin for China”.  I believe that many people in China would like nothing more than to be left alone by the rest of the world and left to live their own lives in peace.

I enjoyed greatly my first class of the spring semester this week and believe that I have a good group of students I will be working with.  My class schedule has been cut back which is going to give me more time to be able to continue learning Chinese each day which I am excited about.  I have learned to not expect a lot from my students in regards to their motivation to attend class, interest in English, and level of proficiency.  Therefore, I have come to except that I will not be able to control the destiny of my own course as by the end of most semester I am down to only a couple of students attending class.

The past week I was injured with what at first I feared might be a serious problem with my appendicitis.  Luckily, after a few days time the symptoms regressed and I was able to regain full activity level in a week’s time.  Going to the hospital again in China reminded me of the incredibly different approach to medicine China has compared to western nations.  I also realize that due to China’s incredible amount of patients in the hospital people the system cannot be the same as in the United States.  However, the differences are stark as going to the hospital truly feels like going to the market. 

First, you will see a general doctor who examines you and hears your symptoms.  This doctor will advise you to go get a specific test done at another location which will bring you to a different doctor.  At that station, the doctor will usually scan something specific and pass the results on to another doctor which will take another scan and so on.  After finishing all the necessary tests you report back the results to the first doctor who decides what to do.  That first doctor is also the one who examined you and proscribes a certain treatment for the patient.  The patient finishes by going to another counter to pay for his medication.  Throughout the time at the hospital you are surrounded by people waiting at the doctor’s desk to get their tests examined, medication proscribed, etc.  There can be anywhere from ten-twenty people with a doctor at anytime.  At no time will a patient and doctor have privacy in this process.  Obviously, in this system personal testing results are verbally broadcasted for all to hear.

After spending over a year in China now I can safely say that visiting the doctor is my least favorite thing about being here.  The weather in Chongqing is a constant negative as well; however, I have learned to tolerate that part of the experience as no person can change the weather.  The third thing which I feel to be the biggest detractor to living in China is the constant pollution and proximity to people which a person deals with constantly.

Overall, I am excited to begin a new semester and feel that as my first year in China is winding down I can safely say I have made great strides in oral Chinese.  Where I go from here in regards to learning the language is really up to me.  Two interestingly different traits have increased in me as my appreciation for being in China has increased in ways and digressed in other ways.  I feel greater love for my experiences here and treasure them more and also a greater longing to be home to see family and friends.  In this way, I believe that I am going to be satisfying both desires by taking advantage of my time in China to speak the language and looking forward to coming home this summer to visit Minnesota.

I wish all of you the best in this early spring season.

E.K.

Spring Festival in China or the "Chinese New Year"

Since living in China for almost a year the only major celebration that I had missed was the Spring Festival which is commonly known in the United States as the “Chinese New Year”.  I had heard some details from Cory on the incredible size and scale of the celebration which seemed unimaginable at the time.  Rest assured, I was preparing myself for a celebration on a massive scale which I felt would be a capstone experience here in China.  I was going to find out that for all of my mental preparation I still would find myself in disbelief at the sheer awesomeness of it all.

The Spring Festival includes elements of ancient Chinese culture as do all important traditional celebrations in China.  The Spring Festival has been celebrated in China for nearly four-thousand seven-hundred years making it one of the oldest annual traditions in the world today.  The Spring Festival ushers in the New Year based off of the lunar or “moon” calendar.  On the beginning of each new lunar year thousands of firecrackers are fired off to scare away a mythical creature called “Nian” (pinyin).  This mythical creature is fabled to come at the beginning of the lunar year to each village and ravage the livestock, grains, and even take away small children.  Chinese tradition holds that villagers must place out food in front of their homes in order to allow the “Nian” to gorge itself before it can take away anything of value to the family.  The present day celebration maintains many of the traditional elements including family gatherings, gift-giving, fireworks, auspicious symbolism, large meals, and lots of drinking.

I was soon to find out the enormity of this holiday a few days in advance as anxious youngsters started firing off fireworks in advance of the first day of celebration.  Cory and I were welcomed to share in the festivities by our supervisor at Southwest University, Mr. Tian.  The twenty-third of January was the first official day of celebration which included two large family meals with the Tian family.  Before the meal I watched as the family burned incense candles to auspiciously signal luck and fortune in the New Year.  The first meal was held at the home of one of Mrs. Tian’s relatives which included a wonderful assortment of delicacies.  Each traditional Chinese celebration includes a variety of foods meant to represent the bountifulness which will hopefully be present in the coming year.  Some of the foods included steamed pork, tender beef slices, wild vegetables, etc.  The meal also included pig’s feet and a couple of other dishes which Cory and I stayed away from.  Overall the meal was delicious and a nice way to begin the holiday season.

That evening another important meal was held with the Tian family at the same home as was at lunch.  The home looked extremely clean which apparently is an important part of the Spring Festival preparation.  According to legend, it is extremely bad luck to not have your home tirelessly cleaned and food cocked before the festival begins.  Dinner included a homemade hot pot feast which is always a favorite of the local people of Chongqing.  Chongqing is known in China as being one of the five “furnaces” which symbolizes the incredible heat that is prevalent each summer.  It also reflects the hot pot food which is steamed in spicy “la jao” seasoning which seems interesting to me since the weather is already incredibly “spicy” for most of the year.  I am in the opinion that maybe serving food that was not spicy might be better to try and cool the body but what do I know?  I guess in the end the hot pot food does make you sweat which is a natural way of cooling the body.  While eating such a meal it is common even in winter to see a person wiping off sweat from their forehead.  At these Spring Festival meals the main beverage is rice wine called “Bai jiu” (pinyin).  This liquor is not known well in the United States but it can certainly match up to any counterpart in potency.  In a strange reflection of Chinese culture it is seen as being almost impolite to not leave a meal a little drunk.

I find this aspect of their celebrating a bit of a dichotomy as much of Chinese culture is based off of saving-face at all costs.  The dichotomy lies in the fact that it seems to me that the more inebriated a person gets the less their away of their surroundings and more likely to do something less endearing in nature.  Chinese cultural mores reject personal individualism at a cost to group dynamics and constrain individuals to be mindful of maintaining peaceful relationships at all times.  Therefore, it puzzles me as to why so many people have absolutely no problem getting drunk at family gatherings.  A person who is drunk will always make mistakes and can unfortunately negatively impact their relationships in the process. 

At most important meals in China there will be a couple people who drink so much that they do something embarrassing.  Many Chinese people will tell you that this is not disrespectful though because it is a result of the liquor working within the person and not the true intentions of that individual.  From a psychological standpoint it is easy for me to see why the people would want to have this way to release a little of their inner-self constraint in this sort of open setting.  I believe that in this culture many Chinese restrain their inner feelings so much that they feel relieved that at least in a family setting this sort of behavior is permissible.  The dinner table really expresses to me a different part of Chinese culture in itself truly making China a “table culture”.  My supervisor described China as a table culture to me a long time ago and after being here for a year it seems something quit apropos. 

I greatly enjoyed my experiences at both meals on the first day of Spring Festival.  Each family member seemed in great spirits as did most of the people I passed by in town.  I learned that an important part of the Spring Festival is forgiving people and previous trespasses from the previous year.  Traditionally, the Spring Festival was a time to let go of old disputes and work on building sincere relationships in the coming year.  As I am not Chinese I am unable to personally experience this aspect of the celebration; however, it looked as if people truly were at least attempting to put their best foot forward in the future. 

Another important part of the Spring Festival is the giving of the presents, usually money, to the younger members of the family.  These red envelopes or “Hongbao” (pinyin) represent the giving nature of the celebration which acts as a western Christmas and Birthday present.  Interestingly, the person who is celebrating their own birthday hosts the party and pays for everything often spending exorbitantly to show off his/her prosperity.  This usually occurs on the morning of the first official day of celebration when family members get together for the first time.  I did not see this part of the celebration so I cannot comment further on it. 

Throughout Rongchang traditional Chinese characters suggesting “longevity”, “wealth”, “fortune”, etc adorned the homes of residents and businesses alike.   These characters accompanied red paper colored couplets which represent many positive things in Chinese culture such as, passion, fire, happiness, success, etc.  The town was also canvassed with beautiful neon lights which glimmered in the night for all to appreciate. 

One of the most incredible aspects of the entire Spring Festival for me was the amount of fireworks.  I can really not attempt to tell you how this affected me as I have never been exposed to such a number of fireworks before.  At first, it seemed very amusing to me and really exciting as people were not inhibited to fire off any firework no matter of size, scope, or potential damage to private property.  Parents did not even attempt to hold back children from firing off fireworks literally at their own feet.  Two kids through a little firework almost at my feet one night which caused me to jump back a bit in self defense.  The police stood idle to all onlookers and did not even attempt to restrain individuals.  Throughout the two weeks fireworks were fired off continuously as I could wake up at any time during the morning and hear some off in the distance.  Luckily, my apartment was away from the center areas of the city so my sleep was not interrupted.  In some areas of China fireworks are restricted and permitted only in center city areas for certain times during the Spring Festival; however, in the countryside the celebrating is not limited by local authorities in the slightest.

For the next several days Cory and I were continually invited to eat at each meal which included the best food possible as is tradition.  Often, the meat that is served includes a high fat content which reflects the traditionally tasty cuts of meat that have been a part of the festival throughout time.  The other major foods types are vegetables and rice which is a staple of all Asian meals.  As for liquor, I prefer to refrain from drinking the stronger rice wine and stick to beer as it is costume to have to drink large quantities at meal time.  When a person makes a toast directed at you it is custom to finish the entire glass in one big gulp.  People are given smaller shot sized glasses to drink with; nonetheless, drinking at the dinner table takes away from the food in my opinion as it is very important to ritual each toast by standing to show respect. 

Overall, I enjoyed the Spring Festival and will always cherish the great and lasting memories of my Chinese family and friends!

E.K.         

Part two of South East Asia vacation: Malaysia

My Malaysian adventure started off with a felling of foreboding as I could tell I was getting a cold my last day in Vietnam.  Luckily, the trip from HCMC to Kuala Lumpur was a brief two hour flight.  Cory enjoyed the abundant selection of on-flight movies which our international flight provided us while I enjoyed reading about Robert Kennedy’s 1968 Presidential campaign.  For being my first time riding on a small country airline provider I was very impressed with the service and whole experience.  In the future, I think I will be more confident riding on small nation airlines in order to find cheaper booking fees. 

After landing in Kuala Lumpur’s International Airport it did not take a very long time for me to realize that this place was extremely modern.  Cory and I traveled to our international check-in by riding an electronic monorail inside the airport.  In China, very few airports have this electronic monorail system installed today.  Instead, passengers are sometimes forced to walk long distances from check-in to terminal departure gates and from landing gates to baggage claim exits.  After clearing security and getting our luggage we commenced our journey to Kuala Lumpur (K.L.) by airport taxi.  In my travels I have encountered how greedy the independent taxi drivers can be in regards to charging exorbitant prices to foreign tourists.  It did not take us a long time to discover that people drove on the opposite sides of the roads as in England.  This confusing system made me think back to some of the stories my parents told me growing up about driving in England.

 The drive to K.L. was plush with vegetation of beautiful radiance as the sun shone down upon the earth.  Cory and I greatly enjoyed the resplendent feel of sun on our skin due to our lack of sun in Rongchang, China.  Since the end of October Rongchang has maybe been sunny maybe thirty times.  It was a nice change being able to pass the hour drive to our hostel in a relaxed state as our taxi driver was able to speak English.  While researching Malaysia on the internet I discovered that English, Chinese, and Malay were the most commonly spoken languages in the country.  It was this incredible great fortunate of being able to easily communicate which allowed our travel to be hassle free.

The drive also evinced a thought of concern in me as I saw what looked to be crops of manufactured tree farms across the land.  The trees clearly all resembled each other which made me think right away that something was a little strange.  It later occurred to me to ask one of our tour guides who confirmed my worst fears.   The demand for coconut oil among other resources has created a need to construct artificial forests in order to maintain the supply.  Clearly, the natural wildlife has been hurt by these mass tree concentrations which have worked to meet the world’s demand for coconut oil.  Without natural speciation, the environment of many third world countries has been marginalized in order to meet consumer demands for such products.

Cory and I unpacked our gear at our youth hostel and embarked on a half day’s worth of travel.  I quickly became a little concerned as the weather was extremely hot and I felt that I almost suffered from heat exhaustion a couple times in Vietnam.  This cause for concern returned to me the realization that I really needed to drink plenty of water.  That afternoon Cory and I would walk several city blocks encountering different parts of the local culture.

Our first stop this afternoon was going to be the National Mosque which was a half mile away from our hostel.  On our way to visit the National Mosque Cory and I saw an artistic building which we soon discovered had been converted into a train station.  The train station building held a decidedly Arabic design with minarets rising alongside the building.  When we reached the National Mosque we discovered that it was closed which forced us to be only able to snap a few photos outside.  Next, Cory and I walked to Independence square which held some of the British and Dutch architecture present at the time of Malaysian Independence.  This massive square also held a large green field which people were using as a place for recreation.  The last major sight for the day was the Jamek Mosque which was beautifully designed with a Middle Eastern style.  For dinner we settled on some Chinese food which seemed very near to home for us.  The food was from a different region of China altogether which made it taste unique for our local Chongqing food though.

The next morning, I already was feeling the affect’s of the cold as I soon developed a stuffy nose and cough.  I had pre-warned Cory that I might need to rest that day as I was feeling under the weather.  Luckily, I slept well into the morning and was able to feel virile enough to take a tour bus of the city with Cory.  The rest of the day we spent visiting some of the city’s cultural and historical highlights.  I enjoyed the way the tour bus system operated as it allowed for people to chose where they wanted to stop.  A continuous amount of buses toured specific city landmarks stopping every half an hour from nine a.m. to eight p.m. which allowed tourists to spend as much or as little time at a destination.  Tourists therefore enjoyed the ability to decide which stops will best fit their appetite and which ones they will skip along the way.

The highlight of the hop-on-hop-off tour was being able to see so much of the city without having to spend a lot of time getting there.  Cory and I stopped at the old king’s mansion, K.L. gardens, freedom monument, arts center, and the Petronas Towers.  I was feeling pretty good this evening which afforded Cory and I the opportunity to try out some of the local Malay food.  Unfortunately, the cards were stacked against us as we determined that the process for eating seemed strange to us and most people could only speak Malay.  A little dejected, Cory and I returned back to our hostel thinking of another way to try some delicious local food.  One of the things that we kept hearing from foreign travelers was how wonderful the local cuisine was to eat; therefore, we were resolute in our desire to try some before we returned to China. 

The next morning, Cory and I awoke early in order to catch a guided tour to the port city of Malacca.  Cory and I were both relaxed with the pace of this tour as merely one other person from Japan accompanied our tour guide.  This first tour would be one of several tours which afforded us with incredible freedom in Malaysia.  As I had come incredibly prepared for the hot weather I was a little disappointed that the sun was hidden behind the clouds this day.  Nonetheless, this cloud cover did not deter me from drinking plenty of water as I knew that my fair skin was still at risk.

Malacca was an old trader’s town with a rich history and cultural background dating back before Roman times.  Throughout the centuries Arabic, Indian, Chinese, and European settlers all influenced this local Malay population.  Each different culture left a distinct part of it which remains pivotal in the city to this day.  Dutch, English, and Portuguese Churches and forts protected this strategic port for over five-hundred years.  Before that time Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders had controlled the waters around Malacca in an attempt to influence trading partners.  Eventually, the power of European colonial forces outmatched the Oriental peoples and created the present day settlement of Malacca. 

I found Malacca to be a microcosm of the eclectic background of people present in Malaysia.  With Malaysia diverse history it is no wonder that walking around the city you can hear English, Chinese, Hindu, Arabic, and Malay with a pretty common occurrence.  On our way back to K.L, I had a great conversation with the Japanese tourist who also could speak English.  I discovered that she has been taking conversational English lessons in Japan from an English teacher who graduated from Saint Olaf College, Minnesota.  I am always shocked when I am able to meet a person from Asia who knows someone back in Minnesota.  The world is truly an incredibly interconnected place today with a continuous amount of options available to live abroad.

               The next morning I awake feeling the worst since arriving in Malaysia; nonetheless, I knew that the day’s journey was going to be a memorable one which pushed me to sally forth.  The trip embarked from a local rendezvous point in K.L. which took us to the wildlife sanctuary about two hours from the city.  At this sanctuary Cory and I were going to have the ability to get close and personal with a host of different animals.  Naturally being a person of nature, I was most excited to be able to have an intimate connection with some of my favorite creatures such as deer, rabbits, and exotic birds.  Three girls from Mexico accompanied our tour which made this the largest guided tour Cory and I would have in Malaysia.  This personal feel appealed to Cory and I after being in large groups in Vietnam. 

               The wildlife sanctuary was deep in the Jungle which took us past some of the more rural and poor parts of Malaysia.  Here we were far away from the modern fifth avenue stores and 21^st century technology of K.L.  Seeing the vastly different lifestyles was another classic example of how each country has their own difficult creating a system which promotes advantages for the lower classes. 

               The first part of the wildlife tour included petting and feeding deer in their natural environment.  The personal feel of being able to walk into their cages and be with the animals was something that was incredibly liberating.  Very places in the United States would let you walk into the animal’s cages and be with them as visitors.  After visiting several other animals I unexpectedly encountered my next big decision in life as another snake holding opportunity awaited me!  This time I really had no reason to say no as our group only had five members in it and everyone had held the snake twice before I submitted to do it once.  All that I can remember from feeling the snake was that it was not slimy at all and extremely heavy as it was a big snake.  The pictures Cory took of me do not appropriately show the fear that I held inside even as the snake was docile in temperament.  The one resounding thought I can remember thinking was that the snake was moving and that terrified me!

               Next, our tour guide ushered us back into our van as we traveled to the Elephant sanctuary.  Out of all the things that I did in South East Asia this was going to be one of the most memorable for me as I have always dreamt of seeing wild Elephants.  After watching a local video on the effects of deforestation and commercialization of land on local Elephant populations the group headed off to visit the real animals.  I really felt great excitement for this part of the tour as we were able to feed the Elephants by hand, take a ride on their backs, and pet them.  Nothing can describe the feeling of being high above the back of an Elephant feeling the sheer power of this magical and mythical animal. 

               The trip back to K.L. was cheerful as one of the three girls from Mexico spoke almost fluent English.  She had an interesting story as she had been going to college abroad in Taiwan for two years for international business.  Talking with her invigorated in me the desire to have more new experiences as it is clear to me now that nothing compares to the joy found in truly original moments in life.

That night I went to bed early as I was feeling the effects of the cold on my constitution.  I believed that if I got a good night sleep I could defeat the cold, so the following day Cory and I decided to leave open to be determined on how I was feeling.  I always tell Cory that he is free to do whatever he would like if he finds something that I want to do unsuitable.  I find his easy-going demeanor to be a very likeable trait even if I do not posses it within myself.  I know that I sometimes go through life so fixated on meeting my own goals that I miss the opportunity to relish in the true beauty of everyday life.  I know that I can be sometimes demanding in what I expect out of others and always try my best to let them be aware that they can disregard my  machinations when they see fit.  At least, I try to be open to allow people to voice concerns when they believe that I am being demanding.  On this occasion, rest was the perfect medicine as I was happy to awake finding myself feeling better than I had hoped.

Due to my reinvigorated spirit, Cory and I started the afternoon off by stopping at the Batu Caves located on the outskirts of K.L.  This incredible Hindu monument was nestled atop two-hundred seventy-five stairs carved into the base of a mountain.  When it was built it must have been the perfect place for ancient ascetics to spend time mediating.  The stairs leading up to the cave contained a horde of wild monkeys looking to steal food from any unsuspecting tourist.  Parallel to the stairs stood a massive golden statue of the Hindu goddess of peace.  Upon reaching the top of the stairs I discovered that the natural wonders continued to astonish me in this sacred Hindu place of worship.  I entered a large limestone chamber which had been eroded away from centuries of decay and stretched at least a hundred feet from the ground to roof.  Inside stood other Hindu religious structures where some people knelt praying nearby; although, the majority of people at this time were other tourists. 

After leaving our first religious monument of the day Cory and I headed off to see the National Mosque back in K.L.  The beauty of traveling in Malaysia is that the modern systems and local knowledge of English allow for tourists to go easily about the city.  Cory and I took the train at the nearby station we had visited earlier and it took us within five minutes walking distance of the caves.  The convenience of travel enabled us to fill our day with efficient travel which is something that is much more difficult to do in China where people have trouble communicating with foreigners and large crowds inhibit efficiency.

The design of National Mosque was quite unique as it incorporated aspects of both modern and traditional Muslim elements in it.  Built in 1947, the Mosque has become the place for burial of many of Malaysia Prime Ministers and important officials.  All none Muslim visitors must take your shoes off to enter the mosque and wear a purple garb which covers your body and masks your head.  I enjoyed the architecture and design of the building while also appreciating the peaceful feeling inside.  I never thought that traveling in Muslim country could be as safe as it was in Malaysia.  I never felt any tension from local residents and believe strongly that people here have developed great tolerance for ideas.  Part of the reason for having this tolerance I believe is that Malaysia has always been a very diverse place consisting of many nationalities and religious beliefs.

After visiting the Mosque, Cory and I walked around the cities fashionable shopping districts to see if we could find a couple of DVD’s to bring back to China.  After having visited this place several times in the past few days I had become accustomed to seeing the modernity of K.L.  Literally I could find anything western in this area as they even had a Wendy’s fast food restaurant nearby.  For the past few nights we had come to this area and ate dinner outside enjoying the food and people watching.  I was able to finally eat some delicious Malay kabobs and other local food at one of these restaurants.  I also enjoyed Thai food and even indulged in eating at an Outback Steakhouse on one occasion.

I was struck by hearing the call to pray walking around the city throughout my time in K.L.  The male Arabic voice poetically beckoning his fellow Muslims to worship was a beautiful rendition of what peaceful Islam is about.  The greater Jihad is the inner struggle to defeat the myriad temptations and deficiency of one’s own flesh not the destruction of westerns.  Only Islamic religious fanatics resembling of Christians during the Crusades portray the lesser Jihad as calling Muslims to take up arms and seek out innocent women and children for murder.  Overall, I was very impressed with the hospitality of the Malay people and believe that if this is a microcosm of Islam than it is not something to be seen as a hateful religion at all.  However, I am aware that Muslim countries in the Middle East are significantly different as they are very homogenous ethnically.   The constant battles within the Middle East for national identity and religious solidarity has also propelled radical forces to forefront of terrorist strategy in an attempt to scare people into submission.  These are the subversive forces which hamper modernity and moderation in a place which for centuries was more peaceful and enlightened than Europe during the Middle Ages.

The next morning Cory and were excited to spend one last day in Malaysia soaking up the sun as we headed off to visit Port Dickson.  Port Dickson is a beach town developed recently to fit an increasing demand for western minded beach tourists.  The weather this afternoon was beautiful and allowed for Cory and I to truly relax.  As Cory greatly enjoys spending time on the beach sitting in the sun I left him to relax while I went on a run into town.  As the temperature was already in the mid eighties I did not last very long until I decided it was time to head back to check on Cory.  When I returned, Cory was enjoying a couple of beers, a nice refreshing breeze off the ocean, and the beauty of the sun shining down on him.

This calm did not last long as I find it exceedingly hard to stay sitting for long periods of time.  Cory spoke of wanting to go wind-surfing which is something that I confess I knew very little about and had never really considered doing before.  Walking down the beach we discovered a team of men ready to assist in our desire for adventure.  I quickly decided that it was best if I ran to the bathroom before taking off into the sky hundreds of feet in the air which left Cory to go first.  Looking back if I would have seen his landing I probably would not have gone for he apparently landed tumbled several times before stopping on the beach.  Listening to the directions and Cory’s advice I felt that I was more than enough up for the task even if I had technically a bad history with injuries and maladies.

The take-off went smoothly enough as I soon found myself hundreds of feet in the air high above the ocean’s waves.  I think all humans have a desire to fly like a bird in the sky if they are honest with themselves and this experience in the air was breath taking for sure.  I prayed to God and thanked him for creating such a beautiful universe full of unbelievable experiences for those who would take them.  I also thought about my Mother up in the sky.  I was wondering what she would say to me if she could see my so high in the sky.  I know that pride comes before the fall and I was about to have a rude awakening as I landed para the instructions of lead instructor.  I pulled down hard on my parachute straps but apparently did not let go soon enough before impact.  Believe me when I say that it was a mighty impact as I was barely able to get walk back from limping on my leg so badly.  The worst part of the injury was that I had an enormous raspberry alongside my hip which took the brunt of my landing.  I have always had a strong rump and was lucky on this occasion as well as it help me to cushion the blow.

The ride back to K.L. and the proceeding evening were very painful periods for me as I cycled around a lot of horrifying alternatives.  I was lucky to have Cory with me as he helped me mentally get over my un-rational fears regarding the situation.  He even went off and got dinner for me that evening at a local Burger King.  I cannot thank him enough for all of his help for me during that day of convalescence.  That evening I talked with another American foreign teacher who had been traveling for a few weeks around South East Asia.  I was struck by the incredible similarities of experiences we both had had trying to learn Chinese, speaking with locals, and over-coming difficulties.  Talking with him really made me feel better about myself and even validated a lot of the struggles I had gone through. 

I realized that the only way to improve my situation in Rongchang was by really focusing on learning Chinese again.  I had taken a couple of months off from my relentless pursuit of learning Chinese, but now I felt rejuvenated and refreshed from a few weeks outside of China.  I promised myself that I would really focus on Chinese and that would start the following day in the airport. 

That night I did not sleep well as my leg was throbbing and my skin sore from being sunburned; fortunately, it did not really matter much since we needed to get up at five a.m. in order to get to the airport in time to catch our flights.  On our way to the airport, Cory and I enjoyed a one hour conversation with a Malaysian taxi driver who was ecstatic to be able to practice his English with foreigners.  His English was phenomenal for someone who had only been speaking it for the past seven months consistently after getting a job as an airport taxi driver. 

Fortunately for me my leg had made incredible progress in less than a day’s time which signaled to me that I was going to be all right if I was able to keep my raspberry from getting infected.  That day in the airport I thought often about how fortunate I am to be able to do and see the things I have in my life.  At the age of twenty four I have been able to see more places than many people in the world period.  Most people in the world cannot afford to travel outside of their hometown, village, or city unless it is someone of the utmost necessity.  Looking back on my life I can safely say that I have been blessed to have the love and support of such great friends and family who help me to stay focused on the important things in life. 

This blog finishes my vacation this winter but does not encapsulate one of the great experiences which occurred for me this holiday.  My next blog will look into the wondrous holiday which is the Chinese New Year’s “Spring Festival”, some of the books I have been reading lately, and my continued goal of improving my oral Chinese.

Best,

E.K.