Some important revleations and a few ruminations of late!

The last few weeks I have been busy teaching English and studying Chinese which both have become great passions of mine.  Of late, I have taken an extended break from over-exercising in order to allow my body the necessary time to heal from a strained abdominal muscle.  I also caught a pretty bad cold which exacerbating my period of down time the last two weeks. These two parallel trends have resulted in a complete change in my homeostasis as my personal life has suddenly reached a point of unmatched peace.  During this period of time I took a look at my life again for the first time in a few months.  I learned through some tough lessons that it is extremely important to live with a comfortable balance in life; neither giving the body too much, nor limiting it to too little of what it needs.  Living in extreme is both unhealthy to mind and the body.  I found out that not only was this true in a biological sense but also in a physical sense as well.  I was to discover after careful reflection on my life that I had chosen to be a teacher at a point in my life where I really did not know myself too well.

Looking back now, I realize that high school was not going to be a good fit for me personally as I am a person who desires competition and strives to have my success acknowledged by others.  Cooperation and teamwork are crucial aspects of teaching high school.  I am person who also wants to feel respected in the profession I am working in.  I believe that as a high school teacher, I would constantly have to try and earn the respect of students who I believe have the wrong outlook on what the teacher-student relationship is all about.  I feel that this is the opposite way that things should be and that I myself will never be able to change this reality; therefore, I must find a new type of career to meet my personal needs and desires. 

Since I have always been a very competitive person who enjoys communication and feels an intrinsic need and desire to respect people and be respected myself; I have decided that a career in business would best fit these requirements.  Obviously, a career in business is something that does not leave you feeling as intrinsically motivated as a career in teaching does; however, I believe that working for a company that is responsible for helping others through their products can also be extremely beneficial to people.  I also had the long standing belief that if I was to become a businessman I might become corrupted by greed or other self-indulgent desires outside of my own personal needs.  After some long mediation on the subject I finally realized that independent of your career a person can be good or bad depending on their own personal morals and not strictly based off of their line of work.  There are people in every career who are very good and very bad people; therefore, there is absolutely no reason why I cannot work in business and be one of the very good if I want to be.

With that in mind, I realized that there was nothing immoral about being a person in business.  I realized that I could be working for a positive and beneficial company whose products could make a positive difference in the lives of people every day.  I think that I found such a company in Ecolab.

I really like Ecolab’s global focus of promoting clean resources, energy efficiency, and healthy living.  I believe that being able to be a positive spokesperson for a company of this nature is the best answer for doing a beneficial career in business.  One important aspect for me I discovered was to find a company that would be creating products which benefitted all people around the world.  Ecolab’s acquisition of Nalco has positioned the company as a leader in the Asian market in the private sector. I also like Ecolab’s ability to push for efficient production of natural resources, such as water.

Another one of the important aspects of working for a company that has branches in Asia is that I can use my experiences in China to help me in my future career.  I really believe that I am making the most out of my experience; furthermore, I want to use my knowledge of China in which ever career I look towards in the future.  Since business between the United States and China will only continue to grow I feel that a career in business is an excellent way for me to be able to apply some of my understanding of China and the language best.        

Discovering that I needed to find a career that was right for me took a lot of reflection on my own life.  Looking back on my life in America, I realize now that I was constantly looking over my shoulder at the invisible competitor in my rearview mirror.  This caused me to push myself in every aspect of my life from sports, school, to even better my relationships.  I discovered that I often did things for reasons outside of myself and in ways that really were not ethical in order to satisfy my desire to succeed.  This took on a whole new level of obsession in college as I competed for a spot in division 1A football. 

In order to get to that desired level of competition I pushed my body to its limits as I lifted, ate, and trained everyday for the chance to play.  As I soon became frustrated for the first time in my life to succeed at something I turned to excess drinking, partying, and eating to assuage my bereavement at not being able to play.  Only after I had finished college and starting losing my excess weight from football did I realize the results of my unhealthy lifestyle the previous few years.  This came to as a shock to me as I had only ever been reinforced by society that I was supposed to be able to succeed at whatever I put my mind to.  Unfortunately, I had warning signs along the way from my family and friends giving me good advice.  The reality was that I did not really understand myself growing up and missed a lot of lessons that would be clear to me today.

This whole experience coupled with my loss of faith in the high school education system helped to propel me on the single greatest journey of my life.  Since I felt that I had consumed too much in the previous few years of college, and I decided that it was time for a change in my life, China seemed like a perfect place for me to go to push myself.  From talking with professors and acquaintances I knew that China was a place where I would not be surrounded by the abundance of things like I had become accustomed to as an American.  I also realized that I would be pushed in new and exciting ways which would help me solve some of the important issues in my own personal life.  On this journey I would travel though many different periods and face many different challenges.  The one constant belief during the whole journey has been my feeling that throughout it all I came to China for the right reasons and knew what I was getting myself into.

As I started my journey into my life in China I met challenges in the same mode as I always had in my life; face forward without fear of pain or failure.  Unfortunately, I was to find that again my dreams were going to be dashed as my body was not destined to endure a year’s worth of over training for the Chongqing marathon.  The beauty of this failure came in the fact that for the first time in my life I did not push myself to the point of completely tearing my hamstring to learn that I was not destined to champion the marathon this year.  Instead, I discovered that it was much better to not over-train my body and live within my physical limitations.  Successfully finding my boundaries before reaching a critical point of injury in my life was a real joy for me.

The second great change in my life came from analyzing the effects of my different lifestyle in China.  As I realized that Americans lived outside of their means both physically and mentally; I decided that I was going to try and live like the rest of the world and limit my resource capacity.  This was a somewhat interesting experiment that was eventually destined for failure.  At the time, I believed that I could maintain a healthy lifestyle and pursue intense exercise on a low-calorie / carbohydrate diet as long as I consumed enough sugar and drank plenty of fluids while exercising.   

The combined influences of training for a marathon, changing the content of my diet, and limiting my total caloric intake had drastic effects on my physical level of performance as time wore on.  That along with my incessant desire to not fail again forced me to sally forth through a summer of record heat in Chongqing, a place already known for being one of the warmest cities in China. 

Only after my failure was I able to realize that it was not best for my body to be limited in the resources it needed.  Therefore, I learned that living in either extreme excess or deprivation of what the body needed was truly unhealthy.  Only now do I realize that the body and mind are happiest when given exactly what they needs; no more, no less.  This seemingly easy lesson which everyone is told from a young age seems to have somehow avoided my realization in my state of being growing up.  Only now have I determined that in order to be successful I must meet the demands of my biological, mental, and spiritual self in moderation in order to be truly happy in life.

               All of this knowledge came through to me as I have spent the past few days talking with my Chinese friends over a variety of topics.  One such friend I have spent several times visiting helping prepare to take the equivalent of the GRE examination in the United States has helped me improve my Chinese greatly of late.  He asked me what I had been thinking about lately which helped me realize that I really had put a great deal of thought into my future without reflecting on the past few months in China.  Eric and many more of my Chinese friends are very responsible for helping me through some of these revelations as I have increasingly spent time working on my Chinese the past two months.

               The greatest change in my personal life has centered on my desire to really embrace speaking Chinese on a daily basis.  That coupled with nearly twenty hours of Chinese podcasts watched, a dozen Chinese movies, hundreds of note cards written, and many questions asked has helped me improve my Chinese at an accelerated pace the past two months.  My personal devotion to studying Chinese along with conversing in Chinese with my Chinese friends Eric, Jack, Maggie, and Emma have allowed me to reach a whole new level of verbal Chinese communication.  My greatest single obstacle remaining before feeling able to converse freely is my still a lack of clear comprehension of what people are saying back to me.  When I reach the point where I understand everything that is being said to me in return I know that I will be on my way to language proficiency.

               The other day in class I asked my students to share about any great ideas that they had discovered in their own lives.  Most of my students echoed similar responses relating to promoting world peace, protecting the environment, nature, etc.  The response of one student really stood out though as he remarked on wishing his high school experience could have been similar to that of an American student in high school.

After thinking a while and talking to a lot of my Chinese friends I discovered that many really do desire to be able to have the ability to think freely on their own.   Many are sick of living in fear that the government will take away everything in their life without having to answer for their actions.  Most of all, many would just like to be able to experience what it feels like to be able to have the freedom  to express themselves like Americans can.  Every single one of my students I have talked about their future have told me that they are so busy and need to work so hard that they never had time to consider their future.  Some discussed with me the frustration they had with not being able to choose the major they wanted to study, the school they went to, or being able to have the freedom that American students had to share ideas.

The thing that struck me most from this discussion was that with all of the freedom, liberty, and power of expression that American students have I should have been the happiest student on the planet in the United States.  Instead, I feel that I took a lot of things for granted growing up in America and wasted a lot of opportunities to be truly original.  I believe that I did not realize the freedoms that I had as a student, and I also feel like I did not even do a great job discovering a career I wanted to do while in college.  Likewise, I feel that most students in the United States take these same freedoms for granted and are as likely as I was to end up looking for a job in the wrong direction.  From looking at the situation from the standpoint of a Chinese student, I really feel a little depressed that many of my American peers will look back on their lives and wonder why they to choose the career that they did.  I would think that with the liberal education system in the United States more people would end up working in career that they loved.  Yet I think if everyone were honest with themselves many people would say that they are not in the right career and wish they could have found a different vocation.

The last great revelation which I found recently had to do with the idea of historical timing and benefiting from history in a way I would never have imagined without living in China.  The background from my revelation came from the fact that many people in China will tell you that China is a developing nation today.  At first, I felt that this comment was very odd indeed since I always thought of China as single greatest threat to the United States in an economic and military sense.   Therefore, when my students kept telling me this I felt that this might be a Communist propaganda campaign targeted to make people believe that they needed to feel threatened and use this as motivation to succeed. 

After being in one of China’s rural parts for over a year now I realize that this statement is absolutely true.  China has many problems with their infrastructure and a lot of them steam from the fact that they are trying to finish modernizing their country very fast.  The effects of China’s rapid modernization is that the today the country is dealing with a lot of pollution, poor workmanship, and demand issues related towards finding buyers for all the real-estate apartments that keep popping up almost overnight.  China is still the world’s premier producer of low priced goods, so they must challenge their mind set to try and modernize fitting a western model which has a one-hundred year plus head start in some areas of modernization.  I can see all of the problems of this modernization as everything from China’s transportation, electricity, and water development occurred in a matter of decades.  I thought about the history of the United States in comparison to China regarding our period of modernization and realized how lucky history was to the United States during our own industrialization period.

First off, the United States was extremely fortunate to not have to re-invent an older infrastructure and in a matter of decades such as China has done.  The United States was also favored by not having the population challenges that China has contend with.  Another important factor was the reality that like China the United States also had an abundance of cheap immigrant and slave labor during its industrial revolution to help develop it the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.  The greatest thing that benefited the United States was that besides the American Civil War (1860-1865) the United States developed during a relatively stable part of its history.  I think that many historians would also argue that the American Civil War helped to push manufacturing to reach production demands just like World War I and II did.  The obvious but unstated fact is that unlike China today people also flocked to the United States to take part in a democratic system which favored liberty to monarchy.  Therefore, many great European minds came across to help create innovative solutions and take advantage of American capitalism and opportunities unavailable in their former countries.

Overall, the last few weeks have been wonderful for me and I hope that I can continue to enjoy myself in China this much for the next few months before I visit Minnesota this summer!  Loving and missing of all throughout this period has been one of the steadfast parts of my experience.  Nonetheless, I am happy to report that I am happy and that things are going as well as they have for me since I arrived in China this time last year.

Best,

E.K.

 

         

 

                                

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.                

Vietnam (part one of a three part blog)

There are so many interesting things which have occurred in the past weeks that I feel my blog is a bit over due.  Since my last blog I have traveled to Vietnam and Malaysia with Cory, experienced my first Chinese New Year, and improved my Chinese quite a bit.  The beginning of the tale veils a hidden secret and conflict in my heart which has escalated to an awakening in my soul.  Due to the increased length of the blog I decided to write it in three parts:  Vietnam, Malaysia, and Spring Festival.  I hope this will introduce more perspectives on some of the incredible things that I have witnessed, felt, and experienced in the past few weeks.    

               The trip to Vietnam started off ominously enough as Cory and I had recently amended a quarrel.  It was the first time that such a situation occurred which caused both of us some caution in the future.    Overall, it was a good chance for both of us to work on some things which do not come easy for people.  Actions are actions and words are words.  Only through positive mediation can people hope to proceed past further obstacles and move forward.  In the end, I believe that both of us are better for sharing in a difficult situation and learning from it.

               January 2^nd was our scheduled day of departure which would signal an epic day of travel.  The overall travel time from Chongqing International Airport to Ho Chi Minh (HCMC) took eighteen hours.  When we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City it was already passed midnight Vietnam time.  The process for getting the Vietnamese visa was easy enough as we had both previously filled out all the proper documentation.  People often disregard thought to ponder things they have not experienced before.  After going through the time-consuming and sometimes frustrating visa process into China I can safely say that this was a much easier experience for me.  This was unfortunately not the case for a Canadian woman who failed to have the proper visa documentation.  The woman, obviously jet legged from her long journey continued to have problems getting her visa processed as Cory and I filled out some last clerical things.  Afterwards, we both headed down to the luggage carousel excited to have finally arrive in Vietnam and ready to start a new adventure. 

               Getting from the airport to our hostel was easy enough after we paid the nominal fee for the twenty-minute traffic free ride into HCMC.  I soon became nervous, as the un-marked taxi driver handed our luggage and motioned vaguely as to the direction of our hostel which looked no more than a back alley.  Walking with Cory at two a.m. through a maze of alleys in obviously lost would have been a nightmare for anyone.  Luckily, we were able to locate the hostel in only a couple minutes; however, the door was barred closed which left me wondering if traveling to Vietnam was a good idea after all.  Fortunately, Cory located a door bell hidden ominously inside the steal wired hostel gate which awoke two very old and tired employees.

               The next morning, I awoke eagerly awaiting my first glimpses of HCMC in day light.  The previous morning’s trip from the airport left a very blurred image of the city as I was trying my best to remain awake from the day’s travel.  From the car, I could still tell that HCMC was a place much less-developed than the booming Chinese cities I had visited this summer with my parents.  I believed quite quickly that it may be a lot less easy getting around here than I had previously hoped.

               I am glad that first impressions do not often tell a person the whole story because what I saw greatly astonished me.  I had entered an area which I soon realized was surrounded by the greatest number of foreigners I had seen at one time since being in the United States.  I was extremely shocked to hear most of the local people speaking English easily as they attempted to sell something to any foreigner who would listen.  I happened to be such a target as I became barraged from every possible corner. 

As I was without sun glasses in the mid-eighty degree weather, and engulfed with sunshine I realized that purchasing sunglasses was a pretty good idea.  I later would discover that I paid almost double for this first purchase than I could have bargained for if I knew the territory better.  I was a first mistake that I think a lot of foreigners will make when they enter a place with a very different culture.  I vowed that it would be a learning experience and the last time I got ripped-off buy local standards.  In reality, I was able to buy the sunglasses for about four dollars U.S.D which is something that no person can complain about I think.  At the same exact time I was asked by a flock of vendors if I wanted to hop on a motorcycle, take a rickshaw, tour of the city in a van, go to the Mekong Delta, or have message.  As I concluded my purchase, I left the vendors in the nick of time as a man started trying to use a toothbrush to clean my dirty shoes with before I could usher him away. 

               However, captivating my first sale’s vendor experience was it did not distract my attention away from the streets of HCMC.  From the moment a person stepped into plan site of the streets a mass of buzzing motorcycles came to greet them.  Only the brave travelers are able to muster up the courage to cross an intersection as they try to acclimate themselves to a world without cars.  I have been to Rome before which is infamous for having the most motorcycles in Europe.  Even with this experience in Europe and living China I realized that I too felt nervous around the bikers, scooters, and motorcycles racing through the city.  I soon learned that HCMC has over five million motorcycles in the city with roughly ten million inhabitants or about one bike for every two people.

               The first day in HCMC was spent visiting different sites which Cory and I had previously researched as being cannot miss landmarks.  The first stop on the list was the Ben Than market.  It was incredibly crowded and filled with all sorts of cheap goods for sale.  Believe me, if a person wanted to get some type of cheap knock-off product in Vietnam this was the best place to do it.  Crowds of foreign tourists walked through a maze of tightly enclosed selling stalls encouraging a feeling of claustrophobia for the unaccustomed onlooker.  The market itself is canvassed by a roof which is a godsend as the sun in Vietnam is penetrating even during the winter months.  Cory and I would pass through these stalls several days buying little trinkets for friends, family, and gifts and personal mementos.

               Next we visited the perspective opening “War Remnants” museum which included weapons, armaments, and exhibits depicting the toil of the Vietnam War on the people.  I left feeling a little woozy in my stomach after seeing the effects of Agent Orange and other devastating weapons of destruction.  The size and mass of weapons used during the war by the United States troops rendered an image of incredible destruction as entire villages are still left with the physical scars of war.  The country will take much longer I believe to heal from some of the mental scars as people still in their lifetimes can easily recount the terror of seeing the damage of Agent Orange, napalm, and other weapons.

I have come to realize that war is the province of men who wish to gain something in order to improve their lot in life.  It may start from an ideal, a problem, a hate, or fear; however, in the end there is usually also an extrinsic reward that pushes men to believe that their efforts are worth risking their life.  May it be glory, power, or wealth victors easily fall victim to the spoils of war.  I have purposefully left out a female comparison as to the fact that I do not know of many female leaders who have taken to war in such an extreme manners as males have.

The difference between the magnanimous victor and the man looking for revenge is merely one personality trait; nevertheless, that characteristic may lead to drastically different results as a nation looks to rebuild in the aftermath of war.  The United States was very lucky in deed to have such incredibly moral leaders during its national infancy.  George Washington was one such man would have liked nothing better than to have retired in peace at Mount Vernon never again to rest in the spotlight.   Nonetheless, he could not refuse the nation’s call for him to lead as the first President of the United States.  His leadership helped the dream of democracy come true in earnest as a young U.S. worked hard to develop into a model nation.

 In war can a person blame one another more for their crimes?  Certainly everyone recognizes the war crimes after the fact; however, in the heat of battle those things are not at the forefront of a soldier’s mind as they try to save all that they can.  War is the ultimate gamble in morality as a person’s simple aim is destroy all life in the way.  War has echoed these effects throughout time as every nation and people have at some time felt the sting of loss as its youth going to fight and die during war.  That is why it is so important for people to learn from experience who have never experienced the devastating results of war.

After visiting harrowing reminders from the past Cory and I solemnly discussed the museum together on our way back to our hostel.  Hungry from a day’s worth of traveling Cory and I decided to eat at the first restaurant we could find that would serve us some western food.  It was surprisingly easy for us to find one such place near our hostel.  It remains interesting that Vietnam’s communist regime which tried to remove South Vietnam from western culture has opened up to as much as they have in only a few decades.   Any tourist could eat any style of meal wanted as an assortment of western, eastern, and international cuisine restaurants existed.  Cory and I relished in the fact that we were able to eat any type of food that was not Chinese as we had both been without much variety for many months.  Over the next three days in HCMC, I discovered that my favorite traditional Vietnamese food was the spring rolls.  The taste of this dish was complemented by a hot sauce which combined to make a wonderful and flavorful appetizer.

The next day started early as we prepared for our trip to visit the Chu Chi tunnel network nearby HCMC.  Our four dollar tickets included entrance to the tunnel exhibit, bus ride, English tour guide, and a taste of the local food.  I can say it was safely the best four dollars I have ever spent in my life.  Towards the end of the tour I took the opportunity to fire a real M16 assault rifle which was pretty intense.  The noise around me was so loud that I could barely hear for a while after leaving the public firing range.  Cory and I also decided to climb through the tunnels which were so small that any person needed to literally walk squatting to use them.

I was extremely impressed with the tour and believe that I learned quite a lot about the ingenuity of the Vietcong.  I can honestly say that no number of soldiers, bombs, or technology could have destroyed the Vietcong.  The will to defeat the enemy was extreme as the tunnel network was over ninety miles long.  These tunnels were built over several decades as the Vietcong first fought for liberation from French colonialism.  The Chu Chi network had entrances in HCMC, an American military base, and the Mekong River.  If anyone thinks that the United States did not try hard enough to beat the Vietcong than I would ask them to come to the tunnels and see the thousands of bomb craters remaining in the jungle. 

The Vietcong built three levels of tunnels which they lived, organized, and planned in.  The B-52 bombers were able to drop bombs large enough that would destroy the first level of the underground tunnels.  Nevertheless, the second and third levels easily remained intact as some tunnels would reach depths nearly sixty ft. below the surface of the ground.  The Vietcong were also cautious and would not leave their tunnels for months at times in order to not be discovered by U.S. patrols.  They developed an air filtration system which confused the U.S. patrols by placing their entrances near inconspicuous ant and snake holes.  After a few years, the U.S. tried to flood the tunnels with water which did nothing as the downward sloping angle flowed the water harmlessly into rivers and streams.

I definitely felt strange in a place where so many of the local people held differing levels of resentment towards Americans.  It was an unassuming feeling of contempt which I could feel directed towards me.  Contempt was only shown through mostly non-verbal actions which I believe to be special in many Asian cultures.  Much of the people’s grief from the past has been stored away deep in their hearts and left to be legacies of grief.  I felt some of their contempt, sadness, and grief mostly in the way some people stared at me.  It is a little different feeling than I get when people stare at me in China.  Knowing that Americans caused so much pain for many people affected me in different ways while in Vietnam.  I know that I am not responsible for what happened to them but I too believe that as an American I hold a higher moral code for in order to spread good values throughout the world.  Unfortunately, mostly negative values were spread to the Vietnamese people during the war.

The next day, Cory and I were up and excited to experience the Mekong River delta guided tour package costing seven U.S. dollars.  The tour started off well as we meet up with other tour groups and headed off to the delta.  When going to the Mekong River delta it is important to plan ahead by bringing necessary supplies, medication, and lots of water. Cory and I both came prepared with proper medication to prevent the contraction of malaria.  Still, I was glad that my mom had sent me with some extra-strong mosquito repellent which would hopefully scare away any extra bugs.

When our tour bus finally arrived at our final destination I was happy to be able to be able to relieve myself in the restroom.  Before going to the delta I discovered that it was going to extremely hot that day and I did not want to take any chances with heat exhaustion.  Consequently, I drank a lot of water and came well hydrated in order to try and prevent heat exhaustion.  After suffering a couple spells of heat exhaustion last summer I was especially careful the entire trip to make sure I was drinking enough water.  Due to the unhealthy sanitary conditions I used mostly bottled drinking water throughout the trip.

Our tour would begin with a boat ride across the delta to an island village.  I was struck by the fact that this was the first time that I had been on a boat ride since the summer of 2010 in Minnesota.  Being in Chongqing last summer did not allow for me to enjoy a nice cool summer on the shores of Big Trout Lake.  With this knowledge in the back of my head I used the experience to really help me remember the beauty of a slow boat ride across an open expanse of water. 

Our first island stopping point enabled people to watch a local industry produce hand-made candies.  Cory and I both enjoyed the fresh delicacies and purchased some of the local flavor as our tour guide explained the inner workings of the candy processing.  The processing and distribution center resembled a shack with a roof were people worked under in order to escape the sun.     

Next our tour group had the opportunity to hold a python snake.  I balked at this chance as I have always had a visceral dislike of snakes.  Instead, I snapped some pictures of Cory holding the snake seemingly indifferent and enjoying the experience.  The snake itself was quite mild as it allowed his handler to put its face in the man’s mouth even.  In reality, I am sure that everything would have been fine.  In my mind, I had not come prepared to do this thing and had not yet overcome my fear of snakes at this time.  Little did I know that I would soon have another opportunity to hold a live snake in only a couple of days.

Our tour next took us on a horse drawn cart ride to a next village down the road.  It was the first time that I had been on a horse for many years and enjoyed the ride immensely.  At the end of the town we boarded a next boat that took us to our lunch destination for the day.  At this island we enjoyed some of the local food and watched Vietnamese children on vacation tease alligators in a fenced in enclosure.  The children seemed very curious of the foreign tour groups but did not stop to interrupt their daily natural teasing and antics.  Some groups walked nearby starring at people but overall they were less enamored with us than the Chinese children I have encountered in Rongchang.

After lunch we boarded our boat and moved on to a new island were we tasted some local honey and rice wine.  Afterwards, we took a scenic hand-rowed water raft ride through a small jungle inlet in the island.  This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip as we rowed silently through the jungle surrounded by palm trees and elephant grass.  I was struck by how quite it could be in the jungle even with some many people very nearby. 

We disembarked our raft and headed towards another small village where special traditional Vietnamese performances were held for tourists.  Local women and men dressed in formal traditional attire performed beautiful Vietnamese music.  The high shrilled voices and multi tonal Vietnamese language created a sound that was both mystical and foreign for me.  I enjoyed the couple performances and felt that it was extremely interesting even though I would not enjoy listening to that type of music all day long.

The performances were the last part of the delta tour package which left Cory and I extremely pleased with the day’s adventure.  That night we would get back and enjoy some of the HCMC nightlife.  Cory and I were both surprised at the extreme amount of foreign catering that HCMC had to offer.  Beer from all around the world was available at cheap HCMC prices as well as liquor.  If the alcohol had variety so did the people because Cory and I would drink with people from Sweden, Australia, Russia, Ireland, New Zealand, Holland, and England.  It was certainly this most eclectic group of foreigners I had even met in such a short period of time in my life.

The next day Cory and I would spend making some last minute purchases in order to get some nice and cheap gifts for friends and family.  Saying goodbye to HCMC was going to be tough for me as it definitely was one of the most interesting places I had ever been in my lifetime.  Cory felt similarly as we both wondered how Malaysia would compare to our first portion of the trip.

Walking around HCMC, I was surprised to see that certain places in the city seemed eerily similar to China’s modernized cities.  I cannot help to wonder what is happening to the poor of these modernizing places of the world.  Driving along the road to the Chu Chi tunnels and the Mekong River delta illustrates pictures of extreme poverty as most people make a living as day laborers harvesting rice.  I was surprised to learn on the trip that Vietnam was the world’s second largest producer of rice in the world.  Likewise, an agrarian lifestyle has been a staple of Vietnamese society for centuries making farmers and integral part of their society.  With this knowledge in mind, I felt a little out of place walking down streets with fashion designer apparel from across the Europe and the United States.  HCMC is a city in great change as it becomes more and more modernized in a western fashion.

The next morning Cory and I packed up our luggage and boarded a plane headed for Malaysia.  Both excited and a little sad to leave Vietnam, I looked forward to the next leg in an incredible journey.  I was unfortunately noticing the tell tale signs of a cold catching up to me.  Two nights in a row of drinking was catching up to me as my body was struggling to try and adjust to the incredible change of weather from Chongqing in the winter.  The fifty degree weather change and stop-until you drop trip planning was starting to take a little toil on my body.  It also was not going to help that I was going to be in an airplane which is like a germ-incubation factory.

End Part One