Only in China

A couple of pictures that our friends took that we thought you would enjoy.

Say what?

We're often amazed at the misinterpretations we see printed. Native speaking english speakers must charge a pretty penny to do translations. As you can see, cheaper second language translators can make big, entertaining mistakes. I can only assume this means, "Don't litter".

Cooking Class in Ubud

At home everyone probably works with one or two travelers.  When you're heading somewhere thats a little off the beaten path, this person has always been there or at least in the same region and can offer some advice.  Imagine working in a community where everyone is a world traveler and has advice when you are planning a trip.  This is our school community.  Most of the teachers aren't here to learn chinese, they're here for the experience of living in another culture and for the travel opportunities that the job allows.  Also, we all like to share these experiences so you can learn some do's and don'ts in regards to your next place of travel.  A coworker of mine recommended this cooking class in Bali.  I knew it wasn't just a typical place when she said that she'd returned to the same class on two separate visits to the Bali.  Bri, Brooke, Tyler and I decided this was a place to visit during one of our days in Ubud and we were not disappointed.  I think the best way to share this day is using pictures alone.

Balinese families live in small, walled compounds.  One of the fun parts of the class is that we were in the families home for the day.  This is the extravagant main gate for the family compound.

This photo is from the open dining area across the back yard into the kitchen preparation area.

This was our view over the short backyard wall for the morning and afternoon.  You could see various fruits hanging from the trees.

When we arrived all of the ingredients were laid out beautifully.  There was still more prep work to do however.

The fire pit area of the kitchen.

Here they are boiling fresh coconut water until there is only coconut oil remaining.  Then we used the coconut oil later for stir frying. 

This mortar and pestle are used to make the yellow paste that was used in a lot of the dishes.  There was about 17 ingredients in the paste.

Tyler is making the peanut sauce that was mixed with vegetables to make gado gado.   

Following orders like we're in my Granny's kitchen.

Carefully observing our feast being cooked.

Tyler and I are making a hot and sour mushroom soup.

Tyler and Brooke putting on a nice show for the camera.  I however remember that Tyler had just said something stupid and was getting the stink eye from Brooke as we awaited our first course.

Preparing the tuna to be steamed in banana leaves.

Ready to put in the banana leaf.

One of the helpers cooks our minced coconut curried chicken on bamboo sticks over charcoal.

Brooke and Bri taking a break...again.

Gado gado and curry chicken amongst other things.

 

Ready to feast with our new acquaintances. 

 I'm so hungry after writing this blog....  check this place out when you visit Ubud.

www.paon-bali.com

Coming in October…Kastner party of three!

-->

We found out Bri was pregnant in Bali which made our trip even more exciting.  Our news and our current living situation have led people to ask many questions.  We would like to address a few, let us know if you have others.

1.     Does that mean you are moving home?

No.

2.     You are having your baby in China?

That is the plan.  So if everything goes as planned, yes.

3.     Does this make you nervous?

Of course, but we’d be nervous to have a kid in the U.S. even at a great hospital.  Having a child is a pretty big commitment.  What if we don’t like the kid and we’re still stuck with it for 18 years?

4.     How is the medical care?

Shanghai has a diverse range of medical care.  The top hospitals are staffed with western trained doctors, English speaking nurses and all the technology you would expect to see in an American hospital.

5.     Do you still get to come home for the summer?

Fortunately, yes! The flight home at the beginning of August may not be comfortable for Bri and baby but we will be making the trip from mid-June to the first week in August.

6.     What are you going to do about baby gifts?

Sell them on ebay and pocket the cash.  Kidding, but those do pose a problem.

7.     Who is the father?

We don’t know yet.  Bri says it is mine.  I say we’ll see how cute it is first.

8.     Will your baby have Chinese citizenship?

No, babies born in China are not granted citizenship unless one of their parents is a Chinese national.  It is unlikely Bri and I will be applying for Chinese citizenship soon as we don’t meet the necessary requirements and we both still bleed red, white and blue.  Mostly white and blue though now since it is baseball season.

9.     Are your parents coming out?

At some point, yes we expect to see some grandparents in China flocking to hover over the breathing barf chamber.  We hope they come bearing foreign foods we’re craving and not toys we’ll have to take to our next home.  There are plenty of toys in China for the little one and nowadays they even cut out most of the lead paint.

10. Are you still going to work?

Bri will get 8 weeks off which gets her through Christmas break.  Then she plans to go back to work.  Luckily, since we live so close to home we’ll get to see the baby at lunch and if needed for little snippets of the day.  We'll have an ayi at home to care for the baby when Bri returns to work.

11. Are you going to find out the gender?

Yes.  We're planners!  

12. How is Bri feeling?

She had a rough first trimester.  Between the nausea, dry heaving and case of food poisoning that put her in the hospital she’s maintained a slightly less than positive demeanor.  She is happy however with the figure produced by a low caloric intake (due to nausea), involuntary daily abdominal contractions (due to heaving) and swelling mammary glands (due to hormones).

13. Will you come home after next year?

We don’t know what we will do after next school year.  We plan to apply to positions overseas and see what we are offered.  If something is appealing we will take it and if not we will point our compass towards the states and starting looking for jobs.  Those decisions won’t be made until at least November next year and as late as… I’m not sure….it could be pretty late.  So as usual we should have a lot of exciting times in the next year.  

Thanks for all of your positive vibes.

Something Worth Celebrating

I'm celebrating having one of the world's best jobs this week.  As teachers, we all go through peaks and valleys throughout the school year.  After sitting in a couple of career day sessions I was reminded of why I love teaching.  

It humors me to hear how many of my students want to be engineers, but lack the vision to know what a typical engineer really does on a daily basis.  Instead they live in the fantasy that an engineer works when he wants, follows his passions all the time and his ideas always result in million dollar profits.  I decided to visit the engineering presentation at career day to see if I had missed out on what I was meant to do in life.  Maybe the kids knew something I didn't… it's happened before.  Listening to an engineer talk about the pride he felt watching the completion of a challenging construction project made me reflect on the feeling I get when I hear a student say, "ahh" when they truly understand or the way their face lights up when they have success at a challenging task after hours of hard work.  Having a usually ungracious adolescent say, "thanks for the last two years" or "I finally get it" is worth conversations with helicopter moms, extra hours spent grading to give proper feedback and planning effective lessons.  Every day we get to do the problem solving of an engineer, data analysis of a scientist and personal interaction of a counselor.  Our job is awesome, it just has an undervalued name which is why I'm changing my job title to youthful mind engineer.  I think it has a cool ring to it. 

Meeting Ketut in Ubud, Bali

Just after graduating from college I picked up a copy of the book Eat, Pray, Love and it changed my life.  I know that many of you rolled your eyes reading that sentence because that book became such a huge seller and is now a cliché for women finding themselves.  I don’t care though, it was a great book for me at an unpredictable time in my life.  If I hadn’t read that book I seriously doubt that I would be living overseas right now, if ever.  I loved it.  I even convinced my book club in Flagler to read it. 

If you have never read the book you have missed a great read.  Elizabeth Gilbert writes beautifully and I have a complete writers crush on every thing she has written. I have a whole shelf in Colorado for her books.   Eat, Pray, Love is a memoir about a women who tries to find balance in her life by traveling through Italy (eat), India (pray) and Indonesia (love).  She speaks honestly about her insecurities, her self-doubt, her dreams and her journey.

When we were deciding if we should come to China I remember thinking that the only way I was willing to go is if I got to go to Bali, Indonesia on one of our breaks.  Well we did it!  I have special way of talking myself into things.

In the book Liz goes to see a medicine man by the name of Ketut Liyer.  He is a wise little old man that gives her advice about life and also reads her palm.  I don’t buy into all of that hubbub but I was fully intrigued by the process and I thought that it would be fun to try and see Ketut while we were in Bali if he was still alive.  It just so happened that the villa we stayed in was down the street from Ketut’s house.  I am not exaggerating here, I mean DOWN THE STREET.  It was meant to be.

Because the book had impacted me so much Matt read it after me several years ago, and then Tyler read it.  Brooke had instructions to read it but she ‘forgot’ it in Sterling, Colorado so she had to watch the movie instead.  Everyone on our trip knew who Ketut was and although no one was quite as excited as me, they at least understood my excitement. 

On our first day in Bali we set out to go explore Ubud.  I talked with the lady at our villa about setting up an appointment with Ketut.  She giggled at me and told us to just stop by his house on our way.  In one of our guidebooks it gave instructions about how we should be dressed, how to present money to medicine men and it basically discouraged tourists from going to see the Balinese medicine men because it took away from the locals that are really sick.  Feeling a bit let down by that information and thinking that we needed to be in proper dress my plan was to just swing by to make an appointment if one was available and then leave. 

When we saw the sign I was just glad we had found the place.  I was imagining Elizabeth Gilbert on her bike following the same path as us.  While Matt, Tyler and Brooke stayed on the street, feeling under dressed, I stepped into the entrance of Ketut’s home.  I expected to see someone taking names like a hostess in a restaurant and instead I saw Ketut.  He smiled, showing the few teeth he had left and I felt like I was seeing a celebrity.   He motioned past me for the others to come in.  “I need my coffee” he said “please wait”.  “Sure!” I said.  I was willing to wait all day.  We were the only people there to see Ketut.  The other people wandering around the garden were Ketut’s family.  A woman put out the daily flower offerings and lit incense around the compound as we waited.  There was a small Eat, Pray, Love movie poster hanging behind us. 

About fifteen minutes later Ketut emerged from one of the small buildings and I joined him sitting cross-legged on a porch.  These are the bits of information that he shared after analyzing my face, hands, arms, back, knees and feet.

-I am very beautiful.

-He is very lucky to meet me.

-I am going to live to be 100.

-No matter what I should never lose my husband, he is very good for me.  (He repeated this at least 6 times and he said the same thing to Matt.)

-I will have two children…. soon.

-My blood is good.

-I have strong bones.

Among other things, he told Matt that he is very smart and people should listen to him (including me).  He told Tyler he will get married if he wants to.  He told Brooke to drive carefully because she will die in a crash when she is 100.  It was a very memorable experience and as overdone as it may be, I am very glad that I did it.  Ketut was on my bucket list and I am overjoyed to have had the opportunity to cross that one off. 

Tyler learning how long he'll live and whether he'll be wealthy.

Ketut had the classic grandpa joke, " Did I break the camera?". 

Everyone ready to head our after learning we'll all live to be a hundred or more.

Beijing Part 2 "The Wall"

Our second day in Beijing we visited the Great Wall.  The area of the wall we visited was about an hour north of Beijing.  We were quite happy with our experience.  Travelers can get very different experiences visiting the Great Wall.  It depends on which section you visit or whether you go trekking along it somewhere off the beaten path.  At times, like most tourist destinations in China, the sheer amount of people can spoil the experience.   Much of the wall that is accessible to tourism has been rebuilt in the last 30-60 years and is under constant repair in those rebuilt sections in order to keep people safe when walking on it.  They say that the repairs last a fraction of the time that the original wall did.

Where we visited, the rebuilt section was about two miles long.  We were able to walk along the wall to the edge of the rebuilt section and then continue along to a tower that has crumbled.   It was nice to see both aspects.  Here were some of my observations:

- The wall was taller than I thought.

- Built initially to prevent attacks from the Mongolians the wall was most valuable as a means of transportation and communication.  It acted like an early highway for transport.  The watch towers would use smoke and fire signals to pass messages regarding any movement by the enemy.

-The wall is far from a single long wall.  There were a lot more branches than I realized.  In the section we visited the wall would branch off along jointed ridges and run for a mile before ending.  This may have been to improve the line of sight but I'm not sure.

-The wall was really steep in sections.  I really pity any creature that had to be the workforce for that highway transport system that I mentioned earlier.

We were lucky to have sunny skies despite the blistering cold.

Bri's watching her step on fallen watch tower rubble.

Brooke and Bri took pictures of each other while taking a break to catch our breath before climbing a steep section.