It’s raining.  We enjoyed our last sun set in Hohhot last night.  A bright flame of light through the emptied and deflated clouds peeking between grey wet buildings.  No sunset tonight.  Too busy packing.  My bed is half covered with the few things I will take with me this month.  In the corner is a small duffel with extra clothes and important papers that will meet me in Hong Kong.  A pile has been constructed next to the door, consisting of our beautiful plants, an electric guitar, my tool box :(, books, DVDs, and a small glass tank containing one turtle.  I don’t think he knows he’s going yet.  He’s watching me type this email.  I don’t know how to tell him it’s over.

The kitchen is full of food we didn’t finish, pots that are dusty, and a slew of empty bottles and packages and dishes.  My energy to clean up is somewhere between five and zero.  My Tsingtao doesn’t seem to be helping.  There are plenty of things to pack, if I were moving across town.  But at this rate, I’m not taking anything unless it’s important.  I’m not taking a lot.  Including my bow staff.

I opened my chopstick drawer and cleaned it out.  I was hoping to impress Kira with this one.  My collection of used chopsticks over the last five months.  While not inclusive, I’d guess it’s about eighty percent of what I’ve consumed.  I’m proud of that and thankful I had someone to tell me to monitor myself after handing me a beautiful and unique pair of hand made sticks.

I’d like to think this is an emotional moment for me, but really I just feel like I’ve got to make check out by noon.  My attachment, aside from my friends, who will easily stay in touch, seems generally minimal.  I’m excited to be getting along.  We’ll see y’all on the flip side.

REMEMBER! if you want a post card you’ll need to let me know.  I’m shipping my computer tomorrow.  Communication will now be via 网吧 until I arrive in Hong Kong.  Peace!

Photo Credit: Dan Tuttle, 2009

Oh, what a week.   WELL…

Sunday, I woke up to Chat with Chris – expecting a casual ‘hey-o.’ I found myself quickly back on track, as if he’d rolled into Tucson for the night and my obligatory senses kicked on.  About 3 hours later I was beyond help and neither Dan nor Becci could help.  I spent the rest of the day sleeping off my early morning drinking binge.  Here’s a photo of what such an encounter can look like, when you’re video chatting with someone who is 12 hours opposite you.

Damage from a morning video chat with Chris

Monday, we hit up the pool – YES!  and it was awesome.  YES! and I got to find out how my lungs are doing.  NO!  But impressed all of Hohhot with my ability to egg-beater my chest out of the water, float on my back, and jump into the water using the classic flying squirrel pose.  Dan and I also helped a couple of young wipper-snappers toss their buddy headlong into the pool, shirt, shoes, and all.  Becci gave a photo of herself to one of the pool cleaning staff, who proceeded to show it to all 400 people there.  The pool is awesome and except for an eye infection Dan may now have because of it, I’d recommend everyone visit.

Then, in the evening, in order to celebrate the weekend for those who still work regularly we went out for dinner, then drinks, and then KTV.  I don’t think I’ve had such an experience since my arrival to China, apparently this kind of all nighter is common.  However, by the looks of the photos I took.  I think I seriously progressed my age.  Fortunately I’ve been drinking green tea to reverse the effects.

On Wednesday morning, while Shanghai and the rest of the center of the country enjoyed what scientists have proven has no correlation with misfortune, we enjoyed a partial solar eclipse.  I woke up at about 8 AM and rode my bike over to the local city square where hundereds of folks had gathered with telescopes, large informational signs, and bundles of sharp looking shades.    After milling around for a bit in an attempt to find out who i should buy my killer moon watchers from I ran into a student who I had taught the Monday previous (this is a perfect time to tell you I’m moonlighting).   His friend handed me a pair of super lookers and I was set, now with a sense of confidence in the crowd of many I relaxed a bit.

John and David watching the solar eclipse

The student and I spoke casually while we both waited for the sun to peek out from behind the clouds.  However, once a foreigner starts talking with a local everyone starts talking to the foreigner.  It was fun.  I got to answer questions about all sorts of things and my words were authoritative.   I then took an interview with Inner Mongolia Television where I spoke about what was happening and then demonstrated the proper procedure for sporting the silver-solar-lookers, concluding with a “and that’s how it’s done.”  After the interview I enjoyed a series of photographers asking for various poses where I was to look either puzzled, or engrossed with the phenomenon and finally I enjoyed one last casual interview with a young reporter with the Hohhot Newspaper.  By this time the eclipse was about over and I was off.

John and Yan Xiaoyan watching the solar eclipse

I got home and my computer notified me of the GREAT news.  Dan and I had one week left before our plane departs for Shanghai.  I high-fived myself (Dan was at work), sent off a slew of email reminders for our expected hosts along the way and started packing my things.

Thursday I woke up early and said farewell to my good friend Lisa as she boarded her train home (44 hours away) as it is now the summer holiday for college students all across China.  Returning to the apartment, our internet was shut off so Dan and I shipped our bicycles to Shanghai via rail, and then proceeded to spend the better portion of the day (11:45-9:00) at a hotel sipping tea and researching our accommodations for Hong Kong (which now may include a balcony at the top of a tower looking over Kowloon Bay from the edge of a hot tub next to some good friends [identities will be release upon confirmation])  We’ll see.  During this all day internet festival Dan produced some excellent post-cards, see the following post.

Lisa and John after fish on our way to consume the worlds largest watermelon. Seriously HUGE!

Friday started in a fascinating way, with class at our local Mosque.  A student of mine had invited me to join her, so I attended a free class (classes offered throughout the summer to anyone) which was discussing modern Islam.  Today we discussed Islam in China.  The teacher was very passionate and reasonable.  She discussed the origins of the Muslim people in China, how they have been assimilated, distinct, troublesome, and integrated throughout history.  The discussion also include the observation of how other religions have also integrated, or disintegrated themselves in China.  We spoke after class about her beliefs and mine.  It was a delightful and encouraging conversation.  She finished, by describing her (and her community’s) goal to write and publish a series of Chinese children’s books based on the teachings of Islam, of which there exist only a few in print.  Her enthusiasm and motives for the project were, again, refreshing and encouraging.  A second class started soon after.  It was an Arabic language class, taught in Chinese.  While, initially I was not energetic about spending another two hours behind a man who routinely blew his nose into his hand and then waited while it slowly oozed off his hand and onto the floor, I stuck with it.  By the end, I was repeating sentences with the class.  Though I didn’t understand when the instructor asked me to do anything.  I felt like I had them all when it came to rolling my r’s.  A trick not many Chinese can preform.  Wo Shi XiaoChou.  I also found I could identify, or correlate, sounds with the script.  I was impressed with my progress in just two hours.  CIA here I come!

Now the water at the apartment is out, our kitchen sink drain broke, and our internet is still offline.  Irritated, I’ve escaped to another hotel lobby to sip tea and answer emails.  Plus I needed to debut what you might expect in your mail box in the very near future. – Dan just got a call.  Our bikes are in Shanghai – we are pumped!

Because this photo can stand on it’s own.

Couch surfers showed up promptly in the morning, four of them.  A bit surprised, I had confidence they’d turn out to be good ones.  So far, they are.  After getting them all settled Dan and I dawned our outfits and loaded our bags.  Today we’d make another test run, this time not for time or distance but for strength.  We loaded our bags to the brim and added a little for good measure and headed north, up the hills.  One and a half hours later (including a long break to take a photo) we were at the top comfortable and ready for more riding.  What a pleasant surprise.  25 minutes later we were back at the bottom with a top speed from John at 56.0 kph and a top speed from dan of 57.8 kph.

There is a reason we bought bikes early.  Primarily we wanted to train, but truthfully we’d be stronger if we trained on our mountain bikes.  The important part of having bikes a month early was to test the components, break the bikes in, and make changes to the set up.  Today, we were happy to have failures.  Once back in the city, Dan hit a small cut in the road from construction and his bike came to a dead stop.  The deralur (sp) hinge had snapped and threw the mechanism into his rear spokes stopping the bike.  The impact of another cyclist into the side of Dan didn’t help the situation either.  Confused with what had happened we pulled aside and righted the chain and deralur and limped back to the Giant store.  A bit of negotiating convinced them that less than 300 km shouldn’t have component failures and they agreed and replaced it.  We hope to not run into that issue again.

We also accomplished getting a good photograph for our friends here to keep and to pass out to friends along the route.