Year in Review

Well, another year has come and gone. The year of "the Ox" has arrived and the "rat" has died. You can plug in whatever you want for the rat, but the point is, we are moving on to bigger (Ox) and better things in 2009. For those of you who don't know, there are twelve animals for the Chinese calendar that rotate each year and they are as follows: Ox, Tiger (2010), Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat. You can find out what animal you are by going backwards from the Ox one year at a time. The Ox symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work, and hopefully prosperity will return to the U.S. this year and the economy will bounce back. However, if this is not the case the Ox also symbolizes the ability to endure any amount of hardship without complaint....so get ready.
So far our New Year in China has been a good one and I want to take this opportunity to a little reflecting and a little looking ahead (refracting?).
First, our Top 10 List of 2008 in China.
#10-Sticking out like sore thumbs and getting stared at wherever we go. It can be a little annoying, but it sure makes bus rides and walking around downtown more entertaining. Unless you're a moviestar, how often do you have random strangers run up to you and want to take a picture withyou?
9) Crazy food. I recently tried donkey tongue, fish eyes, and chicken heart. Mmmmmm.
8) Beijing. The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Summer Palace, and Tiananmen Square all in one city! A history nerds dream! (I recently received a single subject teaching credential in History and will be looking for a job when I get back. Please feel free to let me know if you know of any job openings! Seriously.....) I said in the last article I would write about our Beijing trip, so here's the condensed version. The Great Wall is, well, great. The Summer Palace is huge, and I'm sure it would have been nicer in the....summer. And the hostel was pleasant. And I got the flu.
7) Cheapness. The dollar still feels like it's worth something over here. A little over $1 for a bunch of bananas, some apples, and a bag of tangerines. An IPod shuffle for $10. We stayed at a great hostel in Beijing this last weekend for $7 a night and that was a little pricey! It's tough to keep your wife from shopping when things are this cheap. Our biggest culture shock is definately going to be readjusting to American prices when we come home. I don't think we're going to drive or eat for awhile after we get back.
6) Work schedule. I don't want people thinking that we didn't work over here. But.....we taught no more than 15 hours a week. That will be culture shock #2 when we return. "9-5. Are you kidding me?"
5) Dalian. A unique city in China that is quite modern, extremely safe, beautiful(at times), and now that we've been to Bejing, it feels like an immaculately clean and unpolluted haven.
4) Exploring. It's been a lot of fun going out into the city of Dalian without "Chinese supervision." i.e. Someone with us who is Chinese and can translate for us. Some of our best experiences have come from hopping onto a random bus and trying to figure out how to get places by ourselves. It's incredible how much you can accomplish with minimal language skills. We've explored a good chunk of the city just by figuring out bus routes and walking around.
3) Experiences. Too many to mention, but hopefully you've enjoyed reading about some of them.
2) Food. It's delicious. I've never been a big seafood fan, but apparently I've changed. Today I enjoyed a home-cooked meal of shrimp, scallops, squid, fish, oyster and some mystery meat. Thank you to our friend May and her father's amazing cooking skills!
1) Friends. The highlight of our trip thus far has definately been the friends and relationships we have formed. We have had the pleasure of meeting so many friendly and extremely generous people here that it is going to be difficult to leave them. If it weren't for the amazing people we have met here; neighbors, co-workers, students, etc., our trip here would be much less fulfilling and memorable. We hope we can continue our friendship with many of the people we have met here. And thanks to the internet and Facebook it's actually possible. If any of our Chinese friends are reading this, THANK YOU!!

As for looking forward, we leave to Xian in three days and can't wait to see some more of China. The country is massive and we've set up our trip to cut right through the center of the country. I'll do my best to keep you posted while we travel! Thanks for reading.
Chinese Phrase of the Day-
"Wo shuode bu hao"--- I don't speak (Chinese) very well.
pronounced- wa shuada boo how.