3D Photos

I have a lot of things I could tell you about. For example, I traveled to Enshi for a few days last week. It was amazing! The whole trip cost me just a little over $100! I’ll tell you more details about that later. I could also tell you about the street near my home and how it’s like a Walmart but just mini stores along a long street. I’ll show you pictures about that later to explain. 

Instead, I’m going to tell you about the 3D pictures place we went. Literally, there were pictures coming out of the walls!

We didn’t know what you expect, but that’s what often happens in China. We decided to give it a shot and see what kind of shots we could make. It was sooo cool! Here are some optical allusion photos. These were all taken in front of flat canvases. Some of them included a canvas on the ground, but overall they were flat against the wall. It was so much fun to move our bodies to help create the trick photography that unfolded! Enjoy!

This is my favorite photo.

Money, money, money, money, MONEY!

A mirror?

No!!! She got us! Help!!!!

Be careful!

Stairway to heaven???

Stairway to another place???

I also love this one!

She got in my way, so I kicked her.

Camping

My life the past month has sort of been like camping. The city is fixing the main water pipe running through the city, so they have had to turn off the water supply to my area. Sometimes it's a short time (8pm-10am), but at times it's been a much longer time (8pm Monday- 2pm Thursday). It sure makes life interesting when you don't have any water in your home. I went to Andy and David's place to shower. I went to the bathroom in the subway (about a 3 minute bike ride away), and I never cooked so I didn't have to do dishes.

Once, the city even brought a fire truck to my complex so we could fill up buckets of water and use it in our homes. It's like I'm camping...

Then, this morning I woke up and had no electricity! Yikes! Good thing I'm adjusted to life in China. If this was my first year, I would have a hard time with this no water, no electricity thing.

Since it's like I'm camping anways, I decided to do it for real (ok, not really, but I did sleep in a tent the other night) A friend from study is a student at Wuhan University. It's technically my school, but I don't often teach there. He invited a group of us to sleep on top of the old old library in celebration of Mid-autumn festival. It's a time where people celebrate something (to be honest, I'm not sure what) and look at the moon and eat mooncakes.

So, we rented some tents and made our way to the roof. Once we were set up, we played some games, at some snacks, and chatted. I was about to go to bed around 2am, but then some people wanted to dance. I joined a little, but soon crawled into my tent. At about 4am, everyone else decided to go to bed. I fell asleep soon after and woke up 2 hours later from old people doing their morning exercises... It was a short night, an odd night, but an interesting night!

Our "campground"

It's actually on the roof of a current dorm

My tent on the left

The other tents. Altogether about 30 people or so camped out

Searching for Smartness...

I made a great purchase the other day! My friend Ahao and I went on an adventure. Our goal... to get smarter. Or at least get Jessica smarter. Our first store was a little confusing, we couldn't find our smartness hidden among the pants and hats, so we decided to try a different place...

It was hard getting there. The wind was rough and the water was splashing all around, but after 10 minutes fighting the elements, we found the place which would make me smarter.

Once there, it didn't take long. I knew what I wanted and he (Ahao) took it from there. He laughed, he cried (not really), he made his voice sound like he couldn't believe what the seller was saying, he bargained hard for my smartness. He didn't want me to be cheated. I brought the money, he brought the brains.

Finally, it was in my hands, a brand new Samsung smartphone. It sure it smart... someday, I hope I will be as smart as it is...

Hangzhou Marathon

 This weekend I went to Shanghai and Hangzhou. Mostly it was time spent to see friends, but the final event was the 2012 Hangzhou International Marathon. I ran in the mini marathon with Nicole, Kelsey, Sarah, David, Andy, and our Chinese friend Ivy. It was 7km full of unique obstacles...

We started out with an obstacle... we couldn't find where to check our bags... therefore we found some friends to hold them.

The first running obstacle happened in the beginning... look at this starting line! There were so many people we couldn't even think about running! We had to slowly inch our way to open places.

This is the "starting line" Nicole and I just pushed along until we could start running.

People in this mini marathon didn't always seem like very real athletes... you can run in just about anything...

I couldn't run 7km in those! Impressive!

Or with anyone by your side...

notice the same number on the backpack. That means they knew each other. I'm pretty sure the man is her grandfather cheering her on in the middle of the race. He was running alongside of her holding her bag.

I bet they held hands the entire race

Even large costumes are ok!

We also had obstacles of bridges. There were so many people that once we hit a bridge, and people wanted to walk up, we all had to squeeze onto it. It made some interesting dodging happen!

Bridge ahead!

Next obstacle: bikes/ motorbikes/ pedestrians. They didn't really stop just because we were running, we just had to make sure we avoided them. 

 It didn't matter what we had to avoid, we finished!

 

The end is almost in sight.

A small trip

I have off Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays this semester. It's a great break in the middle of the week (well, sort of middle and end of the week). Usually I just hang out in Wuhan, go to study, have friends over, or just relax and plan for the next week. This week I decided to travel!

Two years ago I went to a city called Yichang. I went with a friend and we explored the area. It's known for the Three Gorges, a beautiful place along the water. Since there is a super fast train to this place (only two hours one way) and I have some friends that live there, I decided to pay another visit. So, I jumped on a train and headed to Yichang! This is what I saw...

On the boat on the way to the final destination.

We rode up the mountain, then hiked down- definitely the best way to do it.

Just in case you didn't know!

I just like this picture.

Another one! This time it tells you in four languages!

It's true... It's a good place :)

My friend and Chinese teacher

A beautiful place hidden in China. :)

The Desert

Finally, I'm writing about the desert. I know, it's been a while, but I can still remember what we did.

The whole group finally arrived in Yinchuan by 6am on Tuesday (part of the group was supposed to be there by noon on Monday, but their bus was stuck in a lot of traffic and didn't get there until 6am Tuesday!). After organizing and paying for the trip, we threw our stuff on a bus and hit the road... destination... desert!

Almost the whole group. 26 FoCers, 3 Chinese friends

The ride over was fun, we sang songs and introduced ourselves. There were 29 of us and many were new FoC teachers, so introductions were nice. Finally, in the distant we saw the desert. Which desert you ask? Many will say the Gobi, but it wasn't the Gobi. They just think that sounds cool ;o)

Day 1: Rode about 2 hours, stopped for lunch, rode another 1 stopped for the night. During our resting time we could do anything we wanted in the desert. Part of the time was finding a quiet, private place to go to the bathroom. There are no trees or forests to go into, so you just had to climb over some dunes to find yourself a bathroom. One of the guys also brought a frisbee so we played some ultimate frisbee. The field was huge!!!!

Resting on a dune after the first lunch.

Our Frisbee field

For supper, the guides went back into the city (apparently we weren't that far away) and brought hot food for us. We had a campfire and  got ready for bed. However, something was missing... our tents were still in a pile. They neglected to tell us that we needed to set up our own tents. Not a big deal, but no fun at night when it's cold and we're tired.

Our first night's campsite minus the tents.

The first night was tough... very very cold!

Day 2: had breakfast, packed up, rode for an hour or so, had lunch, napped, got back on, rode for another hour or so, stopped for the night.

This time we set up our tents right away. Hannah and I had ours all ready to go and even took a little nap. Then we all hung out together and decided a group picture was in order. This group picture included making a fish. After that, the time in the desert got really interesting...

A fish in the desert

The wind hit and boy did it hit! They brought our food, but when we ate it, it included sand in nearly every bit. We checked out our tent but our door was broken. So, we decided to try another tent. Tents will give you privacy and a little warmth, but won't do much for the sand. It ended up everywhere! After supper we hid in our tent for a bit, then went for a devotion.

By 9pm, Hannah and I were hiding in our tent, trying to protect ourselves from as much sand as possible. The wind was ruthless. I felt like our whole tent would be picked up and flung around. I thought the first night was bad... boy was I wrong! Finally at 3 or 4 or 5 or maybe it was 6am, the wind finally stopped and rest came.

Our second night's campsite

Although it wasn't fun to sleep though, it makes and interesting story and interesting experience. I enjoyed my time in the desert. It was peaceful, beautiful, unique. Not like anything I've seen before. I also was able to spend time with friends from Wuhan and around China.

Traveling to Yinchuan!

This past week was National Holiday! That means we get about 1 week off to go traveling. As I mentioned before, it also means that the entire country is traveling at that time, so it can be quite interesting. This year I'm thankful that I was able to avoid most of the crowds. I went way way up north to Yinchuan. The capitol city of Ningxia. It's a small city of around 2-3 million (or so I've been told). I went there to ride on camels in the desert and to join in fellowship with fellow FoCers. Here is a short list of my experiences...

1. Five of us rode on a super crowded bus for 7 hours, got off, tried walking to the hotel to find out we went to the wrong one (there are 3 with the same name close to the train station). That's ok, we had time to walk some more. Arrived: 12pm

2. Day two started with the ten of us walking to find breakfast (not easy with such a large group!) I quickly took on the name of "mom". My job was to keep us together and moving forward. Then, on to the train for 20 hours!

This man wanted a picture with the 8 of us foreigners. I don't think many foreigners visit this city.

3. Train ride for a super long time. Lots of card games were played and hours spent eating and sleeping. Thankfully we had beds. Best train ride ever! (No lie!)

4. Arrived in Yinchuan! We went to Ashely and Anna's place were they so graciously allowed all ten of us to crash for a night. We were supposed to meet a fellow FoCer there to get the key. However... it turned out that Ashley was still there! She was able to show us around the apartment and help us get lunch. She also told us what we could do for the day. Having 10 people in one apartment was interesting, but thankfully we all found a place to sleep. I think most of us slept ok.

5. Yinchuan is so small we conquered it in one day (pictures coming, I didn't actually take any that day so I need to get some from friends).

6. Off to the camels!!!!!!!!!!! I'll have a post just on this since it was so cool it deserves it's own post!

Here is a hint of what it looked like. 30 camels in row walking through the desert... pretty cool!

Zeke (my camel) and me! I got him day one and randomly got him day 2. I kept him forever then :)

7. After the amazing camels I had a super long trip back... 21 hours on train #1 (8pm-6pm), 3 hour layover, 6 hours on train #2 (9pm-3:30am), 20 minute taxi ride, 2 hours of sleep, 4 hours of teaching, 2 hours of lunch with a friend... and finally... arriving back home for napping and relaxing! I also teach Sunday morning, so hopefully I can sleep early tonight :)

It was so nice traveling with 9 fellow Wuhaners (altogether there were 8 foreigners and 2 Chinese friends). We laughed, screamed (there was a scary movie watched), sang, coughed, ate, played, and rode camels together. So much fun :)

A step back in time

Tomorrow afternoon I am leaving for a trip back in time. I'm heading up north about 30 hours to ride an animal that was popular back in J-sus's time. I'll be jumping on a train, then another train, then a bus to ride around in the desert on the back of a camel. Will it spit on me? Will it bite? Will I fall off? I don't know! But what I do know is that there will be about 25 Focers together in the desert with nothing but blue sky, sand, and a camp fire singing songs and reading devos. It's going to be amazing! I won't have internet for a week so I'll let you know how it goes afterwards. If you really need to get a hold of me call my skype or send me an email (I might check that on my phone).

Until later!!!

A wrong "OK"

Today I went to get a massage. It's probably my 15th massage or so since I've been in China. I feel pretty comfortable with the routine, I know what they do, I know what I like and what I don't. I can tell them to push harder or softer and where I have pain. I'm pretty confident while I'm lying on that bed. However, sometimes they do ask me questions that I don't quite understand (happened a lot my first year or so). Then, when I hear them say, "keyi ma? (is it ok?)" I just respond "keyi (OK)" because whatever they are doing is usually just fine.

Today I said, "OK" and I got a bit of a different response. I have had to go to a nicer place because my hole in the wall massage parlor got torn down. So, the people at my new place are a bit better (also a bit more expensive). The man I had today was about 55 or so, and I'm guessing he's been doing this for quite some time. He knew exactly where it hurt.

He was working on my right shoulder for a while (the place I have the most pain), and he keep pulling my shirt down to look at my skin there. He didn't like my shoulder, something must have felt wrong when he pushed around on it.  Then he would mumble things that I didn't really understand. At one point he said "something something something keyi ma?" and I as usual, responded with "keyi (OK)" Immediately he left the room...

I thought maybe he would rub some oil on my skin, maybe to relax the muscle. When he came back he put a blanket over my back and pulled up my shirt... (I was laying on my stomach, so it was ok). He began to put a liquid on my back and I still figured it was for an oil massage. Andrew (fellow FoCer) was watching and I asked him if my man had a needle. He said, "no, just looks like a Q-tip". About 30 seconds later Andrew says, "But that was a needle!" My guy just stuck me! Apparently, when I said, "OK", I was saying it was ok to give me acupuncture on my back...

He stuck three needles around the spot that usually gives me a lot of problems. I didn't hurt at all. I'm feeling pretty good right now, I'm hoping that I'll notice it feeling better even more in the future.

Who would have thought... I got acupuncture on accident :)

Here is my proof...

Tuesday of crazy week

Tuesday morning started off early again. I left my place around 9 (which is early for me) and headed out to a university. Some friends from ch-ch work there and they wanted to throw a party for their son and show us around. I didn't realize until I was on the bus that this was the same university I was at just yesterday. Going to see the same flowers I just saw. :) all well, I'll enjoy the company. That I did!

Bill walking with Luther

David just didn't want to smile.

Phoebe and Jonathan with little Luther. (Jonathan is one of the Chinese leaders)

Here is all of our food.

There were about 20 people from Chu-ch that joined. Some Chinese, some American. We walked around by the flowers, took some pictures, and eventually made our way to an area for a picnic. The family provided a great meal for us to enjoy. Pizza, noodles, fruit salad, chips, bread, and some other snacks that are hard to describe. They also had soda, water, and beer (which was very similar to the water) to drink.

 

Picnic Lunch

The weather was amazing and the fellowship was great. The movement was slow. :) We didn't see much for being there for over 4 hours. That's what it's like moving 20 people around.

Afterwards I went home and chilled for about 30 minutes, realized it was way too nice outside to be inside, so I took my bike for a ride. I went towards the lake, seemed like a lot of people had the same idea. Since it's the holiday, many people were off of work. I ended up flowing the flow of traffic to Meiyuan 梅园 (Plum Garden) and Moshan 莫山 (Mo Mountain). People everywhere!!! Then, recognizing the bus stop names, I realized this is where I was going tomorrow. Oh no! we will be fighting the crowds. Must be a good place if so many people are here!

The lake I found

The people I found

The night ended with a relaxing dinner with a few friends and a movie with Nicole. The next day was also expected to be full of activities.