Terracotta Warriors

On Thursday I went and saw the famous terracotta warriors. They aren't too far from here, and were quite incredible. There are three different excavations sites, all in separate hangars, which is really the only word to describe their immensity. There are large portions of them which are still not unearthed, due in part to the tremendous amount of time it takes to dig them up without damaging them, and also since the archaelogists are hoping that in the future we'll have better technology that may allow for better preservation of the relics. All the statues have individually-made heads, so you see different hair styles and different facial expressions on each one. Origninally, they were all painted in bright colors, but either the colors fade once the statues are exposed or the paint has turned to dust and it falls right off. In any case, all the visible ones are the same shade of light brown, but hopefully the aforementioned technological advances will allow for future warriors to be displayed in their original colorful glory. A few pictures so you have an idea of what I'm talking about:

Site 1



The first row of soldiers in Site 1


Site 2, and some people restoring it


Site 3, supposedly the headquarters for the army


Unearthed but not repaired


Archer


General


Kneeling archer


Bronze horses and chariot



The terracotta warriors are an amazing sight to see, mostly for the immensity of the army and the detail of each one. According to the video, they were made over 38 years by an enormous number of crafstmen, 700,000 according to Wikipedia. They form part of the tomb of the first Emperor of Qin, Qin Shi Huang. He declared himself the first emperor of China and united many different kindoms. About five years after his death, though, his son was overthrown and his tomb, at least parts of it, was destroyed and burned. That's why all the warriors are broke - the roof caved in on them and smashed them.

After visiting the warriors, we went to Li Shan, a famous mountain with a garden at the base of it that had been used by various rulers of China throughout history, and also was the site of the "Xi'an Incident" when Chiang Kai-shek was arrested by his own generals and forced to stop fighting the Red Army, leading to his eventual exile in Taiwan.





A bath, filled with natural hot springs, built by a Tang dynasty emperor for his lady





Walking around the park was a nice change from walking around the city, but it was pretty crowded with tourists, and we didn't really go up the mountain very much since we didn't have too much time to spend there. Maybe once the weather cools down a bit more and some leaves start to change colors I'll go back and walk up higher.

Other than that tourist excursion, I haven't been up to anything new. Everything is going well, my Chinese is slowly improving, very slowly, but at least I'm learning. I finally have the text books I need for my classes, so that should help things move along well. The classes I'm teaching are also still going well - it looks like it will be an interesting semester, since my students for the most part seem willing to talk about interesting things, and since it's an oral English class that's really all I need them to do.

Well now it's a bit late here, so I'm going to get some rest. I'll try to write a little more often with some more details about daily life since there are plenty of small differences that I encounter every day.

good classes

Sorry it's taken me this long to let you all know that my first days of classes went well. I didn't have any problems, and I think the students liked me, which is always helpful. Hopefully I'll be able to get them to be interested in class and willing to speak, since their English in general is quite good and all they really need to do is practice what they already know.

My Chinese classes are going well, but a bit over my head since the Korean girl I'm studying with has been here for 3 months already and I'm only just beginning. However, if her progress is any indicator, I'll be able to carry on a conversation in no time. To do so, however, I'm going to need more books than just a dictionary, so tomorrow morning I'm going to Xi'an again to buy them, since there aren't any foreign language bookstores here in Xianyang. I'm going to go with Mr. Shi, a new friend of mine here at the university. He doesn't speak any English, so just being around him forces me to put into practice what little Chinese I know. Also, he's an amazing cook and has volunteered to teach me how to make some amazing food. Hopefully next time I see you all in person, I'll be able to make you a nice meal that you'll have to eat with chopsticks.

It's been a long day, though, and I need my rest since I think I'm getting a cold (fall's just starting, you know). I'll give you some more details about Mr. Shi and my Chinese learning in the next few days.

classes start tomorrow

My classes start tomorrow, both in English and Chinese. I'm going to join a Korean girl in learning Chinese from the International Exchange Division every morning from 8:20 - 12:00 (I think those are the hours). Hopefully it'll work out okay because she already knows some Chinese, which definitely puts her ahead of me. Maybe that'll help, though, in that I can learn from her and from the teachers. It sounds like a fun adventure in any case. I even went so far as to go buy a notebook for the class. Once I learn to write some Chinese characters (like my name), I'll take a picture of them so you can see. I guess this whole learning to write a whole new set of characters is a chance to not have messy handwriting.

My English classes also start tomorrow afternoon. I'm not really worried about them, but I am quite curious to see how they go. I know what all I'm going to say and do, but I'm not sure what sort of wrenches they'll throw into my plans. Once again, I'll keep you posted.

I also may be tutoring a 14 year old outside of school a couple of hours a week. I just need to check with the university to make sure that's okay. I'm pretty sure that it is as long as I let them know, so I'll do that tomorrow morning and as long as it is, I'll start that Wednesday night. Today I met the boy and his family. They seemed very nice, and even gave me some tea to bring home, and you all know how I like tea. Speaking of tea, I found a pretty cool tea stand in a market yesterday, and was given tea there too on the condition that I go back sometime to buy some more. Quite a giving people these Chinese. Here's a picture of the kind merchant (who even spoke some English) and part of his store:



I also don't think I've written about the other fourteen year old Chinese boy I now know. He too knew the other foreign teacher who lived in my apartment (that's how I got in contact with the aformentioned tutoree), and came by to see if he had come back or if he had been replaced by someone equally interesting. I'm not sure if I fit the bill, but he keeps coming back so I mustn't be too boring. He also gave me some tea. I sure do like tea, and China is the place to drink it. Anyway, he comes by pretty regularly to practice his English and teach me a word or two of Chinese. Soon I hope to be able to practice what I learn in class on him, since repetition is the key to language learning. Here's a picture of him (his name is 王帆 (Wáng Fān)) and a friend of his who also came to meet me:




And while I'm giving you pictures, here's one of my living room:



And of two different 1 yuan bills I've had in my possesion (there's also a coin):



I think that's about it as far as news and pictures go. I'm going to go ahead and review my lesson plan (don't I sound like a real teacher now) and maybe listen to a podcast that teaches me Chinese before getting some sleep now that I have somewhere to be in the morning.

Xi'an

Today I visited Xi'an with Ron, the other foreign teacher who lives across the hall.  It's a much bigger, more touristy city than Xianyang, and since it's only about 1 hour and $1 away by bus, I can visit it most any time I want.  I didn't take my camera with me today, so I'll have to go back sometime soon to post pictures for you to see of the old city walls that surround the city (apparently you can walk on them, all the way around, which I imagine I will do), and also the old Bell Tower and Drum Tower in the middle of the city.  There are a number of souvenir markets in town, so if you want any particular Chinese souvenirs, let me know.  Otherwise you'll have to trust my judgement.  I also found a Chinese-English dictionary in a bookstore there for a much better price than I would have paid in the U.S.  All in all it was a nice day, and I think I'll be visiting Xi'an fairly often in the future, if only for a change of scenery.  Now, though, I'm pretty tired from all the walking so I'll head off to bed.

food and classes

I'm still doing alright here in Xianyang, but, as expected, the language barrier is pretty intimidating. I went out for lunch yesterday, but of course the menu was only in Chinese and no one there spoke English. I tried to order by pointing to dishes that others were having that looked good, but that wasn't working, and since I couldn't say "I'll have that" or anything else in Chinese, I just picked something at random from the menu to have. It turned out to be chicken (I think) with corn, green peppers, and ginger. It was pretty good, and I successfully asked for rice to go with it and more tea. For dinner I had some bread with fried pork in it (and cinnamon, at least that's what it tasted like) that I had had for breakfast on my first morning here with Pingde, the man from the Foreign Exchange Division who I talked to online to get this job. Ordering that was a bit easier since it was the only thing they were serving, and I successfully asked for two of them (I do know my numbers in Chinese, but am a bit shy about using them). We'll see how today goes. I was planning to go to the market this morning to buy some fruit, vegetables, eggs, and maybe some chicken so that I can make my own meals (at least breakfast - going out isn't expensive. My lunch yesterday, for example, cost just over a dollar and was quite good, but I don't like the idea of going out for every meal, mainly out of convenience. Also, Chinese people tend to eat in groups (as do most people), and order multiple dishes to share. I really like that when I'm in a group, but trying to eat alone is difficult because it seems strange that you would only want one dish, but of course I couldn't finish more than one on my own.). Anyway, as I was saying, I was going to go shopping today but it's been misting/raining all morning, so carrying lots of things doesn't sound like the best idea. Still, it's now lunch time so I think I have to go out and find something to put in my stomach. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, classes: I spoke with one of the English teachers yesterday and she gave me my preliminary schedule. It looks like I'll be teaching two oral English classes on Tuesday afternoon and another two on Wednesday afternoon at the Xi'an campus of the university, which I'll have to take an hour-long bus ride to. The bus doesn't sound like fun, but I don't have much of a choice, and of course having to take it means I have less room in my day for classes, so it could mean less work for me. Also, it could afford an opportunity to practice Chinese, if I can make a friend on the bus. Those classes actually started this week, but since they just told me about the yesterday afternoon, there was no way I could make it to them. I should be getting the textbook sometime today or tomorrow, which would give me plenty of time to prepare. Even if I don't, the first class should be pretty easy, since I'm sure they'll have lots of questions for me, and I'll have plenty for them too.

Now I'm getting hungry so I'm going to head out into the wet world in hopes of finding sustenance.

travel photos

Here are some pictures of my journey here and of my apartment as it was when I more or less first got here:

Last view of Cincinnati


Lake Michigan


Siberia


Airport in Shanghai


Kitchen


Table


Bathroom


Bedroom


I still haven't taken any pictures outside of my apartment (looking like a tourist is no fun, but I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough), but when I do I'll put them here too.

I made it

I'm writing this post from my apartment on campus at the Shaanxi University of Science and Technology. I'm pretty tired from the plane rides over here (about 24 hours of traveling, 4 of those in airports), so I should be getting off to bed to try and eliminate any jet lag, but first I want to let you all know that I made it here without missing any flights (though I came close in Chicago), losing any luggage, or having any other mishaps. There's a 13 hour time difference from EDT where I came from, but my body feels like it's bedtime so I guess it's okay. My apartment here seems pretty nice - certainly bigger than the one I had in Santiago. It has a living room, bathroom, kitchen, small dining room, bedroom, and "office" with the computer I am typing on and an extra twin bed. I'll put some pictures up tomorrow.

Okay, I think that's about it. I guess I should mention that I finally got to meet the director of Foreign Affairs (I think that's his position) with whom I'd been talking via email to get this position. He was at the airport and brought me here (in a Cadillac I might add), pointing out a few sights along the way (it was dark, but still it's nice to start getting oriented).

I don't really have much else to add now, so I'm off to bed.

Revision of itinerary

The last leg of my flight has been changed to China Eastern Air 2158,
departing Shanghai at 7:50 pm, arriving Xianyang 10:10 pm.

So it looks like I'm actually going. Today's been a hectic day
packing and dealing with American Airlines's horrible customer
service. Fortunately that should all be over now, and China will be
mine to experience.

Just so you know, I should be able to keep posting information on this
sight from the Orient. If that is not the case, I'll find some way to
make that known here and let you know where I will be putting that
information. There will also be a picture site as soon as there are
some pictures to put on it.

Back to my last minute preparations . . .

reAmbulation

Tentative plans:

Flight 1
AMERICAN AIRLINES #4289
OPERATED BY AMERICAN EAGLE
Depart : Cincinnati (CVG) at 9:27AM - September 03, 2006
Arrive : Chicago (ORD) at 9:38AM - September 03, 2006
Class : Coach Seat(s): 10A Meal(s): Food for purchase
Flight 2
AMERICAN AIRLINES #289
Depart : Chicago (ORD) at 10:55AM - September 03, 2006
Arrive : Shanghai (PVG) at 2:20PM - September 04, 2006
Class : Coach Seat(s): 39J Meal(s): Lunch, Dinner
Flight 3
AMERICAN AIRLINES #5792
OPERATED BY CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
Depart : Shanghai (PVG) at 6:15PM - September 04, 2006
Arrive : Xi An (XIY) at 8:30PM - September 04, 2006
Class : Coach Seat(s): unassigned Meal(s): Snack or brunch

home

I got home yesterday around 2 PM. The flights weren't too bad since I had both a window seat and an empty seat next to me on both of them. It's nice to be home but also sad to not be in Chile. I'd elaborate but I'm about to go to bed - just wanted to let you know I'm home safe and sound.

Also, I got a new cell phone: (513) 435-1102. The bad news is that my old phone is dead, completely dead, so dead that it isn't chargeable . . . wait a second, now that I look at it again, it did charge and does have all the old numbers in it. But feel free to give me a call anyway.

last exam in 2 hours

My last bit of school in Chile is just about over. The complex variable exam starts at 3 and by 6 it along with my formal education in Chile will be over. It seems that the semester started just a few weeks ago, and now it's over.

presentation

In a few hours I have to give my final presentation for my translation class on the tranlation I did of a math text (well, 4 pages of it) from English to Spanish.

Tomorrow I have my topology exam, and my complex variable exam is on the seventh. After those, school will be completely over.

More amazingly, June is nearly over as well. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time can disappear, even if you are looking.

I'm doing well, enjoying winter, etc. Now I need to make some lunch and finish preparing for this presentation.

school's out . . . almost

Tomorrow I have my last class in Chile. It's sad, really. The semester has disappeared without my realizing it, which isn't surprising since it tends to happen just about every year. In any case, I have a presentation and two exams in the following weeks and I will be officially done. Crazy.

Also, I have less than a month left in Chile. Once again, the saying from my Peru trip comes true: The days are long, but the weeks [or, in this case, months] are short.

Now I need to work on my translation final project (due on Friday) since Friday I'll be working on the final group paper for my narrative class.

he llegado

Just got back to my apartment in Santiago a few minutes ago (or however long it takes to make a cup of tea). Now I have to go out to buy lunch, pay the power bill, and go to class. What fun.

Oh, by the way, Buenos Aires is an interesting city and I enjoyed my visit. More on that later.

Buenos Aires

I'm in Buenos Aires now. Just wanted to let you know I made it and whatnot. So far I've seen lots of old bookstores, which is exactly what I was looking for.

travelling again

Tomorrow night I'm flying to Buenos Aires. Seems like a good idea, since Argentina is so close and the city is supposed to be amazing, more like a European city than an American one. I'll be there until Monday morning when I fly back in time for class. It's only a 2 hour flight over the Andes. Hopefully I'll get a window seat for the way back and be able to see the cordillera from above. I'll be sure to post something on Monday to let you know I made it back alright, and maybe I'll even write from there, but we'll see. For the curious, my flights are with LAN Chile, LA491 from Santiago to Buenos Aires and LA560 on the way back.

new photos

I've had internet again for almost a week now, but haven't posted anything here. It seems that I post more when I don't have regular access . . . weird. Probably has to do with me wasting time in internetland instead of using it for productive things like letting you know how I'm doing.

I don't really have anything to say at the moment other than that you should go look at the photos from my trip to the south that I finally got scanned and online. They aren't amazing quality since they are scanned from not-so-great prints, but it gives you an idea of where I was. Oh, and I put full sized versions of the other photos up too (and the scanned ones, but since they are smaller you get to see the full sized version right away).

It's late so I am going to be productive and try and get tired. Taking a nap in the early evening is not a good idea when you have to get up at a reasonable hour the next day.

Off to read Rayuela or study complex variables.

still disconnected

Hopefully we'll get the internet back soon - it's debilitating when you depend on something for so many things, like news, music, dictionary abilities, etc., and then suddenly it's gone, or at least moved to a much less convenient and more expensive place.

Just wanted to say that last week I went and watched the director of COPA (the program I studied with last semester) do some simultaneous interpretation. Really quite amazing stuff. I found it hard to listen to the Spanish and English at the same time. Regardless, it seemed to be a fun activity, with all sorts of wonderful time pressure. It reminded me of theatre and mock trial from high school, just with another language thrown in. Oh, and I was able to help her out when she didn't know what "empaste" meant (it means binding, at least in reference to books). Interpretation is much more fun and challenging than translation.

Now that I've been here for 20 minutes I'm going to pay my less-than-50-cents and get home to make some dinnner.

internetless

There's no internet access in my house at the moment. Boo. So I'm posting this from an internet cafe. It's amazing how much I depend on the internet for communicating with people, even with people here in Santiago. Since my cell phone doesn't get reception in my apartment, I'm completely cut off from the world without the internet. But on the bright side that gives me more time to read.

I also have a cold at the moment. Yep, winter'll do that to you. But it isn't too bad, so I won't complain much.

My birthday went well on Sunday, nice and relaxing as opposed to the "let's get drunk because I can" attitude that would have existed in the U.S. Turning 21 in Chile just isn't that big of a deal.

reading

Yesterday I went to the Contemporary Art Museum, or rather, to an exhibition by said museum in a different building since the real building is being rennovated, and has therefore been closed since I got here. Unfortunate, really, because what I saw yesterday was pretty interesting. The exhibition's called "Contrabandistas de Imágenes" (Image Smugglers), and has stuff from all over the world. There was a pretty interesting video display which was two screens which showed the set but mirrored, with mirrored camera movements which just repeated themselves endlessely. The action consisted of a man destroying and then fixing back up his aparment, the same man and apartment on both sides, but usually one apartment was messed up and the other orderly. Hmm. Sorry for the bad description - modern art videos are not meant to be paragraphs but rather moving images with coordinated sound.

Early this week I read La casa verde (The Green House) by Mario Vargas Llosa. A very good novel which I read surprisingly quickly considering its 400-page size. I read it for class, but so far the lectures have been less interesting than I had hoped, but maybe that will change on Wednesday (since Monday is a national holiday for some sort of Chilean military (naval, I think) victory).

Also this past week I made chicken parmesan, using the recipe my parents sent me. Oh so good, and surprisingly easy.

This afternoon was spent cleaning and going to the store to buy lightbulbs, and the evening drinking tea and mate while reading. I finished Amberes by Roberto Bolaño, one of my favorite authors who writes in Spanish, and read a bit of Notas de viaje: Diaro en motocicleta by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and now that I've written this I'm going to read some Julio Cortázar short stories.