Hubu Xiang and the Duck Incident

Frog
 

This past Saturday we set out for Hubu Xiang, which is an alley of street vendors selling an assortment of different foods – everything from fried pumpkin balls to rice patties to frogs.  Hubu Xiang is in the Wuchang district of Wuhan and we live in the Hanyang district so it was a decent trek by bus, but fun to navigate our way to a place in Wuhan we hadn’t been yet.

 

Duckling

Overall it was fun and we had a good time with a few of our friends who came as well; however there is one incident which blanketed the entire day and has frustrated me to such a point that I decided to journal about it. As we were leaving I saw a young Chinese boy, around 4 years old, and his friend with a baby duck. A duckling may appear a strange companion for a child but animals in China don’t seem to be viewed in the same way as America; in marketplaces it’s not uncommon to see a man carrying a basket chock-full of baby ducks, baby porcupines or baby [insert animal] to sell for whatever purpose (that part of the equation I don’t usually like to ponder). So this boy, whose parents were workers in the alley, took his newly purchased duckling and proceeded to throw it to the ground…with his parents standing by and watching. In all of four seconds my jaw dropped, the parents smiled and the boy had tossed the duckling around a few more times for his own personal amusement.

The Culprit

I’ve seen countless  things that don’t seem to “make sense” to my western mind and there are often moments I have to stop, take a breath and remind myself that my opinion isn’t going to “change China," nor should it. This was not one of those moments. Musing for a quarter second more I marched over to the two children, grabbed the boy’s arm and yelled “bu shi!” (no!) Where I may have been sued in America his parents merely watched in shock here.

After they were over the initial astonishment of a foreigner approaching them I then commenced explaining (in embarrassingly broken Mandarin) that they are big, the duckling is small and it’s not ok to hurt something smaller than you. I pet the duckling gently and encouraged them to do the same. Trying to personify the poor animal to them (which was breathing heavily, had a slightly cracked bill and hobbled its way over to me seeming to understand I was there to protect it) I asked what the duckling’s name was. We talked for a while longer – his parents finally approached me excited to speak with the foreigner and agree with what I had to say – and when I was convinced enough that my point had been made I departed. Turning around to glance one more time I saw another young boy approach my two new friends and… kick the duckling. My young friend screamed as loud as he could in the new child’s face and brought the duckling under his protection.

The truth is, I don’t know if the lesson will stick with them for longer than ten minutes but in that moment I was so enraged that nothing could stop me, right or wrong. Perhaps it was compounded with the overall experience I’ve had personally watching the maltreatment of animals on the streets along with a clip I recently watched concerning the treatment of animals on a fur farm in China (you can view that HERE). WARNING – IT IS VERY GRAPHIC. IF YOU DON’T THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT DO NOT WATCH IT.           

Not the happiest of posts but this is what has been, unfortunately, on my mind.

Bucket List (30 things before I'm 30)

This past month or so has been peppered with conversation about the future. What is our plan for this upcoming year? Where will we live after our summer trek through Europe? Leaving China is a sad, sad option but it is one we need to really pray about and consider.

However, because so much is up in the air I've decided to get my hands on something I can be intentional about - and that's going to be a bucket list of 30 things I want to do before I'm 30 (and only a couple of short years to do them in....)

Bucket list – 30 things to do before I’m 30

1. Travel to Vietnam (it's kind of cheating because I did this last year, but after seeing the Rambo series years ago I was interested in Vietnam and I figured starting with one checked off the list would make me feel accomplished)

2. Go on a multi-day bike trip

3. Do a homestay with personal tutoring in South America

4. Get into a nurse practitioner program

5. Take my husband on a surprise trip

6. Take a MENSA test

7. Get in the routine of waking up early for alone time

8. Travel to Dubrovnik and see the Dalmatian coast

9. Get Open Water scuba certified

10. Pay off my undergraduate loans

11. Listen more, talk less

12. Journal and write poetry daily

13. Travel to Istanbul + get a Turkish bath

14. Take rock climbing lessons

15. Buy an Estonian sweater IN Estonia

16. Learn to cook ten solid meals well

17. Be at peace with whatever season my life is in

18. Do another medical missions trip

19. Randomly hop a plane to the cheapest “out of country”location available and spend a few days there

20. Do a road trip in the Northeastern part of the U.S.A.

21. Go on more backcountry camping adventures

22. Eat less sweets

23. Try a new food in every new place traveled

24. Travel to ALASKA

25. Hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu

26. Read 100 books

27. Learn to salsa dance

28. Write a manifesto

29. Send a message in a bottle

30. Complete a 365 photo project (starting now)

This was quite fun, try it!

Chinese New Year 2013

Blogging seems like the perfect distraction to writing a paper on Chinese Traditional Medicine so time to recap Chinese New Year. As many know we were in America for a couple of months getting my brother, Beau, set up stateside so returning to Asia without him was definitely bittersweet. However, returning just in time for Chinese New Year was everything we needed to heal and re-stumble upon our “us.” The past couple of years have definitely set us back in terms of the desire to spawn a “little buddy” but I think we’ve more than earned the extra time together! Here’s the recap on the beginning of our new season of marriage and continued exploration into all the nooks and crannies Earth has to offer.

Indonesia

Because I’d booked a shockingly cheap room through hostelworld I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when arriving in Indonesia. The only thing I really knew (thanks to the quick pre-arrival study-up) was that it was a country that was comprised of 15,000+ islands and that we were staying on a small one towards the north. When we got to our hostel we found it to be far cleaner than many of our Asian experiences and even beyond that there was a free shuttle to a sister resort which was far nicer than anything I’d be willing to pay for. We took advantage of this a couple of our days and passed some time leisurely reading our kindles on the beach. Dostoevsky took over my life for those two days so it was well worth it.

Because I’m not one to enjoy being confined to a resort on a small island (no matter how picturesque) one day we took to walking for miles and happened across some small villages scattered along the east side of the island. This was by far my favorite part of Indonesia for two reasons: it’s the first time I’ve ever seen monkeys just doing their monkey business out in nature and conversing with the people the best we could I found the friendliest and happiest communities I’ve ever really come across. The more I travel the more I discover the direct correlation between having less and smiling more. That’s not to say that hard times don’t produce hard people but on the whole I’ve observed the irony that simple living brings richness to life worth more than its weight in gold. I WANT THIS.

With our remaining time we travelled to the main market streets of the island to experience a busier part of the culture that the village life simply doesn’t offer. Here we were met with a hodgepodge of different ethnicities that I came to learn was pertinent to Indonesia as a whole – as their national motto is "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which literally means “many, yet one.” While there I splurged (it really was splurging as we’ve learned that if you want to travel, travelling light is the way to go) and bough a tank top that said “free puk puk.” When I showed it to one of the locals he laughed and said “ah, puk puk, haha.” I’m hoping it doesn’t mean anything too scandalous but our new marriage talk has been to ask for some “puk puk” when we want a kiss so that’s what it’ll mean for the Johnson’s.

Singapore

We were in Singapore the least amount of time so I’ll probably have the least to say, but essentially I was the most surprised that it was SO CLEAN. We’ve only been to dirty, chaotic and manic Asia. Singapore was ordered, law-abiding, strict and clean. To top this off they spoke English so nothing was lost in translation as par usual. We went to a small island the first day and visited the amazing Singapore aquarium, and on the second we got to do my favorite thing – walk around aimlessly and see what fate has in store. We met with some locals who told us about the best dish (fish head curry) and the best place to get it (Muthus Curry) so we made our way to the Indian side of town and spent an hour meandering along until we found it. And dare I say, it was more than worth it.

Malaysia

Malaysia excited me the most, largely because we were there the longest and acrrued a plethora of random knowledge about its history and people. We’d been to Johor Bahru already, which was right across the way from Singapore (it was worth it to go through customs every day, staying in Singapore was far too expensive for the budget we travel on), but Melaka had a far more charming feel than Johor Bahru. We spent most of our time simply walking up and down the streets, exploring unique and interesting graveyards (I found them quite fascinating in this city) and eating at local joints for less than $1. The fact that we were eating off of banana leaves and being served whatever goopy concoction they’d made for the day made it that much better. We spent a lot of our time in Melaka with a couple we met (him from New Zealand, her from Denmark) and also passed a full day riding bikes to wherever caught the eye.

Kuala Lumpur was the next and final stop, and here we met up with a friend from China. He is Chinese and was born and raised in Malaysia, so for the two days he was there he took us to experience as much of the local flavor as he could. We went to a church which was marvelous, particularly when they worshipped in Malay. We bought some squid for breakfast at a street vendor (and though I tried to hide it the visceral response to my tongue's disgust was so intense that I almost vomited on the spot), and we also went to a party to celebrate the last day of Chinese New Year. This was probably my favorite because here I learned about the substantial presence that the Chinese and Indian populations hold in Malaysia. It wasn’t surprising to learn that most of the Chinese who came fled in the days of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. Celebrating the new year immersed in a Malaysian subculture was definitely different than the typical Chinese celebration but still held some resemblances.

We finished up our time at the Batu Caves and then headed up to glorious PRC. After a night spent in the Guangzhou train station (in which we were actually disgusting enough to sleep on the floor) it was back to Wuhan!

Overall the travel was GREAT. Not quite as outdoor adventure-filled as last year but everything we needed at the time.

Changes

Time to make it officially public, today marks some pretty hefty change in our lives (and as much as my family and friends would love to hear me now announce my pregnancy, I’m sorry to disappoint). Actually, rather than increasing in size our family is decreasing. Many know Paul and I took on the guardianship of my younger brother, Beau, a couple of years ago. It has been a long and trying road filled with cheers and tears and yet for the sake of both my original decision I would not change.

Without going into full detail I would like to let you all know that we have decided to relinquish our guardianship. I will simply say that I wish we had been all he needed, but we were not, and that’s ok. He’s got a tough journey ahead but I have also seen him grow in many ways and what we can do now is pray that he takes the experiences he’s accrued forward into future circumstances. I can’t say it enough and yet again after a tearful goodbye I recognized that he really and truly HAS grown, as have we.   

Thank you for all who have been there with us in the past month to listen as we unpacked our quandary again, and again, and again. We’re blessed to have such support and love in our lives and through this I am relearning that one of the greatest gifts you can bring someone in need is a listening ear (hey, I’m proud of the cheese I’m presently spreading), I hope I can be that for some in the future.

To also let you know, Pablo and I have decided to head back to China and fulfill our contracts. It’s slightly bittersweet without Beau but I’m looking on the positive side, so woohoo! As we’ll be heading back smack-dab-a-lab in the middle of Chinese New Year we get the joy of returning to a month of no work which for us translates into a month exploring Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. I’ll try to keep you posted and thanks again friends!

"My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest."

real life rundown

i've been reminded of how miserably i'm failing in the world of journal upkeep. i declare to all my faithful readers that next year will be different…perhaps.

it seems i'm now faced with months of updating in this entry. we'll start with…

THE PAST

chinese new year we spent traveling through vietnam, cambodia and thailand. because there's too much to tell i'll sum up what i loved about each country in one word: vietnam - history; cambodia - people; thailand - outdoors. i actually didn't expect to enjoy thailand as much as i did (the whole everyone who travels to asia goes to thailand so it must be over-toured-and-under-interesting assumption) but i was mistaken. they were all so amazing in their own respect; one thing i relished was studying up on the history of each culture before traveling there. i think it gave a different angle than my usual "let's travel where the wind blows and figure it out along the way"… although i plan to continue exploiting both methods in future endeavors.

after the month off we came back to teaching and decided to coach the international school soccer teams. between teaching, tutoring, parenting, coaching and volunteering as a nurse in the clinic i've been busier than i expected (paul is doing all of these with the exception of nursing) but i wouldn't trade this year for anything. i feel lucky enough to experience just as much outer stretching as inner stretching in this oh so foreign land.  *note on stretching* we recently took part in a bible study over a seven week period on parenting teenagers and through that i've uncovered a lot of my own faulted ideas (whether perceived or acquired) and have been stretched far beyond what's normal for your everyday narcissist.

THE PRESENT

two weeks left of teaching woobahoobahollacupala! it's been a rough year of work, what with teaching ten out of twelve months,  having about seven weeks off within that time period and traveling through asia. however i am tutoring the most troublesome, tenacious, independent, stubborn and awesome kid china has to offer. i beg you, dear readers, research "little emperor syndrome" and perhaps you'll get a glimpse into my sunday and thursday nights. a small glimpse.

[funny jane story. i have taught that child the words for basic body parts countless times and still she confuses  things like hair and hand. but one time, ONE TIME, she pointed to the mole on my neck and i told her what it was and now she never fails to point at my neck and yell "MOLE!" whenever she notices it. go figure]

paul has been appointed a deacon in the foreign fellowship we go to once a week (the handful of foreigners one finds in a chinese city of eleven million) and i'm thrilled because it seems like he's rediscovering his true passions here. i, on the other hand, have been worked on every angle. family, what to do about my education (i still want to complete a nurse practitioner but also feel a yearning towards a masters in something along the lines of cellular and molecular biology), faith, beahviors, and the list goes on...and on....and on. all that sounds like a burden but to be honest  i'm in the best place, mentally, i've been in my entire life (though that may not be saying much).

we've been scaling the proverbial mountain that one encounters when going from absolute freedom to raising a teenager, and in particular a teenager who's been in as much trouble as beau. the paradigm shift between being responsible only for myself (and paul) to having to put beau's needs before my own has been embarrassingly difficult for me. beau certainly doesn't make it easy and there are a thousand dynamics one could only presume upon in a situation such as this but needless to say that after a year i feel like we are finally on the cusp of true investment. i'm not just speaking investing in the motions but a true revolution of the soul. i'm also finding that though this was never in the plan it has reshaped our future. when we have children, if we have children, i understand more what i do and don't want for them and there's a lot in american culture that i could do without. i'm not looking to delve into the age old "kids these days" but i do find that the materialism often leads to a lack of substance that i yearn for in my own [potentially future] children.

THE FUTURE

i'm so geeked for the summertime. the eight week rundown: north carolina to visit family, backpacking in tennessee for our four year anniversary, road trip with my sister and her boyfriend to colorado (and every stop along the way), spreading my dad's ashes on the rocky mountains, paul's brother's wedding and then michigan for some recouping before we hop along back to china.

we've signed contracts with jianghan university and are officially coming back another year!

tentative thoughts for our month off next year: malaysia and singapore.

also, potentially the most fantastic idea during the summer of 2013 for our five year anniversary! stay tuned.

finito. i really do need to work on updating more as i have a far greater appreciation for reading journals that portray a depth of thought rather than a sequence of events. it seems when the gap is this large all one can really do is produce five months in the form of projectile word vomit.

Chinese new year is in the malodorous air

Buses that reek of timeworn perspiration, trains that shutter to a stop, hostels providing suspiciously stained comforters… welcome to Asia. Sure we're not in the third world (not yet), but traveling through China is much different than hopping in my jeep with [insert friend's name] and comfortably riding off into the sunset of our choice state.

First stop: Yangshuo. Yangshuo offered us everything we have been craving. Wuhan is the city of abrupt interactions and stinky tofu (a.k.a. "China's buttcrack"). Not that we haven't come to love Wuhan and all its quirks but nature has been calling my name. Yangshuo is a place I'd recommend to anybody visiting China. It's a small town with a little strip for tourists/foreigners but that's easily avoided when the specific intention to find side street markets and local interaction is in mind. We spent the first two days exploring the town and the third…oh the third… was spent on a thirteen mile bike trek through the countryside and random villages with a Yangshuo local (and dare I say friend?), Peter. Or Xing Xie De, or whatever. Peter was easier to remember. We rode along the mountains and found our way to a cave where we were given a tour and time to play in the mud baths and hot springs inside. After that we climbed up a stone set of stairs and made our way to the top of "moon hill".

Second stop and current location: Nanning. After a treacherous train ride of sitting straight up for six hours and being crammed among hundreds of people we finally arrived in Nanning. Nanning is only a stop for us because this is where we get our visas for Vietnam. And trust me, we wouldn't be here if not for the intense desire to navigate the Vietnamese jungle. This city is just that…a city. Wuhan is ten times better and I'm not just saying that because Wuhan has awesome hole in the wall restaurants and the occasional intensely angry native. 

I'm very excited for the upcoming three weeks of travel through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and potentially Laos. As fate would have it (and kindred spiritness) Sarah Lane just so happens to be traveling to Thailand for a soul searching week the VERY SAME week I'm going to be there. I'm going to be breaking off from the gang at that point and while they head home I'll stay for an extra couple of days and hang with my stalker…I mean best friend. Of course she didn't use her sources to find the perfect moment of insertion into my life…

Impulsive. Impulsivity. Impulsiveness. I've been turning this word over in my mind. Ultimately it's resulted in the decision that there is nothing WRONG with the quality of impulsivity (not completely). Why, since I've become a Christian, do I feel condemned by this? It's as if all the personality traits not falling into the category of "meek, kind and thoroughly thoughtful regarding every decision" are labeled as wrong and ungodly. What about the fearlessness and passion that goes into quick decision making combined with quicker action? Please don't misconstrue me advocating for those of you who are willing to cast logic aside to pursue an exciting and oftentimes necessary adventure with my promotion of zero roots and wholly selfish living. Being faithful to those relationships we've created is definitely the honorable quality. However the deeper traits which motivate impulsive decisions are definitely not all wounded and debauched, but perhaps bold and full of desire.  I suppose I've just gotten tired of hearing far too many times this month that to be impulsive is to live life mindless.

As I stated, Nanning is crap-tastic so I've had much time to read and think. That's all for now!

Beau looking "swag" in his new coat and scarf at the huoche zhan.

Ni men hau. I think it's high time I updated. I have been m.i.a. for the last two weeks due to a ghastly case of strep throat (or viral pharyngitis... or mono...). However after a solid round of azithromycin I am feeling rejuvenated.

So first things first, I’m lucky enough to have stumbled upon the very thing I really want to be doing overseas. There is a woman here, Cheryl, who is an M.D. in the states (family practitioner). She has been running a clinic once a week at a very low price and as fate would have it crossed my path at the exact time she needed a new nurse. As of two weeks ago I am helping her (phone triage during the week and clinic on Wednesdays) and soaking up as much knowledge as I can. Though it’s basic level stuff I am looking forward to it growing. Right now we are just helping with basic care and secondary consults (in China, you ALWAYS want a second consult) but it looks like in the future she may have a contract with one of the hospitals and we can take over some clinic space there. I am essentially getting the opportunity to work with a doctor of family medicine every week and learn everything I possibly can from her while helping her do what I love to do. Not to mention we’ll go to a Leper community every once in a while to do various health care activities. Tough life…

Last night Paul and I were invited to dinner in one of our students’ homes (Tim is his English name). It was an interesting experience and to say I didn’t walk away feeling cultured (and cool) would be a lie. We came bearing a gift (miniature oranges) because that’s what you’re supposed to do it seems. We were offered hot tea and a tour of the apartment while Tim’s mom finished dinner. As we were coming back to the living room, low and behold, more people showed up. Paul and I very quickly came to understand that we were on display, us being foreigners and all. Though at times the language barrier was difficult, it turned out to be a great time. Chinese families eat buffet style and multiple dishes are piled into the center of the table with the expectation that everyone will pick at them as they go along. Towards the end of the meal Paul and I were at maximum capacity and the food kept coming. Eventually the last dish turned out to be Wuhan crab (this crab was not the aesthetically pleasing Alaskan king crab I’m used to ordering at Outback). We were taught by everyone how to completely dismember the crab and devour. When we cast the legs aside initially I was intrigued because I’ve only ever eaten this part. We were then shown how to crack the shells, rip out the lungs and where to eat from. After a minute or so of eating from the appointed body cavity with my chopsticks I made the mistake of asking what part of the crab we were eating. Their response was “perhaps this, well this is the part that makes more crabs.” I then recalled that we were eating from the same area they had pointed at to authenticate that this was a male crab. From that point on it was polite smiles and choking down the rest of the crab’s male anatomy. Delicious.

Our Crab!

Dinner Party

Red tea and green tea we received as gifts from Tim's family

Excitement abounds! We put up our limited Christmas decorations and it’s almost, in the most miniscule of ways, like we’re home with family watching our tree light up. 

Christmastime...

Bear with me, I'm just learning to put up pictures.