The Curse of Lin (Part 2)

Although we missed the last bus back to our town and the bus station was closing up, the presiding guard told us of another station that would have a bus to our city until 7 pm.  We began our journey in search of that station, all the while wishing either of us could better understand the local dialect.  As we ran through CQ city, we passed countless American chains - Starbucks, McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut - and each time, a small piece of me died...knowing that I could not stop and partake of anything remotely familiar.  We finally reached the other station with plenty of time to spare - at least a full 15 minutes - and rushed to the counter to buy our tickets.  The agent informed us that they were sold out and I grew concerned that my student would have a panic attack (or full-fledged nervous breakdown).  She felt fully responsible and could not believe that she was failing her teacher in such a way.  I did my best to reassure her and convince her that we should stop to eat (I hadn't had beef in ages and there was a McDonald's in the bus station for crying out loud!).


As we headed upstairs to eat, I called a friend who was familiar with CQ and she suggested we just get a hotel for the night because trying to get out of the city would now be much too complicated for someone who does not speak the local dialect.  She gave us instructions on finding a cab to a nearby hotel and I went on to order some food while my student lamented the death of her cell phone battery.  Shortly after receiving our food, an employee informed us that we must leave because the gates to the bus station would soon be locked.  I had never in my life been kicked out of a McDonald's up until that point - things truly looked desolate.  We ventured out of the station and into the dark, rainy night, in search of a taxi that could take us to the hotel, but none of them understood our destination.  Finally, a tuktuk driver registered the Mandarin words and confirmed that he knew where we wanted to go.

For those of you that have never seen a tuktuk, this should give you an idea of what a brand, new one looks like on a cheerfully bright, sunny day (quite the contrast to our experience):

As I sat in the back of the damp, dark tuktuk slowly chewing my cold, soggy french fries, I took a moment to evaluate the choices that had brought me to this point in my life.  No direct conclusions were reached.  A few short minutes later, we saw the gleaming lights of the 7 Days Inn and prematurely rejoiced.

We went into the nice, warm lobby and looked to each other in confusion as the desk clerk used the local language to ask if we had a reservation.  Switching to Mandarin, it became clear that we needed a room for the night and things were going quite well until she asked for our ID.  My...ID.  My passport.  That I had safely left in the pocket of my other purse while choosing a more convenient bag earlier that morning.  At home.  Where I could not get to.  And therefore needed a room to stay the night in CQ city.  Oy.  There was simply nothing that could be done - it is a requirement to register any foreign guests with the local PSB and they could not effectively do so without my passport.  Upon being struck with the full realization of the desperation of our circumstances, I lowered my head to my hands.  And laughed.  I had a good long chuckle at the pure incredibility of the day and everything in it, at the seemingly hopeless situation we now found ourselves in, at the lack of any solutions happily presenting themselves, at it all.

I got my friend familiar with CQ city back on the line while my student used the hotel's electricity to recharge her phone.  My friend spoke with the clerk about arranging a private car back to our city and hung up, but the clerk was then unable to find a driver willing to make the trip.  I believe it was somewhere around that point that my poor student fell into hysterics.  I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to comfort her as she sobbed and as the legitimate guests of the hotel bustled in and out of the lobby while looking on with a sort of detached interest.  As my student's phone charged enough to power on, it began to ring incessantly.  She answered and sobbed even deeper while trying to get it together enough to communicate effectively with whoever was on the other end of the line.  As she hung up, she informed me that a way had been made - that her Chinese English teacher, Grace, and boyfriend were in town and about to head back to our town in the boyfriend's car, but the hotel where we were waiting was on their way and they would arrive to meet us shortly.

This now marks the second time in my life that I have been so sweetly, inexplicably, and undeservedly saved by Grace when all seemed lost beyond redemption.

The Curse of Lin (Part 1)

Fear is now rampant among the foreign teachers here in CQ.  They seem to think there is some sort of ever-increasing curse involved with me traveling to and from the city - the Curse of Lin, if you will.  Thing is, they just might be right.

It all started about 2 months ago when I visited my friends in Changsha.  It was nearly impossible for us to get a cab...even the one that agreed in advance to take us from the airport back to my friends' home.  When I returned to CQ city, the driver that planned to take two other teachers and myself back to our town defected.  Then, so did another.  We were effectively stranded.  Thankfully, the teachers had made friends with a lady at their hotel who was originally from our little city (about an hour away) and she worked with a taxi driver to get us to yet another taxi that could get us home (though he did complain vehemently about how I could not understand his local dialect...that much I got!).

The next trip into CQ, we were sure everything would go just fine.  We had a private driver from the school and I would be with the dean's husband for the entire trip as we bought supplies.  However, after dropping off the dean and her assistant, the driver informed us that we were on our own as he needed to have the vehicle repaired...urgently.  Thankfully, our lovely waiban (aka the person appointed to handle us foreigners) acted on our behalf and made sure the driver did return us safely home (if only about three hours after the agreed upon time).

Given my history of deflecting drivers, none of the other foreign teachers were all too anxious to join me when I decided to go into the city about a month ago.  However, I determined to be a wiser, more prudent traveler this time around.  I decided to leave in the morning to avoid a time crunch and I took a student with me (we were planning to visit her classmate in the hospital).  We decided to take the bus...surely a more reliable system!  It was a bit of an ordeal (as per usual), but we made it into the city alright after a highway closure and a police checkpoint.  Along the way, I found out that my student is not a local CQ person, but is actually from another province altogether.  This proved important as it means that she does not understand the local dialect, but only the "common"  language of Mandarin.

After riding the bus to the end of the line and arriving in CQ city, we discovered that instead of being located in the bustling district we were told of, the hospital would actually be much further out of the district and out of the city altogether (by about an hour...then up a mountain).  We made it there in time for a late lunch with my recovering student, about 4 hours after we first began our journey.  We had some amazing dumplings, climbed a nearby mountain that claimed to be home to "Forest Disney" (what, isn't that what you do with all recovering surgical patients?!), returned my student safely to her hospital room, and headed back to the bus.  Unfortunately, it took a bit more time to return to the bustling part of the city where we'd catch our return bus home.  So, my student asked all the friendly, old men on the bus to confirm our stop, only to have them respond to her in the local dialect.  It was actually a bit reassuring for me to see a Chinese person experiencing the same level of struggles/frustration that I do when trying to get around.  We hopped off the bus when cued and began sprinting through the city to find our ride home.  We had just missed it.  The last bus back to our town left at 5:30 pm.

What happened next?  Did we find another way?  Did we ever make it back?  Are we still stranded???

(Stay tuned for part two...)

Work Visa/Residence Permit

I recently posted about how I obtained my latest tourist visa a year ago October.  Getting my Chinese work visa was certainly more complicated, but much less stressful.  The university requested a number of things (such as my passport, photos, degree, etc) and sent me forms to fill out, including a physical exam requiring my physician's authorization.  My dr. got quite a kick about testing me for "toxicomania" and the like.

After receiving my documents, the university dealt with everything they could in China.  They then express mailed me the approved documents that needed to be sent (with my original passport) to the consulate in the states.  I had to hurry to find an agent that could get everything to the consulate and back to me in less than a week - when I was already scheduled to fly out.  Everything went smoothly.  After I arrived in China, our foreign handler (waiban) took us to register at the local Public Security Bureau (PSB).  Soon after, the school helped us with our residence permit application (which supersedes the work visa).  This involved more documents and copies of all the previous documents.  From there, I needed to visit three organizations in the city: 1.  Healthcare Center  2.  Office of Foreign Experts  3.  Public Security Bureau (a different branch from the local one we first visited).

Each school has an official party-appointed waiban, or foreign handler in charge of handling these affairs.  So, it is the responsibility of the waiban to coordinate these activities on our behalf.  I was exceedingly grateful to have Emma's (and her colleague, Peter's) efforts helping us through the process.  One morning shortly after arriving in our new home, we took the hour long ride into CQ city and went to the overcrowded Healthcare Center for foreigners and began filling out paperwork.  Apparently, the day we went was also the day that many universities in CQ city decided to have their foreign teachers tested and the center was absolutely brimming.  Here's a small taste of what it looked like just outside the front door:

The paperwork required our height and weight in centimeters and kilograms, respectively - not something many of us Americans knew offhand.  "Thankfully" there was a GIANT scale that would simultaneously measure both in the very center of the packed out room.  I took a deep breath, got in line, waited my turn, and climbed on.  I wish it were an exaggeration to say that a crowd of strangers gathered (closer) around and began vehemently discussing the numbers while refusing me the kindness of stepping down.  Apparently they believed there was some sort of inaccuracy with the calculations and thought it best to use me as a means of testing/retesting the scale - an impromptu posse of vigilante weighers, if you will.  After what seemed like 10 years and 1,000 humiliations, I was finally able to escape.  I completed the form and, with the help of Peter, pushed through the crowd to the desk that would do a forehead temp scan.

From there, the group progressed to the line for registration, then the line for admissions, and finally the line for payments.  After a couple of hours in the massive (and massively packed) receiving area, we were cleared to move upstairs for our actual physical testing.  Upon reaching the second floor and being made to understand what was expected of us, the foreign teachers joked that it was like some twisted video game: Successfully get your blood drawn?  Level up to the x-ray room!  Endure yelling of the ancient female dr. in a foreign language while being uncomfortably groped under an open window?  Pass thru to the toilet chambers of death...if you dare.  Lucky enough to survive the evil glare and goop of the enraged ultrasound tech?  Move onward to see if the EKG clamps will forever hold you in their 1950's-era grasp.

I'm happy to report that we all successfully conquered the "game" and were rewarded with a lunch at Subway.  Not just any Subway, either, but one located right next door to a Starbucks!  We had to wait for the results of the medical tests before being able to move on to the Office of Foreign Experts or PSB.  The results weren't ready to pick up until after the other offices had closed, so we headed home for the night and made plans to return the following afternoon.

We arrived at the Office of Foreign Experts - a nice, large, impressive building - and headed upstairs for our individual interviews.  The interviewer informed me that was sitting in for his boss while his boss prepared for what sounded like a "crocodile" party for the foreigners.  Though intrigued, I was slightly relieved he did not extend an invitation to me.  We chatted cordially for a few minutes before he concluded the interview and continued on with the others.  When everyone had finished, we went back downstairs to the large, quiet lobby to wait while our waiban stayed behind.  Roughly two or three hours later, she emerged with impressive, passport-looking "Foreign Expert Certificates" for all of us.  Yet again, the time for this endeavor took longer than initially expected.  So, we had no time left to visit the PSB.  We headed home and made plans to return to CQ city again the following day.

We arrived at the PSB the following afternoon and were amazed at the stark contrast between the Foreign Experts Office and the crowd at the small PSB office.  Our waiban submitted our forms as we stood waiting until we were assigned an interviewing officer.  The officer asked standard questions as a camera recorded our interview, informed us of necessary information, and provided helpful tips about living/working in China.  We had to leave our passports there, which was somewhat unsettling, but quite a relief when we received them back a couple of weeks later (just in time to travel for National Day!) with our shiny, new residence permits.

International visas/permits can certainly be tricky, time-consuming, and/or inconvenient, but in my opinion, the resulting experience has always been worth it.  Here in a couple months, I'll let you know if I still feel the same after the Myanmar, India, Nepal, Tibet experience!

Tourist Visa

Due to popular demand (when you're a high-profile blogger with a following of nine, the demand of one constitutes "popular," right?), I have conceded to doing a series of Visa How To posts for purposes of international compare and contrast.  Also, as the other eight of you may have noticed, I haven't been able to post all that regularly lately.  Unfortunately, our connection seems to have been especially tricky lately.  So, the visa posts are something I can easily write up without a good connection, then just transfer to the site - when I'm able to pull it up - and post.  I might even manage to get an entire two posts up this week (no promises)!  So, here, in all its glory, are the steps I took to get a short-term Chinese tourist visa just over a year ago.

How to get a Chinese Tourist Visa in 30 Easy Steps

1.  Schedule a vacation for mid-October.
2.  Find out the Chinese consulate no longer accepts mail and must receive the visa application in person.
3.  Find out the nearest consulate is roughly a four hour drive away in Houston.
4.  Defer to your frequent traveler friend's judgment about which agency to use to get the visa.
5.  Learn that the agent's courier will be vacationing and unable to deliver the application to the consulate.
6.  Contact an old friend living (somewhat) nearby the consulate and ask her to drop off the overnighted passports and applications during her lunch break.
7.  Receive call from distraught friend who has been waiting in line for about two hours with no end in sight and must return to work.
8.  Find out consulate is closed all weekends and holidays, at least the first few days in October*, and for all but two hours every afternoon.
9.  Freak out a little.
10.  Request personal day from work.
11.  Drive to Houston at 3 am in order to be first in line at the consulate (and hopefully be able to return the same day).
12.  Get lost in downtown Houston.
13.  Find consulate and begin the quest for parking.
14.  Find spot and walk to the consulate.
15.  Wait in line.
16.  Go through security.
17.  Take a number.
18.  Wait in line.
19.  Approach window with documents and hope for the best.
20.  Find out you may pick up documents after 1:30 pm, when consulate reopens.
21.  Find a way to kill about 3 hours without getting (too) lost again.
22.  Return to consulate.
23.  Wait in line.
24.  Go through security.
25.  Take a number.
26.  Wait in line.
27.  Receive documents.
28.  Double check documents.
29.  Triple check documents.
30.  Drive home to pack.

If you plan to get a visa during any other time (with the exception of Spring Festival, which is usually in late January/early February), you should probably not have any trouble just using an agent to take care of the process for you.  Please keep that in mind as I know many of you will be preparing your visas to come visit me soon.  You know you want to.

Full details about the current requirements for obtaining a Chinese tourist visa are available with the US Dept of State (http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1089.html) and the Chinese Embassy (http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/lsyw/vpna/).

Information about the process for my work visa and resident permit will be in a following post.

*National Day Holiday - as a tourist trying to get a visa it's no fun, but as a teacher I love that this country takes a week to celebrate a day.

Upcoming Trip!

As many of you know, one of the most exciting things to me about moving to China was the potential to travel with more ease and frequency.  Last month I took advantage of that by visiting a friend that I hadn't seen since college.  What a blessing to see her again and to meet her husband and boys!

Now, another amazing opportunity has presented itself to me.  My current boss, and her husband, both make regular trips to Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and have invited Arianne and I along on one of these trips during our winter semester break.  Myanmar is often hit hard by natural disasters (such as cyclones), but the couple has told us of the amazing spirit of the people they have met while touring/traveling there.  They've also told us of the various orphanages in the country that they've been able to offer support to when visiting.  I'm pretty sure that I could not possibly be more excited about the chance to meet (and hug) some of these little guys!

I know some of you would relish this opportunity as much as I do, and so I would like you to have the chance to be involved if you so choose.  We're leaving the week after Christmas, and I know that's usually a tight time for everyone, but if you would like to send a gift to the kids or any family friends there, I'd be happy to deliver them.  Feel free to contact my dad, Richard Snow, at rrsnow@hotmail.com for more info.  Considering how long our winter break is, I'm pumped for all the travel opportunities I'll have (including reconnecting with old friends in Taiwan and meeting teachers from other campuses), but I'm definitely looking forward to this time as being meaningful in a different way.  Hey, and maybe I'll have a functional camera by then and post pictures of the trip.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Sorry to all the diehard Carpenters fans, but rainy days and Mondays do not always get me down.  Matter of fact, it may actually be quite the opposite (for now!).  The rain here in CQ does tend to come rather frequently and drag on, creating a noticeable deficiency of good, old vitamin D.  However, after one of the driest years in Texas, I am still not tired of it.  Also, I have to say it did save me from an early morning run one day last week that I was so not looking forward to.  What's more, considering the lack of tornado risk, who can resist a good thunder?  (It sure beats the constant furniture moving and dropping of marbles/mah jong tiles from the apartment upstairs!)

And Mondays!  Well, Mondays really might be my new favorite (besides the weekend, natch).  I only have four hours of classes and they are at my home campus.  As English majors, my students here have a higher level of language, as well as a higher motivation to pay attention.  Plus, Mondays are my day to use the internet while the others are off in TL.  It is so lovely to see updates from friends, catch up on e-mail, skype with loved ones back home, and maybe even catch a bollywood on netflix.  Having good internet also means that I can jam to grooveshark while cooking dinner and getting ready to welcome the weary crew back from TL.  I think Arianne put it best when she said that there is just something healing about coming together around a hot meal and sharing the blessings and burdens of the day, especially on those days.  I love that Mondays mean that I get the honor of seeing to the hot meal.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that after a TL day everyone is just so grateful for anything that they heap encouragement and praise on whatever is put before them - especially if cheese is involved.  Tonight will be my first attempt at homemade pizza here.  The Americanese version of Grandma's tomato soup went pretty well last week, although the tortillas in the accompanying quesadillas were more like naan than traditional Mexican fare.

On a different note, I apologize that I don't have any pictures to make the posts a bit more interesting.  My camera broke just in time for our Halloween/Birthday Costume Party.  I can't be sure, but after looking back at the last pictures I took, I think the awesomeness of my new salsa shoes was just too much for my little Kodak to handle.  Behold, the shiny:

Creatures of the Night...and Day

Every biosphere (or is it ecosphere?) has its natural inhabitants and ours is no different.  The difference lies in the type of inhabitants in our new home.  The first bit of time we spent here was used to battle roaches of the gargantuan variety.  After finding bleach, raid, and some type of plug-in device, they have no longer been an issue.  I wish we could say the same for the rest of our little friends.

The mosquitoes almost seem more intent on making up for lost time now that the weather has cooled down enough that simply moving about doesn't seem like too arduous a task.  It's inevitable with the humidity here that a few of those guys and some wee gnats will make it into our home on a regular basis.  Though a bit of a nuisance, they are nothing compared to some of the other beasts we have encountered.

Some of them, like this goat, are cute enough at a safe distance.

A mouse or two has been found directly outside our apartment door...usually by the community, outdoor cat.  It's not unusual for us to either leave or return to speckles of blood trailing up the building's tiled stairway.  However, some of the creatures are a little more intimidating.

And yet, that guy - pincers and all - has nothing on what we have now termed the "cookie spiders."  Arianne first found one in her room and it was HUGE.  It earned the name cookie spider simply by being the size of a...well...cookie.  Her bravery was unrivaled.  Naturally, I contributed to the cause of ousting the beast by jumping around and screaming loudly enough to alert all neighbors within a 3 mile radius.

Our teammates (with the exception of one lady who had found a cookie spider in her kitchen) refused to believe us when we told of its massive size.  A few weeks in, one made its way into my room.  Thankfully, one of the guys was nearby and quickly returned it to its Maker.  That particular one was dubbed an "oreo spider" because it was significantly smaller than the monster that had graced Arianne's room.

Considering our relatively frequent encounters and my time being spent increasingly away from the other teachers (such as on their TL days), I decided to make an effort to be braver.  When I saw a normal-sized spider near my door, I quickly grabbed a flip flop, held my breath, and ever-so-swiftly smashed the ever-lovin' daylights out of him.  I patted myself on the back and went on my way.  Later that day, well into the night, actually, we went to our favorite tea stand after an especially grueling day and saw the Grandma's Great Spatula of Cookie Spiders (GGSCS).

Now, he may not look like much, just chillin' on the meter box (or whatever that is), but I can assure you he was Quite. Large.  As in, this Texas girl has seen tarantulas smaller than that guy.  I'm pretty sure the normal-sized spider I killed earlier that day must have been his son or something because he looked outraged - see the beady, red glint in his eye?  He wanted blood.  I'm sure of it. (Shudder.)

As you can see, David's no small fella himself, and the GGSCS looks more than ready to take on his over-sized flip flop.  We quickly and strategically devised a plan - Arianne would grab the camera from our apartment, David would smash him, Alice had the backup can of raid should David miss, and I was making sure the light on the landing (motion-sensor slap-pad thingy)  would not go out.

Thankfully the plan, as well as the GGSCS, was flawlessly executed.

The Little Things

This week was a bit of a marathon week for me.  Last Thursday I had my first weekly lunchtime class added to my schedule, followed soon after by hosting the massive Welcoming Ceremony.  The weekend was filled by spending time beyond what was expected in the city nearby, meetings, and then by reworking some lesson plans and preparing for my lecture to the Foreign Language Department on the American Revolution.

One of the other foreign teachers quipped that the day of my additional classes and special lecture that I would not have time to even use the restroom.  I retorted that since I wouldn't have time to eat or drink anything, I shouldn't need to!  That day was rife with issues - namely, the background of my PowerPoint presentation not being compatible with the school's computers.  Given the busy schedule of the day, I didn't have much time to try and sort it out.  I was extremely stressed and felt utterly unprepared.  I had also been told to "dress up and put on make-up" as they would be filming the lecture...with plans to post it online.  Goody.

Thankfully, my wonderful roommate foresaw the stress of the day and made extra coffee yesterday morning.  Judy, our dean's wonderful assistant and one of the Chinese English teachers, worked tirelessly between her classes to try and get the IT personnel to sort it out for me.  Arianne and David (another one of the foreign teachers) knew I wouldn't have time to grab lunch.  So, they were sure to pick up some tasty noodles, a tea egg (my favorite!), and a cafe nai cha (coffee milk tea - just the amount of caffeine I needed!).  Bob (yet another foreign teacher) had made PB&J sandwiches for himself and his wife, and came to my classroom to inform me that he also had one for me.  I nearly teared up at the gesture, not quite having the heart to tell him it would put me into an anaphylactic coma (which, frankly, might have actually been welcome at that point!).

Later that afternoon, as I went to give my presentation, the audience also included every foreign teacher that did not have class, and encouragement was quick to come from their lips.  I am truly blessed to have a team of people around me who give up their hard-earned, class-free hours just to support me!  We headed to Chinese class after wrapping up the lecture, and then I headed home so my feet could finally break free from their elevated prison.  I grabbed a quick dinner and watched a Glee episode before heading out (in flip flops, natch) to the next 2 hours of English Corner.  We've started a tradition of a post English Corner tea stand detox, and it certainly hit the spot last night.

I had asked for special strength to deal with the difficulties of the week, and He certainly provided in the form of noodles, a sense of calm, caffeine, and of course the amazing relationships that are being carefully cultivated.  All of them are things that are easily taken for granted as "the little things," but really, the ones that matter most.

Go Big or Go Home

Hardly a day goes by that one of us does not utter the well-worn phrase.  It provides a small window into how we are learning about a very different aspect of this culture.  Although most things lean towards being a big deal, when we're asked to do something here it is quite likely that we do not have the full picture with which to make a decision, but only 10% - the other 90% will (slowly) materialize over time.  It's a lot like an iceberg; we might be able to see the tip, but we're learning that there is actually so very much more lurking beneath the surface.  Simply put, China believes in going big.

About a month ago, Arianne was asked to sing with some of the students for a show in October.  Thinking it was no big deal, she easily agreed.  The fact that they had asked that far in advance should have been our first clue otherwise.  After a few practices, dance moves were added.  Then she was told about the "audition" she needed to attend.  Following more practices, more dance moves were added...and a solo part!  Finally, the week of the event she understood the significance of what she had actually been asked to do - she would perform at the 3 hour freshmen welcoming ceremony where faculty, staff, and the new 2,100+ freshmen class would be in attendance.  She, of course, was amazing - despite how the song selection (Upside Down by the A-Teens) was completely against every fiber of her musically artistic nature.  I loved looking across from backstage and seeing all the other groups of performers capturing her on their camera phones.  I'm looking forward to posting the video, but only after having a list of demands met that includes items from the states! (Hint, hint!)

Three days prior to the ceremony, when Arianne still had not yet been apprised of the full extent of the event, I received a phone call asking me to co-host with one of the male foreign teachers.  I knew if I declined, they'd ask another female foreign teacher, and no one really seemed quite...enthused...to do so.  I reasoned that Arianne had it worse and I could take one for the team.  Much to the organizers' dismay, I didn't have time to practice due to my two TL days right before the event and my busy class schedule the day of (Thursday).  I was told I could just show up to the event early and that wearing my teaching clothes (business casual) would be fine.  That day, when I had finished teaching, I went home to meet Arianne to head to our Chinese class.  Boy, did she look different.  The students had insisted she go to a salon and have her hair done - I don't think even anyone in Dallas could have made it bigger!  At that point, she informed me that the Chinese hosts were in suits and sparkly, strapless evening gowns.  Swell.

I got a call during Chinese class that I needed to book it to the event facility, so I ran home to change into the little black dress that I thankfully had the foresight to pack, downed a sandwich and headed over.  There, I learned about the mic situation, walking patterns and line changes - not exactly the exciting life I had prepared for as a history major.  Meanwhile, my foreign teacher co-host, bedecked in a suit, lamented that earlier in the day the Chinese hosts were "only in suits...now there are tuxes!"  Glitter abounded.  Once the event actually began, I peered out from backstage into the crowd - my fellow foreign teachers and faculty, the university president and administration, the massive camera crew (gliding track included), and well over 2,100 freshmen were gathered below.  We had been told that we were "surprise" hosts and that we would be covered by an umbrella as we walked onto the stage.  We had not been told that the umbrellas would actually be plural and accompanied by the opening dance number.  We were also not told that once the umbrellas were ushered away, we would walk forward to the front of the stage that would be exploding in an impressive pyrotechnic display.  Never have I worked so hard to mask my look of shock and maintain a simple smile.  The end of the show was nothing short of a full-fledged Jerry Lewis spectacle - there were bubbles, there were performers, there were confetti guns, and there were further pyrotechnic displays.  The president and other higher-ups joined us on stage to shake our hands and take massive rounds of photos.  It was truly unlike anything I have ever experienced.

After such an ordeal experience, it is no wonder that when I had the chance to go into the city and do a little Western shopping, I didn't think twice about buying the roughly 4 kg (9 lb) block of cheese.  "After all," I told myself, "this is China.  Go big or go home."

Americanese Food

Some food items that most American families would consider staples are a bit difficult to find here, especially in our little town.  So, we've had an interesting time trying to create meals that remind us of home - especially for special occasions, such as birthdays.  For the first birthday party, we were told that the guest of honor is quite fond of pasta/Italian food.  We knew noodles would be no problem, but finding a good sauce or canned tomatoes and dried/fresh herbs to make a good sauce, cheese, meat, etc might be tricky.  Indeed, it was.

I pulled up the ever handy google translate and looked up key words like "oregano" and "butter" so I could write down the pinyin (alphabetic romanization of Chinese characters) and try to scratch out the Chinese characters before heading off to our local street market and grocery.  The required herbs and dairy products were not to be found, but success was mine in the form of spaghetti sauce pouches - that's right, plastic packets of Hunt's for the bargain price of $3 (USD) a packet.  Ok, not so much a bargain as a purchase of desperation, but good enough.  It acted as a good base for Arianne to add in some additional tomatoes, onions and such.  So, we had noodles, sauce, and salad but still needed to find bread and dessert.  We  found some bread, but it was a bit sweet.  That made the pan-fried garlic bread taste a bit...off, but it must have tasted ok because we didn't have any leftovers!  We found oreos easily enough and decided to use them for a crust. We mixed more crushed oreos into some vanilla ice cream that we were lucky enough to come across and then drizzled some melted chocolate bars over the top - not too shabby.  One of the guys claimed the spaghetti was better than Olive Garden and the dessert was better than Dairy Queen.  Though grateful for the encouragement, I responded by asking him how much time has passed since he's been to either.

The next birthday party was in honor of a good, old-fashioned Texan.  We decided to aim high and attempt fajitas.  A nearby restaurant has a sizzling beef dish that comes with peppers and onions - we ordered several and also requested the same dish in chicken along with fried potato sticks - instant fajita filling.  We made the tortillas from scratch - that was sadly a first for this Texas girl, but surprisingly easy.  With the help of my friend in a nearby city, I also found a great recipe for apple pie with ingredients we could find here.  This meal came together quite a bit easier than the first and was probably more delicious.

High on the success of the birthday parties, I decided to attempt to cook for my teammates after one of their TL days.  I set off for the local grocery store rather optimistically.  We had some leftover pasta sauce and I thought grilled sandwiches with that as the dressing would be great - I only needed to find cheese, bread, and meat.  The store had one packet (five slices) of "breakfast cheese,"  bread with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on top - promising to be less sweet than the garlic bread, and...pig head?  Ugh.  I finally resorted to combing the canned meat aisle.  I found spam.  Not even real spam, though.  Knockoff spam.  I was desperate.  I grabbed some, went home to slice and brown the knockoff spam, then assembled and fried the sandwiches.  When David asked for the food to be blessed, we all heartily agreed and hoped for the best.  Amazingly enough, they tasted pretty good!  I also cut up different kinds of fruit and melted chocolate bars with milk to create a kind of almost fondue for dessert.

On the TL day for the guys and I, Arianne found a way to make crepes.  I still can't figure out how she did it!

On the TL day for Arianne and I, the boys returned the favor and picked up Pizza! from the local restaurant.

This is a picture of the chicken curry pizza - a first for me, but pretty darn amazing.

This is "Hawaiian" - spam (maybe not even knockoff!), peppers, and tomatoes.

We might really be in trouble if only one month in spamwiches and chicken curry pizza already top the list of favorites.

My Second Residence

That's right, twice a week I have a personal driver cruise me through the Chinese countryside to take me to a newly finished, second apartment far away from the hustle and bustle of my normal campus life.  It, however, is nowhere near as glamorous as it might sound.  Shortly before the school year began, we were informed that some of the foreign teachers would likely be teaching at another campus as well.  Apparently, our university had too many new freshmen enroll and an agreement was reached with another campus (TL) to both house them and provide classroom space.  Since the campus is about an hour away from ours* and since it's easier to transport a small number of teachers rather than the many, many students, five of us foreign teachers were enlisted to teach at that campus for a couple of days each week.

Three of us go at a time, on a rotating basis.  We're all, with the exception of one, scheduled there for two days each.  Although it gives us the opportunity to build relationships with a greater number of students, having our time, energy, and lesson plans divided between two campuses can somewhat hinder the quality of those relationships.  They are long, tiring days.  We leave at about 7 am, teach for 4-6 hours throughout the day, and get home somewhere close to 8 pm.  Since TL is such a small town, there are not any places around campus where we can spend time when we're not in class.  So, the school has provided another room for us there.

On the first TL day, I was the teacher who stayed behind and the group didn't get home until about 9:30 pm because the road was flooded out.  I had picked up dinner, so they came in and crashed.  Literally.

This is the room I have at TL:

Singles do have a top sheet here, but no fitted sheet. Heh.

The balcony just outside the room, which leads to the plumbed facilities.

Doors to said plumbed facilities.

I thought you might appreciate the lovely view from the balcony before the not as lovely view of the facilities.

The shower.

The toilet.  It is actually "flushed" with the cut garden hose tubing that is attached to the faucet.

The campus itself is new and still under construction.  This lends itself to an interesting teaching experience.  The technology in the classroom is top of the line, but the noise of spontaneous jackhammers (or workers cranking up the Mariah Carey) can be somewhat distracting.

 It's a lovely campus to drive up to:

This is the building where I have most of my classes, one of which is on the right side (2nd floor) where there is not yet a pane for one of the windows.  Luckily the rooms have mics so I don't have to yell too much over the construction!

 Side view of the building.

Yes, I believe they are mixing concrete in the middle of the shiny, new hallway.

 Scaffolding in the main atrium.

 I don't think that's quite the permanent roof for the structure...

 Even though the building's 7 or 8 stories tall, I would not recommend using that elevator just yet.

Each classroom has a great computer/projector/sound system.

 The classrooms are so shiny.

I hate to jump to conclusions, but I think it might be safe to say that OSHA does not have a TL branch.

*We were originally informed that the campus was about 30 minutes away.  However, when the single lane, unfiinished country road is washed out, it tends to take a bit longer.

Bleach, Starbucks, and Engrish

Alternatively titled, "Things That Make Me Oh So Happy."

Success!!!!  As you can see from the picture below, we found cleaner with Bleach! And Raid! (Or something to that effect...close enough, anyway.)

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to spend some time in the big city (about an hour away).  We were fortunate enough to encounter Starbucks (I can't tell you how much better it tastes in a country that currently imports ALL of their coffee - seriously, it is so hard to find any coffee here).  We were a little amazed to find that Starbucks adapted to the local culture by selling moon cakes in honor of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Why, yes...I believe that green tea moon cake is sporting our favorite mermaid (shh...don't tell Ariel)!

After the Starbucks run, we encountered a good deal of Engrish.  As an English teacher, it's tempting to be dismayed by the rampantly inappropriate use of the language.  However, I find it much more refreshing to have a laugh instead.  Here are some fun examples:

Ah, yes.  Taking the escalat is so convenient when you need an elevator from.

People really would be so much healthier if they would simply quit burning.

I believe this is exactly what Andy Warhol envisioned his artwork would one day become.

That poor mouse...he's now known as just "Ickey."

Finding the good and the humor in daily situations are a few of the things that keep me sane, especially when I miss the convenience of the states.  What are some coping mechanisms you rely on?

Foreigner(s)!

Wai Guo Ren!  It's a phrase we hear no less than half a dozen times a day.  Sometimes muttered, sometimes with shock, sometimes shouted, sometimes with humor, and sometimes with mere observation.  The literal translation of the term (outside country person/people) is somewhat reminiscent of Jewish tradition where you're either Jew or Gentile, nothing in between.  Here, you're either an insider or outsider, a Chinese or a foreigner.  Now, that's not to say that the culture denigrates foreigners in any way.  Chinese hospitality is certainly well-known and celebrated for a reason. However, it is becoming increasingly clear, especially the longer we stay, that our differences are well noted and observed.

When I posted the pictures of our apartment, I joked about the eyes on our patio door (above), saying that we really didn't need any additional reminders about how very watched we are.  Sometimes we are watched with care - such as the student Friday who was concerned we weren't familiar with how to cross the street and that the stop lights might be different here than they are in America.  Sometimes it is with curiosity - such as the sweet elderly couple at the street market that tried to chit chat in the local dialect, or the drunk on the bus last night who made it oh so clear that he felt our Mandarin needs severe improvement.  However, the observation is seldom without comment.

Seemingly everywhere we go, we (unintentionally) cause a bit of a ruckus.  If I go to the department store to purchase a cell phone, or the market to buy eggs, my broken Mandarin causes a host of individuals to gather around out of a sense of personal confidence that they will suddenly be the magic gateway to clear communication.  If we go to the local mall to find bedding, the bored shopkeepers follow from store to store actively discussing amongst themselves what they think we might best like to purchase, only to have all their conjectures turned completely inside out when all we find (and purchase) is one measly pillow cover.

So, it came as little surprise that the students filled us in on the latest foreigner scoop at their first opportunity, which happened to be last Thursday night at English Corner.  It soon came to be known that we are no longer the only foreigners in town...in fact, a massive total of FIVE German individuals exists at a nearby university campus.  The town is all abuzz with the news.  What did, however, come as a surprise was that we actually ran into two of said German individuals last Friday at the gym.  Apparently, the gym is the unofficial hub for the Western foreigners here in our fair city.

In my experience, having similar pigmentation has never been reason enough to strike up a conversation, or even more so, a friendship.  However, the student accompanying us saw no reason as to why it shouldn't be.  So, with wide eyes she promptly informed me - in the presence of the two guys - that we "should talk!"  Thankfully, they were as baffled and amused at her reaction to the situation as I was and lighthearted conversation followed.  At the student's insistence, we made plans to meet up at another time.  In fact, a group of our foreign teachers at this campus met with them for dinner last night.  I must say, it was my first experience of going to hot pot where there were not any Chinese people with me.  In China, no less.  Who knows what might happen if the Swedish ever come to town.

First Class(es)

Last week was the official start date of classes for the university.  However, I didn't have my first class until yesterday.  For the foreign teachers, many of the days last week were spent in the main city nearby, working out various paperwork issues, making sure that we are all foreign experts who qualify to be legal residents, and are thereby legally able to teach.  Also, the freshmen students begin their classes two weeks later than the rest of the school in order to fulfill their military training duty.  I'll refrain from going into detail about how intimidating it can be to see waves upon waves of camo marching toward you (as they yell in a foreign language, in unison) when you just want to quietly sneak out the side gate and grab a mango milk tea.

So, yesterday I had my first two sophomore classes.  The classes themselves were fairly uneventful.  The students here, overall, are so respectful and polite that the greatest challenge (at least thus far) seems to be pulling them out of their shell enough that they're willing to speak English.  You know, for their Spoken English class.

Getting to class, on the other hand, has proven to be a bit more of a challenge.  At least in comparison to my alma mater of good ol' WT.  The classrooms are kept fully closed and locked when not in use.  The keys are kept in building 7 and it is each individual teacher's responsibility to sign out their key in advance of class and return it promptly as soon as class is dismissed (in case there is another teacher in that room for the next class period).  Sounds simple enough, right?  Well, my morning session went fairly easily.  I went to the key room in building 7, told the key lady the room number in building 8 that I needed - she seemed quite surprised that I could ask for it in Chinese because she had just been muttering about "those foreigners" and, presumably, their non-Chinese-speaking ways.  I understood her frustration - some of them have been here a whole two weeks and still aren't fluent - tsk, tsk.  I thanked her and went on my way.  I hiked up to my classroom on the 4th floor, unlocked the doors, switched on the breakers, opened the windows, started the fans (only the 5th floor has AC), booted up the computer, and greeted my students as they arrived.  Once class was over, I did everything in reverse including the return of the keys.

When I arrived to pick up the keys for my afternoon class (5th floor! AC! Woohoo!), the key lady went into a bit of a tizzy at the room number.  Quite the discussion ensued.  Apparently the computers in the room were broken and she wanted me to use another, nearby classroom.  She then appointed a room on the 3rd floor for me (ok, so not exactly nearby).  At that point, an individual walked in and they had a discussion which she ended by asking him if he speaks English.  He responded with an affirming "Uh...maybe?"  Seeing a window of opportunity, she seized it and asked him to both explain to me everything the two of us had just discussed in English and to confirm my response.  Unsure of his English, once he realized I could speak/understand a little Chinese, most of his conversation was also in Chinese.  The result was the same, though the key lady appeared to feel much more satisfied.  Signing off, I scurried away to prepare for my class in the new room.  Thankfully, after setting up, I found a student to corner and ask if she was in my class.  She recognized me as her teacher (perhaps from one of the handy fliers circulating campus, like the one pictured below) and agreed to let her classmates know about the room change.

Dear America, Please Send Bleach.

Ok, so my title for this post was a bit of a joke...until I walked into the kitchen tonight and found roaches.  That's right, plural.  And then I died.  Anyway, without much further adieu, here are the initial photos of our place.  I do plan to update once further cleaning and decorating have happened.

This is the entry up to our apartment.  We're on the first floor, but it's still about 6 or 7 steps up.  To the left of the stairwell is where people tend to store their bikes, strollers, etc.

The door to the left belongs to the two single guys and the door to the right is ours.  The three married couples are in the same building, but they get a different wing and top sheets (I don't know why, but single beds only get a fitted sheet and duvet cover here - no flat sheets).

Entry view to our apartment - the kitchen is the door just inside to the right.

Kitchen view...

Washing machine - woot!  We may have to unplug our water heater in order to plug in the washing machine, and it may all be in code (or Chinese - you say tomato...), and we may have to hook up the hose to a weird nozzle in the sink, but it works!  And with the help of one of the nationals, we found some great-smelling detergent.

Isn't our little purple and gray refrigerator cute?

Here's part one of our big common area...the dining set.

Part two...the living room type space.  And yes, that lovely stripe on floral pattern mix?  Why, that's what we refer to as "double pretty" here in the middle kingdom.

As if we don't have enough reminders of how very watched we are here, we found these lovely stickers on our patio door.

Our cute, little bathroom...

My cell...errr, room!

 All of my clothes fit easily into this wardrobe after I downsized for the move.

That's it for now - we found a mall here in town and have been busy shopping and redecorating.  So, maybe I'll get some of those pictures up soon.  The place already looks a lot better than in the photos above.

But seriously, the first person to figure out how to get us gallons of bleach and/or bug bombs will be my hero. Forever.

A few of my favorite things...

Beijing

~Traffic in Beijing, like most large, international cities, can be a bit intense.  We ran into a few gridlocked situations ourselves.  It was most impressive to witness, during these occurrences, how the drivers would not only refrain from cursing, but from getting upset entirely.  Rather, in near unison, they would leave their vehicles altogether and take advantage of the unscheduled smoke break.  Three or four drivers stopped near each other would gather around a tailgate like old friends to discuss the latest goings on while puffing away contentedly.  Once traffic starting freeing up ahead, each would return to his respective taxi or bus and carry on as though nothing were amiss.

~As many of you know, this is a very community-minded/oriented society.  However, it's one thing to hear that and quite another to experience it at times.  When our driver picked us up at the hotel in Beijing to go to the airport, he was a bit amazed at the amount of luggage we were bringing.  Somehow, he was not nearly as amazed as another driver waiting at the hotel that had nothing to do with us, our luggage, or our transportation.  The second driver (Mr. BlueShirt) was heavily involved in making sure the bellhops, our driver and anyone within earshot heard his thoughts on the situation.  When I thanked the bellhop that had been helping us in Chinese, Mr. BlueShirt looked taken aback and asked "She can understand all this??"  Which, to be fair, given his expressions and the accompanying gesticulations, one need not be proficient in Mandarin to have understood what the man was trying to convey.  Of course, he then took the opportunity to approach me and tell me that our poor driver's car was probably much too small for our things as he pointed to an empty bus and suggested we take it instead.  I assured him that we had come to the hotel in a small car with our belongings and the return was also quite feasible.  He continued to supervise the situation, offering none but the most helpful of suggestions to our beleaguered driver.  As Arianne and I piled into the backseat (the front carried one suitcase) - she with her guitar stowed in front of her, me gesturing for her pack to be handed to me, Mr. BlueShirt repeatedly asked if I was absolutely certain I could handle riding all the way to the airport with that bag in my lap.  I assured him I was.  He was incredulous.  He insisted everyone around him share his incredulity.  Meanwhile, our driver was most concerned that his car was entirely out of sorts.  He had to move his tea canister from the trunk to the front seat floorboard, for Petie's sake!  Though, he, unlike Mr. BS, chose to bear his burden in silence, ever so stoically.

~The hotel in Beijing was super swank.  A massive breakfast buffet was included with our room.  One morning I was finishing up my juice after Arianne went back to the room and the guys behind me were covertly trying to practice their English, but not brave enough to approach me.  One of their group would walk away, act like he was just approaching them for the first time and regale them with "Hello!  Good morning, heh."  Then they would all echo the same lines before cracking up.  Boy, was I ever impressed.

CQ

~After arriving in our new city, one of the teachers graciously offered to take us to the bank to exchange some currency.  Apparently the currency exchange is separate from the normal hubbub of the rest of the bank operations.  It happens to be upstairs at the VIP counter.  While we were waiting for the teller to complete Arianne's exchange (and hearing about how she simply could not accept a $50 bill because it had a slight tear), I looked over to see a small little boy wearing the infamous split pants.  He was adorable!  He was having  a ball making his way around the large, lovely carpeted room while his mom was distracted by her business at the counter next to ours.  When next I looked up, he was across the room, right in the middle of it, and was just on the closing end of leaving a large puddle right there on the carpet!  His mom, then finished with her transaction, turned to quickly scoop him up and away they went.  I'm pretty sure my eyes turned into saucers.  As we turned to leave and walk across that very same room, I quickly warned my companions to watch their step.

~Sometime last Friday afternoon, we were informed that the president of the college would be hosting a dinner for us.  I'm pretty sure we were all relieved to see that our beverage choices were between Pepsi and warm soy milk, as opposed to cases of Tsingdao beer or the driest red wine you can imagine.  Although, considering this particular feast only included three or four proclamations of "Gan bei!" ("Bottoms up!") instead of the normal 218,345,676...we might would have been ok.  Considering that some of the other foreign teachers don't have much experience with Asia (and thereby chopsticks), this was a great opportunity to practice.  Especially considering they were the only utensils provided.  One of the guys was excited to have been able to pick up a piece of what may or may not have been some kind of jerky.  It made it quite nearly all the way to his plate before flailing out of his chopstick grasp, landing quite perfectly in his lovely glass stemware.

Over the years, I have learned that Chinese banquet food is simply not my favorite.  For some reason, the special and honorable food that is presented at these events (such as fish eyes, octopus salad, or mountain frog uterus soup) is just not as appealing to me as the ho-hum everyday offerings of chicken and rice or fried noodles.  In a lot of ways, this particular event was no different.  However, we had just been to a local restaurant the day before and enjoyed a most delectable dish of garlic-fried eggplant.  I was quite happy to see a similar-looking dish in front of me.  Fortunately, due to the banquets of the past I have attended, I have learned to always take just a bite of each dish and wait for it to come around the lazy susan again if it turns out to be delicious.  So, I grabbed my small portion of what I hoped to be as tasty as the previous day's eggplant  and excitedly bit into it.  It was both softer and chewier than I expected...causing me to think that perhaps I had misjudged and it was actually some kind of chopped mushroom.  I continued to chew, working my way down to the end of the piece when suddenly my teeth encountered a most unsettling crunch, accompanied by further crunching (and involuntary cringing).  It was apparent to me, at this point, that there were bones (albeit small ones) involved.  There also seemed to be some kind of small hook (talon?!) at the very end.  I began hastily searching my memory in an effort to uncover what could possibly be roving around my mouth.  This served as an entirely necessary distraction in order to occupy my mental faculties just long enough to allow me to swallow the thing without thinking too long or hard about it.  The only comparable thing my mind could come up with was a time when I had unknowingly been served stewed baby duck feet.  It was quite possible that what I had ingested was a full-sized duck foot that had been chopped length-wise into sections.  Oy, oh boy. Arianne, who had the pleasure of sitting next to some nationals, told me later that they were relatively certain that dish was actually small eels.  Either way, I'd be content to never experience that one again.

Chinese Takeout

During our stopover in Beijing, one night Arianne and I were suddenly famished.  Deciding that we'd likely have plenty of Chinese food over the course of the next year, we decided not to feel bad about prolonging the inevitable and opted to stop at KFC.  While standing in line, I was carefully practicing how to order the meal number we wanted.  We hadn't even made it to the counter before the cashier saw us coming and whipped out a very specific picture menu and directed us to just point out our order rather than try to understand us.  I still had a chance to confuse her when I ordered a Sprite for each of us.  Since they use Pepsi products, they only had 7up...which I don't know how to say.  Confusion abounded, but somehow, in the end, we all got what we wanted.

Our second night in Beijing, we (again) did not feel bad about getting one last bite of western food before heading out.  We made it back to the hotel before deciding on the nearby Pizza Hut.  I volunteered to be the gopher after we agreed that a veggie pizza would be quite tasty.  Pizza Hut is kind of a big deal here - it is a nice, sit down restaurant with a hostess, wait staff, etc, etc.  I successfully informed the hostess that I wanted to order "wai dai" (to go).  She directed me to a server just inside the door and the fun began.  The server handed me a (bilingual!!) picture menu.  I flipped past the seemingly limitless drink selection, the burgers, and who knows what all else until I found what I was looking for - Pizza!  I quickly scrolled through until I found the garden veggie pizza and noted all that was on it: bell peppers - both green and red, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, and pineapple.  Uhhh, yeah, ok.  Arianne had informed me that she was not a fan of mushrooms and I had informed her that I wasn't sure how to say mushroom in Chinese, but that I would do my best.  So, the dialogue with the server began.  Loosely translated, it went something like this:

Me: I would like this one (pointing to veggie pizza).

Server: ' "" ' '' "

M: Uh, yeah, I would like this one, but I don't want...something (pointing to mushroom on picture).

S: Ok, you'd like this one.  But what is it you don't want?

M: I don't know how to say it in Chinese, but it's this (pointing to mushroom).

S: " ' " '''

M: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

S: This is called "' ' " '

M: Uh..muo....g...?

S: No, muogu.

M: Muo...goo...?

S: Sure! What else would you like?

M: Ok, so, I want this pizza with no muogu.  Hmm.  And I'm not sure if my friend likes this stuff (pointing to pineapple).

S: Oh! That's ' "" '' "" '.  (Apparently she had felt enough success at teaching me muogu. Oy.)

M: Uhh..luo...???

S: ' "" '' "" '

M: Ok, well, yes it's yellow.  So, I feel like I want this pizza with no mushroom and no yellow stuff.

S: ' "" '' "" '

M: Yeah, I don't want that - it's the big, yellow stuff, right?

S: Right.  What size do you want?

M: Well, there are two of us.  So, I don't want a small and I don't want a large, maybe a center.  (I had no clue how to say medium!)

S: I think you should get the one that is 58 RMB.  It is great for two people.

M: Ok!

S: So what kind of ' " '' ' do you want (pointing at crust)?

M: (Under my breath) Good lord! (Out loud) Uh, this one...?

S: Oh, but this one is very good and so is this one and "" "" '' ' '' ' " '' ' '.

M: (Seeing one filled with cheese and pointing to it) Ok, this one! I want this one.

S: Ok, please wait 20 minutes and we'll have your order ready.

M: Phew.

Even with corn on it, that pizza was SO worth it - no one knows when we'll see cheese again (cue heart-wrenching music and fade).