Harbin: International Ice Festival

I saw pictures like these of Harbin in a National Geographic once and thought, "wow, I'd like to see that". This years theme was spiritual buildings. You could walk up them, slipping hard and often, and slide down hidden shoots to avoid walking down on ice steps. With the temperature hovering around -15, my eyelashes even froze together again!

Harbin: Hai Long Jiang Siberian Tiger Park

Instead of looking at animals in cages, at this wildlife reserve there are over 500 endangered Siberian tigers and others (panthers, leopards and lions) living on vast open acreage (1500 sq. km) and we, the people, are put into a cage (a protected vehicle) and driven through, so that they can look at us with curiousity! I was sitting at the back of the bus and surprisingly, the window opened, which made for better pictures and higher risk of being attacked with a paw!

The tiger in the cage was a younger tiger who was under watch by the park staff. To help pay for their maintenance costs of caring, they sell food (animals) to the tourists. Ranging from $1.00 for a strip of beef, $9.00 for a chicken all the way up to $175.00 for a whole oxen. We settled for the $1 meat strip and he jumped up on the fence to take it. He must have been eight feet tall!

Harbin

A. the view from our room in the Green Hotel where nothing in fact was green
B. One of many condo blocks in the suburb, these ones looked so nice with the clean white and trees out front
C. Niagra Falls. Canada was the theme of this years Harbin Snow festival, how fitting.
D. A senior in a thick fur coat walking her gearless bike past red underwear, on sale in preparation for the year of the golden pig.

Harbin: Winter swimming and bladed chair races

There are so many things to do in Harbin for fun... with ice and snow. This pool was cut out of the frozen river and these women were there for a... weekly maybe? dip.



Monday's 7:40 Student Stampede

Mao Ze Dong and Che Guevara graffitied on the same locker and with 2,000 students, about 600 file through this one set of doors.


Apartment Quirks

A quirky tour of our apartment: Jamie says, "Why do you want to show people the wierd stuff about our apartment?" I say, "...because this is interesting stuff". So here is our living room table, bathtub, humidifier and mini fridge and oven.


Drama family portrait



In Drama class we were creating family photo tableauxs of families where 'the kids have gone wild', 'Dad is a military officer' or 'the family is a family of monkeys'. Then they wanted to take a 'Ms. Kothlow's drama family' photo for real, so we did it and this is what happened.
This would exactly be our family photo too because this is what class is like everyday and I seem to be in a headlock, having my hair pulled and cheek pinched simultaneously. Three signs of both approval and respect in teenager language... right?

New Years 2007 - A night of perfect snowflakes... seriously!

New Year's Eve as a perfect night for a few reasons.

  • It began snowing that evening, these perfectly articulated snowflakes, like the ones I use to cut out of white paper.
  • I was with two good friends, Jamie and Malcolm, and we were all healthy and happy.
  • We ate a fantastic meal and played Scattergories... I love Scattergories.
  • At 11:30, we began hiking up the local mountain and reached the top, to find we were the only ones up there, just moments before midnight.
  • They sounded the gigantic gong-like bell from mid-way up the mountain (you can hear it in the video) which made it really feel like China
  • Fireworks were exploding everywhere (nothing new though, they had been going strong since 6pm)
  • We had sparklers, BUT ONLY THREE MATCHES and a significant cold wind. The first blew out immediately, so did the second, but that last hope of a weak little match pulled through in the weather and lit a sparkler so we could wave them around!
  • Directly following the sparklers a intense snowball fight ensued. Resulting in a 12:05 facewash for me. Haha! I wont mention all the things I did to deserve it.
  • The camera batteries died after the twovideos and before we got any pictures. At 12:30 we managed to get two pictures out fo the camera, these two pictures below. Pretty great pictures!!

The way it all lined up on New Year's, I hope is a sign of how this year will go!





Alternative News Source

Availability of reliable sources is not exactly one of the perks of living in China. Regardless, this remains my favourite site when I ask... what's going on out there?? Hello??? www.zmag.org

First Social Event after two weeks of appendix-related isolation: Corrina's Suprise 80s Birthday Party.
She was too sick to come 'hang out' with us and we didn't have the heart to tell her, "this is your birthday party get over here!" So, we dabbled in ridiculousness and tomfoolery in her honor.

The first snowy morning in Kaifaqu!

Just relaxing with my bud, and roommate, Jamie. Actually, I think we are showing off the giant mushrooms in the park near our house.

Last year, between the oncoming of the cold and the first snowfall, this ice was perfect for games of teacher-on-teacher and mothers-against-others hockey. This year it seems it will serve me only in its beauty and as a whiteboard for less than perfect phrases.


Bugs of Kaifaqu

My first ever praying mantis.... yikes.


Selling myself for Charity

Appedectomy at Dalian 1 Hospital


What hospital isn’t busy. Stretchers flying everywhere, wheelchairs, bandages and crutches. After five hours of navigating between examinations, including ex-rays and a trip to gynecology, I received word that they were admitting me for the night... on appendix watch.
I sat down the other day and made a list of the top 20 stories of my week in the hospital and this, 'the one about the basin', is one of my favourites because it shows both these feelings of urgency and cluelessness that lurked in the atmosphere around me that week.
Once they decided to admit me, we were sent to pay some more bills and then to the hospital pajama pick-up station. People in line-ups everywhere. I sit down when I saw a seat become free and put my head in hands and let my schools Chinese secretary, who was helping me that day, push to the front counter about twenty feet away.
Ten minutes later I hear from across the crowd , “Alysha! Alysha! Alysha!” … I don’t respond. I am too tired. I can't even hold my head up. “Alysha! Alysha!” It appears as though I must. “Yes?” I yell. Silence. Then...“Do you NEED a BASIN?” A basin could mean so many things, I think to myself. I wonder what a hospital room in China looks like? What supplies will be there for me and what won’t? A basin could be for washing myself… maybe I won’t have a bathroom or sink. A basin could be her translation of a bedpan…. My thoughts are interrupted. She needs my answer as she is loosing her spot in line. “Alysha! Alysha!” Yes or no, I think. The thing was, I didn’t know. I didn’t know at all. Would it mean I want to be washed right now because I had a shower this morning. Will they still take my appendix out if I don't have it? That was basically when I stopped thinking. I had been doing this all day. I motioned with my hand to her, vaguely yes, vaguely no, and rested my head back into my hands. Basin or no basin just show me to a place where I can lie down. Silence again. Then... again I hear, “It costs five yaun!” Where is my wallet, I think. Should I give her the money? Does she want the money? What if I don't have it. Will I still get to lie down soon? That is the last thing I remember before being upstairs in my room, in my pajamas. Day finally over, save the appendix operation that would unexpectedly come later that night. Safe with a basin.

My basin and I parting after a week together on the eighth floor. It was a good decision to get it. It was very multi-purpose.



Architecture around town

Lake Hovsgul and Terelj National Park




Mongolia

"Westerners believe they may run out of time. They need to go fast to have enough time but the Mongolia people believe the opposite, there is an unlimited amount of time."

Ma Fan in Mongolia

Our transportation from Ulaanbaatar to Lake Hovsgul were two 22 hour off-roading adventures. On a serious note, the way there was so far my most challenging traveling experience ever. I don't think Emily or I want to talk about what happened that day... still. We should have known we were in for it when our driver said to us... "the people here are nomadic, so a promise can sometimes change into not a promise." Live and learn: on the way there we were cozy with 16 people in our little Russian jeep, on the way back we fenangled our way into a piece of heaven. No jumping into moving cars, no kidnappings, no police, no stealing, cheating or lieing, just three people enjoying an old bumpy road together.

The White Pine Hills - Hustai National Park

Hiking in search of wild horses. Hustai is the home of Takhi horses. They have 66 chromosomes, where domestic and hybrid horses have 64. They were borderline extinct when a European man, Prezewalski, took a few to Europe, bred them and they have now been reintroduced into Hustai. They are believed to be the last wild horses.

On 'hot' days in Mongolia, like this day, the horses hide in the shade of the pines closer to the top of the hills.
If you look in the bottom right corner of this photo there is a pack of four wild horses