afarther
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en-us2007-08-08T16:13:22+00:00Lastly, the lasts.
http://www.afarther.com/archives/lastly_the_last.php
Sitting here on my 18 hour flight, somewhere over the North Pole - thanks to a wonderful 3.5 hour delay in shanghai - I can't but help think about my lasts.
The last week has been a whirlwind of them. Or at least what I convince myself are lasts.
In Transit, Chinaallister2007-08-08T16:13:22+00:00So Long, Farewell.
http://www.afarther.com/archives/so_long_farewel_1.php
The end of this road is near.
And by near I mean less than 24 hours near.
Somewhere between bowls of noodles, rambling on about American holidays to my poor students or drinking baijiu a year has slipped by. Certainly not the slipped in the sense of slipped though my fingers - I think, all backpatting and self-congratulating aside, I have integrated/pushed my way into this community pretty well - but more of a whoa-whoooaaaa-WHOOAAA where-the-hell-did-that-year-just-go kind of slipped by.
This isn't being written dry-eyed.
Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-07-25T03:24:26+00:00Return of Accountability
http://www.afarther.com/archives/return_of_accou.php
h2. Or, Open Pits Abound
Living here in China going on 11 months my perceptions about certain things have definitely changed.
I no longer spit out little bits of gristle and fat - sometimes I even go out of my way to order it on kabobs - when eating meat.
I have convinced myself that drinking milk out of a small plastic bag is the norm.
Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-07-14T05:30:06+00:00Green Apricots and a Donkey
http://www.afarther.com/archives/green_apricots.php
That would be quite the punchline - instead it was my day.
Yesterday I had the privilege of going with some friends to their
laojia - a traditional family home - set in the mountains behind my
town, Guyuan. We had a 45 minute taxi ride on some pretty interesting
roads. And by interesting I mean small, twisty, dusty and very very
steep. Kudos to the taxi/rally car driver that got us there and back.
The visit was initiated after an argument about apricots. Thats right, apricots.Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-07-02T06:29:34+00:00Summer of Plenty
http://www.afarther.com/archives/summer_of_plent.php
I'd like to take 10 minutes here to make some excuses about my chronic lack of posts over the last half-month or so. It's not my fault. Really. First off I'd like to pass blame to the fresh fruit. That's right. The fresh fruit have been hampering my writing with their succulent allure. Watermelons that put the melons in the States to shame. Deep maroon red, small black seeds and often splitting open, chock full of sweetness. The lychees, those incredible lychees. Little lizard skin covered orbs begging to be squeezed open, spilling out their smooth milky colored flesh. The...Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-06-27T11:22:09+00:00You Sexy Thing You
http://www.afarther.com/archives/you_sexy_thing.php
horrors angels in class 14.
From the corner Feng Junjian piped up,
bq. "Allister your beard is mightily long today."
After only two days without a shave I wouldn't go so far as to call it a beard. Certainly not one worthy of "mightily."
bq. "Sorry Feng Laoshi, I was a bit lazy this morning."]]>Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-06-11T13:55:15+00:00The Buddhas and the Bees
http://www.afarther.com/archives/the_buddhas_and.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/xumi_kid.jpg (My Xumi Shan Driver)! (My Xumi Shan Driver)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=3077v2
June is upon us.
For the students - especially the Senior 3 students - that means big trouble. Tests. Here in China students are being prepped for the college entrance exam years in advance. And today is T-Day. Three days actually of grueling tests that dictate the rest of each students life.
The test - known as the Gao Kao - is the single qualification for entering a college or university. Score well? You can hope to go to Beijing or Shanghai to one of the nationally recognized universities. Score poorly? Go to a local college and expect to work in a menial job for years to come. It's that bad.
So what do I do to prepare myself for this?
Xumi Shan, Chinaallister2007-06-07T03:50:05+00:00The Times They Are A-Changin'... And Fast
http://www.afarther.com/archives/the_times_they.php
Guyuan, Chinaallister2007-05-29T14:31:32+00:00The Western China Roundup III
http://www.afarther.com/archives/the_western_chi_2.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/tianshan_lake.jpg (View Over Tian Chi Lake)! (View Over Tian Chi Lake)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=2375v2
When friends found out I was spending my May holiday in Xinjiang they always asked if I was going to visit the splendid Tian Shan Mountians. Tian Shan is well cemented in the minds here as a place of excelling beauty and no small amount of mysticism.
Tian Shan is generally translated as the Heavenly or Celestial Mountains - tracing from the local Uyghur name Tangri Tagh. The mountains are north-west of Urumqi and extend 2,800km from the south in Tajikistani where it meets the Pamir Mountains and along the north edge of the Taklamakan Desert skirting Xinjiang, Kazakhstan Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan. A source of pride in Xinjiang for the majestic peaks and a particularly beautiful area name Tian Chi.Tian Shan, Chinaallister2007-05-25T04:48:03+00:00The Western China Roundup II
http://www.afarther.com/archives/the_western_chi_1.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/turpan_unibrow.jpg (Unibrow Beauty)! (Unibrow Beauty)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=2275v2
h2. Huo Yan Shan
After a early AM bike ride out to the ancient city of Jiaohe we felt pretty accomplished - getting out of paying some absurd tourist ticket price, trespassing and finding a beautiful oasis. Not bad for returning the bikes and being back at the hotel by 9:30AM.
The previous day we had met a couple living in Beijing - an expat running a small travel rag and his girlfriend, a documentary producer - walking out to Su Gong Ta. Hoping to economize a bit we agreed to meet and rent a taxi for the day to drive us out to the local Grape Valley and Flaming Mountains. We stocked up on drinks to keep the heavy sun at bay, a few snacks for the road and set of in our rickety red taxi into the rising Turpan sun.Turpan, Chinaallister2007-05-22T02:42:08+00:00The Western China Roundup
http://www.afarther.com/archives/the_western_chi.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/turpan_trike.jpg (Typical Mechanical Genius)! (Typical Mechanical Genius)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=2119v2
A busy few weeks for sure - so much so that I have been quite lax in finishing up my Xinjiang notes from the May Day holiday.
An old oasis on the Silk Road, Turpan lived up to its reputation for heat, dust, melons and grapes. The roads into town were lined with chartreuse grape vines contrasting with the dry sienna earth.
We had decided to make the most of our time in Turpan and rented bikes the night before, fine specimens of mechanical prowess sporting solid brake lines, massive wobbly tires and beach-cruiser bent handle bars. We had our sights set on a 10 km ride out of Turpan to Jiaohe, the ruins of an ancient city set on a high plateau in the branch of a river. The nearly 30 meter cliffs of the plateau provided natural protection for the city. Turpan, Chinaallister2007-05-18T02:21:25+00:00Treading Lightly
http://www.afarther.com/archives/treading_lightl.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/turpan_thought.jpg (Deep in Thought)! (Deep in Thought)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=2072v2
bq. "And what do you think of this?"
The dry wind whipping in sheets through the open bus window - rustling the sun-dried newspaper held in front of me - did little to cool the sun burning down onto my legs and face. Dark blue seat covers over each seat sent off tiny shimmers of heat, visible in the strong light.
Dry heat. Dry, glaring heat.Turpan, Chinaallister2007-05-09T13:41:09+00:00Mine! All Mine!
http://www.afarther.com/archives/mine_all_mine.php
Last week Micheal Ayers of AACS (Advanced Access Content System, an organization that governs the "protection" of the new HD-DVD) gave notice that they intend to shut down, run out of town and generally harass websites that publish a pseudo-random series of characters.[1]
bq. 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Namely, that series of characters.General Memoallister2007-05-08T02:30:30+00:00Crossroad in the Desert
http://www.afarther.com/archives/crossroad_in_th.php
"!(netryImg)http://www.afarther.com/imgs/thumbs/urumqi_meltingpot.jpg (One Parkbench Melting Pot)! (One Parkbench Melting Pot)":http://www.afarther.com/photolog/index.php?idd=2019v2
The flight from Yinchuan to Ulumuqi was only two and a half hours but it crossed some of the most desolate land I have ever seen. There were no telltale signs of human activity.
No thin white road threads snaking along the auburn desert. No of the irregular patchworks of fields flowing over the land. No star-like twinkles of houses switching on their lights at dusk. Only the altitude-smoothed blanket of sand and white peaked mountains under the airplane wing.
And then, out of this dusky brown, a city.Urumqi, Chinaallister2007-05-07T03:51:53+00:00Go West Young Man.
http://www.afarther.com/archives/go_west_young_m.php
May Day Holiday is upon us and the students are deep in the throes of testing. Three days of test morning and night until they can finally have a break.
And I cannot begin to tell you how their eyes light up when they say they are going home. There is something pretty amazing when you ask them where they want to go if they could go anywhere in the world and they answer,
bq. "Home."In Transit, Chinaallister2007-04-28T03:53:36+00:00