Happiness: ha-pē-nəs  The state of being happy.  Simple, right?

New Year’s Eve, a holiday, even more so than Thanksgiving or Christmas, that leaves me feeling melancholy.  This year, I spent New Year’s Eve quietly home alone, not lonely, there is a difference, with a glass of pink champagne, well actually, sparkling wine, although it was from France.  Confession, I did have a martini, well maybe two, until it was time for bubbles at midnight.  So, what does all this have to do with Down the Rabbit Hole ~ My Adventures in the Middle Kingdom?  A LOT!  I started contemplating my life.

As usual, my melancholy had my head spinning.  Am I happy?  Have I ever been extremely unhappy?  Was I a happy child?  How did I end up in China? Am I happy in China?  What was the best day of my life?  Where is home?  Am I ready to go back to Warren, Ohio?  If I am not ready, do I want to stay in Dong’e? Were my parents happy?  Would they be happy with the path my life has taken?  Was my relationship really happy?  And so on and so on…..you get the picture.

It’s now 5 days later and some of these questions and more are still running around my head.  I’m not losing sleep or anything trying to answer them, but after a couple outings with new and old friends and a couple of movies that made me think, even more, I decided, hey, write about it, even if it opens up emotions I have kept to myself.  So, here goes….

I probably would have gone to sleep and forgotten my melancholy, but on January 2^nd, I decided to watch a movie I had read about, “Paths of Souls”.  A documentary chronicling the 1200 mile pilgrimage of 11 actual residents traveling from their Tibetan village to Lhasa. The pilgrims included a young girl and her pregnant mother who gave birth on the pilgrimage and her father.  They (all 11) made the journey on foot wearing animal skin aprons and wooden blocks on their hands.  This is because every few steps they must “dive” to the ground or kowtow, followed by touching the earth with their forehead and clapping the boards together to complete the ritual. I was blown away by the dedication of these people. They ended each day in prayer, song and for the most part happiness no matter what obstacles they had faced that day.  It made me reflect on my time in Tibet and what a peaceful feeling I had there.

The next night, I chose “Hector and the Search for Happiness”.  A movie I had for some reason downloaded.  After watching, I figure it must have come up in a list of travel/wanderlust movies.  I initially thought it was a movie about a child.  I quickly found out that although Hector often reflects back on a vision of himself as a child, it was definitely not a movie about a child, or was it?.  Hector is a psychiatrist who lives a very organized, routine life in London with his girlfriend Clara.  One day Hector decides he needs to search for happiness and boards a plane for China.  Of course, I was hooked at this point.  Clara slipped a journal in Hector’s carryon and he scribbles pictures and notes on happiness, such as, “Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains”.  My personal experience with this, “Happiness is watching the sunset and sunrise on the beautiful, powerful Mount Everest”.  As Hector travels around the world seeking happiness and jotting down happiness phrases, I started putting myself in those phrases.

Hector noted,  “A lot of people think happiness is being rich or important”. I grew up on a dead-end street that most people didn’t even know existed.  We definitely weren’t rich, I remember my mom counting change to put gas in the car.  Important, ha, far from it.  My dad was self-employed because an accident had left him with a head injury that made holding down a normal  9 to 5 impossible. I do know they loved us and our happiness came before theirs.  My personal take on Hector’s note, I know now that rich doesn’t necessarily mean monetarily rich and you can be important to more people than you ever realize in your lifetime.  My father died at age 63, far from rich and important only to his family, so we thought.  We had planned 2 hours for his calling hours.  That sad afternoon brought much happiness to me, my mother and brother.  People came, he was my baseball coach, he used to buy me ice cream, you guys had the best tree fort, etc. 5 hours later we were finally ending a tribute to a man that wasn’t rich in dollars and unimportant, so we thought.  Two years later at 60, my mother also passed.  She had the same tribute.  Yes, I had a happy childhood.

“Happiness is doing a job you love”.  I loved my job at the YMCA until I didn’t.  There came a point in time I no longer looked forward to going to work.  What used to be fun and rewarding had become one of losing sleep and dreading the next catastrophe.  This also, unfortunately, coincided with the decline, demise, end of my relationship.  I made a decision, I am definitely not happy right now.  What makes me happy?  Travel! Paris! How can I combine the two?  First thing I did was run away, yes, I ran away.  I decided to spend Christmas in Paris, away from everything, everyone, away from unhappiness.  I was happy in Paris. When I returned, I started researching how I could travel and still make money.  I got my TEFL certification from the University of Miami of Florida and I haven’t looked back since.  Things didn’t work out with my work visa for France, but I had an opportunity in China.  So that’s how I ended up in China teaching English.  When you are almost knocked over by a group of kids when you walk in their classroom, you have to smile.  “Happiness really is doing a job you love”

“Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are”.  This is so true.  Living abroad really teaches this lesson.  Walking away from a secure job, that was making me unhappy, ending a relationship that was for the most part, at least in my opinion happy, until it wasn’t, can change who you are.  Those pounds I put on, used to bother me, but tell the truth, I like to eat and drink, it makes me happy.  Nobody abroad knew me “then” and guess what? They like me for who I am NOW! I have made friends all over the world and they don’t care who I was back then.  They like the person I am now, so yes, that is happiness.

Well, if you are rolling your eyes at this point, I don’t blame you.  I will try to wrap it up even though Hector has many more happiness points.  I will say I do agree with his point, “Happiness is feeling completely alive”.  Life abroad and the opportunities it gives me for travel to places most people only dream of make me feel completely alive.  Camping on Mount Everest, Tibet, Angkor Wat, Moscow, camel riding in the Gobi Desert, living in Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Vietnam and Dubai to name a few….traveling makes me feel completely alive!

Finally, am I happy? Yes, most of the time.  Have I ever been extremely unhappy? Yes, and I ran from unhappiness.  Was I a happy child?  My memories say yes.  Was my relationship really happy? It was until it wasn’t.   How did I end up in China? I ran from unhappiness and I’ll always have Paris.  Am I happy in China?  Most of the time.   What was the best day of my life?  Maybe I haven’t had it yet, although I have had many amazing days.   Where is home?  I have discovered the world is my home.  Am I ready to go back to Warren, Ohio?  I really did ask myself this question several times this week.  The answer was always no.  If I am not ready, do I want to stay in Dong’e?  The answer was no I am not ready to go back to Warren, but I am considering a change of venue.  I have applied for some jobs inside and outside of China for later in 2018.  Were my parents happy? For the most part, I would say yes.   Would they be happy with the path my life has taken?  Definitely and I know they would try to visit me wherever my journey takes me.

If you stuck with me through this random post, thank you!  Back on track to Moscow next post, I hope!

PS, I recommend both movies.

As I arrived to the kindergarten in the countryside this morning, I realized how many things that are now “norm” for me in China.  Things, I would either not accept or probably complain about in America. It is also funny how I refer to my country as America and not the United States.  I often get the deer in the headlights look if I say the United States and then usually say 美国 Meiguo followed by America.  I had originally planned on a post about Moscow to follow up my visa experience, but as I sit in the office at Teeny Oak Kindergarten in Yaozhai wearing my coat, sipping hot water and typing with cold fingers, the plan shifted.

When it comes to heat in China for the winter, it is either feast or famine.  The kindergarten, unlike my apartment, has individual units in each room.  Smaller rooms have wall “air conditioning” units while larger rooms have bigger free standing units.  The units in the classroom only get turned on during certain hours. Roughly 8 am to 12 noon then 2 pm to about 4:30 pm and they are not to be set above 23 celsius or a reasonable 73.4 degrees.

Now some of the children come to school looking like they walked out of “A Christmas Story”. You know the scene, the one where the kid waddles because he has so many layers under his snowsuit and when he falls down, he can’t get up.  Okay, I am sure you have a visual by now.  As far as the offices in the 3 kindergartens I visit, they have yet to have any heat turned on.  When I asked why the principal of the school where I am currently writing this told me she is rarely in the office so she doesn’t turn it on. I explained to her that in America we turn the heat on and leave it on, adjusting as needed, but, I would never sit in an office wearing my coat if there were heat available.  She pretty much shrugged it off while telling me she was also cold.  Now, my kindergarten in the other countryside, JiangLou, usually escort me to a room and turn on the heat, just for me, but by the time it warms up to comfortable it is usually time to give lessons.  As for the kindergarten in the city, I am never in the office long enough to worry about the heat.  Although, I know that the accounting person is in there the majority of the day, never has the heat been on while I was there.  It is also not unusual to have entrance doors open in winter which means the hallways are always cold. When you see people in my photos wearing coats indoors, it is just a “norm” here.  Even in rooms that are heated or somewhat heated, people still wear coats.

Now, as far as my apartment, heat goes on November 15^th and off sometime in March.  You know how you people in Ohio can have the heat and air on in the same day?  Not happening here!  If it happens to be one of those days where you just want to take the chill out because it got a little cold overnight, forget about it.  But, let me tell you this, when it does come on, you get heat.  When I was in the tiny studio in Qingdao, I think I spent most of the winter with my window cracked.  Here, in Dong’e, my apartment is quite large, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining room and kitchen.  It also has large floor to ceiling windows in most of the rooms, so it isn’t quite the sauna I had in Qingdao.  I do tend to keep the bathroom window cracked to let some air in as it is still quite warm. Warm being you can sit in a t-shirt and be comfortable.  The best part is the heat is hot water in the floor. Getting out of bed barefoot, I step on nice warm porcelain tile.

I do have to tell you that on November 15th, I didn’t have any heat. Not to be one to complain right away, I did a bit of investigating.  Sure enough, the valve on the heating unit was perpendicular.  Luckily, thanks to Steve Alexander teaching me the ropes about heating a building the size of the Trumbull County YMCA, I turned the valve to the correct position and waited.  Hmmmmm, the next morning, still no heat!  Come to find out, my whole district (as they call my complex) didn’t have heat.  The factory that supplies our water did not get the pressure and water temperature up to what was needed in time for the November 15^th “heat”.  The said, “give it a couple days”.  A “couple days” turned into a week. Okay, I am getting stories relayed to me from 3^rd party sources, etc., time to take the bull by the horns and go to the office myself.  Thank God for google translate and also that the word fuck/fucking is universal.  “Insert apologies here if I have offended anyone!”  Needless to say, the crazy, yellow-haired foreigner, got some attention.  They sent the maintenance person to my apartment and he bled the lines.  Again, give it a day or two, you are on the 24^th floor, the hot water has to get up there.  I will admit, the radiator, got slightly warm almost immediately, but and that should be a capital BUT, it was cold by morning.  Okay, let me go about my business and see what happens…….NOTHING!  So, we arrive at day 12 (I feel like I should insert the McKenzie Brother’s 12 days of Christmas here, eh, Cathy?). Day 12, no heat.  I had a plugin heater that heated the space within 2 feet around me. Back to the office, I go.  Sorry, yes I dropped a few more F-bombs, well, at least I knew they understood that word.  Then with the help of google translate, I explained I had guests coming in 4 days.  Crazy, yellow-haired foreigner had the attention of the district manager.  He took me and showed me the stats for the water entering the district, it was still below pressure, the temperature had reached 45, that’s Celsius, and it should be 60.  Give it a couple days……to which I responded, are you F’ing kidding me, my heating unit is cold, it has no warm/hot water coming to it.  He finally accompanied me to my apartment.  Guess what, the main valve from the hallway to my apartment was off.  He apologized, turned it on, bled my lines again, which in my bathroom there is a wall unit that, well, gave him a shower, in his suit and tie.  It should start to warm up by tomorrow he told me.  Later that evening a maintenance man knocked on my door to check the situation as he did the next day also.  My guests arrived for Thanksgiving and all was warm and cozy.  Feast or famine…..

I had intended this post to have a little more variety and it ends up all about heat.  In closing, here are a few other “norms” in China that wouldn’t fly in America.  Taxi drivers smoke, they do open the window, but bottom line, they smoke.  I once had a taxi driver watching a movie while he drove me to the kindergarten in Qingdao.  People smoke on buses.  They say no smoking but move to the back, open a window and have at it, because no one will say anything.  People smoke in restaurants. Expect hot water when you go to a restaurant. Don’t even think about asking for冷水 bingshui or cold/ice water. Napkins or tissues, bring your own unless you are in a better restaurant.  The same goes for toilet paper, bring your own, this applies to EVERYWHERE!   There is no such thing as a queue and forget ladies first. It’s every man/woman/child for themselves.

I could ramble on and on, but as I sit here, too warm in my fleece (the adult beverage may also have a slight warming effect) finishing this post that I started when I was wearing my coat and typing with freezing fingers at the kindergarten, you may ask, why do I do it?  Why do I put up with some crazy things in a country I only know a few words of the language?  Truthfully, in the beginning, it was an escape.  Why do I stay?  Because I can, but more importantly, I am seeing the world from a different perspective.  I want to experience as much as I can.  Yes, it does your soul good to be riding your scooter down the road and the little old man who does bike/scooter repairs gets a huge grin when you zoom by and wave to him. Have you ever literally been knocked off your feet by 15 4-year-olds who all try to hug you at the same time? Have you walked out on a still night and looked at the stars and listened to the deafening silence and realized, WOW, I am sleeping on base camp at Mount Everest?

Here are a few “travel” words that sum it all up for me. Peripatetic, a person who spends his time wandering.  Querencia, a place where one feels safe, a place where one feels at home.  Sturmfrei, The freedom of being alone and having the ability to do what you want.  Novaturient, a desire to alter your life; the feeling that pushes you to travel. Strikhedonia, the joy of being able to say “the hell with it”.  Solivagant, wandering alone! Fernweh, an urge to travel even stronger than wanderlust.  Eudaimonia, the contented happy state you feel when you travel.  Why? I am happy and content and yearning for new adventures!

Well, this probably isn’t the best time to be writing about Russia, but here goes!

From February until June of 2016, I lived in Changning, Hunan Province, China.  My roommate at the time, Yulia, was from Moscow, Russia.  Actually, Dolgoprudney, which is pretty much like Howland is Warren.  To be perfectly honest, even with my extreme case of wanderlust, Russia has never really been a bucket list destination.  Yulia and I got along fabulously.  After a trip to Hong Kong, where we bought fresh beets, she made me Russian Borscht and talked passionately about her mom, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and her friends.

When we parted ways in June, after 2 weeks of traveling in China, I said goodbye and promised I would visit her in Russia.

Now, I feel I have fairly extensive travel knowledge and her being native Russian, you would think the need for a travel visa would have entered into one of our pretty little heads.  Nope!!!!  I was planning a trip back to the states in July 2017, Teri had lured me into a London and Paris excursion,  but I had about a 2-week window where I could fly off to Moscow before my flight to the USA.  I messaged Yulia, who was ecstatic that I was fulfilling my promise and insisted that I stay with her and her mom.  She was also going to book an overnight train to Saint Petersburg so we could spend a few days there.   Well, she messaged me that she needed my passport info to book train tickets and gave me a couple of options for travel dates and plans.  Easy peasy, right?

Well, as we all know, time really does fly……maybe 3 weeks before I would need to take the train to Beijing to catch my flight to Moscow, I decided to do a little research,  Now I knew Yulia was planning everything and would make sure I saw all the great sights, but, I like to know a little about where I am going before I go.  I knew about the Kremlin, well, I thought I did but learned so much when I was there.

St. Basil’s looked really cool and I knew I wanted a selfie there, but other than that, I realized I knew very little about Russia or Moscow.

Time to GTS (google that shit),  ummmmmm, WTF, I need a visa to visit Russia and a tourist visa is only good for 10 days, shit!  I only communicate to Yulia through WeChat or Instagram Direct Message, I don’t even have a phone number for her.  “YULIA, yes I was yelling in all caps, I NEED A VISA TO COME TO RUSSIA”. My reply from her, “SHIT, I was so excited you were coming I forgot about the visa”.  Yes, we both felt pretty stupid.  So, the research begins, her on her end and me in CHINA, which after reading many things online, told me it was difficult for a foreigner to get a Russian Visa while in China.  I told Yulia, “I’m screwed”  but, let’s work on this, I already have a plane ticket and there is a Russian Embassy in Beijing.  A little more research and even though I am a foreigner in China, there was the possibility if I went to the Russian Embassy, they could issue an expeditated visa, for a cost, of course.  At this point, it was my only option.  Expedited visa takes 3 days, cool, so, I made my train ticket to Beijing 4 days before my flight for a “little” wiggle room.

Nothing I can do now, but wait until I get to Beijing and see what happens.  I arrive in Beijing on a Sunday evening, my flight is Thursday.  Again, not too bright, it is Thursday at 01:25 am yes am, which means I really don’t have 4 days, but 3, no wiggle room.  No worries, I will arrive at the Embassy when they open Monday morning and have my visa by Wednesday afternoon.  NOT!!!!  I was 2^nd in line when the Embassy opened.  PERFECT!!!, NOT!  Because I am a foreigner and not a Chinese citizen, and I didn’t have an appointment, even though, which I forgot to mention, I filled out all the Russian Visa paperwork online, they wouldn’t see me.  Really, yes, really.  They said I could go to the Russian Visa Application Agency.  Okay, grab a taxi and off I go.  The place was packed.  I waited my turn and “Yes, we can process your visa, but not in 3 days, our expedited is 4 days.  If all your paperwork is in order, you can pick up your passport (yes, I had to leave it with the agency) on Thursday after 3pm.  Again, WTF, my flight is Thursday 01:25 am.  They told me, there was no way to get it any sooner and I would have to change my flight. Did I want them to process my visa and expedite it?  I had no choice but to pay the fee, ugggggg, okay.  I remembered there was a café on the main floor of the building, I headed down to use their wifi and work on changing my ticket for Friday, still not knowing if my visa would be approved, but I had no choice.  90 minutes and $400 later, I was able to change my flight to Friday.

Not much to do now but wait…….may as well enjoy Beijing.

I haven’t spent much time in Beijing so I figured the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace would be on my agenda for the next couple of days, but for now back to the hotel and have them extend my stay for another night.  Easy peasy…….not!

I got back to the hotel, in my best Chinese and their best English, that’s a joke, my best google translate, I explained my situation.  No problem, come back to the desk on Wednesday and we will adjust your reservation.  Great, back to my room have a little rest, then dinner and plan my next few days.

Fast forward to Wednesday, which by the way, I had totally enjoyed the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, but more on that later.  Oh, also, I had made Yulia aware of the situation and we decided that Saint Petersburg wasn’t an option given my decreased time in Russia after the flight change.  So, back to Wednesday, I went to the desk and again explained I needed to extend my stay.  We don’t have any rooms available, we are booked solid (I actually got someone that spoke a fair amount of English).  I relayed the whole story that I had spoken with someone on Monday, no problem, come to the desk on Wednesday, we will make the change…..We can’t make the change, there are no rooms.  WTF, this seems to be a recurring theme in regards to this trip.  So, I pull out my phone and check ctrip (Chinese app I use to plan my travel).  It let me book a room, WTF.  I booked it and waited while the receptionist waited to get confirmation and, big sigh of relief, didn’t have to try to find another hotel at the last minute.

Long story, not so short, I received my Russian Visa, flew to Moscow on Friday and had a most wonderful experience.

I am now planning a return visit so I can take in Saint Petersburg.  Moscow was beyond anything I anticipated. I will do another blog just on Moscow, but the moral of the story is, no matter how well traveled, how much you think you know, do your research!  Better safe than sorry.  In the end, everything worked out, but I really could have saved myself a lot of aggravation and money!!!

So it wasn’t easy peasy, but in the end, all was right with the world, well, at least in my little part of the world.  To quote Hannah Arendt, “Loving life is easy when you are abroad.  Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your own hands.  All alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time”.

Well, I have been quite lax in my blog posts recently.  My only excuse is that beginning on June 18, 2017, and over the next 112 days, I traveled 46,623 miles, give or take a few hundred here and there.  I did return briefly to Dong’e during that time and worked a couple weeks before heading back out on my travels.  I plan on staying put for a while, so, hopefully, some new Down the Rabbit Hole Adventures……..

Even I said “wow” and wiped my brow when I looked back on my itinerary.  I started out on Sunday, June 18^th with a 2-hour drive to the train station in Jinan and then caught my train to Beijing.  In Beijing, the plan was simple, first thing Monday morning go to the Russian Embassy, apply for my Russian Tourism Visa, pay for the 3 days expedited service, enjoy Beijing for a few days and catch my flight to Moscow in the wee hours of the morning of June 22^nd.  Murphy’s Law came into play and 3 days turned into 5. Missed flights, visa problems, etc., I will address in a future post.

Finally boarded a flight from Beijing to Moscow. July 1^st flew from Moscow to Beijing, changed airports and caught my flight to Chicago. Chicago to Pittsburgh spent 5 days in Warren and left for London on a girl’s trip with Teri.  After several days in London, we caught the Eurostar for Paris.  After a fabulous time in Paris, I landed in good old Warren, Ohio for a couple weeks before heading to Cleveland to fly to Dallas and then back to Beijing.

Then the cycle starts again, taxi from the airport to the train station, train to Jinan and a 2-hour drive back to home sweet home, Dong’e where I planned to stay until the 1^st of October when I had planned a whirlwind visit to SE Asia.

What I failed to mention, sometimes friends and alcohol make for “a change of plans” and it happened not once, but twice.  The first, I was at a little dinner party with friends.  I happened to mention I was doing Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam during the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival.  Henry Sforza, the Deb of, as I have taken to calling her on Facebook, says, “I have always wanted to go to Vietnam”.  Long story short, I told her she should meet me in Bangkok and join the trip. Not many people say they will meet you on the other side of the world and actually do it.  Well, Deb joined me in Bangkok and we toured SE Asia together.

Next, my friend Pat invited me and my London/Paris mate, Teri, to her home for a garden party, on a continuous loop in your head, now insert Ricky Nelson singing “Garden Party”.  She was going to Paris with a friend in September and wanted to chat about our trip.  When you make and drink gin and tonics in a pitcher while eating French themed appetizers in a lovely garden setting, well, plans change.  Ahhh, I forgot to mention, we also had a little gin tasting of some special gins I brought back from the Beefeater Distillery in London.  It’s really all Pat’s fault that after mentioning several times that she wished I was joining her and Libby in Paris, that I made another plan.  Feeling giddy on gin with thoughts of Paris in the fall spinning around my already spinning head, I went home, which since I am currently homeless in Warren was Mike and Teri’s house, I got on the computer and booked a flight from Beijing to Paris to meet up with Pat and Libby. By the way, it’s a long way from Dong’e to Beijing, but hey, it’s Paris, and “Paris is always a good idea”.

Where was I?  Okay, I am back in Dong’e and I now have to tell Peter I am taking an early Mid Autumn Holiday, a little over 2 weeks early to be exact.  Well, we worked it out and I worked extra days to teach all my lessons in advance for the days I would be gone.  Here we go again, drive to Jinan, train to Beijing, quick dinner visit with friends in Beijing and catch a taxi to the airport, now the fun begins.  8.5 hours from Beijing to Abu Dhabi and then another 7 hours to Paris.  Did I happen to mention Jimmy Buffett was playing 3 nights at La Cigale in Paris which was literally a 3-minute walk from my flat?  More about that later.  After a fab time with Pat and Libby and Jimmy Buffett and about 900 of my closest friends I just met in Paris, it was time to meet Debbie in Bangkok for our SE Asia adventure.  Paris back to Abu Dhabi then Abu Dhabi to Bangkok.  We had our 1 night in Bangkok, insert Murray Head “One Night in Bangkok” and ok, it was really 2 nights. From Bangkok, it was off to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat.  From Siem Reap we flew to Hanoi and traveled by Car to North Vietnam near the China border, (I didn’t count these miles in my total), then back to Hanoi.  After a night in Hanoi, I bid Debbie farewell and headed from Hanoi to Beijing, Beijing to Jinan and Jinan to Dong’e.

It was a crazy, wonderful, exciting, bucket list ticking 112 days covering 46,623+ miles.  I plan to post about each of these destinations, eventually. For now, I leave you with a quote from Tom Freston, “Travel early and travel often. Live abroad, if you can. Understand cultures other than your own. As your understanding of other cultures increases, your understanding of yourself and your own culture will increase exponentially”.

Stay tuned for Beijing and Visa Problems! A few teaser photos from my travels…..more to come in future blogs! Goodbye, 再见, Прощай,  cheerio, Au Revoir, ลาก่อน, លា, Tạm biệt!

こんにちは Kon’nichwa   你好 Ni hao  Hello

Japanese and Chinese characters are much different.

Granted, I was only in Japan, technically 5 days, and spent much of the time travelling.  I was briefly in Osaka, took the bullet train to Tokyo and enjoyed an afternoon and evening with a high school classmate and took off the next morning for 2 nights in Kyoto. Unfortunately, I had a touch of the stomach flu hit me in Tokyo and lasted until I returned to Dong’e where I spent 1 whole day in bed.  I somehow managed to push myself to do some touristy things and even eat, which I paid dearly for, but how can you NOT eat Kobe beef when in Japan.  Admittedly, I am using only 3 fairly large cities in Japan as comparisons to my China experiences and that being said I have never visited Shanghai, the largest and probably most modern city in China. Also, living in Qingdao for 6 months, I feel I can give a good comparison as it is a large, fairly modern city.

I was actually surprised to discover that Japan is a total 360 from China.  First off, it is MUCH more expensive than China.  Tokyo and Osaka rank 4^th and 5^th behind Singapore, Hong Kong and Zurich as the world’s most expensive cities.  Not counting Hong Kong, whose currency is the HK dollar, not the Chinese Renminbi, Shanghai is the only Chinese city in the top 20 coming in at 16.

In my opinion the cities I visited didn’t have that “Asian” feel to me nearly as much as does China. Of the 3, Kyoto, had the most traditional feel to me.  As a matter of fact, they felt almost European/Eastern European to me. Although, the part of Tokyo I visited had kind of a Times Square feel.  After walking around, stopping for an iced coffee, then later for a Gin and Tonic and a cheese plate….yes, cheese in Japan, we visited a large park right in the middle of the city. It was very much like Central Park.  People hanging on the lawn, listening to music, playing with their dogs, just enjoying the day.   Yes, when I was in Kyoto, there were girls running around in kimonos, but somehow it lacked an authentic feel. Especially when I saw about 4 shops where you could rent them for the day.  I also never saw a “real” geisha as they try to stay away from the limelight, except when they put on their seasonal dances.  You can, of course, “rent” a geisha for the evening, at a fairly steep cost.

That being said, there is also a strong British influence in Japan.  The uniforms of the school children are very “British Like”.  I am not sure how I made it to adult life and didn’t realize they drove “on the wrong side of the rode” in Japan. So, I guess that is the second big difference between Japan and China, cars driving on the wrong side, well, unless you factor in my little village of Dong’e where you just drive on whichever side is convenient, at the moment.

I got the feeling that Japan is much more “tourist friendly”, especially “Western” tourist friendly or maybe I should say more prepared for Western Tourists.   Many signs were in English, I don’t see a lot of that in China, not even in Beijing or Qingdao.  Shanghai, sorry, can’t say.

I was surprised to find 7-Eleven and Lawsons everywhere.  Although, much to my dismay, no chip dip in Lawsons.  I have to admit, I did buy a ham and cheese on white bread with lettuce and mayo at Lawsons. I almost felt like I was back in elementary school as I sat on a bench and actually really enjoyed it.  Not something I would likely find in China.  I was also surprised at how many people spoke at least a little English, especially the taxi drivers.

Speaking of taxis’s……Taxi’s in China are just your typical taxi’s, not so much in Japan.  Taxi’s were more like chauffeur driven vehicles with many of the drivers in suit and tie and most all wearing white gloves.  Arriving at your destination, the driver pushes a button and your door pops open.  I learned quickly, don’t close it, they will also handle that from the driver’s seat. If you happen to have luggage, pop, another button and he opens the trunk, jumps out and handles your bags.  In China, 7 out of 10 times, it has been up to me to handle my bags in and out of the trunk.

Hotel’s…..I stayed in all Japanese brand mid price range hotels.  In China, I normally stay at Western Brands, if available, or a Chinese brand in the mid to high range.  I found the mid range Japanese hotels to be several notches better than the Western Brand/best Chinese brand hotels.  They were just better, construction-wise, cleanliness, customer service and amenities.  Not that the hotels in China had anything terribly wrong with them, I’m just saying the Japanese hotels were just all around better. You are just going to have to trust me on this, It is difficult to explain, something you almost need to experience.

Food…..Beef, I have yet to find a steak in a typical Chinese restaurant.  Being Japan, they are well known for Kobe beef.  I had probably one of the finest steaks I have eaten, cooked to perfection and served with a small salad and veggies. No, I didn’t have sushi, yes it is Japanese, no it isn’t as widely eaten as one might think.  I was told, yes, we eat sushi….sometimes. What seems to be widely popular is Yakatori, which is basically chicken kabobs.  They are grilled and served with different toppings.  I had them with wasabi, plum sauce and a type of basil, which actually looked more like a seaweed to me.

Of course, there is the subject of toilets.  China, 90% of the time…..squatties.  I never came face to face or should I say bottom to hole in the floor with a squatty in Japan.  China, always carry your own tissue.  I always found TP in public restrooms in Japan.  China, throw your used TP in a trash bin next to the squatty/toilet….DO NOT FLUSH! Japan posts signage telling you to please flush your tissue DO NOT discard in the bin.  I have decided that I want a Japanese toilet in my home.  They have all kinds of buttons to let you choose everything from heated seat to how much spray and how wrm the water to clean yourself and sometimes even a drying option.  I found these even in many public places.  They were often accompanied by a sign requesting people not to squat on the toilet seat, but please sit.

I don’t real feel like I have done a good job explaining why I feel China and Japan are 360 degrees different.  I think the more I try, this will become a more boring post than it already is.  Easiest way to explain is this; Japan is more civilized.  I had this discussion with my classmate who is living in Tokyo and that is the best word we could come up with. I have to agree, Japan is more civilized.

That being said, I have no desire to live in Japan, although, I would like to visit again.  I feel that I am getting much more of a cultural experience here in China.  Boy, did I struggle with this post, saying Japan is more civilized almost made me feel like I had been cheating on China.  I really do enjoy my life here and the opportunities and experiences it has provided.  Hope I can do better with the next post, any suggestions for topic are welcome.  I will leave you with some photos.

Qomolangma is the Tibetan name for Mount Everest.  It’s known as Sagarmatha in Nepalese and Chomolungma/Zhumulangma Feng in Chinese.

Climbing season officially closes on the mighty mountain on June 1^st.  I just learned that 4 more have lost their lives bringing this season’s death toll to 10.  They were found in a tent at camp four, 7,950 meters (26,085 feet), by a rescue team who were there to retrieve the body of a Slovak climber who died on the mountain earlier in the week.

With nothing exciting happening in Dong’e, I decided to reminisce about my journey to Mount Everest nearly one year ago.  Since having the overwhelming experience of camping overnight at base camp, I feel a connection to the mountain and a bit emotional when I hear that “another one or four” succumbed to the fierce mountain.

Even before I came to China, I had an interest in Tibet and meeting the Dalai Lama is on my bucket list.  Yes, I know he no longer lives in Tibet, that aside, how could I come all the way to China and not visit Tibet.  Let the research begin.  As I soon found out, getting to Tibet isn’t as easy as jumping on a train or plane and getting off in Lhasa.  An individual cannot enter Tibet without a travel permit and a Tibetan guide.  In other words, an individual cannot just turn up in Lhasa and hang out for a few days and travel around the region.  My plan was to go in June at the end of the school semester.  I would travel places easily accessible from Changning, Hunan where I was living and then continue on to Tibet before returning to the USA.  I applied for my Tibetan Travel Permit and found a guide and a group following the itinerary that I was interested in.

Working our way south from Changning, I was initially travelling with my Russian roommate, Yulia, I would leave her in Gungzhou and continue to Shenzhen on my own.  In Shenzhen, I would begin my 53 hour train ride to “The Roof of the World’ or “The Land of Snows”, otherwise known as Tibet.  I decided on the train, first of all, because why not, it should be beautiful, right? How bad can 53 hours be?  It was actually quite enjoyable as I met a Malaysian girl named Song and we hit it off famously.  Secondly, Lhasa sits at about 3,500 meters or 12,000 feet above sea level. Taking the train is supposed to make it easier to acclimatize. Each train compartment has oxygen that is released periodically or also can be released manually.  It is also recommended to spend a few days in Lhasa before heading to EBC, Everest Base Camp, which is at 5,200 meters or 17,000 feet above sea level.

When they say you can’t enter Tibet as an individual, believe it.  When my train reached Lhasa, everyone excitedly exited, passport and travel permit in hand as instructed.  Upon exiting, you had to show the documents to uniformed police/soldiers, I wasn’t sure.  After checking the documents you were led to another building and again checked before finally being handed off to your official guide who had to meet you there with his credentials or you weren’t going anywhere in Lhasa.

EBC is about 500 miles from Lhasa. After spending 3 days in and around Lhasa (I had a free day as I arrived one day before our official tour began), my group spent two days traveling and touring Gyantse, Shigatse and Dingri before arriving at base camp.  That journey itself was spectacular and I will address it at another time……on to one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far.

We arrived at EBC as sunset was nearing. I hadn’t given any thought as to our accommodations and we hadn’t brought any “gear” with us.  The first thing our guide told us was that we were actually about 3 km from where the “real climbers” overnight.  Without an Official Everest Climbing Permit, this was as far as we were allowed to go to sleep.

Our accommodations were called “tent hotels”.  They are owned and operated by local nomads.  There are approximately 30 tents at base camp, each housing 5- 10 persons at a cost of 40 rmb per night or $6.00. Tents are made of yak hair as it withstands heavy rains, snows and strong sun.  Inside the tents are daybeds with a table in front for eating and personal belongings.  There is a stove in the center fueled by yak dung that heats the entire tent.  The tent also has a small kitchen which serves basic food such as rice, noodles and eggs.  Beer and baijiu are also available even though they recommend no alcohol at this altitude.  The beds were cozy and the tent quite warm. The latrines…..not so nice.  The latrines were across the way from my tent and cost 1 rmb or about 15 cents to use.  Home sweet home for the night.

As I mentioned, we arrived just before sunset.  Sadly, the peak of the mighty mountain was under cloud cover.  We got settled in our tent, I was rooming with George and Phillipe, who I had become quite close with during our time together and a French couple who had also hung out with us during most of the trip.  It was nice being just the 5 of us in our tent.  We were still getting settled in, when we heard a bit of a ruckus outside.  Dropping everything we went to see what was causing the commotion.  I got outside and everyone was looking toward the peak of Everest.  The skies had opened and we witnessed the sun setting on that magnificent summit that has claimed the lives of so many, so many who are still buried in her breast.  All I could do was look to the sky and cry.  I turned to George and Phillipe and we all knew we were witnessing something amazing. The peak of Mount Everest, a glowing orange triangle bathed in the setting sun.  They gave me a squeeze and we just stared in silence.  I don’t think I will ever forget how I felt at that moment in time.  Pictures snapped, tears dried, we headed back to our tent for hopefully a good nights sleep.  Of course, me being me, had stuck a couple of those airplane size bottles of absolut in my bag.  As the evening air was quite cold, they were nicely chilled and we all had a toast to life.

Okay, the sun has set, it’s dark, why didn’t I think to use the toilet when I could actually see where I was walking.  This isn’t exactly a walk in the park to take a pee. I mean, I am on a mountain, no not any mountain, I am on THE Mountain.  Find my phone for light, there is no outside lights at base camp, grab a 1 rmb bill, I can’t believe someone stays up all night around a smelly latrine to collect 15 cents.  Whatever, shoes on, I hike across the stones to a box with a hole in the ground so I can squat and relieve my bladder.

Outside, I am once again filled with awe as I stare up at the shining moon amongst what looked like a million stars.  If you don’t believe in God or a higher being, you might start here.  “I think to myself, what a wonderful world”….beyond description, I could have looked up forever, except for the fact I was freezing my nuts off, well if I had them they would be freezing off.  Back to the tent and under my nice thick, warm, cozy quilt.  I awakened a short time later, feeling a bit funny, maybe it was the alcohol at this altitude, maybe it was the yak dung stove fumes, maybe the food didn’t sit so well, I just felt like I needed fresh air……it was about 4 am, I went outside the tent.  Alone, under the stars on Mount Everest.  I just breathed in the cold night air and was swept by emotion.  Not sure how long I was out there, but it was a most peaceful, serene feeling that encompassed me.

Peaceful and serene until my bladder said you aren’t going back to bed yet.  Well, there was no way I was making my way back across the rocks to that lovely latrine.  Besides, I was the only person outside, there are no lights, I have lived in China long enough to just drop and squat outside the tent.  I did make sure I moved out of the walkway.  Back inside and sweet dreams until morning.

Morning arrives and we have the option of trekking the 3km to the “official” base camp or taking the bus.  Still feeling a little light headed, I opted for the bus, which isn’t really a bus, but a dilapidated van with no heat.  I also found out I wasn’t the only one who felt a little funny, I think maybe we had a touch of altitude sickness.  Nevertheless, I walked outside to a glorious morning and the peak of the mountain in perfect view.  Going to the official base camp and seeing where the “real” climbers begin their ascent was pretty cool.  In order to try to summit Everest, you must purchase a climbing permit at the price of about $11,000.  Wow….that’s all I can say……wow.

Upon leaving EBC, we were supposed to head to the Tibet/Nepal border and on to Kathmandu.  Because of the 2015 7.8 earthquake in Nepal which triggered an avalanche on the south base camp (Nepal Side) killing 22, the border between Tibet and Nepal had been closed.  When I booked my trip, it was scheduled to open the week before my EBC excursion.  After we arrived at EBC we were told the border was still closed and they would transport us back to Lhasa and make arrangements to fly us to Kathmandu.

So ends this journey to a magical but controversial part of the Middle Kingdom…..the Roof of the World…..Tibet.

I hope you don’t mind me jumping back in time with some past excursions in Down the Rabbit Hole.  Until next time, here are some more photos from this once in a lifetime experience.

During the Qing Dynasty, Tso TsungTang was a ruthless “war hero”. In 1850-64, during the Chinese Civil War, the Taiping Rebellion, he caused many to flee China, eventually making it to America to work on the transcontinental railroad.

Hailing from Hunan Province, General Tso’s relatives, to this day, have never heard of General Tso’s Chicken.  Now, I have only been in China a short time, about 20 months, I have never seen General Tso’s Chicken on a menu nor have I seen anything in any restaurant that even resembles what we in America know as General Tso’s Chicken.  Not only have I never seen the General’s Chicken, but, I am sorry to have to tell you that egg rolls, chop suey, crab rangoon, sweet and sour pork/chicken, pu pu platter, fried rice, hot mustard and finally fortune cookies basically do not exist in China.  For that matter, I can’t think of one thing from a Chinese menu in the USA that I have actually seen or eaten in China, except white rice.

I am fairly certain that American Chinese food at some point in time actually had roots in mainland China cuisine.  Back to General Tso for a minute, rumor and history claim that a Chef from Taiwan actually created a dish to honor General Tso.  Chef Peng ChangKuei, fled Hunan Province under Mao Zedong.  He fled to Taiwan and this is where he supposedly created his dish.  During the early 1970’s Chinese cuisine was booming in NYC.  Chef’s were always creating dishes claiming “first time in America”  “Authentic Chinese Dish”.  Of course they really were first time dishes because they were created to satisfy the American palate and yes, they did have roots in authentic Chinese cuisine, but those roots really weren’t too deep.  Mostly because most Americans wouldn’t stomach some authentic Chinese dishes such as feichang 猪肠 pig’s intestines,

fengzhao 鸡爪  chicken feet, duck’s blood soup, jellyfish, seaweed, goat kidneys, hearts, you name it, they eat it in China.  So, back to Chef Peng, the story goes that 2 chef’s from NYC went to Taiwan for inspiration and ate at Peng’s restaurant.  They brought his most famous dish back to America, recreated and bastardized it.  Peng finally also came to NYC and was disgusted to see what had happened to his dish honoring General Tso.  Not only that, he couldn’t convince anyone that it was originally his dish.

So, the whole point I am trying to make is that American Chinese food is really just American food made by people of Chinese decent.

A few other ways food/dining culture here in China differs is that you rarely find anything fried or breaded.  Egg rolls do not exist, although spring rolls do.  Spring rolls have a much lighter thin translucent wrapper and are not fried but steamed.  Chicken dishes in China are not nice diced pieces of boneless chicken.  If you order a chicken dish in China, expect a dish to arrive that is a chicken chopped, bones, skin, head and feet all in the dish.

Don’t get me wrong, it is always delicious, sautéed with herbs, spices and sometimes vegetables, but never a breaded and fried and slathered in sauce dish.   Usually a touch of oil, soy or vinegar, never swimming in a sweet and sour or any other sauce.  If a dish has sauce, it is always on the side for dipping and this is usually just for meat dishes.  Vegetables are prepared in such a mouthwatering way with ginger, garlic, chili peppers, peppercorns, etc, there is no need for any sauces.

Chinese also love grilling.  When I am out in the evenings the smell of lamb, chicken and beef being grilled on the street is heavenly.  Now, when I say grill, don’t think hamburgers, chicken breast or a big fat sirloin, they grill most all of their meat on kabobs served with small dishes of spices to dip.

Chinese cuisine in China also pays more attention to veggies and bean products versus meat and fried dishes like in America.  The Chinese have a way with eggplant that I can’t explain.  It is simple and amazing.  I hope to find someone to teach me to make it.

A few other differences; in China you never order/get individual servings.  Everything is served family style.  You also don’t serve food on to your personal plate and eat.  Mainly because you don’t really receive a plate.  You do get a small saucer size plate and a small bowl.  This is to basically catch scraps, put things to cool or put waste.  Yes, you spit the bones on the table or on your small plate.  Depending on the restaurant, it is perfectly acceptable to spit your chicken/pig/sheep bones onto the floor.  Using your chopsticks, you just grab a bite of whichever dish you want and eat.

Don’t expect bing shui, cold water in China, basically it doesn’t exist.  You will ALWAYS be served hot water with a meal.  It can be the middle of summer and the spiciest dish on the menu, you get hot water.  Okay, so you think, I will order a beer……. room temperature.  Tipping doesn’t exist. A receipt for your meal, forget about it, unless you ask for a “fapiao”. This is a receipt with an official government stamp you can use if you need to be reimbursed.

So, China is a huge country, cuisine does differ from province to province.  Hunan spicy is much different than Szechuan spicy, some provinces favor sweeter foods,  bottom line, Chinese food on mainland China is not what we eat in America.  I did google to find out the most popular dish throughout all of China.  Surprise, a simple egg and tomato dish.  I have to say I believe this to true.  No matter where I have been in China, I do always see eggs (usually sorta scrambled) mixed with tomatoes.  It is delicious.

Depending on where you live, rice or noodles may be more popular.  Noodles differ by region, rice noodles, egg noodles, tofu noodles, fat, thin, etc.  2 other popular dishes, baozi which is a steamed bun stuffed with meat or vegetables and jiaozi or dumplings.  Both are usually dipped in a garlic vinegar sauce.

What do I miss most….sometimes I crave a big juicy burger, a pepperoni pizza, a thick blood rare steak, chardonnay……. I can usually find a way to satisfy these cravings. I am sharing some photos of typical dishes that I enjoy and maybe some I don’t.

My biggest disappointment:  NO CHEESE IN CHINA!

Some more photos of food I have had in China………