Back in the game

I think Joe Cocker sang it best, "I get by with a little help from my friends".

We've been back in The Middle Kingdom for almost a month now and have some great things to share with you over the course of the next few posts.

We are heading into our third Golden Week which is extra special this year for the locals as their traditional Mid-Autumn Festival coincides within a few days of this country's 60th birthday as the P.R.C. People are already losing their minds getting ready for the 8 day long holiday. Preparations up north have made security tighter than that lyric in Nick Lowe's In The Air Tonight. So I think the least we can do is be your eyes and ears on this side of the fence...well that and trying to get a smoking last minute deal to Thailand.

We've recently managed to finally figure out how to mail things like postcards, letters, and small parcels. So keep one eye out for the mailman, you might be surprise to find out that indeed we were thinking about you too! Still, it helps if we have your current address. If you're not sure drop either one of us an email.

It's way past my bed time, but when the window is open it's best to holler a fine "How do you do!"

From China to Texas

Well gang, no big secret that Blogger is blocked in The Middle Kingdom.

We currently are visiting stateside, in Texas as a matter of fact. Yee Haw.

We wish you all the best in all things and look forward to updating you on our further adventures in China as we start are third year at the University September 6th.

Until then we'll be looking for China, Texas. So imagine our reaction to the locals when we say we're from China...

Zhuhai and Jiaozi

Zhuhai

From ZhuhaiSCNU

We took a weekend trip to the beautiful city of Zhuahi. This is a place situated right on the China Sea, a city known for clean, fresh air and delicious seafood. The best part about the trip is that we went with a group of our teachers from campus. These trips always seem to be one of my favorites. We have so enjoy the company of our co-teachers, and to travel and live like the Chinese do—well, it’s always a chance for Rocco and I to learn more language, and more about the culture, and there are always a lot of laughs and good memories.

We arrived in Zhuhai on Friday evening, had a delicious Chinese meal, and then took a walk to the beach. We enjoyed the company of 2 other foreign teachers that went on the trip with us—Vincent, from France and Giette from India.

From ZhuhaiSCNU

From ZhuhaiSCNU

The next morning after breakfast, we headed for the ferry terminal to catch a ride to an island off the coast of Zhuhai that was about an hour away.

From ZhuhaiSCNU

Now, the natives are famous for motion sickness and needless to say it didn’t take much to turn this happy bunch green. Rocco is also famous for his “fishing technique” off the coast of Oregon but he was fine on this boat ride.

From ZhuhaiSCNU

The island was quaint and reminded us a bit of a James Bond Villain’s lair. The weather was a bit windy and rainy but the remoteness from the mainland populous was a welcomed treat. It is a fairly inexpensive getaway and we recommend it to other Laowai in the area. The harbor is filled with fish farms and the daily catch made for some the freshest sea food we have every enjoyed.

From ZhuhaiSCNU

From ZhuhaiSCNU

From ZhuhaiSCNU

Speaking of food:


Chinese Dumplings: Jiaozi (rhymes with yowza!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi

Rocco and I are the only married foreign teachers on campus, but there are many Chinese couples that work and teach together at school. It always makes me smile to think of husbands and wives…getting on the bus together, riding to school, having lunch together, coming back home. I just enjoy it. And we have shared this special feeling with our couple friends…and we all seem to agree that it is pretty cool!

From harold's jiaoza

One lovely couple that we work with are Harold and Maria. They are both Han People from the province in China, WAY up north….Inner Mongolia. They invited us over last week to make Jiaozi, or as Westerners would know it—the dumpling, or the won ton, or the pot sticker. Now I have always loved these—even before I came to China. And they continue to be one of my favorites, and I try to eat them every chance I get. In the olden days, when people were poor, they only ate these for special occasions, and the grandest occasion of all of course is the biggest celebration day of the year, Chinese New Year. So saying all that, I was THRILLED to be invited into a Chinese home to see how the real thing is done!! Harold and Maria are just about the nicest people you could ever meet, and also have a handsome and sweet son named Harry. When we arrived, there were several appetizer dishes waiting for us, and something else that I was anxious to try…some milk tea from Harold’s home town. In northern china, it gets VERY cold, and the people are know for eating a lot of meat, and it is a custom that they drink this tea that is a like tea with milk added, and a tiny bit salty. I thought it was delicious. Then Maria set out a lovely green salad. We don’t get a lot of salad here, especially in southern China—most Chinese want all their vegetables cooked—and I mean ALL….so the thought of eating uncooked lettuce to them is just unacceptable. But things are a little different in the north, and this salad was something Harold says Maria makes every day. It was simple—like we would eat at home…but with a touch of olive oil and some salt---oh so fresh and tasty.

From harold's jiaoza

While Harold and Rocco and I munched on delicious yummy things, Maria was in the kitchen, preparing the dumplings. Most people in China and most of us at home in the USA, when we make these, we go to the store and buy the dumpling wrapper—but Maria made hers from scratch. I watched her pull and press the dough, then cut a little piece, uses the rolling pin to flatten it, then she put the scrumptious filling into the wrapper. The filling was a mixture of pork, a few spices, some oil, and celery and onion. It smelled so great as I stood over the bowl watching the skilled hands roll out the small doughy circles. Of course those of you that know me know I was just itching to get in there and get my hands in the action!

From harold's jiaoza

From harold's jiaoza

From harold's jiaoza

From harold's jiaoza

From harold's jiaoza

After we made about a million of these things, Maria put them into boiling water to cook, and then it was time to FEAST. Oh let me tell you, I ate more dumplings then I care to admit, but they were so satisfying and each morsel was like heaven. We had a wonderful time with some great people….and the very best thing is that we came home with a “doggie bag” that Maria instructed me to put into the freezer until we were ready to eat, then simply boil some water, put the dumplings in, and when they are ready, they will rise to the top—the little pillows of perfection just waiting to be dipped in some soy mixed with a tiny bit of some spicy chilies….oh my…….I think I hear them calling now………………!! Jiaozi Heaven!!

From harold's jiaoza

TIC (This Is China)

From april1209

Welcome to warm days and pleasant evenings. Gail and I often walk around and gush at how much we love China because of the warm weather.

I've been making a sincere effort at taking it easier these days. It's funny to me how I seem to manage to create a whirlwind of work, public appearances, commitments, and what not on a whim. It takes some self discipline to just say "no" to things and relax. I have to remember that it really isn't about the money and that it's about TIME. Yes, I know the old adage nipping at our Laowai behinds "time=money".

From april1209

Still, how can I put a value on being able to just "chill" by the Koi pond and listen to water fall? At what price do I dare collect being apart from my wife?
I have to remind myself of why I got into the teaching abroad game, FREEDOM. Freedom that comes from having time to read the books I enjoy reading. Freedom that comes from having the time to post what you see before you here. (And dear reader, your time is valuable too.)

From april1209

I suggest that you brace yourself as I have done and say "no" to that next externalized commitment. I know times are tough and we are apt to get a bit nervy about job security, savings, etc. Again, where is the real value in your life? I relish the time I have to "examine my navel", explore my ideas, question my faith, whatever. Coming to China was about something more than trying to make money. My wife has the right idea and heart to greet everyone she sees and proclaim out loud "Wo ai Zhongor" (I love China). It's a manner of what we focus on that continually manifests itself in our lives. (Being sick and watching the entire third season of HBO's Big Love will remind anyone of this.)

From april1209

I wish you the best and know that I do miss you. You're welcome to come and experience TIC (This Is China) anytime.

Thursday Thusly

From ikea weekend

Welcome to the Ikea nesting instinct. Don't mind the random Fight Club quote, but I can't help it every time I enter that big blue store. We wanted to get a few things to further domestic ourselves in our flat. "The Laowai are staying!". We examined the phenomena why it seems so familiar and comfortable to us shopping there, despite being there on a Saturday with the masses. It just feels like our turf and the locals are along for the ride as opposed to our day to day surreal adventures when the Kung Fu slippers are on the other foot. For example the random fans who want their photo taken with us. "Your picture with us gets our picture with you."

From ikea weekend

It's been a busy week even if I only worked 1.5 days of it and you wonder why we stay in China?

Gail, just nailed it at an English corner in Dali where they have no FT (foreign teacher) she says, "How could I do any wrong?" They loved her. Honestly 1.3 billion people here do.

Rockin' the Mozart via Neville Marriner- Dia Zauberflote (The Magic Flute). Makes for good blogging music.

Tomorrow heading into GZ (Guangzhou) to work out with my main man Brad at GETFITGZ and make sure we are ready for the Open Fitness event on Sunday Morning in Yuexiue Park. He was kind enough to post a new recipe. It's hard to believe how much weight I've lost. It's hard for me to tell, but the numbers, lose clothes, and other people don't lie.

I really want people to come and join me this summer to see China and workout. It will transform your life in way you only dreamed.

From ikea weekend

Chef Gail's tasty fit recipes for this week

From Gail pix

Light Cream of Celery Soup

2 med. potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups celery, chopped
1 cup (heaping) celery, very finely minced
3 cups water or veggie broth
1 3/4 tsp. salt
1-2 TBS butter
1 cup milk or soy milk

Bring to boil potatoes, 4 c celery, water and 1 1/4 tsp. salt in saucepan. Simmer, covered for about 15 min. (until veggies are soft). Puree' and transfer to larger pot. Melt butter in skillet with onions, minced celery and 1/4 tsp. salt. Saute until veggies are tender (about 10 Minutes). Add to the puree'. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat gently and top with fresh parsley or chives if you like.

From Gail pix

Ginger Dressing - think tasty, healthy and great on top of greens

1/2 cup purple onions
1/2 c peanut oil
1/3 c/ rice vinegar
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs freshly peeled and sliced ginger
2 Tbs celery, chopped
4 tsp soy
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper

Blend in blender until ingredients are fully blended. Put on top of our favorite green salad mixture. Our favorite - iceberg lettuce or spinach (both is nice!), chopped cucumber, chopped cabbage, chopped carrots, chopped tomatoes, and a few springs of chopped cilantro

Blend throughly in a blender and top with:

From Gail pix

[This Ginger Dressing of Gail's isn't a beverage, but it should be!-Roc]

Do you have a piece of Ginger that is starting to sprout? Plant it! I took a chance a while back when Gail had some Ginger that was getting the Fu Manchu finger nail action with some sprouts. Sure enough it grew in the small pot and produced some long greens that after awhile began to dry up. Gail dug into the pot to replant and we found our one little piece turned into several others. We've been growing our own Ginger ever since.

From fitnessGZ

Big Rocco Little Rocco

From march302009

I so aptly said this morning on twitter that I was going to kick Monday Morning square in the ASS! (yeah I said it.) Sure enough I did in ways I had no idea how, when I decided to go on record saying that. Call it gut instinct on my part. How does this guy roll when he's opening a serious case of whoop ass?

I put on my belt and noticed I had to use the last hole to buckle it. This was the hole that I had put in on Vancouver Island, British Columbia about 7 years ago when I lost a lot weight then.

From march302009

From march302009

I got on the scale and found that another 2 kilos (almost 5 pounds) had magically disappeared.

My first billboard in China was posted today.

From march302009

From march302009

My students told me they loved me and respected me very much.

From march302009

My colleagues treated me and my work with AWE.

From march302009

My wife said she was very proud of me.

From march302009

My trainer also said I rocked.

From march302009

Greetings from China (Gail's new letter).

Hello Everyone!
Greetings from China!!

From Gail's Letter II

All is well here. We are trying to have spring, but I don’t think winter wants to quite let go. We have gone through quite the mix—very cold and wet—mind you, very cold for here is about 55 to us….I know, I know, I can here you people in the Midwest now….ha ha! Then, we have been as high as the upper 80’s and low 90’s—almost TOO hot. Today it is quite cool—high of 66 and rain forecasted. I do feel that spring is almost here!!



Most of you know I was home for Christmas. It was a wonderful time to spend with my family and I got to see so many friends. It was just marvelous!! I was home for 1 month, and came back to China on January 24, which just happened to be Chinese New Year’s Eve. My plane landed around 10:30 in the evening, so the festivities were well going on, and there were fireworks going off all round us. I couldn’t help to think that it was China’s way of welcoming Princess Chef Gail back into the country!! (HA HA!) Rocco was there to pick me up at the airport, along with our good friend, Lynette. We grabbed the bags and headed straight for Crazy English Camp, which was bout 1 hour away and had already been going on for about a week. We still had about 6 days to go to finish the camp. Camp was at a campus in Chonghua, in the countryside. As we drove further away from the airport and the lights of the big city of Guangzhou, we were greeted with more and more fireworks and lots of LOUD explosions. The Chinese of course invented the fireworks, and LOVE to let them off for their Spring Festival. We saw spectacular displays every night. The actual festival lasts 15 days, and it is so similar to our Christmas and New Year celebrations—lots of eating, being with friends and family and just enjoying the time off. Of course we were at English camp and we had WORK to do, students to teach...there were about 1000 of us there—students, Chinese teachers and about 25 of us foreign teachers.

From Gail's Letter II

Rocco was in charge of the foreign teachers, and did a great job organizing, keeping everyone in line and making sure we all got to work on time. Crazy English says it was the best group ever, and we didn’t have to fire anyone and no one left, so that is good. Camp can be pretty intensive, especially for the students—12 days of ENGLISH only, and not a lot of free time for goofing off. But the payoff is amazing for those that “put their nose to the grindstone”….we met some more wonderful people from all over China and had a successful camp, and it feels good to do our little part to help make the country’s English population stronger!!

From Gail's Letter II

After camp, we needed a break, so we came home, unpacked and packed and headed straight for Thailand. Clark, our Chinese friend, went with us. It was Clark’s first time out of China, and we had fun taking him to some places we went last year. We arrived in Bangkok, with the intention of "overnighting" it, and heading straight for an island and some sun and sea. We got 2nd class train tickets, that included a bed, and started the 10 hour trek to Surat Thani, where we would catch a ferry and then head to Ko Samui—about 1.5 hours away. We left at around 5 at night—and after stopping at every little town along the way, we arrived around 5:00 am. The train was much older and worn than the trains we have been on in China, but the bed was comfortable and as we walked through the train to the dining car, I became more thankful that we had more then just a seat to sit on for that length of time. It was February 3rd and it was close to 90 degrees outside, and fun to ride with the windows open and fans going. It made me think how much my nephews would have loved to stick their heads out the window and watch the Thai countryside go by!

From Gail's Letter II

Once we arrived, we had a couple of hour wait for a bus to take us to the ferry, "unbenounced" to us that the ride to the ferry was ALSO a couple of hours away. We were pretty tired, but once we arrived and saw the COLOR of the water, we were convinced the worst was behind us—and it was. The landscape became more beautiful as the time passed—the most gorgeous hues of turquoise water, connecting with the equally gorgeous sky and rocky islands in the horizons in many different directions. We finally arrived on the island—mind you, not knowing exactly WHERE we were going and where we would stay, but when you are on an island with white sand and palm trees, does it REALLY matter?? We hopped in the back of a sawngthaew taxi—which is like being in the back of a pick-up, with a canopy, and 2 benches facing each other. It took us about 40 minutes to reach the other side of the island, where the beaches were supposed to be the best. We arrived in the town of Chaweng, and the beaches were so stunning. There were a lot of tourists, from all over the word—all wanting the same thing as us—beach, sun and fun. This part of Ko Samui proved to be a little too busy for us, so after one night there, we headed for Lamai, about 25 minutes south from Chaweng Beach. Again, all the way, such amazing scenery…it’s all the same in a way—beach, palm trees, white sand, blue water, mile after mile—but so so so so pretty. We found Lamai to be a bit quieter. We spent the next 3 days there enjoying swimming, eating delicious Thai food and wonderful seafood, having massages on the beaches and just enjoying the warm fresh air. We took one trip to go snorkeling, which included boat, driver, a stop at a tiny deserted island with hammocks, and a dinner. Such a GREAT day. The 3 of us shared the boat with 2 other girls—one, a teacher from Hong Kong, from Great Brittan and another from New Zealand. After our swim, and hanging out on the small island, we looked in the distance at this big orange ball in the sky, slowly sinking into the calm blue sea. You know, this kind of thing happens EVERY day, but to actually stop—we had the driver stop the boat and we just drifted there for about 10 minutes as we watched the sun hit the water and then go off to other places…truly amazing and it made you just appreciate the beauty of nature. So hard to describe, but I’ll bet you have all seen the sun rise and set and it is truly breathtaking….oh I miss the island life!! Ha ha!

From Gail's Letter II

From Gail's Letter II

From Gail's Letter II

We arrived back in China after one more day in Bangkok. At this point I had been living out of a suitcase for over a month and I was ready to be HOME. We still had about 2 weeks before we had to be back at school, so we spent many lazy days doing whatever we felt like. Sleeping late, watching movies, walking, riding bikes, reading, visiting friends….it was so relaxing. We went back to school on February 23rd, and it was good to be back on a schedule and see our lovely students. By this time, I had been off work for 8 weeks—WOW!! I tell ya, this teaching in China bit has spoiled me rotten!!

From Gail's Letter II

So school is going well for the both of us. I still have my same students from my first day of teaching and I am as thrilled to have them as they are to have me. I am still on my schedule of 3 full days—all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and one class on Thursday. I am done by noon Thursday and then free on Friday and the weekend. Rocco has close to the same schedule as me. I am actually teaching a few more hours and classes then he is. He was asked to teach 3 classes in the English Major program, along with the other program he teaches in. The English Majors is the same one I teach in, but I have the sophomores and juniors and Rocco teaches the freshmen. They ADORE him, and I think he enjoys teaching the oral English a bit more then the writing he was doing last semester. I had the freshman last year—which are now my sophomores—and we both agree that the drive and enthusiasm of the freshmen just can’t be beat. I am so thankful to have my students again, but the freshmen are just fantastic.

From ktvSZ

We haven’t been doing too much traveling since we have been back at school. We have found that we are just so busy with some of the weekend gigs we have been picking up. It is a lot to teach all week, and then do a few more classes on the weekend on one hand…but when you ENJOY what you do, is it really work? We have been doing some weekend teaching in Shenzhen (about an hour away by train), and that means some travel, and an overnight stay in a hotel, eating out, shopping…so not ALL work. One weekend was exceptionally fun. I had a visit from a childhood friend that was in town for the weekend. Eric and I hadn’t seen each other in possibly 25-30 years—we couldn’t remember, like anyone our age can remember that far anyway….we had the best time reconnecting, and we did some exploring of Shenzhen.

From Gail's Letter II

Eric came with a co-worker, Paul, who wanted to visit a part of town famous for artwork. This place was so incredible and if any of you are interested in artwork you would go mad in this place!! It is a village where many artists live and work, and it is shop after shop after shop after shop of mostly paintings—mostly oils—some original and some reproductions and even some artists that specialize in painting a pictures from photos. It was astounding to see some of these artists paint with oils to exactly duplicate a photograph and do it so well that it was hard to tell that the painting was just that—a painting. I mean, jaw dropping. And the prices—you all would just FLIP at how inexpensive this amazing art was. I went a little crazy and bought 4 pieces—3 were prints, in amazing frames and settings and one was a small canvas piece, about the size of an average computer screen—an “original” oil painted copy of Van Gogh “Terrace at Night” that was about 3 dollars. The artist in this shop actually only painted copies of Van Gogh and Monet, and his shop was FULL of theses pieces that were just eye-popping gorgeous—in many different sizes, some framed, some not. PLEASE come visit—I am dying to go again!! There were some sculptors, and a few other types of art, but it was mostly oil and canvas. The whole area smelled like an art studio. You could be there a whole day and still not see the area….truly amazing!! After each day of shopping and exploring with Eric and Paul, we would eat delicious Chinese food, and laugh and tell stories. I PROMISE if you come visit Rocco and me, it will be a time you won’t forget!! It was fun to see Eric after all these years and talk about all the silly stuff we did as kids.

From Gail's Letter II

It looks like Rocco and I will take the weekend off and maybe travel to Hong Kong for a couple of days. We haven’t been to Hong Kong in a while, and we both just added close to 25 more blank pages to our passports, so talk about burning a hole in our pockets—we have empty pages that need to be filled!! AT ONCE!!





Rocco has started a blog and it pretty good about updating it every few days WITH pictures. You can simply go to Google—or whatever search engine you like and just type in “The Gail and Rocco Show in China” and it should come right up….

Here is the address as well: http://gailandrocco.blogspot.com/

Rocco is a really great writer and it is fun to read from his point of view.



I hope this finds all of you happy and healthy. We so appreciate hearing from you—e-mail, facebook, whatever……we do think of you so often, and are so thankful that we have such good friends and wonderful family that think of us. It seems like hardly a day will go by that we feel so blessed for all of you, and for this excellent opportunity to be in China.



Loads of Love from us here in the East!!

Xoxoxox

Gail and Rocco

From Gail's Letter II