Chinese New Year Trip 寒假之旅

瑞安（我哥）来中国看我们的时候，瑞安、珮齢和我从1月19日到1月30日一起探索中国了。这次旅游正好在中国春节时期之内，所以我们也看到了一些很有意思跟春节有关的事物。我们所去的地方包括上海、贵州（贵阳、凯里与安顺）与青岛。其中，我们参观了黄果树瀑布（亚洲最大的瀑布）以及在凯里体验了个很给力除夕烟花的事件。下面有照片与视频。

Ryan (my brother), Cia, and I explored China together from January 19th to January 30th when Ryan came to China to see us. Coincidentally, we traveled during China's Spring Festival period -- i.e., the Chinese New Year -- so we saw some cool things related to the Spring Festival. The places we traveled included Shanghai, Guizhou Province (Guiyang, Kaili, and Anshun), and Qingdao. During this journey, we visited Huangguoshu Waterfall -- the largest waterfall in Asia -- and experienced (or perhaps survived) an amazing Chinese New Year's Eve fireworks incident. The pictures and video are below.

台湾有一家本地便利连锁店公司叫做全家（Family Mart)。珮齢很想台湾的便利店（特别是711），所以她一看到上海的全家，她就开始开心得跳来跳去。
Taiwan has a convenience store chain called Family Mart. Cia really misses Taiwan's convenience stores -- particularly 711 -- so as soon as she saw the Family Marts in Shanghai, she began happily jumping up and down.

由于一些签证的问题，因此瑞安到上海比珮齢和我晚两天。所以珮齢与我用了一天去参观上海附近著名的水乡古镇朱家角。其实，这个地区有很多其他类似的古镇。
Due to some inconveniences with Ryan's visa, he arrived in Shanghai a couple of days later than Cia and I. So Cia and I used a day to visit Zhujiajiao, a famous ancient water town near Shanghai. There are actually a lot of similar ancient towns in this region.

在朱家角里，到处有水，镇民的生活离不开水的使用。比如，人行道都朝着水道，部分浸入水中的小楼梯让镇民用水来洗衣服、拿来煮饭、搬移东西等等。
In Zhujiajiao, water is everywhere, and townspeople's lives are mingled closely with the use of water. For example, the sidewalks run along waterways, and small staircases partially submerged in the water allow townspeople to wash their clothes, get water for cooking, transport things, etc. 

上海还一个叫田子坊的地方，原来是平房居民区，后来转变为一个小市场，设计风格和整修很好看，那里有很多国外菜餐馆，只不过东西都比较贵。
Shanghai also has a place called Tianzifang which was originally a residential district of small houses. Later, it was turned into a small market. The design and renovation of the place looks really good. There are also a lot of foreign food restaurants. The only downside is, stuff there is all a bit expensive. 

瑞安到达上海以后，我们三个人一起飞到贵阳了。在那里，我们见了我硕士项目的同学龙莎夏与何明乐，他们都在贵阳学习和实习。由于贵阳位于南方，本地人不太重视暖气，并即使冬天又冷又湿，在房子里贵州人一般不安装暖气，所以在贵阳的第二天，我们已经感觉很冷了。因此，我们去了贵阳附近的温泉。我们泡温泉以后，大家的心情好起来了。在这，珮齢和莎夏站在温泉门口前。
After Ryan arrived in Shanghai, the three of us went to Guiyang. There, we met up with two other students from my MA program, Sasha and Mike; they are both studying and interning in Guiyang. Due to Guiyang's being located in the south, local people don't really attach much importance to heating. Even if the winter is really cold and wet, Guizhou people don't generally install heating in houses. So by the second day, we felt really cold, and we sought out a hot springs near Guiyang. After soaking in the hot springs, everyone felt a lot better. Here, Cia and Sasha are standing in front of the hot springs front gate.

明乐、瑞安、珮齢与我都从贵阳去凯里了，从贵阳要坐两个小时的火车就到了。凯里的附近有很多山里的苗族小村（苗族是中国最大的少数民族之一）。苗族人占贵州人口比较大的比例。正好，明乐认识一个村子（叫做季刀）的旅游领导，我们四个人去跟她的家庭吃个午餐以及看他们的村子。照片上有哪位导游的儿子。他的爱好是让其公鸡们打架，他所抱的公鸡是最牛的。他给我、珮齢与瑞安介绍小村的时候，这个孩子顺便让这只公鸡追着其他的公鸡找麻烦。所幸，我们没看到任何公鸡的死亡。
From Guiyang, Mike, Ryan, Cia, and I went to Kaili, which is about a two-hour train ride from Guiyang. Kaili has a bunch of mountain Miao villages nearby. (The Miao ethnicity is one of China's largest ethnic minorities.) Miao people occupy a relatively large proportion of the population of Guizhou. Luckily, Mike knew the tourist leader of one village called Jidao, so we went there to eat a lunch with her family and see their village. In the picture, you can see her son. His hobby is to lead (instigate) rooster fights, and the rooster he's holding is the strongest one he has. When he was introducing the village to Ryan, Cia, and myself, this kid made this rooster chase after others to make trouble. Fortunately, we didn't see any rooster deaths.

对其他文化很感兴趣的瑞安乐意地帮那个小男孩抱着其公鸡。
Ryan, who is very interested in other cultures, happily helped the small boy hold his rooster.

我们吃完饭，大家聊得开心。我们的晚餐的菜几乎都是肉，我喜欢吃肉，但瑞安近一阵子都吃素，所以我看到他面对这么多肉我就有作恶感了。
After eating, we chatted happily for a bit. The lunch dishes were pretty much all meat, and I like to eat meat. But Ryan has been trying to go veggie recently, so I felt kind of guilty when I saw him faced with so much meat.

我们离开季刀的时候。山岭风景很美。
Leaving Jidao. The mountains are really beautiful.

最好，您抽九分钟看完这个视频，真的很有意思！

Do yourself a favor and find nine minutes to watch this entire video. It's incredible.

我们从凯里坐四个小时的火车，到贵州西部一座名叫安顺的城市。安顺的附近有黄果树瀑布，亚洲最大的瀑布。安顺是一座相对比较贫穷的城市。但像中国很多城市一样，它正在发展，所以我们往往看到了反映新旧交叉的画面。
From Kaili, we took a four-hour train to a city in Guizhou's west called Anshun, which is near Huangguoshu Waterfall, the largest waterfall in Asia. Anshun is a relatively poor city. Yet like many of China's cities, it's developing, and we often saw the intersection of old and new there.

黄果树瀑布公园也包括一个叫天星桥的景区，从我看来，这是中国最美丽的天然景区之一。这里有很长的藤，最长的好像200多米。
Huangguoshu Waterfall Park includes a place called the Heavenly Bridge Scenic Area. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful natural scenic spots in China. There are some really long vines here; the longest is apparently over 200 meters long.

天星桥是黄果树瀑布的下游，所以到处有水和流水的声音。
Heavenly Bridge is downriver from Huangguoshu Waterfall's, so there's water and the sound of water everywhere.

最终我们看了该瀑布本身。真大！从这个角度，在后面的人像微小的蚂蚁。
Finally, we saw the waterfall itself. From this perspective, the people in the background are like tiny ants.

瑞安、珮齢与我回青岛，第二天到广阔市场台东。

Ryan, Cia, and I returned to Qingdao, and on the second day, we headed to an expansive market called Taidong. 

买完东西以后，我们在啤酒街上路过了这个餐馆（青岛因啤酒而著名于世），我建议瑞安尝尝青岛特色，即喝啤酒吃蛤蜊（青岛话要念“哈”啤酒吃“尬辣”）。
After finishing our shopping, we passed this restaurant on Beer Street. (Qingdao is famous for beer.) I suggested that Ryan try out a special flavor of Qingdao -- that is, drink beer and eat clams
.

珮齢和我在青岛老城市的前面。感谢瑞安摄影技巧。
Cia and I in front of Qingdao's old city. Thanks to Ryan for his photographic skills.

瑞安最后一天在中国，我们参观了海底世界，一个海洋生物博物馆与水族馆。博物馆的第一部分有很多装各种海洋动物的玻璃罐。
On Ryan's last day in China, we visited Underwater World, an marine biology museum and aquarium. The museum's first part had a bunch of glass jars containing every type of ocean creature.

海底世界最好看的部分也许是这个水下隧道。在这里，从鲨鱼到海龟都能看到。
Perhaps Underwater World's best part is the underwater tunnel. Here, you can see everything from sharks to sea turtles.

珮齢在极高鱼缸的前面。
Cia in front of a super tall fish tank.

最后一个晚上，瑞安认识到我珮齢和我的一些青岛朋友。我们不仅吃得开心，以后还唱得开心（在卡拉OK）。
The last night, Ryan met a few of Cia and my Qingdao friends. We didn't only have a good time eating, later we also had a good time singing (in KTV).  

First Chinese TV appearance 首次上中国电视

说实话，我在该电视节目中的角色不算是主要的，但还是我第一次发现我上中国电视了。这个新闻节目关注我实习所在的非盈利公益组织与其创始人陈明钰。这个组织的名字是新市民之家，是给青岛农民工提供服务的。大概在14：30，我出现在画面。在这很短的采访中，我讨论农民工子女的教育（我在新市民之家教门英语课）。可以看到我的头发当时需要急迫的处理，我没有知道他们打算在那天来到机构做采访！

To be honest, my role in this TV program can't really be called a major role, but it's the first time of which I'm aware of my appearing on Chinese TV. This news program focuses on the nonprofit, public service organization in which I intern as well as the organization's founder, Chen Mingyu. This organization is called New Urban Home, and it provides services for Qingdao migrant workers. At approximately 14:30, I show up in the program. In the short interview, I discuss the education of migrant workers' kids. (I teach an English class at New Urban Home.) As you can see, I really needed to do something to my insane hair. I didn't know that they planned on coming that day to do the interview!   

Radio and Newspaper Appearances 上了广播报纸

在我1月8日所参与的活动中，我给了迎接71岁生日的李爷爷拥抱。当我抱他的时候，向他说“祝您生日快乐”，他回应说“祝你身体健康”。这位正遭受帕金森症的老人给我这样的祝福，当时使我差点流眼泪。
During the event in which I participated on January 8, I gave a hug to Grandpa Li, who was welcoming his 71st birthday. As I hugged him, I said to him, "Happy birthday", to which he replied, "I wish you health". When this old man, who is currently suffering from Parkinson's Disease, gave me this kind of blessing, I almost begin to tear.

(English is below the Chinese.)

我近一个月在帮助空巢老人的公益组织做志愿者，昨天是我第三次参与了。当时，有几位媒体代表在场与我交流。今天上午，我发现我上了报纸！其实，前两次参加这些活动，各有上报纸的结果，可是，第一次文章的文字非常少并没有说我是谁，而第二次记者因没有跟我讲话而错了我的名字，即他写了“杰克先生”，而不是“凯文先生”。因此，我很高兴我这次可以正式地上报纸，而且很高兴这个公益组织重要的事业可以宣传于青岛市。

昨天，也有一个广播主持人在场与志愿者和老人聊一聊。她问我我愿不愿意在周一上午参与她的广播节目《牵挂》。那么，今天我与我们公益团队的一个老志愿者到了广播台去讨论我们的工作与空巢老人。这个节目的录音在这里（点1月9日节目链接）。我们谈到了很多内容，包括康淑明（另一个志愿者）的感受、我的感受、我的学习、美国与中国空巢老人概念的不同、等等。我甚至在节目中朗诵了宋词《水调歌头·明月几时有》（在朗诵中我说错了一个字，你能不能告诉我呢？）。

In the past month, I've participated in events of an NGO that helps empty-nest seniors. Yesterday was my third event with them. During the activity, some media representatives were on the scene talking with me. This morning, I discovered that I had appeared on the the local newspaper! Here's my translation of the short article:

Foreign Student Volunteer Gives Blessings to Empty-Nest Seniors

January 8, foreign student Kevin Slaten warmly hugs empty-nest senior Li Dianqi as a birthday blessing. That day, Li Dianqi, who lives in the Yunxiao Road community belonging to the Xianggang Zhong District Office, was especially happy. While welcoming his 71^st birthday, volunteers from the Warm Angels Service of the Elderly Group went to his home to celebrate his birthday. Among the volunteers was a foreign student volunteer from Ocean University. Li Dianqi and his wife have raised one son and one daughter; the son is currently in Singapore and the daughter in America. Li Dianqi is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, and his mood is sometimes depressed. After volunteers went to his home, they helped him and his wife connect through video chat with their far-away daughter and, later, even organized a birthday party for him. Watching the volunteers’ wonderful performance program, the two seniors were especially joyed.

Authors: Li Xiaozhe and Meng Da

Actually, the last two times I participated in these events, each resulted in my appearance in the newspaper. However, the first time, the article's written portion was very short, and there was no mention of who I was. The second time, as a result of the journalist not actually speaking to me, he mistook my name, calling me "Mr. Jack" instead of "Mr. Kevin". So I'm glad to be able to formally make an appearance in the newspaper this time. Moreover, I'm happy that the important undertaking of this NGO can get publicity around Qingdao.

Yesterday, there was also a radio host on the scene chatting with volunteers and seniors. She asked me if I was willing to participate in her radio show, "Concerns", on Monday morning. As a result, myself and an older volunteer from our service group went today to the radio station to discuss our work and empty-nest seniors. The show's recording can be listened to here (click on the January 9 show link). The show is in Chinese, and translating the entire thing would be a time-consuming job. However, I can tell you that during the show, we chatted about Kang Shuming's (the other volunteer) reflections, my reflections, my studies, and the difference between American and Chinese empty-nesters. On the last point, I emphasized that being an empty-nester isn't necessarily a negative thing in America. It is often perceived as "liberation" because the pressures of raising kids lessen a bit. But in China, the word 空巢 (empty nest) often connotes loneliness or abandonment. On this point, the host, Wang Zhen, mentioned that having the ability to lead an independent life after the kids have left is an important thing for Chinese seniors to work on.

Anyway, toward the end of the program, I even performed a Song Dynasty poem that is related to Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year), which is on the verge of arriving here in China. While performing the poem, I actually messed up on one character; I'm curious if the Chinese speakers out there can tell me where the mistake is.

Conference, Christmas, and Kongchao Seniors

Happy holidays!

In December, the air in Qingdao became crisp. There were a couple very light snows days. Otherwise, it has been a mild winter (by the standards of an Ohio boy). Cia, of course, thinks that the world has frozen over and we have entered the next ice age. I continue to ensure her that Qingdao is nothing compared to Cleveland's lake effect snow. 

Cia enjoying one of the many hot chocolates she drank in December to help keep herself warm.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with all sorts of activity. In mid-December, Cia and I took the high-speed train to Beijing. (Side note: I really wish that the US could have a rail system like China. This high-speed train reached speeds over 300 km/h, or almost 190 mph. It made the Qingdao-Beijing run in 4.5 hours, with a few stops in other cities in-between. That's almost 700 km in 4.5 hours. That's like traveling from New York City to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 4.5 hour.) In Beijing, I attended an international conference on labor conflict in China. Before, after, and between sessions, Cia and I explored Beijing a bit and met some friends. Cia also saw some more of Beijing while I was in meetings.

This is essentially the gate to Tiananmen Square. The characters on the top of the gate says "Sun Gate" (or "The Gate Facing the Sun", if we're being picky about meaning).

Cia and I in Tiananmen Square, in front of the People's Congress.

Lift off in Tiananmen Square! You can see the famed picture of Mao in the background.

Cia also jumped for joy!

My beautiful wife in an old park next to the Forbidden Temple.

In this group photo from the conference, I am in the second row, a little bit left of center. It was a good conference, all-in-all, but some of the questions that had to be answered where still avoided largely by Chinese scholars -- i.e., limits on the right of association in China is constraining the ability of workers to protect their rights.

In a breakout session, I gave a talk on my research.

There were both Chinese and foreign scholars in attendance, so I gave most of my talk in English this time. The PPTs, though, were in both languages so as to make it easier for attendees to communicate.

When we got back into town, Christmas was already approaching. I volunteered at a couple of events in the community in which I taught 空巢老人 (kōngcháo lǎorén) about Christmas, singing some Christmas songs with them in the process. 空巢老人 can be translated as "empty-nest seniors" -- people who for an assortment of reasons live on their own. America, of course, has people in this circumstance as well. In China, however, it is relatively rare for elderly parents not to live with their child or very near to their child. So given the society, this sort of situation is particularly tough on these people. 

I spent the first 10 minutes discussing the tradition of Christmas in America. It's the first time that I've introduced the history of Christmas in Chinese. 

On that day, I felt that I had a dozen Chinese grandmothers. It was a real pleasure for me to chat and laugh with them.

They expressed that they wished I could come back regularly. I hope to get together with them again.

This was the second on event. This time, we not only celebrated Christmas, we also celebrated the birthdays of several people. Here, I am with two friends of mine, Ma Laoshi and Huang Lao, with whom I volunteer at another organization. These two are lifelong teachers and really great people. Despite being 78 and 83 years of age, they are involved daily in volunteer and other activities in their community.

During the event, I sang a couple of Christmas songs for everyone -- specifically, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". 

This is Wang Laoshi. She is the woman who took some of the above pictures. She is also one of the most joyful people at the event, always laughing and smiling.

Christmas itself was uneventful for Cia and I. We simply spent the day together, enjoying each other's company. Perhaps the most "Christmasy" part of the day was our dinner; we bought an entire roasted duck in the local market. It reminded me a bit of "A Christmas Carol", where Scrooge, at the end of the story, buys a prized turkey to the Cratchit family for their Christmas dinner. Cia bought the chicken, so this would make her Ebenezer Scrooge... and it would make me Tiny Tim. That's the sort of metaphor that will get me beat up later. 

Finally, yesterday, Cia and I got together with some friends at our program's office to step into the new year together. We had a fun time dancing and chatting.

Jack and Teresa, in the front, are doing a Wushu pose for us. They are my American classmates. The four Chinese girls in the back are my two Chinese classmates, one of their hometown friends, and a friend of mine that I met while studying last summer. I have no idea what is going on with my mouth. It apparently just opens at random times.

Fireworks were set off as we crossed into 2012. We were on the 22nd floor, so we could see the scene clearly.

Qingdao turkey

Last week, in the English class that we teach on the weekends to children of migrant workers, Cia and I both discussed Thanksgiving, teaching the kids some important words related to Thanksgiving. Unsurprisingly, all of these words were related to food – e.g., turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. Additionally, we taught them the deeper meaning imbued in this holiday: coming together with family and friends to celebrate our gratefulness for the things we have.

It was a cold, rainy November here. (This is my way of reminding you to periodically listen to November Rain, an epic song.) But it wasn't cold in my heart... (sorry, but like I said, I only mentioned it for the song) ...

Although Cia and I couldn’t be back in America with our family on this holiday, we were lucky enough to have some American friends in the city. So five of us got together to have a small Chinese-style Thanksgiving dinner. What does it mean to say “Chinese-style”? Turkey is difficult to find here, so we ate duck. Without turkey, there’s no stuffing, but there was plenty of stir-fried Chinese dishes. No cornbread, but we had thin wheat pancakes for the meat.

But there were mashed potatoes. For this, we all thanked Cia, who made some of the yummiest mashed potatoes I’ve ever had. She’s American citizen material; give her a green card!

Below are a couple of the photos from our dinner. But before seeing those, I'd like to mention real quick what's been going on recently. My research has been picking up. Interviews have been completed, observations done, and conference papers written. Which leads me to the conference; I'll be attending another conference on labor relations -- especially on the theme of conflict -- in mid-December in Beijing. After that, there're probably be some sort of Christmas activity around here, including getting together with friends again. Speaking of Christmas, Cia had the wonderful idea of creating a paper Christmas tree for our wall because our place isn't big enough for a real one -- not that we could find a real one anyway. I loved the idea and helped do some of the cutting and taping, but it's really Cia's genius. I'm telling you, give her a green card! (There's a photo of the tree below.)

Four years in review 四年之旅

（中文在英文之下）

A few weeks ago, I listened to the song "Rock N' Roll" by Skrillex. Within the first minute of the song, I began to have flashbacks. And once they started -- like this song -- they began coming more and more intensely. These were flashbacks of the last four years of my life.

As you might know, since 2008, my life has been that of a transient. I haven't lived in one place for over one year. It's been exciting and eye-opening. I've met so many wonderful people, many of whom remain my friends and from all whom I've learned something.

But accumulating these memories in such a short span of time has a downside: it's hard to keep them clear in my mind.

I believe that everyone tells themselves stories about their own past. This is not to say that we lie about our past. Memories are fleeting, and in order to have a clear identity, we try to make sense of the memories we do have. Recently, I began to fear that I was losing clarity in my story because of the diversity of memories.

So, as a project in my spare time, I went about reviewing these photos and video from the past four years of my life, using some of this material to create a video that attempts to express some of the feelings I have about this period in my life. This project has helped me to re-consolidate my story. It has also been fun to make. I hope you enjoy it. (Please skip below the Chinese to the video.)

几个星期前，我听了歌手Skrillex的“Rock N' Roll”。听不到一分钟，我脑子开始回想。这些回想跟这首歌似的，即感怀越来越激烈。这些回想都涉及我近四年来的生活。

您或许已经知道，2008年以来，我的生活具漂泊不定。从2008年至今，我都没有在一个地方呆到一年。这段时间有意思又兴奋，我遇见了很多美妙的人，他们多数今天还是我的朋友，而且我向每个人都学到了一些。

不过，在这么短的时间之内积累很多记忆也有个坏处：难以让我脑海里的记忆很清晰。

我认为大家都会创造关于自己过去的故事。这不是说我们都假作我们的过去，而是说由于记忆稍纵即逝，我们若要明确自己的身份，我们就得搞清楚既有的记忆。最近，我开始担心我的遗忘故事因为故事里拥有太多的回忆。

因此，在闲暇时间中，我回顾近四年来生活的照片和视频，并将一些资料创造成一个试片子，是图表达我对这一段时间的感情。这个片子让我把记忆凝聚为更清晰的故事。而且，做这个片子很好玩。希望您享受它！（视频在下面）

A note before watching the video: Because this video is replicating how I feel about these memories, it moves fast. You can always rewind! If you get dizzy easily from fast moving pictures, then this is likely to make you dizzy. Oh, and the funniest part of the video might be the intense techno music paired with my Grandma Slaten and I dancing together. :)

请注意：因为这个视频尽量反映我对这些记忆的感觉，它动得很快。可以倒带吧！您容易头晕的话，这个片子很可能让您有点头晕。另外，视频中最好笑的部分也许是高技术音乐跟我和我奶奶一起跳舞场景的搭配。（^^）

Music: 

Supercommuter, "The Commute Continueth"
Skrillex, "Rock N' Roll"
Supercommuter, "Victory Song"

Getting down on one knee

Cia and I are going to spend our lives together. 

I actually proposed to Cia on September 16, but these few weeks have been busy. I am preparing for a presentation at a conference in a city called Yantai -- a few hours north of Qingdao -- where I'll present some of my research to experts in the field of labor relations. (Refresher: my master's thesis examines the collective consciousness of migrant workers in China.) While preparing for that, I was also filling out six applications for PhD programs. The universities to which I applied are scattered around the US -- a couple on the West Coast, a few on the East Coast, and one right in the middle. I should know in March; I'll keep you updated.

Anyway, back to what you really want. Pictures and video of the proposal. 

A little background: the "set-up" was a lunch that I had prepared ahead of time. Cia, myself, and three friends (Teresa, Tongtong, and Junjun) were all walking to the restaurant. My three friends knew ahead of time what was going to happen, so they brought cameras. I purposefully led us through a big public square here, called Wusi Square (五四广场), where I -- using a really awful premise -- led into a conversation about a ring. I ended this with a question [in Chinese]: "But if you want this ring, Cia, then you need to first answer two questions." The rest is history...

As my brother likes to point out: yes, I was wearing sandals with socks.  

The two questions I asked Cia were: 1. "妳愿不愿意和我一起享受这一辈子？" (Do you want to share this life together?) 2. "妳会不会嫁给我？" (Will you marry me?)

And when I was waiting for Cia's answer, our friend Tongtong said "同意同意同意！" That means "say yes!" Thanks for the support Tongtong. Cia did say yes. And now we've got a whole life to look forward to. 

Below are a few more images of the woman I love and me during those fateful few moments.