Saturday, November 09, 2013

The Innnernet

For some reason, James and I have both shown symptoms of internet connectivity distrust in the past.

Have you ever noticed that my Facebook profile picture has never actually shown my face? When I first signed up years ago, it was my intentional mini rebellion to ease my conscience as I joined the masses. James just plain refuses to use it. Of course, he often stands over my shoulder to read posts, look at photos, and watch the videos our friends have uploaded.

Maybe we were afraid our virtual relationships would replace real life ones. Perhaps we wanted to protect our privacy and refrain from broadcasting the minute details of our lives. To some degree, I'm sure we thought ourselves too unique to jump onto all the internet-app-media band wagons. But I think it's time we admit we've caved!

Just recently we began using Instagram. It's James' first foray into social media since Friendster. A few weeks ago he began using WeChat with his Chinese friends here, and it seems like he's been texting and posting non-stop since. In the last few months I have become addicted to Pinterest. We may not tweet, but between the two of us, James and I have bought into the main-stream digital world. We have smart phones. We have a blog. We have Youtube channels. I watch Hulu while I fold laundry. Skype alone has changed our lives.

I have come to see the digital world as both a black hole and a glorious portal. Though it can consume a large portion of my time if I'm not thoughtful about my usage, I only feel mildly conflicted. As James and I find ourselves separated from friends, loved ones, and our home culture, it has been marvelous to connect in these ways! To know a favorite high school teacher recently retired, to hear my nephew giggle, and to get updates from far-away friends are such precious pieces of data. Though I once scoffed at "those people" whose phones seemed like a physiological appendage, I now use mine as my primary photo album, recipe box, stereo, alarm, camera, schedule keeper, and Chinese textbook.

So follow this, pin that, comment, post, and let's be involved in one another's lives. I am just so thankful I can be a part of your world, it no longer matters to me that the ways we're reaching out to one another are often digital.

Friday, November 08, 2013

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

So My Teacher Says...

One of my teachers this semester recently returned from a three-year teaching stint in the States. She often comments on her time in America, and I thought I would post some of her observations!

My teacher says these are the best things about America:

1. Americans are very independent. This is a positive attribute because they are self-reliant, have well-developed personal beliefs, and American children are not as tightly tethered to their parents.

2. Americans, by and large, are very friendly people.

3. People living in America experience an astonishingly high quality of life.

4. Americans tend to be very helpful and generous.

5. Americans value family far more than one would believe from American TV shows.

6. Americans living in the mid-west, south, and rural areas are surprisingly conservative in their political stances, lifestyles, and manner of dress. (I knew a young international student who was so shamed for wearing short shorts while jogging for exercise that he quit his exchange program and went home after only being in America for a few weeks. That's what the countryside is like. Very modest.)

7. America is extremely clean and littering is rare.

8. The western method of education in America allows students to become excellent critical thinkers and to hone their individual strengths.

9. Dollar stores are the best. (Everything is a dollar! Everything!)

10. Crossing guards are the most amazing idea ever. (Can you imagine crossing guards here? Impossible! There's no way!)

11. America has thousands of free museums and national parks that are open to the American public and foreign visitors alike!

On the other hand, she says these things are the worst:

1. Americans hate to be a burden and dislike accepting favors, even to the point of the elderly opting to move into assisted living facilities to avoid asking their families to care for them.

2. Some Americans can be very arrogant. Even more are fairly ignorant.

3. Americans are extremely wasteful. They take for granted their natural resources, waste water and electricity, and produce a horrifying amount of paper waste and other trash.

4. Americans are too direct. They are too forceful with their opinions, enjoy creating conflict, and think little of making someone else lose face.

5. Americans are too reliant on their government and are foolish to expect them to solve and pay for all their problems.

6. Americans can be very lazy, often spend beyond their means, and are too comfortable living on credit.

7. Americans eat way too much processed and frozen food. (It's gross. I refused to eat any of that while I was there.)

8. American students are disrespectful. Because all Americans view themselves as equals, they do not show proper deference to authority figures.

9. Too many American parents expect teachers to raise their children for them. (And they don't involve the grandparents in caring for their children either.)

9. Americans have too much stuff.

10. Though in general the policemen in America are more helpful, they are too strict about driving laws.

I had to laugh at most of these, but I'm curious! What do you all think of her observations?

Sunday, November 03, 2013

The Unthinkable

Some people prefer predictable over spontaneous, inside instead of outside, comfort over awkwardness, leisure over adventure. Now I must say, Laura and I aren't always the ones taking risks, but this weekend, we did the unthinkable: we went to a Chinese dentist!

Laura's had a cavity that's been bothering her for quite some time. We both don't like dentists and put off taking care of it until the pain became unbearable. We were afraid a root canal might have been in order, so we started asking around about local dentists in Lijiang to see what was out there. We got a few hits, though deep down inside I knew Lijiang wouldn't have the standard of care we were looking for. We checked out the highest recommended dentist first. This dental clinic was tucked away in a tourist section of town. It looked like a guesthouse turned hospital type building that was absolutely desolate. We looked around and called out for people but nobody was around. We eventually found 2 very drowsy ladies in dirty lab coats watching TV in a small upstairs room. We asked if they were the dentists and they looked at each other like, "It's your turn. No, it's your turn." After a few awkward silent seconds, one of the ladies motions for us to go to the other room where her equipment was. Laura sits in the dental chair and we briefly explained the problem. She grabbed some tools from a wooden dresser and started probing around in Laura's mouth. After a few minutes, she said she could work on it. We told her we thought it might be serious and would like to first take an x-ray to see how serious the problem is. She said the x-ray machine isn't great and nobody can read it anyways. Then she asked us again if we wanted her to work on it. At this point, we realized this wasn't going to work out and apologized for the inconvenience. As we walked away we remembered this was the highest recommended dentist in town.

We quickly started looking for places outside of Lijiang. Kunming, our province's capital, would be the closest city with decent care followed by Thailand. A good friend of ours recommended a place in Kunming that was clean and affordable. After confirming with the dentist that they would be open this weekend, we decided to commit and buy overnight train tickets for Friday and return overnight tickets for Saturday, it was going to be a rushed trip. Well, the dentist ended up being great. They were professional, courteous, clean, competent, and willing to accommodate. Most doctors don't like to give pain medicine including novocaine but this clinic was willing to shoot Laura up. We got an x-ray of the tooth along with a few hot and cold tests to help determine the degree of the problem. The dentist said it was just a cavity and she could fix it up no problem. Bam, it was done. My wife is one tough cookie and I'm happy that she's able to eat on that side of her mouth again. We spent the rest of our 8 hours in Kunming drinking starbucks, shopping and seeing friends. Overall, a great time.

Nerves have been calmed after they decided it was just a basic filling.

We can all hear the nightmarish sound of those dental drills.