Christmas blog

This was my first Christmas season away from home. In the past years, my time at home during December and January had been shrinking. Freshman year of college, I think I was home for an entire month. By sophomore year, maybe 3 weeks, but still a legitimate amount of time. Junior and senior year were the years of ski teaching, and Christmas means money if you're willing to carry 3 year olds up icy slopes after they wet themselves in their snow suits, so my time at home shrunk even more. But, regardless of the draw of ski school hourly wages and over priced ski-bar beer, I always made it home. Not this year.

I didn't really get into the Christmas spirit this year, and I'm alright with that. I think my lack of red-and-green cheer stemmed from the weather, the surroundings, and the repression of happy memories that would make me sad.

The weather here in Xingyi is great, hovering around the high 40's to 50's at night and sometimes rising into the 70's during the days. We're nearly the same latitude as Key West, so the warmth is to be expected. The weather deceived me numerous times; I caught myself thinking Shit! Its almost Christmas! alot.

The surroundings also through me off. The commercialized Christmas is creeping towards China, but not so much here in this city. I think Xingyi's sparse westerner population is part of the reason. I heard no commercials screaming "Try Dunkin' Donuts' new Rudolf flavored cappuccino! And while you're here, sample our Santa style breakfast croissant, complete with real elf meat!" With less emphasis on Christmas, I felt less obliged to... to do whatever it is that the free market economy wants me to do.

So, Christmas was special in its own special way. I talked to my parents, opened a few real neat gifts, and relaxed. I watched a play competition that ended up being a little comical. But really, it was a normal day, and that lead me to thinking...

Screw this prescribed holiday stuff. Christmas is hyped up to be a special day; our expectations are blown out of proportion and our psyches bruised if we come up short. It wasn't a special day for me, I'm not too thrilled with people telling me that one of my special days will fall on December the 25th of every year. It won't, and don't make me feel like a bad person when I feel no better, or worse, than on any other day. One of my special days, my holi-days, will be January 16th, when I see some friends from China that I haven't' seen in a while. Another will fall on January 30th when I start my much anticipated vacation down south. Some day in August of 2011, when I return stateside, there will be a very special day when I see my family again. Those are my days. Those are the days that stay with me forever. Those days are more important than any other day, and coffee retailers worldwide haven't dedicated a line of flavored products to celebrate. Come on Dunkin' Donuts, you're missing out on the days that really matter.

Jet fuel

A few years ago, while living in a little yellow bungalow in western Maine, my housemate Wil introduced me to the term, and therefore to the idea of "buying jet fuel". If I remember correctly, he purchased a round trip ticket to Alaska to taste the sweet winter nectar of the PNW, and was rightly excited. He had bought jet fuel, and with that fuel he bought possibilities, adventures, and of course, travel.

What impressed me, and eventually brought about my current train of thought, is that Wil didn't see himself buying a ticket or a seat. For him, it wasn't about the adventure had while covering the distance, it was about the destination. If you want adventure while on route, you don't take a commercial air line, you road-trip, or you get a dogsled, or you walk. I imagine that most adventures had involving a commercial air carrier either involve stewardesses with loose morals OR searches for black boxes and inflatable life vests. I am interested in neither.

And so, Wil's diction and my recent purchases from Air Asia bring me to this: I am not interested in comfort, swaddling, legroom, in flight movies, and in flight meals. I don't give two damns what color the seats are, what magazines are provided, or whether I can get another pillow. Today I realized I want to arrive at my destination safely and quickly, and thats about all I want. In all truth, I'd rather not pay for all the ammenities. I'd rather take a dirty, noisy cargo plane, because it probably costs less and I wouldn't have to wait at a carousel for my baggage.

So, why don't more people like me book dirty noisy cargo planes? Why don't I? Because commercial air carriers are more convenient to book, or at least that is the assumption. Take Air Asia for example. To book my tickets, all I had to do was...

1.Go online, create an account with Air Asia, search for my flights, and enter all my information for the billing.
2.Then create a Visa Online account, with all the same information.
3.Then, after the Air Asia window closed because I took too much time setting up the account with Visa, I only had to log back into Air Asia, and create my booking again, enter my payment information again, and pay, then log into my new Visa Online account to authorize the payment, and have my credit card denied.
4. DENIED!?! There's no balance! I cleared it to work overseas! WTF?
5. Then I had to call my bank, check to make sure my card was cleared for overseas purchases (which it was) and that my line of credit was active and in good standing (which it was).
6. Then I repeated the routine with Air Asia's website, including and up to the 2nd denial of BOTH my Visa debit and credit cards. It was at this point I slammed my laptop shut and walked away.
7. Later, I called Air Asia booking in Malaysia, waited for an english speaking salesperson, and created my entire booking again, only to be denied again, and told by a nice man with a thick accent to call my bank.
8. Called the bank, who said there as no activity (read: no attempted and denied purchases from Air Asia) on my card in the recent past. They told me to call back the nice man with the thick accent.
9. Called Air Asia, waited, got a salesperson, booked a flight, card denied. "No-can-do" said the nice man with the tick accent.
10. Cried a little.
11. Called Air Asia one last time after being tipped off by a friend that Visa and Air Asia aren't best friends. Dug up an old credit account that was Mastercard, not Visa, and finally, finally, finally booked a flight. Thank God almighty in heaven above.

In the time it took me to go through these steps the price of the ticket more than doubled from 358 RMB to 780 RMB. Awesome. Super cool.

What have I learned from this debacle? Three distinct things:

- Air Asia has cheap flights, a terrible billing service, and no more than three very busy English speaking salespeople.
- Visa, its everywhere you want to be, except you can't use it with one of the largest air carriers serving south east asia, the pacific rim, and Australia/NZ. But its everywhere else, they swear.
- I want jet fuel. I do not want candy coated customer service, extra pillows, or free in-flight movies.

Contact with questions

Only a few months ago I was a nervous PC applicant with invitation in hand, awaiting my departure date and my conformation as a PC trainee. Back then I received loads of help and encouragement from individuals from previous PC China groups. This help came in the way of packing lists, tips for travel, and conversations on what to expect.

So now, I want to offer my help, I want to be available to pay it forward. If you're out there, and you're looking to transfer or apply, or if you've been invited (although I don't think PC China 16 invites have been mailed yet), please feel free to contact me.

Christian.p.tuttle@gmail.com

China is calling, how far will you go?

It's begining to feel nothing at all like Christmas.

Its 60ish degrees (F) here, the sun is out, I'm wearing my Chacos, and a white Christmas is about as far away as possible. With the exception of the street cleaning trucks playing Jingle bells (they do that all year long) and the Christmas poster at Dico's (Chinese fast food joint), this city hasn't quite caught the western holiday fever.

Truthfully, this doesn't bother me at all.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of Christmas. Great holiday, great season. Families come together, love is shown, and people get drunk on eggnog. That said, I don't miss the stupid, commercialized, in-your-face American approach. There's a fine line between celebration and exploitation, and that fine line was crossed decades ago in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Back to China, though. The decorations are slim here, although when I was in Guiyang for Thanksgiving I did notice decorations (trees, tinsel, posters, etc) in store windows the weekend after the 3rd Thursday of the month. I think there will be a celebration on the day itself; I have heard there is dancing in the street, even. Maybe a banquet or a feast, well-wishes from friends and faculty, and a present or two from back home. That's what I'm expecting. And, in a way, doesn't it seem more like a proper feast day, a proper holi-day, than what we've done in the past?

Gobble gobble.

I just spent my first thanksgiving away from home, but I was surrounded by family. The PCVs in the Guizhou province came together in the capital, Guiyang, for some old fashioned turkey, stuffing, and (God bless) pumpkin pie. What a great time.

I arrived on Friday after a longer-than-usual 7 hour bus ride. There was some hold up due to construction and a traffic accident, but I wasn't complaining because the seats on the bus were HUGE (think first class on an airplane) and there was an English movie, Transporter 3. I'm pretty sure that the bus drivers put on English movies just for the foreigners, but the other passengers seemed interested too, so no love lost.

After arriving, I indulged in some western food at Papa John's Restaurant with some friends from China 14. Very Delicious. It's difficult to figure out WHY you are serving in the Peace Corps while you are mowing down on fresh pizza; that's another topic for another post.

Back to T-day. SO EPIC. There's nothing like camaraderie when you're away from your family. The celebration was a great; the perfect mix of cooking and eating was achieved, and efforts in the kitchen segued into efforts on the plate. We even had a few expat families running around with little (and adorable) toddlers. I don't think a Thanksgiving is complete without a young family fussing about somewhere. Much love to those that were there.

After the dinner though, things got decidedly more young adult. A group of us ventured forth with turkey in our veins. We hit a local bar and had some Chinese beer while discussing the ins and outs of community development, global economics, and the pros of popping bottle tops on wooden tables. Very good.

An uncanny knack

I'm not a super good planner when it comes to most things. In the day-to-day, I'm one part frantic, two parts procrastinating, mixed over a generous portion of impulsive and topped with scatterbrained. I get the necessities accomplished, like classes, meetings, and the gym, but its the other stuff that takes thought in the morning (or, Lord forbid, the night before) and execution in the afternoon that tends to fall into oblivion. This includes, but is in no way limited to, cooking meals, laundry, cleaning, and shopping for things like soap.

However, I have possessed an uncanny knack for lining up the distant future. In 8th grade at Saint Francis Xavier Prepatory School I boldly told my Math and English/Religion teachers that I would teach English someday. Look at me now, half way around the world, teaching Chinese students that, despite what the text book says, 'Wazzup' is wildly inappropriate underneath any imaginable circumstances. In my junior year at Barnstable High School I decided that the University of Maine at Farmington was the school I would attend. Indeed, that was the only school I applied to; it was where I was going, and damn all the nay sayers (although there weren't any).

I started my PC application in junior year of UMF, and after 14 months of doubt, waiting only on my graduation, I was bound for San Francisco, and then the PRC. In all truth, I had the PC in mind way before that, pretty much from the beginning of my undergrad. I don't mean to brag; I don't think this is even a skill, it just happens. I can't guarantee I'll take the laundry out of the wash, but so far I've been able to tell you where I'll be in three years time.

And, with that in mind, I hazard this forecast: I'll be back on two planks (for those who don't feel the pull of mountains, two planks means skis, because there are... two of them) within 26 months, depending on the snowfall of the northeast.

Ultiamte effort

I've been active lately, starting to get my hands dirty in activities outside my main PC project (teaching English). For a while, namely the months of September and October, I was truthfully apprehensive, perhaps nervous of doing... anything. This nervousness, which manifested itself mostly in my subconscious (I think), was due to the ever present language barrier, the seemingly unscalable cultural barrier, and the practical issues of irritated bowels.

I think the change started a some weeks ago when I joined a local gym. Slowly I was a little more involved in things, a little more adventurous. Furthermore, I was tucked away inside my apartment a little less.

This week was a breakthrough. It started when I attempted (and, as far as I can tell, failed) to initiate an English Movie Night event on the campus. I showed interest in extra-curricular activities, and my students were crazy about the idea, which bolstered my confidence. When that fell apart, one of my coworkers here at the university asked what other activities I might like to try with the students, and I mentioned Ultimate Frisbee. Very few people know what frisbee is even when I explain it with the Chinese translation Fei Pan (literally means flying plate, no joke). My coworker, who is not only a great teacher but a great facilitator, organizes all the extra-curricular activities for the English Department students.

Last Friday I played Ultimate Frisbee with a group of about 20 students. I was beyond excited, and the event blew my expectations away. I want to create a competitive Ultimate club on campus, in the style of western (read: American) collegiate intramural sports. I figured that I would start by teaching the students how to throw and catch, and maybe in a few weeks get around to explaining the rules and playing a game. I was wrong. We played a game (seven on seven, full teams!) for about 40 minutes. It was GREAT.

One student stuck out of the bunch. David (we named him that day, and it fits him) has learned the basics of Ultimate in a little under 3 hours. He can throw a forehand, backhand, and fake a throw not two days after first seeing a Frisbee. He's short, so I'm working on his vertical but hes going to be great. Literally, he can throw a forehand 30 yards, flat, fast, and on target. It took me a month or so to be able to do that with coaching in my native language. Watch out Beijing Ultimate, Xingyi University is gonna give you a run for your money.