Our secret summer project

This summer, with the help of our team, we embarked on a small project. We were left with a key to the bachelor pad of our friend Zack, who was back in the US for the summer getting married. Since two people would be coming back to live in this place (one of which was a girl), it clearly needed some transformation.

Not wanting to force our own aesthetics on their interior rooms, we chose to work on their rooftop garden as a wedding present.

It seemed simple enough - buy some new plants, clean the area up, add some lights. As things like this usually go, however, it ended up being a pretty decent project!

One of the problems was weeds. A variety of vines, brambles, and gnarly weeds had taken control of the garden, twisting their branches and roots through every bed.

Elaine didn't seem to mind them too much.

But they seemed to make Rachel crazy.

We dug up several dead trees and pulled all the vines out. Rachel pulled this one out - she was quite proud (though very tired and sweaty):

The garden was finally ready to be replanted. Before we tore out the old plants, we had picked up our local nursery man and brought him over to scout it out. A look of disgust came across his face when he saw the chaotic, weed-filled gardens. But, he was quite helpful in recommending good, hardy plants to install. We loaded up a cart full of new shrubs and trees, and the whole shop came along to help - his friend, friend's wife, son, and daughter. The whole family.

We walked over to the apartment, and then brought the plants up....7 flights of stairs....to the apartment. (I'm glad those men were there. I never would have made it.)

But as soon as all the plants were ready to be installed...

So we waited. It went on for a good 30 minutes. We chatted with the family for awhile, but the kids quickly became impatient. So the daughter grabbed a garbage bag to use a makeshift poncho.
Her mom said that we can use the picture "to show people in America what a Chinese girl looks like."

Soon the rain slowed, and the men wanted to get the job done. However, they thought the rain was too cold, so they decided to follow the girl's lead and don a garbage bag as well.

They were VERY little bags. It was pretty ridiculous.

So within minutes, the plants were in and we got the place cleaned up. We did not have the opportunity to get a picture of the finished product, so we will bring our camera this weekend when we go over there for dessert.

The nursery man put it best: "Before this place was like hell. But now, it is heaven."

-alan

It's official

Carrier	Flight Number	Departing		Arriving		Booking Code
		City	Date & Time	City	Time
American Airlines	288	SHANGHAI PUDONG	FRI 18DEC 6:00 PM	CHICAGO OHARE	5:05 PM	N
	Alan Allmen			Economy		Dinner/Breakfast
	Rachel Allmen			Economy		Dinner/Breakfast
American Airlines	1829	DETROIT METRO	FRI 25DEC 11:10 AM	DALLAS FT WORTH	1:20 PM	N
	Alan Allmen			Economy		Food For Purchase
	Rachel Allmen			Economy		Food For Purchase
American Airlines	2324	DALLAS FT WORTH	FRI 01JAN 6:45 AM	CHICAGO OHARE	9:05 AM	N
	Alan Allmen			Economy		Food For Purchase
	Rachel Allmen			Economy		Food For Purchase
American Airlines	289	CHICAGO OHARE	FRI 01JAN 10:35 AM	SHANGHAI PUDONG	3:05 PM	N
	Alan Allmen			Economy		Lunch/Dinner
	Rachel Allmen			Economy		Lunch/Dinner

Last thoughts on July

With our wacky schedule, the end of July more or less means the end of summer. Teachers go back to work full time beginning next Thursday. The weather has helped that feeling along, as the past two days have been rainy and cool (low to mid 70s). Plus, with Big Ten media days occurring this week and excitement about college football brewing, it all comes together to raise feelings of fall being right around the corner.

Now that may be a bit of an overreaction, since it is only July 31....but I think I need some 90 degree days soon to knock me out of this feeling.

But looking back, it was a great month. We traveled, slept a lot, watched movies, went to amusement parks, played a lot of games, ate good food.....in short, good times.

-alan

Catan Savant

CHENGDU, China - With the building of two new roads, the Longest Road card, and its 2 victory points, transferred hands and the match was over. With the victory, a new title was bestowed upon Rachel Allmen, 27, on July 30th at the conclusion of a marathon session of Settlers of Catan: "The Catan Savant."

The roads were built at the end of an incredible final turn for Rachel. When she picked up the dice to begin her turn, she had only 11 points - putting her in 4th place and 5 points short of victory. However, thanks to a well-played Alchemist card, she was able to unleash a flurry of activity that included a Merchant, and 2 new settlements, in addition to the roads.

Rachel was always confident in her ability to win, despite being behind. "I just put myself in a position to expand," she commented after the match. "Even though I had only 2 cities and no metropoli, I benefited from the camel caravans passing along my trade routes."

The victory left her competitors stunned. Her husband, Alan Allmen, and friend Dawn Scott, remained shocked at the outcome long after the match was over. "We were ahead the whole time," said Dawn. "Then all of a sudden, in one turn, she gets a whole bunch of points to beat us."

As the game was well into its 3rd hour, fatigue may have been a factor amongst Rachel's competitors. Dawn stormed out to an early lead and was the first to reach double digits, while Alan was in the lead for 2+ hours of the match and came within 2 points of victory. Obviously shaken, Alan left immediately and did not want to speak with the media.

This past month has been a banner month for Rachel. As the games have increased in frequency, complexity, and length, she has shown the persistence necessary to win in all circumstances. Chris Scott, who took 3rd in the match and prior to this year dominated the Chengdu Catan circuit, has been charting Rachel's winning ways with tremendous frustration. "Rachel has won 7 of the last 8 Catan matches. She's on a roll. You know, I have yet to beat an Allmen in Catan."

When asked to explain her strategy for success, Rachel replied matter-of-factly. "That's easy. One word - manipulation."

Northwestern won the Rose Bowl!!!!

They even beat USC!!!! Take that California playboys. Really, I watched this unfold on TV. Alan was the man calling the plays and he coached NU to a stunning 12-1 season. I was so proud :-) Ok this was all done on our friend's Wii, but it was really fun to watch some of the games. The two wins with a score of 3-0 were a little painful. Anyway, this fake season has me really excited for the Wildcats return in 37 days! We will be rooting for you 'cats even though we aren't in the stands. All you haters out there are just jealous because you don't have a plethora of purple garments to choose from.

GO U NU!!!!

-rachel

Some random bits

School is less than 3 weeks away now. Scary. I've gotten serious about prepping - I'm working harder in my mornings at school in hopes that will pay off once the kids return. I've got my fingers crossed that my new AP Bio textbooks will arrive!!

Speaking of work, the school has been a little messy recently. The exterior walls are being patched, plastered, and painted. Unfortunately, we could not get approval for a snazzy new color so I think it will still be off-white. The interesting part, however, is watching the work being done. A week ago, a small army of workers arrived with a very, very large pile of bamboo.

Within a few hours, they had pieced these bamboo sticks together with wire to form scaffolding around the entire building. At first, it swayed with the breeze and looked very much like a tragedy waiting to happen. But after it was all interconnected it seems surprisingly sturdy. Regardless, those workers are bold!


Here's a random picture for you - this advertisement is a life-sized poster at a bus stop downtown. My question is, how many Chinese people would actually understand this decades-old American pop culture reference?

Finally, some good news - we have finished our wedding album! It's been 1,465 days since we were married, but we do not have any more than a handful of printed pictures in frames. We originally paid to have an album made, but that fell through after the wedding. Ever since, our intention was to have one printed....but procrastination ruled the day. But it is done, and that monkey is off our back. (now we just need to figure out when we can get it out to China!)

-alan

Anniversary dinner

Thursday was our 4 year anniversary. As a reward, we slept in for the first time in awhile. [on a side note, it is a strange summer - this is the first I can remember routinely getting up early even though I do not have to. We set our own work hours, so I could easily sleep until 11 and work in the afternoon. But I'm not.]

We left with the Chinese staff on the school bus downtown at 3. It was a beautiful day - the sun was shining and there was blue sky in all directions. [though the sun did make it quite hot] Here we are on the Jiang River.

We first went to Chunxi Lu. Rachel was keen on going to UNIQLO, a Japanese clothing retailer that specializing in the monochromatic wears that she so loves. With a new shirt in tow, she finally looked at home in Chengdu's hottest shopping district.

For dinner, we went to eat at Cafe Z in the Shangri-la. We had been here once in the fall with some other friends, and loved it the first time. We dined on a buffet featuring Japanese, Mediterranean, Indian, Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Cantonese cuisine. The best part, however, is the dessert - all the premium chocolates you could eat!

It was a wonderful date. The cost was definitely worth it in the smiles I got from Rachel!

-alan

The eclipse has come and gone. This morning, we woke up early to pile into a bus with our colleagues and their families to drive outside the city. As predicted, the weather did not cooperate. Even in the countryside of Sichuan, there was clouds blanketing the sky.

It did not mean we missed the experience entirely, though. Here is the before and after shot as we waited for the totality:

It was eerie to stand in complete darkness at 9 in the morning. Even the insects were fooled - the crickets started chirping with gusto as the light faded.

I am sad that we could not see the sun, but we certainly experienced the event. I suppose I will have to settle for pictures from the few areas in China that could see it!

-alan

Jiuzhaigou Part II

Jiuzhaigou is a national park in a remote, mountainous area in western China. What makes this park famous is its water – a series of brightly colored lakes, rivers, and waterfalls runs its way from one side of it to the other.

We spent two days here. On the first day, we rode the park bus to the very back of the park, which was the highest part. There was a coniferous forest there that supposedly has the effect of a ‘natural oxygen bar.’ Rachel was huffing real hard, but she didn’t seem to act any more unusual than normal. From there, we hiked a good 10km back down the valley through forests and alongside pools of clear blue water.

The park was expensive, even by American standards (is there a fee to go in a national park in the US?) but the beauty of the place made it well worth the cost to go once. It was not necessarily the best vacation I have had, but in terms of the quality and quantity of sheer natural beauty this place was the best. It was awesome to see it all and thank God for this wonderful place!

Rachel’s favorite was definitely the waterfalls. Since the water is running down a mountain valley, there are sets of waterfalls between most of the lakes. It was quite breathtaking. Rachel even cried once.

-alan

Forecast: gloomy

Our staff is taking the day off tomorrow to travel out of Chengdu in hopes of witnessing a 3+ minute total solar eclipse in the morning. We are driving a couple hours out of the city to avoid pollution-related problems, but the forecast calls for clouds and rain across the province. Bad timing.

I'll bring the camera along anyway, and hope for the best. I hope we didn't waste our money buying those eclipse-viewing glasses!

-alan

Jiuzhaigou Part I: The bus ride

We left the bus station in Chengdu at around 7:30am with a full load of people heading into the mountains. The trip was quite sunny, which warmed the bus immensely. There was an air conditioner, but it was marginally successful at cooling us down. Matters were made worse by the frequent roadblocks, during which the driver would turn the bus (and the AC) off. By the end of the ride, we were quite wet from sweat.

Which brings up the good news – thanks to the liberal use of motion sickness drugs, Rachel was fine for the trip. Her Achilles heal is being hot on long rides, so it amazing that she was not sick.

The bad news, however, was that it was a very long trip. We took the road west from Chengdu, through the mountainous area that was hit by the earthquake last year. I did not think the road was even open, so I was surprised to take that route. For the first 8 hours of the ride, it was non-stop construction. The ‘highway’ was a two-lane road that wound through the mountains alongside a big, churning river. Unlike American highways, the road was devoid of car traffic – most of they way, we saw nothing but buses and big trucks. [The towns we passed through had largely been destroyed a year ago, and so the rebuilding process is ongoing. It was good to see so much work being done.] Traffic was not heavy, so we could have made good time, except the fact that there were dozens of spots where the road narrowed to one lane due to rock falls and construction. This meant delays of anywhere from a few minutes to an hour as we waited to get through bottlenecks.

On the plus side, the mountains were beautiful – towering on either side of the river below crisp blue skies. The river was wide and turbulent, colored brown from sediment running off the mountains. The road, which lacked guardrails, frequently brought us to the brink of its banks. Many a time I hoped and prayed that the driver was vigilant in monitoring our proximity to the edge of the road. I’m glad Rachel sat at the window.

Finally, our journey would have ended about 13 hours after leaving Chengdu….if we were smart about it. We reached Jiuzhaigou around 8pm and began a slow drive through the hotel district. We looked hard for our hotel, but did not see it. Some people got off, but over half remained on. We knew that our hotel was very close the park gate, which we thought was the final destination of the bus. We were wrong. The bus kept going, and as we passed a bend we realized too late that the hotels were all behind us. In front of us was nothing. Darkness. Mountains. Trees. No cars, no people. We drove on. What do we do now, we wondered? Obviously we missed our hotel and we need to go back, but we cannot stop here – there is no taxi in the mountains to take us. So we waited. The bus drove on – 10km. 20km. 30km. 40km. Finally, a good 45 minutes later, we reach Jiuzhaigou County, which was the real final destination. There, we get a cab back. No real harm done, other than losing 100RMB for the cab and arriving over an hour later than we should have. Lesson learned.

More to come on the inside of the park, and pictures!

-alan

To Jiuzhaigou we go!!!!

After spending the last few weeks studying Chinese and keeping ourselves busy with other projects it is about time for another vacation. If you recall Alan posted earlier that he was safe to mention travel on this blog because I was MIA, but he opened a big can of worms :-) Our anniversary is a good excuse.

We are leaving Saturday and coming back Tuesday. The kicker is that all of both Saturday and Tuesday will be spent riding the bus to our glorious destination. Don't worry folks, I will be heavily drugged....

Where is this magical land that we are willing to spend 2 days on a public bus to venture to????

Jiuzhaigou of course! It is a national park with much acclaim for its natural beauty. Below are some pictures I stole from the internet so you can see why I'm willing to risk car and altitude sickness :-)

We will post our beautiful pics when we return. Can't wait until Saturday!

-rachel

Summer induced amnesia

Summer makes you forget.

I have been horribly bad at remembering to bring things and where I put things lately. I don't think that I am going crazy, but the change in routine and general care-free days of summer are seriously hurting my credibility lately. To get our scooter out of its underground parking we are given a small plastic tag that we are to turn into the guard. I think 4 days in a row I forgot it! Alan has his on his key chain, but haven't wised up yet.

Additionally, I keep forgetting what "real life" is like during the school year. I am doing a bit of lesson planning, but my life as a teacher seems so far removed from my life as a language student, theme park frequenter and settler of Catan. Even though our colleagues have only been gone for a month, it seems like we have started anew socially, hanging out with new people and finding new ways of entertainment.

This amnesia is mildly annoying in the case of scooter parking, but also refreshing as we see life afresh. With the blank slate of a new school approaching, I hope we continue to push forward and make many new memories :-)

-rachel

Diversity

In my Chinese lesson today, I had the opportunity to look at my teacher's pictures and here the stories of her trip to Xinjiang a few years back. With all the negative attention and news coverage being focused on that part of China right now, it was refreshing to see some diversity of thought. Much of that news coverage discusses the tensions between ethnic groups - and I tend to think that much of that is true in places.

But just as America is a very large and diverse country, so is China. And while some people in America were, and continue to be racist against various groups, many are not. And so while some Han Chinese may feel those prejudices, not all do. So it was nice to hear from a Chinese person about how much she enjoyed her trip there, how nice the people there were to her, and how Xinjiang is the most beautiful place in China.

It all made me want to visit.....but maybe not right now.

-alan

trip?

I was thinking that Rachel and I should go somewhere this month to celebrate our anniversary. There are so many places reasonably close to here that we want to see, so why not go now when we have the time?

I have seriously considered going to Jiuzhaigou, in Sichuan, or to Yunnan province to the southwest. Both places are mountainous and offer quality hiking; Jiuzhaigou is known for colorful lakes while Yunnan has rivers and gorges. Though I have credible local recommendations for each place, both have, coincidentally, been featured in National Geographic in separate months over the last year. So they must be worth it!

I haven't talked about it with Rachel yet....and I am almost positive she does not read the blog anymore, so it is safe to post about it here ;-)

-alan

Joys of literacy

I married well.

For the past year, I make been living life as a functional illiterate. I cannot read very much, and would be hard pressed to write more than a few characters from memory. It is actually not that bad - I can buy food, navigate the streets, and verbally ask Chinese people if I cannot read something. A colleague of mine correctly observed earlier this year that one could survive with ease in China with only a basic vocabulary, and I would agree.

In our language study this summer, I have been focusing mostly on verbal communication. However, because Rachel is much more advanced, she has spent more time studying the written language. So it is through her efforts that I have been able to see the joy of literacy.

Recently, things are starting to click for her. Signs that she walked by everyday start to make sense. She can know what a store sells without having to even walk inside. She can read items on a menu, so we can order a greater variety of food at a Chinese restaurant. And I, as the dumb illiterate husband, am the beneficiary of these new abilities.

It is amazing how our brain is capable of adjusting to stimuli. In an English speaking country, my brain focuses in on all that text around me - signs, newspapers, clothing, products, etc - and I am reading all the time. But when walking around here, so much of that is blocked out. I do not even consciously register that it is there - my brain simply ignores those things it cannot process. Pretty cool!

-alan

4th of July in China

Think back 365 days - Rachel and I finished our training in New York on the 4th and were driving back to Michigan. It's been almost a year since we moved here. Crazy!

As for this year, we attended a potluck with the other Americans in town to celebrate the holiday on Saturday. It was a really fun day, and as good an American party as one living abroad could hope for. I grilled up BBQ ribs and chicken, which went well with such Independence Day staples such as baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, peach cobbler, and Muslim fruitcake. (okay, maybe all but that last one)

We also worked in a game of Catan - not our doing, it was demanded by the masses. We have been playing a lot the last few days, which has been fun. We are currently working through the newest additions which we got last month.

But the highlight, as it should be, was the fireworks show. The potluck was at another teacher's top-floor apartment - and all the top floor apartments have access to rooftop gardens. Here's the view from the top:
As we blogged about in January, fireworks are readily available here...in the time up through Chinese New Year's. However, now it is a little more difficult and most shops are not selling them. But this is China, after all - the land that invented fireworks. So we got some. It is quite genius. You buy a box (about half a square yard in size) and the box has a fuse sticking out the side. You set the box on the roof, light the fuse, and voila! A reasonably-safe 1.5 minute fireworks show. Enjoy - listen to hear Rachel screaming in the background!

-alan

Ektorp

Fresh from Ikea and new to our living room is a set of tan Ektorp couches. Our large furniture and appliances are supplied by our school as part of our employment compensation. Our living room furniture was a little worn, and the time had come to replace it. So Sunday, we went and picked out the new couches and had them delivered on Wednesday.

It looks good and feels even greater! The biggest improvement is that the fabric is much more smooth and comfortable.

Here's the catch - we still have our old furniture. It might be a few days (hopefully not longer) until our school can get someone to take it away. So, our apartment now has 6 couches scattered throughout. There is no lack of seating room.

-alan

Cultural observations

The blog has been a little self-centered recently, so I wanted to add some recent observations about the people around us.

First, it has been quite interesting to watch people at Happy Valley. The park is a little expensive by Chinese standards, so the subset of the population we see there is not representative of the whole country. We've noticed:

• Some overweight Chinese people. There are very, very few obese Chinese people in general (better diet, more exercise) and Rachel and I are often complimented for "not being fat like other Americans." But at the park, there are some with bigger bellies - surely a sign of the growing affluence in the urban populations. Is this the beginning of the Fattening of China?
• Some tattoos. We see new tattoo parlors cropping up in the neighborhood, but the water park gives us a peek at more and more men who have tattoos. This used to be taboo, so it is interesting to see more using body art as a form of expression.
• Matching swimsuits. It is not uncommon to see couples wearing complementary outfits when they go out on dates, but at the water park we have seen lots of same-sex relationships donning identical swimwear. Maybe it is the ultimate sign of friendship to head to the water park with the same trunks as your best bud....?

Also at the park, it is fun to watch people's reaction to rides. I wonder if many have never been to this type of park before, because many will wait in line for the ride but chicken out at the last second. Some people get strapped into the ride, but have second thoughts and ask to be let off before the ride begins. In the water park, some will climb to the top of the slides, but get scared and go back down the stairs. The best, though, is to watch when the roller coasters return back to the station - it is a good bet to say that every trip will have at least one girl nearly in tears because they got so scared.

In other news, we got together to play Catan tonight and Rachel and I each won a game. Allmen domination! We went to the tailor yesterday, and Rachel is having some clothes made - including a Chinese dress. It will be ready in a week. Also, we received new living room furniture from Ikea. We still have the old stuff here, so it is cluttered right now. But that will soon be gone and I'll post some pictures.

-alan