Memphis, TN

All right people. Pete is on the move again. So I am heading to China and Japan for two weeks. I leave October 11th at an ungodly hour of the morning.


If you have wondered what I have been up to since my last post, I know many of you have not been able to sleep, here is a brief recap of what has gone on.

1. Visited Chattanooga for orientation for my Asia trip.
2. Visited with sis in Chicago and was able to enjoy a Division clinching victory by the Cubs, before the collapse, and subsequent festivities.
3. Enjoyed visits from the cousin John Theiss, his wife Lisa, and her parents.

3a. On a side note I got John and Lisa's son kicked out of the bar. (We were there for lunch, he is less than a year old, and he was twenty years from being the correct age) Do not judge me!
4. Had the relationship with the girlfriend end.
5. Have my parents move back to Erie.
6. Had a great new bar, "Bardog" , open two blocks from my house. Pete likey!!!!
7. Lots of stuff.

Memphis, TN

After a month of scrambling to get ready for school, trying to adjust back to the M-Town, and having a great visit from the family Pete is getting ready to hit the road again.

I am heading to Chattanooga for meeting that is prepping me for my trip to China and Japan in October. (Link to program desciption).

It will be nice to hit the road and get some driving and thinking time in. Got a new CD today and looking forward to listening to it on the road.

The band is The Gaslight Anthem and the album is The '59 Sound. Updates will folow

Memphis, TN

Woke up before 9am, not because of jet lag. Check

Showered immediately. Check

Watched bad local morning news. Check

Drank coffee like it's my job. Check

Listened to NPR in the car. Check

Oh, CRAP!!!!! The School year has started!!!!!!!!!

Memphis, TN

Just wanted to drop a quick note and some pictures of the Opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Cohen (at podium) and his campaign manager Randy Wade (blue shirt) celebrate the win on election night.

Congratulations to Steve Cohen and the city of Memphis for summarily rejecting dirty politics in the race for the democratic nomination in TN 9th congressional district. He took a whopping 79% of the vote. It goes to show that people, of any color don't like mud slinging in politics. It came at the end but both Obama and Harold Ford Jr, Cohen's predecessor in Congress, condemned the political ads used by the Nikki Tinker campaign. Way to go Steve. Let's win the general in the fall and keep up your hard work representing the people of Memphis in DC.

Article




Second I am going to leave you with pictures and a link to a story from the English newspaper of China, the China Daily, about the opening ceremonies. Remember that China is 12 to 13 hours of most of the readers of this blog. So the opening ceremonies were at 8am Eastern/7am Central time. The article really goes into the history behind the ceremonies as the celebration tried to display China's five thousand year old history.

China Daily Article (great History lesson)





WOW, I would love to be there. To the readers in China, your country looked great tonight/this morning, whatever.

Memphis, TN

The Memphis Skyline

My laziness is astounding to me. There is always a tremendous letdown effect after I return from a long trip, overseas or domestic. I guess I am not going to get many people who will support a pity party for someone who spent their summer traveling around the US and China while he was on a paid vacation. Alas. Don’t get me wrong I am happy to be back in Memphis. Family, Friends, Memphis eats, and of course the girlfriend. I do miss the buzz you get from travel. Each day is a new discovery and adventure. What makes it worse is that you can’t turn on the TV or pick a newspaper without reading about China and all that does is make me miss the whole experience there that much more.

Oh well get over myself. I have been very busy the last few days doing nothing. I am catching up with everyone. That means hanging out, eating, and a beer or two. So I have been going out a lot. The way I figure it the late nights help me get over jet lag and in-service starts next week at the “H” so there is a finite end to the craziness. Has any teacher ever had an in-service that was actually productive? I have had many that were not awful or fine, but never one that made me salivate to get back to the classroom. I guess this pessimism stems from the fact that I would rather stick a red hot poker in my eye than go to a meeting. The best part of teaching is the kids in the classroom. They are ridiculous and nuts, like me. Soon enough.

I voted today. I love voting. The big race in Memphis is the for the Tennessee 9th congressional district. The main competitors are Steve Cohen, who won the seat two years ago, and Nikki Tinker. There is no republican running in the general election so the democratic primary will decide who will represent Memphis in Congress. There have only been two Republicans for this seat, ever. The race has gotten ugly, do they ever get pretty? Here was a great editorial in the Commercial Appeal. (Editorial) Tinker’s platform is pretty much, I am black his is note vote for me. The final straw was a TV ad that intimates that Cohen, who is Jewish, is pro-Klan. Nothing like a political strategy that panders to the base fears of the electorate. I have met Tinker on several occasions and she struck as a solid person which is why this strategy is even more deplorable. Steve Cohen has a long history of service to Tennessee. It’s a shame all the way around.

The race is drawing national attention. Here is a story from the Washington Post.

Another note entirely I just bought gas for the first time since early June. That makes me smile. Cost of the fill up, $39.41. My old Honda still gets pretty good gas mileage so no complaints here.

If you live in Memphis, GO VOTE! I don’t care who you vote for, that’s your business but at least participate in the electoral process. Here is a link to voting places and general voting questions in Shelby County.

I felt like I had to include a picture so here is where I live in Memphis. (Link)

Shanghai, China to Memphis, TN
August 2, 2008

Goodbye China. Today was a bittersweet day, a looong bittersweet thirty three hour day. I will truly miss my time in China. The people in this country made us all feel so welcome, not just our tour guides, support staff at Hubei University, and the Fulbright people; everyone. From the shop keepers to the fellow train riders to well everyone who opened up their country to us and captured out imagination and heart.

Here is a brief recap of our last hours in Shanghai. Paul and I joined many others at the Yu Garden bazaar and market. We did our final haggling as we bought some last minute gifts before our journey home. We took a final cab crazy cab ride, after getting kicked out of one cab. I am still not sure of the reason for that.

We completed our final packing, trying to cram the last minute purchases into our bags. We all met down in the lobby for the bus ride to Shanghai’s Pudong airport. We all said goodbye to our guide Snow. Most of us, except for Sabrina, had an easy time with Chinese customs and there we waited for our flight. I watched one movie, “The Other Boleyn Girl” ate dinner took a sleeping pill and other than a few interruptions slept the next eight hours. The trip went quick. We all had a carefree customs experience in Atlanta and then had some chips and salsa at Mexican restaurant in the airport. It tasted great.

Our flight from Atlanta to Memphis was delayed about two hours so I did not get back to the “M” town till around 11:45pm. I got home and got some sleep.

For both the regular readers of the blog plus anyone who hopped on for the ride I will be spending this week with some recollections and comments, I will even share a few stories that could not be written till I returned to the states. Let’s just say I had a run in with some very polite and nice Chinese Security officers who objected to one of my photos; I believe it was an ICBM. I will fill in later when I have more time and more energy.

I have some other good news. I am coming back to China in October! Remember that program I applied to before I left for DC at the beginning of the summer, well I got in. (Link to blog entry) I will be traveling to China and Japan for two weeks in the middle of October. The program in through Columbia University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It is through the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. Both UTC and Columbia have great resources for teaching about Asia. I was eligible for the program because I did summer seminar at Ole Miss’s Croft Institute for International Studies about four or five summers ago. I am stoked because I will teach my classes from China and Japan via pod cast and other internet technologies while establishing a partnership with a classroom in China and Japan.

More details later.

Hangzhou to Shanghai
August 1, 2008

Last full day in China!?!?! I can not speak for anyone else but I am having a lot of mixed feelings right now. I will visit this topic this a little later.

Woke up and grabbed some breakfast this morning. There were plenty of western options so many of us loaded up. I enjoyed and omelet, toast, and juice. You could tell the place was frequented by lots of Germans because they had some good rolls, meat, and cheese. I pulled an old youth hostel traveling Europe special. During those halcyon days of youth I would finfish up the breakfast, which consisted of meat and cheese, and pack a couple of sandwiches for the lunch and dinner. Not American style sammies here. You cut the roll in two, spread butter, and place a layer of cheese and meat on each side, put the two sides together, wrap the food in a napkin, and shove it into your pack and go. This is a cheap and efficient way to get your meals. I enjoyed my snack around mid morning. It made me wax nostalgic for my wistful days of youth.

Lots of incense and prayers

As usual, I digress. After our breakfast we enjoyed the sights of our last temple in China. This one was Buddhist. The place was packed to rafter with fans and worshippers of the Buddha. I asked our guide if this temple was more sacred than others we had seen, and his response was it was not. He stated that this temple was located in convenient and strategic area and therefore enjoyed the same crowd levels as more sacred temples elsewhere in the country. The name of our visiting place is the Lingyin Temple.

More prayers and incencse

Lingyin Temple intrigued me for two reasons. Initially it was the throngs of worshippers. Everywhere you turned you saw the faithful lighting incense, the place smelled wonderful, and bowing in every direction. There did not appear to be a standard form or practice for praying beyond the lighting of a great deal of incense. When I asked Snow, he said that some people had more training in the methodology of worship than other which accounts for the seemingly chaotic worship plan.

Let me stress there is NOTHING to do with the Nazi's

The second thing that intrigued me was the presence of swastikas on the center of the chests of numerous statues. I also know that Buddhism’s roots are in India and that the swastika in very prominent in ancient Indian culture. I never realized how integral the swastika was to Buddhism. How ironic that one symbol could have such divergent meanings.

Pete in the tea fields

After our morning temple visit we went to visit a green tea plantation. Green tea is everywhere you look around China. I have come to really enjoy it myself. We walked around one of the fields near the main building. We even “picked” a few leaves ourselves. We were then directed to a room for an information session and demonstration about all things, green tea.

Grace in showing some diiferent types of green tea

A young girl named Grace was our tutor and she made wonderful presentation. She had some informative and hilarious anecdotes; we were all eating out of the palm of her hand. My favorite a Grace’s pertained to the medicinal value of tea. She was explaining how drinking green tea is good for one’s skin and then she panned, “I am eighty years old.” She looks about fifteen years old, tops. All I will say is this, Grace had us all falling out of out seats to buy green tea in various quantities. Even though many of us had never drank tea before. She could have sold ice to Eskimos, she was that good.

Gor tea the water should be hot but not boiling

Check out the awesome pour

After the tea plantation we hopped on the nap machine, I mean bus and hit the road to Shanghai. Our guide, Snow had a Q and A for about an hour on the bus for those of us with lingering questions about China. It made the three hour bus ride go much more quickly.

We arrived in Shanghai to blue skies and mild temperatures. We ate our dinner very quickly so many of our group could make it out for “The Hunt”.
They wanted to do some shopping on the famous Nanjing Road. They armed and ready to stimulate the Chinese economy. There preparations and game planning reminded of the scene from Braveheart when Mel Gibson was rallying his clan for the battle. God have mercy on the souls of the shop keepers on Nanjing Road tonight for they know not what to expect. My guess is the Mongol invasion will seem tame compared to this oncoming onslaught. (Okay, I am exaggerating a little)

The view of the Bund in Shanhai, last night in China

Floating adverstisement

Paul and I wandered from our hotel to the Bund for some people watching and night time photo opportunities. The walk was nice to shake off the lingering effects of the bus ride. One of the funny things about Shanghai and China is that at 10pm, I mean on the dot, they turn off the lights on the big buildings. There is still tons of stuff going on but the light show, which is quite impressive, is over. After the Bund shut down we walked around the neighborhood surrounding our hotel then called it a night.You never what you'll see in streets of Shanghai

Grill views

Wuzhen to Hangzhou
Thursday, Jul 31, 2008

We woke up a bit late and then had a hearty breakfast at the Hotel. It was Western style which meant omelets, bacon, OJ, and COFFEE. It was awesome. I realize that leading off with a menu is a bit dull. I have loved the Chinese food, but it was nice to have familiar food.

After breakfast we visited Tiger Hill Pagoda in Suzhou. The place was quite beautiful, even in the rain. In fact despite the slippery pavement, the drizzle added to the mystique of the grounds. The main attraction of Tiger Hill is the Huqiu Tower or the “leaning tower of China”. The tower is leaning due to lack of solid foundation. It dates to back to 960AD. There were some great views all over the area.

Leaning tower of China

After the Pagoda we left by bus to Wuzhen. Before I drifted off to a drive induced nap I watched multiple bicycles and scooters driving around in the rain. Almost everyone had a poncho to keep dry; most of them had ponchos that had a clear opening in the front for the lights of the scooter, brilliant. Not very exciting but I found it interesting.

Check out the clean par tof the poncho that fits over the person and bike

An old stand bye

After trekking around the temple we hopped in our trusty bus and made our way to Wuzhen. Wuzhen is a small but beautiful town between Suzhou and Hangzhou. The old part of town has small narrow alleys and canals winding through it. It reminded me of cross between old Williamsburg in Virginia and the French Quarter of New Orleans. The old town is occupied mostly by older people and their jobs seem to center on either hawking gifts to tourists, reenacting old Chinese artisan skill, and just hanging out.

Here are some of the more interesting things I saw in Wuzhen. I saw a place where rice wine is manufactured and bottled. To get to the “production” we had to walk through a maze of small alleys. I saw a bed museum, do not laugh it was very interesting. Some of us, not me, noticed some chalk numbers written on many of the residences of the in the old town. Paul, my roommate found out that they are, get this, the electricity bills. I love it. It is a brilliantly simple idea. We also saw a meeting hall for the communist party. The older people would have been veterans of the Cultural Revolution. I would love to get their story of the last fifty years, my lord.

Meeting place for the Communist Party

Rice wine jugs, they are quite large.

Your electricty bill

I also loved the woodwork all over the museums and homes of the Wuzhen. Overall the whole experience was incredible, just like nearly everyone we have experienced so far.

After Wuzhen we loaded up the bus and made our way to Hangzhou. When we finally arrived we ate dinner and I went to sleep. I have had trouble sleeping the last few nights and I was finally able to get to sleep. It was great. We stayed at yet another awesome hotel. They have really spoiled us the entire trip.

More photos and videos of the day, click here

Suzhou, China
Wednesday, July 30, 2008


Today we did some traveling! We took a plane from Wuhan to Shanghai. We then took a two and a half hour bus ride to Suzhou, south of Shanghai (See map above). To round out our modes of travel we took a ferry cruise through the canals of Suzhou as part of out tour of the city.

A view from our canal tour of Suzhou

It was tough to leave our newly made friends at Hubei University in Wuhan. They were there when we got up and most of them accompanied us to the airport. The administrators also showed up in the morning to see us off from our dorm/hotel. The hospitality we experienced here was unparalleled. The were many a tear shed by both sides this morning at both the hotel and the airport. I guess if everyone was not choked up about leaving then we would have had such a good time. A bit of double edged sword.

Saying good-bye to our friends

Once we bid our friends adieu and cleared the security we waited for our flight on China Eastern. The flight was pleasant and without incidence. I crammed my head into my book, The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. It is good fun read and it takes my mind off the travel time. It is set in DC and mentions Memphis a lot so its fun to follow along.

Once we arrived in Shanghai and got our bags we were met by our tour guide from earlier in the month, Snow. Yes, that is the name he goes by. The custom in China is that when you begin to study English as a student you take a western name. Most take traditional ones, others make up their own or go with stuff like Rain or in this case Snow. Well, Snow is good people and he runs a tight ship. After he drops us off at airport Saturday he immediately picks up another group slightly less important, the US National Basketball team. We will not be working with the players as much with the US Olympic basketball official. Pretty cool, huh.

Once we met Snow we loaded up our bus and headed west to Suzhou. I put on the ipod and listened to comfortable stylings of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and slept most of the way. We were all exhausted so the few times I was briefly lucid on the us I noticed most of the group sleeping.

View of the pool at the Garden

Upon are arrival in Suzhou we visited the Master of Nets Garden. It was initially known as the Fishermen’s Retreat, it was laid out under the Song Dyansty and renamed by the under the Qing Dynasty. It has a beautiful gardens, a small picturesue pond, with roofed walkways, and all kinds of pavilions decorated with garderns, flowers, and landscapes. You can easily see why Marco Polo called this place one of the most beautiful cities in China.

Another view of the plants in the garden

Another pond photo

After touring the Gardens we took short tour along the canals of the city. The was some of the best views of the trip. I now see the comparison to Venice. It was quite nice. A water tour is always relaxing to me and this trip was no exception. Our ferry for the canal rides
A beautiful pagoda on the canal

Not a bad "backyard"

Gazing down the canal

After the water tour we had one of our best meals of the trip at this little hotel. We had eel, fish, dumplings, and about twenty other things that were tasty. We finally checked into our hotel, The Bamboo Grove, late and that’s where I am now. We found out they had “internets” (inside joke) so I am typing and posting. Ready to catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow we have a very busy day.

Brief video of the canal cruise

Click here for more photos of the day

Pete and crew are on the road again! I will check in when I can. Look forward to seeing everyone back in the States!

Here is a rough intinerary


August 1
Morning tours then bus to Shanghai
Evening free in Shanghai

August 2
"Lleaving on a jet plane"

The last night in Wuhan
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Wow, what a day. In the morning we had a ceremony for finishing the program with all the big wigs of Hubei University, our faculty, our student helpers, and of course all of the American teachers. It was a nice ceremony. The whole conference room was set up like a meeting at the United Nations. There were translators everywhere and photos and video going every which way.

The conference room before the closing ceremony

Claire preparing to translate the speech

We started of with remarks from Hubei University’s vice president. After that Dr. Kung made some remarks for himself and the group. We all then took turns making general remarks in Chinese. We each learned a line. Our Chinese was interesting. They say we did a great job but my guess is that were humoring us quite a bit. After our collective speech Paul and I made our presentation. Paul did the power point and wrote and gave the presentation/speech. We were graciously aided by Clare, one of the Chinese students who ahs been assisting us, who translated my presentation. I think it went well. I will include the text of the speech at the end of this entry.

The final official picture

Our student helpers

When the ceremony finished we made our way to one of the formal dining rooms for a lunch and reception. The food was wonderful. To summarize the luncheon all I will say is this, I really like the way the Chinese finish a program. We had a great time. We presented a Memphis Basketball T-Shirt to Minnie, who was our main liaison from Hubei University. All of us signed it. She worked her tail off for us and we appreciated all of her work. Anything we wanted to see or do, Minnie arranged for us a group or even individually. The entire staff was so helpful. I really love college kids, no matter what country they are from.

Minnie with the signed T-Shirt

Claire, Pete, and Wendy at the luncheon

After a much needed nap many of us headed back to the Brussels Café fro a final meal in Wuhan. We treated the student helpers to a meal. I go there a little early and got a chance to meat the owner of the place. They brew their own beer and it has a great vibe to it. If you have ever been to an expat hangout the Brussels Café had all the good mojo going on. We enjoyed the meal, drinks, and most importantly the company.

Pete, David (The owner), and Celeste

That is a black pepper encrusted tenderloin with a black pepper cream sauce

It is difficult to find the correct words for out time in Wuhan and at Hubei University. It is even more challenging to express my feelings for the people who we met, learned from, took care of us, and became our friends. Here was my speech. It hardly conveys my total feelings. It is a rough draft and I can not find the final copy so forgive the many mistakes.

THE CLOSING REMARKS DELIVERED BY PETE

Before we begin I would (again) like to thank Hubei University and President Wu, administration, faculty, staff, and students for allowing us to be guests of your wonderful campus. You have made our experience here one we will cherish for a lifetime.

Our trip began with visits to Shanghai and Beijing two of the most well known cities of China. In these cities we were able to see some of the famous sites in China. Thanks to the Fulbright Program, the Confucius Institute, and Dr. Kung we were able to tour places that most of had only read about in textbooks and seen on television. Places like the Bund of Shanghai, the Forbidden City and the Imperial Summer Garden of Beijing. And of course the Great Wall of China.

China is much like the famous Lotus flower. As it opens to the viewer it becomes more beautiful. With each day we saw more of China. The more we saw the more we loved this country of yours. We were able to taste, hear, and witness the beauty of the history of the remarkable Tang Dynasty in Xian with the dumpling meal and Tang music and dance performance.

Each day we saw something more spectacular then the next. From the terra cotta warriors of Qin Shi Huang to Buddhist Temples we were able to experience more than any Western tourist is blessed to see. Make no mistake that in those first days we were tourists, well taken care of, but still tourists visiting a distant, beautiful, and mysterious land.

As tourists we were able to see the love Chinese people had of the country. We saw it in their work ethic and hospitality to us. We were able to even meet of few Chinese people along the way that helped us enjoy your country even more. But we were still tourists.

It was not until we reached Wuhan, a city that I must embarrassingly confess never heard of until this program, that we felt at home. Dr. Wu thank you, your people, and your university for making us feel so welcome.

Just as New York City and Hollywood are famous cities of America so are Beijing and Shanghai. China, like America, is so much more than these famous cities. What makes China so great are its people. If Wuhan and Hubei University were not well known to me before they will now never be forgotten.

The program that was put together for us was better than we could have ever imagined. Each day we were exposed to another aspect of China’s story. Whether it was its fascinating history or beautiful music we learned each day as our brilliant teachers taught us about a China that very few westerners ever get a chance to see. But our experiences did not end in classroom. Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” For every lecture on a philosophy we were able to visit a temple or historic sight that we help us deepen our understanding and appreciation of China’s culture and history.

The lessons we learned enlightened to the wonderful and storied history of your people and your country. We saw museums, climbed mountains, and saw the power and beauty of the Yangtze River. These things were made so much better by the lessons we learned in class. From our lessons on culture and economics from the great teachers of Hubei University we received information that will help fill the minds of not only ourselves but our fellow teachers and our students.

But names, dates, and statistics can only tell part of the story of China. By learning and participating in calligraphy, Chinese art work, and martial arts we were able to paint a more complete picture of your interesting country. Each lesson had something for everyone. It touched all us more than my humble words can fully communicate to you. For all this, we are forever grateful to Hubei University and its people.

Sometime in our study Wuhan and Hubei University stopped being a place we were just studying China and became “Home”. After we returned from our first trip away from Wuhan and Hubei University to see the area around Three Gorges many of said, “It is so good to be home!” We all felt joy to when we turned the street corner to see our home away from away home, Hubei University.

As much as we saw, and as much we learned, we cannot thank the faculty, staff, students, and administration of Hubei University enough. When we watch the Olympics or teach about China our first thoughts will be of you. You are the true story of China that we bring back to our cities, schools, friends, and family. Confucius said, “To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.” Your unending work ethic, careful care, and historic hospitality honor your families, university, country and its history.

We have a saying in America, “Home is where the heart is.” No matter where our journeys take us. China and Hubei University will always have place in our hearts. And for this, forever thanks.