Winding Down

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I didn't have much response from our Top 10 Lists, plus we have become super busy at work here.

The last few weeks have been quite up and down. My grandfather passed away the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but I was unable to go home for the funeral due to costs and my length of stay being so short. Fortunately, my family was very understanding. The funeral was held on Thanksgiving Day and the local church provided my family with a nice Thanksgiving meal. Thanks CUMC. When Jamie and I first began discussing moving to China, we knew that the death of a family member would be tough. We knew that this could potentially happen and we have both lost grandfathers since coming to China. This is certainly the hardest part about being away from home, and we only have each other to comfort us in these times.

Onto other news... I finally have Chapters 1 - 3 sent to the school for approval. I will then just need to apply to the IRB and then I can begin my research coming in January. If all goes well, I should research and write Chapters 4 and 5 next January and February, and hopefully finish up by June. Jamie is on a similar course, but it will depend on the speed of her committee and school as to how long it might take her. We predict no longer than next August.

We have been working hard on our dissertations as well as at work. Jamie is in the swing of things now with her IE classes, and we both are busy planning middle school lock-ins, running the school store, and preparing for the Southern region middle school Model United Nations conference. We are hosting it and preparing it has been quite the busy task. It isn't until April, but we have had to prepare for teams way ahead of time.

We had initially wanted to go home for winter break this year, but the costs of airline tickets are just too much. We are instead, as of now, going to take a tour of southern China (Kunming, Dali, Lijiang) and then head down through Laos (Luang Prabang, Viang Vang, and Vientiane). We'll finally end up in Bangkok on January 4, 2010 and prepare for our Job Fair. We are hoping to land a job at a school that we both like. We have a list of schools that we are willing to interview for positions.

Griffey is doing well. No change there and he still sleeps 22 hours per day it seems. We just bought a new travel laptop that we are excited about. It only has an 8.9" screen and we think it'll be perfect for traveling. Certainly weighs less than what we've been using.

I am finally recovered from my kidney issues, although I did bruise a rib pretty badly playing basketball 2 weeks ago. It is healing nicely though.

We are just hanging on for another couple of weeks until winter break. This first half of the year has flown by, and the 2nd half I'm sure will too. We are looking forward to Jamie's parents coming over for Chinese New Year and we'll be going to Vietnam to tour the southern and central parts (Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Hoi An, and Hue). Should be a blast for all.

Hope all is well everyone else's way. Feel free to drop a comment on Facebook or our our Blog if you see this. Also be sure to check out our Top 10 lists. As I said, not many people commented on it.

Take care everyone...

Top 10 Lists after 15 months!!!

Jamie and I have been overseas for a little over 15 months now. Hard to believe actually, but it has been one jam packed year of teaching in an international school, traveling to various countries, and meeting new people.

After our recent trip to the Vietnam, I thought I would post our Top 10 Places and Top 10 Experiences that we have seen. We have also created a Top 5 Most Disappointing Places/Experiences. Jamie and I both agree on these lists and have previously discussed and ranked them. You can search on our blog concerning these places as well as check out all of our Photo Albums on Picasa HERE. Hope you enjoy...

Top 10 Places:

1) Angkor Archeological Site, Cambodia - This was the #1 place we wanted to see when we found out we were moving to China, and it didn't disappoint. We spent 3 full days and an evening at these Hindu/Buddhist temples and each one was unique and special in its own way.

2) Great Wall of China - Everyone knows about it, most have seen pictures, and a few have had the pleasure of walking on this amazing human feat. We were able to go in the winter and the summer and each time was equally special for us. It is simply one of those jaw dropping moments in your life and certainly unforgettable.

3) Hong Kong - We have had the pleasure of going to this wonderful city several times because we are just a 40 minute ferry ride away. It has just about everything you can ask for in a city and is especially great for us as we find places to eat great western food and see English movies.

4) Coron Island, Palawan, Philippines - The beauty of this place was simply breathtaking. We spent 4 days here and the water and beaches were amazing. It is really paradise and we had entire beaches and islands to ourselves on some days. It is a bit difficult to get to, but definitely worth it.

5) Chiang Mai, Thailand – This walled city was perfect getaway for us after our not so wonderful visit in Bangkok (Bangkok has since grown on us). We stayed at the cleanest little guesthouse for only $5/night and were able to see a Muay Thai boxing match, zip line through the trees, and see the famous Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand. We only wish we had stayed longer in Chiang Mai. As a side note to this, we stopped by Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, on the way to Chiang Mai and thoroughly enjoyed the ruins.

6) Hanoi and the Hill Tribes of Sapa, Vietnam – We found the city of Hanoi delightful. The food was great, and the Water Puppet Show was entertaining. The traffic with all the motorbikes leaves little to be desired, but it is still a great place to visit. Sapa is a sleepy little mountain town an overnight train ride from Hanoi. Despite battling kidney stones, we took hikes in the rice terraces led by the local H'mong hill tribe guides. Wonderful experience seeing the yellow rice terraces.

7) Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an, China – Certainly one of the highlights of visiting China is going to see the Terracotta Warriors if you have a chance. It is simply amazing what has been discovered there and still being discovered. Perfect day trip and the city of Xi’an has a lot to offer the traveler. I can see us finding our way back to Xi’an.

8) Boracay Island, Philippines - We were surprised at how much we enjoyed Boracay. We knew it would be touristy, but the beach is arguable the best in the world and the convenience of the restaurants along the beach was nice.

9) Karst Landscape of Yangshou, China - We were fortunate enough to take a river cruise along with my parents and niece to see the landscape up close as well as stay in the midst of the landscape in a little lodge outside the city. Perhaps the most memorable event of this trip was the hot air balloon ride over the landscape - stunning!

10) Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City, Beijing, China - The history behind these places and the sheer size of them are staggering. You can spend days in the Forbidden City. Again, we went here twice and was amazed each time.

Just outside Top 10 (in case you were wondering):

11) Macau - Macau is a Vegas like town about an hour ferry ride away from us. We have went there to see a Cirque de Soliel show and eat the world famous egg tarts at Sir Henry's. Macau has just been a great getaway for us this year.

Top 10 Experiences:

We listed these separately because they are bigger than just a visit to a particular place. These are truly experiences that are not necessarily good or bad but definitely important to our world view.

1) The Adventures of Seymore - This is fun. After buying Seymour at IKEA in Shenzhen, we've taken him on each of our trips to pose and take pictures. After each trip he gets a commemorative tattoo and he stands on our dining room table waiting for the next adventure. Loved by all who meet him (other tourists and local vendors love him), Seymour is our keepsake from every place we get to visit.

2) Killing Fields/Tuol Sleng S-21 Prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - It is difficult to describe this place and the fundamental horror that you feel by being in it (which is why we list this as an experience rather than a great place to go). Since most people don't know much about it the easiest way to help you understand is to say that it must be similar to visiting Aushwitz (which we haven't done so we are just assuming). Obviously not fun but it had a huge impact on us emotionally.

3) Living in Shekou, China - Definitely an experience. Western enough that we don't feel totally lost, but we still get the experience of living in China. What can we say? It's hot, humid, dirty, with good food, odd (to us) customs, and people who are quite polite but not necessarily friendly. TIC (This Is China) explains everything without explaining anything, i.e. kids peeing and pooping on the sidewalk with their split pants, odd ways of arranging work orders, Communist policies in action, and crazy driving.

4) United States of America - Ah, the good ole US of A. We are so enormously lucky to have been born US citizens and even luckier to get to see the rest of the world that increases our appreciation of our homeland. From freedoms to cleanliness, and of course the food, we enjoyed our trip home for the summer and were sad to leave our family and friends. We'll be returning next summer for another visit.

5) Teaching in an International School - Has certainly changed our view on teaching. It would be hard for me to go back to teaching in a public school in the states. Class sizes less than 15 and practically zero discipline problems. Students who genuinely want to learn and support from the parents. It has been challenging teaching English language learners, but we have learned so much about ESL and this knowledge will help us in future schools in which we teach. Long term, it will make Jamie and better future administrator and me a better college education teacher. We have written extensively about the teaching throughout the year. If you go back to the archives and start at August 2008, you'll get a basic idea.

6) Trying Kopi Luwak Coffee - We were able to try some in Bali at one of the coffee plantations. We only spent a few dollars for a cup, but this coffee is the most expensive in the world selling for as high as $38 in Australia and a blend at $99 in London. Certainly an experience to remember, but we won’t be buying any anywhere but Bali.

7) Seeing and playing with the Tarsier monkey - The smallest primate in the world, we'll remember these little guys because the worker let us get our picture made with them and hold them. Great pictures of us with them.

8) Traveling in Asia – Walking, Taxis (metered and not), Buses, Metros (subways or skytrains), Overnight Trains, Light Rail Cars, Trolleys, Begging for Rides, Motobikes, Tuk Tuks, Jeepneys, Bicycle, Large Commercial Airplanes, Private Leer Jet, Small Prop Planes, Motobikes with Sidecars, Horses (really just donkeys), Ferries, Small boats, Riverboats, Hot Air Balloons, Kayaks, Private Vans, Cable Cars, and Escalators that go all the way up a mountain. You simply find your way around. Whether you plan or not, it is still an adventure.

9) Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand – Certainly an experience that we’ll never forget. I stayed here for 12 days when I had kidney stones and surgery. We took a private leer jet from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bangkok where they took care of me. The doctors, nurses, and facilities were simply top notch and it would be difficult to find a place in the US that could be better. Certainly a place I do not want to go back to, but something we’ll never forget.

10) Buying Cookbooks – Our souvenir from every country we have been is to purchase a cookbook. Whenever we get back to the US for good, Jamie can dig up all of her cooking utensils and kitchenware, and we can host our guests to some of the marvelous food we’ve been able to eat abroad. Sometimes hard to find, but we’ve managed to purchase one in every country so far.

Top 5 Most Disappointing Places/Experiences:

The following are things that we just weren’t wowed by. None of these were horrible experiences because they were all new and exciting at the time. However, they just didn’t live up to the hype.

1) Manila, Philippines – Dirty and incredibly difficult to get around. We will probably only go to the airport from now on.

2) Bali, Indonesia – In general, Bali just didn’t do it for us. Beaches were touristy and overpriced. We had one great day of traveling in the countryside, but other than that, it was a letdown.

3) Bangkok, Thailand – 1st couple of days only. We know actually enjoy Bangkok now, but those 1st 2 days were just annoying due to the constant hassle with tuk tuks and cab drivers and being lied to.

4) Kidney Stones – Hate the fact that I had to deal with them, but also hate the fact that we missed out on our last day of Hanoi, which was going to be spent drinking cobra blood wine.

5) Things We Miss – Family, Friends, Food, College Football in the Fall, Rome Braves games, golf, Jamie misses her job at Sonoraville, our kitchen table and all of our wonderful kitchen utensils, and finally, Cloey and Kitty.

Busy Times

Some of you may feel like the above photo. Some of you might not have any idea what it is talking about. Nonetheless, we all can be connected somehow.

Jamie and I have been busy the last couple of weeks finalizing our curriculum vitae and applications gearing up for our job search. I just finished applying to one school in Beijing and we are crossing our fingers on that one. We'll see. We plan on attending an international job fair in Bangkok, Thailand (yes, we'll be back at the scene of my most recent horrors). Some 30 or 40 schools will be there and we might land a job there that we like. We enjoy where we are now, but there are some interesting options out there in the international teaching world that also appeal to us.

My diet is going well. No chocolate, nuts, and black tea. I have switch to white chocolate some and have switched to the sugary candy of starbust and skittles. The only time I break it is when we go to our favorite Chinese food restaurant and I eat the peanuts in the dish because it is too frustrating to pick them out with chopsticks. I still drink about 2 or 3 liters of water per day, which I have found is actually not that bad. I've taken up drinking more lemonade too.

I would like everyone to be thinking and praying for my family in TN. My grandfather fell and broke his upper leg, so he will be in a nursing home for about 3 or 4 weeks. It'll be a strain on the family there.

On another note, I am gearing up to begin my research for my dissertation. My friend over here and graciously agreed to help and she's been translating documents for me into Chinese and will accompany me to the interviews with the high school economics teacher. I will also be interviewing economics teachers in Georgia via Skype or video conferencing. Or at least I hope it works out that way.

Hope all is well everyone else's direction. I haven't received an email from anyone in quite some time, but I understand everyone is busy. Just try and stay in touch with the million options we seen to have today at our disposal.

First Week Back

This week was tiring for me, only partly because of my recovery process. Grades were due and narratives were due this week because status reports were going home. I knocked it out all in pretty much 2 days, but it wasn't much fun. By the end of the week, I had pretty much caught up with everything and was back into the full swing of things.

I am excited for this weekend. I'll go into work to grade some papers and plan for next week, but overall I feel pretty good. I had one bad evening where I had pain and it was only on a 4 level. Apparently, I still have some internal scabs that are passing through me.

I still have to fly back to Bangkok next weekend for my check up. Have yet to book the flight and hoping insurance will cover it. We'll see.

Just wanted to update some people. Hope all is well everyone else's way.

Back in China Finally

Jamie and I arrived back in Shekou at 7:15 on Friday night. Checking out of the hospital on Thursday was literally an all day affair. Doctor cleared me at 9:00 am or so, but we didn't leave until 6:00 pm. Last thing they did was take my IV off of me.

We checked into a hotel in Bangkok near the hospital for Thursday evening and even made it down to Hard Rock Cafe for a great meal. We both deserved it. We had to figure out our flight the next day through the insurance, and it was finally finalized around midnight.

We slept a decent night's sleep but had to wake at 5:00 am to eat breakfast and then take a cab to Bangkok airport. Bangkok is really only about a 2 hour flight into Shenzhen, but the insurance booked a flight for us to go to Taiwan first (4 hour flight) then back to Shenzhen (2 hour flight) after an hour and a half layover in Taiwan. Frustrating, but we made it.

Today has been a day of resting and getting the apartment back in order, including getting our open VPN set up so I can write and post on the blog as well as keep up with everyone via Facebook. I can now post pictures in China too.

With that said, I'll be writing a bit more on the blog. I have a doctor's appointment in Bangkok again in 2 weeks (Nov. 1), so I'll be flying on that Sunday to Bangkok for a 2 hour appointment with 2 doctors. Kind of a hassle, but I guess it'll be worth it to know I'm in good health.

My new diet has taken effect. No chocolate, nuts, black tea, and soy sauce. We've had to adjust some of our eating habits, but I'll manage. We put white chocolate chips in our oatmeal cookies this evening.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and get well wishes.

Bustin Out!

It is now Thursday morning, October 15. I have been in this hospital in Bangkok going on 12 days, 13 counting the 1 day in Hanoi. They tell me I will be checking out of here today though. I am delighted. I have been pain free for 4 days and fever free for 5. My last ultrasound on Tuesday showed that the swelling in my kidney had gone down, but was not 100%. The dietitian came by yesterday and told me that she wants me on a low oxalate diet. That is no surprise. We had been reading up on it, so we knew what to expect.

The surgeon wants me to jog 20 minutes per day. The kidney doctor wants me to drink 2 cups of water as soon as I wake up in the morning, 2 right before I go to bed, and 2 liters during the day. I have to eliminate chocolate and peanuts from my diet as well as cut back on some other things that I normally eat. Except for the chocolate and peanuts, none of it are too life changing. I need to eat more fruit, which is fine because they are available in China all the time and are quite good.

We are quite fortunate to have some amazing insurance to cover the costs of this whole ordeal. I'm not sure we'll ever see the total bill, but maybe someone can take a stab at what 12 days in a private hospital in the the United States would run plus a private airplane transport and a commercial flight home would run as well as surgery, 2 CT scans, 3 sonograms, and enough morphine and medicine to knock out a herd of elephants.

I won't make some of you cry by telling you how much Jamie and I are out of pocket for this.

We should be leaving Bangkok either this afternoon (Thursday) or tomorrow. It depends on the insurance company and when they book our flight.

I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal. Looking forward to starting my new diet, not looking forward to running 20 minutes a day, but I'm looking forward to dragging Griffey along for the run. He certainly needs to run.

I would like to again thank all of my co-workers and friends in Shekou who have looked after Griffey while we've been away as well as subbed for me and taken care of my classes. We certainly didn't plan to be out for 2 full weeks, but it is nice to know we have such wonderful and caring people to help us out in our time of need. We would like to think that we'd be equally wonderful if the shoe were on the other foot.

This has been the worse experience of my life to date, and I hope I never repeat it. Sure, I'm sure I'll be in the hospital for something again eventually, but let's hope I can take care of myself and delay it, at least for something like kidney stones.

Still Here

Tuesday night and I've been in this hospital for 10 days. Again, it is an excellent hospital, but I'm getting a little stir crazy. Had another sonogram this evening and I hope that my kidney is back to normal. No fever or pain for 2 days.

Here is a picture of Ronald at the McDonald's downstairs in the hospital. Decent food court down there. Jamie has eaten about all her options down there over the last 10 days. I have been eating the hospital food. Some good and some bad. I've chosen western meals and stayed with the chicken for the most part. The pork goulash was particularly tasty for lunch today. The always have some sort of juice, but my favorite is the apple.

As you can tell, no news here. Same bed, same couch, same TV with same stations. I've about finished my book. I take naps and play solitaire just to pass the time. Jamie and I roam the hallways to get out and stretch our legs. They actually brought a wheelchair for me today to take me down to my sonogram, but I just walked behind it. The nurse put my folder, which is now 2 inches thick, in the wheelchair instead. Nurses are insanely nice here. Their English is pretty good, but sometimes they just smile and repeat themselves when I ask a question.

I hope to get of here tomorrow. The insurance lady from Aetna (the nicest person we have ever spoken to from a major corporation) called tonight to check in on us and tell us the steps for getting home. Aetna has been simply amazing, but I'm sure it is costing our employer a pretty penny. We certainly couldn't afford worldwide insurance back in the states. In fact, I don't know anyone who has it back in the states.

I'll keep everyone updated as best I can...