Chelsea Goes to Czech Republic

China doesn't have many breaks. No Christmas break. No Easter break. What they do have is Golden Week or Mid Autumn Festival where all of China gets one week off. It is supposed to be a celebration of the foundation of Communist China. Last year I stayed in China and it was crazy how full of people it was. This year I decided to get around that by going to a different country, a country where my sister lives. In this post I will just go over the highlights since you can read more about the country on her blog. 

The first day I landed in the evening but my sister planned for us to go to a spa. Not just any spa-a beer spa! Bernard Beer Spa puts hops into a tub of bubbly warm water and gives the patrons unlimited beer to drink and Emilie's super great boyfriend Ondra, got us bread, meat, and pickles to snack on while we fermented in the bath. 

The big wooden nozzle is a beer tap!

The patron saint of beer, St. Bernard

After sitting the baths we could choose to lay on heated beds or a salt room. We chose the salt room. They played that flute music that you hear at yoga studios in the salt room and it was really relaxing. 

The second day we toured Prague. We went up a giant hill and took pictures of the city. This area is called Petrin. 

We also went to a palace which had an art installation. 

Not to mention we saw one of the more famous spots, John Lennon Wall. 

Cuties

The third day we headed to a town called Brno. We visited a church, a castle, and went on an underground tour! Plus they have a ton of art installations around the city. It is hard not to get a good picture there. 

The vegetable market

An underground tour, right below the vegetable market!

The underground tunnels were originally for storing food to keep cool. Eventually they kept growing in size which lead to some underground pubs and restaurants. There is a rumor that a baroness (or countess I don't really remember and had a hard time finding it online) had an underground storage room where she buried lovers she got bored of. There is no evidence to back it up, but it is a fun story. On the tour they used to have a statue you could touch of one of the baroness' old lovers. If men touch it, they would be single for a year. If women touch it, they will great luck with getting a significant other. Too bad it is gone now. 

Brno is also really famous for wine and I was able to buy a svobodak. It is a seasonal drink made from wine and I got to have it right at the end of the season. 

The fourth day we headed to Ondra's hometown-Melnik. His family lives on a small farm but the city itself was much larger than I imagined. 

There were the "Demon Heads" we visited and then saw an abandoned chateau. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to go in that chateau. I could see through the windows that on the inside of the building they had stained glass and vaulted ceilings. Is it wrong to see them closer?

This will be my new house, I swear. 

We visited a cafe inside a clock tower, saw the river that goes to Prague and Germany, and went on another underground tour but this time to see a well. 

Inside the clock tower

Well Tour

Also! In the Czech Republic they have a drink called kofola which is supposed to be like Coca-Cola. During the Russian takeover of the country, all American goods were not allowed in but the Czech people wanted to have their Coca-Cola back. They made a recipe based on memory of what it was like and now they have their own drink alongside the original coke. 

The fifth day we headed to the Prague Castle. Look how flipping gorgeous it is! And it is for free.  

We went to a museum after that where we were approached by a guard trying to convert us to his cult Hari Krishna. It was crazy. But the armor was cool. 

Then we visited a garden and met up with Ondra again to go to Troja Castle which Emilie and Ondra had never been to. They said it was one of their favorite spots after the trip was over. 

Look how blue that sky is?!

We visited a church and cemetery called Vysehrad after that. The graves are mostly of famous people who have ornate and large headstones. They also had graves for those who died during the time of the Nazis and Russians. 

This lady is a headstone. I want this as my headstone!

The church had a small treasury inside and my favorite were these hands that had saint relics (pieces of the saint's clothes or body) inside. 

We saw an overview of the city and the river during sunset which was really amazing. 

My sixth and final day in the Czech Republic my sister took me to the farmer's markets. I went totally crazy and bought a lot of things like a rolling pin, jewelry, honey, and lavender oil. 

My cousin Jessica who had just moved there joined us for the Dancing House. You have to buy a drink in order to go outside. 

In all, the Czech Republic is a beautiful and inexpensive place to travel. There is a ton of history too! Maybe next summer I will visit again. 

From Prague, With Love

Round Two of China...Fight!

This is my second year of being in China and I believed that it would be easier. In ways, it is. I am better at the language for sure and I am more familiar with the culture. 

In one way it is not easier. That is being away from my family and friends, especially during holiday seasons. 

Halloween is coming up this month and I am sort of dreading it. I love Halloween but when I was in college my friends and I would make the entire month into a celebration. We would go to pumpkin patches, carve pumpkins, go to haunted houses, watch a Halloween movie every weekend, and then do something big for the actual day. In the past we went to a theme park, had a sleepover at the library (it was a library event-we aren't weirdos), and went ghost hunting in Peru, Nebraska to find the infamous ghost bridge. 

Not to mention I worked as a tour guide at a haunted house the weekend before.

Halloween is a thing in China but it is definitely not the same. Many citizens don’t celebrate it. Only shopping areas really promote the holiday along with Disney. As mentioned in a post before the government does not want us to teach the holiday in school this year which is another downer.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are hard to deal with as well. Last year my co-workers and I substituted things that I would usually do on that day. Instead of turkey we had chicken feet, instead of pumpkin pie we had pumpkin-rice dish, instead of mashed potatoes we ate potato wedges.

Christmas, I made apple cider successfully but the cookies were difficult. No one owns ovens in China which means no baking. I only own a small toaster oven. Only foreigner grocery stores or bakeries would have the ingredients needed for baked goods which include:

Powdered sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder, vanilla extract (I had to get it in USA), food dye, ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks, cloves, ground ginger (I can get a root but not the powder), yeast, shortening, cocoa, and nutmeg.

So even when I tried recreating my type of Christmas it fell short last year because I had to substitute all these ingredients I was missing and I wasn’t able to find a ham or a turkey to have a proper holiday supper. It sounds so small but when you are in a country with people who have no idea what your holidays are and no one you love nearby, it gets really depressing.

Not to mention that I am the only foreigner in my building. The other foreign teachers are in the other building so I’m extra isolated.

I kept telling myself that it was fine, that it wasn’t going to be so bad but of course that didn’t happen. Sadly, I had to change my gym when four of my coaches decided to quit the gym I was at. I figured I would join a gym that one of my former coaches was now a manager of. When I said goodbye to my last boxing coach at the gym, he seemed so blasé about it. Then when I realized I wouldn’t have another boxing class until three days later at my new gym…all I can say is that my brain broke. The second I got home I tried to go to sleep and found myself staring at the ceiling until I was in a puddle of tears.

Thankfully my sister is just a phone call away and she picked up to a sobbing me. She was shocked and asked what was wrong and I pitifully said, “I can’t sleep! My boxing class won’t happen for a few more days! What am I going to do?”

What we realized is that the reason it was so hard for me is that going to the gym was a way to socialize with other people and get me out of my empty apartment. The second the class was taken from me, the feeling of loneliness washed over me.

Don’t get me wrong, I have friends that are local Chinese or Taiwanese citizens, but when something that is in your schedule is taken away, and you are a foreigner where you can’t speak the language, no one has your holidays, and you can’t even bake some gosh darn snickerdoodles without going across town to find a small bottle of cinnamon to remind you of home, your emotions get out of hand.

To be honest, I am not sure how well this year will go with the holidays coming around the corner. All I can say is that I am more prepared than last year because I stocked up on baking good supplies and I know that I still need to celebrate those holidays in my way. Last Christmas I thought by working on the holiday I could get through the day better, but it only made me resent being at work. Currently, I am on a group chat with other foreigners who are in Jiaxing. Who knows, maybe I will meet another American my age who can relate to my plight.

The Big Yellow Scam

Imagine you have just gotten off your long flight, you collect your bags, and you get through customs and are finally on your way out of the airport. You see people being greeted by co-workers, friends, and family and then a person comes up to you saying they have a taxi to get you to your hotel. It seems all well and good and you aren't familiar with the country and this person knows English! They seem trustworthy!

Welcome to the scam zone. 

In China there has been a recent scam of people dressed in professional clothes, with professional looking signs, and nice name tags claiming to work for a taxi company or even the airport that ask people if they need taxis. These people DO NOT WORK for a company at all. 

These guys are "runners" who go out to get clients. Another person sits in a car in the airport parking lot to wait for a call from them. Once they get the call, they drive down, and take the client to the hotel they want but they will charge you, no joke, over 100% of what it really should cost. 

Last year I fell for the scam and have even watched a few YouTube videos of people getting trapped into the scam (they were in Europe). For myself, I have taken Didi (Chinese Uber) out of the airport before and even the Chinese purple taxis (yes they are purple in China) but when I was walking out of the airport this guy in a suit, with an embossed leather binder with a hotel name on it, and a brass name tag asked passerby's if they needed a taxi. My hotel was only a few blocks away but I had a large bag. I said I would go with him and heck, he even spoke English! I knew something was wrong once we started walking towards the parking lot exit and not the taxi exit. When I asked why we were walking that way, he explained that his taxi guy had to park because he had been there a while. Once the car pulled up my heart sank. 

It was a black car. 

The Black Car Phenomena is something that a lot of my co-workers warned me about. In the 1980s there was a kidnapping surge where people claimed to be taxis and when they got inside, they wouldn't come back out. Usually the cars were black hence the name. You can read about it here and here. 

I was debating if I should get in the car or not. But then I realized that there was a driver, a person in the front seat, and the "runner" were all around me. 

Did I really have a choice?

Sitting in the taxi was stress-inducing to say the least, I don't think I took a breath. All three guys were in the car with me, talking fast in Chinese. The runner was on the phone talking to someone else. When we reached my hotel I finally took a breath. It was then that they charged me. Usually a taxi ride from the airport to my hotel should cost around 30 RMB. 

This group of men charged me 200 RMB. 

I was surprised to see ANOTHER one of their guys at the hotel. The guy on the other end of the phone call. That is now four men asking for 200 RMB and I am maybe 30 steps from my hotel. Without hesitating I take out my wallet and pay and we split ways. 

This wasn't the last time I encountered these guys. When I landed in Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, and even my town Jiaxing there have been these crappy people (both men and women but mostly men) claiming to have a taxi or didi right outside. They all speak English. Most of them wear suits. All of them are fake. 

Here are a few things to consider when getting into an unfamiliar taxi. 

1. What color are the taxis in this country? (America-yellow. Britain-black. China-purple.)

2. Is there public transport you can take? It is usually cheaper than a taxi and safer. 

3. Is there a designated area for taxis to go? Airports I have been to have a line outside specifically just for taxis. There is a long line you can pick from. 

4. Why is this person saying they have a taxi/uber/didi in the airport instead of being in their vehicle?

5. Is the taxi's meter working? Is the light on the taxi working? Is there an ID in the car?

6. How much is a taxi in this area usually? Ask the driver before getting in!!!

Here is a website with other tips. 

If these guys approach you, don't look at them. Don't talk to them. Keep walking. Heck, speak in gibberish to them so they think you speak some weird language. Just don't confront them and don't get roped in. 

I hope this was helpful. Keep your money and yourself safe when traveling abroad. 

Jackie Chan Museum

On September 8th I had to go to Shanghai to pick up my eye contacts and decided that I would also visit the Jackie Chan Museum. It is listed on tripadvisor.com as a cool museum to visit. I am not a huge fan of Jackie Chan but I have seen a few of his movies and enjoyed them. 

The front gate of the museum.

The museum is a few blocks down from a metro station and it costs about 150 RMB to get inside. You get a ticket and a little pouch. Inside the pouch is a one yuan coin and a wood Jackie Chan pin. I thought it was weird to get a coin but onwards I went. 

This poster states that Jackie Chan collected mementos from every film and wanted to display them. Fans used to be able to sign the poster but I think due to so many visitors they don't allow that anymore. It looks neat! 

 The first place in the museum is a dark hallway where a video of Jackie Chan is talking about the museum. He speaks in Chinese but the captions are in English. While I was watching the video I was curious if the Chinese people watching with me understood everything he said. Jackie Chan is from southern China and Hong Kong and they have a different dialect and some areas even speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin. The guests seemed to understand and we moved on to the next room. It turns out Jackie Chan can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. 

I wasn't allowed to take pictures of everything but the next room were a few of his costumes and a replica of a car he used in a film. Arrows on the floor directed me to the next hallway and another Jackie Chan video where he talked about his childhood. I was shocked to learn that his parents were so poor when they gave birth to him that they couldn't even pay for the hospital bill. A doctor offered to adopt Jackie Chan but they refused in the end. When he was growing up, Chan was an unruly kid and got into fights often and was even expelled from school. His father placed him in a Peking Opera company where he could play extras in the background. Peking Opera at this point had a lot of theatrical martial arts. One day a film director asked for martial arts extras and that is how Jackie Chan got his start. 

After that Jackie Chan got roles as extras in movies and began developing his own style of martial arts which blended slapstick comedy. According to the museum it was named Drunken Fist. 

Molds of Jackie Chan's arms in various poses from martial arts to how he gives a handshake. 

It was impressive that Chan even got to keep discarded clips from movies. Chan was known for being tidy, often seen sweeping his movie sets. At one point a movie studio sent him a broom as a commemorative souvenir for his work. 

Chan was gaining a ton of popularity in China but when he went to America to do a TV interview, he was surprised that no one knew who he was. The TV station even cancelled their interview with him and on top of that, no one spoke Chinese. Chan was so embarrassed by this that he vowed to learn English and make it into Hollywood. 

And he did just that.

Robin Williams

Will Smith

After making several big hits in the USA he was an international hit. Even winning an Honorary Oscar. 

A documentary about his life as a martial artist and even starting his own stuntmen company titled Jackie Chan: Down To Earth was made in 2017 and a clip was shown in the museum. 

Chan also has several music albums. 

After that section of the museum, I entered the Philanthropy part of the museum. Chan has visited many places that have been affected by disasters and donated to many charities. At one point the visitors reached a place that they could donate the coin given to them at the start of the museum. Once the coin rolls down the tube, a huge light up sign above it tells you how much money has been donated to foundations that Chan supports. How cool!

The museum also showed fan made art sent to him.

One of the last displays were clay model characters of Mulan. Chan voiced the role of Shang in the Chinese version and even sang I'll Make a Man Out of You in Cantonese. 

On the way out there is a sign about Jackie Chan's logo and a gift shop. 

I would definitely recommend this museum and I really felt like I got to know Jackie Chan a lot better. The museum wasn't just "Look at me! I'm so cool!" I felt like he was being very open and honest about his life. In a video segment in the museum he said that as a child he was so rotten and he said something along the lines of, "I rejected the world and the world turned around and loved me." How touching is that?! 

The Fish's Revenge: And The Rest Of My Chaotic Week

These past seven days has been very chaotic. 

Here is what happened chronologically. 

Thursday: Got food poisoning. 

Friday: We have three different classes that are arranged by level. Above average, average, and below average. My Below Average kids are a struggle classroom management wise but have good hearts. My Above Average always cleans up the fastest, best listeners, and pretty kind. My Above Average class were really badly behaved. My below average class was the best behaved of all time. 

Example of just two encounters that day:

 What should you do if you don't do well on the test? How can you make something negative into something positive?

Above Average Kids: Next time cheat on the test! 

Me: 😨

Below Average Kids: You should study and ask the teacher to help you during recess!

Me: 😲

What should you do if someone is teasing you? How can you make the bad experience into a good experience?

Above Average Kids: Exact revenge on them!

Below Average Kids: Ask the teacher for help. Tell them you want them to stop and ask why they are doing it so you can stop it from happening again. 

Me: Am I in the Twilight Zone right now?

On the same Friday my didi (Chinese uber) didn't pick us up for school so I had to beg a ride from a co-worker. It was raining that day so all of the didis were busy taking other passengers. AND my didi to pick us up from the school drove to the wrong place (even with a GPS) blamed me and then cancelled so I had to ask ANOTHER co-worker for a ride. 

Saturday: 

Ordered off of a food app to get fruit teas. The delivery man went to the wrong building. I sent him a picture on the GPS of where he was and where he needed to be and was still lost. He called me and we argued for 15 minutes about his location and he was saying that I WAS IN THE WRONG BUILDING. I march over to the building he is in, in pajamas, get my tea, march him outside to show him the sign outside of the building to prove that I was correct. Argued for 15 more minutes until he gruffly said that he was wrong, the closest thing I got to an apology. 

Sunday: 

Got the cold. 

Monday: 

Came to school and my half of my shelves were gone. The school took away my shelves because they were diffusing poisonous fumes in my room. Won't get back my shelves until December. 

Tuesday:THE DAY THE FISH GOT ITS REVENGE

The school serves fish for the adults sometimes and I try to avoid it. I have a hard time eating around the bones but on this day I thought I got tofu squares in a brown sauce. It was fish. I tried to eat around it carefully when it happened. Got a fish bone stuck in my throat. My body panicked and I could feel myself starting to gag. I sped walked out of the cafeteria into the bathroom and vomited. It didn't work. I tried gargling water to dislodge it and that didn't work. I once again vomited. Teachers came to look for me after my speedy exit and decided I needed to go to the ER. A TA/friend took me to the hospital to act as my translator (God Bless You Jeanne.) Every time I closed my mouth I could feel the bone jab into my tonsils so I had to keep my mouth open, effectively looking like a fish myself. 

Not the type of fish that tried to possess me but this is what I looked like. 

It was weird being the the same ER waiting room as a person who literally had a gash in their head, a kid moaning and holding his stomach, and a pale man in a wheelchair, and then me--a dork with wide open mouth. We had to pay before going into the doctor's office, walked up to the third floor, and the doctor got the bone out in two seconds with a pair of large tweezers. Apparently kids get fish bones stuck in their throats all the time so this is a common ER job. The bone was about an inch and a half big (3 cm).

My sister was really supportive which surprised me. I was fully expecting to get a lot of teasing, especially since she had a real ER experience. 

We do think the ghost of the fish tried to possess my body. Titles for the occurrence have so far been the Fish-orcist and The Fin (instead of The Nun).

Wednesday: 

Thank the Lord it was a normal day. My students behaved well, lessons went well, food was good, and didis were on time. 

Thursday: 

A co-worker volunteered me for a field trip. A field trip that I was completely unaware was happening. Had to make substitute teacher plans for my TA's on Friday. I completely lost my mind over this because it was so incredibly rude. I had to get substitute teachers for the classes I was missing for a field trip I didn't even sign up for. I was angry with the school for not even checking with me if it was okay, they just went off of this teacher's word. When I asked to be pardoned from it (because I DIDN'T EVEN SIGN UP) they started to guilt trip me saying if I didn't go they would cancel the trip the kids were so looking forward to it and it would just break their little hearts if CHELSEA didn't go. 

I told them that if it happened again then they should cancel the field trip because I'm not going to be guilt tripped and tricked like that again. This will be the last and only time it will happen. They will probably try again and I need to not let it happen. 

Friday: Turns out the kids couldn't care less that I was on the field trip. The foreign teachers literally walked behind the kids while the other teachers lectured to the kids in the rain about water chestnuts. THAT IS RIGHT. The kid's special reward field trip was to walk in the rain, in the mud, and learn about water chestnuts. The real question is: Why were we there? 

Pictures. 

There were not one, not two, but THREE photographers at the park with us kids. I was wearing a face mask (remember the cold?) and at one point I was asked to take it off because I was "ruining the pictures." When I said, "You do know I'm wearing this because I'm sick right?" They snapped one photo of me and gruffly walked off. 

In a way, I am glad that I was sick and had to wear a mask because then I ruined the true reason I was invited to the field trip. If the school wanted to take me out of my classes where I am licensed to teach and wanted to teach then they wouldn't get the pictures they wanted to parade me around like a circus monkey. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind taking pictures for the company. I do mind being lied to and forced to go on trips. 

That was the end to my chaotic week. On October 1st I will get a week off for the Chinese National Holiday. Can you guess where my destination will be?

Xian: Day Two and Day Three: Warriors, Towers, Theatre, and Puppet Shows

This day was the day I had been waiting for… the Terracotta Warriors. 

I arranged for a Didi (Chinese Uber) to pick me up at 7:00 am so I could be at the museum at 8:00 am. There was no way I was going to miss this like I had missed the Forbidden City. The drive took about 45 minutes and I got in line early and was able to get my ticket no problem. Once I got my ticket I had to get in another line for security and to scan my ticket to enter. When you enter the gate you have to walk along a trail for about 10 or 15 minutes which is lovely. There are large mountains around the area and a lot of Chinese holly trees. Not too surprising, there was another security line and scanned my ticket again to enter the area that the warriors were actually in. I was happy that I didn’t have to pay for another ticket.

When I first walked in I was surprised because I was fully expecting to see a large pit with the warriors staring up at me and instead saw several buildings spread throughout. Each of the buildings had a large number written on it (in Chinese symbols) so I waddled over to Building One. Inside Building One were artifacts from the pits and a history of the Bronze Age in China along with the history of the emperor in charge of the warriors. Plaques were written in Chinese and English. There were a few warriors on display in glass cases along with statues of pigs, goats, and cows which were to be food or servant animals in the afterlife.

I made my way to Building Two which was also Pit 2. It was mostly broken pieces of the warriors, horses, and chariots but the plaques showed how the areas were laid out and how intricately they were made. Something I learned is that the warriors stand on tiled floors.  

Pit 3 was next and that is the famous area with all the warriors. There were still archaeologists digging through the dirt and cleaning off pieces of the warriors. I was flabbergasted to learn that some areas have still not been completely uncovered.

At this point I had to give myself a potty break and found myself in the largest souvenir shop I have ever been in (it was seriously like a mall) and bought a key chain for myself on the way out. When I made it to Pit 1 the population of guests in the area went from me and a maybe 100 people to 500 people! Keep in mind I got there at 8 and by now it was around 10:30 and it was getting packed. Pit 1 had a few chariots but nothing as cool as Pit 3 so I got my Didi and headed back to town. When exiting the museum there are a ton of souvenir shops, restaurants, and booths that you have to weave through to get back to the street. On my way out I was approached by a woman asking if I wanted an English tour of the museum which confused me until I realized I had accidentally exited out of the entrance. I would have loved in English tour but I’m not totally convinced it wasn’t a scam.

Next was the Bell and Drum Tower which were literally right next to my hotel. Each of these only took 20 minutes to visit. The Drum Tower is more interesting because they have drum shows periodically throughout the day. The entire tower is surrounded by drums that signify a season of the year that they should be played. Also at the tower are drums meant to signal when to close the Xian Wall bridge, the morning call, the night call, and a warning call. There was another world breaking record in Xian with a drum made out of one whole cow skin.

The bell tower only has one bell and no other special events that I saw. The area inside the tower had furniture on display which was not as cool as the drums in the other tower.

That night I had reserved tickets for a dinner and theatre show. The email confirmation told me to come there 30 minutes early, which I did, and was literally the ONLY ONE IN THE ENTIRE THEATRE. I was so confused! After about 45 minutes a family from Belgium sat at my table. At 6:30, an hour after I had arrived at the theatre, did everyone else come to watch the show. However, the staff was very kind to me and even gave me a shawl to keep warm! The dinner was excellent and the show was so great! We weren’t allowed to take photos during the show but I did get a picture of the curtain call. 

It was a ballet about an empress of China and how she went from a normal girl to being one of the most powerful people in China. 10/10 would watch again and 10/10 to that Belgium family who I had a lovely conversation with and 10/10 to the staff who was like “This girl is too early but we are going to serve her like a queen.”

PS I did return the shawl.

Day Three

My last day in Xian was spent in the Muslim quarter which was also right next to my hotel. What is unique about this area, and Xian in general, is that many middle eastern people immigrated to this area and married into Chinese families. Xian has one of the higher populations of Muslims in China. The quarter is mostly shops but there was an old merchants house to visit. 

Meat is not regulated here...

 They had a shadow puppet show which was fun to watch. I bought my ticket to go into the house and visit the shadow puppet show and when I sat down a woman told me I was sitting in the chairs that cost 10 yuan more unless I bought a drink from her. I bought an orange juice and stayed in my nice chair. Before the show started I looked around me and saw a completely full room but my row, the 10 yuan extra row, was empty. Only when there were no more seats were people forced to buy those tickets to sit down. I was annoyed that this was yet another way to nickel and dime people in China. That being said, I did like the orange juice and the music in the show.

After the show and walking around the merchant’s house which consisted of an old school, an area for chicken and ducks, and rooms, I flew back to Shanghai and got back to Jiaxing.