Ahh May Holiday. The Labor Day week is a much needed (and rarely found) break for most people in China. They flock all around the country to take full advantage of their short break.
While we may be foreigners, Corey and I are no different, and we can't wait to high tail it to not one but TWO sweet new Chinese spots. Today and tomorrow will be spent in Bin Yu Go, a scenic valley right outside of Dalian, with everyone from our school and their moms. (No, really). Then, the foreign teachers are all taking a "holiday" together to go to Dandong - where you can find the Eastern most portion of the Great Wall, as well as tip toe up to the border with North Korea.
I'm excited, and by default I'd assume the blog readership is as well.
Happy May Holiday!
- Shawn
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
The Picture Perfect Plan
The picture above is of the outside of Future 2, the school that we work at. But if you look really closely, you may see something veeeeeerrry interesting. No? Too small? Maybe if we get a better cropped in look...
Yes ladies and gentlemen, after weeks of talk and empty promises, the latest and greatest gimmick in a long line of promotional plans has been unveiled. If you remember a few posts ago, I discussed the school's need/desire to let everyone know that they have real live foreigners in their employ. There are a lot of ESL schools in Dalian, but few have honest to god westerners. The ones that do flaunt it at every turn. Although I think our particular school may do it the most.
Not that I'm complaining. It's kind of cool to have your giant face in a window that can be seen by millions of people every day. Millions? Forget that, we're in China... BILLIONS! Of course, they need to look up first. But hey, it's a start. Maybe there'll be a bus campaign next.
The view from indoors is just as funny. Especially since my picture isn't even in the teachers room that I'm in. Corey and all the other teachers (foreign and Chinese) get to stare at my mug for the rest of forever.
But at least I block out the sun.
I don't know what I'm going to do with my newfound fame, but stay tuned to the blog for any and all further developments.
(Oh, and big ups to Corey for redoing the work of the "professional photographer". The guy they hired wouldn't even let me take a picture in my super contemplative pose. I mean... come on! I'm a teacher here. I'm supposed to think and stuff!)
And yes, this whole thing is giving me a huge ego boost. But why not? There is a giant picture of me up in China now.
- Shawn
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Video Double Feature
While you are all patiently waiting for the rest of Corey's kickass Beijing pictures, I thought I might interest you in a quick Video Double Feature.
See, thanks to the magic of technology, my camera has the ability to take real short video clips - and now I want to share some with you.
The first is more of an opening act. Not as crazy/interesting/oh man that's China! as the second one, but great and enjoyable in its own right. For Corey's birthday this past weekend, the foreign teachers all went to a bar named "Noah's Ark". While the name doesn't seem to have much to do with anything, it does boast live music, so there's that. Amidst a set filled with folky/Indie rock Chinese songs came a stripped down acoustic cover of Bon Jovi's comeback classic "It's My Life".
If you've ever wanted to see a Chinese house band cover the boys from New Jersey, but never knew where to look, this is the place for you.
"It's My Life" (Chinese Acoustic Cover)
Enjoy the backing vocals by the Future 2 staff as well.
And for our main act, I present to you a view from our bedroom window into the DMZ's local schoolyard. Now, I'm not sure if this clip really captures the insanity of our morning view, but it should at least come close.
Phys Ed in the DMZ
And yes, that could very well be a goat you hear. They've been sighted.
So until next time, crank some Bon Jovi on your portable MP3 player and go do some synchronized calisthenics in the back yard... otherwise you'll never be able to keep up.
- Shawn
See, thanks to the magic of technology, my camera has the ability to take real short video clips - and now I want to share some with you.
The first is more of an opening act. Not as crazy/interesting/oh man that's China! as the second one, but great and enjoyable in its own right. For Corey's birthday this past weekend, the foreign teachers all went to a bar named "Noah's Ark". While the name doesn't seem to have much to do with anything, it does boast live music, so there's that. Amidst a set filled with folky/Indie rock Chinese songs came a stripped down acoustic cover of Bon Jovi's comeback classic "It's My Life".
If you've ever wanted to see a Chinese house band cover the boys from New Jersey, but never knew where to look, this is the place for you.
"It's My Life" (Chinese Acoustic Cover)
Enjoy the backing vocals by the Future 2 staff as well.
And for our main act, I present to you a view from our bedroom window into the DMZ's local schoolyard. Now, I'm not sure if this clip really captures the insanity of our morning view, but it should at least come close.
Phys Ed in the DMZ
And yes, that could very well be a goat you hear. They've been sighted.
So until next time, crank some Bon Jovi on your portable MP3 player and go do some synchronized calisthenics in the back yard... otherwise you'll never be able to keep up.
- Shawn
Monday, April 23, 2007
Marketing Myself
So this evening Shawn and I decided to walk around one of the markets we keep passing on the bus. It's all lit up at night and pretty busy so gotta be good, right? (maybe even some photo ops!!). Little did we know...once I set up my tripod, interest in what I was snapping at started to gain momentum and I ended up with a huge gathering looking at my every shot. No exaggeration, we took turns looking at the LCD. I even had a die hard fan who followed me to another spot and I think tried to ask me to her house, but all that was lost in translation.
One of Dalian's 'famous' fruit markets. The fruit here is picture perfect ;)Dalian, China
Walking in the street market
Dalian, China
Dalian, China
Later this week...more Beijing pics
Catch ya soon, Corey
The not so Forbidden City
So day one we headed out to one of the most seen sights in all of China, and well, clearly we had a lot of company. Now I'm sure you've all experienced the annoyance of people walking into your shots...just as I'm sure you've all done it a million and one times as well (Think Times Square mid summer, right?). It does suck when you want to capture that picturesque pagoda or Gaudi's Sagrada Familia but you can't get it cause life just keeps happening in your way! Well, I turned the camera around on those digi toting, fanny pack wearing tourists (myself included) who really make these places what they are (and mite more interesting to boot). So I hope you enjoy checking out whats going on in the city that today has come a long way from being forbidden.
Little girls playing hand games inside pagoda in Forbidden CityBeijing, China
Little boy posing for mom in the Forbidden CityBeijing, China
The photographers snapping awayBeijing, China
Tour group (one of many) perusing the gardens of the Forbidden CityBeijing, China
Late morning snooze in the gardens of the Forbidden CityBeijing, China
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Beijing
Corey and I arrived back to Dalian from Beijing late last night, and now I'm here to try and translate a short, but incredibly awesome, trip into easily digestible blog form. Before we start, I just want to say that the words probably won't do it justice. The pictures might come closer, and you might get even closer when Corey throws up some shots in the very near future. The best hope I have after reading this is that you'll feel the inspired need to get off your ass, hop in a plane, and head on over here. Besides, we wouldn't mind the company.
Lets get on with the show...
DAY ONE
The hostel we stayed at was ideally located in the HaoHi area - basically, it's an incredibly trendy area surrounding a gorgeous lake. It is also the gate to many of the HuTongs (small alleyways that are all over Beijing... trust me, you know what I'm talking about). Because of our location, we were able to start the day strong by renting bikes and traversing around the HuTongs.
The HuTong bike route conveniently led us to the north gate of the Forbidden City. Now, before we start here, I just want to say that the Forbidden City is bar none the coolest name for a place that I have ever heard. And I'm glad I went. That said, it sure ain't forbidden no more. The place is crammed with tourists (most of whom were Chinese), so it got a bit crowded at parts. But the place definitely gets points for being able to maintain its majesty and awe inspiring nature despite the crowds. Usually overpopulated touristy things are a major turn off, but the Forbidden City still impressed me. The size, the architecture and the flora all paint a fairly magnificent picture of ancient China.
Not that it's all ancient... strangely enough, there's a hidden Starbucks. There's no sign (besides one that reads "Coffee Shop" with an arrow pointing), but the Seattle Corporate Kings have infiltrated, and they don't seem to want anyone to know, as they threaten to not serve you your coffee if you take a picture.
It's a good thing I don't drink coffee...
As you walk out of the Forbidden City, you quickly leave ancient China behind when you walk into Tienanmen Square. Just as packed and bustling as the Forbidden City, your eyes can't help but be drawn away from the crowds and straight at the giant portrait of Chairman Mao. You also can't help but think about all the history that happened there, and the fact that all the Chinese walking around are probably completely unaware...
All the sightseeing mentioned above pretty much killed the entire day, and at night we met up with Cody, a friend of ours from Syracuse who is living in Beijing for the time being, who took us out for Peking Duck, the city's world renowned specialty. It was "quite nice" as the Brits would say... (That means it tasted good.)
DAY TWO
Day two was all about the Great Wall. We decided to go a little further out of Beijing than most tourists go to see the wall, and went to an area called Simatai. Lonely Planet promised us a wall that was less crowded, and also a bit more of an "experience". This part of the wall has numerous steep ascents (and descents), with the steepest climb reportedly at 70 degrees.
Well, lonely planet delivered. I don't want to over use a lame joke and say that the Great Wall was... great... and besides, it was a lot more than that. It was awe-inspiring in so many different ways. From the grandiose nature of the structure itself, to the steep climbs that'll scare anyone, not to mention the jaw dropping views, the Great Wall is without a doubt one of the coolest places I have ever been to, and it lives up to the hype in so many ways.
Corey and I climbed a good chunk of it (and I do mean climbed - at least for parts), and even though we only explored a fraction of the wall, you could get a real sense of what makes it one of the great Wonders of the World.
(see... climbing...)
Also, since we only saw a little bit, I think we'd be more than happy to check out the rest if and when some of you loyal readers come to visit.
The six hour round trip, coupled with the time spent on the wall, took care of day two. In the evening we met up with Cody again, who is probably convinced that all we do is eat.
DAY THREE
We tried to get an early start on our last day in Beijing by going to a temple that Lonely Planet promised us would be "an active place of worship", where there are rooms where monks contemplate the wrongdoings of their lives, eternal damnation, the afterlife, etc, etc, as well as have shows where monks do backflips and the like (presumably while contemplating eternal damnation as well).
Well, it was definitely a temple, but aside from that, there wasn't much else going on. Oh well, at least Lonely Planet hooked us up with the Simatai Great Wall...
The day shifted into slower gear after that. We visited the bargainers paradise (or hell, depending on which way you look at it, and how badly you get ripped off) the Salt Market. It was actually kind of neat, and we scored some sweet stuff that we probably still grossly overpaid for despite bargaining like crazy.
When the store clerks wouldn't budge on a ridiculous price and I just decided to walk away, some of them got nasty. One girl went as far as telling me that I'm too ugly to demand prices that low. And that maybe if I was handsomer, I'd get better deals. Ouch.
Afterwards we walked around the city for a bit with Cody, who took us to some sweet DVD shops that'll ensure that the Bootleg DVD section will keep going for a long time. Some of the bootleggers in Beijing are a lot classier than the ones in Dalian, I mean... having actual large stores out in the street devoted to illegal movie goodness? Quality.
Of course that doesn't mean the street sellers weren't there also.
After a dinner, and a mad dash to the airport, Corey and I said goodbye to Beijing after an all too short trip. But it's ok, we'll be back.
And a quick note here at the end - the pictures on the blog are a mere taste of the many, many kickass pictures we took. Many more of my Beijing pictures will be finding their way to Facebook. Also, if I were you, I'd check back sooner rather than later for Corey's pictures right here on this very blog. They'll be worth the return trip here.
So until I see you on The Wall, or until my next post, I bid you farewell.
- Shawn
Lets get on with the show...
DAY ONE
The hostel we stayed at was ideally located in the HaoHi area - basically, it's an incredibly trendy area surrounding a gorgeous lake. It is also the gate to many of the HuTongs (small alleyways that are all over Beijing... trust me, you know what I'm talking about). Because of our location, we were able to start the day strong by renting bikes and traversing around the HuTongs.
The HuTong bike route conveniently led us to the north gate of the Forbidden City. Now, before we start here, I just want to say that the Forbidden City is bar none the coolest name for a place that I have ever heard. And I'm glad I went. That said, it sure ain't forbidden no more. The place is crammed with tourists (most of whom were Chinese), so it got a bit crowded at parts. But the place definitely gets points for being able to maintain its majesty and awe inspiring nature despite the crowds. Usually overpopulated touristy things are a major turn off, but the Forbidden City still impressed me. The size, the architecture and the flora all paint a fairly magnificent picture of ancient China.
Not that it's all ancient... strangely enough, there's a hidden Starbucks. There's no sign (besides one that reads "Coffee Shop" with an arrow pointing), but the Seattle Corporate Kings have infiltrated, and they don't seem to want anyone to know, as they threaten to not serve you your coffee if you take a picture.
It's a good thing I don't drink coffee...
As you walk out of the Forbidden City, you quickly leave ancient China behind when you walk into Tienanmen Square. Just as packed and bustling as the Forbidden City, your eyes can't help but be drawn away from the crowds and straight at the giant portrait of Chairman Mao. You also can't help but think about all the history that happened there, and the fact that all the Chinese walking around are probably completely unaware...
All the sightseeing mentioned above pretty much killed the entire day, and at night we met up with Cody, a friend of ours from Syracuse who is living in Beijing for the time being, who took us out for Peking Duck, the city's world renowned specialty. It was "quite nice" as the Brits would say... (That means it tasted good.)
DAY TWO
Day two was all about the Great Wall. We decided to go a little further out of Beijing than most tourists go to see the wall, and went to an area called Simatai. Lonely Planet promised us a wall that was less crowded, and also a bit more of an "experience". This part of the wall has numerous steep ascents (and descents), with the steepest climb reportedly at 70 degrees.
Well, lonely planet delivered. I don't want to over use a lame joke and say that the Great Wall was... great... and besides, it was a lot more than that. It was awe-inspiring in so many different ways. From the grandiose nature of the structure itself, to the steep climbs that'll scare anyone, not to mention the jaw dropping views, the Great Wall is without a doubt one of the coolest places I have ever been to, and it lives up to the hype in so many ways.
Corey and I climbed a good chunk of it (and I do mean climbed - at least for parts), and even though we only explored a fraction of the wall, you could get a real sense of what makes it one of the great Wonders of the World.
(see... climbing...)
Also, since we only saw a little bit, I think we'd be more than happy to check out the rest if and when some of you loyal readers come to visit.
The six hour round trip, coupled with the time spent on the wall, took care of day two. In the evening we met up with Cody again, who is probably convinced that all we do is eat.
DAY THREE
We tried to get an early start on our last day in Beijing by going to a temple that Lonely Planet promised us would be "an active place of worship", where there are rooms where monks contemplate the wrongdoings of their lives, eternal damnation, the afterlife, etc, etc, as well as have shows where monks do backflips and the like (presumably while contemplating eternal damnation as well).
Well, it was definitely a temple, but aside from that, there wasn't much else going on. Oh well, at least Lonely Planet hooked us up with the Simatai Great Wall...
The day shifted into slower gear after that. We visited the bargainers paradise (or hell, depending on which way you look at it, and how badly you get ripped off) the Salt Market. It was actually kind of neat, and we scored some sweet stuff that we probably still grossly overpaid for despite bargaining like crazy.
When the store clerks wouldn't budge on a ridiculous price and I just decided to walk away, some of them got nasty. One girl went as far as telling me that I'm too ugly to demand prices that low. And that maybe if I was handsomer, I'd get better deals. Ouch.
Afterwards we walked around the city for a bit with Cody, who took us to some sweet DVD shops that'll ensure that the Bootleg DVD section will keep going for a long time. Some of the bootleggers in Beijing are a lot classier than the ones in Dalian, I mean... having actual large stores out in the street devoted to illegal movie goodness? Quality.
Of course that doesn't mean the street sellers weren't there also.
After a dinner, and a mad dash to the airport, Corey and I said goodbye to Beijing after an all too short trip. But it's ok, we'll be back.
And a quick note here at the end - the pictures on the blog are a mere taste of the many, many kickass pictures we took. Many more of my Beijing pictures will be finding their way to Facebook. Also, if I were you, I'd check back sooner rather than later for Corey's pictures right here on this very blog. They'll be worth the return trip here.
So until I see you on The Wall, or until my next post, I bid you farewell.
- Shawn
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Beijing Bound
So a quick little update here, as we have been told that there has been a shortage of posts. Yesterday, we scored ourselves tickets to Beijing. Thanks to Laura, one of the other foreign teachers, we were able to score ourselves three free days to trapeze around the country's capital.
This is our first trip out of the city, and I know I'm psyched. All future travel related posts will be found under the handy "Epic Journeys" label. It was between that and "China Chravels", so take what you get.
So expect some bloggy goodness when we get back. Until then stay warm, and stay cool. (Wrap your head around that one while you wait for us to get back.
- Shawn
This is our first trip out of the city, and I know I'm psyched. All future travel related posts will be found under the handy "Epic Journeys" label. It was between that and "China Chravels", so take what you get.
So expect some bloggy goodness when we get back. Until then stay warm, and stay cool. (Wrap your head around that one while you wait for us to get back.
- Shawn
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Double Take
Well its been rainy and cold here so what better time to coerce Shawn into playing photo assistant and the officially recognized holder of the umbrella? Exactly, no better time, and so we ventured out into soggy, yet brightly lit, Dalian!
April showers in Friendship SquareDalian, China
The "Local"Dalian, China
Shawn posing all artsy like by our apartment in the 'DMZ'Dalian, China
Take Care, Corey
Monday, April 9, 2007
Standard Citizen II: Audio Attack
Remember a few posts back when I wrote about a song that Corey (and sort of me too) corrected for one of my students? If you don't, scroll down a bit to the post named "I Want to Be a Model Citizen..."
First, I got the name of the song wrong. Sue me, it was after a long day. Regardless, we were handed CDs of Standard Citizen this past Sunday, and of course, I just can't wait to share it with all of you out here in internet land.
This is also the first of many posts where we'll throw you guys some audio and or video from over here. Don't get too spoiled though... only for special occasions. Just look for the A/V Club tag.
But enough jibber jabber. Without further ado: Standard Citizen (English Version) as sung by... umm... Peter.
And, as a special bonus for all you loyal visitors to Year of the Rats, here's the full song... in Chinese!
I hope you all enjoy them, as there might be much more news on this side project to come, seeing as how I gave Peter our names for a forthcoming magazine article.
Never a dull moment.
- Shawn
First, I got the name of the song wrong. Sue me, it was after a long day. Regardless, we were handed CDs of Standard Citizen this past Sunday, and of course, I just can't wait to share it with all of you out here in internet land.
This is also the first of many posts where we'll throw you guys some audio and or video from over here. Don't get too spoiled though... only for special occasions. Just look for the A/V Club tag.
But enough jibber jabber. Without further ado: Standard Citizen (English Version) as sung by... umm... Peter.
And, as a special bonus for all you loyal visitors to Year of the Rats, here's the full song... in Chinese!
I hope you all enjoy them, as there might be much more news on this side project to come, seeing as how I gave Peter our names for a forthcoming magazine article.
Never a dull moment.
- Shawn
Bootleg Reviews: Rocky Balboa, Donnie Brasco, Blood Diamond, and Man Of The Year
Welcome one and all to our second installment of bootleg reviews. As I said last time, bootlegs are such a big part of "Out of Towner" life here in China that well... it definitely deserves an occasional post in its honor.
Before we rock and roll on a new batch of street-bought fun, here's a quick reminder of the rating system:
Bang ji le - Excellent
Hen hao - Good
Yi ban - Meh (so-so)
Bu hao - Bad
Cha ji le - Shit
ROCKY BALBOA
Ah Rocky 6. I had wanted to see you for so long, but somehow, no one wanted to go see it with me. Despite being an American classic, maybe Rocky 5 left such a bad taste in people's mouths that the couldn't be bothered to accompany me on a $10 trip to the movies. But buying it for cheap in a strange locker in the basement of a mall cuts through many people's first line of defense excuses. In other words: Corey didn't have a choice any more.
So clearly I was looking forward to this one... but did it live up to the hype?
Yes.
It was really a damn good movie, having everything you'd want in a Rocky movie, and a healthy dose of heart to it.
The real question at the heart of any Rocky review would be: Where does it fall in the grand scheme of the Rocky Saga? Well... it's tough. Clearly, it could never dethrone the Cold War parabolic greatness of Rocky 4 (I WILL BREAK YOU!). But I would say it's easily on par with Rocky the first... making it a damn fun movie.
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Turns out any movie named Rocky Balboa probably stars former WWE superstar The Rock. Oh, it's probably produced by WWE films also... Eh, close enough.
Shawn's Rating: Hen hao
Corey's Two Cents: Hen hao
DONNIE BRASCO
Much like American Beauty from last time, Donnie Brasco is just one of those modern classics that somehow passed me by. Thanks to the wide selection of old school bootlegs down the street, I was able to knock off yet another movie from my "I Can't Believe I never Saw That" list.
Also a lot like American Beauty, this movie was damn good. In different ways of course. As everyone I'm sure already knows, Donnie Brasco is one of many in a long line of great gangster movies. I'm sure everyone also knows that what makes it stand high above so many others in its class is it's classic line "Fuggehdaboutit." I mean, any movie that has a scene devoted to explaining what their classic line means (complete with Paul Giammati in a pre-stardom role), is probably a great movie.
Also, having a scene where your main characters feed hamburgers to a lion in the back seat of their car is also movie gold.
Donnie Brasco being anything less than great? Fuggehdaboutit!
(You know I had to... besides, it's still new to me.)
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Nada. Movie's old enough for them to get it right I guess.
Shawn's Rating: Bang ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Bang ji le
BLOOD DIAMOND
Blood Diamond is good. Real good. It's a movie with an important message that never gets too preachy. It hits you hard with the truths behind the diamond exchange in Africa, and never stops. If anything, it just starts hitting harder and lower.
The acting is great, the pacing is great, and the two hour plus movie never feels long.
I don't want to say too much about this one, since I have a feeling it flew under a lot of people's radars. If you dismissed it because of the subject material, give it a look anyway. If you dismissed it because of Leo... well... get over it. Just keep not seeing Titanic, and check it out.
Shawn's Rating: Bang ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Bang ji le
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: You know how Martin Scorsese directed Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed? Well, apparently he did Blood Diamond also.
MAN OF THE YEAR
When I heard that they were making a movie about a Jon Stewart type character who runs for president, I got pretty psyched. Decently cool concept, right? Even though it had Robin Williams, who's been without a good movie since Death to Smoochie, I had fairly high hopes.
The commercials and trailers didn't do anything good for my excitement. Pretty much the exact opposite actually. It killed any thought I ever had for wanting to see the flick. Corey wanted to see it though (hadn't seen any of the promotional clips probably), so we picked this one up in the same locker as Rocky.
Well, the movie starts off interestingly enough, but quickly devolves into absolute garbage about voting machine glitches and unintelligible conspiracy theories.
Robin Williams is good, and gets off a few good lines (mixed in with a few painful groaners), but it's no where near enough to save the movie.
Not even Christopher Walken can save it.
I wanted to just give this one a "Bu hao", but considering the weakness of the second half of the movie, and just how badly they killed such a good concept (and probably any chance for a Stewart/Colbert ticket in '08) I'm going straight for the Cha ji le on this one. And I think Corey may agree (or hate it even more than me).
In short: Garbage.
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Put it this way... any DVD box that has a negative review of the movie on the back should be a clear give away. Yeah, I'm being completely serious. They actually cut and pasted at least a paragraph of some bad review for the movie.
Oh yeah, and some of it is in Russian for some reason...
Shawn's Rating: Cha ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Cha ji le
Hope you found that informative or something. Check back here tomorrow for what may be the Year of the Rat's BEST BLOG POST EVER!
I kid you not.
- Shawn
Before we rock and roll on a new batch of street-bought fun, here's a quick reminder of the rating system:
Bang ji le - Excellent
Hen hao - Good
Yi ban - Meh (so-so)
Bu hao - Bad
Cha ji le - Shit
ROCKY BALBOA
Ah Rocky 6. I had wanted to see you for so long, but somehow, no one wanted to go see it with me. Despite being an American classic, maybe Rocky 5 left such a bad taste in people's mouths that the couldn't be bothered to accompany me on a $10 trip to the movies. But buying it for cheap in a strange locker in the basement of a mall cuts through many people's first line of defense excuses. In other words: Corey didn't have a choice any more.
So clearly I was looking forward to this one... but did it live up to the hype?
Yes.
It was really a damn good movie, having everything you'd want in a Rocky movie, and a healthy dose of heart to it.
The real question at the heart of any Rocky review would be: Where does it fall in the grand scheme of the Rocky Saga? Well... it's tough. Clearly, it could never dethrone the Cold War parabolic greatness of Rocky 4 (I WILL BREAK YOU!). But I would say it's easily on par with Rocky the first... making it a damn fun movie.
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Turns out any movie named Rocky Balboa probably stars former WWE superstar The Rock. Oh, it's probably produced by WWE films also... Eh, close enough.
Shawn's Rating: Hen hao
Corey's Two Cents: Hen hao
DONNIE BRASCO
Much like American Beauty from last time, Donnie Brasco is just one of those modern classics that somehow passed me by. Thanks to the wide selection of old school bootlegs down the street, I was able to knock off yet another movie from my "I Can't Believe I never Saw That" list.
Also a lot like American Beauty, this movie was damn good. In different ways of course. As everyone I'm sure already knows, Donnie Brasco is one of many in a long line of great gangster movies. I'm sure everyone also knows that what makes it stand high above so many others in its class is it's classic line "Fuggehdaboutit." I mean, any movie that has a scene devoted to explaining what their classic line means (complete with Paul Giammati in a pre-stardom role), is probably a great movie.
Also, having a scene where your main characters feed hamburgers to a lion in the back seat of their car is also movie gold.
Donnie Brasco being anything less than great? Fuggehdaboutit!
(You know I had to... besides, it's still new to me.)
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Nada. Movie's old enough for them to get it right I guess.
Shawn's Rating: Bang ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Bang ji le
BLOOD DIAMOND
Blood Diamond is good. Real good. It's a movie with an important message that never gets too preachy. It hits you hard with the truths behind the diamond exchange in Africa, and never stops. If anything, it just starts hitting harder and lower.
The acting is great, the pacing is great, and the two hour plus movie never feels long.
I don't want to say too much about this one, since I have a feeling it flew under a lot of people's radars. If you dismissed it because of the subject material, give it a look anyway. If you dismissed it because of Leo... well... get over it. Just keep not seeing Titanic, and check it out.
Shawn's Rating: Bang ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Bang ji le
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: You know how Martin Scorsese directed Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed? Well, apparently he did Blood Diamond also.
MAN OF THE YEAR
When I heard that they were making a movie about a Jon Stewart type character who runs for president, I got pretty psyched. Decently cool concept, right? Even though it had Robin Williams, who's been without a good movie since Death to Smoochie, I had fairly high hopes.
The commercials and trailers didn't do anything good for my excitement. Pretty much the exact opposite actually. It killed any thought I ever had for wanting to see the flick. Corey wanted to see it though (hadn't seen any of the promotional clips probably), so we picked this one up in the same locker as Rocky.
Well, the movie starts off interestingly enough, but quickly devolves into absolute garbage about voting machine glitches and unintelligible conspiracy theories.
Robin Williams is good, and gets off a few good lines (mixed in with a few painful groaners), but it's no where near enough to save the movie.
Not even Christopher Walken can save it.
I wanted to just give this one a "Bu hao", but considering the weakness of the second half of the movie, and just how badly they killed such a good concept (and probably any chance for a Stewart/Colbert ticket in '08) I'm going straight for the Cha ji le on this one. And I think Corey may agree (or hate it even more than me).
In short: Garbage.
CHINESE BOOTLEG DVD BOX FUN: Put it this way... any DVD box that has a negative review of the movie on the back should be a clear give away. Yeah, I'm being completely serious. They actually cut and pasted at least a paragraph of some bad review for the movie.
Oh yeah, and some of it is in Russian for some reason...
Shawn's Rating: Cha ji le
Corey's Two Cents: Cha ji le
Hope you found that informative or something. Check back here tomorrow for what may be the Year of the Rat's BEST BLOG POST EVER!
I kid you not.
- Shawn
Friday, April 6, 2007
At First Glance
Taking a break in Labor ParkDalian, China
Temple at Zhongshan ParkDalian, China
Modern China meets Ancient China, Labor Park(They're sure to have several more meetings)
Dalian, China
Xinghai ParkDalian, China
So word on the street is that I (Corey) am actually in China as well even though this is my first post from the 'DMZ'. Life has been pretty good, and surely never lacking in interesting and different ways of doing things but what I'm here to post about is a too long necessary foray into some photography. So without further ado... pictures!
Whippin' the top, Labor ParkDalian, China
Skating the rings at Olympic SquareDalian, China
A helping hand, Olympic SquareDalian, China
Catch ya soon, Corey :)
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Pimp Your Foreigner
I'm signed to a 20 hour a week contract, so when classes of mine are cancelled due to no one showing up, I tend to sit around the teachers room doing nothing. If I'm feeling inspired, I'll write something here... or maybe even do a lesson plan or two.
All that (sort of) changed when last night I was informed by one of the other Foreign Teachers that since I was being paid for hours I wasn't working, I was to be put on promotional detail.
I didn't really know what that meant, but I was up for anything.
Turns out what it means is that I stand outside a competing school with two of the Chinese Teachers, and we all hand out fliers that let parents know that our school has way more English lessons than the more expensive one their tykes are in.
I know... minimal... Chinese, so I couldn't actually talk up the school to any of the parents, but I knew before I even went out that that wasn't why I was there. I was being (and will continue to be) paraded around so the parents could see: LOOK!! WE HAVE REAL LIVE FOREIGNERS!!!
It's actually really funny.
Also funny was running into other solicitors when we changed our location to in front of a heavily trafficked supermarket. The funny part was that he was handing out brochures of some sort for one of the city's hospitals. I never knew that hospitals had to resort to guerrilla marketing like that.
All in all, it was fun being on show I guess. Kinda cold, but... uhh... strangely flattering. Very strangely.
- Shawn
All that (sort of) changed when last night I was informed by one of the other Foreign Teachers that since I was being paid for hours I wasn't working, I was to be put on promotional detail.
I didn't really know what that meant, but I was up for anything.
Turns out what it means is that I stand outside a competing school with two of the Chinese Teachers, and we all hand out fliers that let parents know that our school has way more English lessons than the more expensive one their tykes are in.
I know... minimal... Chinese, so I couldn't actually talk up the school to any of the parents, but I knew before I even went out that that wasn't why I was there. I was being (and will continue to be) paraded around so the parents could see: LOOK!! WE HAVE REAL LIVE FOREIGNERS!!!
It's actually really funny.
Also funny was running into other solicitors when we changed our location to in front of a heavily trafficked supermarket. The funny part was that he was handing out brochures of some sort for one of the city's hospitals. I never knew that hospitals had to resort to guerrilla marketing like that.
All in all, it was fun being on show I guess. Kinda cold, but... uhh... strangely flattering. Very strangely.
- Shawn
Monday, April 2, 2007
I Want to Be A Model Citizen...
Last week after finishing my classes on Sunday evening, I walked into the teacher's room to see Corey hard at work with one of my students and his parents. After some prying, I found out that the kid was going to be recording a song in English. The song, called "I Want to Be a Modern Citizen", was written by a Chinese composer so there were some English errors.
The parents quickly roped me into the correcting, and before long we butchered up the flow of the song in favor of grammatical correctness.
What'd we know?
This week, the kid came back with his mom in tow. I guess our (really Corey's) corrections made a strong impression. The song's composer wanted a picture of the foreigners that fixed his song with the student that would sing it.
On principle, I refused to take any picture until the kid sang us all the song. And sing he did. I was actually surprised... it sounded really good, and it flowed nicely, even though the words shouldn't have matched up with the melody.
We done good.
And the kid and the composer got their picture.
Here's to making waves in China,
- Shawn
The parents quickly roped me into the correcting, and before long we butchered up the flow of the song in favor of grammatical correctness.
What'd we know?
This week, the kid came back with his mom in tow. I guess our (really Corey's) corrections made a strong impression. The song's composer wanted a picture of the foreigners that fixed his song with the student that would sing it.
On principle, I refused to take any picture until the kid sang us all the song. And sing he did. I was actually surprised... it sounded really good, and it flowed nicely, even though the words shouldn't have matched up with the melody.
We done good.
And the kid and the composer got their picture.
Here's to making waves in China,
- Shawn
Sunday, April 1, 2007
A Hilarious Abuse of Power
Can't believe I forgot to write about this one... I mean, it was the same class that the previous post was about.
See here in China, it's April Fools Day. I mean, not all the Chinese know it... but uhhh... close enough.
Kids that come to our school come on the weekends, and during their free time during the week. We are the closest thing many of them have to a "break".
Louis, my Chinese Teacher for my level C7 class and I decided to pull a small tiny trick on the kids. We walked in, and told them there was no class. Louis said he had to go, and I told him I'll catch up with him after I give the class their homework for next week. I piled on a lot of work, and then peaced out of the classroom. We both waited in the hallway as we heard the confused "nigggaaaas..." inside. They got dressed, and then walked out the door. Where we were waiting telling them that we were just kidding.
They were confused, but one quick explanation of April Fools Day later, class resumed.
Now that I think about it... that was a damn mean thing to do. We just raised and quickly crushed their little hopes of having class and school-free time. Oh so precious freedom was in sight, and then snatched away by the big bad teachers with an evil sense of humor.
But I mean... it was kind of funny, and they got over it anyway. Not like they'd know what to do with the time anyways.
Yes, that was meant to be sad and tragic right there.
Happy April 1st.
- Shawn
See here in China, it's April Fools Day. I mean, not all the Chinese know it... but uhhh... close enough.
Kids that come to our school come on the weekends, and during their free time during the week. We are the closest thing many of them have to a "break".
Louis, my Chinese Teacher for my level C7 class and I decided to pull a small tiny trick on the kids. We walked in, and told them there was no class. Louis said he had to go, and I told him I'll catch up with him after I give the class their homework for next week. I piled on a lot of work, and then peaced out of the classroom. We both waited in the hallway as we heard the confused "nigggaaaas..." inside. They got dressed, and then walked out the door. Where we were waiting telling them that we were just kidding.
They were confused, but one quick explanation of April Fools Day later, class resumed.
Now that I think about it... that was a damn mean thing to do. We just raised and quickly crushed their little hopes of having class and school-free time. Oh so precious freedom was in sight, and then snatched away by the big bad teachers with an evil sense of humor.
But I mean... it was kind of funny, and they got over it anyway. Not like they'd know what to do with the time anyways.
Yes, that was meant to be sad and tragic right there.
Happy April 1st.
- Shawn
A Delicious Abuse of Power
So I broke one of the cardinal rules of teaching at Future School today. But if it works out, it'll be totally worth it.
As part of the immersive English teaching philosophy (TM), we are supposed to discourage our kids from relying on their Chinese, and make them speak in English as much as possible. We're trained to come up with creative "punishments" for Chinese being spoken in class when not necessary for instructions or something of the like.
But I threw all of that out today because the chapter I was covering dealt with recommending food.
I went ahead and told them to recommend me delicious Chinese dishes in Chinese. It wasn't all bad... the English form was there: I recommend/suggest ________ (insert strange Chinese dish).
And I mean, I made them try and translate it for me into English afterwards anyway. I also doubled my no Chinese strictness for the rest of the lesson. Made the little dudes and dudettes sing the class a song if they spoke too much. They hated it. I loved it - especially when one of them broke into Chinese Hip Hop.
Basically, all of the Foreign Teachers have been relying on a tattered piece of paper I have in my wallet that I got on our second day here. I'm sure I've written about it before. Now, we've got two - and some strange new food to try: like celery and lilly. Apparently you eat the lilly and it's delicious. I'll let you know.
Some might call it an abuse of power. I call it a necessary evil.
And probably an abuse of power at that. Ah well, at least I'll be well fed.
On another note, this is the first of many school related stories that you'll be able to find here under the label of "Look Into The Future". Ominous and misleading, I know.
I actually have another great school related story that I'll post real soon, I just need to get home and put a picture on the computer because it's quite necessary for the full effect of the story.
And remember... don't tell anyone about this, or I won't tell you how to order celery and lilly!
- S
As part of the immersive English teaching philosophy (TM), we are supposed to discourage our kids from relying on their Chinese, and make them speak in English as much as possible. We're trained to come up with creative "punishments" for Chinese being spoken in class when not necessary for instructions or something of the like.
But I threw all of that out today because the chapter I was covering dealt with recommending food.
I went ahead and told them to recommend me delicious Chinese dishes in Chinese. It wasn't all bad... the English form was there: I recommend/suggest ________ (insert strange Chinese dish).
And I mean, I made them try and translate it for me into English afterwards anyway. I also doubled my no Chinese strictness for the rest of the lesson. Made the little dudes and dudettes sing the class a song if they spoke too much. They hated it. I loved it - especially when one of them broke into Chinese Hip Hop.
Basically, all of the Foreign Teachers have been relying on a tattered piece of paper I have in my wallet that I got on our second day here. I'm sure I've written about it before. Now, we've got two - and some strange new food to try: like celery and lilly. Apparently you eat the lilly and it's delicious. I'll let you know.
Some might call it an abuse of power. I call it a necessary evil.
And probably an abuse of power at that. Ah well, at least I'll be well fed.
On another note, this is the first of many school related stories that you'll be able to find here under the label of "Look Into The Future". Ominous and misleading, I know.
I actually have another great school related story that I'll post real soon, I just need to get home and put a picture on the computer because it's quite necessary for the full effect of the story.
And remember... don't tell anyone about this, or I won't tell you how to order celery and lilly!
- S
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