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elenapolis
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Name: Elizabeth
Country: China
Birthday: 9/12/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: China, family, running, cooking, creative stuff, kids, language learning, health, learning new things, teaching, making new friends, American tea, being a woman, music, dancing, kickboxing, ballet, 'adopting' kids, painting murals, warm rain, Spring, Fall, discovering the extraordinary in the 'ordinary', being a big sister
Occupation: English Teacher in China
Industry: Education
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  elenapolis
Member Since:
11/19/2004
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| UPDATE- I'm engaged!Well, it's been a long long time since I got on. You see, Xanga is blocked in China and it takes about about 20 minutes to access it through all the loopholes, so I just wrote on my facebook account. So, if you want to keep up with me, you should join facebook. Well, my friend in Seattle invited me to her home for a week and I had a few moments, so I thought I would paste my facebook blog onto here. You can read the next 2 pages if you like or are interested but it will be from most current happenings to right after the fire. Biggest news so far after freedom is that I am engaged to the man of my dreams, Daniel Liu. If you want details, call me or email me or join facebook and I'll put the story up when I get another free moment. 
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| June 5th- Free in the USAJust landed in Detroit's mammoth airport after a very terrifying flight full of turbulence because we were flying over thunderstorms.
At one point, my new Chinese friend sitting beside me and I simutaneously yelped out loud because the plane fell twice right after each other so that our stomachs shot to our throats and we were slighty lifted from our seats.
I kept watching the flight attendant to see if she were worried. As long as she was calm, I could be. Though tensely looking out the window from her "jump seat" she kept her composure.
Then, she turned to the passenger in front of her and began expaining why she had scolded a mother for letting her child out of its seat during our descent, "We aways pray for safe flights and take all the precautions we can and have been kept safe so far, Thank Jesus, but you can never know..."
I clenched my hands and thought how nice it was that I wasn't alone in my entreaties to Jesus to send his angels to hold our plane through the storms.
I compared that moment to my life and thought, "Jesus is aways in control. He never frets about the future or the present. If I just keep looking to Him and 'read his face' to how my life is being lived and the situations in it that I can't control, then my heart will be much more at peace.
Considering these things as I kept my eyes glued to the window, I viewed strangely colored rain clouds rushing by and glimpses of Detroit below. And thats when I noticed the absence of that feeling. You know, that, "I'm SO excited to be HOOOOME!" feeling I've had till recently.
It was just me landing at another airport. Of course, I'm excited to see my family as ever but that feeling of home has competely removed itself from a specific place and setted itself on people. I've just becomed so accustomed to China that it's a bit difficult readjusting when I come back.
Following that train of thought, I decided that I should write down those thoughts and anticipations that make me squeal for joy, smile broadly out of nowhere or jump up and down (I'm expressive, what can I say?).
I thought of two things off the top of my mind.
1. The realization that I'm with Daniel Liu, just the most amazing guy of my dreams and more...
It was so cute the other day when we were talking via skype when he was in Singapore... he was telling me about his home there that would soon be paid off and showing me around via pc video camera, going room to room and saying, "this is going to be ours witout mortgage!" I love it when he says things like that... anything with "we/us" and "future" together has such a nice ring to it.
I'll just start thinking about him and smile broadly as I walk along while people wonder what I could possibly be thinking of.
2. When my students tell me that they want to know Jesus more or will be reading their Bible or buy one to read or that I've adding some good to their life (by writing me a note)
3. The thought of seeing my sisters and brothers...
4. That feeling of relief and a removal of weight from the past 4 months of the fire trial.
These things make me smile and do all those nice expressions of joy previously mentioned.
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| June 3rd- Hong Kong from My eyesI believe that I am highly unqualified to give any sort of analysis on Hong Kong.
That is, unless you want to read about the inside of the Initial Coffee shop/fashion boutique or my impression of Cafe O from the ground floor.
The primary reason for my six day stay in Hong Kong was to complete a writing deadline for a creative writing book that will be published next month to teach students in international schools how to write compositions.
*Special thanks to Betty C, my highschool writing teacher, mentor and friend, who taught me everything I know about writing well.*
I LOVE this job, btw. But, I do believe that after five days of writing, I have hit "the wall." If you are a distance runner, you will understand this term. If not, it's where, no matter how much further your physical strength will carry you, your mental strength cannot hold up and you just must stop.
So, I am only writing half a day today and will walk around enjoying the town a bit.
There are some marked differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The most visible difference to me is my invisibility to them. That is, I don't turn heads (due only to my foreign status, trust me). In fact, I blend right into the background like a fly on the wall and I LOVE it!
One cause for this is the LARGE amount of foreigners here. Besides the Indians who seem to have come in mass to sell fake goods, there is a rainbow of other people working and living here. It's like a NYC with an Asian flair. Still, primarily Chinese, but enough foreigners to make us common-place.
The next difference I noticed was their tendency to stay up very very late. Most shops are open to 11pm with some opened till midnight. You can eat dinner till about this time too. Of course, the shops don't open till 12:30-1:30 in the afternoon.
This trend baffled me until I realized that many people in Hong Kong, especially those who work in the financial field, work very late (sometimes till 9 or 10pm). They're slaves to their job Mon-Fri, get a lot of money, pay a lot of money for stuff that they keep, clean, care for and throw away and live their lives on Sat and Sunday.
I'd really much rather just live a simpler life with les stuff and more time for real life. Ah well, whatever floats their boat.
So, unlike Shanghai with people swarming the streets and subways at all times of the day, Hong Kong's streets are pretty quiet during the day. A lot of red taxis (driven on the wrong side of the road as the English) and double-deckers wind up and down and around the twisty turvy spaghetti of roads that don't seem very well laid out.
There's always the option of taking the Subway (called the MRT... or is it the MTR?). However, It's a bit pricey. For example, to go just two stops underground to Hong Kong Island (from Kowloon, another part of Hong Kong) is 8.50 HK$. However, there is a cheaper option of taking the ferry for just 1.70 although it takes about half an hour more with walking included.
I just choose to walk about. The first three days here I ate quite a bit of yummy HK food. One particularly yummy food was the egg tarts. Now, most of the egg tarts here are slightly larger than the ones found in Shanghai with a firmer, pie-like crust. Also, the consistancy is a bit firmer like a slightly hardened custard. They are tasty but, I prefer the smaller ones in Shanghai with their flakey crusts and softer, smoother filling.
Another tastey Hong Kong specialty are the glutinous rice rolls. This breakfast food is created from what seems similar to a thin, glutinous rice tortilla rolled up, filled with a slightly sweet glutionous rice filling and shrimp and steamed.
Eaten with soy sauce, these soft warm rice rolls are a filling and satisfying.
When paying the bill for these different goods, I was once again reminded that I was no longer in Sanghai. While I can buy a bowl of rice and an egg for under 10 yuan in Shanghai, the same dish is nearly 30 here. The very cheapest meal I found was rice with a plate of Chinese broccoli for 20 yuan.
And though the food is steep, the shopping is really good. I always heard that from Chinese people but I never quite believed them until I arrived. My reasoning was that te Chinese who are rich enough to come to HK probably have a different idea of cheap than I do. Cheap for me is like $10 (USD) dresses.
Here, they have just that. I think the best shopping in the world is in the USA with all it's outlets and good quality clothes to be found for those who look for them. Here they have a few outlets as well and, with no import taxes in HK, it is the shoppers haven.
Though not usually a fan of shopping, I own about 3 summer outfits (at most) due to the house fire, and had a good time in the evenings buying some much needed (and CHEAP!) clothes.
So, this is Hong Kong from my eyes. With most of my days spent writing from the inside of coffee shops with free wifi, I didn't see much. But, that's ok.
Writing is theraputic and leaves me with a sense of accomplishment. It was a good rest and transition time between my crazy week last week and spending time with my family and readjusting to the USA.
To which amazing country I will go tomorrow bright and early!
God is good.
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| June 2nd- Li's Hostel, Hong KongAs the first half hour of last Friday ticked by, I made my way towards Li's Hostel. It's located in a prestegous sounding Chungking Mansion, which is a funny name for a big office building run by primarily Indians with Africans and Indians hanging around outside and throughout at all times of the day and night.
I arrived and headed directly to the elevator which would take me to my hostel on the third floor. Right Elevator, odd floors, left elevator, even.
I pasted a "don't speak to me" look on my face and kept my eyes down as I walked past all the numerous Indian men offering me a hotel room, selling their "Wares" (and I would find later, also on the street) in a manner very similar to the chinese vending their fake goods. Here, however, they don't lie about it and claim it's real.
"Fake bags. Fake DVDs. Come and look. Excuse me madam, just come and look."
Always I don't look at them as I walk by and shake my head no. I hate to be rude, but it's the only way.But I digress.
The cramped elevator, 4x4 feet square, spewed me out into the floor of what appeared to be a dilapitated office building that was slightly "renovated" to become a hostel.
I had hoped that, although I booked for the next night, they would have a room for me.
They didn't.
But that was ok. They had free wireless in the hallway so I just determined to sit in the hall and do computer stuff till the next day. Nothing could phase me after my crueling week. After about 2 hours, the middle-aged man closed the front desk and said to me,
"Look, you're like my daughter. I wouldn't want my daughter out here. It's not so safe. Give me $50 and I will put a matress in the hall for you."
PRaise God, I would accept any place to lay my head at that point. He led me to narrow hall where he had plopped a sheetless, stained and dingy infant mattress (or so it seemed- it couldn't possibly be a twin) that looked like it was pulled from a cot- not a real mattress- on the floor.
Following his instructions, I curled up on the mattress with my backpack as a pillow and slept (?) or something like that, for the next 4 hours. Truly, I could have slept on the tile floor, I was so tired.
At 6am, a man opened his door to check out and scolded me for sleeping in the hall so uncomfortably. He said, "Why are you sleeping here?! You should have told me! I have an extra bed you could have used. Look, I'm leaving this hotel now. You can stay in my room sleeping until it's checkout time at 11:30."
Grateful for a real bed, I slept soundly till I was awaken by a pounding at the door at 11am. It was the "fatherly" owner. He demanded to know where I slept and I explained the situation as I quickly left the room.
Grumbling and shaking his head he muttered, "Oh no, no, no. You shouldn't do that. that's not allowed. Very bad." Silly man.... I pity his daughter.
I was moved to an 8 bunk room reminiscent of summer camp. I didn't know mattresses could be so thin and bunkbeds could be so narrow and unstable. I was the ONLY woman in a room of seven noisy men.
They were nice enough and respected me and my request that they turn out the light at 2am when I couldn't sleep. It was cramped and a bit dirty but the bathroom was fairly clean and it was acceptable.
After 2 nights sleeping there, I was pleasantly surprised by the manager's wife and co-owner who had moved some one else in my room during the day and moved me to a two person bedroom (at no extra charge) that was 3X2 meters (about 9x6 feet). It was small but clean and cozy and the water pressure in the bathroom was excellent!
I had a half French/half North African girl, Samira, as a room mate. She's quite nice and pleasant to talk with in the evenings.
I have one more night here after tonight but the owner accidentally charged me for Wednesday night because I said I needed to leave Wednesday night because my flight left early Thursday morning but he thought I had said that I needed to leave Thursday morning and over-charged me yesterday when I was extending my stay.
After counting my money today I realized his error and went to talk with him about it. He only shook his head and said, "Oooh sorry.. You already paid. I can't give the money back. I already gave it to the owner. Next time you come to HK then you can have a free night here."
I patiently and gently explained to him the situation and that I wouldn't have enough money to go to the airport if he didn't return the money for the night I wasn't staying.
He looked greatly concerned and replied, "Ok, ok. I will pay you half from my own pocket because I already gave the money to the owner."
I then said, "Oh, that's really not good. I really had a wonderful time here and you have been so kind to me so far and I really wanted to go to the internet and post how great this place is but now..."
He interupted me, laughing, and said, "ok, ok, ok... you're a good person. I will give you money from my own pocket. I will talk with owner and explain. Everybody pay, I don't give back. You pay, I only give back to you- no one else."
I thanked him for his generosity and apologized for the inconvenience and misunderstanding.
That just happened, actually. Now it's late... 1am... and time for bed.
Next time, I'll write a bit about HK.
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| June 2 (Monday after this happened) Craziest week since the fireTuesday: waited for news.
Wednesday: Paid money through a friend (at judge's suggestion) and flew 2.5 hours to Shenzhen (province bordering HongKong) to await judge's phonecall informing me that my visa was cleared to pass over.
2pm: arrived in Shenzhen
4:pm- checked into hostel
5pm- The judge called.
But, instead of hearing the words granting me freedom, he informed me that I needed to come back to Shanghai to sign some papers and finalize everything. WHAT??!! How could this be? Did I not understand him correctly the first time? Did I not already follow his instructions? Or did my fear and mistrust of the Chinese judicial system block my ears to his original meaning? AAARRRRG!
I stubbornly refused to come back. Couldn't they sent the papers to some court or police station here and I sign the papers?
No.
I would return if they demanded but I wouldn't sign the papers unless they lowered the settlement by 3,000 yuan (the money that would be lost from an additional roundtrip flight).
They wouldn't.
I called my boss to ask him if he could be my interpreture the next day when I went to court and pretend to be my lawyer because the one suggested to me by a friend was incompetent and a thief.
Rather than agreeing to my emotionally driven, stupid and illogical plans, he gently snapped me back from te brink and said,
"Ok, Elizabeth. Let me get this straight. You only need 3,000 to finish this case and then it will be completely over and done with?"
Me-"Yes"
"Well, Elizabeth, why are you quibbling over 3,000 yuan (a bit more than 400 US$)?! This case has brought you stress and a lot of harm and trouble and if that's all you need I'll pay it for you! Consider it a friendship gift!"
I gratefully accepted the gift and headed to the airport.
I cried angry, frustrated tears all the way to the airport. I cried till I got on the airport bus and saw the earthquake relief efforts in Sichuan on the bus tv. Then, once again, I was snapped out of my little "Elizabeth Here-and-now Bubble" and realized that I had so much and shouldn't let the Chinese judicial system cause me unrest. I was almost out of this black tunnel... almost... I should be happy. I couldn't quite convince happiness into my emotions but I dried my tears and went to the airport.
9:30pm- paid 2x normal ticket price to get one of the last 2 seats on the last flight of the day back to Shanghai.
THURSDAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2AM- arrived home and slept 5 hours before going to court.
9AM- went to court with friend doubling as my enterpreture and waited 1 1/2 hours for neighbors to arrive.
11:30- all neighbors (6 in total) arrived with pitchforks. Haha, not really.
3 were getting very "minimal amounts" of around 1,500 yuan. They arrived in good spirits, slighlty subdued but mainly happy to be finished with the case and get some money out of it. They never officially sued me but the judge included them in this trial so that the whole case would be finished and so they wouldn't sue the landlord or posibly me in the future.
The nasty son of the elderly couple with his continually sour face wore a shade of smugness combined with his generally murky disposition. He neither inherited or learned the good natural qualities of his parents. I believe he received around 4 or 5,000 yuan. All neighbors mentioned received tis money in addition to what the government paid to cover damages.
Finally, the elderly couple (who nearly died from smoke inhalation, appparently) came to the stand. Before we proceded, I apologized to them once more for all the pain and trouble they had been through and thanked them for their kind hearts towards me from the beginning. Even directly out of the hospital, they (especially the man, whose condition was much worse) were kind and forgiving.
Granted, they sued me. But they had damages and the man was forced into retirement and they're old and old people shouldn't have to deal with so much trama. Besides, it doesn't do anyone any good to hate them.
At the end of the day the money was distributed and the "government" was given 10,000 yuan "because they helped me pay for so much of the damages". I wouldn't at all be surprised if the "government" happened to be the judge. But, what can I do?
2pm- went directly to the airport.
5pm- flew to shenzhen
8:30pm- arrived at my hostel in Shenzen
9:30pm- went to HK border.
10:30pm- FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!
Friday~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12:30pm arrived at HK hostel and found my room wouldn't be ready till the next day. No matter. Nothing could bother me at this point.
I WAS FREE!
As you can see, the days of my week ran together like ink bleeding through a marvel comic left in the rain. I can finally catch my breath after this turbulent 4 months. I'm in HK for a few days working on a writing project deadline before heading home. I have SOOOO many thankyou notes to write. I forget who I've already thanked, so you might get multiple thanks!
Thank God for his mercies, my dear Shanghai, American and international friends and strangers who contributed SO much, to my church and definately to Daniel (my SUPERMAN) for sticking with me and helping me through it all.
More on the hostel, HK and future plans later.
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