Pics galore (CLICK TO EXPAND)

Right, the plan for this week is to put up a few of the many pictures that were taken in India, undoubtedly the wildest place I've ever been. I've only been back in China for a few hours, and I'm certain that it will take a bit longer than that to properly process the past few weeks, something I'm not mentally prepared for right now. They go from Mumbai into Goa, then finally a trip to three temples outside of Bangalore. Without further ado...

Next week I shall return with some stories and thoughts from the trip. For now decompression is in order.

Surprise reprise

Only a couple days left here in Agonda. I've spent one of the more relaxing weeks of my life here breathing in the crisp and clean air, bathing in the Arabian Sea, and soaking in the brilliant and unobstructed sun.

On Wednesday I'm off to visit friends in Bangalore, from where we will visit the unesco site Hampi. In a little over a weeks time I'll be back in Chongqing working on a project and preparing for the new semester. For now, however, my mind is still intensely fixated on the mission at hand, nothing.

Here is a picture of rush hour. Stressful stuff.

Surprise!

It is Monday (I think, hard to tell on the beach), and force of habit has lead
me back.

So it turns out even though Agonda Beach in Goa (look it up), is quite remote and unplugged-in compared to the west, it still has wifi at many of the establishments along the beach. Therefore, I get to rub fantasticalness-incarnate in your face. It is something. I'm writing this quick note from my phone, full posts upon my return.

I give you: Sunset and Dinner in Red

Until next week.

Going on hiatus

My first semester teaching and living here in China is coming to a close. I think I'll need a bit more time to pass before I can fully reflect on the experiences I've had, but suffice to say that it has certainly been worth it thus far. And what better way to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival than to go to India! I'm off on Wednesday for three weeks to Asia's other billion-plus party. Should be a laugh. I do want to share some thoughts that I've had during my time here, and rest assured that what I am attempting to impart to you is done without pretension. 

I've always valued travel. I've also been quite fortunate to have had many opportunities to do so. But sometimes one needs to make extra efforts to create their own opportunities to travel. I know that not everyone can up stakes and move to the other side of the world, but I feel that seeing more of the world should be a priority for all of us. What travel can give you is something that is unattainable in books, television, or the stories of others. It leads you to change the way you view almost everything, and this should not be viewed as a negative. I've had fantastic experiences here that I could never have back in Dublin or Minneapolis. However, travel (or in my case, living abroad) has also strengthened my appreciation for the places I call home a hundredfold. 

Sometimes you need to make concerted efforts to give yourself the chance to see the world, but I want to tell you that the experiences gained are without equal. Saving enough money to send yourself to a new location in the world can mean as little not upgrading your TV this year, spending one weekend a month at home instead of hitting the same old haunts, or saving up those extra couple of sick days that were taken when the snow or a hangover made a convincing argument to ensconce yourself on the couch for the day. Trust me, I have not forgotten the tribulations of home. Putting off immediate gratification to show yourself something unlike anything you've seen before is easier said than done, but I want to plant the seed today.

As previously stated, I did not write this with the intent of being preachy or patronizing; I earnestly wanted to share my feelings on something I believe can be profoundly significant and beneficial in all our lives. Seeing the world is a fantastic reset button for your perspective on everything from home to the far reaches of the globe, and hitting that button from time to time makes life infinitely more interesting.

Pulpit dismounted.

As for India: I'll be in Mumbai for a few days, then Goa for almost two weeks, and finally Bangalore for a few at the end of the trip. Goa'na be an awesome trip. Get it? I'm the punniest motherpucker alive. All day, kids. Not sure if I'll have the opportunity, or desire, to post much while I'm working on a sweet sunburn, but I should have access to email from time to time, so drop me a line if you are thusly inclined. There will be a fine post coming upon my return in a month or so. Take care.

Nice and easy.

I fear I may have destroyed my knee once and for all (or until I can afford some surgery), while running today. I've been limping around thinking that perhaps a cane will provide me with a professorial air. Every little helps. Due to my preoccupation with how the hell I'm going to get around, I've decided on a simple post with a few laughs from a couple classroom stories and some random pictures I've taken during my time here.

From the classroom:

Earlier in the semester I had a few basic Listening and Speaking classes for non-English majors. Not as engaging as my other classes, but they had their moments. These were large classes (80+), where I was just trying to get these kids chatting as much as possible. As it is a bit hard to document grades in a purely oral class of that size, I had them write down the name and student number at the end of the semester and bring it up to me. I was simply grading on attendance and participation, so this is how I recorded the grade. Some of the more observant students caught on to what I was doing, and decided to tag on some farewell thoughts in an attempt to sway my grading. Some of the highlights (remember, these aren't English majors, just kids in a required course):
"May happy! My dear teacher!"
"Thanks for your class, Seamus! Wish all of us find true love!"
"Thanks for your appearance and your time and the happiness you give us!"
And my personal favorite, written here as it was given to me: "May. Happy. In. China! become. Fat. and. Stronger! Like. Your. Humons." Fat and stronger, got it.

The next two are from one of my American culture courses. I gave a group pop quiz the other day, (The Snickers Challenge. Little do they know, but I end up eating half of the winnings before they get to the victors. It's ok, they're used to that in China. Zing!). They answer some questions from topics we have covered this semester: government, sport, families, media, music, etc. But two of the answers from the sports questions stood out. The question had them name the four major sports and gave them bonus points for naming the scandal that has plagued baseball for the past 15 years. One group said, "alcohol and call girls", which was incorrect, but I liked the thought that went into the answer (you can also tell the difference in command of the English language between English majors and non-English majors). Another group's answer was dripping with irony, because of course the answer is the steroids scandal, a blatant and widespread form of cheating that plagued MLB. Anyways, I'm not saying these kids are oblivious to American sports culture, but I doubt any of them would have come up with the following answer without googling "baseball scandal" in their phones right quick. As written: '1919 Blacksox scandal'. Cheating little bastards. I changed their team name to 'the Bondses' and moved on. No one got the joke.

On to the pictures.

Perhaps I would feel worse about taking candid pictures of people and posting them for a laugh if it weren't for the statistical evidence that assuages that guilt. Candid picture taking scoreboard: Seamus - a few dozen candid pics of average Chinese v. Average Chinese - several hundreds pics of Seamus. And the Chinese take it in a landslide victory. (All figures inexact, margin of error: +/- a few, but you get the point).

We will begin with a series of photos from back in September when it was still 100 degrees plus. To alleviate some of the heat's effects, guys like to employ the shirt roll. I give you my collection:

 The party-roll.

 The squat-n-roll.

 The accesso-roll, for the fashionable gent.

And the smoke-n-roll.

Ad on the side of a bus. And I wonder why students have misconceptions of westerners. I'd also be skeptical of a people if this is how they were portrayed to me.

This one greeted me as I got off the plane from Hong Kong.

Much better trained baby. She stared at me from this pose for two blocks. Gangster baby.

The questionable intellectual property protections and copyright laws in China are well known, but sometimes they clearly are not trying. "Planters' Mr. Peanut, eh? Slap a Hitler 'stache on him, no one will know the difference."

Forget if I posted this, but this is one of the German artists, Christof, I previously mentioned. His piece was a poster of Chairman Mao that he connected a blinking red light to. Right where Mao's mole should be. I thought it was a good laugh.

I didn't eat there.

Though it offered 'interlligent face tracking' and 'txcellent performance', I couldn't bring myself to pick up this Camera brand camera, no matter how low the price.

And the piece de resistance snapped at my local grocery store:

It has it all: a blatant ripoff of a classic brand, the fact that it is an ad for an eau de toilette, and the slogan is "from nature". If the person in charge of the name was in on the joke, then tip of the hat. If not, I cannot imagine there has been a finer bollocksing up of a western styled knock off than this. Unintentional comedy gold. I shall leave you to bask in the sublime. Adieu.