It was kind of a sad farewell seeing Yuka off--she's in Japan now, and then off to the USA next week, but I'm busy back at work. School started last week, and I've been doing all the teaching stuff--planning classes, grading 160 papers a week, running the film club, etc. I am coming off a 2+ month holiday and it's been tough transitioning back into work.

After my third day of class (which ended at noon), I came home to find Yuka and a mutual friend Lilly waiting for me. "Do you want to go to the hot springs?" they asked me. I didn't have class until 3 p.m. the next day, so I was all for it. Some Lilly's classmates joined the happy group, so ten of us ended up taking a bus out to the nearby resort town of Anning. It's on the other side of the massive Lake Dian, a geothermically active area full of hot springs. After we checked into the hotel, we went out for hotpot. As soon as we walked into the restaurant, a man stood up and said (in Chinese), "Oh behalf of the government of Anning, I welcome you!" and handed me a beer proceeded to toast me. I decided then that I like Anning. After hotpot, we went for some karaoke. Two hours was enough for me (and I had been up since 5:30 that morning), so Yuka and I called it quits at 11. However, the rest of the party kept singing away until 1 a.m. In the USA, we have baseball/football/NASCAR as a national pastime; the Chinese have karaoke.

The next morning Yuka, Lilly, and I did some searching for a good hot spring. There was no shortage of facilities; it was just matter of finding an outdoor spring (who wants to sit in a white-tiled room?). Finally, we found an outdoor "Japanese-style" hotspring consisting of 13 pools in the middle of the forest. It was early, so we three had the entire complex to ourselves. The proprietors took it a step further and added some ingredients to each pool--one was lemon juice, one was rose petals, and one was milk. It was a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours, although it was very difficult remaining awake for the rest of the day. My 3 o'clock class was inevitably short.

One advantage of working at a forestry college is the campus--there are over 300 species of trees here. Kunming, being the Spring City, is glorious once real spring comes around. All the trees and flowers are in brilliant bloom and everything smells wonderful. Yuka and I also got to see the cherry blossoms at Cuihu Park. I got a lot of good pictures and short video clips of the traditional music going on there every day--Yunnan Opera, huge choruses singing communist folk songs, some traditional minority dancing. It's been sunny and 27 degrees (around 75 Fahrenheit) every day for weeks. Welcome spring.

Two weekends ago Yuka & I got invited to a luncheon at Lilly's grandparents' house. It was a jaozi (Chinese dumpling)-making extravaganza! When we arrived they were pounding out the dough from scratch, and rolling it out into perfect flat circles. Also it was a sushi-making extravaganza! There was a woman there whose family was from Henan, but was born in Guangdong, and did her Cultural Revolution time in Hainan. So she was speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hainan minority dialects. Her husband, also an employee of the forestry college, is a moss expert who speaks fine English, Russian, Mandarin, Kunming-hua, and some native Yunnan dialects (from his Cultural Revolution time). Yuka speaks Japanese, I try. So it was a very multicultural party. I have become quite accustomed to eating spicy foods (three times a day, every day), but it was the first time in six months I had had sushi, and the accompanying wasabi (Japanese horseradish), which is a completely different kind of spiciness. The first jolt, tinging in my nose and throat, almost knocked me off my feet. A second warning to myself & others: take it easy on the Japanese mustard, too. There was the great triad of beverages served at every Chinese banquet: Coca-Cola, Sprite, and orange-drink (beer and baijiu are obvious fixtures in any establishment great or small and therefore don't even need to be mentioned).

The next day one of my students invited Yuka & me over to cook, and we made jaozi again. By this time I was quite adept at folding the pastry up into perfectly formed jaozi--I had been trained by a northern Chinese expert (I have heard, from Northerners, of course, that the Southerners don't know how to properly make jaozi). The small, subtle four-movement gesture he taught me resembled a martial art, but in the palm of one's hand. In Japan, they have a similar dumpling called gyoza (which I assume derives from the same etymology), and Yuka was applying a completely different folding technique. However I proudly adhere to the Northern school of dumpling-making.

I am still waiting to hear from Japan about the results of my JET application. The interview results and subsequent recommendations are sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, and it's Tokyo that makes the final decision. The anticipation is killing me. I have about two more weeks to go.

On Guam I thought I would try to catch up on American culture: I watched some Cops, Court TV (they were trying to figure out what to do with Anna Nicole Smith's remains, and the judge started bawling when he was reading his decision--I didn't even know Anna was dead!), Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, lawyer commercials. Dick Cheney was out of his "undisclosed location" was even on Guam the same day I was.

On Guam, there's no public transportation to speak of, just these $2 shopping trolleys that shuttle all the Japanese tourists between the Hilton, Hyatt, etc. and the mall, factory outlets, etc. I had nothing to do the first day, so I rode around on that and practiced my Japanese with the tourists, helped them read the maps, I bought some deodorant (haven't seen any in China) at K-Mart.

The next morning I went to my interview. It was about a 15 minute walk there, so I decided to take a taxi and keep my shoes shiny and suit sweat-free (I had my suit tailor-made for me in Kunming--it fits well and looks great...the shoes were quite a problem to find--most people just laughed when I told them my size). The interview itself was surprisingly low key and congenial. I signed into the consulate and was soon brought to a room. There was a panel of four interviewers: a former JET Program participant, the JET Program Coordinator, the Japanese Cultural Attaché, and the Consular General. The two Japanese people introduced themselves in Japanese, but I was nervous and didn't catch much, well, really anything. I'm so used to Chinese these days. I was across the table from them. They seemed impressed that I started a film club here and judged various CCTV Cup English speaking contests. The Consular General complimented me on my "excellent" recommendations. They also asked me how I planned to incorporate my musical background in the JET Program, and the Consular Cultural Attaché followed up with, "What Japanese music do you like?" I responded that I like the shamisen, and they all gasped an "Oooooohhh!" in that way that only the Japanese do. I forgot to bring up that I saw Hiyako Marumi (famous enka singer) live in Gifu and got a t-shirt. I've been kicking myself ever since.

The interview was a little over 30 minutes, and I was getting some good signs from them, especially when the head honcho asked the ex-JET to offer me some advice about being successful in the program and she gave her schpiel, and then added, "But you've had plenty of international experience and teaching experience, so you'll do fine." I'll find out in early April if I get accepted into the program. My thoughts about the interview seesaw from second-guessing my answers and feeling less than confident, and feeling like I'll make it in.

So that was that. After that, I met a girl who was also interviewing and she asked me out to lunch. We went for some Mexican and margaritas and then spent the rest of the day lying on the beach talking about China and Japan and Eugene, Oregon and the String Cheese Incident. The beaches in Guam are excellent--sugar-white sand, clear, shallow, warm water, scuba diving, snorkeling, coral reefs, palm trees.

I was quickly becoming broke so the day previous I had changed my ticket and went to the Philippines for a few days, not knowing anyone there or anything about it, no guidebook nothing, just showed up, and after a quick series of strange events, ended up on my way to downtown Manila on a Friday night. The Philippines is the strangest place I have ever been. In some ways, it's very similar to the USA. Everyone I met (except for little kids) spoke perfect English, all the signs even in the backstreet neighborhoods were always English, English newspapers. But then there was a chaotic Asian element to the Philippines, and often I saw crushing poverty.

The first night I stayed in the heart of Manila, Ermita, and was a little nervous. The taxi driver was helping me find a hotel, driving through chaotic streets filled with cars and people and jeepneys, everyone was out eating and drinking, middle aged American men holding hands with teenage Filipino girlfriends, a male cabaret called "Manhunt," thumping music, rock bands playing in the bars. I was dropped off at the Hotel Sandico, next to a bar called "Hussy's." Two or three girls were placing their faces against the glass, trying to seduce passersby into the the blacklight bar. Every hotel and convenience store had a security guard at the door. I checked in to my hotel, quickly walked across the street to the 7-11 bought some San Miguel beer for $0.40 a bottle. The bottom of the receipt says, "Get a FREE WWE Slam Card for every P65 purchase. 36 designs to collect!"

The sign on the hotel said that no male guests were allowed past the lobby (but "Female guests ok"). I took a dingy elevator up to the third floor then quickly retreated back to my room. I watched a little Filipino TV, and could understand bits and pieces. The language flitted back and forth between Tagalog (with a lot of Spanish words) and English expressions and phrases. There was also a cheaply dubbed Japanese program. Then I got tired trying to figure it out and went to sleep.

The next morning, I got up and went for an early stroll, past the the big Ermita church, through a small park full of sleeping homeless, and soon the taxi driver "Dito" López and his wife. Dito and his two daughters Ces and Sauce work at the airport for hotel services. I talked to them a long time the night before. They invited me to stay at their home. So I went to the municipality of Navotas, north of Manila but still Metro Manila (whatever that means--11 million+ people).

Manila is the most densely populated city in the world (41,000 people/km²), four times denser than Tokyo. (District 6 has 68,000+ people/km².) That day, I had breakfast at a streetside stand--fried eggs and some kind of rice casserole. I asked Dito if they used chopsticks in the Philippines. He laughed. We walked down to the park alongside Manila bay and saw kids swimming in the dirty water and desperately poor squatter houses. I met a lot of people, Dito's friends. They all spoke perfect English. After that, I sat in the Lópeces' back yard and read my book and Gloria, the mother, aka "Mama O.G.," brought me some additional reading material--some back issues of Us Weekly and Our Daily Bread. She made some fish soup for lunch and we drank some buko (coconut drink). We said Grace.

In the afternoon, their elder son showed me around downtown Manila. First we toured Intramuros, the oldest district in Manila. This walled city was built by the Spanish in 1573 - 1606 and was the seat of colonial power. The city also includes Manila Cathedral and several Baroque churches (UNESCO World Heritage Site). The site It also played a pivotal role in Philippine independence as José Rizal, the national hero, was imprisoned.

We walked past Chinatown and into Rizal Park. The park is huge--it includes a Chinese garden, Japanese garden, the Department of Tourism building, the National Museum of the Filipino People, the National Library of the Philippines, the Planetarium, the Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion, an open-air auditorium for cultural performances, a relief map of the Philippines, a fountain area, a children's lagoon, a chess plaza (where one blue-eyed Filipino challenged me to a game, but only if I bet some money, so I declined--I might as well give him the cash), a light and sound presentation, and the Quirino Grandstand. Middle school students were practicing dance routines, there was some karate lessons, and vendors sold snacks and drinks out of bamboo shacks. We bought some kind of hot drink containing tofu and a sticky sweet fruit paste. It was delicious.

In the evening, we walked along Rizal Blvd, past the enormous and heavily guarded US Embassy (one of the most prominent buildings in Manila), to the Baywalk, a 2km promenade beside Manila Bay. From here you can witness some of the most spectacular sunsets in the world (due to all the pollution). There are kaleidoscopic lamp posts, al fresco cafes, very good live cover bands, coconut trees. I had a "continental breakfast" for supper: eggs, toast, French fries, coffee. After that, we stopped in a high class dining establishment were we were checked for bombs. This also happened at shopping mall. We walked around Malate and then hopped into a jeepney.

Jeepneys were originally US Army jeeps left over from WWII, converted into short distance transportation, but now they are constructed in the Philippines but remain true to form. They are brightly decorated and highly colorful with messages such as, "King Lord," "Justine," "John 3:16," etc. The sides are painted and the back is elongated with two benches that can hold a half dozen people each. You climb in an out the back, over the sign that says, "God Bless Us." There is a bar across the ceiling to hold onto and colorful lights and music to provide atmosphere. I passed my money up to the driver, a sweaty guy in a tank top and headband. He counted it while driving and then and passed back the correct change. It's really cheap--rides start at 14 cents.

That evening, I played with the kids, Cyrus, Ulo (Big Head), and Estrid(?) (aka Ah-ah), and then went to bed.

The next morning, I had a breakfast and some coffee and then went with Dito to the Navotas park again. There was a huge group of people of all ages dancing, doing aerobics following an enthusiastic leader in a sweat suit and thumping music. They start around 6 a.m., before it gets too hot. It continued until 9 a.m. After that, we hopped on a bus to meet Dito's friend. We walked down a long hallway, past some guy sleeping in a mosquito net. At the end of the hall, we went into a tiny apartment of a young woman. She served us fried eggs, bread and coffee. She only spoke Tagalog. She and Dito spoke for about 20 minutes, then we left. He later told me, "That's my second wife. Don't tell anyone. We've been together for three years."

We rode a jeepney back to Navotas. Dito had to work so I sat on the side of the street and took pictures of passing jeepneys and chatted with the other guys who sat there. They always seemed to be there. I asked one guy with a mullet if they were there every day. He said, "Yeah, we just sit here and smoke cigarettes and drink." I started talking to one guy who invests on the Manila Stock Exchange. He invited me in to play some billiards next door, and brought some snacks and San Miguels. Soon Dito reappeared and we went across the street into someone's courtyard.

Soon a big plastic bag full of San Miguel bottles appeared, along with with white mango in vinegar and other snacks. There were about six men there, and we sat and chatted, making jokes. Eventually I asked to use their toilet. Someone said, "Hey, just use the wall. It's a postmodern toilet!" Later, another guy, about 60, introduced his teenage kids. He said, "Yeah, I almost forgot to have kids." Another guy there looked about 35 but showed me his driver's license: 62. They kept saying, "Hey, it's the Filipino Way!" I learned to say "Cheers" in Tagalog: "Tagai!" or "Toast!" It was a fun afternoon.

Later that evening, I watched the first episode of the second season of Big Brother Pinoy (Big Brother Philippines) and soon became sleepy. I had to leave early the next morning, so I went to bed. At 3, the family woke me up, made me coffee and drove me to the airport. I thought it would be interesting to see a quiet night in Manila, but the opposite was true: at 3:30 in the morning, people--whole families--were walking around, playing cards, eating in restaurants. The town was still busy, although traffic was significantly lighter. Soon I was on a plane to Hong Kong, a boat to Shenzhen, and then back in China.

By the time I got to Shenzhen I was very hungry. I left the airport in search of a cheap restaurant. I heard someone say, "Laowai! (foreigner)" and turned around to see a middle-aged man and his wife with a bag of groceries. I chatted with them a while in Chinese (they're from Harbin) and they took it upon themselves to help me find a restaurant, along with the help of another young man. It's good to be back in China. I never cease to be amazed with people's friendliness. I ended up eating at a place with an Italian guy and his Cantonese girlfriend.

Now I'm back in Kunming. Yuka's and my college friend Mariko came to visit for a couple of days. We went to Yuantong Temple, a Tibetan temple, Stone Forest (a UNESCO Geopark), ate at a vegetarian restaurant where the chefs make everything look and taste like meat, and ate Kunming BBQ here in Bailong Village. I start teaching next week, and Yuka and Mariko are on their way to Leshan (Big Buddha) and Xi'an. Yuka will be back in Kunming next week.