Little China Girl

China is insane. There is no other way for me to describe it- a place filled with mystery, chaos, enigmas, history, and lots of spitting. I mean spitting everywhere, even on the subway. Young men and old ladies alike are hocking up loogies and spitting them wherever they see fit. Yet no one appears to be too bothered by this phenomenon. After all, it is one of the smoggiest places I have ever seen and you just don't want to swallow that stuff!

It's also a place of dichotomy. Giant skyscrapers tower above huthongs and twisting back alleyways filled with mom and pop shops and street food carts. You can find major designer stores blocks away from a mall dedicated to selling counterfeit "designer" merchandise. Stop telling me those "new balances" are real leather! The ticket machines at the train station will operate in English yet foreign people are not allowed to use them. Children are everywhere you look yet almost no one has any brothers or sisters anymore.

China is wildly different from the United States. Wildly. Well yeah, you might find yourself saying, you are in China what do you expect? I was honestly surprised though when i got here and experienced it for myself. I have had a harder time trying to find people here who speak English than any other country we have travelled so far. Sure, you can find pirated American movies and fast food chains yet Pizza Hut doesn't even sell breadsticks! Such madness!

Yet on another hand I respect a country that has so much pride in their culture and therefor is not influenced by America. China has its own architecture, language, cuisine (including breakfast preferences), tv shows, government, and cultural norms. This is a country with an amazing and intense history filled with emperors, opium, silk, domination, and change. A land where the government has the final say and 700 years ago is considered recent. I have really been enjoying learning more about this culture and I have had so many great experiences. However, I would now like to present you with some of the wackier and surprising gems of China I have witnessed this far... enjoy the insanity.

1. Bizarre public fights/spectacles. Yelling on airplanes. Wrestling at the train station. A girl even bit a guy outside the bar and then ripped off his shirt off. Maybe its just more alarming because I don't understand Mandarin. Can't we all just get along?

2. Food on the menu. Some is amazingly delicious. Other choices include gluttonous frog, goldfish in chicken sauce, baby food with jellyfish, snakehead, and dog meat. The joke told by our driver the other day, "the only thing with four legs we won't eat is a chair!"

3. The spitting. I'm still not used to it. But if you can't beat em, join em!

4. Animal selling
- Puppies out of a baby stroller
- an outdoor stand stand selling fake sunglasses and baby turtles
- a motorcycle with stacked cages on the back of bunnies, hamsters, chicks, and ducks. This one is popular
- fish sold curbside out of baby pools
- man yanking a monkey on a leash on the street in shanghai

5. Group fitness activities at the park. Watching Brad do a dance routine with elderly people in the park gave me a side ache from laughing so hard. Other activities include Tai Chi, kite flying, badminton, sword dancing, and playing cards (which looked strenuous for some)

6. The subway conductor shoving people in like sardines before the door closes on someone's arm. That many people should never fit underground

7. Chinese pharmacy/traditional medicine. Dried herbs, roots, potions, and much more mixed with pharmaceutical medication. I'm not quite sure how a dried sea horse will help anyone get healthier though- to each their own. I prefer some Tylenol.

8. A farmer collecting admission for the Great Wall of China right next to a sign declaring that part of the wall closed to visitors. Can't hold me down!

9. Ballroom dancing in the middle of a packed shopping street

10. Brad getting hit with a rogue flip flop flying through the air on the high speed train from Beijing to Shanghai. I was way to hungover but that was the loudest train ride (passenger wise) of my life

11. Outside a popular bar area they sell giant cartoon balloons and candy. Wasted people are just like big five year olds...

Thanks for all the entertainment China so far it's been crazy! Next up- Suzhou.

Also, special thanks to my dad's colleague Marc who hooked us up with some fabulous hotel rooms and a night to remember in Beijing! I took advantage of the swank hotel and ate my weight in complimentary cheese. Now its back to the life of sub par hostels and adventure.

A few more photos of Beijing!

Walking around the neighborhood of our hostel. Enjoy a few photos of our surroundings.

Brad and his favorite dumplings- so classic. These ladies are the cutest!

Great Wall of China!

Well, we have been in China for five days now and I have been so blown away/busy/culture shocked (yet again) that I haven't had a chance to blog!

I will write one soon but here are a few highlights to nibble on...

1. Crazy amazing homemade Chinese dumplings
2. Lama Temple in Beijing- Tibetan Buddhist temple with 60ft sandalwood Buddha. Outstanding!
3. Taking the subway with more people than can possibly fit safely on one train
4. Tea tastings- yum!
5. Forbidden City/Palace/ Tiananmen Square
6. Peking duck pancakes
7. Chinese shouting matches (witnessing, not participating.)
8. GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!

Sawasdee Songkran!

Since arriving back in Bangkok Brad and I have had the pleasure of celebrating our third new years of 2012- Songkran! We celebrated the first in January in Iowa and then again for the Chinese new year and I must say the third time (Songkran) is a charm. The Thai follow a solar calendar and therefore celebrate the new year in April, when the sun moves into the sign of Aries. Songkran is a time to celebrate the vernal equinox and one of the most anticipated Thai holidays. Most people take time off of work and often travel home to spend time with friends and family. This three day long festival involves the bathing of Buddhas, cleaning for the New Year, blessings, and most fun of all a massive water fight. I'm not talking a little water here- I am talking thousands upon thousands of people with water guns, buckets, hoses, and ice cold water. It's almost indescribable- no one is safe from the water. Well thats not completely true I guess because you don't throw it at monks or really elderly people but kids and adults are fair game. People throw it at tuk tuks and motorbikes riding past and bicyclists and pedestrians also get drenched. There is also a chalky mixture of talc that people put on one another as a sign of blessings- mostly on your face. We all walk around dripping wet covered in a white film and a smile. The water is a symbolism of washing away the bad but also helps to cool everyone down as April is one of the hottest months of the year.

The most amazing thing is the spirit of Songkran- it's all just fun and love. In America I know this would result in fights and riots (hey, bro, you just shot me in the ear with water I'm gonna fuck you up!) but here everyone just jokes and laughs as they get blindsided by a watergun or giant ice cold bucket of water. Brad and I bought big water guns and joined in the fun which the Thai people just loved. We stood on the corner blasting random people riding by and cackled with glee as we hit our targets. We danced in the streets with thousands of others down on Khao San road and threw bubbles at the foam party in front of Central World. We got into water fights with police officers at the Big C super center and sprayed people from inside a speeding tuk tuk. All in all Songkran has just strengthened my love for the Thai culture. It kicks America's New Years ass in the cool competition- they have booze, warm weather, and a three day water fight! America just has booze and cold weather. I vote we make 4th of July a country wide water fight.

My wicked side did come out a bit during Songkran though. Some farang (foreigners) get really upset about the whole water thing, like they are above it and don't want their mascara to run or something. I would especially enjoy squirting them and their dry clothes and then if they got mad or gave me nasty faces I would let them walk away and then squirt them in the back while yelling, "happy Songkran!" If you don't like it...go home! At least wear a poncho. Brad and I were a great double team when it came to messing with people- one would shrug innocently while the other one sprayed the angry pedestrian. The angrier they got the more I enjoyed myself. Yet, not one Thai person ever got upset with the fun. Thai people- 1. Angry farang-0.

On a side note I recently learned America follows a Christian calendar that was determined by Dionysius Exiguus who was trying to figure out a date for the church to celebrate Easter. He instituted BC and AD (in Thailand the year is currently 2555) and for a period they used the Julian calendars as well for days/months. The days were not quite adding up however so we now use the Gregorian calendar introduced by the Pope Gregory the XIII which accounts for leap year and keeps the calendar more consistent with the seasons. Thanks to colonialism and economic structuring most countries use this calendar as well, although the dates of new years celebrations varies. Thailand also considers January to be the start of the calendar year. I would like to give the Internet a shout out for that knowledge and helping us to learn something new today.

I would also like to wish you a very happy Songkran and hope you have a merry new year! Sawasdee bpee mai!

R.I.P to my ladybug backpack squirt gun who was broken during battle at the end of the day. Thanks for the memories and sorry I got carried away and broke you.

Photos from Angkor/Cambodia

I have very limited internet access to a computer but here are a few pictures to give you an idea about the beautiful Angkor park and the temples I was able to explore!

 Bayon temple.  There are pillars that have 4 faces to represent north, south, east, and west.  One of my favorites. 

 A few new friends we met along the way!

 Peaceful faces.  Built LONG before America was a thought.

 Angkor Wat from the mountaintop before sunset. 

 Angkor Wat at sunrise from outside. Note the 5 pillars!

 Ta Prohm temple (Where Tomb Raider was filmed).  The trees are a sight to behold!

 Nature overtakes everything.

 Banteray Srei, or the Woman's Temple.  SO intricate.

 East Mebon. I was exhausted after a day of climbing all these stairs.

 Can you spot me among the stones? I loved all the moss and the mystery.

 Sweet jump Napolean.

Lastly, a picture of the LOVELY staff who came to sing me happy birthday.  Thank you to Bradley for making it a day I will always remember ;-)

THANK YOU CAMBODIA!!! Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok!

The Magic of Cambodia

Warning: long post, but read on please.

I will admit I was a little bit freaked out when we first arrived in Cambodia. The border town of Poipet was hot, dusty, and filled with people and chaos and I was prepared for the worst. All my preconceived notions about Cambodia filled my head as I recounted other travelers scares and warnings. I realized once I arrived in Siem Reap that first impressions can be incredibly incorrect as I finally got my first taste of the real Cambodia. As much as I was looking forward to visiting Angkor Wat I have found the real treasure of Cambodia to be the people who live here. Everyday I am humbled by their kindness and love of life and I feel so lucky to be here.

Angkor park (including Angkor Wat, Bayon, Angkor Thom, etc) is truly a sight to behold. We got a 3 day pass to explore the largest pre-industrial city in the world. What once was a thriving community is now a sprawling wonder filled with crumbling temples, soaring trees, jungle, and water. You truly feel like an explorer as you clamber over the stone temples investigating what is around the next corner. I understand why Lara Croft chose to play here, this mysterious land where trees grow out of moss covered ruins and stone faces fill the sky. There are so many temples and carvings here that three days was simply not enough time. It was an incredible birthday for me to be able to spend it in a place that was built long before America was colonized. I will post some photos when I get access to a computer- get excited because i probably took about 400 in total.

During my lovely birthday Brad also surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet of lillies and a lovely seven course tasting menu of Khmer food. One highlight was also when he arranged for the hotel staff to bring my cake and in walked eight Khmers (Cambodians) trying to sing me happy birthday. They were all so happy and excited and my heart almost exploded. We laughed and I shared my cake with everyone. We then spent three days at a yoga/meditation retreat, which I will save for a later blog.

I am embarrassed to admit how little I knew about the history of Cambodia prior to arriving and for those of you who are also uninformed I present to you a VERY brief history as I understand it. Cambodia gained independence from France in the 1950's and was highly affected during the Vietnam war (they were used by the Viet cong and also bombed by Americans going for the Viet cong). Boo. Many farmers were upset and during this time the Khmer Rouge found support and began to grow. In 1975 the current government was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, and they effectively evacuated the cities and worked to create a purely agrarian society. People who worked for the previous government, doctors, teachers, monks, scholars, and many more were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Millions of others were forced to work in the fields for endless hours each day with nothing to eat other than rice gruel. Families were ripped apart and many died of starvation and disease as well. I have read estimates that 1.7 to 2 million people out of a population of 8 million perished during the four years the Khmer Rouge was in power. After an invasion in 1979 the Vietnamese army launched a counter attack to take the Khmer Rouge down yet even though successful there were still many problems including corruption, starvation, and continued fighting. According to several people I have met the Khmer Rouge was still attacking in the west and north until 1998, when Pol Pot died and remaining leaders surrendered or were captured. This is such a ridiculously short explanation and I urge you to learn more about this devestating genocide Cambodia faced until so recently. People are still dying from land mines and grenades today. Yet, despite this horror and atrocity, the spirit of life shines so brightly among the survivors in Cambodia. I have found people to be remarkably friendly and willing to answer my many questions. Everyone we meet has been affected by tragedy in some way.

Today we saw a pagoda with the skeletal remains of people who were killed in the fields of Siem Reap. I wanted to cry as I thought about the pain that has been inflicted upon these gentle people. Yet they continue to fight with a undying tenacity for a better future for themselves and their family.

Soling, the girl at the front desk who made my birthday so special, is from the country and moved to Siem Reap so she could go to school. Her family was forced to work the fields during the regime and her father developed a disease in his foot during this time, which later took his life. At least 7 of her family members died as a result of the Khmer Rouge. Soling is now working towards her dream and will someday marry for love. ;-)

South is our tuk tuk driver for the next few days. He left his village after the Khmer Rouge burned part of his school in 1993 and after begging his mom he was sent to Siem Reap for school. His grandfather was killed by the Khmer Rouge for being a Colonel in previous army and told South's grandmother as he was marched away, "take care of our children." They too were forced to work the fields. South's father was in the army fighting the Khmer Rouge until he died from drinking tainted water in jungle. As a kid South used to shoot birds with a semi automatic weapon. His grandmother is still alive today.

Rien works at the hotel and lives in a little room on the top floor. He left his village because it has no high school so he moved to another village and worked at a temple so he could go to school and study with the monks. Now he goes to school (college) in Siem Reap during the mornings and works at the hotel in the afternoon/evenings. He is trying to get an MBA. He has 9 siblings in total and he has rented a room and brought his 3 younger sisters to Siem Reap so they too could go to school. His family was also forced to work the land and suffered from near starvation during Pol Pot's reign.

We met a young man at the temple who had lost his mom, sister, and right arm during a land mine explosion. He was selling art and smiling the whole time, other than when he mentioned his mother's death. It is also very common to see children selling a variety of things on the streets and at the temples, earning money for their families and for school. No labor laws to be seen.

"Ashley" you might find yourself saying, "you are seriously depressing me right now. What do you want me to do after reading this blog?" That is completely up to you. You could feel gratitude for having freedom and education, or even just having ten fingers and ten toes. You could remember that humans are amazingly resilient and that even when things seem so dark and overwhelming that there is a beautiful light that shines within each one of us. Maybe you tell your family and friends how much you love them and send a little extra love into the world for those who might need some too. If I have learned anything here it's that there is so much good inside of people and travel is great for the soul. Of course there are people here in Cambodia who are not so nice but I guess you find bad apples living everywhere in the world. By and large Cambodians are survivors and I have a profound respect for the families that continue to find some way to find joy through the pain.

Tonight we went to a pagoda and randomly found a group of 25 family members getting ready to sleep inside. They were from the country and very curious about us. Through hand gestures they invited us in and we all just sat around smiling at one another. We speak no Khmer, they spoke no English, and yet we didn't need many words. They were just happy a few "barang" (foreigners) had stopped by to sit with them and laugh for a few minutes. I will treasure the memory of sitting in that circle of people so far away from my home. There is a certain magic in Cambodia that I just cannot explain through words. These are the same people who built Angkor Wat. I feel very grateful to be here and fortunate to have the life that awaits me in America.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen to my random musings. I want you to know I appreciate you and send a little love and peace your way. Maybe you can send a little love and peace towards Cambodia in return- they could use it. Love, Ashley

"Perhaps surviving to remember creates the power to lift the veil of despair with smiles and hope." -Brad Paterson