This last weekend I got to experience an awesome part of culture, a wedding. Traditionally weddings in China are very different from our Western ones. The bride wears red, not white. It is not custom for guests to dress up, only groom, bride, and maybe two close friends. In village weddings part of tradition states that the groom and the bride have to fight to get to each other. I've heard of stories of the guests tearing at them, until they can reach one another. I think this custom is dieing out, but still practiced in some villages. Although nowadays the western wedding is becoming more and more popular. I've heard of people having two weddings, a traditional style and a western style. Either way, there are usually two sets of photos. In the wedding I attended, it was mixed, but I could obviously pick out what parts were not western.

Early in the morning the family and close friends of the groom went to his house (of which group I was part of) and the family and close friends of the bride went to her house. They each spent time in the morning preparing, the bride does her make-up and gets dressed, the groom does what he does. Then after a time about 5 dishes come out, some meat, some vegetable and they basically signify a love filled marriage, blessed with children (or child because of the law) that lasts till death. The groom and his parents say something, then the groom drives off in a car. The car is usually decked out in flowers and other decorations. The groom drives to the bride's house, plays some games there, greets her family and all of that, then comes back. 

 Me and my friend waited at his house, he probably spent about two hours. When they come back everyone goes outside to greet him and the bride. There are fireworks, pictures, cheering and so on. I guess custom says the groom is to carry the bride to his house, but his house is up 4 flights of stairs so I can understand why they skipped that part.

At the grooms house everyone takes pictures of them, with them and so on, then everyone left and went to a restaurant. At the restaurant is where I saw more western things come into play. Everyone goes in and sits at tables (there were probably about 12). There was a stage set up at the front and once everyone was settled the groom and MC went up there. The MC asks him some questions, like “What do you like about your future wife?” “Why do you want to marry her?” I really don't know much cuz it was all in Chinese and my friend just explained briefly. Then the bride comes through from the side and the groom ran to meet her. He got on his knees and gave her some flowers. They walked up the path together to the front stage. At the stage the MC asked them “normal” questions, like “Do you promise to love her/him until you die?” etc. After this we eat. 

When the meal is finishing up the bride and groom goes to each table to give a toast. They use this strong alcohol that is translated into “White wine”, but its a lot stronger than that. Towards the end the bride might use water or just stand and smile, but by the sound of it, most times the groom gets pretty drunk. After the bride and groom go through, the groom's father goes to each table and gives a toast, so he gets pretty drunk too. It was nice cuz both times, when they came to my table they toasted me and said, “To our foreign friend”.

After the eating and toasting everyone can pretty much go home. The groom and bride greet people as they were leaving. When me and my friend went to say thanks and good bye an old man came up and spoke to the groom, after he walked away the groom turned to his new wife and said, “I forget, is that your mother-in-law or my mother-in-law?” Haha. Like I said pretty drunk.

I guess that night, the two families dine together. I don't think honeymoons are custom, but they are becoming more popular.

All together it was an awesome experience!

A Pet Peeve I do

So for the last week I've been thinking about what to write on my blog and for awhile was considering one on crossing the street.  Here is why.  I go to work about 5 days a week and try to ride my bike at least 3 out of those 5 days.  Riding my bike I definitely get down and dirty with the traffic, weaving in, out, front, behind and so on with other bikes, motorcycles, cars and even buses.  I don't mess around.  So with all this stress I've found the most frustrating thing is not all the times I nearly die by a car door flying out in front of me, or when the bus doesn't see me or when the car doesn't care, its the pedestrians.  There is a strange problem here, where people just don't look where they are going.  They step in front of me all the time, which causes me to swerve and thus causes the many instances of my near death experiences.  So I was going to write a whole blog on my pet peeve and complain about people's issue.  But then, I did it.  Not as a pedestrian, but as a biker.  I ran a red light, not even thinking twice about it, believing it must not apply to me and by doing that I caused about 3 cars to slam on their brakes.  Yes, at least three cars. 
So I've learned its not the individuals, but I got sucked in.  It's the rules of the road here, red lights are mere suggestions, danger is subjective and everyone watches their front, not their backs.  I have fit in well and have adapted the rules of the road to my own life, leaving behind the ones from my home country.
I'm not going to lie, I'm scared to go home, what if I don't fit in anymore.  I will say things and do things that helps me fit in here, but in America will cause me to stand out in and awkward kind of way.  People will expect me to know American culture, to understand it, but for one year I have tried everything in my will power to become part of China.  So what happens in those two months of America time?  Will I go back to being American or will I retain my half Chinese that I've worked hard for.  How will that mess up my life here, my cultural acceptance of life.  I don't know the answers, we will have to just try and see.

A Stress Fracture and A Stress Factor (Kids)

So I have some unfortunate news to share, it looks as if I might be suffering from a stress fracture.   Which means, that I will have to stop my running for at least a month.  Although most websites said 6 to 8 weeks.  Which means at the soonest I would be able to start running again, it would be too late for re-training for the Marathon.  This was a pretty hard blow, considering I've been working towards it mentally and physically sense December and paid a ton of money to do it.  But I'd rather slow it down then end up with a broken foot!  Although there is some good news to it all!  Well maybe not good news, but all right news.  I should hopefully be able to do the half marathon, which is still 13.1 miles.  I can keep riding my bike, which I will start doing more (although with that I will have to figure out a better way to protect my lungs) and I can keep strengthening other parts of my body.  I'm pretty bumbed about the whole thing, but its not the end of the world.
So now with bad news over I want to share a couple funny story.  I teach kids, usually 3 to 6 years old.  In one of my classes there is a little boy who always tells me (in Chinese) I'm fat.  "Natasha ni hen pang" (You are very fat), "Natasha ni hao pang" (a different variation of you are very fat), "Natasha ni fei cheng hao pang" (Natasha you are SO fat!).  I think you get the picture.  Well in class we have a no speaking in Chinese rule, but as you can imagine, its a bit hard to enforce all the time.  So usually if a child says something in Chinese I teach them in English.  But it just seems inherently wrong to teach this kid how to say "You are fat" in English.  But I also can't really say "Don't say that".  Mostly cause when he does say it we are in class and also because I wouldn't know how to say it.  I could try.  It would come out something like this "You can't speak, it so bad, Americans don't like, so stop"  I feel it mind hinder me being respected as a teacher rather than helping me.  So this same child (we will call him David) came up to me one day and asked (in Chinese) "Natasha, you are English, right?"  So I said "No, American"  He then stopped and looked very confused and said "Americans huai bu huai"  Which at first I didn't understand.  So I enlisted the help of another teacher (who is Chinese and we shall call her Emily).  David then asked Emily the same thing, which I still didn't quite understand.  Emily then responded so violently I was surprised, "Not true!!  (^Y@&@*$%#(*E*NCBCJDE*E&EHDKCU!"  (Random letters and symbols represent a ton of Chinese I didn't understand).  Then she turned to me and said "Don't listen to him!!!  He is just a child, he doesn't know what he's talking about!!!"  Well as you know, now I really wanted to know what was happening, but Emily refused t tell me.  So I asked another teacher, Lisa.  Finally Lisa told me.  David was confused about me being American because he thought all Americans were bad people.  So when he found out I was American he had said, "Aren't Americans bad people?"  So Emily was embarrassed, but Lisa told me what she told David, "America is a big place and some people are bad, but some people like Natasha are good."  So hopefully this solves the dilemma and David can rest assured a mass murderer is not teaching him the devil's language.
In my class the kids like to play a game with me, like most things, it eventually went too far.  The game is "No".  It's my fault really, I taught them its ok to say no, I taught them to have a voice, to have an opinion.  In fact I encouraged it with funny behavior.  What can I say, there is a soft part in my heart for the rebels.  But now that they all say it, I like the rebels who stand firm and say "yes".  Now what do I mean by these "yes" and "no"'s?  Example, "Do you like my hair?" "No!"  "Do you like the sun?" "No!"  "Do you like me?" "No!"  So from here on, I had to start switching it up I started asking "Do you want?"  Which means they have to say "yes".  But they are smart, they now know the difference, and they still tell me they don't like my hair, or earring or shirt or shoes.  But now that their English is getting better I get to teach them fun things like, "Sunny, say 'I'm sassy!'".  So she copied me, snaps, attitude and all "I'm sassy".  Now Sunny just don't tell your mom it was me :)  Although, I spose who else would it be, I'm the only American there.

Living Life in C town, while preparing to go to SEA-town

Ok, so my last email was about my fitness life, this email will cover some of the other things happening right now. Let's start with me going back to America. I plan on getting there May 29th and should stay for about 2 months. I don't have my ticket yet, but its not a stressful thing because it will be standby, so i can book it almost anytime. Even though 2 months is a good size visit, I will be pretty busy. I'm throwing a dinner to let people know more things about my life in China (if you are interested in coming it will be Friday, June 15-just let me know if your gunna show up!). I will be running a Marathon, the STP, might surf on the Oregon coast, do a late (very late) birthday drive to Canada for Nadia, and spend lots of time with family and friends!
Until then, what will I do? I'm pretty busy on this side of the world as well, but def enjoying life. I'm working on College stuff and only have a couple more weeks to go, which will be relieving and exciting to make it through my first semester of college! I'm in more maintenance mood for my Chinese, than improvement mood, but I'm in a decent place. I feel comfortable to go do almost anything on my own (unless its complicated like getting custom made curtains, or asking about paint differences and so on, lol). I work most nights, actually enjoying it for the most part. The students know me pretty well (they are just kids), I like the other teachers and most classes are fun rather than stressful. Although by the end of the day I admit, I'm usually pretty wiped. Saturdays I have a group of my Chinese friends over and make them dinner. It's always a lot of fun and it is so good to know that I'm going to see them at least once a week, cuz sometimes I'm too busy to do other things with them.
Later this week a group of foreigners will come stay with me, so it will be interesting to interact with foreigners who haven't been China-ized (don't know China culture). It's funny, but its different and I've found that the way I interact with people has changed based on my change of balancing cultures. Then next month a family will live with me and that will be an interesting experience.
It's crazy to think I only have a short time left before I go home for my first visit "away from home (China)". All is good, if not a bit crazy.

Fitness Honor Part 2

So, I've noticed it has been way to long sense I've posted a blog, and its been awhile sense I gave an overall view of my life. So I want to touch on a post I blogged in December, about getting healthier, I called it Fitness Honor. Around that time I decided to start training to run a Marathon this summer and do the Seattle to Portland (STP) bike ride. I had also mentioned perhaps doing a 10k or something on the Great Wall of China, but that is looking to be out of the picture now. So did I mention all of these things and lose my spark? No! When I first started out running I used a program called Couch to 5K, and after about 2 months, I could run 30 min straight. Then I moved from that to a Beginning Marathon Training schedule. I've had some up and downs, which is normal to life. It's so exciting for me to see my progress because I've never been able to run a mile straight before and now a mile is nothing. My long runs will be up to 2 hours in a week or so. I've had some drawbacks, the last month I've had two severe colds, which has put me a little behind on my schedule, but I'm starting to feel better and getting re-motivated for my Marathon!

I've also been riding my bike to work which is about 10 miles there and back. I like the work out, but the pollution is so bad, I will probably have to stop for awhile cuz my lungs have been struggling. The good thing is if I keep getting stronger and fitter, by the time I get to America I should have enough time to train there, to get my endurance up to where it needs to be for the STP (a 2 day, 200 mile bike ride, haha).

Running and biking are both cardio though and as I've mentioned in my "Tips" tab, cross training/strength training is important. So to add that into my routine I started a program called Challene Extreme, which I've been doing for about a week and a half and I've really enjoyed it. I get my strength training in, but the work outs are relatively short, while still being effective (I know, cuz I can feel it).

Now with all this working out I've had problem eating, and not the normal kind, it is so hard to eat enough! Trying to fuel my body and fuel my body on the right stuff! It's been hard, but I love everything I've been learning about fitness and nutrition and I hope to continue to keep it up! One thing I should mention while talking about my "Fitness Honor" is my decision to become a BeachBody Coach.

Let me take a small bunny trail real quick. As I started to work out more and more and see results and felt my body getting healthier and as I learned more and more about what to do and what not to do, I realized something. I really enjoy this. I had heard about a shake called Shakeology, which I became interested in because I knew it had tons of nutrients that would be good for my body , especially as I'm on this somewhat intense work out regimen. So I figured sense I wanted the products I would sign up as a Coach, that way I had an excuse to help others get motivated and reach there goals. I'm still on my own journey, but I feel and hope I have something to give for those who may just be starting or want to start. With being a Coach, I make a commission, which as you guys know is really helpful for supplementing my income. So I felt it was win, win.

So with all this being said, what have been my results? I've lost about 20 pounds, I can't tell you how many sizes clothing I've gone down, cuz I haven't been able to buy new clothes (don't worry, my old clothes don't look shabby on me), but my clothes are a lot looser. So I'm enjoying those results. And I can't wait to have a mini shopping spree this summer. :)

And one more thing with my new outlook on fitness honor. I've decided to run and bike for a cause this summer. To bike and run with the hope of raising some money for my friends to adopt one of their Chinese Foster daughters. My goal is to raise at least $1000 for them. This summer I will be hosting a dinner in Seattle (June 15th to be exact). I will share some more details about her situation and if you are interested in pledging, that would be a good time.

Hope this gives you an idea of how I'm doing physically, in a few days to a week I will post more on the other sides of life. Thanks!

ChinaNess

Two main things I want to focus on here. One China names, two what people wear to the gym. Both are incredibly interesting.

So when a Chinese person begins to learn English, they usually pick a name out for themselves or ask someone to give them a name. Some names I have heard that should give you a straight up belly laugh, or at least a little giggle. Birthday Cake, (yes I said Birthday Cake, that is not a typo), Rock (as in pebble or boulder? I never got a chance to ask), Panda, Shinning, Flower, Coco (which is not bad in my opinion, but still unusual), Easy (all I have to say is poor girl, please change your name!), Eleven (she thought a number would be VERY original....so I guess she got what she wanted out of the name) and Fish. Now I should state, in Chinese, names like this are not unusual (well Eleven and Birthday Cake are, but that's besides the point). My own Chinese name means art (like painting type art, not Art is short for Arther type Art). The girls who were Fish and Panda, took the meaning of their surnames and just directly translated to English. I have also heard of a girl names Fiona, who insisted spelling her name with a double F....Ffiona.

Now onto gyms. It's always a surprise to see what people will wear to the gyms. Always a little interesting. Jeans are not unusual at all. So I almost always see at least one person running, cycling or doing weights in jeans. One time while I was running a girl got done with belly dancing class (yes that is a class we hold at my gym, along with some other interesting ones), she was in this flowing outfit and then began to run. Which I honestly don't know how she could, it was so distracting! Sleeves and pants legs swooshing everywhere! But the thing that topped it off for me was seeing a man in his tie. I guess he came to the gym after work and decided it wasn't worth taking off the tie.

Influences

Today we have more influences than we can count, media is one that we often blame or praise. But do we ever think of our own influences? I ask because a couple months ago I would have said the influences I have over people is quite small. I could count them on one hand. But today I realize that's not true. I influence more people than I realize. Not influence in such a way where I could convince them all to jump off a cliff, but I have such an influence that they will stop and listen to what I have to say. Maybe they won't agree, maybe they will strongly disagree, but nonetheless they will give me the time of day to pass my message along. That is a huge influence.

Why do I bring this up? Because I want us to be inspired to do something more with our lives. To take a stand in what we believe in, to move forward, to better the world. Example, when I decided to get my act together and work towards becoming healthier, I was surprised at how many people took note! Some decided to change too, some didn't, but the fact that they noticed! I have influence to share my ideas. I heard that its our responsibility to share and the others to decide whether or not they will follow, so we can't take responsibility for what they choose after we shared, but we need to take a step towards that.

Take Invisible Children for example. A group of people went to Uganda saw what was happening with child soldiers, came back to America and tried to get the American government involved. But my government wasn't interested because it didn't involve America. So this group of people began to advocate everywhere they could, they used their influences and their influences used their influences. Once the American people took note, so did the Government. Makes sense, ours is a government of the people, so THE PEOPLE wanted to get involved and help something beyond their own boarders. Can you see the chain affect? I watched a video (http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/) and was influenced. Now I'm sharing with you. Everyone who reads this will be influenced. Maybe not to change, not to do anything, but you took your time to see what I had to say. Maybe you even took your time to watch the video (maybe you have already watched it). And those who believe in the cause will then use their influence to tell others.

It's amazing. Stop and think who you influence. Now ask yourself, what kind of influence do you want to be and how do you want to influence the world to become a better place for the future?