March Madness

Not even a 13 hour time difference can stop the Badgers (though, apparently defending 3 pointers can).

Thanks to the wonder of the internet the NCAA tournament was available here for our viewing pleasure. After the Badgers exciting last second overtime victory in round one, a couple of us got together at 2:20 AM to watch their second round game. While the team did not exactly come through (losing as their offense failed to show up in the last 10 minutes), watching the tournament provides a surreal feeling where it almost feels like you're in America, but then you wonder why the game is on at 4 AM.

But yes, even with the loss, it was worth staying up for.

One Bike, Two Bike, Three Bike, Four?

Some things are nearly essential to life here, for example, a cell phone (almost all my work revolves around it), an index finger (almost all my food ordering is done through pointing), and a bicycle. But bicycles have been hard for me to hang on to lately.

After losing my first bike in late December, I soon lost another bike and had to move onto a third. And by "lost" I mean, "was stolen". In this country's culture, talking about negative topics is discouraged and this is reflected even in the words that are used. So no one ever says their bike was stolen, you will say it was lost. To say "stolen" would be considered a little bit impolite.

(Positive note: A student who is a native of this city actually congratulated me saying, "Well, once you have lost two bikes you are a true [resident]" and another student informed me that she had lost seven bikes while in high school, so I'm far from the record.)

So anyways, after "losing" two bikes I was not about to spend very much on my next bike, so I went to a shop and with very poor pronunciation stated, "I want a cheap bike because I lost two bikes so far." So I purchased a bike for less than $30 along with a lock that appeared very flimsy. Upon asking the clerk if the lock was any good or not, he merely shrugged, which I should have taken as a sign. I think he was trying to say, "A lock is the last thing you need to worry about, because no thief will be stupid enough to steal this piece of trash."

And he was right, within hours I discovered my new bike was uncomfortable, practically without brakes, and that the nuts and bolts were loose (and not easily tightened). But as the attached picture shows, this was just the beginning of my problems (I'm no expert but I don't think pedals are ever supposed to look like that).

Oh, and did I mention the bike (and therefore, I) smelled like gasoline.

So with that bike very quickly becoming unrideable, a new bike seemed to be on the horizon. Luckily a friend here, decided that she was ready to upgrade her 7 year old bike and graciously offered me the use of her old bike. So now, here I am on bike number 4 and hoping I don't "lose" another . . . I've got a long ways to go before I hit seven, right?

Cha Bu Duo?

The name of this blog comes from a phrase that means "more or less." It is used almost all the time and we often like to say that this is a "cha bu duo culture." For example, "Is my car fixed?" "Cha bu duo." "Is this kung pao chicken?" "Cha bu duo." And on one unique occasion, "Is this chicken?" "Cha bu duo."

I hope you enjoy learning about my life here. The culture, the people, the smells, and so forth. It should be an entertaining ride.