April 21 - May 24

Summary

The last month has not been a typical one.

SARS has affected daily life in many ways. Many foreigners have left Kunming. To discourage traveling because of SARS the spring vacation throughout China was cancelled. Spring vacation is like a national holiday, as everyone is given time off. Despite this I elected to miss class and travel for two weeks, from April 28 to May 11. I went to Laos with Daxiong and then to Cambodia for a few days on my own. When we returned we were told we could not come to class for two weeks because of the risk of travelers returning with SARS. I ended up spending a lot of time studying in my room. That was no so bad but unfortunately during the second week I ended up being sick and could not study well.

Daxiong and I studied on the trip. We learned the two hundred and twenty-seven radicals, an important component of Chinese characters. We made mnemonics for each, the nastier the better as those are easiest to remember. For example, there is one radical that looks like the letter P and means corpse. The mnemonic I came up with was that a corpse smells like poop. Daxiong came up with disturbing mnemonics as well. That is a big part of why we are friends, because we appreciate the disturbing aspects of one another. Besides memorizing the radicals we did not study much so keeping up in class has not been easy.

One thing I have recently noticed is that people have started to speak faster with me and it is difficult to understand. My Chinese is likely at a certain level where I fake people out so that they over-estimate my skills.

Details

Week of April 21

Monday evening I went for a jog at a track by Shelly's dorm. Three guys that I did not know said hi to me as I passed them. After forty minutes of laps I continued to Shelly's dorm, outside of which over a hundred people were lined up for SARS preventive medicine.

To prepare for my test on Tuesday Shelly gave me Ting Xie (Listen, Write). This is a common activity for studying characters. My friend Helen seems to be having an extended orgasm while talking about the benefits of Ting Xie, despite how torturous it can be. Shelly would read a word, phrase or sentence and then I would write it. She would then check if I wrote it correctly. Immediately, Shelly gave me a hard time about how I held my pencil so I adjusted it for her. The result was worse handwriting but she was happier this way. Sometimes I would not remember certain characters and then Shelly would quickly show me. Then she would ask me to write it again. She would be hard on me if I did not remember, which was usually the case. Sometimes she would compliment me when I did something easy correctly.

Shelly often alternates compliments and insults. She calls me stupid, and at other times says how intelligent I am. She will say that I am studious and later that I never study and am lazy. It is common in China, for both the Chinese and foreigners, to comment on whether someone is a good student, and whether he studies diligently.

Shelly hits me a lot and says, "I am hitting you till you die" in Chinese. I told her I like it and taught her the word masochist. I do not miss an opportunity to teach her a sexual word. Helen, who is often right when it comes to English vocabulary disagreements, said that masochism implied pain onto oneself and was therefore not the right word, but we looked it up and I was right. Me being right in disagreements with her is becoming more and more common, but that does not phase her confidence in herself, nor does it increase her confidence in me.

On Wednesday, Daxiong taught a group of us rugby, to prepare us for a game scheduled for Saturday. It ended up being five minutes of teaching and then playing touch. I could be in America for a lifetime and still not know how one passes a rugby ball, or what a pitch is (just a sports field).

Thursday was my Birthday. In the evening, I biked to the track for a jog and on the way stopped at the library to show Daxiong my recurring bike problem. No matter how many times I fix it the strange noise does not go away. While riding the bike to show off the noise I fell because of a wet spot on the ground. This made my clothes filthy and put Daxiong in stitches. We then took a couple of pictures for the memory. After my jog I went to Shelly's to meet up before going to my tutor, Zhang's, for dinner. Zhang did not want many people over because of SARS and it ended up being her, her husband, Shelly, and me, which I preferred anyway.

After a very pleasant dinner I met up with Marsha and though I had already eaten she cooked me some fried-dumpling-like pastries for my birthday. I was obligated to eat some. Despite not being hungry and fulfilling my obligation, I persisted and almost finished the huge bowl she had fried for me.

Coral-Ann suggested a group of us go out to dinner Friday night, as she had just returned to Kunming. I wanted Daxiong to join us. He is friends with Coral-Ann and should not have needed convincing, but he said he would not go unless I played basketball after class, so at 10 AM I played despite desperately needing sleep.

Saturday was the big rugby game. Over twenty players (and a few fans) met by the University and headed to the field, only to find it occupied by soccer players. There was a long story from the Frenchman that arranged the game about how the person who does the permits had left Kunming because of SARS. We headed to another field, and talked the guards into letting us play. We played for five minutes, after which soccer players that had a permit kicked us off. In China, an unoccupied field is a rarity. Usually there is more than one game going on simultaneously. We gave up.

Laos (April 28 - May 7), Cambodia (May 7 - May 10), Laos (May 10 - May 11)

Laos is a small communist country south of China, southeast of Myanmar, east of Thailand, west of Vietnam and north of Cambodia, bordering each of the aforementioned countries. It is known to be relatively untouched. Click here for a map.

Fella had picked out a hotel for us and minutes after landing we were resting peacefully in our rooms. Daxiong immediately turned the TV on. Daxiong is big on having ESPN and a bathtub. Fella stopped by our room. I was impressed earlier when he said he could throw a softball 85 mph underhand, and he showed me by throwing an eraser underhand into the wall and leaving a permanent indentation.

We had a nice lunch sitting outside but vendors selling junk often interrupted it. After the tenth vendor came over, I was not particularly friendly when I told him we were not interested. The young boy took out a knife and half-jokingly motioned to stab me.

After lunch Daxiong and I rented motorbikes. Before the trip he had talked about how fun it was going to be on these bikes, to be free to go wherever we wanted. I suggested we go to the main part of the city to see what this place was about. Daxiong said this was the main part of the city. He asked what other country I had been to that did not have a McDonalds. I could not think of any.

We went for a ride and passed the main temple and a large market. We continued our map-less exploration for tens of kilometers and were lost. One person confidently gave us incorrect directions. There is little English spoken in Laos. I was exhausted when we returned.

Our first night out we first went to a place the Lonely Planet book referred to as romantic. It turned out to be a dimly lit nightspot where one orders drinks and women come to sit by you, hoping you will take them home for money. A girl came to sit by us and I moved away from her. She was unfriendly after that. Daxiong said I had caused her to lose face. We then went to a nightclub at a five-star hotel. There were surprisingly many lady-boys. A lady boy is a young man that has changed himself into a women through operations and hormones. It reminded me a lot of Thailand. I thought I could never be tricked, that it was easy to tell the difference between lady-boys and women. I was wrong. I was sitting down and an attractive lady started touching my thigh. I thought she was cute so at first did not stop her. Then I found out. After that I had to keep asking people whether they or their friends were lady-boys. It was not considered a rude question.

Later in the trip, on the street by our hotel, a lady-boy prostitute offered Daxiong sex for free.

On Tuesday, by the pool, Daxiong suggested we play a game to see how long we could hold our breath underwater but I let him play it by himself. That afternoon we explored the countryside on our motos. Daxiong had no mercy and would go full speed, much faster than anyone on the road. He weaved through traffic and left me in the dust, but would wait for me at major intersections. Once he gave his shoulder to a truck approaching to let it know that he was not getting out of its way, just as people do when they walk down the street and do not want to get out of your way. In China, Daxiong walks down the street with cars and gives them the shoulder, often hitting their side-mirrors. He is nervous about his toes being run over. 

When on the dirt roads and riding over people's farms, he picked narrow and dangerous paths. We ended up on one that was a dead end. It was a major challenge to turn the bike around on a path as wide as the width of the bike wheel. I fell down with the bike while trying to turn it and was lucky I did not do much damage to it or me.

Daxiong was almost always ahead of me and was ready with his camera at the far side of the first big puddle we encountered, but I confidently rode through it without a problem. At the second puddle I chose the wrong spot to cross and got stuck in two feet of mud. Daxiong got it all on his video camera. As I tried to move the bike out of the mud, ants crawled on my foot and sandal. After a few minutes I was back on dry ground and we continued our ride.

Back at the hotel, while taking a relaxing shower and cleaning off the mud and dirt from my numerous falls, I heard a knock on the door and got out of the shower naked to answer it. I then ran back to the shower and slipped and fell on the bathroom floor. Daxiong had a good look at one of the whiter buts he has ever seen and I lay on the floor naked for a minute, recovering and in shock from the dangerous fall. Seconds later Fella came to our room and Daxiong encouraged him to have a look but he declined. I am lucky that I only had a couple of bruises and no serious injuries.

Thursday we had our hair dyed. Fella picked out orange for me, and yellow for Daxiong.

On Friday I was excited to move on from Vientiane, the smallest capital city I have ever seen. However, after breakfast, Daxiong decided we would stay another day because of the Lakers-Timberwolves game on TV. We could not make the flight to our next destination in Laos, Luang Prabang, and catch the end of the game. After the Timberwolves were blown out by the Lakers we went to the pool and played a new game. One of us would guard a side of the pool, about 25 feet, and the other person would try to touch any spot along the 25-foot wall before being tagged. The person guarding the wall had to stay within a few feet of the wall and could not venture out after the attacker. It is similar to a soccer game, where is the ball, and the other the goalie, and the ball needs to get in the goal while the goalie cannot leave his  box. It ended up being a great workout. For a while it seemed no one would score but each of us learned a few tricks.

On Saturday we were off to Luang Prabang, on a deal that Fella found. It included accommodations at a resort with a swimming pool, badminton and tennis courts. At the airport I had six drinks of canned ice-coffee drinks that tasted like coffee candy. Daxiong hid Fella's passport. When we arrived at the resort we learned that all that we had read about would not be in place for another year. There were no tennis courts, and not even a pool. The receptionist told us there was a nearby waterfall where we could swim.

The town of Luang Prabang was disappointing as it was not beautiful and there were many tourists. Two days here would be more than enough. There were many temples, something we were not interested in. The biggest disappointment was that we could not rent motos. It was now illegal for foreigners to drive them and the police would likely stop us.

Our first night was an early one and I awoke before sunrise on Sunday. I watched the sunrise and then tried a jog but as my knee hurt I turned back. On the way back I ran into Daxiong, going out for a jog himself. I then got a bike and rode for two hours, getting lost. I did not want to go back the way I came but was forced to since I did not bring a map.

We arranged for a car to take us to a beautiful waterfall where we could hike. At one spot I was forced to cross the waterfall with my backpack. More than my backpack getting soaked, I had to worry about my life. Still, I chose this option instead of backtracking. I successfully crossed the waterfall on some slimy stones and got soaked. Daxiong, hiking elsewhere, slipped and fell into the water with his digital video camera in his fanny pack. He tested it some hours later when it was completely dry and amazingly it worked. Swimming in the waterfall's pools and the massage given by the falling water on my back were special.

We played soccer with locals that evening. One of the persons that worked at the hotel had invited us.

On Monday morning, before our flight back to Vientiane, we took a boat ride along the Mekong River. Daxiong was a grouch on the boat ride because I had thrown a dead insect on him beforehand. He has a thing about insects, though Fella and I enjoyed watching his reaction. To get back at us, Daxiong would move about the boat in such a way that if Fella and I did not react appropriately we would have all fallen in the water. I did not think throwing the insect on him was nearly as bad as him startling me while I was riding a moto in Vientiane. He snuck up on me from the side of the road and yelled in my ear. I laughed when he did it, but it was dangerous. Midway through the boat ride the driver considerately offered us drugs, which we politely refused. 

By Monday afternoon we were back at our original hotel in Vientiane. There was not a lot of exploring left to do in the town. I looked into flights back to Kunming and found out that Thursday's flights were cancelled as were all flights on the airline we had booked our open return ticket with. We would have to buy new tickets and the only flights back to Kunming were on Sundays. I decided to go to Cambodia instead of traveling more through Laos. The next flight to Siem Reap, where Cambodia's famous temples of Angkor are located, was on Wednesday.

When staying at a hotel, Daxiong likes to leave the room key with the front desk rather than carrying it. I got used to this so it was not a problem. Usually I took the stairs to our room and Daxiong the elevator. This afternoon I was alone in my room and took the elevator down to the pool. I left the key with the desk.  A few minutes later Daxiong showed up by the pool flabbergasted because he thought I did not leave the key with the front desk. When he saw me by the pool and understood the situation occurred because he took the stairs and me the elevator he apologized, he said, "for all the profanity before I said it," because it turned out I had not done anything wrong after all. He was about to curse me out but luckily found out in the nick of time. Because he had been so nasty in his head, preparing a string of profanities, he thought an apology was in order.

I kept Fella and Daxiong company at dinner but did not eat because I had already had my fill for the day, not missing a street vendor. I prefer local food. They had a great Italian dinner and at the table I had four tablespoons of ketchup, just because I like the taste of ketchup, especially the ketchup outside America, which is often sweet. Daxiong said he learned more about my eating habits on the trip than anything else.

On Tuesday I made friends with a twenty-five year old woman that owned an outdoor restaurant near the river. She and her employees slept at the restaurant. Though she spoke little English she asked me a few times if I was married. At midnight a group of us went dancing. When I was tired I let them know I would head home. They went with me and instead of going home we went back to her restaurant. She cooked for all of us, after working all day. She made something special for me, sticky rice with Mango. She knew I liked that.

On Wednesday morning I was off to Cambodia and Fella was off to Bangkok, en route to Beijing. Daxiong could not decide what he wanted to do and ended up staying in Vientiane, relaxing with some friends he had made. Daxiong often has women come on to him and has to fend them off, but occasionally lets them spend an hour or two with him. He thinks it is because he shows no interest but the real reason is that he is a good-looking, intelligent, funny, charismatic and sweet person who happens to be a lot friendlier than he admits.

At the airport I had one smoothie after another. After three the woman that made them was amazed and mentioned it to her co-worker. Then I had one more to top it off. I had guava/mango/banana, honeydew, banana/mango/pineapple and dragon fruit. Each was the size of a medium soft drink, about twelve ounces. They were great and I asked how she had made them. She had used iodized table salt, fresh milk and sugar. The drinks hit me suddenly, and I had trouble making it to the airport's bathroom in time, holding my stomach as people turned their heads and watched me awkwardly run.

My flight landed at a quarter to four. A moto-taxi took my suitcase and me to a guesthouse, which is like low-end hotel that backpackers frequent. It is strange how people are able to fit a large suitcase on a small motorbike. The driver stuck it by his feet, in the space between him and the handlebars.

The guesthouse he took me to was fine and I settled there. I wanted to see the temples that evening and had the option of hiring the same taxi driver that took me to the guesthouse. He suggested we meet at five but I insisted that we leave right away. He first stopped by his house. While there I had an overripe banana, figuring it was probably good since it had not been thrown away. Maybe they ate bananas differently in Cambodia. After biting into it I had to spit it out. It was rotten. I then had to get rid of the spit-out banana and the remainder of the uneaten banana without him seeing me. I stuck it under the banana bunch.

I purchased a three-day temple pass and the driver dropped me off at the most famous temple, Angkor Wat. It is the largest religious structure in the world. As I walked in I did not get chills at the entrance as I had expected. Lonely Planet said, "Relish the first approach, as that spine-tickling moment when you emerge on the inner causeway will rarely be felt again." I started talking to a Swiss girl, Eva, who was walking along at my pace. We did not have much time to see the temple as the guards soon asked everyone to leave.

Eva and I made plans to meet later that night. It turned out that of the hundreds of guesthouses, she was staying in the one adjacent to mine. At 8:30 I joined her at the dining area. I gave Eva a hard time because she was not planning to get up for the sunrise. I talked a good game but slept in the next morning.

When I left the guesthouse in the morning my driver from the previous day was waiting but I explained that I wanted to use a regular bike and explore the temples alone so he left. The guesthouse rented bikes. The owner woke up a 13 year old to help lower the bike seat but he had no clue. I lost my patience after fifteen minutes and said never mind. I started walking, thinking maybe I would get a bike elsewhere. After much walking and few bike-rental options I passed the main tour agency and decided I would give that a try, especially since I had not read enough about the temples and thought I might not get the most out of them if I went alone. I asked for the guide who spoke the best English. The man I was speaking to, Li, said he spoke the best English. He wanted to go home and change his shirt. He was not prepared for a customer since there had been so few lately. He said I was their only customer that day. There were twenty-five guides standing around. I did not let him go home and change his shirt. I wanted to see the temples and not lose any more time, as it was already late-morning.

The temples of Angkor were built between the 9th and 14th centuries. That was when the Khmer empire was a superpower in the region. Some remain in good shape others are overrun with jungle or bush, as the locals call it. Some are ruins and some in good shape. The temples were Buddhist, Hindu, or both, and in many cases changed depending on the current king's religion. Once the king built the first temple in the 9th century, kings afterwards followed. In total there are about a hundred temples. The most famous temple is Angkor Wat but there are a few that are must-sees including Angkor Thom (a walled city with a big temple inside) and Ta Prohm (a large temple that has trees growing all over it).

Li spent most of the time explaining the carvings in the sandstone, called bas-reliefs. I looked up bas-reliefs but could not find it in my dictionary. I found it in the glossary of a book on the temples. It is, "A sculpture in low relief with the figures projecting less than half the true proportions from the background." A relief is, "method of carving or molding in which a design stands out from a flat surface." As we saw the temples, I was constant learning. It surprised me that I was interested. The bas-reliefs were what made the temples so interesting. I would have been bored had I walked through the temples and not known their stories. It turned out to be a great move to hire a guide. We took our time walking around because of the one-hundred-degree heat, and it did not end up tiring me out.

Side about the bas-reliefs

Races of people in the bas-reliefs are portrayed differently so they can be identified. I asked Li to point out the differences.

Indian people have sharp noses and long ears with earrings. Chinese have short ears, long beards, and their hair is in a bun. Cambodians have big ears (no ring), curly hair and flat noses. Chan people wear an upside down lotus helmet. The Chan people come from an area that is now central Vietnam. Siam people have skirts with bird heads and hair woven like corn (corn line). They also hold tridents (a trident is like a spear with many points). Their faces are like hill tribe people - mountainous people with mustaches.

At first I could not tell the difference between Demons and Gods. The demons have bigger eyes and protruding foreheads, serious faces, and rough and pointy headdresses. The gods have gentle, smiling faces and wear a pointed crown.

Around the temples are kids selling junk and postcards. There are many so each needs a way to differentiate himself. At one temple a girl called me madam twice, as a joke to get attention. Some kids knew the capitals of all of the fifty states.

In one temple there was a Buddhist nun selling refreshments and she wanted to know what I paid for yogurt I was already drinking so that she would not charge me too much.

In the city of Angkor Thom, a 12-year-old girl was selling sugarcane juice and bees swarmed all around her.

Since the first day was such a success I asked Li to pick me up early the next day. I wanted to see the sunrise and did not want anyone showing me the temples but him. He was so knowledgeable, his English excellent, and we talked about personal subjects.

I woke up at 4:45, by myself, and Li was waiting for me. Sunrise at Angkor Wat was overrated. Maybe at other times of the year it is amazing. After sitting and watching the sun rise we walked around while Li explained the stories depicted in the bas-reliefs. We were there until almost eleven, though we had planned to stay till nine.

We stopped for a break and went to my guesthouse. The receptionist told me that the driver that had picked me up at the airport two days before had been waiting for me since the early morning and had just left, hoping I would hire him for the day to take me to the temples. He did not believe her that I was not in my room. From then on I should leave my room key with her as proof that I had left for the day.

I then had Li drop me off at the Sofitel Royal Angkor for an afternoon rest. I bought a day pass to use the pool and gym. I had checked it out when I arrived Wednesday night. After reading the Lonely Planet's description "the incredible lagoon pool and gym ... with a swim up bar" I had to go. I let Li know to pick me up at 2:30 and immediately went to the workout room to use the cycle. I could not figure out how to get the air-conditioning working but still did forty-five minutes as I flooded the room with sweat. By the pool, I ordered a drink. Then I swam up to the bar and ordered another drink and lunch.

In the evening Li and I watched the sunset from what is considered the spot to watch the sunset from. Everyone watching agreed that it was like any other sunset. Afterwards I had the driver drop me off at the pool again. I worked out again and then lay in the pool in the darkness. There was a shallow area a few inches deep where I could lay on my back and my body would be half in and half out of the water. Then I swam and floated under the stars. As I did pushups by the side of the pool I heard what I thought was beautiful traditional music but determined it was just the pool's drain.

I would have liked to stay all night. Though the pool closes at 8 PM, guests can stay as long as they want. Instead I decided I would be social and chat with the three Americans and the Swiss girl I had chatted with the previous two nights at Eva's guesthouse. I used the steam room and sauna, and then got a ride back to my guesthouse. I asked before getting on his moto, and the driver said he knew my guesthouse, but he did not. After a few minutes he asked me if I knew where it was, not even trying to hide the fact that he had never known. Though I did not want to tell him how to get there because I was annoyed, I gave him directions since I recognized the area.

I joined Paul and Stacy, a married couple, Eva, and Richard at the usual spot. I took some notes on them right in front of them. Eva asked me to put my sheet of paper away, but I had already jotted some interesting things down.

Paul likes grasshoppers and the way they taste. He does not like spiders and does not like eating them. It is too bad it works out that way. Paul also quoted someone, "you can be youthful again ... just make the same follies you did before, repeat the old mistakes." Eva made a comment I laughed at, "I saw a good article in a good magazine."

Everyone was leaving Siem Reap the next day. My flight was in the afternoon and I decided I would see the "River of a Thousand Lingas" in the morning. A linga is, "A representation of the male organ of generation, a symbol of Shiva and his role in creation."

We left at 7 AM on Li's moto. We had a long ride ahead of us. On the way we stopped and saw one of the remote temples. On the last 12 km dirt road leading to the River of a Thousand Lingas we got a flat tire. An hour later it was fixed. We had very little time remaining and had to rush. By the lingas, which were identical stone carvings at the bottom of the stream, Li told me the story of a Hindu god dying after sex. This was the story of creation. I was disappointed as I was expecting impressive, large and humorous phallic symbols, which was not at all what they were. Each linga looked like a square shaped stone, with an small opening on one side of the square for water to flow out of.

We went from the river to the waterfall. By the waterfall was a vendor selling delicious rice with coconut inside and sesame sprinkled all over. I ate five servings. Then I went for a quick dip and we rushed back to town so I could catch my flight. My driver's wrist hurt so we could not drive too fast.

A major reason I had a great time in Cambodia was because of my tour guide. The backpackers I met did not have a tour guide. When we talked on Friday night the four backpackers were very curious about what I had learned. I figured they knew much of what I learned from reading but they said they did not. I also learned from Li about Cambodia's history and culture. The driver and I talked about women, sex, family, and government. Much of our more personal conversations took place as I sat behind him on the moto. The wind made hearing him a challenge, and though he spoke English well, the combination of outside noise plus his accent forced me to give all my concentration. I would never have listened had it not been extremely interesting.

My flight Saturday night was to Vientiane, and the following day I would fly from Vientiane to Kunming. I had originally wanted to fly through Bangkok on Sunday so I could spend the night in Siem Reap, but the price made that option prohibitive and illogical. After landing in Vientiane, Laos, from Cambodia, I was forced to buy a new VISA, but did not have enough cash. With all the airport taxes and unexpected costs it is common for travelers to run out of cash. When I realized I did not have the money, I should have been worried, but instead was more curious about what they do. I never found out as the one person that had not gone through customs yet, an Englishman, lent me the $10 I needed. After he lent me the money, I was still curious, and debated asking them. I decided against it. I could not see getting a clear answer because of the bad English. We took a taxi to his five-star hotel but the hotel could not give me US dollars for my traveler's checks or for anything. The Englishman said not to worry about paying him back. He had no use for the local currency as he was leaving the next day. It was important to me to pay him back. I walked around for an hour, going to all the nicest hotels, but it was in vain, they refused to give US dollars.

I continued my hunt for dollars and for a guesthouse and found a guesthouse that took VISA. I had no cash left so needed that option. The kid at reception had music blasting and when I asked him to turn it down moved the volume from 100 to 99. Then I asked him to turn it off. I had him call his boss, who agreed to give me some US dollars in a cash advance, using my VISA card. I was relieved. I dropped off the money at the hotel for the Englishman and then was finally free. 

I wanted to surprise Daxiong. He did not know I was going back to China through Vientiane. I asked at an Indian restaurant by the lake if they had seen him and they said he had just left after eating there minutes earlier. I went to our original hotel and they knew the hotel he was now staying at. I went to track him down, but no one answered the phone in his room.

I later found out he had told the hotel receptionist that he did not want phone calls. In particular, he met an American girl in town for a couple of days. She suggested they share a room, with the excuse that they would save money. Instead of the truth, Daxiong said he already had someone coming that night. He was ready with that answer immediately, he told me. So he was avoiding her as well as many other women that were chasing him.

I wrote postcards that night and went to sleep early. At 6:30 I left for the airport. Daxiong arrived at the airport minutes after I did, which surprised me since he usually cuts it close. He explained he did not want to miss this flight. He had to escape Vientiane and all the women.

Cambodian History

• I learned that Siam is synonymous with Thailand. I am not sure if this means a Siamese cat is one from Thailand.
• Thai boxing is really Cambodian
• There is tension between Thailand and Cambodia due to a long history between the two countries

Cambodia Notes

• There are cooked chicken eggs sold on the side of the road. Instead of a normal yolk the fetus is developed so that it looks like a chick. I did not taste it.
• Some people carried dead pigs on the back of their bikes. I am not sure if they were planning to cook the pigs or sell the meat.
• AIDS is a problem in Cambodia (half the women tested have it, though this statistic can be misleading). It first appeared when the UN came to Cambodia in the early 1990s so it is said that the UN brought AIDS to Cambodia. That is one way to look at it.
• It is difficult to see what communism gives the people in either Laos or Cambodia (or China, for that matter). The social benefits were invisible to me.

Week of May 12

The day we returned we went to the hospital to get tested for SARS. Otherwise we knew we would not be able to go to school. Our blood tests and x-rays came back negative and we had the results in writing. The school administration let us go to class on Monday with the stipulation that we wear masks to cover our mouths for three days. On Tuesday they took me out of class and told me they had changed their minds. We could not go to class for two weeks. I was upset but not surprised.

Friday night was Edith's birthday and, in Spanish tradition, she treated everyone to drinks. Later that evening Fred and I went to Camel Bar and a girl I had previously met came over and bit me so I bit her back. She was high and drunk and I told her friend to take her home.

Daxiong was hung over on Saturday. Though I had only had three beers the previous night I did not feel well. I did not get better for days. At first I thought it was the beer but since I was sick for over a week it must have been something else.

On Saturday night Daxiong and I met for dinner and Helen left the friends she was hanging out with to join us though she had already eaten. She complained instantly that me and Daxiong were having the same conversation we had had before. The conversation was about how me and Daxiong are similar and how we are different. I complained about her complaining and then Daxiong pointed out that I would have the same complaint as Helen did if other people were repeating their previous conversation. I agreed with him and shut up.

Helen decided to change the subject and asked what each of us thought was the worst part of our own personality. Though she enjoys me and Daxiong's trivial conversations, she brought up this more serious topic, not one that would bring many smiles to the dinner table. She said she cares too much what other people think, Daxiong said his flaw was his anti-social tendencies but admitted it is not something he wants to change. I could not think of anything. Helen did not like that I had nothing to add regarding me, but Daxiong was fine with it and amused. I can think of what many parts of my personality that would draw wide criticism, but I am comfortable with who I am, and not looking to change me.

Week of May 19

I was sick the entire week and looked it. When I would tell people I was sick they would ask me if I had a fever, but I did not.

On Tuesday I talked to the school's administration and explained that Wednesday would be ten days since our return so Daxiong and I should be able to attend class. They said we could go back on Thursday and I was satisfied.

On Wednesday I got my bike fixed for the tenth time or so. Both tires were low on air (as they are after each use) and my bike was making the same noise it had always made. The repair man replaced one of the tire tubes, showing me a hole, and replaced a part that had just recently been replaced. Thursday morning I went to use my bike and it had two flat tires. After putting air in and riding for ten minutes the chain broke. I took it back to the person who fixed it, and left it there while I went to play squash with Daxiong, Big Mouth and another American. When I returned he gave me back my bike fixed and did not charge me (as he had said he wouldn't when he fixed it the first time). He then tried to sell me another used bike, but its gears were having problems. I told him I would try the bike again if he fixed the gears and on Friday went back to try it and the problem remained so I said no thank you.

On Friday after class I went to bed, excited to lie in the new bed sheets. The attendants changed my sheets that morning. A dead bug warmly welcomed me, lying comfortably on the new sheets, smack in the middle of the bed by my pillow. As I was sick, Daxiong called me to see if I needed anything brought over for lunch and I asked for a cordon bleu chicken. When he brought it over to me, he ran into Bethany, who joked he was a good husband.

On Saturday I tried to play basketball but could not move. I felt like my back would break in half. I am not sure when it got hurt, possibly Thursday during squash. I spent the rest of the weekend resting in my room watching movies. Children of a Lesser God and the Crime of Padre Amaro were two that were worth seeing.

People Notes

Daxiong

• Like my brother, he believes in exaggerating stories to make them funnier.
• On April 22, I taught him mnemonics and he now remembers characters much better by using them. He also asks everyone, "Do you know about this thing called mnemonics?"
• Daxiong almost died a couple of years ago. See the story about Daxiong and the tumor. At a family reunion shortly after this occurred his dad suggested that he fake a seizure. That is where he got his sense of humor.
• He says thank you after we hang out, after we have dinner, after we play hoops. I do not know why.
• He admits he is not logical.
• It bothers him when I say I will beat him at a sport, or shut him out in basketball. He cannot possibly think I mean it.
• He was talking about how great some tickets he got were and said they were "back row" instead of "back stage."
• He says if people are not working they are "existing."
• He tests people to see if they are listening by saying he has seven kids and watching their reaction. Often they are not listening and just nod their heads.
• He thinks I am cocky about athletics but compares himself to professional athletes.
• As an example of how he is a better athlete than many professionals, he pointed out that there is no way Shaq could beat him at golf. I found this example irrelevant and a strange one to come up with.
• Bought me a Butterfinger chocolate bar in Laos. Very sweet.
• Daxiong and Beijing hockey
• Daxiong's philosophy is to be agreeable and make everyone happy. For example, his friend from the USA asked him if he watched Sumo wrestling much (since his friend knew he lived in China) and Daxiong said "all the time." Sumo wrestling is big in Japan and non-existent in China.

Fella

• Conversation between Daxiong and Fella. Daxiong: "I tried calling you." Fella: "you couldn't have, I wasn't home."
• He is an existential atheist. I tried to understand him, but as he explained, he went off on tangents and I decided a dictionary would be more helpful. Existentialism is a theory that "man is a unique and isolated individual in a meaningless or hostile world, responsible for his own actions and free to choose his destiny." Atheism is the "belief that there is no God."

Helen

• She is addicted to text messaging. Personally, I cannot stand how long it takes.
• Shelly, Helen and I were having dinner and Helen insisted, after me saying she was, that she was not tired, that it was just her eyes. Then she yawned for five minutes straight and headed home to sleep.
• She taught Daxiong and I the game Sex Mary Kill. You are given three people and you say whom you would have sex with, whom you would marry and whom you would kill. I am waiting for the right opportunity to play. It is fun if everyone playing knows the same people and if the answers are not obvious.
• As Helen has an apologetic nature, it was amusing when she said she was sorry I was could not attend class for two weeks and then took it back, saying she was not sorry as it had had nothing to do with her. This was the first time she taken back one of her unnecessary apologies. The thing is, her use of the word "sorry" was not an apology but just showing she felt bad for me, so it was appropriate.

Marsha

• She said I am not like other foreigners, that I am special. I asked her why and she pointed to the comment I made that someone being "nice" is irrelevant.
• I watched her play soccer and asked if she was good. She explained that she is small but important.

Coral-Ann

• She suggested next time I die my hair dark blue.
• My hair was particularly messy one day and she said how she likes it that way.
• Her and her boyfriend, Aaron, are saving up to buy a farm in Australia. They may try to buy it soon and plant trees now, but not move there for years.
• She decided to leave Kunming. She is now traveling in Thailand for a couple of weeks and afterwards will go back to Australia to work at a nursing home. She plans to come back to Kunming next year.

SARS

• I am not allowed to have any guests in my room at any time.
• I am supposed to take my temperature every day. I found this out when I saw a piece of paper on the outside of my door. My tutor told me if I break the thermometer in my room it is very bad for me, and I could lose my hair, so I do not want to take my temperature.
• The track where I like to take night jogs is now closed after 6:30. How this would prevent SARS from spreading is a mystery to me.
• You must show an ID when walking through the university
• For a while they gave medicine at the school cafeteria but they stopped. No one knew what it was. It tasted like bad tea to me. After drinking it Bethany wanted to throw up.
• I sneezed in class and the teacher and all the students gave me a strange look. Then someone coughed and did not get any look, though sneezing is not a symptom and coughing is.
• There are much fewer street vendors outside of my dormitory.
• For awhile no one went to the normally packed library.
• Spray is used all over the place, and at the Internet cafe, there is a sign that says the place was sanitized.

Random Notes

• Cucumbers are twice as long as those in America and bumpy on the outside, but have the same taste. Zhang told me to be careful with the misshapen ones. They are that way because they were sprayed too much.
• There is a miniature melon, the size of an apple, that tastes and looks like honeydew. 
• Fruit vendors always let you try their fruit.
• Fred, before he had a girlfriend, used the line "do you have a boyfriend." After the girl would say no he would say, "why not." Daxiong plans to try this line and instead of saying, "why not," he will say, "I can see why" and walk away.
• At almost all stores the sellers have little change and I asked Coral-Ann to explain this mystery. I could not figure out why we do not have this problem in western countries. She mentioned how her parents had an ice-cream shop and would bring float (extra bills) so that change was not a problem and to keep the customers happy. Customer satisfaction is not a priority here. Mystery solved. It has nothing to do with the value of the currency.