Tour De Dandong - Day 1

The Tour De Dandong started off with great fanfare and nervous trepidation. Seriously did anyone expect these bikes



to make it all the way to Dandong from Dalian .. a distance of 350 km? Well in truth probably very few believed although most hoped they would.

The structure of the race was simple. 5 teams (Yongjiu, Jin Lu, Hong Qi, Fei Ge and FengHuang) each with 4 to 6 members set off to race from Dalian to Dandong. The teams were named after the brand of bike each team was using. The race was split into 2.5 days where at the end of each day the groups and support crew all stayed in the same town. I was a member of the marshalling crew that was responsible for organizing the mechanics and film crew. There were 2 film crew cars and 1 mechanic truck (with 2 mechanics) that followed the racers through the countryside.

The groups met at Jinshitan beach near our school and posed for a large group photo.





You may notice that Brad from Team Phoenix was not present for the photo as the first mechanical mishap occurred prior to the start of the race. His chain was broken and he was scrambling to get a new one in the town of ManJiaTan.

The groups then took off in a staggered start with each team leaving about 3 minutes apart. Due to the issues Phoenix had they were the last to leave .. and boy was that an omen of the day to come.

There were a few teams that took a wrong turn about 3 km into the race but it was all sorted out pretty quickly.

Team YongJiu encountered the first "on road" mechanical problem when Euan's chain broke but the mechanics were quickly on hand and had the team back on the road within a few minutes.

Mechanical problem #3 occurred with Team Phoenix. Jack's brakes were put to the test and failed as he was drafting a 3 wheeled truck. He was fine but it took 20 to 30 minutes to get his bike repaired which put Team Phoenix a fair bit behind their competitors. It was a sign of things to come for Team Phoenix.




The wind was howling on this first day and really slowed the progress of the cyclists to the point where the last 30 km of the first day (90 km in total) was done in complete darkness with a bit of rain and the aforementioned wind. Some teams were very well prepared for night riding with reflective vests and good bike lamps. Other teams were not and were putting themselves in great danger. There were so many ways it could have gone wrong (pedestrians on the shoulder in completely dark clothing, concrete bridge abuttments jutting out, cars swinging over to drive on the shoulder, high beams blinding the cyclists as they rode) but the fact that nothing serious happened suggested that someone was watching out for the competitors.

The teams rolled into the Cheng Zi Tan bathhouse starting about 8:30 pm or so until the last team .. guess who .. Team Phoenix finally arrived at 11 pm. They had quite a few issues with flat tires and other assorted mechanical problems.

We had some Chinese takeout (seriously what else would it be?) brought in and we put on a DVD of the 1975 USSR-Montreal Canadiens New Year's Eve game. We only got to watch the first period as they shut us down because it was getting late. We all retired to bed in our rooms hoping to rest up for the next day's adventure .. and what an adventure it would become.

Stay tuned.

Ting Jin Ya Lu Jiang

Otherwise known as the Tour De Dandong.



This illustrious bike tour of Northeast China and onto the North Korean Border will keep me away from the blog for a few days. No I am not riding but I am part of the support crew that will assist the men as they venture forth into the countryside on motorized bicycle (NOT motorbike). It promises to be a great adventure. Look for some blog posts when I come back.\


Cheers
Dalong

Doofus

This past weekend Alice went to a concert in Yantai to see Andy Lau (well she loves him) and I took the boys to a birthday party. I was proud of the cool duds I managed to dig up for them and snapped the following photos. The reason there are so many is because every time I told them to smile Nathan would do this silly grin face with his eyes closed. I could not get him to keep them open. I've officially decided he can be a real doofus at times!

Corner Gas - You've Been Great, Goodnight!

The show Corner Gas on CTV was an amazing example of what Canadian television could be like. There have been previously successful dramas (Degrassi as per example) but never really a great comedy series until Corner Gas hit the airwaves. I have been in China the entire time it has been on but I have managed to watch it on DVD and from downloading the episodes week by week.

A truly great series with usually a good hearty laugh or more per episode (most American sitcoms don't even come close to meeting this statistic). The cameo's (Saskatchewan Roughrider players, Keifer Sutherland, Stephen Harper, The Tragically Hip, etc) and the Canadian injokes were the staple of the series.

Corner Gas wrapped up its last episode this past Monday night and I am going to be sad to see it go. In case ya missed it here is a sample of its comedic genius .. the first scene of the first show of the first season.

If you are in China and can't view this YouTube video go get HotSpot Shield. Just Google it.

Susan Boyle. Wow!

She's 47. She's a virgin. She has a 10 year old cat named "Pebbles". She has Leonid Brezhnev's eyebrows. Basically she is what John Candy, god rest his soul, looked like in drag (a la the Julia Childs parody from SCTV).

Having said that Susan Boyle of Blackburn, Scotland stepped up to the mic on Britain's Got Talent and simply nailed it. If you haven't heard her sing watch the video below. You'll feel good about yourself if you do.

Easter 2009

This past Easter Sunday we ventured out to JinShiTan (near the school where I work) as the families who live there were hosting the Easter Egg Hunt this year. Previously the families living in Kai Fa Qu hosted the event and we have now decided to alternate venues each year.

The weather was beautiful and the locale was great. We split the kids up into 2 groups this year which was a welcome change as the wee ones didn't have to compete for candy with the big ones and the big ones didn't have to give up all the candy they found to the little folks. We had several BBQ's going and everyone brought some delicious foods and snacks. In short it was a great day!

Printing

One of the great things about having a child is watching them develop and their skills at doing things get better at an exponential rate. Carter has been working very hard on his printing and is starting now to learn how to read and write. He has finally figured out how to sound out words using the sounds. It is at the very rudimentary stage but I can see the light bulb has come on as far as reading goes. Yesterday he tried so spell Robin (of Batman and Robin not the bird) and he wrote RBN which is a pretty good try in my books. Although he first learned to spell Batman, Spiderman and Superman he has finally learned to spell and write his own name without any help from Mom and Dad.

Alice got a small whiteboard for him to write on and he loves it. Here is his latest attempt at his name.

Dong Bei Ren Video

This is an update to the previous post The Dong Bei Ren Song - Dong Bei Cup Inspiration. It seems that while YouTube is blocked here in China the Chinese site Youku.com is blocked outside of China. Sneaky buggers. Well anyhow here are copies of the same video for both the Chinese and the North American market.

The Dong Bei Ren Song - Dong Bei Cup Inspiration

In the lead up to the Dong Bei Cup I feel it only fair to give you some background on the inspiration for the tournament's namesake. The term Dong Bei simply means the northeast and a Dong Bei Ren is a person from the northeast. However the DongBei Ren are reknowned in China for being a people that are tougher due to their ability to survive the often cold and harsh winters of the DongBei region. They are more apt to settle an argument with their fists rather than words, they can drink you under the table and their cuisine is more meat, stew and cabbage kind of dishes. In essence a DongBei Ren has a lot in common with the people of the Cariboo and northern interior of BC which may explain why I feel so at home here.

About 7 or 8 years ago the DongBei Ren were immortalized in a song by a Beijing singer that explains the virtues of the DongBei people. Posted below is a YouTube video showing a popular animation that accompanies the song (unfortunately it repeats many times). I copied a translation of the words and posted them below the video. Sing a long if you so desire.

This is what the Dong Bei Cup tournament is all about.

老张开车去东北， 撞了。	lao zhang kai che qu dong bei, zhuang le	Lao Zhang drove to Dongbei And had an accident
肇事司机耍流氓， 跑了。	zhao shi si ji shua3 liu2 mang2, pao3 le	The other driver was a thug And ran off
多亏一个东北人， 送到医院缝五针， 好了	duo kui1 yi ge dong bei ren, song dao yi yuan feng2 wu3 zhen1, hao le	Fortunately a Dongbeiren Sent him to the hospital He was fine after five stitches
老张请他吃顿饭， 喝得少了他不干， 他说：	lao zhang qing ta chi dun fan, he de shao le ta bu gan, ta shuo	Lao Zhang invited him to eat a dun And wouldn’t think of not drinking He said:
俺们那旮都是东北人，	an3 men2 na4 ga1 dou shi dong bei ren	“We are all Dongbeiren”
俺们那旮特产高丽参，	an men na ga te chan gao li4 shen1	“Our regional specialty is Gao Li ginseng”
俺们那旮猪肉炖粉条，	an men na ga zhu1 rou4 dun4 fen3 tiao2	“And pork dun with rice noodles”
俺们那旮都是活雷锋。	an men na ga dou shi huo2 lei2 feng1	“We aspire to live according to the principles of Lei Feng”
俺们那旮没有这种人，	an men na ga mei you zhe zhong ren	“We don’t have that kind of person”
撞了车了哪能不救人，	zhuang le che le na neng bu jiu4 ren2	“Who would cause an accident and not aid the other party”
俺们那旮山上有珍蘑，	an men na ga shan shang you zhen1 mo2	“On our mountains grow pearl mushrooms”
那个人他不是东北人。	na ge ren ta bu shi dong bei ren	“That man was no Dongbeiren!”

Go Nucks!

The excitement around Vancouver and the Canucks accomplishment of clinching first place in their division must have the city abuzz. They are a strong team with the best goalie in the biz backing them up. Back to back 1-0 shutouts have to build confidence in the team's defensive abilities.

Although I cannot share in the excitement this time around it does bring back memories of the Canucks amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals of 1994. Of course there were many memorable moments from the entire playoffs but for my money the 7th game against Calgary was the most exciting one. For years afterwards everyone talked about "The Save" by Kirk McLean off Robert Reichel and to a lesser extent "the goal" by Bure to end the game in the second overtime. Let's hope this year's version of the team can bring equal excitement.

If you have forgotten what the emotion of the time was like I have the video of the CBC broadcast. I apologize for the sound quality but I think they were captured from VHS.

First - The Save


Second - The Goal

The Dong Bei Cup

It seems like only yesterday a certain crazy teacher showed up to our school with delusions of getting his fellow staff members to play Crokinole, wear cardigans and ride rickety motorized pedalbikes to Dandong. This person also had the good foresight to organize the Dong Bei Cup - our annual ball hockey championship which is in its 6th year. Of course the gentleman I am referring to is none other than Craig over at the Engleson Files.

For those not in the know the Dong Bei Cup is 4 teams of 6 players and a goalie. The goalie is the team captain and responsible for drafting his team. The games are 3 on 3 with 2 twenty minute halves. The action is fast and furious (well ...sometimes) and the students get quite a kick out of watching the teachers vie for the championship (in perfect gentlemanly fashion of course).

In the past I have been in the 2004 finals but lost, won in 2005, lost in the semis in 2006, won in 2007 and lost in the finals in 2008. Sadly this year I have to watch the entire tournament from the sidelines as my previously broken leg

did not heal in enough time to be able to compete. I went to the annual draft night where the goalies pick the team but there was a big piece missing as I was not able to talk strategy and bond with fellow teammates. Next year (as they say).

Good luck to the boys and girls as they compete for their respective championships.

Leonard Cohen

This following documentary from 1965 entitled "Ladies and Gentlemen, Leonard Cohen" is
a beautiful documentary from the National Film Board celebrating Canada's hottest young poet of the time. Got a spare 45 minutes? Watch

The Incredible Hulk

Came home yesterday from a not so good day at work to find this waiting for me.


And just in case that didn't amuse me there is also Saturday Night Fever Hulk


And Hulk with little Hulk


Then we have captured on the following video
"Incredible Hulk impersonates Chinese UltraMan" (which in Chinese is called Ao Te Man)

Numbers

Tonight Carter sat with his mama and patiently did his Chinese numbers from 1 to 10. He was very proud of his work but would only let me see the final product and not his work in progress.
His rendition


How they are supposed to look.


I was quite proud of his achievement and so was he.

The Flower of Scotland

Tomorrow night is the 3rd Annual Chinese Crokinole Championship which is sanctioned by the World Crokinole Assocation out of Tavistock, Ontario. The theme for this year is "All Things Scottish". The organizer, Mr. E. over at The Engleson Files got lovely tartan shirts made up for the occasion and another teacher has made haggis. For those not familiar with haggis it is sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.

To complete the theme we all had to choose a Scottish name with the word Doogie embedded within. Crokinole players know that the doogie is dropping your disc into the center cirle for 20 points. My Scottish Crokinole name is Doogan Lach.

While searching for the Scottish national anthem I discovered that because it is not a true sovereign state it does not have a declared national anthem. The two main contenders for this title is "Scotland the Brave" which is the bagpipe song that is not Amazing Grace. You know the tune. The other unofficial contestant is "The Flower of Scotland"



Can nae wait 'til tomorrah night lassies and laddies!