The Canning Room

a weekend in the city

Here are some photos from last weekend when Mom came to visit!

decisions, decisions

I had a dream last night that we got married in a high school gymnasium. Seriously! I've had such high hopes that these planning stages would go easily and affordably once we got started with a clear vision, but after about a month of phone calls, late night internet searches, meetings, a trip to Tucson, more meetings, unreturned phone calls, returned mail, Mom's visit here to look around, photo shoots at locations and dress shops to be emailed and compared, I can honestly say that we still have no final decisions about anything...no location, not even a date... except that we are determined to marry each other in the presence of lots of friends and family and to have our friend, David marry us. We have tons of really great ideas about what we'd like to have happen. It's just a matter of making it all fit together. It's definitely been a huge learning curve for me- I had no idea how early these places fill up- I really felt like 9 months was plenty of time to plan a party in a town that we're familiar with, right? We used to plan awesome parties at our house in, like 3 days! Not so much with weddings, though - so many of the places are booked through November already- Geez!

At one point, we were both really excited about having all of our friends and family with us out in the desert for a sunset wedding and reception, but then we had to contend with questions like where to park and how to dance in the dark without tripping over cactus. Oh, details...haha! I feel like Goldilocks...That one's too small, too big, too expensive, too cheesy, too far, too close to the highway... But we're still working on it and I've still got a good feeling that it will all come together soon.

Calvin's doing great at his job, Akimbo is MUCH calmer and used to the new place (Many thanks to Jenn Harper, who recommended the Dog Whisperer!!), we just had a fabulous weekend with my mom in San Francisco, and I'm gearing up for 2 more trainings in Tucson in early March (coupled with a little more wedding planning!). We'll keep you posted!

Chicken Tikka Masala from Su Casa Taqueria

Who woulda guessed the best Indian food I've had in ages would be from the local Mexican joint I passed on my way home tonight?! haha- I'm celebrating because Calvin and I were both gone for work all day and the dog didn't freak out and scratch anything in the house to pieces. Whew! We've been working on a little case of separation anxiety with him. It's getting better, though... Luckily, Calvin works in a dog-friendly office and is usually able to bring Akimbo along, but couldn't today. (They also sit on yoga balls at their desks, have a pool-table in the break-room and have free monthly bicycle maintenance for all the employees...!)

I did some work today with the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley. Great people. Last week, I flew back to Tucson to do a training with the U of A College of Agriculture - their stories brought me back to my days at summer camp and somehow in the middle of the training, I found myself climbing up a telephone pole and shooting across a zip line for someone's story about a new ropes course that they have. It was the scariest thing I've done since...well, I guess since the week before that, when we rode our bikes down the steep, curvy Lombard Street with hundreds of other cyclists during a critical mass ride...but that's another story altogether! Let's just say both Calvin and I feel like we're both working in fields that we love...and often under very unusual circumstances.

Since we're both just trying to keep afloat with new jobs, a new home in a new city, we're going to give ourselves some time before making any decisions about the wedding. At least until after the holidays. For the time being, we have a notebook on the coffee table. Whenever either of us has an idea about what, when, where or how to go about things in a meaningful way, we're writing it down there so we don't forget it, but we're holding off on discussing it for now. We're both fearing the slippery slope of the wedding-planning world - that could land us chin-deep in bridal magazines and lengthy conversations about frosting. For now, we're trying to focus on things like how to get to the grocery store and when they clean the streets in our neighborhood. (I've already been ticketed for parking on street-sweeping day - ugh). One step at a time...we'll keep you all posted.

The Engagement Story

11-11-07. That was the day that a whole lot of things changed for Calvin and I...all for the best. Having been back from China for 3 months, I had transitioned out of my work at the PCAE Civics program and into my own business as a digital storytelling trainer, media artist and co-director of Creative Narrations. Calvin had gone through first and second interviews with several jobs in the Bay area. Within 2 days of him getting an offer from his first choice, Rumsey Engineers, I flew out to San Francisco, we checked out a bunch of places and put down a deposit on a great guesthouse in Oakland an hour before we had to be back at the airport. The landlord even drove us to the airport and we had a week to pack everything up. It really was miraculous, considering all of the horror stories we'd been hearing about the housing situation there, the insane prices and the fact that we had a dog (Akimbo- a yellow lab/pit bull/bassett/ridgeback mix). The place we found is adorable, has an enclosed yard, antique stove, wood floors, high ceilings, is blocks away from the BART and in the same neighborhood as some friends that we have there.

So moving day arrives and Calvin says we should go out to watch the sunrise in the desert, since it would be our last day in Tucson. Even though I am NOT a morning person, I went out with him and we walked out toward the Tucson mountains, me still in my jammies and pre-coffee groggy. As the sun was coming up over the saguaros, he got down on one knee, held out a ring and asked me if I'd marry him. In half disbelief, my reaction was to get down to where he was and say yes. Talk about timing. Moments later, we went home, he left to pick up the moving truck and my girl, Michelle showed up with bagels and a great big latte, ready to help us pack and clean.

More Photos Uploaded!

Slowly still getting back into the swing of things here. I'm providing more technology training to teachers in my job, teaching a GED class at night, and working on creating my own consulting business...an idea that I've had for a long time now and finally am moving toward. It's been the rainiest, monsooniest, creosote smellingest summer in Tucson in a long long time. Woo-hoo!! Last week, we had some major flooding at work and the lights went out on us. So while I'm trying to keep my head above it all in more ways than one, I've succeeded in getting up some long-overdue photos of Shanghai, the Cultural Revolution Museum Trip and Kate's roof party. Check them out on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36049992@N00/

More on the way.

Home again!

I'm back! I'm back!
After a fantastic week
with my mom, aunt, grandmother and Calvin (san internet), I'm in dry
pre-monsoon summer Tucson. The streets are clean and empty, I
kinda miss the chaotic flurry of mopeds and
pedicabs on the roads, but I have been cooking up a
storm with all things organic. I'll start working again at Pima College
on Monday. Till then, I am moving all my stuff out of
storage and into the cute little Armory Park place that Michelle
and I are sharing. Took Calvin's dog out for a loong walk among
the creosote and chollas early this morning before the heat set in. Everything here is
busy, but great, although I did get a bit choked up
yesterday in 17th St. Market looking at all the
chinese teas and foods and stuff...because I had my first
pangs of missing that mysterious world, and also because I
realized that I didn't have to actually pack all of
that stuff with me...I could have bought most of my
souveniers right here and saved the luggage space! Oh well!

I'm not sure how this blog will evolve from here. I'd like to keep checking in, perhaps continue posting stories that haven't made it on here yet, or to just give updates on life here. Thank you for keeping connected with me here through this blog. That connection has meant so much to me this year.

Did somebody say Party?

Tonight, all of my students are having a big celebration down by the lake before I leave. Unfortunately, it is at the same time as another event: a planning meeting for the big June 1 "Birthday" shindig for the Chinese Communist Party. I got this apologetic email from a student today and had to chuckle at all the "partying" going on around here.

Dear jennifer:
Taday,there is a party about party member to celebrate the Party brithday
at the big hall. Because i am a party member, so I have to attemp this party. I
really would like go to your party, but I can't. I really sorry! I will e-mail
you.

I'm almost all packed. Grades are in. Apartment's almost clean. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

happy birthdays and sharing some info

Happy belated birthdays to my girls Shell and Tessa! Can't wait to celebrate with you in person! I also can't wait to celebrate my Noanie's birthday in person with her in San Diego in just one week! Last night I threw a party on our roof for Kate's birthday - our dance music and late-night sing-alongs to Dave's guitar echoed across campus until 2am. It was a nice mix of students and teachers, locals and foreigners. It was a great final shindig and a beautiful pre-finals night.

And I know I've already written a gazillion times about censorship here, but it's just so much on my mind these days...I have to mention it again today, sorry.
For those of you who can see it, I found this article online which explains the recent flickr and blog banning throughout China:

http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/06/07/china-flickr-filtered/

...one writer calls the block a virtual "temper-tantrum" in response to some recent environmentalist demonstrations in a city about 3 hours north of here... I can't see the images, but you can.

Holding a tiger by the tail...that phrase keeps playing back in my mind...This kind of thing simply cannot continue. There's no way. That tiger is going to move...one way or another. I have a profound admiration for those here who are doing what they can to ensure that it keeps moving forward, despite the consequences and in very creative ways.

driving blindly, dim sum and Shanghai

Now I can no longer see my own blog or photos. I can get to the editing page, but I can't get to the actual blog or anything on typepad, blogger, wikipedia, or flickr. At least I have the China Daily (haha) and a few things that friends have cut and pasted into emails and sent from the US. The news that I'm getting in the China Daily: "Batch of US-imported nuts "rancid" Apparently, US food standards are questionable in China now because somebody found an imported box of pistachios that had gone bad and had some ants in it...It's a good thing that Chinese officials caught it in time..."The rancid pistachios would have harmed people's health if they had been eaten, and the ants could have damaged buildings, houses, trees, and cables buried underneath the ground, according to officials with the administration." Oh, China... More to say about food safety and the consequences of bad international press...just maybe not here...

On a different note, I went out to an awesome Dim Sum brunch today with 4 other teachers right overlooking the harbour. I also took another shot at eating chicken feet. Nope, still don't like em. But the steamed shrimp dumplings were delicious. The jury is still out on the durian pastries. Durian is an asian fruit that is actually forbidden in many public places because it smells so bad. It tastes different than it smells, though, and there's a saying that durian "Smells like hell but tastes like heaven". We decided today that the taste is actually more like purgatory...not quite heaven. But it's definitely different, and one of those smells that will always remind me of China after I leave.

I also haven't mentioned our trip to Shanghai yet- it was so fast but so fun. Kate and I found a fantastic new youth hostel, enjoyed browsing through art, antique and clothing markets all day and the brilliant neon-lit colonial buildings to go out dancing in at night. Still catching up on sleep!

Only 3 classes, 1 final exam and 11 more days to go!

in today's email

"Dear All,

Shantou Air Defence Siren will be performed from 11:00am to 11:15am on June 21(memorial date of the fall of Shantou during Japanese invasion war in 1939). The performance will last 15 minutes. You will hear outdoor siren in the city and on campus during the time. Please stay calm. No special response needs to be made."

So basically, the air raid sirens will be blaring outside while we're teaching on Thursday. Possibly at the same time that they're blowing up the mountains for concrete, which I wrote about earlier. And we're not supposed to react. I'm not passing judgement, but there is an awful lot of anti-Japanese sentiment here. An awful lot. For good reason, perhaps, but I just don't see how this kind of thing is helping to do anything but feed that 60+ year old resentment in the minds of the people, young and old...

That's my two cents. I'll bring earplugs that day.