Fun on the Great Wall

We went to the Great Wall yesterday.  It was lots of fun as you can see.  Sam's great accomplishment was buying a can of beer for 6 rmb.  Usually they sell them for 10 to 15rmb on the Wall but he bargained one lady down to 6rmb.  (In the city you can buy them for 2rmb)

SNOW!

Last Friday it snowed!  It was the perfect kind of snow, heavy enough to make snowballs but light enough to not cause too much inconvenience.  I wanted to take more pictures but my camera battery died just as a girl was taking my picture infront of some trees.  Oh well, I think you get the point from these pictures.  The snow mostly melted the next day.  I still see a little here and there but I'll have to wait for another storm to get some pictures of me in it. 
 
Yesterday I had an enjoyable experience at the supermarket.  I wanted to buy some dumplings for lunch so I went to the hot food section at the market and asked the man behind the counter for about 15 dumplings (I was planning to share with Sam).  Its priced by weight, but the machine that printed the price labels was broken. I smiled and said to the guy "its broken, so the dumplings must be free."  (A typical joke my Dad would make.)  The guy laughed and said "yeah, I guess I should give it to you now"  I then said  I was just kidding, which I think he must have already known.  He took the dumplings to another weighing machine and put the price tag on it.  I can't say my chinese is that great but it felt good to make a joke and have a chinese person laugh because they understood it , and not because my chinese was so poor. 

No Black Friday here

I have had so many people wish me a Happy Thanksgiving day that I thought perhaps the stores would have "day after" Thanksgiving sales here too.  So, last Friday I decided to go to the nearest western style shopping mall and check the sales.  It was a disappointing no sales day. Not even at the recently opened Gap. (It's American, come on!) I would think stores here would take any reason for a sale but perhaps "Thanksgiving Day" is not as widely known here as I thought.  I did over hear a conversation while I was out shopping that made me chuckle.  A man said to the woman carrying several large bags next to him: "下次你来不买衣服"（xiaci ni lai bu mai yifu) which means: "Next time you come, don't buy clothes"  Haha.  Must have been a husband and wife.  It felt good to hear it and understand it at the same time.  Many times I have to think about what was said before I can comprehend the meaning.  When it comes to shopping however, I can usually understand the conversation.  (Not really surprising that my best vocab. is about clothing.)  I am quite familiar with the terms: 好看(Hao kan)=looks good, 太小(tai xiao)=too small, 便宜(pian yi)=cheap, and of course you need to know how to say "too expensive!"=太贵(tai gui!)  Its funny how many other terms you can pick up just by listening and asking.  I've learned to ask people the names of things I don't know and then repeat it a couple times with their help.  It not only helps my pronunciation but it also helps me to remember it.  For any of you chinese learners that read my blog I encourage you to use any new words you learn immediately and frequently.  I live here and I still forget how to say stuff I've learned in the recent past.  The only way I keep it is if I take every opportunity to use it.  加油! (jia you)=Keep up the good effort!

Sleeping on the subway

Sometimes you just have to sneak a pic when its this good.  I only wish the quality was better.  Hope it gives you a little chuckle.

Is there a non-smoking section please?

The weather has turned chilly here and the air has cleared up quite a bit.  Before we left for America I was definitely feeling the effects of the air pollution.  When we came back it was hazy for another day or two but then we had a light rain, some wind, and everything cleared up.  Today there was a beautiful blue sky and crisp cold air that did not hurt to breathe in!  My only complaint (you probably guessed that I would have one, right?) is that it seems like more and more people are smoking now.  I'm not sure if its because it is colder or I am just now honing in on it, but everywhere I go someone is lighting up a cigarette.  The last couple of times I've been eating at a restaurant, the people sitting next to us have been smoking.   It just wrecks me.  At first I feel a little nauseous (great if you're in the middle of a meal) and then I start wheezing which eventually leads to me either asking them to stop smoking or I leave the restaurant.  Actually, a law was just passed recently banning people from smoking at indoor public places, but as usual no one cares about the law unless it gets enforced in some way.  As of yet, I have not seen more than a couple of people besides myself asking others to put out their cigarettes.  Maybe I can start a trend.... eh who am I kidding?  I'll just buy a mask for my nose and mouth.  It will be in style very soon with the days getting colder and colder. 

Home and back again (or vice versa)

I realize that it has been a few weeks since I last blogged and I apologize if anyone thought we might have dropped off the face of the earth or something like that.  As many of my readers already know, we went back home to California for a couple weeks.  Actually, it was a bit shy of two weeks.  It was very weird to be back.  I kept thinking I would wake up and be in our cold apartment in China instead of my cozy old bedroom at my parents house.  It's funny the things that I really appreciated about being back.  For one thing, I couldn't eat enough salads.  At almost every chance I got I ate a big green salad.  I also enjoyed the carpet at my parents home.  There is something so warm and comforting about carpet in a bedroom.  But the best part was just spending time doing not much of anything with my family and friends.  A couple of times I got a little irritated that Sam was sporting a slimmer version of himself while I was in search of some bigger sized jeans. (Why oh why am I the only one who goes to China and actually gains weight?)  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  My hands and feet even went back to their normal totally unbloated state.   Sam on the otherhand had stomach problems every night.  I told him it was probably the jet lag but it seemed like every night he was up with heartburn.   It would appear that while my stomach feels best eating "American" food, Sam's has totally embraced Chinese food and was simply refusing to go back to what it once put up with. (Food-wise that is.) 
 
I was a little worried that upon returning to China I would: 1. forget all my chinese and 2. feel uncomfortable and lost like I did when we first came.  I'm happy to report that neither has occurred.  It felt really natural to hear Chinese and see characters everywhere.  And, unlike when we first arrived, we now have an apartment with a comfy bed to sleep in.  I also do not need to ask anyone to help me buy dishes, towels, or groceries. So it was almost like coming home from any other vacation..... Almost.

More Getting out of the City pics

Getting out of the City

October 1st was national day here.  Many people had the whole week off of
work.  Including us!  Some friends planned a two day trip a couple hours
drive out of the city.  We knew that it would be a bus drive but had no idea
what we would do or where we would stay.  It turned out to be a semi-camping
trip.  No tents of course but the little motel we stayed in was as cold and
as clean as staying in the outdoors.  It seemed like every time we got into
the bus it was a surprise as to where we would end up.  I think maybe
someone announced it but we either didn't understand or didn't hear it.
 After checking into our motel and eating lunch we were told to hurry up and
get back on the bus.  We stopped at a stand selling swim trunks and flip
flops on the side of the road and everyone was told to get out.  Then we
were told to leave anything we didn't want to get wet on the bus.  Upon
walking a few steps I realized that we were going to be river rafting!
 Everyone complained that the life jackets and rafts were already wet.(Not a
good sign if you planned on staying dry.)  Of course we all got soaked.
 Including our shoes!  Sam and I were in a raft together.  I loved the
scenery and tried to take my time but Sam didn't enjoy being wet so we rowed
our way to the end as fast as possible.  The river was more like a creek
with mild rapids and I wish I had taken my camera with me.  Later that
evening we barbequed and played games.  We were told to be ready for
breakfast the next morning at 6:30am.  Again, we had no idea what was
planned.  Little did we know our next adventure would be climbing a
mountain.  It was a half-day hike and well worth the pain felt in my legs
the next day.  It almost felt like we were in an episode of Wild China on
the Discovery channel. We loved it!  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

A bad week

Last week was has been added to my not so great memories of China. On
Wednesday I fell climbing up granite stairs in the subway. Granite,
although beautiful to look at, is the hardest thing I have ever had
the misfortune to fall on. Ouch! I still have the bruises. I also
wore very flat shoes that day. Flat shoes may seem like the easy
comfortable option but not when you have to walk, run, and climb
granite stairs. It was their lack of grip that probably made me slip
and fall. Their lack of cushion also caused my left heel to feel pain
on every step. Even now, four days later I still have pain in my left
heel when I walk. Sam say's I'm getting old but I think I'm going to
throw away those flats. On Thursday I bought a canvas book bag to
hold my school books. It promptly tore after one use. Then on Friday
I went to ride my bike and it was gone! Stolen! Sam's bike was there
but mine was not. Its weird because Sam's bike is nicer and more
expensive than mine but it was mine that was gone. I have since
learned that the brand of my bike is more popular than Sam's so that
could have been why. I knew it was only a matter of time before one
of our bikes was stolen but I really had hoped it would be longer than
three months. I am now on the hunt for a used and very ugly bike that
no one will want. On top of all this I've been sick with a cold for
over a week. I'm really tire of blowing my nose.

I had a dream the other night that I was eating a bowl of Kix cereal.
It was heaven.

Mooncake correction and shopping fun

Well, I was wrong about the previously stated "chocolate" mooncake
that we ate. It was actually coffee flavored. (Who knew?) Thanks to
Sam's chinese character reading skills we found the actual chocolate
mooncake and not only did it taste like chocolate, it was really good
too! We wished all of them could be chocolate.
In other news, Sam bought a guitar today. Its a chinese brand steel
string acoustic. I've been playing on it a little and the sound is
good. The only problem is that my fingers have no calluses so I can't
stand playing it for more than 10 minutes at a time. Since the
weather is starting to get colder I think playing guitar will be fun
thing to do on chilly nights. I'm really happy that it is starting to
feel like autumn here. I've already bought a winter coat and some
cute boots too! Sam and I have had some fun shopping lately. I
almost bought a fake Louis Vutton purse that I really just wanted to
look at. It was a typical scene here. I was walking through the
purse section of a local market when I heard the words "louis vutton",
"Gucci", "coach".....I looked up and didn't actually see any of those
brands so I asked the girl where they were. She brought out a catalog
full of Louis Vutton purses and asked me which one I liked. I highly
doubted that she had all those purses but I pointed at one anyway.
She brought out a ladder, climbed it and from the highest shelf pulled
out a big black bag. Inside was another bag that was yellow and soft
like suede. Inside that bag was the purse I had pointed to. It was a
really good fake with the tags and everything. Out of curiosity more
than anything I asked her how much it cost. She pulled out her
calculator (standard procedure with foreigners) and typed in 1650.00.
(That's rmb so about 265 US dollars) I just laughed and told her that
I knew it was a fake. She admitted that it was a fake but it was an A
huo, meaning the best of the fakes. (Of the fake goods you can get A,
B, or C huo quality. The A huo fakes are really good. Many times you
can't find the difference between the real.) I agreed that it was a
good fake but I didn't want to spend that much. She next told me she
would give me the "friend" price of 1500.00rmb. I laughed again.
Then she asked me how much I wanted to pay. I typed 150.00 into her
calculator and watched her face. She said she couldn't sell it that
cheap but then she really started to lower her price. By the time I
walked away she had come down to 350.00rmb (About 55 u.s. dollars) It
was a fun experience even though I walked away empty handed.

Mooncakes

Yesterday was Mid-Autumn festival here. Some people also called this
"mooncake festival". Mooncakes are small round cakes that people give
to their friends and family on the day of the festival. Sam and I
knew that these cakes were something special because at every bakery,
grocery store, and nice restaurant you could see mooncakes advertised.
At first I was a little leary of these cakes. Usually what the
chinese call "cake" tastes like lightly sweetened thick bread to me.
But one night a friend cut up one of these small cakes into tiny
pieces so everyone could have a taste. It was actually sweet! I also
thought it tasted pretty good with a cup of tea. So the next time I
was at the grocery store I decided to buy three different flavors to
see what they tasted like. Some mooncakes can be as cheap as 7 rmb (a
little over one u.s. dollar) or they can be as expensive as over 100
rmb (about 14 or 15 u.s. dollars). The ones I bought were 7 rmb. The
first one we tried was sesame flavor. It wasn't too sweet but it
wasn't that tasty either. The second was a strange flavor that we
couldn't get used to. The third one we didn't bother eating because
we already had had our fill. Little did we know that we would be
given more mooncakes than we every could want from friends and parents
of the children we teach. Some were the expensive kind, some tasted
like the ones we had eaten before, and some were flavors that sounded
good but then were not quite what you were expecting. The chocolate
one was good if you weren't wanting it to taste like chocolate. The
most standard one looks and tastes like sweet potato with an egg in
it. What one of my student's mom said sums up my feelings about moon
cakes: "The first couple are good but after that you don't feel like
eating anymore for a long time."

The missing diaper

Here is a picture of one of the babies I teach.  Her name is Miao Miao and She is a year and a half old.  Even though she rarely smiles she is adorable!  She is really attached to me too.  When class is over and I leave the building I have to sneak out because if she sees me leave she will cry and want me to hold her.  Its really endearing.  What you can't tell from the picture is that she is that her jumper is open in the front and back and she is not wearing a diaper.  I was worried the whole class that she would starting peeing on the floor pads we sit on.  Fortunately she didn't.  But it does bring up an interesting topic for discussion.  The diaper-less babies around here wearing split pants is a common sight that I find a bit disturbing.  A couple days ago I saw a cute little boy also around a year and a half old on the subway wearing split pants and no diaper.  I say "split pants" but really it was more of a cut out because you could see all his front and back.   My first thought was: "What if he starts to poop or pee right here in the subway?"  My next thought was: "Is this sanitary?" and then my third thought was: "I wonder if this child will remember being totally exposed like this and carry emotional scars later?"  I know people here don't think anything of a young child being completely exposed like that but the westerner in me started to feel so uncomfortable that I could no longer look at the cute child.  It started to feel wrong, as if I was participating in some kind of humiliation so I looked away.  That led me to my last and most uncomfortable question: Are there any issues with child molestation or pornography here?  And if so isn't this just inviting perverts to look at your child?  I'm not even sure how to go about asking these questions. However, I have decided that based on sanitary reasons, from now on I will require all babies to wear diapers in class.

Sometimes you need to be a tourist

I apologize because this blog is a month late.  I actually took these pictures a month ago and totally forgot about them until this morning.  I was thinking about how sometimes its nice to be a tourist when you live in a foreign country.  Actually sometimes you really need to feel like you are on vacation.  Some friends came to visit in July and one day I accompanied them to a popular tourist spot.  We walked around, took pictures, and listened for other foreigners that spoke English.  It felt like I was on vacation.  In a touristy area you can also be lazy about speaking chinese if you want to.  All the workers, vendors, and other chinese tourists use english when speaking to you.  They are actually surprised when you know more than nihao and xie xie.  It's a good ego booster.  Even though the place was packed with people it was oddly relaxing.  These are not the same people pushing you on the subway or bus.  These were tourists, like myself, with no rush to be anywhere in particular. just happy to see the sights.  Although the weather was hot we walked around many shaded ponds that helped keep us from overheating.  I was amazed at how huge the lotus flower's were.  (That's the picture that looks like huge lily pads with pink flowers.)  We also listened to some traditional chinese music.  I have no clue what instrument the man in the picture is playing but it sounded a little like bag pipes.  All in all it was a good day.  It was also a good reminder that sometimes you need to be a tourist.

Back to high school

I usually come up with blogs while I'm transferring from one subway line to another or sometimes when I'm walking to, from, or on a bus.  I guess transportation help give me an inner monologue that I think of in blog form.  The problem is once I get home I've lost total motivation to sit down and type my well thought out blog.  Then an hour goes by and I've completely forgotten what I thought was so interesting before.  Here's one re-occurring thought that I actually remember.  It has to do with the crowded transportation here.  Specifically of transferring from one subway line to the other.  The other day as I walked with the crowd at a normal pace I noticed that the crowd was getting thicker and slower.  We were being bottle-necked to a gate with one opening just big enough for two or three people to get through.  This is actually a typical scene of 50 people trying to squeeze into such a small space.  As I was being funneled in I had a deja-vu feeling.  It was actually a flashback to high school.  The reason why it feels familiar to be in a moving crowd herded like cattle through mazes and multiple gates is because I've done it before!  In my high school we had some serious overcrowding.  The school was built to accommodate 1500 kids but by my senior year there were over 3000 kids roaming the halls.  One spot in particular had just such a gate opening as I described previously.  I'm sure several of my family members who also attended this school remember it.  I really hated when it rained because it would flood right by the gate and you either had to get wet walking to it or slowly wait your turn to step on the few makeshift wooden platforms.  It was a slow and crowded journey I made daily and now 13 years later I am doing something like it again.  Only this time I'm in a crowd of pushy, sweaty, chinese adults instead of pushy, pimple faced, smelly teenagers.  

 

Impossible is nothing

Sam and I used to have a breakfast tradition back in the U.S.  Well not exactly a tradition just something we used to enjoy doing together.  It would usually be motivation for us to wake up early.  Many a morning I can remember merrily going to Crepeville, Fox & Goose, or Ikea.  It was kind of our thing to do as a couple.  I miss that tradition now.  Even if we could find a good breakfast place here it means a long bus or subway ride that takes the laziness out of going "out" to breakfast.  Last night however, Sam said "I want to take you to breakfast tomorrow."  I probably looked a bit suspicious when I asked him "Where?"  He happened to know of a bakery that had good pastries and coffee down the street from our apartment.  We woke up late and rode our bikes to a two story bakery that I had seen but never entered.  I was surprised how reasonable the prices were for a latte or mocha. (12rmb=a little less that $2 US)  We grabbed some pastries and headed to the counter to pay and order coffee.  Just as the words for a latte came out of my mouth they said they had no coffee.  Sam said "What about a mocha?" (I laughed)  They replied again that they had no coffee because they had a new machine and didn't know how to work it.  I looked behind the cashier and sure enough there was a beautiful shiny new espresso machine.  It was big too.  You could easily make three or four drinks at a time on it.  Sam looked at me, smiled and said "Why don't you go back there and make us a couple of drinks?"  I just rolled my eyes and said "sure".  (That was sarcasm.)  Even if I could explain in Chinese that I had spent six months working in a Starbucks I don't think they would have let me near their precious new machine that they didn't even seem to want to touch.  Not that I would actually know how to work it either.  So we took our pastries to a table near the a/c unit upstairs and pretended we didn't need a cup of coffee to complete our breakfast outing.  Only... we did that cup of coffee!  So after we finished we walked around the corner to McDonalds and ordered two cups of coffee.  By this time it was 11:30am and the lunch rush had already started.  We found a couple of seats in amongst the crowd and sipped our coffee.  Then Sam out of nowhere said "Impossible is nothing"  I said "What?"  As if he didn't even hear my question he went on: "I thiiiink that's supposed to be Nothing is impossible.  You know sometimes they are just barely off.  At that bakery they had an oreo shake on the menu but they spelled it o-e-r-o "  I turned around and saw the t-shirt he was reading.  Yup, "impossible is nothing" was on the back of a girls t-shirt sitting a few feet behind me.  Something about it struck me as deep but I don't really know why.  Could be a good daily affirmation to repeat in the mirror.

 

In other food news we ate "Tex Mex" a few days ago.  I was pleasantly surprised by the cheese enchiladas I ordered.  Although the sauce was a bright orange the cheese was delicious and the salsa actually tasted like salsa.  It was in a part of town that foreigners frequent.   You could tell by the authentic country decorations that an American must be at least a part owner.  They even played country music which Sam wasn't too happy about in the beginning.  But the shredded beef burrito and the tollhouse chocolate pie made the music bearable.  If there weren't so many Chinese waitresses I could have sworn we were back in the U.S.

Sam's glasses

I completely forgot to mention Sam's new glasses in the last blog!  The first night we were in Hong Kong we went to a downtown section to do some shopping and eat local food.  While shopping Sam found the pair of black rimmed glasses you see him wearing in the picture.  He put them on and said to me: "What do you think?"  I laughed at first then I said "They actually look good."  He then totally surprised me by buying them and immediately putting them on!  I could not believe that this was the same guy who had brought only two ties and two shirts to a three day event and most of them had stains on them!  I said to him:  "Do you know you just bought an accessory!?" I may have mentioned it before but many people in China wear glasses that they don't need.  It's a style.  Lots of times they don't even have lenses in them.  Which is why Sam's reply to my astonishment was: "Hey, I'm unpredictable and at least they have lenses in them."  He's been telling people they are part of his "Clark Kent" disguise and he loves to say "Wait a minute, I can't see.  Let me take off my glasses."  Ha!

Swimming in city streets

First of all I'd like to say that we arrived home safe and sound from Hong Kong on Monday night.  We were supposed to arrive at noon on Monday but our 8:30am flight our was cancelled due to bad weather back home. That gave us the opportunity to spend 10 hours at the Hong Kong airport.  This is what I can say about the situation: first, the Hong Kong airport is really nice with good shops and lots of English magazines and books. Second, I will try to never book a flight with China Air again.  I had heard they weren't the most customer service oriented and now I believe it.  I think had it not been for my persistence we would still be in Hong Kong right now.  Probably sitting in the Burger King trying to get wifi reception. 

I had warned Sam that I would probably get depressed upon returning home like I did last time we went to Hong Kong.  Surprisingly enough I feel fine.  I'm happy to be back home and hearing Mandarin again.  As I had stated in my last blog the weather has been crazy here.  Wednesday proved to be the most exciting so far.  That evening we rode our bikes to a friends house and stayed late talking.  Just as we decided to go home a huge thunder storm broke out.  The wind was blowing so hard the trees started to looked sideways and it was raining hard for a long time.   The sky had a pinkish purple hue from all the lightning.  The weird thing was that the lightning didn't hit ground, it was just in the clouds lighting up the sky.  Our friends invited us to stay the night but we both wanted to go home and sleep in our own bed.  Where our bikes were parked a pool of mud was forming and mine had fallen over.  We decided it would be safer to walk until we found a taxi willing to drive us.  Although the rain had subsided a bit  there was water everywhere.  It looked like lakes and rivers instead of streets and crosswalks.  We ended up walking the whole way home because the only taxi's stopped were ones stuck in the water with their emergency lights on.  Many times the water was knee deep when crossing an alley or a small street.  In fact, we saw little waves come up and splash the buildings!  I found myself laughing quite a bit.  I wanted to take a picture but it was too dark and I only had my little i-touch with me.  When we finally arrived home we found more water in our apartment.  Our bedroom had pools of water by all the windows.  I used all the towels I had to soak it up.  At first we thought a window had been left open but they were all shut.  The wind had blown the rain in through the window sills.  The wall by my side of the bed obviously had a problem because it was cracked and swollen with water.  The water on the floor by it had bits of paint and drywall in it.  That's not a good sign!  We see our landlord next week and I will show her the damage then.  Sam says it would need to be fixed from the outside.  That's a big thing when you are talking about an apartment on the tenth floor.  Ah, the adventures of China city life.  Never a dull moment!

"You could be drinking whole milk if you wanted to"

That's what I said to myself this morning as I poured whole milk into my coffee.  Yes, I quote movies to myself. (Napoleon Dynamite to be specific)  It popped into my head because for the first time in my life I have been drinking whole milk on a regular basis...and I'm in China- the land of lactose intolerance.  When we first got here I only saw two choices at the store: skim milk and whole milk.  I first bought the skim milk (it tasted more like 1%) but it was in a larger size carton and we didn't drink it fast enough.  Sam balked at the words "skim milk" and hardly drank any.  So I found a smaller size carton but they only carried it in whole milk.  Thus, we now drink whole milk on a regular basis.  That may account for the fact that no matter how much I ride my bike, run for the bus, go up and down millions of stairs, or walk miles and miles I cannot seem to lose weight.  In fact, lately I've had the problem of my hands and feet swelling up so much I feel like they're going to pop!  I couldn't get my wedding rings off and then after I did I couldn't get them back on for three days.  I asked a friend in the medical field here what could be the problem and she said to me: "hmm you don't eat at restaurants very often do you?"  I sheepishly replied: "actually we do".  Then she told me that it is probably the salt or msg that my body is reacting to.  Just great! (that was said sarcastically)  The one thing I love to do here - eat out, and now its making me blow up like a macy's day ballon!  So I started cooking at home more.  I made pumpkin soup, chicken soup, macaroni & cheese, and veggies with rice.  It felt good to eat that kind of food and even better to put my rings on without wondering if they will come off later.  A friend of mine even said my skin looks better.  The problem is: I still love chinese food!  I suppose I will have to exercise self control and eat in moderation.

In other news: our school ended last Thursday.  Yeah!  So far I'm still very busy but I've been already having more fun. On Friday we played badminton.  Its a pretty popular sport here.  When Sam bought his racket they strung on the strings and added special grip to it just like a tennis racket.  The birdies everyone uses here have real feathers on them and the ball part is actual rubber, unlike the plastic one's I had used when we played as kids.  We went to a gym where they rent the courts by the hour. We saw several children and adults taking lessons.  They all looked very serious.  It made me feel a bit nervous to watch them.  I hadn't played in years and I don't know if Sam had every played before.  We stunk at it but it was really fun. My friend accidentally hit me with the birdie.  She apologized profusely but all I could think was that it was so much better than being hit by a tennis ball! I think we'll be doing it on a regular basis from now on.  

We leave for Hong Kong this Thursday!

Hot in the city

Its been weird weather around here.  One moment its sweltering hot with a 50% humidity level.  It feels like you're in a sauna.  Then out of no where it will start raining with thunder and lightning.  Its nice when it happens at night because the next day the air is clean and you can see blue sky.  What's also strange is what many chinese men do when its hot....they pull up their shirts so just their belly hangs out.  Most of them can just hang the fabric above their belly but some of them actually have flat stomachs so they hold their shirt up with one hand.  Its a little weird when the elevator door opens and the first thing you see is someone's belly staring you in the face.  Most men don't care that everyone gets to see the size of their belly but I have had a couple pull down their shirt when I walk by.  Back home when its hot you see the occasional man without a shirt baring his beer belly. I suppose what I see here shouldn't be that strange to me.  I guess what gets me is that they actually still have their shirt on, just half-way.  Sam said he wants to make a shirt that is made of mesh at the stomach part. That way they don't have to pull up their shirt, they can just let the air flow through the mesh.  Or make the shirts with the stomach part already cut out for those that don't have enough of a belly to keep the fabric up.  It seemed funny at the time but some of my friends actually thought it was a good idea. hahaha

A funny thing happened the other night.  When I said good night to Sam I didn't realize he was already asleep.  I said: "Goodnight" and he said: "You ate all those crackers and only left me one!"  I said: "What?!"  Then he repeated: "You ate all those crackers and only left me one!"  I looked over and saw that he was totally asleep!  I busted up laughing.  The next day when I asked him about it he said he didn't remember a thing.  I think he's got some suppressed food issues with me.  Its either that or he was dreaming about eating. wasabi crackers and I must have eaten them all but one.  (He loves a certain wasabi cracker here. He's always asking me to buy more.)

In other news, we are going to Hong Kong again.  This time it will be by airplane!  I'm so happy!  

The not so exciting conclusion

At the end of my last blog I was awaiting Sam's arrival and listening to the water flow from the not so small leak in our shower.  Just a few minutes after posting that blog Sam came home and found a way to turn off the water.  The only problem was that he had to turn off all of the water in our apartment.  So there we were again without water and not really knowing when things would get fixed.  This morning I asked Sam to give our landlady a call and let her know that we wanted it fixed today, not just "looked at".  I think he had a good effect on her because she said that she would come by after work.  Not long after she came her husband and a plumber arrived to survey the situation.  A few hours later and one trip to the store (they went, not me) everything was back to normal.  After cleaning up the mess left from the plumber I took a shower. It was fabulous.  It wasn't as if I had gone very long without a shower but just the thought that I couldn't take one made me feel dirtier.  

And that is the not so exciting conclusion.  Hope you've been mildly entertained. At the very least perhaps you'll think of me next time you turn on your faucet. 

Water blogged

Perhaps you have read in the news about China's current water crisis.  It is interesting that they planned on diverting water from the south to the north because of the long drought.  Of course in the past few weeks there has been plenty of rain.  So much in fact, that it temporarily stopped transportation in some areas.  I also am experiencing my own water crisis of sorts.  About a week or so ago I went to wash my hands and nothing came out.  It looked like our water had been turned off.  I asked Sam: "Did you see any notice about someone coming to check our water meter?"  After some discussion we just figured we must have had an unknown bill that needed to be paid.  That kind of thing happens here.  (Some friends of ours had their water turned off with no warning and no bill.  They apparently had to pre-pay for their water.)  It was my turn to deal with any new bill or crisis so I went down stairs to ask what happened.  It turned out we were not the only ones without water.  The whole building had no water, no warning, no reason as to why, and no good estimate as to when it would turn back on.  *sigh* Typical.  The water company sent a big truck with water spouts on it for people to fill up as many buckets as they could.  It was disconcerting to say the least.  But later that night the water was miraculously back on!  I was so happy to take my shower.

Today I am experiencing the opposite water affliction.  When we woke up this morning we heard a drip from the shower.  At first we thought maybe I didn't properly turn the water spout off from the night before.  I really believed it too because I thought I heard Sam fix it.  But, when we got home from school there was a small puddle in the bathroom.  Sam worked on it again and it seemed to go down to a small drip.  I thought to myself: "one of us should probably call our landlord but Sam doesn't seem too worried so maybe its not a big deal"  I was wrong.  After Sam left for work I decided to take a shower before starting my two hour telephone tutoring.  That was a big mistake.  When I turned the water off it went from a small trickle to a small dripping stream.  I thought: "this isn't good.  I'll call Sam"  He told me to call the landlord and he also instructed me to turn some knobs on our water heater.  That did not stop the water so... I looked at my phone and thought: "just one more try"- bad idea. This time I actually heard the little piece inside the faucet snap completely.  It went from a small dripping stream to a full on steady one.  Lots of water.   This time I called our landlord.  Fortunately she speaks english but she failed to realize how bad my situation was.  She said to me : "My husband is out of town. Maybe we can come by this weekend to take a look?"  I said "uh no.  It needs to be sooner. Much sooner.  There is a lot of water"  Then she said "okay we can come tomorrow night"   That really wasn't good enough.  I said to her "okay but the water needs to be turned off and I don't know how."  She then proceeded to give me directions on how to turn the water off....except it was in chinese.  I don't know if I could figure out how to turn off the water with english instructions but in chinese it is a definite NO.  I told her I didn't understand but that I would see if Sam could turn it off when got home.  That was almost three hours ago and I'm still waiting for Sam to come home.  I feel really guilty about it too because here we are in a water crisis and I'm wasting it by the second.  So now I'm sitting in the living room listening to the not very calming stream in my bathroom.......

....to be continued..... 

Adventures in teaching small children

Right now Sam has a cold.  A chinese friend of ours says its because we run the air conditioner at night.  She also says that her aunt's face got deformed from running a fan all night close to her face.  Hmmm.  I believe its because we work with small children who have never been taught to wash their hands or wipe their runny nose on a tissue and not on someone else.  Last Saturday one of the children he taught had a cold and I'm positive that is the source of his current illness.  Children can be cute but they can also be disgusting.  Last week a kid of mine had a bloody nose and it dripped quite a few places.  Good for me I already know the word for blood in chinese so I was able to ask an aid for help in cleaning it up.  Sam had a more disturbing experience than me.  In the middle of one of his classes one of the children asked to go to the bathroom because he "had to go poopy".  Sam said ok and the child disappeared for about 10 or 15 minutes.  When the boy returned his pants were replaced with a very small towel.  He was escorted by one of the teachers aids who speaks very little english.  Sam is unsure of the exact circumstances but I think we can all safely assume the pants got (at least a little)....poopy.  Sam said it was awkard to for him to have the boy the rest of the class with such a small towel covering him.  He decided to excuse him from doing the hokey pokey with the others.  The boy actually seemed okay after pooping his pants and having only a towel to cover him below the waist.  In case you are wondering he is 5 years old.  I think that's old enough to know how to use the toilet but accidents do happen.  Ahh the joys of teaching small children.

 

 

 

 

你忙吗？

你忙吗？(Ni mang ma? pronounced: knee mahng ma?) It means: are you busy?  And yes I am.  Between work, school, house stuff, and all kinds of studying we're pretty busy.  Its good because I can't ever say I'm bored here.  It seems like I never have enough time.  Our bikes have helped out a lot.  We can get places in 10 minutes where it used to take 20 to 25 minutes.  I'm still leary about riding at night. Just yesterday I was riding my bike and one of the pedals came off.  How cheap is that?  I haven't even had it three weeks!  Fortunately I wasn't too far from home and there is a little man outside our building who fixes bikes.  He put the pedal back on for one kuai.  I told a friend about it and she said she knew a guy who would do it for free.  That's always the way it is here.  You may think you got a good deal on something but there will always be a chinese person who will ask how much you paid and then quickly tell you how you paid way too much. 

In other news, I got my first fat comment.  A friend said to me: "When you first came you were a little fat".  I think she was trying to compliment me by saying now I was skinnier but I quickly let her know that I had not lost any weight.  So... in essence I'm still a little fat. (In case you are wondering, my clothes fit the same and yes I did weigh myself.)  But here when they say things like "you went home and ate yourself fat" its meant to be cute and not an insult.  I however, will never feel comfortable with those kinds of comments.  Granted, it is funny to see them say it to someone else but not me. 

Here are the photos

I just realized that my photos did not get posted.  Here they are.

More Hong Kong pics

These pictures don't really show Hong Kong.  The first one is of me trying to look unhappy for the camera.  The second one is me trying to look like the mannequins behind me.  I find it very funny.  I hope the person taking the picture got what they were trying to acheive with it. :)  I have to say that going to Hong Kong made it difficult to go back to the usual here.  I read somewhere that if you don't want to feel homesick you shouldn't compare the way things are now to what they were back home.  I was trying not to do that but now I find myself comparing things here to Hong Kong.  This only leads me to comparing things here with .....back home.  Here we go.  Yes I'm homesick.  I won't talk about it...at least not much.  Just one little complaint.  I get many stares here.  They are not always good.  Sometimes I get the stare that says "What are you doing here foreigner?  Go back to where you belong."  Maybe I'm projecting my feelings into that stare.  But how can I not help but feel out of place? 

 

Last Sunday I had it with the bus.  We were 15 minutes late to meet friends.  Then I had to sit on the back of a bike.  It was someone else's bike that Sam was using.  It was a girls bike and he was not that steady riding it.  I thought to myself: I feel too old to fall off this and not be really hurt.  So I got off the bike and told Sam we needed bikes asap.  We were actually really close to a store that sold bikes.  Some people may say we're brave to ride bikes in such a busy city with so many cars and people but I think sitting on the back of someone else's bike requires more courage.  Now at least I have control over my situation.  No more crowed buses making me late and no more closing my eyes and holding tight while someone else manuevers through traffic.  I'm a bit of a slow poke on my one speed but I enjoy the ride. 

 

A note about the recycling.  (You may recall from an earlier blog my issues with finding out what to do with my recycling.)  Some days ago I came down stairs holding a bag of cans, bottles, etc.  I planned on leaving it by the trash bin as I have been doing but on my way out the front door one of the women who takes care of the building grabbed my hand and the bag I was holding.  She pulled me close to her.  She looked like she was going to tell me a secret.  Then she said in a soft voice "blah blah you can sell it blah blah" (I use the blahs to fill in the words I didn't understand).  I said to her; "I can give it to you?"  She smiled and took the bag.  It felt like an exchange of valuable goods.  I was happy to get rid of it and she was happy to take it.  Now I just give my bag of recycling to whoever is on door duty at our building.  I actually think I'm making friends by doing it.  They seem delighted when I hand my bag of empty bottles and cans to them. 

 

 

Hong Kong and a convenient noodle

We are back from Hong Kong and I'm pleased to say we are happy to be home.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Hong Kong.  It was clean, well organized, people spoke good English, and it felt very western.  We saw lots of friends from back home.  It felt like a reunion.  We ate good food and talked about our current trials learning the language and culture.  I thought about all of our friends learning chinese back home.  Especially our cantonese speaking friends.  I felt like any minute I would turn a corner and see Nancy or Katherine speaking to a local.  I have a new appreciation for the Cantonese people.  Sam and I noticed that speaking mandarin with the Cantonese was actually easier than with a native mandarin speaker.  They speak slower and use simpler words.   We felt pretty good about our speaking ability....that is, until we got back here.  My only complaint would be that our stay in Hong Kong was too short and the train was too long.  Spending 30 hours on a train to get home is not my idea of a fun way to end a trip.  It took about 24 hours to get to Hong Kong and another 30 hours to come back.  Ugh.  I will spare you the details but lets just say the bathroom situation leaves much to be desired and there is no such thing as a "non-smoking" section even if there is a sign that says so. On the train people eat what we would call back home "cup of noodles" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Here it is called 方便面 (fang bian mian) which literally means "convenient noodle".  It is very convenient too.  All you need is some hot water and you've got a meal. Because it is so popular here they have a large variety to choose from.  You can even have rice noodles with tofu! I had brought with us beef flavored convenient noodles but by the end I was wishing for my friend's chicken flavored rice noodles.  It was good to be with friends so we could keep ourselves entertained.  We played cards, told stories, and had fun with mad libs.  I was also able to see much of China's countryside.  I can now say for certain that China is a beautiful country...depending on where you go.  I saw so many places that looked like a picture in a travel book.  I only wish the train could have stopped in those areas so I could take some pictures.  I do have some pictures as you can see.  They are of us spending time in Hong Kong and on the train.  Enjoy! 

Sometimes I eat grass.....

I just finished calling the last child for my telephone english teaching job.  I was tired and irritated with the lesson but I got quite a laugh from the last little boy.  The lesson was about a girl named Rose who had some pigs.  She had a big white pig and smaller black pig.  The story says that she withheld grass from the white pig so she could feed the black pig first.  I had to ask the children questions about the story.  It was difficult for the children tonight.  I don't think they understood the story that well.  When I asked them questions about it there were many long pauses.  I threw in a couple of viewpoint questions just to see what they would say.  When I asked if they liked pigs most of the girls said yes while the boys said no.  After that I would ask them what the pigs ate.  They would reply: "grass" and then I would ask them if they ate grass.  They all said no except the last little boy.  After he said yes I asked him: "Do you like to eat grass?"  He replied: "I don't like to eat grass..(pause) but sometimes I eat a little."  I busted up laughing.  Hope you get a chuckle from it too.

Nothing beats a good massage

Last Friday was our 5 year anniversary.  We decided to celebrate with a two hour massage.  It was fabulous!  The first hour they massage your feet and legs then the second hour they do the rest of your body.  We both enjoyed the massage immensely.  We also enjoyed talking to the women who gave us our massage. I told them it was our anniversary.  When they asked if Sam had bought me flowers or chocolate I quickly said no but Sam corrected me and said "hai meiyou"(not yet).  I laughed because I knew he didn't have any plans of buying flowers.  In fact, I had to remind him many times that our anniversary was coming up.  One of the massage ladies also told Sam that he should touch my skin more because it was so pretty and white.  (Oh yes! I love the compliments and advice to my husband.)  Later that evening we had a nice dinner at a restaurant somewhat far from our house.  On our return home who should we see at our subway exit but two ladies selling flowers?!  What a break for Sam!  He told me to pick whatever ones I liked.  I felt even more stares than usual on the bus ride to our place.  Everyone was looking at the foreigner with the flowers. (Thats me.)  

 

Since the massage my sleep has been much improved.  I think my mood has improved also.  The night before we went I had my first real english class with 4 four year olds.  It was crazy!  One little girl incited the rest to total chaos.  She would say "I'm tired.  When is class over?".  Then she would run around saying "class over, class over!"  The other children would join in until I distracted them with some game or song.  She also felt the need to hit whatever book or flashcard I was holding. So, of course everyone else did it too.  It was a two hour class but it felt like a whole day of work.  I want to teach the children english but it seems like I might need to start with some discipline.  Sam is doing his first class tonight.  I can't wait to ask him how it went. 

Look at the foreigner

The latest update is that we found a job that might actually work out for us.  Its not perfect, but honestly, I'm sick of going on interviews.  They take up the whole day and at the end I usually feel like it was a huge waste of my time.  Last Thursday we went on one that seemed like a happy place to work.  Let's just say I had a good feeling when I walked in the door.  Its teaching 3-6 year olds English but its not a kindergarten.  Its more like an afterschool program or a preschool.  They want me to teach a new class they are working on called "Baby sign".  It teaches babies to use sign language.  It looks like fun except they use English sign language instead of American sign language.  I already know some American sign language so it may be harder for me to forget what I know than to learn from scratch.  But we sing songs and the parents are with their child so I think I will enjoy it.  I start teaching at the school this Thursday.  Sam will start a little later.

 

After my last entry you would think I would have slowed down but I couldn't.  We had that interview on Thursday and we had invited friends over Friday night so even though I got a slight sore throat I continued at my usual pace.  By Saturday afternoon I was totally sick with a cold.  This Monday is a holiday here so we don't have school today. (Its Monday here)  I'm trying to rest up because we have another busy week ahead of us.    Last night I couldn't stand being in the house any longer so I decided to treat myself to a manicure.  It was fun.  Right off the bat the girls doing nails started to talk about me.  Its funny the way people talk about you right in front of you.  Then they act surprised when you can understand.  I wonder why they are suprised.  Back home if I see a person obviously not from America I don't automatically assume they can't speak english or that they won't understand anything I say.  And can you imagine nudging the person next to you and saying "hey look at the foreigner".  It sounds funny but that is what happens here to me almost everytime I walk out the door.  I suppose there are a lot of foreigners here who never bother to learn the language.  I however am not one of them, so when a person starts talking about me I just join the conversation...if I can.  The girls at the nail place were talking about how white I am so I told them how in America its not considered beautiful to be as white as me.  (Before you think to yourself that what I say is not true.  Think about how many tanning salons you see on a regular basis where you live.  So far, I haven't seen one tanning salon in China.)  The girls looked at me and said "you can speak chinese?"  I replied that I speak a little and from that point on they spoke to me and not just about me.  It was fun listening to them talk to eachother and seeing what I could understand.  They really were impressed by my white skin.  They told me any color would look good on me because I am so white.  I find that really funny after years of being embarrassed by my white legs.  Lets see what comments I get when I wear shorts.

Exhaustion hits

Today I hit a wall.  No not literally, but mentally and physically.  I actually wish I had gotten sick.  Since last week I've not had one good nights rest.  We decided not to take the kindergarten teaching job which was a big relief.  It was too many hours.  I had no idea how that would have worked.  Of course that still leaves us without regular work and that, plus all sorts of other issues, keeps me from resting soundly.  I knew I was irritable yesterday but pushed through it all.  I finished all my commitments but this morning I felt like I couldn't handle it anymore.  We were running late for school and had to run for the bus, then I got shoved pretty hard into the girl in front of me.  I felt so bad about it that I wanted to push someone back.  Ack!  Then at class I couldn't focus on anything.  It seemed like our teacher was writing every character I didn't know on the board.  I felt lost and when she asked me for an answer I told her I couldn't do it.  The look on her face made me want to scream and cry at the same time.  I told her to ask someone else then a few moments later I left the room.  Later on all the women in the place huddled around me asking me questions, giving me chocolate and motherly wisdom.  It was sweet but I knew that I was over tired.  It takes humility to know when you need to slow down. I guess I'm still working on that.  Foreigners here will remind you to rest but I admit sometimes I secretly think: "why?".  Now I know.  I went home and slept almost four hours amidst pounding and construction noise from the apartment above us. Ahh, I feel better but I also feel really embarrassed from my little break down.  What must people think of me?  And you, reading this blog, what do you think?  Just in case you are wondering, I don't want to come home.  I'm happy here.  I'm just impatient with myself and my situation.  I plan on saying no more to others and yes more to naps.  :)  Good advice wherever you happen to live. 

A different way of thinking

If you come to China and you need to go to the grocery store here are a couple of tips. 1. If you look for floss in the toothpaste aisle you won't find it.  It will be with the toothpicks... of course.  2.  If you want to buy fruit, vegtables, or anything loose you must place it in a plastic bag, then look for the store worker next to a scale, have them weigh it and place a price tag on it.  If you go to the register without the sticker they will not let you buy it.  3.  Just because the carton has a cow on it does not mean it is milk.  If you find that out after you get home go ahead and put it on your cereal.  Its probably just yogurt.  4.  You cannot buy medicine or rubbing alcohol at a grocery store.  You must go to a pharmacy to purchase those items.  These are all small things that I find amusing.  They are a reminder that just because something seems logical in your head doesn't mean you can't do it another way and have it work just as well.  New experiences I've found I like are; holding on for dear life when the bus or subway train stops suddenly (it feels like ride!), trying new food and finding its delicious, watching people as they watch me or the friends I am with, bargaining over an article of clothing,  ordering the many different types of bubble milk tea, correcting people's english, seeing my progress speaking or reading the language, and making new friends.  New experiences I don't like so much are; NOT having something to hold on to when the bus or subway train stops suddenly, sitting on the back of someone's bike, hearing a price for something go much higher when I ask how much it is, avoiding the poop on the side walk and hoping that it came from a dog, crusty black boogers(mine and others) that come from breathing the dirty city air, feeling like a sardine in a can on a crowded bus or subway, and the trials and tribulations of  miscommunication.  It's all pretty do-able though and I don't want anyone to think I'm complaining.  I'm just giving my observations.

 

We had an interview for a job teaching at a kindergarten today.  We have a second interview tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.  It is a full time position but they said that we can split it between the two of us.  That still means 20 hours each.  I feel a little leary about working so much but it may be necessary.  We'll see how it goes.    

Sam gets a haircut

It had been six weeks since Sam's last haircut.  He was looking pretty shaggy and I told him so.  Although he agreed he needed one, he had daily excuses for not getting one.  The truth was that he felt nervous about not being able to say what he wanted.  Today he asked our teachers for some hair cutting vocabulary.  It seemed that we were also able to teach them some english words in the process.  Words such as; sideburns, mustache, and beard.  After class we set out to get Sam the haircut.  Around our house I've seen several haircutting places.  Some look like hair cutting schools, others plain barber shops, and some full on salons.  Sam wanted to go to one down the street that had several men working there.  It seemed to be a popular place because its always busy.  The men that worked there however.... looked like early twenties asian rock stars.  I wished I had my camera.  Their hair looked coiffed and styled.  The guy who cut Sam's hair  wore thick rimmed black glasses with no lenses. He wore a tight t-shirt with the word "Bike" on it, fitted jeans, and red converse shoes.  He said he liked to listen to Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and R&B music.  He spoke very little English so Sam was really happy he understood when he said "牛肉衣服"(niu rou yifu) which means cow meat clothing, something Lady Gaga is very famous for wearing.  The whole process was about 45 minutes (including two washes and styling) and cost 38rmb or just under 6 dollars U.S.  Thats a little pricey for a haircut here but it was a nice place and he did a good job.  When he was done he asked me if I thought Sam's haircut was cool and I replied yes.  It was a fun experience.  Who knows, maybe I'll get my own haircut there in the future.  Here is Sam's "after" picture.  What do you think?

Starting School

We started school on Monday.  Its in between a private tutor and a regular class.  There are four of us learning together.  Three hours Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in the morning.  I can see it will be a big help.  We will have a lot of homework.  One of our first assignments is ordering food at a restaurant.  That will be a big help.  Currently I either look at pictures, then point, and say "Zhe ge" (this).  If there are no pictures then I look for characters that I recognize and go from there. We took home a paper menu from a close by restaurant and Sam has been translating it.  One of our teachers also gave us a list of most common dishes. We have to learn five dishes we like and then order them properly.  I saw a lot of food I know I like but also ones I may avoid.  For example, stewed pigs intestines and fish-flavored pork cutlets. I'm excited to be able to say what I want.  After school on Monday we decided to buy some supplies such as pencils, highlighters, notebooks, etc.  I found a couple of really funny chinglish notebooks.  I've included a picture of one.  If you can't read it, it says: "Love is we need to work together, not a personal matter mutual tolerance.  We must not allow our creative protestto degenerate into physical violence.  Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soullorce.  When will you be satisfied?"  I just had to buy it.  I'm not sure what my creative prottesto is but it sounds very important! Haha. I thought I wouldn't write about all the chinglish here because it seems like its already been talked about so much. But honestly, it never gets old.  I'm always amused by the bad english or funny sayings.  The other notebook I bought says "Our love is too much like a failure of the TV series, has been no high ratings."  

In other news, we painted that orange wall in the bedroom.  It is now a kind of sky blue.  That's the other picture I included.  There was a big nail in the middle of the wall that Sam didn't want to pull out so I put up the clock until I find a picture I like.  It's really starting to feel like home now.  I love that every outing is a new adventure but its nice to come home and really feel like you are home.  

Lost in translation

Someone told us the other day that if we really want to enjoy life here we must learn the language well. That felt like an insult but it was meant to be a good suggestion.  Recently I have seen that this is true.  I do enjoy all the new things we are experiencing but I also find myself very frustrated at times.  Take for example our situation with our neighbors.  I think we are the only foreigners in our building. (At least the only white people.)  That makes us especially interesting to our neighbors.  They like to watch us and make comments or ask questions.  Most of the time I have no idea what they are saying.  I just smile and say "Ting bu dong" (I hear but don't understand.)  The other day I got into the elevator with three other people.  I had a bag of trash and two empty bottles of laundry supplies in my hand.  One woman looked at me and said "blah blah blah bu lagi blah blah..."  I understood two words: not trash.  The man next to her said: "ting bu dong" and didn't even look my way.  What I understood that to mean was: don't even bother telling the foreigner because she doesn't understand. I just smiled and said to her "zuo shemne?"  (Do what?)  She just looked away.  Agh!!!  Was she saying that the bottles I had were not trash but they were recycling?  Or was she saying that now the trash bin had already been taken away or some other important information I needed to know?!  I will never know because they never said another word.  The trash bin was at the usual spot.  I looked in vain for another bin for recycling and then just threw all my stuff into the trash.  I asked some friends about this situation and they couldn't offer much help.  They said that we may have recycling at my building but it is rare.  

Another frustrating thing is the problem you can have when you understand most of the words but not the meaning of the sentence.  Lots of times I will look at the person speaking, think for a bit, then admit I don't know what they are saying.  After that they proceed to start the whole sentence over explaining all the words I already know.  So lately I just nod and smile.  Often this works because if I listen long enough I may piece the conversation together.  However, this can also backfire.  A couple of days ago I told someone I understood what she said.   Then she asked me to repeat it back to her.  I thought she meant in english but that was just wishful thinking. It was quite the mental work out.  I did come away learning some new words from that conversation.  I now know how to say "traffic jam" and "arrive early".  I'm hoping we start some official schooling in the next week.  Its fun to learn from being out and about but I think some structure will be helpful.  I'm also looking forward to teaching people english.  I can't wait to be the one correcting grammar and pronunciation.  Heehee.

Looking for Work and more about food

On Tuesday we had two interviews for teaching jobs.  We were very nervous but they went well.  The first one we had was a telephone interview.  The job is for teaching children 10 minutes at a time on the phone.  We had a second interview for that last night with an actual child.  It was fun.  We are hired starting at the end of April.  It will be one day a week for a little over an hour.  It will be good experience that we can add to our resume.  The other interview was for jobs that occasionally come up for anywhere from one day to a week at a time.  In both interviews it was mentioned that they will be looking for permanent teachers in September so maybe that is when we can expect some regular work.

 

More about food.  We ate donkey meat the other day!  I really didn't want to but we mentioned we were hungry to a chinese friend and she took us to a sandwich place that only sold donkey.  She said she thought it was a "very delicious" kind of food.  I said "Can I have one with no meat?"  They chuckled and said no.  I closed my eyes and took a bite.  It tasted like roast beef.  So, I guess I eat donkey meat now.  I also am addicted to lays "Numb and Spicy Hot Pot" flavored potato chips and hawthorne fruit candy.  Yum.  I can't seem to get enough.  We finally found the coffee district and bought some more coffee and a coffee grinder.  Coffee beans are not cheap, especially if they are imported.  So, we bought chinese coffee beans.  I think that we had chinese coffee at a friends house and we liked it.  We haven't tried the stuff we bought yet.   

About the pollution and weather.  Yesterday was a great day temperature-wise but not so great pollution-wise.  I stepped out of our apartment, started walking, and felt a stinging sensation in my nose.  It was that sensation you get right before you sneeze but more pungent.  I wish I could have sneezed.  Instead I felt the stinging a minute or two more.  After that it seemed to go away.  Perhaps it was my nose's initial reaction to the air and then it adjusted.  All I can say is that it was unpleasant but brief. I have not had to run for a bus in the haze so I'm not sure what effect it will have on me yet asthma-wise.

The land of pork

Lately I've been feeling like I'm living in the land of pork.  Everywhere I go I see yummy things to eat but when I ask what kind of meat it has the reply is always "Zhu rou" (pork).  That is one word I remembered from the first time I heard it.  It sounds like "jew row".  I think to myself: Jews don't eat pig so if they were in a boat they would row away.  Silly I know but I really don't like to eat pork so I had to remember that word fast.  Now, when I heard that word I ask if they have chicken or beef or no meat at all.  Many times they only have the pork but on occasion they may have another meat.  Sometimes they even have vegetarian but it will still have some egg in it.  The thing is, the stuff with the pork in it always looks tastier than what I'm eating!  Sam will say his meal is delicious while mine is just okay.  Blagh!  One day I may have some of this Zhu rou but for now I'm just feeling adventurous with the lamb and squid.

Sam and I have noticed that we have been getting scared over the silliest things.  For example, we have a water service that will deliver a new 5 gallon bottle for a machine that dispenses both hot and room temperature water.  We have already paid for 11 bottles so they gave us 11 tickets.  We are supposed to call the number on the ticket and request a bottle when we need it.  The first time we needed water a friend made the call for us, but a few days ago we ran out again.  Sam said he agonized over calling for quite a while.  He looked at the ticket and saw three different phone numbers to call.  He had no clue which was the one for delivery.  He tried one but it was more of a recording.  The next one he thought was right so he gave our apt number and asked for water.  The woman on the other line said a bunch of words he didn't understand so he just said "Hao.  Xie, xie."  (Okay, thanks)  Then he hung up and hoped that somehow water would appear at our door.  Miraculously about 30 minutes later there was a knock at the door and we had water!  We agonized similarly over buying more electricity.  Here, you have to prepay for your electricity.  There is a meter outside your apt. door which tells you how many units you have left.  When we first got here they told us we had about a week of electricity left.  To buy more electricity you must load a card that is specific to your apartment.  You must go to a bank to add money on it.  That may sound easy, but if felt daunting to walk into a bank and explain what you want.  A friend said they would help but by the time they were ready it was after 6pm on a Friday night and no banks were open.  That same night we decided to ask our landlord for advice. She said there was a building close by that was one of the main places to buy electricity.  She gave directions to Sam but again it wouldn't be open until Monday.  We had got seriously low on power and I felt like any minute everything might stop working.  That weekend was scary but we made it!  So, on Monday Sam tried to find this electricity building but with no success.  He walked far down the street she said it was on but to no avail.  He finally decided to walk into a bank and see what would happen.  Surprisingly enough he got through it with only two bank employees needed to help.  He loaded as much $ as he could so that we won't have to do it again for a while.  Really these are simple things but they feel huge when you are not sure of what the person standing front of you is saying.  

To answer a couple of comments on the blog.  Our living room may look big but its probably only slightly bigger than our apartment in West Sac.  The bed you saw is a new one.  Originally we had a twin bed that was as hard as a rock.  Although our apartment is supposed to be "furnished", our landlord would not buy us a bigger bed. We had to buy our own.  It worked out good because we were able to choose not only a bed we liked the look of, but also comfortable.  I think that is important because getting sick happens a lot here.  If you must be in bed its good if its comfy.