Its Snowing!

This guy takes his exercising seriously

This is a very popular shopping market close to our apartment.  Even in July they have Christmas lights but only in the winter can you find snow on the strange looking life sized rabbits guarding the doors.

Not bad for a self portrait, eh?

My bike is the one that has snow on the seat

You may have gathered by my last blog that I am not much of a fan of snow.   While it is true that I despise much of the inconvenient side effects of snow and cold weather, I cannot deny the beauty of fresh snow.  It snowed last night and this time I remembered my camera.  Not only will I say that it was beautiful, I will also admit that I like the squishy sound my boots make walking through it.

When it snows in the city

Life in a big city when its cold and snowy is not at all like taking a trip to the mountains to "see the snow".  For one thing, nobody here is on vacation.  That means its the same commuters as usual, only now the buses and subways are hotter and busier than ever because no one wants to bike or walk in the snow.  Me? I'll walk in the snow but not bike.  Some of my friends proudly tell their snow biking stories and how they only slipped a little or they fell but at least they landed on their feet.  I don't think I would be that lucky.  Instead I shove my way onto buses so hot and crowded that my glasses immediately fog up and I can't see the irritated faces of all the people staring at me. It seems like every bus is overcrowded and every subway car is too hot.  In the winter I'm always either too hot or too cold which is probably why its so easy to get sick.  Right now Sam has a cold.   I'm drinking lots of hot water and getting plenty of vitamins but who am I kidding?  I'll probably end up with it in a day or two. 

Back to the crowded bus.  The other day I got on a bus that wasn't crowded at all. I walked straight to the back and strategically stood by a couple of currently occupied seats.  I thought I might be able to score a seat in a stop or two.  I was totally wrong.  At the next stop it looked as if a whole village of people were waiting to get on.   The bus was full to the brim when the last person squeezed their way in.  Then we lumbered on to the next stop.  Apparently the bus was no where near full capacity because about 10 more people got on in the front.  Just as we were about to pull away a little old lady tapped on the back (exit ) door.  She wanted to get in.  The driver must have been crazy because he opened the back door.  Not only did this little lady push herself in but four more old people got on behind her.  It was really too much to bear and people started complaining loudly.  One person screamed that it was too crowded and that she had a child with her.  Those old people didn't seem to mind the complaints or that the door wouldn't shut.  After about 20 seconds of the door trying to shut twice, a man ran up to the door. I assumed he would tell the ones halfway hanging out of the bus that they had to get off but instead he gave them a big shove and shut the door! The next thing I knew the bus was on its way to the next stop and the rude people who had just shoved their way on the bus started talking about space in the back of the bus.  Since I was in the back of the bus I knew it was only a matter of time before I got an elbow jabbed in my stomach or face.  I quickly asked the girl in front of me if she was getting off at the next stop.  She started to panic a little but when the bus stopped at the next exit we all started moving.  I was moving forward while others were moving back.  I squeezed through a sea of puffy down jackets until I practically popped out the door.

I can't remember what it was like to be born but I can only imagine it must have been much like this, minus the puffy jackets.  Puffy jackets really act as a good lubricant and or buffer when squeezed in small spaces with many people.  Since these jackets are only worn in the really cold weather I suppose I must be happy it is winter right now.  The only thing that could have made that experience more uncomfortable was if we had all been hot and sweaty with no puffy jacket buffer.  I shudder to think of it.

Words to remember:
 

gōng­gòng­qì­chē (公共汽车）= Public bus

xià­xuě (下雪）= to snow

tài jǐ le! (太挤了）= too crowded!

Chinese folk flute in the subway

I love listening to traditional chinese music echoing through the subway tunnels.  I recorded this a couple weeks ago. 

Have you eaten?

Instead of saying "How are you?" Chinese people will often say "Have you eaten?" This is a very standard way of greeting people.  When first arriving in China its necessary to get familiar with simple conversations and simple phrases such as the former question.  But many times people ask these same questions in different ways or using different words.  There seems to be dozens of ways to ask someone where they are from.  Lots of times if you don't know what the person is asking you, you try to guess what it is or just start saying things and hope that one of them is the right answer.  Foriegners get good at faking it but sometimes it can backfire and make you look a total fool.  Our Chinese teacher recently told us one such story. 
A woman lost her cat and was asking all her neighbors if they had seen it.  This is what happened when the foreign neighbor opened his door.  The woman asked:
"nǐ kān wǒ de māo ma?" (你看我的猫吗?) = Have you seen my cat?
The foreigner didn't understand her so he just assumed that she had asked him if he had eaten. He replied:
"wǒ chī le." (我吃了)= I've eaten.
Rather stunned she exclaimed:
"nǐ chī le wǒ de māo ma?!" (你吃了我的猫吗?!)= You ate my cat?!


Phrases to remember:

nǐ chī fàn le ma？(你吃饭了吗 ?)=  Have you eaten?

wǒ chī le. (我吃了.)= I've eaten.

wǒ méi chī.(我没吃.)= I haven't eaten.

 

 

 

You+Me=Corn

While waiting at a stop light today, Sam turned to me and said:

"Did you know that you plus me equals corn?"  I smiled and replied:

"What, did you read that on someone's shirt?"

"No, I just thought of it now." was his answer.  After thinking about it for a second I realized he meant 玉米. (yu mi) pronouced like: "you me" which in English means corn.  Well now I won't forget that word ever again....and you probably won't either!  Now if only I could think of a funny way to remember every Chinese word. 

 

中医- I visit a traditional Chinese doctor

I have recurring stomach problems that have flared up again recently.
A few friends have recommended that I visit a traditional Chinese
doctor. Since western medicine hasn't been able to offer much of an
explanation or cure I figured I should give it a try. A friend of
mine's mother is an English teacher and she offered to take me to see
her doctor last Tuesday. Her English name is Trinity. (She chose it
because she likes the number three.) The clinic she took me too
seemed just like any other clinic. First I registered. That
consisted of me telling them my name, birthdate, and that I didn't
have any insurance. Next we walked through several corridors to an
elevator. We went to the second floor, turned right, and walked right
into the doctor's office/lounge where several doctors were working.
Trinity asked one of the doctors where her doctor was and they replied
that she was with another patient in an emergency situation. Trinity
said that we would wait for her. So we sat down at a table and
waited. As we waited she told me that although this doctor is young,
she was trained by a very famous traditional chinese medicine doctor.
She also told me that she had just had a baby so she is a little fat.
(Ah yes typical Chinese conversation.) After about 20 minutes a
slightly plump, thirty-something year old woman in a white lab coat
walked in the room. When she saw Trinity she smiled and they greeted
eachother like old friends. It was informal and not at all like going
to a doctor's office back home. When she started to diagnose my
illness she asked many questions concerning temperature. For example:
Am I hot inside? Are my hands and feet cold? Do I feel bad when I
eat cold food? Can I drink cold liquids? Next she felt my pulse on
my right wrist, then on my left wrist. And finally she asked to look
at my tongue. I hesitated a moment and then stuck my tongue out.
Both the doctor and Trinity said "Oh" and began talking to eachother
too fast for me to understand. I wondered what it all meant. The
doctor wrote down lots of notes and then went to her computer to send
a perscription for me. When Trinity told me what the doctor thought I
had I looked it up in my dictionary. The illness had something to do
with my spleen. I was given a weeks worth perscription of
tradititional chinese medicine. So, what is "Traditional Chinese
Medicine"? It's herbs, roots, minerals, etc. that is brewed like a
tea. It is very bitter and I must drink it every day. Because I
didn't have time to wait for them to brew the medicine for me, I took
the dry ingredients home to make myself. You must have a special pot
for brewing the medicine and Trinity said she had an extra one I could
use. The doctor then mentioned an old Chinese superstition about not
sharing pots that you use to make medicine in. Apparently if you take
someone else's pot you are likely to get their illness. I asked
Trinity if she believed this and she quickly said no but that she
would give me the pot anyway because she had two others that she used.
I must brew the medicine everyday and it takes about an hour and a
half altogether. Above is a picture of the dry ingredients. I have
been told that this kind of treatment takes a few months before you
see the benefits. I go back to the doctor next week so she can look
at my tongue again and see if she needs to change any of the herbs.
I'm not sure how long I can keep this up but I'm willing to try it for
a bit.

I did it

  Remember the blog with the picture of all those toilets in the ground and no partitions?  Well since then I used them once but I had someone guard the door so that no one came in.  Last night however, I had to go bad enough to use it twice.   And this time there were other people using them at the same time!  Instead of humiliating I found it rather liberating.  I'm also happy to report no one cared to stare at the very white foreigner peeing in the corner squat pot. 

 

 

 

My parents come to China

I know I've taken quite a long break from blogging and I apologize to all my faithful readers!  September and October have been really busy for us.  We started work and school and haven't had much free time.  The first week of October was a holiday and although we didn't work, we were still busy with my parents visit. I'd say their visit was a success.  Not only did my parents have a great time (at least that's what they told me), but Sam and I also enjoyed having family here to experience what our daily life is like in China.  I was surprised at how easy going my parents attitude was towards all the inconveniences here.  I'm sure I was the only one complaining about the crowds and all the walking.  At first it even looked like my mom would never have to use a squat pot (the toilets in the floor) because at almost every restroom we went to someone would point out a handicap bathroom with a reguar toilet.  But of course at some point she had to use a squat pot when no other option was available.  I've posted some pictures of the highlights from their visit below.  Enjoy!

Highlights from my parents trip to China

 

The right picture

I just realized that I posted a picture below twice instead of this one.  Here is the one I wanted to post.  You can see that there is a sink by the toilet.

A toilet in the bedroom? How convenient!

I took the pictures above in the bedroom of a little girl I tutor every week.  Her English name is Gita.  As you can see, Gita has a toilet in her bedroom.  Or perhaps she has a bed in her bathroom.  It's really a toss up.  Her family's apartment is quite spacious and decorated in a typical western style.  It has three bedrooms and three toilets.  You could almost think you were in America until you notice that none of the bathrooms offer total privacy.  They are all in bedrooms, and although the other two are not completely exposed like Gita's, they are not completely enclosed either.  In my experience, the Chinese seem to be more private about their feelings than their bodily functions. 

Do you love China?

I have people ask me that a lot.  I always tell them that Sam loves China and I........like it most of the time.  I think part of my problem is not China, its the big city that gets me down and my own personal health issues.  Yesterday started out great but by the end it went down in history as one of my worst days here.  Sam and I went to school, did some stuff around the house, and then met friends for a sorely needed massage.  The girl who usually gives me a massage was busy so I got a new girl.  She was from the Yunnan province and so was another girl who was giving one of our friends a massage.  They spoke to each other a lot in their local language of Yunnan hua.  It was interesting to listen to but the massage was torture.   They always start on the feet. This girl rubbed fast and hard, really hard.  I was obviously in pain when she told me that I had stomach problems.  She next pushed another spot on my foot, I winced and she told me that was my liver. I knew I had stomach problems, but my liver too?  I thought it could have been something that a stomach specialist had told me about in the past, but he said it was nothing to worry about.  Now, I felt a little worried.   I felt even more worried when after about five minutes of lying face down on the massage table I felt like I couldn't breathe.  I made the girl stop the massage three times.  The first time was just to try to breathe, the second was to take my inhaler for asthma, and the third was just because the pain was too great.  I apologized that my body was in such bad shape.  I felt like I must seem old and decrepit to everyone there.  I just wanted it to end.  I don't know if it was me or the girl but it was all bad. When it was finally over I looked around at Sam and our two friends.  They all looked relaxed and happy.  I on the other hand  walked out in more pain than when I walked in. 

 

Next we went for Indian food.  I love Indian food.  This place is one of our favorites.  Yesterday was no exception.  The food was great.  The problem was that we were seated behind the air conditioning.  (As in, the air was all blow away from us)  The weather has been really hot and muggy lately.  So, I was hot, sticky, in pain, and then as if to reinforce the massage girls assertions, my stomach started acting up.  It definitely did not like the Indian food as much as my mouth.  I hoped it would all go away soon but by the time we got on the bus to go home I still felt miserable. Here comes the bad part (yes everything before was not really that bad compared to what came next.)  We transfered to the subway from the bus.  I was happy to find a seat and the subway was air conditioned and cool.  After about one stop a few more seats opened up and people just getting on started grabbing them up.  A young woman sat down a seat or two across from me and was trying to hold the next empty seat for her boyfriend when an older (mid to late forties) man tried to sit down in the empty seat.  She told him the seat was taken but he looked like he was going to sit down anyway.  Out of no where the boyfriend comes running up and grabs the man's arm.  The man pushes him, a couple of brief words are said, and then the boyfriend hits the man right in the face.  He keeps hitting him so I started screaming.  Then about ten more guys (I assume friends of the boyfriend) run up two at a time and start taking hits at the man who is now just trying to get away.  When we saw these other guys first run up Sam and I both thought "Oh good someone is coming to break this up" but it was just another buddy coming to throw a punch.  It was unreal to us.  Total animal mentality.  The man wasn't even fighting back, instead he backed up against the wall and then someone started kicking him too. I was screaming this whole time and so was the girlfriend.  Sam and I got up and moved about ten feet away from the crowd.  Then the train stopped for the next stop and the girl pushed her boyfriend and the other guys to get off.  They all run out leaving the rest of us stunned and in shock.  The poor man who had been beaten just sat down, on the now whole row of empty seats, and didn't say anything.  His face was already swollen. I asked people who was going to call the police but no one said anything in reply.  People just shook their heads.  I was angry and then I was scared.  How could this happen here?  I always felt so safe before.  After transferring to another subway line, then having to take a taxi to our bikes when the subway closed (it closes at about 11 and you have to get off at whatever stop is the end of the line) I realized that this city is just like any other big city.  Bad things can happen anywhere.  But groups of young men drinking is a common sight here.  So when I saw a pile of vomit on the side of the road and a group of about six guys walking toward us my heart raced and I felt panicky but they didn't even look twice at us.  The only thing that has changed is me.  While I feel like crying about the whole incident, Sam feels anger about it.  I think he might have taken the whole situation harder than me.   In fact he tells me that this blog doesn't really describe in detail what happened and how it felt.  But this blog is about my experience and how I felt.  If want want to hear it from Sam, ask him sometime.

 

Do I love China?  Not so much, but ask me again in a couple weeks.... 

A music concert....in the basement?

Even though we have lived in China about a year and a half we still get things mixed up more than we'd like to admit.  Here's the most recent mix up.  Last Thursday our door lady stopped us as we were walking out the door to point out a recently posted notice.  She then pointed to the side of the building and started speaking very quickly trying to describe some sort of event.  She has a thick local accent and its difficult for us to understand her even when she only has a little bit to say, but this time she had quite a lot of information.  What we caught was that something was happening this Friday to Sunday downstairs underneath our building, 120rmb was involved,  and she made a gesture that implied that whatever she was talking about had to do with sound or noise.  So Sam asked if it had to do with music. (音乐）She said yes.  Sam concluded it was some sort of concert under our building.  We figured we didn't care to spend 120rmb to listen to music under our building so we disregarded the whole thing.  The next afternoon (Friday) as we walked out of our building a group of about five older women pointed to us and started saying that we hadn't gone yet to this "event".  I was really baffled. I thought to myself: Why do they care?  But then they mentioned the 120rmb again so I thought this must be some sort of fee that we needed to pay.  I asked one lady if the 120rmb was mandatory and she said yes.  I still didn't know where the music fit in, but we didn't have time to ask more questions at that moment because we had to meet up with friends.  Later that evening Sam got the whole story from a guy who owns the little drink shop next to our building. (He is also our neighbor.)  He said that there has been a lot of construction going on next door and the noise has "influenced" (影响) those who live on that side of our building.  Sam asked him why we had to pay 120rmb but the guy replied that we didn't have to pay 120rmb, they were going to give us 120rmb for our inconvenience.  We just had to go to a room below our building to sign a form and collect it during the times the officials were there Friday through Sunday.  The guy's wife offered to help us fill out the form when we decided to pick up the money.  What a relief!  Much better than paying 120rmb for a concert underneath our building, right? 

Nothing says China like a restroom full of squat pots and no partitions

We are very excited to have a couple from California come to our part of the world! Yesterday we took them to our favorite Muslim food restaurant here.  The evening seemed to be going well until the wife said she needed to use the restroom.  Since the the restroom was outside and Sam needed it too, he took her.  About a minute later they came back so I remarked on how fast she was.  She looked at me and said that she didn't go because it was just holes in the ground and no partitions.  I had to chuckle because this is typical of many restrooms in China.  I had forgotten how shocking it can be to see for the first time.  We decided to go back together just to take some pictures.  I told her that if she wanted to go I would watch the door for her but she definitely wanted to wait....I wonder why. :) 

Back in China but still dreaming of vacation pictures

Pics from the coast of California

Northern California Coast

 Watching the sunset.

Those are my feet incase you didn't guess.

                                          My husband, the A&E outfitter model.....

                                          I just like taking pictures of feet.

                                          Hotlix suckers in Pismo Beach with family.

Now for my model pose.

Typical scene of Pismo Beach in July.

Camping at Fort Bragg

Hiding in America....camping

I know that I kind of dropped off the map so to speak ever since we got back to the states.  For one thing I thought no one would want to hear about our vacation in the U.S. And for another we've been, well, on vacation so I've gotten lazy.  We've been trying to fit in as much "American" activities as possible.  We went to the state fair, camping at the coast, and visited family.  The camping pictures are above.

The Great Procrastination

It's 11:30am Thursday morning.  We leave for USA early tomorrow morning.  I should be packing and cleaning but instead I'm sitting here in the front of the computer writing this blog.  I'm just taking a brief moment to comment on my procrastination habits.  I hate preparing for a trip, but who doesn't?  This time though, I'm extra stressed because we will have someone staying here while we are gone.  It's a mutually beneficial arrangement but it means I have to prep my house for someone else to live here for six weeks.  So, in addition to the usual cleaning, I also have to organize and make room in the extra bedroom closet for someone else's clothes and stuff.  Currently that extra room and closet are being used as a place to store coats and pretty much everything else.  Basically it has become a junk room and I have waited until the very last day to prepare it for company.  Did I also mention that I need to buy gifts, pack our luggage, try to dry one more load of laundry, and do the other cleaning stuff? Why did I wait til today to do all this? ACK! 

 

 

"Clothes won't dry" weather

When Sam and I lived in West Sacramento we didn't have washer and dryer.  My weekly routine was to bring baskets of dirty clothes to my parents house, separate the lights and darks, start a load of wash and then come back in a day or two to pick up baskets of clean laundry. (Thanks Mom!)  I used to tell Sam that I would be happy when some day I could do a load of laundry anytime I wanted.  Well that day has come and yet I've found I something else to complain about. We have a pretty good washing machine but no dryer.  Actually no one here has a dryer.  Almost every apartment has a section or small room with lots of windows and a place to hang clothes.   There are also no laundry mats you can go to use a machine to do your laundry.  There are dry cleaners but if you don't have a washing machine at home most people wash all their clothes....by hand!  It sounded crazy to me the first time I realized some people wash  ALL their laundry by hand.  I used to think that you only wash things "by hand" if the label said so, and even then my "hand washing" was really just the washing machine on delicate cycle. So I know I'm already a little privileged just by having an actual washing machine in our apartment.  Still, I long for a clothes dryer.  I tried explaining what a dryer was to one of my english students and she couldn't understand why anyone would need it.  I suppose in the colder months when the radiators are going full blast and your clothes dry in less than an hour its not that necessary. But in the rainy summer I dream of  clothes fresh from the dryer.  Yesterday I did a load of clothes in the morning and when I came home in the evening they still weren't dry.  When they finally were dry they had that slightly sour smell and so I had to start all over again. I may have to use my hair dryer or plug in my electric heater for the second round.   I know many of the chinese here have this problem as well because sometimes I smell the same sourness on people I'm next to on the bus or subway.  I guess slightly sour smelling clothes is just a part of life when its what I call: "clothes won't dry" weather.

Mosquito food

Last Saturday night we had the closest thing to an outdoor barbecue that you can get in China.  We barbecued chuar (lamb kabobs), chicken wings, and bread in a small park next to one of Sam's students apartment.  The boy's mother invited us for dinner and we were both pleasantly surprised at the informal setting.  As usual when we get invited to a barbecue, Sam ended up doing lots of the barbecuing.  It was good practice for him. We took note of the spices used so we can try to duplicate it for our friends and family when we go back to the states.  My only complaint is that I was practically eaten alive by mosquitoes!  They must have been very stealthy because I don't remember seeing even one but I woke up the next day with my legs and feet covered with itchy red bumps.  Altogether I counted eleven, plus one on my forehead.  I was wearing capris.  Can you imagine how many bites I would have now if I had been wearing shorts?  They really itched so I looked up some remedies for mosquito bites on the Internet.  The first remedy I tried was rubbing fresh garlic on the bites.  Although the smell was strong my legs still itched.  Next tried making a paste with baking soda and water.  That helped the itching, but my legs look really funny with red bumps and white paste all over them. So I guess I'm stuck wearing long pants in hot rainy weather for the next few days.  Hopefully this experience will help me to remember to bring mosquito repellent to the next barbecue I attend.

Chopsticks

Last night Sam and I went to dinner with a couple of chinese friends.  We ate one of my favorite meals, just sauteed vegtables and rice.  Sam didn't finish his rice (he says its too filling) and he stuck one of his chopsticks straight into the rice while he was talking.  Then he left it there.  The girl sitting next to me was obviously disturbed by Sam's chopstick (he only put one in) standing straight up in his rice.  She quickly told Sam it was bad luck to do that and Sam's reply was "It's okay I don't care about luck".  So, I said to Sam "Yeah but it's also rude so please don't disturb our friend."  He took out his chopstick with a smile.  I've learned a few things about chopsticks lately that have to do with superstition.  My Chinese teacher told me if you drop one of your chopsticks then your friend needs to quickly hit you to counteract the bad luck.  She also told me about some strange ritual people used to do with chopsticks that was supposed to lengthen a loved ones life by one year while shortening your own by three years.  While we don't care for superstitions its good to be familiar with the culture of the country you live in.  I'm just happy no one here says "God bless you" when someone sneezes. 

Who's cuter?

Sam thinks his students are cuter than mine.  I, of course, disagree.