Candy From Strangers

Since it's the 31st of October, this day wouldn't be complete without a candy story!

I was on the bus and a few stops later a lady boarded and sat next to me. She had in her hand the most delicious looking candy. It was a long kabob stick filled with about five little tiny crab apples (one apple was about the size of a cherry tomato), all covered with plenty of hard candy coating.

I just couldn't resist, I had to know what it was and where she got it. So with my limited language skills I asked her, 'what is that', 'does it taste good', 'it looks good'. She took the time to explain it all to me, using simple words such as 'shuiguo', 'hao chir', 'tanghulu'.

She then showed true hospitality, by insisting that I take her second fruit candy stick. I politely refused, but she kept insisting, saying it's really good and I should try it, I kept refusing. But finally I gave in and accepted the gift.

It tasted as good as it looked. Sour little apples with a sweet candy coating. Yum! We spent the rest of bus ride in silence, eating our candy sticks together.

My American side of me keeps thinking, 'I can't believe I took candy from a stranger'. But my Asian side reminds me that gift giving and accepting is such a cultural act and has strong importance to the culture. I'm loving the generosity and hospitality displayed to me in the past few months, as it's such a beautiful side of the culture.

( Images taken from: "Tanghulu (2008-07-10)", ChinaCulture.org )

Taxi

Here in the city it's very easy to get around without a car. The four options are walk, bus, taxi, or motorbike taxi. There are even two options for taxis: red taxi or green taxi (as seen in the picture). Personally I think the green taxis are nicer, but that's just my opinion. It's such a gamble whether the taxi that stops will be nice inside, or if the driver will be smoking, or if the driver will speak English.

Today we got into a taxi and there was a 'smooth jam' mood going on inside. The whole interior was a dark red color, with the ceiling having big white roses. Very clean inside, with a really nice stereo, mp3 player, and plenty of cutesy decorations. The driver looked like a rock star, he was in his late 20's (which is rare, most drivers I've seen are late 40's) and he had a stylish haircut and suit on. As we traveled, the driver was flipping through his MP3 player playing various pop songs, a few in English. This was the most stylish cab we have ever taken. It felt like Ben and I were going on a romantic date in style.

Friday is Culture Day

It's so easy to move to a new city and get stuck in a routine doing the same thing and seeing the same sights. So on Fridays, Ben and I finish class early, then spend the next few hours exploring the city. I call it culture day. Nothing planned or major, just getting off the bus a few stops early or going to a market that we haven't been to before.

Today I actually remembered my camera, here is what I saw:

First Ben has a big bowl of postage stamp noodles. They are called postage stamp noodles because after the cook stretches out the dough for the noodles, he cuts them up in small squares, the size of a stamp. It's almost like a stew, not quite a soup, but a little more broth than a stir fry. It's one of our favorite dishes to eat here.













It was a little to early for lunch for me, so I sat and watched two boys at the next table cleaning green peppers. This is a common sight in the late morning, as I often see the restaurant staff chopping meat, peeling garlic, or slicing vegetables in order to prepare for the lunch crowd.







Then we were off in search of a particular discount art supply store, as Ben has been wanting to draw (he's a really good artist!) A really nice sketch pad was $1, can't beat that price.





Afterward we decided to walk the long way home to explore some of the side markets. Not intending to purchase anything but rather practice some basic Chinese phrases and see how much I could understand.





Some nice hot corn on the cob was the perfect lunch. This vendor would hardly stop for us as she was in a hurry to catch the lunch crowd down the road while her corn and sweet potatoes were still hot. The corn was so soft and warm, perfect for such cold day!






We mainly walked past shops with clothing and bag in it. The vendors often change this stock depending on the weather. Today most of the clothing were coats and long underwear in preparation for the cold weather. Most of the ladies are so petite here. I tried on a few cute coats as I was curious as to my size...I'm an extra-large!


I found some pretty cool bags. I also mean this literally, as one bag had the word COOL written on it in big black letters. I picked up this bag to pose for a picture and the sales clerk told me it was 95 RMB. I replied, 'too expensive' and put the bag down. She then lowered her price to 65 RMB. What a drastic price drop, it's hard to know what is a reasonable price.





Almost home, I saw these Tibetan ladies with such colorful clothing. They graciously posed for my picture after I gave them many complements of how pretty they were. They were speaking to us in Chinese, but I couldn't understand much, so I kept saying in Chinese, thank you and you are so pretty. Such cheerful ladies!

Pineapple Chicken -n- a Bag

Since my stomach bug last week, I've been reluctant to eat out. I've been experimenting in the kitchen these past few days trying to make apple crisp without butter and homemade miso soup. My husband gave both two thumbs up, but I'm still searching for a better recipe for the apple crisp.

My parents sent me a care package that arrived this past weekend. It was filled with McCormick seasoning packets, including a few chicken in a bag kits, which are especially nice because it's hard to find bags here in addition to all of the spices.

Today I bought a jar of pineapples at the grocery store and we had Pineapple Chicken in a bag for dinner. I chopped the veggies and chicken, then threw it in all the provided bag along with the seasoning packet and a jar of pineapples.

All baked in my little toaster oven that is about a cubic foot big and has a temperature range of 200-500°. It even has a little timer that automatically turns itself off. Who knew it was even possible to cook dinner in these little ovens, lol.

Dinner was a hit tonight, my husband gave it two thumbs up.

Lint

I was riding the bus a few stops to get to the local market. As I was chatting to the guy in the seat next to me, trying to figure out where my stop was, I felt somebody picking at me from behind. I quickly turned around only to have the lady sitting in the seat behind me gleefully show me a huge handful of lint that she had picked off of my jacket! What do you say to that? Despite my surprise, I mustered up a big smile and tried to express the words "thank you" with the correct tones and gestures. I turned back around and continued my conversation with the guy next to me and let the lady continue to pick at my linty jacket until my stop had arrived. The whole right side of my jacket and sleeve was clean, if only she had time to do the left side too, lol.

Heat & Hot Water!

Just an update about my "Tough Week" post.

The repair guy came this afternoon to replace the pump in our water boiler (the pump and repair that would have cost a lot, in the apartment that we are moving out of next month.) Turns out that a screw was loose in our existing pump and all he had to do was tighten it! He gave Ben a quick lesson on how to control the heat and hot water and only charged us the standard maintenance fee. Now we have heat and hot water again!

Wednesday I caught Ben's stomach flu. But tonight (Thursday night) both my allergy and my stomach flu are gone! It all made me not take being healthy for granted. Plus allowed Ben and I the time to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies!

Weather

The weather can change drastically in the course of one day. It may be because we are located at an elevation of around 7,300 feet.

Most mornings are cool. Around lunch time it warms significantly, some days up to 70 degrees F in the sun. Late afternoons are very windy as temperatures drop. Cool evenings are always a guarantee.

A friend wrote this in an email to me and it perfectly describes the weather:

"There is a old saying to describe the climate: eating watermelon around the fireplace."

Tough Week

This blog wouldn't be 'my side of the story' if I didn't write about the hard, negative experiences, as well as the enjoyable adventures. I will be honest that this past week was tough. As it's always rough trying to adapt to a new culture, but it's even harder in any culture when problems arise and there is no easy answer to solve the problem.

Saturday, I woke up itching. My neck and head looked like I was covered with poison ivy. Only problem is poison ivy does not exist here, so it meant it was some other type of allergy. I was a little concerned because I had no clue what caused it, so I went to see a doctor.

The doctor checked my itch and thought it was fine and it would go away soon. But Sunday my 'poison ivy' / mystery allergy spread and now covered me from head to toe. I went back to the doctor and she determined that I was allergic to nickle and metals. I somehow overnight became allergic to my glasses, watch, necklace, earrings, wedding ring, and metal bed. After contact with these items my system went crazy and I became allergic to everything else too.

From Sunday through Wednesday the doctor ordered me not to touch any metals, chemicals or use any soaps. This was pretty hard to do. My bed is a big metal frame with a big metal head board, which I found out that I was very allergic too and had to switch to sleeping on the couch. I couldn't wear my glasses, watch, or jewelry. No washing dishes or even cooking as the pots and pans are all metal. All of the door handles and locks are metal, the window locks are metal. I can keep going, but you get the point, that almost everything in my apartment is metal.

Ben has been such a good husband by taking care of me, cooking for me, doing dishes, and especially by hiding all of the bars of soap that I'm so tempted to use! But he came down with the flu this past weekend as well.

Today things were looking a little bit better, as I woke up and most of the allergy has gone away. I have an itch here and there still, but I look normal again, instead of like a teenager with a bad case of acne.

Just as things were looking better, our water boiler broke, which means no heat and no hot water. A pump in the boiler box broke and the estimate to replace this part is expensive (about two months rent). If we don't fix this then once it gets cold the pipes will freeze and it will be a bigger mess. If we move out and the pipes freeze we still would be responsible for the damage (this happened to a friend here). The tenant is responsible for everything. The landlord provides an empty apartment and the tenant is responsible for furnishing everything including installing a toilet, kitchen counters, sinks, tubs, heaters, floors, doors, etc. What makes it even worse is that we just moved into the apartment a month ago as a temporary arrangement and plan on moving out next month to a permanent apartment.

It's tough when situations come up and you have no control over it. I have no choice but to patiently wait out my allergy. And now I will have to pay for the water boiler in hopes that whoever the next tenant is will appreciate the hot water.

So that's me complaining. But I'm sure sunny days are ahead, because besides these unfortunate events we still are enjoying living here.

Revolving Restaurant

Saturday Ben and I were treated a really nice western style restaurant located on the 25th floor of a hotel. It was a revolving restaurant that did one slow rotation about every 2 hours. It provided a great view of the whole city in the evening. A city looks completely different being on the street walking around than it does at the top looking down. The food was fantastic, as we had our choice of various meat and pasta dishes. I had a delicious pork chop with rice and Ben had an American style steak with fries. It's a treat to find a good old American steak and fries here.

Dinner with the Teacher

On Friday one of my teachers invited the whole class over to her place for dinner. Out of a class of nine, only Ben and I were able to make it to dinner- which was fine with us as it become a nice couples' evening. She was a newlywed and only had been married for four months. The four of us enjoyed a great feast at their newly renovated apartment on the 20th floor (the building was 33 floors tall!!!) The husband cooked up a great meal of fish, shrimp, duck, tofu, veggies, and rice. It was a great evening chatting about culture, marriage, and future dreams.

Culture Shock!

I could eat noodles, dumplings, and rice 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! They just hit the sweet spot in me! They're so good! Especially the ones here that are so fresh and homemade. Plus each restaurant cooks them differently and have their own specialty sauces. And bonus vinegar and garlic is usually on the tables to add a little extra flavor. It's fantastic! The best part is I actually could find an open restaurant serving fresh noodles, dumplings and rice any time of the day!

Today after class a friend took us to a dumpling restaurant for lunch. We ordered two big plates of fried dumplings, one meat and one vegetable. They were wonderful! As I was leaving the restaurant, I peeked into the kitchen where I saw a big group of ladies chatting as they were preparing trays and trays of dumplings (see picture above). What a wonderful sight, so many dumplings soon to be enjoyed!

There is a large American community here, that we have slowly been making friends with, as the community is pretty tight. It has been such a help and very fun to be able to hang out with them, as they all are always ready to lend us a hand or share their lessons learned with us. But 'my side of the story' is that it's been hard to relate on the level of food.

I can't understand why the Americans here are not as excited about noodles, dumplings, and rice, as I am! What's the deal with craving bread, cheese, soups, milk, and stews, when we are in the land of amazing noodles and rice dishes???

To add to my shock, I just learned that even my dear ole husband agrees with our new friends about their food choice! It's such a delight to my husband's stomach when we get invited over to our new friend's apartments and they graciously share their short supply of homemade breads and other American treats with us.

This is one form of 'culture shock' that I have been experiencing. I owe it to my dad for giving me my Asian stomach. =) Thanks Dad, come join me for a big plate of dumplings!

A Change in Schedule

We have class this Saturday and Sunday, in order to get a week off for holiday. October 1st is "National Day". Typically this is a week long vacation, where most people travel back to their home in order to spend this week with their families. Since October 1st falls on a Wednesday, the whole country gets off from school and work Wednesday, October 1st through Sunday, October 5th. In order accommodate people and give them the flexibility to travel home, it is acceptable to work on Saturday and Sunday in order to get Monday and Tuesday off. Thus we have class on Saturday and Sunday, but have a week of vacation!

Sick Day

Today I woke up with an awful head cold. I spent the day in bed sleeping and in the kitchen making chicken broth. It's been raining just about every day here. Hot in the afternoons. Cold in the morning and evenings. I missed out on a good lunch and a day of fun with friends (see Ben's blog for more details about "fun").

Only big and exciting news for today is I was able to spend the day with my new blanket. The popular place to get household items is Ikea in Beijing (cheap and good quality). Ben's friend made a run out there last week and brought us back a warm blanket. It came at the perfect time as it is getting pretty cold at night here.

Nothing exciting today...see Ben's blog for interesting stories.

Updates

1. In my previous posting, it said I had Seaweed soup, but I learned it was actually Fungus soup. There is some sort of mushroom fungus that looks like seaweed. Either way it still tasted good.

2. To add to my previous Toilet Seat posting, the local market was having a clearance sale on toilet seat covers (not toilet lid covers, but actual seat covers). They seemed popular, so I thought it would be a good cultural experience to try one out too. I now have a fluorescent blue seat cover that not only keeps my seat warm in the mornings, but the bright color wakes me up just looking at it.

3. There is another option for my Long Road Home hill! I just learned that the guys with the motorcycle sitting at the bottom of the hill will drive you all the way up to your door.

4. See the pictures from my previous posting about my backyard. Turns out there are goats that live back there, they graze along the grassy hill outside my window.

5. The trash truck here plays music to let people know it is coming down the street. Funny thing is it's the same music the ice cream truck plays back home!

Shopping

Ben and I went to the market this weekend to get a few items. We found this section of the market that had dried fruits, nuts, and candy. The picture to the right shows me buying a little bag of dried bananas.

This market is great because they sell all sorts of household items. But the catch is in order to get a good price, each item must be bargained for. This day Ben and I did a good job at tag teaming the clerks, as we walked away victorious at bargaining!

Tongue Twister

The hardest part in learning Chinese is the tones in which to say each word. There are 4 possible tones to say each word in. If you mess up the tones then nobody will understand you.

For example: Mei can either mean 'to buy' or 'to sell'. If you say 'Mei' with the tone of your voice going down an octave then back up an octave (in two syllables), that means to buy. If you say "Mei" by quickly going down one octave (in one syllable), that means to sell. (There are other meanings to the word Mei, but I haven't learned them yet.)

Today my teacher gave us some extra challenging homework. We have a Chinese tongue twister to learn by Monday. The easy part is pronouncing Si and Shi. "Si" is pronounced "suh". "Shi" is pronounced "shure". The hard part is trying to say in the correct down or up tone.

Practice the following and see if your local Chinese-take-out restaurant can understand you:

Mid Autumn Festival

Sunday (9/14) and Monday (9/15) was a national holiday here, in order to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. All schools and shops had the day off. Maybe in the states we know this day more as the Fall Equinox.

From what I've seen the holiday is celebrated by eating Moon cakes. I bought one as I wanted to taste this holiday first hand, and it was delicious, but I am still not sure what was in the middle of my moon cake.

Also last night the whole city was lit up with various colored lights and lanterns, including sky lanterns being launched up. We couldn't get a close enough look to see exactly what type of material the sky lanterns were being made out of, but we did see it was some sort of brown bag with an open candle stick attached below. Ben called it a home-made hot air balloon. It was quite exciting to watch...I just wondered if the candle would burn out before landing?

Living Room Window

The following two pictures are what I see when I look out my back window. Our apartment building is located on the edge of town and makes us feel as if we have escaped the downtown city.

Tofu

I learned of a new market down the street from my house. I wish I had my camera with me, as this market was pretty neat. It was one HUGE room with big built in tables in the middle and shops on the outsides. It was almost similar to an indoor farmers market...sorta reminded me of the one that I went to in Lynchburg, VA.

Today I was in search of tofu, as I heard that was the place to go. I found about 4 different sellers with tofu out on their tables. But I passed them all up to buy from the guy that just pulled out a fresh batch of tofu and was cutting it up and putting out to sell. Oh it was beautiful, the smell and sight of fresh tofu being cut! I decided to splurge a little and get a huge bag of fresh tofu for $1, plus a little bag of fresh soy milk!

Ben and I fried up the tofu Korean style and boiled the soy milk to have a nice hot soy snack. It was amazing! It was some of the best tofu and soy milk that I ever had.

Day Off

My class was so hard yesterday. We got a new teacher who only speaks Chinese to us. It's tough. This teacher lectures about Chinese grammar in Chinese, then asks us questions about it! One guy got a question wrong and he had to sing a song to the class as punishment....he sang Happy Birthday To You, lol. She keeps us on our toes! I have a list of 39 vocab words that I have to learn by Thursday. We are required to learn the Chinese character, English meaning, and be able to pronounce the word correctly. We were told there would be punishment if we didn't do our homework....maybe I should practice singing a song just in case. One really nice thing about this course is that there are no tests, quizzes or grades at the end. It really takes off the pressure of performing and allows me to be self motivated and learn my hardest. I'm the only student in my class that has never studied Chinese before. But surprisingly I'm able to hold my own in the class...hopefully that will last.

Today I didn't have any classes, which was really nice as it gave me time to clean house and cook dinner. Buying vegetables is fun here. Outside our front gate there is a little shop that only sells whatever vegetable is in season. I pick them out of the bags and the clerk weighs them and tells me how much it is. You know it's fresh because the dirt is still on the potatoes. Today I got 3 potatoes, zucchini, and peppers all for about 50 cents. They were so tasty.

All this good food makes studying so much better!