Saturday, November 29, 2008

Teas

Two Celestial Seasonings teas I love: Sleepytime Tea and Tension Tamer Tea. 

Both with honey, and a little lemon in the Tension Tamer. Even the smells of these teas bring back a lot of nostalgia for me, because my mom would often make them for us growing up. She shipped some to me in China, it was a mom thing. Even though tea is everywhere here, I still love drinking these teas before bed. Good stuff. 


Thanksgiving

Well, I hope all you Americans had a nice Thanksgiving. I had dinner (not Thanksgiving dinner, just dinner) with some of the other volunteers in the area. It was fun, but no Thanksgiving like at home. I had to work that day too, which seemed all wrong. But I got a few messages from students wishing me Merry Thankgiving, it was very cute. My students are the reason I am still here. And my family called me at 1:30 AM and again at 7 AM, which was fun. I'll be posting a short lesson about time changes shortly.  Just kidding, I love you guys, I am glad you called. Even if I was half-asleep both times. 

Here a few pics I thought you might like. The first one is how a cloth napkin (rare here) is used. Instead of laying it flat in your lap, you make it into a little catcher cloth. Kind of nifty, I think, and more practical. Just don't slide your plate into your lap! 


The second is a quick snap of the lunch puppy. He was hanging out by the grill this day. Actually there are three puppie that live here, but I don't know where the other two went. This is the outside patio, the inside is painted like a nursery on LSD, I must take pictures of it soon. The couple who owns it are soooo nice and their food is really good. It's my favorite place for a quick lunch when I am at school. Do you like the little stools? That is the standard seating for these street restaurants. 

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Electric Blanket Under the Sheets

My apartment in China does not have central heat, so it gets quite chilly in here. I bought an electric blanket (which I pray doesn't catch on fire--products here are not known for their reliability and safety) but follow the Chinese tradition of placing the blanket underneath the bottom sheet and cotton mattress pad, not over the top comforter.  I turn it on about an hour before I am going to go to bed, and it is delicious crawling into the bottom-up warmed sheets.  I'll probably die in a fire for keeping an electric blanket under a cotton pad and sheet, but it sure is nice while it lasts. 

I also love the heat lamps someone installed in the bathroom ceiling, the only heat source in there. Brightest light ever, but very nice when you step out of the shower. 

Monday, November 24, 2008

Funny Stuff

I've heard humor is a good antidote to discouragement, so here are two funny things that happened today: 

1. Every Monday I have lunch with another foreign teacher at my school. Today the place we went had a cat roaming around. (Usually we go to the puppy place.)  There was a cardboard box sitting in the corner. He said, "Look in that box." I said, "Why, is there a cat in there?"  Sure enough, another kitty was curled up asleep in the box. I love that now my first guess is an animal of some sort sleeping in a box where I eat lunch. 

2. My friend Rebecca sent me some measuring cups and spoons, since I can't find them here. I opened the box in front of my Chinese tutor and she was amazed by them, kept picking them up and flipping through them. Finally she asked me, "Why do Americans need so many spoons?" Good question. We just do. (Chinese cooking doesn't involve any measuring, you just throw in 'enough.') 

Saturday, November 22, 2008

A Day In The Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer

What I did today (Saturday):

Woke up around 9 AM.
Read emails, caught up on news, used my sun lamp
Ate breakfast
Took a shower
Misc. grooming, i.e. plucked my eyebrows
Put in a load of laundry
Worked on lesson plans for next week
Ate lunch
More internet reading
Cleaned the kitchen
Went to the bakery for sliced bread
Watched a movie while I hung up the laundry in my room to dry
Wrote Christmas cards
Fretted about my airline reservations home (all messed up)
Ate dinner
Studied Chinese
Answered some emails
Wrote a final exam

Now it is 9 PM, I am going to bed because I have nothing else to do.

There, now you know the details of my very exciting life in China.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Anger

I have been really angry and upset this week, due to some things happening in the educational system here. Angry and upset enough to make me want to throw in the towel and come home, to feel that being here is a waste of time. I have talked to a few other volunteers, they feel the same way. It's nice to know I am not alone in how I feel. None of us really have a solution. I don't want to say more right now, but just so you know, that is why the lack of posts.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I am experiencing a big old wave of culture shock (again) and pretty much hate everything right now. Sorry for the lack of posts.

Confidence

My smart little brother asked me one time, when I was having a really bad day, what I was learning about myself by being here. It took me a few days to come up with an answer. I don't think everything I am learning is apparent to me right now, hard to see the forest for the trees, but one thing is certain: I can't imagine what will still be intimidating to me upon returning to the U.S. If I can survive this culture, this language, this country, this political system, this food, etc, what can really be scary to me?

So for those that know me, you know that I am often high-strung and worrisome and prone to anxiety. I just plain worry a lot, due to a lack of confidence. But maybe that will change.

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Most Polite Brush-Off Ever

I sent an email to a colleague at school and the attachment was too large. This is the error message I received from the school's email system:

I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following address.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

This is more than some men will tell you. Go computer!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Rootbeer Floats

Rootbeer Floats are my secret favorite dessert in the same way that Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is my secret favorite movie. I ran across some Chinese canned rootbeer, a semi-miracle, so I sought out some vanilla ice cream to make my first Chinese rootbeer float. It was terrible. The ice cream was more like frozen Cool Whip (which I enjoy, but not with rootbeer), and the rootbeer had a strange aftertaste. But it was a rootbeer float. And when I ate it, I remembered all the great ones I've had. So it was still worth it.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Puppy

The other day I was having lunch at the little hole in the wall place off campus, the one where the cook has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth at all times. Well, they have gotten a puppy, a cute little bugger. He kept wandering out where the tables were, begging for food from the patrons, and the owner kept shooing him back where he belonged: in the kitchen. Now, my Western mind thinks a public restaurant kitchen is no place for a dog, but the living-in-China part of me knows the food is cooked at such high temperature, there's little chance of me getting sick.

I wonder if I will miss dogs in the kitchen when I return to America. Really, he is a cute puppy.

By the way, many of these places are family owned and children stay with their parents all day before they start school, so the children spend their early years surrounded by the dirt and grease and grime and germs. I have a theory that if we ever do have a plague, cockroaches and Chinese kids are going to survive. They have got to be immune to every germ imaginable.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Strike!

Last week there was a taxi strike in my city, 10,000 taxis taken off the streets. If you are like me, you are wondering, "How can there be a taxi strike in a Communist country?" I don't know. I couldn't find anyone who could tell me, either. No one knows. It just happened. As my Chinese colleagues put it, "Who organized this?" And, "Is this a new day for China?" I didn't answer, as I have no idea. And it isn't my place to say.

It wasn't in the newspapers, though. I only knew because I couldn't catch any taxis, and then I heard rumors of taxi drivers telling patrons a few days before to prepare for a taxi strike coming soon. But it wasn't reported on. I doubt anyone outside the city knew about it.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Understanding

Two things I understand more about China, and feel guilty about judging harshly:

1. The clothing. It is, to a Westerner's eyes, bright and fancy and sometimes even a little gaudy. I didn't understand why all the girls want to wear such bright colors, so many embellishments and fancy accouterments on their clothes. But I have been learning that in decades past, all clothing was dull, dark grays and blues, very little color. Now people can have color and beauty in their life, and they want as much of it as possible. So when I see people on the street wearing such fancy and bright clothes, instead of being judgmental about the high level of ornamentation, I understand where it is coming from. It's actually a sign of their hope and prosperity.

2. Tomatoes. In China, tomatoes are a fruit like berries. Small grape tomatoes are even used as a topping on ice cream! Of course, I always looked on this as gross and weird. How could you eat tomatoes as a fruit topping on sweets? They aren't sweet! But then I found out that in past years, tomatoes were the only "fruit" to eat because oranges, bananas and other fruits were far too expensive for people to buy. So they ate tomatoes instead, it was the only thing they could afford. Even though fruits are now more readily available, tomatoes are still eaten as fruits. At least now I understand why.

There are many instances like this, where my first thought it to judge (sometimes harshly) actions and traditions against my own opinions and experiences. But when you look deeper, you start to understand why people do what they do. And it enriches my experience here.

Understanding

Two things I understand more about China, and feel guilty about judging harshly:

1. The clothing. It is, to a Westerner's eyes, bright and fancy and sometimes even a little gaudy. I didn't understand why all the girls want to wear such bright colors, so many embellishments and fancy accouterments on their clothes. But I have been learning that in decades past, all clothing was dull, dark grays and blues, very little color. Now people can have color and beauty in their life, and they want as much of it as possible. So when I see people on the street wearing such fancy and bright clothes, instead of being judgmental about the high level of ornamentation, I understand where it is coming from. It's actually a sign of their hope and prosperity.

2. Tomatoes. In China, tomatoes are a fruit like berries. Small grape tomatoes are even used as a topping on ice cream! Of course, I always looked on this as gross and weird. How could you eat tomatoes as a fruit topping on sweets? They aren't sweet! But then I found out that in past years, tomatoes were the only "fruit" to eat because oranges, bananas and other fruits were far too expensive for people to buy. So they ate tomatoes instead, it was the only thing they could afford. Even though fruits are now more readily available, tomatoes are still eaten as fruits. At least now I understand why.

There are many instances like this, where my first thought it to judge (sometimes harshly) actions and traditions against my own opinions and experiences. But when you look deeper, you start to understand why people do what they do. And it enriches my experience here.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cooking and Timing

Cooking: in my apartment I have a toaster oven, a hot plate, and a microwave. So I am learning to cook Chinese food using these three things. It is slow going. Full size ovens are rare and most of the food here is fried or steamed, not baked. Oh yeah, I also have a rice cooker, indispensable to Chinese cooks for both rice cooking and food steaming, but I don't use mine. I don't think rice is very healthy, and I just steam my veggies in the microwave.

Timing: Enjoy your extra hour of sleep! No daylight savings here, and furthermore, the entire country is one time zone: Beijing Time. So my clock in Western China follows the same clock as Eastern Beijing. On the plus side, daylight does end later here. (I probably live in the equivalent of Western Time.) Chinese people are always surprised to learn the U.S. and Canada are split up into different time zones.

Haunted Walks

I hate being scared, but I love historical ghost walks or "haunted walks". Several U.S. cities have them (Boston, New Orleans) and I went on a great haunted walk in Ottawa when I was there last year.

On a haunted walk, a guide takes a group on a walking tour of buildings and places that have haunted ghost stories. It's a great way to see the city you are visiting, as well as hear history about the buildings and people.

Next time you are traveling to a major city, check and see if they offer a haunted walk. Really fun!

Also, the Bowery Boys ( my favorite podcasters) have several podcasts about haunted and creepy places in NYC. Check them out on iTunes the next time you are there.