New Year's Eve Panties

According to Mexican tradition, brought to San Antonio by its large Mexican expat population, the color of panties you are wearing when the clock strikes midnight determines what you will find in the new year. So, you should wear red panties for passion, yellow panties for prosperity, and rose colored panties for true love.

I love this tradition, because how easy is it to find rose colored panties vs. red ones?  RIGHT. The Mexicans are onto something.

I always wondered about yellow vs. green for prosperity, but green panties are hard to find too. I guess this one is just about practicality. I have also heard you should wear yellow to find true friendship. 

Confused Christmas

My students had to do a presentation on a holiday for their final project. One girl was giving her presentation and started talking about how Santa Claus was famous on Christmas because he died for peoples' sins so they could live again and could bring people back to life by magic. Uh...I think someone got her Christmas stories confused!  I didn't laugh, but I wanted to! 

I have the flu and/on food poisoning again, so I am spending New Year's Even trying not to ralph. Happy New Year everyone! 

Taking My Temperature

I'm not a hypochondriac, I'm just pretty sure every time I get sick I might die. A headache?  A likely brain tumor. Stomach cramps?  Uh oh, stomach cancer in the making! My mom says I get this from my Aunt Olga, who also leaps to the worst possible conclusions. 

So I love taking my temperature, because it proves I really am sick, dammit! I even brought my favorite thermometer to China. And thank goodness I did, because I have come down with the flu/food poisoning (again!) and have taken my temperature approximately every hour in the last 24 hours. The highest it got was 102.7. I was simultaneously shaking under the covers and sweating like a lying pig, but thank goodness I had something to confirm my sickness. (You can't buy a thermometer here, btw, they don't use them.) 

If I ever have kids, guaranteed they will tell their therapist about their crazy mom taking their temperature all the time. 

Also, I love Andrew because he got me Sprite without being asked. What a nice guy! 

Mad Men

I got hooked on MadMen (short for Madison Avenue Men) after downloading seasons 1 and 2 online and watching them during an especially stressful couple of weeks; they became my visual Xanax. And how! 

Two things I love about it: 

1. The little stabs of shock at overt displays of sexism in the workplace. As bad as I sometimes thought my job was, I wasn't dealing with anything on this scale. Makes me grateful for those that came before me and took the brunt of this crap. 

2. The slices of life in 1960's surburban America: desperate housewives, indeed!  But I also love the scene where a mother catches her daughter encased head to toe in a plastic dry cleaning bag, the kind now covered in warnings about suffocation. She says to her daughter, "Young lady...." and your 2008 ears think she is going to chastise her for toying with her life, but she follows it up with "...if my dry cleaning is on the ground, you are in big trouble!" And goes back to her cigarrette. Awesome. 

I lied, 3 reasons: JON HAMM. 

Singing

I'm an alto, a part I always thought was just a poor man's soprano until my high school choir director gave the altos a talk about how we provide the yang to the soprano's ying, the dischord that makes the harmony that much sweeter. It takes a strong ear not to let a strong soprano knock you off key, or overpower you. Ever since then, I relish singing the cream-in-the-oreo part of alto. 

But I like being the support system, not the star. 

I WILL NOT sing alone in front of an audience. No way, no how. My mother is the solo performer in our family, not me. But I love singing with a group of other voices, or alone at home or in my car. One of my favorite songs to sing is O Divine Redeemer; it just plain has an awesome alto part. And for anyone who has ever felt troubled and alone, this song is a plea for mercy and comfort. It's quite beautiful. A lady I knew years ago asked me to sing the alto part as part of a four-voice performance. It remains one of my favorite singing experiences to this day. 

There are lots of versions floating around out there, but I like this one because it is not all about the soprano part. 

Sliced Bread

Here's how I know the Chinese don't eat sandwiches: bakeries sell Western-style sliced bread in packages of five slices. 

Christmas Eve pic

Here I am in JeiFangBei square with two other PC volunteers and a random little Chinese lady who wanted her picture taken with the "laowai" (foreigners). What did I tell ya about how tiny the older people here are? 

(Note to self: wearing your hair like that makes your face look REALLY round. Yikes. I promise, I haven't gained 20 lbs since you last saw me.)

W Magazine

W is a high fashion and society magazine, with interesting photography and a cataloguing of all the beautiful jewelry, clothes, accessories and beauty treatments I'll never be able to afford. It's my little piece of cotton candy Neverland, the equivilant of playing Halo all day long. 

I've had a subscription for over a decade. W forever! But I canceled it when I came to China. Big mistake! I really miss it. I just bought the monthly issues I've missed on Amazon, to be shipped to my mom's house for me to read while I am home on vacation. And I renewed my subscription. They'll pile up at my mom's house while I am gone, but I am going to read each and every one at some point when I return. 

There are very few non-essential material things I really miss about my old life in America. W is a big one. What this says about me, I am not sure. (Another? My boots!)

Weirdest Christmas Ever

Here in Chongqing, the Chinese treat Christmas Eve like New Years Eve in Times Square: tens of thousands of people fill the city center well into the night. But instead of watching a ball drop, they beat each other with blow up plastic bats and shoot silly string at each other. It is very bizarre. I was out tonight having dinner with some of the other volunteers, and I raced home to avoid the large crowds. And to avoid being hit or sprayed. 

I first knew something was up when I arrived at the place where we were going to have dinner and there were a couple of hundred policeman and soldiers standing in formation at various points. And when I came back to the plaza near where I live, they had riot police, in full-on riot gear, keeping the peace!  I guess they want to ensure nothing gets out of hand by offering an intimidating presence. 

I was glad to know if anyone bothered me, I could just go over to the police. They make sure foreigners aren't treated badly, as it reflects badly on China. 

By the way, Christmas here is celebrated as a purely secular holiday, and just mainly for the public decorations. No one exchanges gifts, but the city centers are all decorated with trees and lights and such. The decorations in my part of the city are sponsored by 7-Up, if that gives you any indication of how seriously it is taken here. 

Christmas Negotiations, Goose, and Singing

I'm away from family this year for Christmas, so I've been thinking about the stuff I miss. At the top of my list? My sister's Christmas "negotiations", which go something like this: open presents. Look at what everyone body else got. Decide if you want something of theirs. Start offering tradesies and haggling for whatever it is you liked better. Usually I end up trading something because my mom likes to give me and my sister identical gifts but in different colors, i.e. sweaters, socks, blankets, etc. (My brother gets off the hook, the perk of being the only boy.) My family sent me a box of presents for Christmas. I assume not everything in the box was originally intended for me. Uncontested negotiations! 

We also enjoy playing the present fakout game, which is where you give a truly awful gift but pretend like it's sincere, forcing the recipient to offer false oohs, aahs, and other fake gushing until finally you let them off the hook by bursting into laughter. It would be quite the faux pas to dismiss something as fake when it turns out to be the real thing!  So this basically plays upon our religious guilt upbringing as a Christmas tradition. Fun for all! 

On another Christmas note, my students sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" to me today. One of them downloaded the instrumental music onto his cell phone, but they only know the opening line, so they just sang it over and over again until the music stopped. It made my day. 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

A Field Guide to Germs

Do you love reading about diseases and germs as much as I do? Then you must read the book A Field Guide to Germs, one of my favorite books. It gives a brief description of the history and symptoms of all kinds of critters we run across that can make us sick. Or dead. 

I have a morbid curiosity with what can go wrong. (I get this from my mother's side; Hispanics love a good tragedy.) I took a class called Parasites and Man when I was in college, and that was it: I was hooked. In our training here we had a class on STIs, complete with pictures of diseased wangs and hoo-hahs. It was pretty much my favorite training class we took. Better than talking about germs? Seeing pictures of germs! 

Maybe I have this morbid fascination because I think if you know what can hurt you, you can avoid it. Maybe not. But reading about the black plague and the mysterious British sweating sickness (still unindentified 600 years later) is a great way to fill a slow Sunday afternoon. 

A Field Guide to Germs, Amazon.com, $11.21

Blocked

This past week the new york times website became blocked here.  I was used to reading it everyday to get my news, so it was a big loss. I can always get around the block with a proxy server, but those get blocked too. I am constantly having to find new ways to get around the censorship here. And some days, nothing really seems to work. Of course the local government denies having anything to do with it. They said it must be a technical issue on the nytimes side. 

Of all the things that are difficult here, this the hardest ideologically: having decisions made for me about what I can and cannot read and see.  

I have learned that forcing people to make the decisions you want them to make by not giving them any other options is one way to keep order and harmony. But not the way I would choose. 

I look forward to the day I get to choose again. 

Car Coat

FloJo gave me a target.com gift card for Christmas and I found this cute and warm car coat in my favorite color, red. I had it shipped to my mom's house, who then forwarded to me in my Christmas box. I pretty much live in it these days. It's part wool and matches everything, and who doesn't love a warm, cute winter hoodie? 

Target.com, 23.99

Steamy Pee

Yes, I mean exactly what it sounds like. 

In China the buildings are usually not heated, and our classroom building gets very, very cold. The other day I was in the bathroom, squat toilet, and my pee hitting the cold porcelein created steam. Which normally would not be a big deal, but it's a squat toilet. Worst facial ever! 

Yes, I disinfected myself as soon as possible! 

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm from Mad Men (a great show, watch it!). I want to pretend his middle name is "honeybaked" and eat him for dinner. And breakfast. Rawwr!

A rugged man in a suit in NYC? Soooo my thing. 

Halloween, plus Bar Dancing

The best spot for dancing in a bar? On the bar. Especially on Halloween night in China, when the bars are packed with thousands of people celebrating this Western holiday (read: all the cool kids). Here was my view for most of the night. 

This was one of two bars I danced on that night; the other had a metal beam running the length of the ceiling above it, suitable for grasping while dancing. Someone thought ahead!  Alas, I was too busy dancing to take any pictures. (But we did get videotaped by several patrons.)

Austin was the one who got us onto the bar, I gladly followed Coyote Ugly style. Here we are around 3:30 AM, self-portrait. Very fun night!

Sleeping Hat

I like wearing hats to bed. No, wait. I LOVE it. 

I picked up the habit in San Antonio, where I had no heat in my bedroom and six very large, drafty windows. (It's pretty warm in San Antonio, except those few winter weeks when it's not.) I've picked up the habit again here in China, where indoor heating is not so efficient, i.e. no wall insulation, big drafty windows, and a heater located about a foot from the ceiling. (Side note to China: heat rises.)

Also, I hate sleeping with my ears uncovered*. Usually I pull the blanket high up over my head so my ears are well covered, but with a hat, I can just pull it down over my ears and eyes. Right now I am using a furry, soft hat my mom sent me for Christmas. I couldn't tell if it was a really soft bag, or a hat. So I might be sleeping with a bag on my head. Who cares, I love it. 

And, I think I need to find an adult version of the hat in this picture. 

*I always thought this was just me, but my grandma said she hates it too! 

2009 Calendar

I've been Amazon shopping for my 2009 weekly planning calendar, a very important decision. I get the same one every year, but I am a calendar dork at heart and like perusing all of my options. Also, there are some really weird calendars out there and I like making fun of them. 

I found a wonderful weekly calendar put out by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts illustrated with artwork of women reading. I collect artwork depicting women reading, but unfortunately this version is hard cover and I need something soft cover I can throw easily in my bag to and from school. So I won't be buying it, I'll stick to my soft cover National Gallery of Art version, but if you like artwork depicting women reading, it's worth checking out.  

The Reading Women, Amazon.com, $10.99

Cute Chinese Baby

This picture immediately reminded me of A Christmas Story: "I can't put my arms down!" 

He was so cute. The picture does not do him justice. 

Manjar

My mom and dad used to make manjar (also known as dulce de leche) at Christmas for our neighbors, and save a bit for us to eat on a spoon or with ice cream on Christmas Eve. I remember also rolling little balls of it in rice crispies before eating. In any case, it is sweet and fattening, and therefore delicious. 

There are several different ways to make it, but it all starts with sweetened condensed milk boiled into a caramel. The easiest way to make it is put the can in a very deep pot or pressure cooker and keep it submerged in boiling water continously for 4 hours (3 hours if you want it more syrupy).  KEEP IT SUBMERGED OR IT MIGHT EXPLODE. (And take the label off first.) Let it cool in the fridge for several hours before opening. (We left it in overnight.) 

We used a pressure cooker and made several cans at once, then kept one for ourselves. It makes a great large-quantity gift. You can even add your own can label after it has cooled. I have also made it for coworkers. 

1100 calories a can, y'all. Eat up! 

Dome Umbrella

I am taller than most of the Chinese people around me, so when it rained I was constantly trying to avoid having my eyes gouged out by passing umbrella spokes. My dear friend FloJo sent me this umbrella and now not only am I safe from eye gouging, but I get constant compliments and admiring looks when I use it. Everyone wishes it were their umbrella too once they see it in action. It's easy to see through and keeps your back and shoulders very dry too. 

The only caution is that it has to be left open while it dries, or the plastic sections might stick together. And it doesn't fold small, so it has to be carried indoors too. BUT these things are minor compared to how great this umbrella is. It also comes with cute borders, but I hate cutsey stuff, so I prefer the plain one. GET ONE. 

Target.com, about $16.00