Slumber Party Weekend, Plus the Awesomeness of Pulled Noodles

This weekend our Peace Corps regional director came to Chongqing in anticipation of the big meetings going on this week in Beijing, so several volunteers from nearby areas came into town to have dinner with him. A few of them crashed at my place. I'm not a woo girl, but, WOO, so much fun! It was just one big slumber party, and I love playing hostess, so I had a great time having them here.

Saturday lunch we went for noodles. I don't think I've posted pictures before of how delicious pulled noodles here are, so here goes. First, the cook prepares the noodles by pulling the freshly made dough like taffy, pounding it down, then pulling again and again until it strings up into noodles. It's magical. Here are a few pictures (notice the tables and chairs--these places are very casual):

And a close up of the dough-- he's smiling because he's shy:

The noodles are put into big pots of boiling water standing by:

And then the freshly boiled noodles are added to a bowl of beef broth, spicy oil, beef chunks, onion and cilantro:

Not very healthy, but delicious!

Home From Vacation, Chengdu Hostel Recommendation

I am back in Chongqing after a full week away at my conference/music festival trip. It was great! I'm glad to be home, though. I got a sinus infection boo hiss, so I am laying low today while I wait for the antibiotics to really kick in. But, just wanted to mention a few things now:

1. Best taxi moment of the trip (and possibly of the last two years): our young taxi driver taking a few of us from the train station to our hotel asked me in Chinese if I like Lady Gaga. I said yes, knowing how popular she is here. The driver popped in her CD and started singing loudly to 'Bad Romance'; he had no idea what he was saying, but he was going for it, and it was covered in awesome sauce.  And of course I sang along, and when we got there he knocked five yuan off the meter! So my new nickname is 'The Taxi Whisperer.' I think I'm going to write a book just about about my taxi experiences in China.

2. The music festival was so much like a music festival in the U.S., we sometimes forgot where we were. As R. said, "I keep getting shocked by hearing people walking past us speaking Chinese!" It was a pretty cool park venue, and event. My new favorite band is Pet Conspiracy; they drink crazy juice for breakfast,  but they were a lot of fun. E. and V. and I worked it in the stage front mosh pit at another show, luckily no lost shoes or injuries. (We were laughing pretty hard imagining having to call our Peace Corps Chinese doctor and explain we got injured in a mosh pit; I could just hear her: "A what pit?" They love those kinds of phone calls, I know.) When am I ever going to be near a Chinese mosh pit again? So I had to do it.

E. took lots of pictures, I'll post a few when she sends them to me.

3. After the hotel (which Peace Corps paid for during the conference), those of us staying for the festival switched to the Sim's Cosy Guest House backpacking hostel, and it was really, really great. In fact, I liked it even better than the hotel. Our room was like a little cabin, with wood floors and furniture, a koi fish stream just outside, plants and trees and a little wooden porch with chairs. The garden, restaurant and bar areas were charming but spacious, lots of hot water, and there is free wifi everywhere on the grounds. And a free DVD screening room with couches. I'm pretty sure we'll go back another weekend, just to hang out. Chengdu is home to the Panda Sanctuary as well as being a major stopping city to get permits into Tibet, so it is a very popular stopover for travelers. There were backpackers from all over the world at the hostel.  We had such a great time, we even skipped the last day of the festival and hung out all day at the hostel, playing cards, watching movies, and chatting in the gardens. And all for about $6 a day. If you are going to Chengdu, stay here if you can.

I'm back on my own computer so I have access to my VPN again, so I'll be catching up on all of your exciting lives!

Eight Things That Have Happened Since Leaving America

1. Just like I’ve heard happens with the pain of childbirth, I’d blocked out just how bad the air is here. When I landed in Chongqing, I couldn’t see the ground until we were right on it. It looked like Oklahoma during the Dustbowl. The locals call it ‘fog.’ I can’t figure out if that’s a mistranslation or wishful thinking.

2. But anyway, I’m home! It just feels good to be back in my own apartment, walking these familiar streets, back into my routine of veggie market, fruit market, bus rides to visit friends, crowded sidewalks to navigate, and of course, the really delicious, spicy street food. Yum. I start classes next week.

3. From Beijing to LAX I had the best spot on the airplane that is not first class: last row in the front section of the plane before the exit, aisle seat, right next to the bathroom. Lots of space, no one kicking my seat, and easy access to the bathroom, perfect! (I always request an aisle seat.) On the way from LAX to Beijing, I got stuck clear in the back, next to the window. Ugh. It was the worst. So glad to be off of that plane. What about you, are you a window or aisle person?

4. At LAX, I got racially profiled, in a good way; a TSA agent had a Spanish man talking to her in rapid Spanish (is there any other kind, really?) and she looked over at me and said, “Hey, can you translate for me?” I thought, YES, I still look Spanish! And no, sorry, I can’t. (I probably could have, but I knew she could find someone who definitely could have.) In China, I’m just an American; I miss the rest of my identity.

5. In the gate area for my plane from Beijing to CQ, I was the only foreigner, and this kid started at me for a full three minutes. (And by kid, I mean 18 years old or so.) Ah, I’m back to being a foreigner in Western China. On that plane I was also in the back, but on an empty row next to the bathroom. This girl came back to use the bathroom but it must have been her first time on a plane because she couldn’t figure out how to open the door. I asked her in Chinese, “Did you want the bathroom?” and pushed open the door for her. She was so shocked. I’ll never get over being shocked at how shocked the Chinese are that I can speak (some) of their language. It’s not Vulcan, after all.

6. Last night I managed to stay awake for three hours in a row (jetlag, you win) and went to a restaurant/bar with friends to celebrate our friend Elena’s birthday. The bar had tater tots! So random. We were sooo happy to have tots, though, it was like we won the tot lottery.  This is what I love about China: small things make us so happy. Btw, Elena is from Palermo, Sicily, and was here for 6 months studying Chinese law. She invited me to come visit her in Palermo. Um, YES.

7. I was watching the video for “Empire State of Mind” today and tried to imagine a song called “Shanghai State of Mind.” Nope, can’t picture it. NYC is not as developed as Shanghai, but it’s got a special something these other big cities don’t. (And no, it’s not as developed, but more about that later.) I downloaded the video to show my students, they are going to love it.

8. Every day I was in America, I ate corn tortillas with melted cheese and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce for breakfast. I miss them.

The Best (Weirdest?) Christmas Pageant Ever

Hope you all had a nice Christmas; I ate lots of foods I am not used to anymore (read: dairy and processed meats and sugary treats sent by our various fams) and got a tummy ache, which made it seem like kid Christmas all over again, so that was kind of awesome. I got together with friends and bought myself some lavender/silvery eye shadow, so it was a great Christmas! And yes, I now get excited about eye shadow, it's a luxury purchase for me here. China: helping you find joy in the little things all over again.

Andrew and I hosted the Christmas pageant on Wednesday night. Here is my report:

-I didn't get to wear the dress! And the reason is very Chinese: they told me the shop had made a mistake and didn't reserve the dress after all, and someone else had rented it out. But I was not asked to go pick out another one instead. So I think they went over budget and no longer had the money to pay for it, but they couldn't admit that to me, it would be 'losing face', so they made it the shopkeeper's fault. I'm 100% certain if I went to the shop that day, my dress would have been hanging on the rack. I wouldn't have minded paying for it myself, but then it would have shown them up as liars and really caused 'face' problems, so I had to let it go. (This is a pretty standard Chinese way of taking care of problems.) Andrew suggested I could rent it and just wear it around the house for a day. Haha, he has no idea how close I am to doing this. But if they did run out of money, it was more important for the kids to have their nice clothes/costumes. So I didn't mind not having the dress.

-The pageant was sponsored by Pepsi and included an outdoor stage with a Pepsi background (shilled here by Chinese popstars), professional lighting etc. The opening number was a dance to a High School Musical* song. So, I'm in China, celebrating Christmas with a pageant sponsored by Pepsi, watching kids dance to High School Musical. Welcome to modern China.

-They assigned one of my male students to be my 'handler'; that is, to help me walk offstage, down the stairs, hold my coat while I was onstage then help me put it back on when I was done presenting, etc. I felt like a boxer coming out of the ring all night long. But it's a good thing he was there, those stage lights were blinding and I couldn't see anything for a few seconds after walking offstage. I'm pretty sure those stairs would have been the death of me. It also confirmed my suspicious that what I really want for Christmas is a cabana boy. (And a cabana.)

-Chinese students also think it's hilarious for men to dress in drag for skits. A few of their sketches had men in drag, and the final performance was an all male ballet, with the guys dressed in female ballerina outfits. I could have been watching any skit at an American high school assembly. It's always funny for me to find these cultural touchstones we share. Drag: popular even in China! Who'da thunk it?

*I've never seen High School Musical, they told me this is where it was from.

A few cultural notes on Chinese Christmas:

-It isn't celebrated here by the parents and grandparents, only by the current youth generation. And it's just a day to exchange small gifts with friends. The traditional gift is an apple in a cellophane bag tied with ribbon. So on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, there were tables of wrapped apples in the street markets. I compare Christmas in China to Cinco de Mayo in America: a holiday you don't really know (or care to know) the history or significance of, you just celebrate the fun parts. The dean of our department gave a speech at the pageant, in English, about how Christmas is now a worldwide holiday of peace and love. A very interesting speech.

-I tried to explain to my students that not every American celebrates Christmas, and they couldn't wrap their minds around this concept. Because Chinese is such a homogeneous culture, the idea that not everyone celebrates a major holiday is unfathomable.

-My students think Christmas is like New Year's; at midnight on Christmas Eve, I got a flurry of text messages wishing me Merry Christmas. And I found out the current mayor is trying to discourage the tradition they have here of beating people with inflatable bats in the public squares on Christmas Eve. I wrote about this phenomenn last year. He cleared out the square downtown, but on the side streets it was still going strong.

Bye Bye Bali, Plus Daily Life

My grandma is not doing well. So, I am no longer going to Bali and Beijing over my break; instead, I'll be flying back to the U.S. to spend time with her and other family. I was looking forward to these trips, but Bali and Beijing will be there for a long while. Grandma comes first. I am sure those of you reading can understand and would do the same thing.

Now, a few things to share about daily life in China:

1. Street cleaning trucks in my city play "Happy Birthday" in a high-pitched tone, over and over and over. There is also a techno version of Happy Birthday they play in clubs. How "Happy Birthday" became both of these things, I have no idea, but I never want to hear "Happy Birthday" again.

2. Overheard yesterday as I was walking home: a clothing store blasting "Jingle Bells" set to a disco-esque beat, including the phrases "Jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleee." Sleigh IS spelled like Leigh, I have to give them that. "One horse open sleee" set to disco is more funny than I could have imagined. I smiled all the way home.

3. I bought colored contact lenses this week. I didn't know contacts sold in Asia are made to make the iris look larger than it is. They look a little weird to me, but it's interesting to see the world in 3D all day long. I had forgotten what this is like! (I have glasses but don't like wearing them, so I've been living in a 2D world.) Here's what Asian colored contact lenses look like:

4. This was the cover of a weekly newspaper this week. American culture is so popular here, and yet America knows so little about Chinese popular culture. My students ask me all the time if I watch shows like Vampire Diaries, Cougartown, Californication etc. And I'm thinking, you guys know more about American tv than I do! (I haven't seen any of those shows.) I bought this to put on my wall. A little bit of handsome Americana is never a bad thing.

4. The subject of this article has been big news here. Before living here, I didn't recognize the various ways living in a diverse culture has affected how I disseminate and process information. I'll be writing more about this after the holiday.

I know the next few days will be busy for everyone, so let me take this chance to say Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating it! Hope you have a wonderful day with your families.

Chinese Pageant Dress, Plus KTV Lights Up My Life

That Christmas Pageant Andrew and I are hosting? Turns out it's a much bigger production than I anticipated. We'll be doing the introduction and closing, as well as making commentary between each act. Watch out, Dick Clark??

Pageant hosting in China is a really big deal, so yesterday my school took me to a dress rental shop to find a ballgown length pageant dress to wear. We found a beautiful cranberry gown that actually fit me (I am a giant here), I was shocked. And happy. I love wearing beautiful dresses! It's being held outdoors and I can't wear a coat while I'm onstage, brrr, but even so, I'm pretty excited to get to wear the dress. (And because my gown is floor-length, I'm totally going to be rocking some legwarmers. Shhh...) Definitely a new experience in my Rebecca Life Handbook.

Btw, a cultural note: variety shows are extremely popular here, and the girls who host the shows on tv are known for being charming and beautiful. If you are a variety show hostess on tv, you have probably the same cachet as a flight attendant in the 1960's in America. It's a very interesting subculture of Chinese culture, and I'm still trying to understand why they are so popular. At any given time on local tv, you can find a pageant or variety show.

So anyway, I'm sure you want to know more about my dress, right? It's a heavy, thick, satin-type material in deep cranberry with silver embroidery details. Here's the hemline (the red is the lining, it won't show when I'm wearing it):

Here's a shot of the bodice detail:

We'll take some proper pictures that night, I'm sure. I have to wear four inch heels to keep the hem from dragging too much, good thing I've been doing my foot yoga high heel practice. And as I told Andrew, I'll so be wearing hand warmers in my underwear, ha. (Note: I have since learned this is a bad idea, it burns. Nixing this.)

Two of my students will be on stage to translate for the audience, a girl and a guy, and they get to dress up too. Here is her dress. How cute is she?

We had a lot of fun picking out the dresses. If my life were a movie, it would have been a great montage scene.

Last night we had a birthday party for one of the T.'s, and I shot a short video while we were performing to Prince's "Cream" at karaoke, known locally as KTV. I watched it today, and my first thought was, "Why did we think it was a good idea to leave the strobe lights on in our room all night? Hello, epilepsy!" On the other hand, it kept us awake. I love that you can do all night karaoke here. Hope you've all had a good weekend!

The Spanish (Not So Much) Love Adventures of Lady Rebecca

A few things this week that made me laugh:

1. A random male student I know asked if he should call me 'Lady Rebecca' or 'Madam Rebecca'. I told him it was okay to call me just 'Rebecca.' But in retrospect, how fun would it be to be called 'Lady Rebecca'? I missed my big chance! (Titles are very important here. Everyone has a title, and you cannot mess them up; I'm not his teacher, so he wasn't sure what to call me.)

2. Remember last weekend I went out of town? On the long-distance bus home, T. and I were listening to Spanish music on his iPod through shared earbuds. (For those unfamiliar with Spanish music, it's very cheesy and dramatic.) He speaks Spanish fluently, but I'm only about 70% fluent in my listening skills, so at one point he began translating the song lyrics for me. Picture it: a long period of silent listening, then he suddenly starts saying things like "My heart can't live without you, our history together will go on forever, you are my only love, blah blah blah." I happened to look over at our American friend M. across the aisle, only to see him staring at us with a confused look, wondering why T. is declaring his undying love on a bus in the middle of the Chinese countryside. It made me laugh pretty hard inside, a 'perfect storm' of misunderstanding. Sometimes life is a Sandra Bullock movie waiting to happen.

3. I bought a local women's magazine to practice my Chinese reading. The woman on the cover had flawless skin, not a pore to be seen. I pointed out to my Chinese friend how much I wish my skin looked as good as the cover model, and she immediately replied, "No, no, it's not real! Don't compare yourself, her skin is fake. It's a trick." Her unspoken ending: "Duh." I was humbled by how soon I am to forget that magazines don't represent reality. I wonder if her un-cynical awareness is common? I will have to ask my students for their opinion.

4. My Chinese Peace Corps program manager came to visit me this week from another city, and as soon as she walked into my house, she said, "Oh, your house smells like an American house!" (She was an exchange student in America.)  So now I really want to know what makes an American house smell 'American.' Cheese? Maybe The Body Shop can add it to their list of scents!  (I love their oils, I brought a few with me to China.)

In the words of my Chinese students, "That's all."* Hope you all have had a great weekend!  I put my little mini Christmas tree up, and it makes home feel that much homey-er.

*They say this in class all the time. I think it's polite here to announce when you are done speaking formally.

Friends and the Missing Sandwiches

I'm been slacking lately on taking pictures, so I planned to take some photos of our excursion today. I went with friends to the special market to buy oh-so-rare-and-precious salami, cheese, fresh basil and western style salty bread to make panini sandwiches for dinner. This is how we are celebrating our holiday: eating stuff we'd never think twice about back in America, but is a real treat for us here. (One of them was cooking when we took this picture.) But after we made them, I forgot to make pictures before we scarfed them down. We were just that hungry and excited to be eating them.  It was the first time I've felt really full all week. (Insert joke about Chinese food here.)

Afterward, we played Uno, watched old-school rap videos and hung out chatting. Some other friends came over later, they drank wine, more chatting. This is my life in China.

10 Things I Didn't Know Before I Moved To China

1. Just how little the things are that can make me happy. A friend gave me Velveeta cheese last night, and I was thrilled. (And I'm still talking about it today.) This might also just mean I have very low food standards.

2. All of China uses same time zone, Beijing Time. (Imagine if the U.S. were on Eastern Time across the country, that's what it's like here.) I live in the Western part of the country, so the sun sets and rises very early. I miss evening sunshine. And morning darkness!

3. There are around 50 minority populations in China.  Before I came here, I was only aware of one: Tibetans. Often they have special laws and their own homelands. The attempt to integrate minority populations sometimes causes tension.

4. I am more patient than I gave myself credit for. But also less intelligent.

5. Chinese Muslim food exists. And, it is very good.

6. We walk like we drive. Learning to drive teaches us spatial relations and how to maneuver so that others can pass by unscathed. Lots of people here *cough* have never driven a car.

7. All television shows here are automatically close-captioned with Chinese characters so they can be broadcast to either Mandarin or Cantonese speaking audiences. (Mandarin and Cantonese use the same written language.)

8. Sometimes what appears to be a genuine friend, isn't.  (Maybe I knew this before; but here, I've faced the very harsh reality of it.)

9. South Korean popular culture is big here. This is a video for Rain, a popular S. Korean pop star. He's referred to as the Korean Justin Timberlake. (Song starts @ about minute 2. He sings in Korean and English.) Korean guys overall are popular with my female students, they are the hotties.

10. Just how deeply the freedom to make personal decisions has influenced my ability to think for and take care of myself.

BONUS: Making lists is very Western; the Chinese think in circular, overlapping patterns, not linear.

You Know What They Say About Big Arms...

1.We watched this movie last weekend on DVD (yay, piracy!). The story was so-so, but the arms were fantastic! I had forgotten how much I like big arms, but it all came rushing back to me. People sometimes ask me what I miss about my home culture; here's a new thing to add to the list: BIG ARMS. (And Nacho Cheese Doritos. We talked about them while watching the movie, now I can't stop thinking about them.)

2. Not sure if it's the clothes, the cool dance moves, or the surprise twist ending, but this video cracks me up every time I see it:


3. My body has apparently given up on sleeping. I wake up around 3 or 4 AM and can't get back to sleep. This morning it was 5 AM, yay for extra sleep!  But still far short of what I think is good for me. Anyone have any drug-free insomnia cures?

Happy Friday everyone!

The Tenor in Chess

I love musicals in general, but especially the tenor part. This man's voice when he sings "How can I leave her? Where would I start?" never fails to send a chill through me. One of my all-time favorite pieces of recorded music. (Anthem, from Chess.)