Variations of a Chinese Lantern

When I thought of a Chinese Lantern, the words “ red, oval, hanging, and silk” were the descriptions that popped into my head. During any special occasion (Spring festival, Olympics. Leisure Festival, etc) they display hundreds of the ‘normal’ ones I associate with China but now they have added variations. I think they may have gotten some of the ideas from our blow up Santas and other tacky Christmas decorations (Don't get the wrong idea - I am not putting down any tacky Christmas decorations. If I had the time, money and “Tim the toolman” type of manpower – I would happily compete with the tacky Townsend Christmas Lights.)

Back to the subject- The Chinese are taking storybook, cartoon and other fantasy characters and making colorful silk, ‘lantern-like’ scenes. Some are rather humorous. Make sure you check out size of Snow Whites head in relation to her body in the side photos. I arrived in China too late to take pictures of all the great silk lantern scenes that were being dismantled in Xiasha but I will have my camera charged and ready to go next January.

Friday Night’s Cheap Entertainment

No, we were not entertained, we ended up providing the cheap entertainment for the boys pictured above. As Ricky and I were filling another boring Friday night by riding the new B1 Bus to the DVD store and walking to the Love District Boa Zi Stand, I observed a mother eagerly calling down an alleyway for her son. Even with my VERY limited Chinese I still recognized her using the term “LoaWai” meaning foreigner in her speech. Her boy and his friend quickly obeyed and ran out so they could be entertained by the strange behaviors of the LoaWai. They followed us around as we asked for, paid for and ate our boa zi.

Surprisingly, tonight the boa zi were half price 2 for 1 Yuan. I am not sure why they were cheaper but they tasted just as good as last time. Ricky bought 8 this time and I got my 'guarenteed to stuff me' two. The boys were cute and actually said an English “bye” to us as we left. As for being the entertainment, I am learning to accept it as a fact of life. I just wish I could speak enough Chinese to actually interact with them so we both could learn more about each other.

Ricky Cleaned His Room!

I should have taken BEFORE pictures, but I am sure I will be able to take some of Ricky’s “Normal Room” in a couple of days so you can see how it usually looks. Then it will be obvious why we never hold any of our Chinese Classes in his room and why the “cleaning of his rooms” actually deserved this bandwidth of a blog and pictures. I must note that his room is generally just ‘really messy’ and not deserving of any health department warning. He really did a good job on the bathroom….. hummm…. I wonder if I can trade a bathroom cleaning for teaching one of his classes.

There always seems to be a lot of dust coming in the rooms, which is probably due to the large amount of construction that is constantly taking place. I think someone said that Xiasha, where our campus is located, translates to “sand place”. It is also very windy here. I am not sure if it is seasonal or year round. The hallway outside my apartment is covered but open to the outside dust, dirt and breezes.

I asked a student that was visiting my apartment if students have clothes washers in their room and he replied that all they had were “lights”. They hand wash all their clothes and hang them outside on the balcony to dry. As freshmen they are not allowed to have a Computer, TV or DVD player in their rooms. Another student actually commented on how soft the floor was because I had carpet in my bedroom. I have been promised a visit to a student dormitory in the future and even without the frills I betchca it will look a little like the dorms at UGA or College of Charleston.

Bao Zi

Bao zi, a common street vender food and a typical 'chinese breakfast sandwich' are just 1 quai each and a favorite snack of Nathan’s and Ricky’s. I kept avoiding these weird doughy balls because of their appearance. From the street venders, I bought and ate only the things that looked familiar and safe to me such as a piece of bread that was sort of looked like a pizza. Also, I don’t like food that feels ‘gummy’ when you eat it and Bao zi looked potentially ‘gummy’. I am not crazy about China’s gummy dumplings and I assumed that these were just really large and really gummy dumplings. They are pasty-white, softball sized, balls of dough that come out of straw steamer trays. They contain unrecognizable green and brown stuff as a filling. See why I avoided them? Anyway, last Friday night Ricky and I went into Xiasha because we were REALLY bored. He had the green stuff it van drop us off close to where his favorite Bao zi stand, that he discovered on his ramblings, was located.

After an interesting walk through the part of town with a lot of very small ‘?hotels?’ with names such as Romantica we finally got to his stand. Tourists definitely don’t go in this area, it’s where the locals shop. Don’t worry it wasn’t dangerous, not much of China feels dangerous, just really different. Ricky got 5 vegetable Bao zi and 1 bravely got one meat bao zi, by the time we had gotten a half a block away I knew I would need another one so we turned around and I bought 1 more and Ricky bought 2 more. The white dough was not gummy but a moist soft bread that was missing any salt flavor. The flavorful brown stuff sort of tasted like pork. Chinese eat a lot of pork so I am hoping that was what the filling was. I am not sure how, but Ricky managed to eat all 7 of his Bao zi. I was stuffed after my 2. This is a meal that will get repeated, but if I compared it to the 10 rating I give Willies Weenee Wagon, the Love District Bao zi Stand would only rate a 7. It might have made a 7.5 if I could have located a real diet coke to go with it. I will continue my culinary quest for the Chinese version of Willies………

Looks like March on the Island – If you Squint Your Eyes a Little.

The azaleas are starting to bloom here and every once in a while we get a warm day. It reminds me a little of St. Simons in March. The Chinese azaleas don’t look any different than our Georgia azaleas. Well let me rephrase that – IF I actually took good care of my Georgia azaleas and trimmed, watered, and fertilized them they would look like Xiasha’s azaleas. The landscaping on this campus is beautiful. Last Saturday as I was leaving the campus at 6 am I noticed 12 large holes. When I got back that night at 11 pm they had all been filled with large 15 ft trees. On Sunday they were trimming the trees and by Monday they looked like they had been growing on the campus for years.

My boss also reinforced the fact that spring has arrived. She has changed some of our classroom assignments. As quoted, the classrooms that do not have ceiling fans would “make both students and teachers uncomfortable in summer time”. Even though the winter has been much colder than Georgia I will NOT assume that the summer will also be cooler than the island. It will definitely be an adventure dealing with the summer without the luxury of AC. The thought takes me back to the days almost 30 yrs ago when we taught in our Georgia public schools without air-conditioning. I did it then? – Right? Only difference is that I didn’t have hot flashes back then

Dealing With The Meltdowns

I usually have my “pity-me parties” about every 6 weeks and deal with it by putting in a sad movie and bawling my eyes out. All the crying feels a little like closure to me and afterwards I am usually feel relatively normal again. One movie, one night, one box of tissues and I will end up with swollen eyes but with a much lighter mood. Being away from home, family and friends, and in a brand new environment has delayed the inevitable “down in the dumps’ cycle. But it hit this week at the 2 month mark with a vengeance.

I have come to the conclusion that if you deal with the meltdowns in a similar fashion and also leave the security of family and friends, make sure you bring more of your ‘tear letting’ movies than you would normally require. Reruns are just not as effective. I have already gone thru 3 nights and 3 of my “pity–me party” movies (Life as a House, City of Angels and Untamed Heart), and I am still not quite done - but I am getting close. Now don’t try mailing me some sort of miracle mood enhancer. My blues usually don’t last that long and they always remind me how good the good days are.

Experience has told me that my emotional cycles happen wherever I am - China, Timbuktu or St Simons Island. But being away from people you love just makes it harder and last longer. Thanks for being there for all my previous blue days. I miss you all.

Side note: By the time you read this blog installment I will be ok and back to the semi-normal Katie that you all know. Photo above is a picture of the campus last night (April 13th)- There must have been someone important visiting ZUFE because the fountains, music, spotlights, and library were all flowing, blaring and lit up to impress.

Shanghaied in Shanghai

No I didn’t end up on a boat, but I did end up being dragged thru the Shanghai Rip-Off market stalls by a 20 something girl that spoke English – Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that my name has been changed to “Hey Lady”. I had been there before in 2004 so I thought I was wise in ways of the Rip-Off market. I was but that didn’t mean I could casually walk thru the market. It is so overwhelming (Hey lady, DVDs? Hey lady, look at my watches, hey lady, sunglasses?- Hey lady, North Face, Burberry jackets?- Hey lady, wallets?- hey lady, Gucci purses?) that I chose to blindly follow my ‘professional shopper’ around like a lost puppy for about 1 hour. Then I got my middle school teacher attitude and voice back and finally convinced her I had no money left. It was pitiful! (I lied….).

Don’t feel sorry for her. I am sure she picked up a profit or tip from some of the stalls she dragged me to. At her different ‘friends’ shops I got a North Face jacket, a Giorgio Armani shoulder bag, and a t-shirt. That’s when I ditched her and went on my own. I probably didn’t do any better or worse without her but at least I sort of got to look around a little more slowly. Be careful, if you stop too long at one stall the operator will really get ‘over enthused’. The stall operators are masters at bargaining, I am considering importing one of them for the next time I have to buy a car. They would even give Maria, Barbara, and Nicole (who I think are “master bargain hunting shoppers”) a run for their money. So come on over and test your skills against the best. Also bring friends, it is easier to go through the stalls in a pack.

The official name of Rip-Off Market in case you ever want to go is Xiagyang Lu Fushi Shichang (rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?) If you start out from Hangzhou as I did you get up really early and take a 6 am wild ride on a renegade (not licensed) mini bus to the train station then get on the 7:17 am packed train to Shanghai. The train takes 2 hours and even has attendants that will sell you tea. (They keep the teapot in a bucket they carry around). After you get off you wait in line for a subway ticket. Get off at the South Shanxi Metro Stop, after that you don’t need directions because someone will grab you and drag you to their ‘friends’ stalls. Ditch them when you are feeling more confident and continue shopping. When you are finished, go across the street to the McDonalds because you are going to NEED something that will remind you a little of America. It’s very, very crowded – but be patient they have a card with pictures so you don’t have to say a word in Chinese to order your food. Also, this is one of the few places that have Coke Light!

After my shopping and lunch I spent the rest of the day at the Shanghai Museum. It’s a small museum by American standards but packed with really great exhibits such as Jade, bronze and furniture. (Paula, I think I can finally tell the difference between Qing and Ming dynasty furniture) I would put it on a DON’T MISS list for Shanghai. I spent the rest of the day there and caught the 6pm train and the 9:30 “night bus” home. (For all you Harry Potter fans the “night bus” didn’t have beds but the ride was just as thrilling). I arrived at my apartment door at 11p. It was a long tiring day but a great ‘adventure’.

ps. - I forgot to take my camera to Shanghai- so no new photos - I borrowed the above one from a web site. Don't worry I will go again and take lots of pictures.

Beware of Signing Up for Any China Tour That Has The Word Mountain in The Title

We had a one-day ‘Spring Break’ on Monday and our Foreign Affairs office treated us to a trip to Lin’an Volcanic Rock Valley. All the foreign teachers and foreign students were invited from both campuses. There was the FAO staff and 5 English teachers, 1 Japanese teacher (who is my neighbor) 2 students from Holland, and 1 student from Japan. We left at 7:00am for a 3.5 hr bus ride traveling by some beautiful scenery, lots of construction and along some bumpy roads. We went thru tons of bamboo gardens where they were collecting bamboo shoots for my one of my favorite noodle bowls of bamboo shoots and mushrooms. There was a whole village that seemed to be dedicated to bamboo shoots. They were piled everywhere in trucks, bikes, backs, shops, and sidewalks.

After we got to the rock valley we ate lunch in one of the local establishments where they served us local fair. Predictably one dish was bamboo shoots marinated in some sort of a vinegar base, which was pretty good. Another dish had something that tasted like a cross between front lawn grass and parsley greens with tofu – it had a very strong taste but still could have used some vinegar pepper sauce. Surprisingly I liked it, but my favorite dish consisted of small purple sticks, which were about the size of a baby green bean. I have no idea what they were but it was spicy hot, crunchy and delicious. A nice frog dish which I skipped because I couldn’t get past the little web feet toe bones sticking out of the sauce. Another good ‘frog dish avoidance’ excuse is that my personal goal is to try 1 or 2 new things a day and I had already met the quota with the “greens and tofu” and the purple stick things. I did sample their fresh fish complete with the eyes (I didn’t eat the eyes -Nathan likes that part- yuck) and the beef dish.

We took the required group photo and began the long climb up the mountain. They stopped every so often to let us catch our breath and look at the rocks that looked like a certain shapes. (frogs, dogs, turtles, brains, etc) Besides the signs that described the represented animal they even painted eyes and lines on the rocks so you could clearly see the shape. Isn’t that cheating? The climb up rivaled the cave stairs. Many, many, many stairs. I did not get a count this time but it reminded me that I am still out of shape. There was a Chinese lady that was between 60 or 70 yrs old whose job it was to follow the tours up and down the mountain with a trash bag to collect our trash. She also helped validate my pitiful condition.

It took an hour and a half to get to the top and a half an hour to go down. The way down didn’t have as many note worthy sites, which was good because you had to watch your footing every second of the way. I heard lots of birds though. At the top even though we were all sweating profusely they gave us boiling hot tea. The Chinese can start drinking their tea right away but my mouth has not become lined with asbestos yet so Ricky and I cooled ours off by dipping the incredibly thin plastic cups in the mountain stream. Their green mountain tea was very earthy tasting but I think I liked it better than any tea I have had so far. I keep sampling different types of tea to discover the one worthy of stocking up and bringing home.

It seems that most of China’s attractions involve walking and climbing. I definitely got a real workout yesterday along with a little adrenalin excitement. Most of the walkways were narrow with no side rails to prevent careless people from falling. Some of bridges were made of metal rods with lots of space between them to see down. I just kept praying that none of them were rusted. The trip up and down will definitely qualify as one of my adventures. I have decided that you should not come to China if you have bad knees, any bad food allergies (cause you never know what you are eating) or any phobias such as acrophobia or claustrophobia. We got home at 7:00 pm tired and leg sore. I will definitely remember to look at the tour title next time and be forewarned if it has any word that HINTs at mountainous terrain.

Side note –It's a hot day today and the school is blasting Chinese versions of different songs over the campus speakers (they are in all the gardens). This one is “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”. The Chinese love the Carpenters! I have no idea how people are teaching/learning with their classroom windows open and the music blaring. I am glad I taught this morning. Weird, they stop some of the songs in the middle ….. Maybe I would understand the reasoning better if I could understand what the announcer is saying periodically.

Side note 2 - We had our first group Chinese Lesson. All the Glynn County teachers that had a hard time in my GIT class can now snicker behind my back because I am getting a major payback. I feel stupid and untrainable. I have no idea if I will make it thru the classes without crying. I won’t quit though!

Trying to Learn Chinese

Ni Hoa, (pronounced ‘knee how” with a little up and down with your voice on the ‘how’ part – like when you say ‘really’ in a skeptical tone of voice.) Congrats, you have just said ‘hello’ In Chinese. Italian is so much easier – just wave your hands and arms a lot and say Chao.

It is a rainy, dreary Saturday in Xiasha Campus and I am going a slightly stir crazy listening to my Chinese Lessons. So I figured I would Blog instead. I even cleaned my apartment - anything to put off this activity that makes me feel so stupid. Last week I bought a Children’s’ version of Learning Chinese with a workbook and CD. I now know how to sing Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Ten Little Indians in Chinese. I can also play rock, scissors, cloth in Chinese, but that doesn’t help me when I want to know how much something is or how to order something to eat.

Side Note: Don’t worry I won’t starve -- Barb, Gail and Nicole keep sending food. Yesterday I got a package in which Gail had sent me Pickle Relish in a squeeze bottle. Last night I had my first Tuna fish sandwich – yum – I had one for breakfast too!

Even though learning ANY language is tough for me there are some things that are easier in Chinese. Anything that has to do with numbers is easier. Well let me clarify – it is easier AFTER you have finally learned the numbers 1 to 10. We as English speakers really make things difficult. Here is an example of how easy the numbers/dates/times are.
Yi -1
Er -2
San – 3
Si – 4
Wu – 5
Shi – 10
Shiyi – 11
Shi’er -12
Shisan -13
Shisi -14
Can you predict what 15 would be?
Ershi – 20
Sanshi -30 sanshi si would be 34

Have you figured out the pattern yet? – now dates – Months (yue)
Yi yue – January
Er yue – February
San yue – March

Yi hao – first (day - hao)
Er hao – second
San hao – third

Look familiar? – Now Weekdays (Xing qu)
Xing qu yi – Monday (they start their week on Monday)
Xing qu er – Tuesday
Xing qu san – Wednesday

Now Hours (dian)– betcha you can figure it out……(answers at end of blog)
Yi dian – guess what time that is?
San dian – What about this time?

Now minutes (fen)
Er fen – how many minutes?
Si fen -??
Heres a tuffy – see if you can figure out the time
San dian wu fen
Si dian shisan fen

Roger on of our foreign affairs staff and all around great guy has volunteered to give up his free time and teach us Chinese on Tuesday nights. Since I am the only one of our group that has not lived in China for a year or more I am going to really slow the group down unless I put in lots of hours learning some of the basics. I wonder if Roger will develop an IEP for me…..

Well I can’t put it off anymore – I must start listening to the lessons again– so “Xia Jian” (sounds like z-eye gee-an and you have to sort of ‘punch’ the words as you say them) – you have just said ‘Good Bye’ and don’t forget to check your answers!

1:00
3:00
2 minutes
4 minutes
3:05
4:13

Pineapple Popsicle

No, it is not really a popsicle, but it is on a stick and it is drippy, sticky and yummy. Pineapple pieces are a fairly common snack in this area. You can get them outside any fruit market and along the streets in town. A slice, which is a quarter of a small pineapple, is just 1 quai or about 12 cents. It is delicious and worthy of a walk in the rain to get one, which I did yesterday. I hope they are year-round item and not just seasonal. The stands will usually offer watermelon or cantaloupe on a stick if you need variety.

Barb's Chinese Gift Basket

Granted this stuff sort of defeats all the good calorie burning stuff mentioned in the previous blog, but boy was this a great present. So good that it deserved its own blog. This is the second gift basket Barb, my sister, has sent, the first one contained that life altering foam mattress that allows me to sleep on my side. This Chinese Gift Basket had some of the “comfort foods” I can’t find in Hangzhou or Xiasha, such as Lipton Pasta mixes, Parmesan cheese, 60 hot chocolate packets, 2 chocolate Easter Bunnys, and mint patties. I had Pasta last night for dinner followed by Cheap Chocolate Bunny Ears for desert. With all the other padded envelopes that have arrived and for the ones on their way, I am feeling very spoiled by all my family and friends. I now have most of the “comforts of home” just not the “comforts of family”. So now, when are you guys going to pack yourself up and airmail yourselves here?