TIC

TIC (This Is China)- we say this a lot when things shock us - like cars driving on sidewalks - fireworks at 8 in the morning - etc...

This morning with NO prior warning from the office- I hear a noise in my kitchen - I go to investigate and ....surprise.....There is a guy hanging out my kitchen window scrapping something off the outside walls. Please remember I am 6 stories up and there are no locks on the windows. It is a good thing I haven’t taken my shower yet. I have a tendency to walk from the bathroom to the bedroom with very little on.

He is heading down so I warned Kate who is directly below me.  Julie, our local recluse and nudist on the 4^th floor, I didn't warn. (she gets real cranky when you wake her). Hopefully the scrapper won't have a big surprise when he gets there. There was another scrapper/patcher hanging by my bathroom window 3 hours later.  

New Favorite Street Snack

Think – Pita bread – but a little thinner. She rolls out the dough with some sugar in it then slaps it inside this big pot/oven. When it comes out it is a warm, crispy, and slightly sweet treat for 1 yuan (6.4 cents). Not as good as Dunker Donuts but still yummy.

Fireworks and Other Explosions

Kate and I went to see the fireworks last Saturday night. I found out that different fireworks companies take turns at running the show. You can even go onto a web site and vote for your display. This Saturday was a really good show – I would vote for this company…. if I could just read the web site.

As we left we ran into two unique Chinese peddlers: A cotton candy maker that runs off of bike power and a popcorn maker.  Kate got some cotton candy and it tasted normal- except no pretty colors. The popcorn maker is totally different from what you would expect. The guy spins this metal cylinder over a fire. When he removes it - he hits some lever and it explodes into a bag. Hot popcorn - no butter. Luckily last semester when Jason was here, he took photos of the popcorn maker so click on the link. The pictures are definitely way better than the 1000 words it would take for me to explain it correctly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28398373@N07/sets/72157625497877237/

Rooftop Party

Last Friday night Meagan organized a NUDT foreign teacher party on our 18^th floor rooftop. In the picture you see most of our teachers – from left to right –Steve USA & Ling his girlfriend –Ranald UK - Meagan USA- Vincent USA- Amanda & Seth USA- Me – Tommy UK – Marian Australian – Andrew her husband took the picture.  It was hard getting a good fire going in the cheap grills but we ended up bringing up a George Foreman Grill to finish off the hamburgers. We all had a good time and got to know one another a little better. 

Notice the blue bag above Vincent’s head – we put it on one of the many, many cameras they have watching us. About 10 minutes after we put it up – the guards came up to “check up” on us – but they didn’t make us take it down. The 30 minutes later the big FAO boss (Mr. Li Gen) with a party of about 8 came up to “look around the new foreign teachers’ apartments” (yeah right – at 6:30 on a Friday night??). We offered him and the others some tequila jello shots. He had one but the rest of them refused. And yes, I was standing there cooking the chicken with the bottle of beer in my hands when they came up.