Ok, there is one very important thing that I forgot in the last blog: metro tag. We were the young hooligans running after each other through the metro stations. We played between three fairly well-trafficked stations. Once we arrived in the station, we pulled papers to see who was it and then had two minutes to disperse. When tagged, you also become it and the last person standing wins. There is a time for stopping, clearly, because otherwise this could go on forever. There are several things that I learned while playing this game: Hong Kong's subway security personnel are more aware than you might think, when playing a game that requires stealth, wearing orange shorts and a turquoise shirt is not an asset (nor is being extremely pale in Asia), and my strategic skills are dubious. I established early on with another player that neither of us were it and I saw him 10 minutes later and, for some reason, it did not occur to me that he could have since been tagged. Needless to say, he got me, but I did win that game regardless. I also crouched down and hid behind two elderly people who were not even concerned at all by my behavior thanks to the ubiquity of squatting as repose and got hit on in a subway car as I was sketchily plastered against a wall looking around furtively. It was such a wonderful afternoon.
Yesterday I discovered my new kryptonite, which is basically China's slurpee. They take the flavor for milk tea and instead of adding all of the milk and stuff, they blend it with ice. Yes, thank you. It is hot as hell outside. I mean it is 95 degrees outside as I write this. Humidity is only at 53% today, though, so that is a small victory. Unfortunately, this slushie appears to only be available at one or two stores that are far enough from my residence to be completely inconvenient but it is on the way home from the gym!
With this heat has come some sun. I say some because there are some days that I believe the sky is blue and then I look at pictures from other places and I realize the sky is, in fact, "blue." Anyways, I believed that umbrellas were a problem limited to rainy days, but Chinese women use the umbrella as a parasol. This was fleetingly charming and then became unbearably annoying when trying to walk anywhere with any kind of speed above three-legged tortoise. There is already a tendency to monopolize sidewalk space by walking 6 abreast, but once you add umbrellas, your head is in peril. I wonder if sunscreen would ever catch on.
There are some other products I think that China would do well to adopt. One of these products is the tampon. One of my students took me aside after class the other day and told me that she is salesperson and asked if she could give me a presentation. I agreed, thinking that at worst I would be subjected to a presentation about cosmetics and that at best I would see the Chinese Vitamix. Instead, I got a half an hour of discussion about "sanitary napkins." This presentation involved her telling me about "woman disease," me pushing, squeezing, and peeling apart two different pads in comparison tests, and learning that pads have gross absorbent crystals in them that you can add to a glass of water and make something that sort of looks like jello. Everyone has their personal preferences so I don't judge people who prefer pads, but tampons aren't even on the table here. Only one drugstore sells them. It's always interesting to me to see which hygiene implements are used from country to country. On a related note, I'm hoping that America brings over Japanese toilets soon. And Hi-Chews.
With the newly warm weather, a spate of improvement projects have started in the neighborhood. These projects are both impressive and terrifying. They are mostly impressive in their speed. One day, I left for school and came back three hours later to find my massive sections of my road had been covered in asphalt. At no point did I see any of the laborers. The other day as I left they were digging up the path in front of a line of stores, by the time I got back, there were bricks laid in to make a new path.
I believe, however, that what makes these projects impressive is also their biggest downfall: the work is pretty substandard. There is no grout between these new bricks, meaning that the second it rains there will be grossness. The asphalt is not really tamped in the manner to which I am accustomed. That on its own, does not make it bad, but the road is now full of tripping hazards. I've also watched the progress of an overpass near my house and I have to say that as a layperson I am concerned. I'm sure it's no problem, but the Sichuan earthquake was so devastating due, in part, to the lack of structural integrity of the buildings. It's all very slapdash. That said, the neighborhood is looking very fresh these days, so there's that.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Helen is posting...but don't worry! Gudrun is still writing her grand China insights
So, blogger is shut down in
Recently, I have had several visitors, which has been awesome. Kat and Meg, two college roomies, came all the way from the
There was one small tragedy, which was that my phone fell out of my pocket. It did not just fall onto the ground. No, it fell into the garbage can next to the toilet where people put their used tp because much of
After
More than with my students, it was fun to be in my city and show it to my friends. When the bro came, it was spring festival and everything was closed and I was still not one hundred percent comfortable, but now, it felt so good. Knowing how to explain all of the breakfast options, being able to navigate the city with little difficulty, and knowing some great spots for food, etc. My favorite stop was my tea shop. The tea folks were extremely excited that so many foreigners were there and my friends walked away with some good swag. We also had a wonderful night out at the club. Basically, it was a very
The day after we went to the club, we (plus Meggie, from
Anyways, we arrived in
In fact, I had one of the best meals of my life in
While in the city we also enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach, wine and cheese, a really interesting modern art show, a ferry ride across the harbor, and wonderful company. The most serendipitous part of this trip was when it was just me and Ryan hanging out. We went up a huge series of escalators and were walking down, trying to find a noodle soup restaurant (which Ryan later found! Ryan FTW!!) and all of a sudden I saw a familiar face. I looked for a second, then went, "No way," looked back, and said to Ryan "I think we know her!" He did not hear me, I turned back yet again and came face to face with a college classmate who is living in
Another wonderful thing about
After
Now I'm back in
Thursday, May 7, 2009
What's Going On
So tomorrow I get to see three of my best friends in the world. I am pretty excited. One of the best things, I think, is being able to see China through the eyes of newcomers. When the bro came, I still wasn't as deeply into China yet. I didn't yet feel at home the way that I do now. Also, it was spring festival, so we were just lucky to be able to walk around without being crushed. Now, though, there are so many more things that I feel like I can do.
First of all, my Chinese is much better. I would estimate that I am only inappropriate fifty percent of the time. By inappropriate I mean accidentally swearing or something like that. I don't know when I do this but occasionally people give me looks of deep shock. Anyways, I am much more able to communicate my needs. Also I am better at ordering food. That is fairly important to me. I cannot yet communicate anything of importance, but I accept this ability.
Also, my relationships have improved with the people on my street. We're better pals now. I think this stems from my insistence on wearing shorts home from the gym in 50 degree weather. They were horrified/amused and I think that it broke the ice when I explained that I'm not cold because I'm from Wisconsin and 50 degrees in February is pretty awesome. Anyways, now we chat and they ask me fun questions and we joke around. I can't wait for them to see that I have friends. Due to my relationships with people, I have currently whittled down the number of establishments on the street that I frequent to only the best. No subpar street eating now!!!
I guess that on the whole I just feel much more connected to China. I understand it better, now more than before. I am much more confident in my daily proceedings and I am feeling good about life here. I have mostly assimilated into my life here. Things that used to jump out at me are no longer as noteworthy. I feel comfortable with the bus system, eating at random restaurants, and getting about my life. Clearly, I'm not completely in the know about the city and I still make mistakes all the time. I feel like someone who has lived in a city long enough to know the basics, just not all of the back alleys or the secret dvd stores.
For example, I no longer find it strange that there are chickens who live down the street. The other day, while in the confines of the city of Wuhan I found out that the expression "squealing like a stuck pig" is firmly rooted in reality. I mean, whoa, right? There are some farm buildings near my school that occasionally function as slaughterhouses. I mean, I'm not sure that this is true, but I have deduced from yesterday's episode of stuck pig squealing that this is the case. Never in my life did I think that I would live a mile from a slaughterhouse or a water buffalo, but I do and I do not find it strange.
Right now, the only thing that's a little hard is that China still hasn't figured out that I belong here right now. I still get the stares, the hilarious and oftentimes overwhelmingly personal questions, and if there is a seat next to me on the bus people will stand rather than sit next to me until the bus gets uncomfortably full. However, all of that ain't no thang compared to how good I feel in my daily life and I'm excited to be able to share that with more people.
For the next two weeks I will be out and about and sharing with the friends, so I may not update. LOVE!!
First of all, my Chinese is much better. I would estimate that I am only inappropriate fifty percent of the time. By inappropriate I mean accidentally swearing or something like that. I don't know when I do this but occasionally people give me looks of deep shock. Anyways, I am much more able to communicate my needs. Also I am better at ordering food. That is fairly important to me. I cannot yet communicate anything of importance, but I accept this ability.
Also, my relationships have improved with the people on my street. We're better pals now. I think this stems from my insistence on wearing shorts home from the gym in 50 degree weather. They were horrified/amused and I think that it broke the ice when I explained that I'm not cold because I'm from Wisconsin and 50 degrees in February is pretty awesome. Anyways, now we chat and they ask me fun questions and we joke around. I can't wait for them to see that I have friends. Due to my relationships with people, I have currently whittled down the number of establishments on the street that I frequent to only the best. No subpar street eating now!!!
I guess that on the whole I just feel much more connected to China. I understand it better, now more than before. I am much more confident in my daily proceedings and I am feeling good about life here. I have mostly assimilated into my life here. Things that used to jump out at me are no longer as noteworthy. I feel comfortable with the bus system, eating at random restaurants, and getting about my life. Clearly, I'm not completely in the know about the city and I still make mistakes all the time. I feel like someone who has lived in a city long enough to know the basics, just not all of the back alleys or the secret dvd stores.
For example, I no longer find it strange that there are chickens who live down the street. The other day, while in the confines of the city of Wuhan I found out that the expression "squealing like a stuck pig" is firmly rooted in reality. I mean, whoa, right? There are some farm buildings near my school that occasionally function as slaughterhouses. I mean, I'm not sure that this is true, but I have deduced from yesterday's episode of stuck pig squealing that this is the case. Never in my life did I think that I would live a mile from a slaughterhouse or a water buffalo, but I do and I do not find it strange.
Right now, the only thing that's a little hard is that China still hasn't figured out that I belong here right now. I still get the stares, the hilarious and oftentimes overwhelmingly personal questions, and if there is a seat next to me on the bus people will stand rather than sit next to me until the bus gets uncomfortably full. However, all of that ain't no thang compared to how good I feel in my daily life and I'm excited to be able to share that with more people.
For the next two weeks I will be out and about and sharing with the friends, so I may not update. LOVE!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
It's getting hot in herrrrr
The temperature today in Wuhan was only about 28 degrees Celsius. That's like 84 degrees. It often hovers somewhere in the 40 degree range in the summer. That's like 104 degrees. I AM GOING TO PERISH. Today I sweated through one shirt during my morning classes and one during my afternoon classes. I stuck to myself. I repulsed myself before 9:30 in the morning. Interestingly enough, not even one of my students looked uncomfortable. They were wearing many layers; I wore shorts. My Norwegian ancestry did not prepare me for this.
Apparently, here's what I have to look forward to in the summer:
Men in China pull their shirts up above their bellies when it's hot out. That means that all of my neighborhood dudes will be walking around in their tank tops with a thin layer of sweat. People in China tend to glisten more than drip, but that doesn't make it less icky for people to walk around with their paunches on display. Bonus points when they give you a come hither/dontcha think I'm sexy look.
There are some smells up in China. On an average day, something usually smells like a ripe garbage pit, but I've gotten used to that. Lately, however, things have been smelling thanks to the sun mercilessly beating down on heaps of poop, rotting food matter, and extreme amounts of fish guts. Needless to say, this is inappropriate.
On days when it is not hot, it is usually raining cats and dogs. Massive, massive amounts of rain. This causes small lakes to appear on the sidewalk, which is gross in that they often form near garbage heaps and have strange floaties. However, the rain means that it is not beating sun down my brains, so I accept it.
East Lake, the largest lake within a city in China, is just down the road from my home. Apparently, it is grosser than Lake Michigan during its nastiest heyday. It's not quite as stinky, so that's nice, but yesterday I saw:
1. A dead turtle with parts of it floating a bit outside of its shell. Fascinating.
2. About 30 dead floating fish in 10 feet of shoreline.
3. THE BIGGEST FISH I HAVE EVER SEEN. It was also dead. But hot damn, this was a fish. It was approximately 2.5 feet long and definitely looked like something I would have to lift with my legs.
4. A lot of floating chip bags.
5. Swirly, green, scummy growth hanging out on the surface of the lake.
We grow industrial-sized bugs here in Wuhan. There was a beetle that took up residence on my balcony for a few days and has since died there and it was bigger than a quarter (I think. My grasp of American money has gone. I pulled out a dollar the other day and thought, "Man this is funny looking. Where's Mao?").
It's not all bad, though. For example, I will be drinking many, many cups of lemon water. That is the literal translation. It is much like lemonade, but is less strong, lightly sweet, and infinitely refreshing.
This is unrelated to summer, but I think I've found a good massage place! I will be enjoying that.
I also look forward to the continued and perhaps newly vigorous attempts to be contacted by randos on the street. The other day I was getting a 10 kuai ($1.47) foot massage and someone asked me how best to learn English and proceeded to talk at me the entire time that I was trying to have a relaxing foot massage. He has called me many times since, I have not answered, yet the calling persists. Since this incident, I have lied about having a phone to several other randos that meet me, say hello, then ask for my number. One of the people I turned down accosted me while I was crossing the street the other day. He then gave me his card. Apparently, he is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I have linked to the picture of his card on Picasa because I am not bright enough to be able to post the picture without it being too big. I trust none of you will abuse the contact information on here.
FRONT
BACK
While in the middle of writing this post, I was interrupted by the arrival of my friend. With her, I had planned to go to watch my students sing "Red" songs. Today, during class I made them sing me a song in exchange for me waiving half of their homework assignment. It was awesome and I was extremely excited. I had put on sunscreen, found a hat, charged my camera AND cleaned the memory card to hold the copious videos I had hoped to record, and put my gym clothes together so that I could hit the gym directly after. I was ready. And then I realized I couldn't find my wallet. I have, thus far, scoured the apartment twice, told both my building's doorman and manager, and been to the last place that I know that I had it. I struck out each time. I then sent my friend home because I have a tendency to be a bit of a bear when I have lost something and I did not want to catch her in the crosshairs, called the bank to cancel my US credit card, then I went to the Chinese bank to deal with that drama. AY CARAMBA.
Apparently, I have to wait for a week to get a new card. This is no big deal, as I feel that there is a similar turnaround in the US and I'm the idiot who lost my wallet (though I am nurturing a sneaking suspicion I was pickpocketed, probably to make myself feel better. It is reassuring, in a way.) so I accept that. However, in China, they do not let you take money out of the bank without the card. Excuse me? I brought my passport, my residence permit, and the form with which I opened my account. They know how much money I have. Yet they won't let me take the money out? For realsies?
The man with whom I was conducting this horrendous transaction was nice, though his Mandarin was not "standard" so another woman came over. Hers was more standard, though I was still having a little trouble. Then a random boy came over and said he could translate. Aside from the intrusion into my personal bank transaction (which is completely normal in China- we were interrupted at least 5 times), it seemed strange that the bank would offer to translate through him. Unfortunately, it was completely unhelpful because his English is about as good as my Chinese and he gave no additional information. Luckily, I keep my American bank card separate, so I have an avenue for cash, but what if I didn't? This policy is ridiculous. As I am a bit tired due to not sleeping well last night and there is a bit of heat coming on and (TMI ALERT) I have my period, I was a bit cranky during this process. As I told my friend, it's a good thing that I know no Chinese curse words because I would have said them. As it was, I just muttered obscenities to myself and cursed the fact that China has no need for customer service in its banking industry because the government owns them all. Or most of them, at least. I am now drinking a gin and tonic and stewing in some anger.
I also am no longer looking forward to more things in the summer in Wuhan. Also Youtube doesn't work. COME ON.
Apparently, here's what I have to look forward to in the summer:
Men in China pull their shirts up above their bellies when it's hot out. That means that all of my neighborhood dudes will be walking around in their tank tops with a thin layer of sweat. People in China tend to glisten more than drip, but that doesn't make it less icky for people to walk around with their paunches on display. Bonus points when they give you a come hither/dontcha think I'm sexy look.
There are some smells up in China. On an average day, something usually smells like a ripe garbage pit, but I've gotten used to that. Lately, however, things have been smelling thanks to the sun mercilessly beating down on heaps of poop, rotting food matter, and extreme amounts of fish guts. Needless to say, this is inappropriate.
On days when it is not hot, it is usually raining cats and dogs. Massive, massive amounts of rain. This causes small lakes to appear on the sidewalk, which is gross in that they often form near garbage heaps and have strange floaties. However, the rain means that it is not beating sun down my brains, so I accept it.
East Lake, the largest lake within a city in China, is just down the road from my home. Apparently, it is grosser than Lake Michigan during its nastiest heyday. It's not quite as stinky, so that's nice, but yesterday I saw:
1. A dead turtle with parts of it floating a bit outside of its shell. Fascinating.
2. About 30 dead floating fish in 10 feet of shoreline.
3. THE BIGGEST FISH I HAVE EVER SEEN. It was also dead. But hot damn, this was a fish. It was approximately 2.5 feet long and definitely looked like something I would have to lift with my legs.
4. A lot of floating chip bags.
5. Swirly, green, scummy growth hanging out on the surface of the lake.
We grow industrial-sized bugs here in Wuhan. There was a beetle that took up residence on my balcony for a few days and has since died there and it was bigger than a quarter (I think. My grasp of American money has gone. I pulled out a dollar the other day and thought, "Man this is funny looking. Where's Mao?").
It's not all bad, though. For example, I will be drinking many, many cups of lemon water. That is the literal translation. It is much like lemonade, but is less strong, lightly sweet, and infinitely refreshing.
This is unrelated to summer, but I think I've found a good massage place! I will be enjoying that.
I also look forward to the continued and perhaps newly vigorous attempts to be contacted by randos on the street. The other day I was getting a 10 kuai ($1.47) foot massage and someone asked me how best to learn English and proceeded to talk at me the entire time that I was trying to have a relaxing foot massage. He has called me many times since, I have not answered, yet the calling persists. Since this incident, I have lied about having a phone to several other randos that meet me, say hello, then ask for my number. One of the people I turned down accosted me while I was crossing the street the other day. He then gave me his card. Apparently, he is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I have linked to the picture of his card on Picasa because I am not bright enough to be able to post the picture without it being too big. I trust none of you will abuse the contact information on here.
FRONT
BACK
While in the middle of writing this post, I was interrupted by the arrival of my friend. With her, I had planned to go to watch my students sing "Red" songs. Today, during class I made them sing me a song in exchange for me waiving half of their homework assignment. It was awesome and I was extremely excited. I had put on sunscreen, found a hat, charged my camera AND cleaned the memory card to hold the copious videos I had hoped to record, and put my gym clothes together so that I could hit the gym directly after. I was ready. And then I realized I couldn't find my wallet. I have, thus far, scoured the apartment twice, told both my building's doorman and manager, and been to the last place that I know that I had it. I struck out each time. I then sent my friend home because I have a tendency to be a bit of a bear when I have lost something and I did not want to catch her in the crosshairs, called the bank to cancel my US credit card, then I went to the Chinese bank to deal with that drama. AY CARAMBA.
Apparently, I have to wait for a week to get a new card. This is no big deal, as I feel that there is a similar turnaround in the US and I'm the idiot who lost my wallet (though I am nurturing a sneaking suspicion I was pickpocketed, probably to make myself feel better. It is reassuring, in a way.) so I accept that. However, in China, they do not let you take money out of the bank without the card. Excuse me? I brought my passport, my residence permit, and the form with which I opened my account. They know how much money I have. Yet they won't let me take the money out? For realsies?
The man with whom I was conducting this horrendous transaction was nice, though his Mandarin was not "standard" so another woman came over. Hers was more standard, though I was still having a little trouble. Then a random boy came over and said he could translate. Aside from the intrusion into my personal bank transaction (which is completely normal in China- we were interrupted at least 5 times), it seemed strange that the bank would offer to translate through him. Unfortunately, it was completely unhelpful because his English is about as good as my Chinese and he gave no additional information. Luckily, I keep my American bank card separate, so I have an avenue for cash, but what if I didn't? This policy is ridiculous. As I am a bit tired due to not sleeping well last night and there is a bit of heat coming on and (TMI ALERT) I have my period, I was a bit cranky during this process. As I told my friend, it's a good thing that I know no Chinese curse words because I would have said them. As it was, I just muttered obscenities to myself and cursed the fact that China has no need for customer service in its banking industry because the government owns them all. Or most of them, at least. I am now drinking a gin and tonic and stewing in some anger.
I also am no longer looking forward to more things in the summer in Wuhan. Also Youtube doesn't work. COME ON.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Any means necessary
When I had to go to English corner last semester, I had to entertain many, many questions about student life in America. The problem was that students would come once and ask all of the questions that had been asked the last time. It was an eternal cycle. Anyways, in the course of these discussions of academic life, my students would often tell me that Chinese students are the best at solving math problems or problems that follow a formula, but that they are not creative. Without a prescribed path to follow, they have trouble solving problems.
I've seen this to be true in some scenarios. Last semester, I tried to play pictionary with my classes and it was an epic, epic failure. I mean, it was the least fun game-playing in which I have ever partaken, including icebreakers at various trainings. This semester I tried again and it was less of a failure. My students are, admittedly, way more fun this semester, but we had some of the same problems. Though I explained the rules several times, in several different ways and answered clarification questions, they just did not quite grasp that it was a game of speed, not precision. For example, if the word was "tomato," my students would stand at the board for a good chunk of time just staring. Then they would begin to draw, erasing their lines a good 10 times before settling into a chosen picture, which they would still obsessively correct and fine-tune. This was funny because none of the pictures ever even ended up looking very much like the word in question. They would often say, "But I don't know how to draw that," in response to getting a word like "corn" or "grapes." Part of the problem is a lack of self-confidence, but part of it truly is difficulty with thinking outside the box in an academic session. When I ask my students to do activities that are not simply rote repetition or listening to a lecture, they get very uncomfortable. I think they're gradually warming to it, but there are some very uncomfortable moments.
Yet for some reason, the dearth of creativity within the classroom doesn't necessarily translate outside of the classroom. When I was in Shanghai a few weeks ago, I saw James Fallows, a writer for The Atlantic Monthly, speak at a literary conference. One of the things that he spoke about, a theme that also appears in his book, is that in Japan, there is one way to do things. There is a clear order to how things are done and there is a clear idea of how things should be. In China, on the other hand, it's not about the way, it's about a way. That is why, for example, the traffic doesn't follow any recognizable pattern. People are just trying to get to where they're going. Sometimes this means that thecab you are in jumps into the lane normally reserved for oncoming traffic to maneuver past an epic traffic jam but then puts you directly in the path of a bus. SIDEBAR: For some reason, this desire to get somewhere quickly does not translate to walking. Seriously people, pick it up a little bit.
The idea of taking any way is also true in daily life. The other day I saw a man carving massive hunks of a piece of meat into a more massive wok that was supported by small piles of bricks that were surrounded by a small fire because he didn't have a stove that would work. The treadmills at my gym are stabilized by magazines. One of my neighbors runs a recycling plant of sorts and has all sorts of random stuff on her steps. As I walk by and think, "Wow, that's a lot of crap," she is busy gutting and repurposing all of it. There is an enormous amount of resourcefulness present in daily life. I mean, one of my neighbors conducts her noodle business from the 4-foot-wide space between two buildings. Yesterday, I watched women make brooms from discarded switches left on the sidewalk from a tree trimming. People find a way to put hundreds of bottles on the back of bike, extending maybe 20 feet in the air and 10 feet behind the back wheel. This kind of ingenuity does not seem to fit with the lack of ideas in the classroom.
While at RC training one year, we talked about the use of the word ghetto. Sometime during high school, because began to use the word to mean something busted or gross or lacking quality. For example, people would look at my late 80's white wood-paneled station wagon and say, "Oh, that car is so ghetto." If a computer froze, people might call it ghetto. That was the colloquial usage that I was most familiar with, but at training that year I learned that while I might have a negative association with something that is ghetto, there can also a more positive connotation. If someone's trunk won't close and they rig it to stay shut with bungey cords, that's ghetto. Finding a way to make something work that is otherwise broken is ghetto. It is something in which someone can take pride. It is in this vein that I believe China to be ghetto. I don't mean that China is broken (and by no means is it hood), but rather that people find ways to make it work.
Clearly, the ingenuity is a byproduct of back-breaking poverty. If you can just buy a new one, there's no need to try to make the old one work, and if you can barely afford to feed your family then there's no way you're buying something new if you can find another way. However, the sad origins of the ingenuity don't detract from how impressive it is and seeing how people have rigged things is one of my favorite parts of walking around China.
In other news, earlier this week I was chugging some water while the exceedingly long bell sounded during class. I wasn't even thinking about it at all and I finished about a half of a liter within that time frame. I set down my bottle and looked at my class and their mouths were absolutely agape in wonder. It's good to know that something I do gets the kiddies all excited!
I've seen this to be true in some scenarios. Last semester, I tried to play pictionary with my classes and it was an epic, epic failure. I mean, it was the least fun game-playing in which I have ever partaken, including icebreakers at various trainings. This semester I tried again and it was less of a failure. My students are, admittedly, way more fun this semester, but we had some of the same problems. Though I explained the rules several times, in several different ways and answered clarification questions, they just did not quite grasp that it was a game of speed, not precision. For example, if the word was "tomato," my students would stand at the board for a good chunk of time just staring. Then they would begin to draw, erasing their lines a good 10 times before settling into a chosen picture, which they would still obsessively correct and fine-tune. This was funny because none of the pictures ever even ended up looking very much like the word in question. They would often say, "But I don't know how to draw that," in response to getting a word like "corn" or "grapes." Part of the problem is a lack of self-confidence, but part of it truly is difficulty with thinking outside the box in an academic session. When I ask my students to do activities that are not simply rote repetition or listening to a lecture, they get very uncomfortable. I think they're gradually warming to it, but there are some very uncomfortable moments.
Yet for some reason, the dearth of creativity within the classroom doesn't necessarily translate outside of the classroom. When I was in Shanghai a few weeks ago, I saw James Fallows, a writer for The Atlantic Monthly, speak at a literary conference. One of the things that he spoke about, a theme that also appears in his book, is that in Japan, there is one way to do things. There is a clear order to how things are done and there is a clear idea of how things should be. In China, on the other hand, it's not about the way, it's about a way. That is why, for example, the traffic doesn't follow any recognizable pattern. People are just trying to get to where they're going. Sometimes this means that thecab you are in jumps into the lane normally reserved for oncoming traffic to maneuver past an epic traffic jam but then puts you directly in the path of a bus. SIDEBAR: For some reason, this desire to get somewhere quickly does not translate to walking. Seriously people, pick it up a little bit.
The idea of taking any way is also true in daily life. The other day I saw a man carving massive hunks of a piece of meat into a more massive wok that was supported by small piles of bricks that were surrounded by a small fire because he didn't have a stove that would work. The treadmills at my gym are stabilized by magazines. One of my neighbors runs a recycling plant of sorts and has all sorts of random stuff on her steps. As I walk by and think, "Wow, that's a lot of crap," she is busy gutting and repurposing all of it. There is an enormous amount of resourcefulness present in daily life. I mean, one of my neighbors conducts her noodle business from the 4-foot-wide space between two buildings. Yesterday, I watched women make brooms from discarded switches left on the sidewalk from a tree trimming. People find a way to put hundreds of bottles on the back of bike, extending maybe 20 feet in the air and 10 feet behind the back wheel. This kind of ingenuity does not seem to fit with the lack of ideas in the classroom.
While at RC training one year, we talked about the use of the word ghetto. Sometime during high school, because began to use the word to mean something busted or gross or lacking quality. For example, people would look at my late 80's white wood-paneled station wagon and say, "Oh, that car is so ghetto." If a computer froze, people might call it ghetto. That was the colloquial usage that I was most familiar with, but at training that year I learned that while I might have a negative association with something that is ghetto, there can also a more positive connotation. If someone's trunk won't close and they rig it to stay shut with bungey cords, that's ghetto. Finding a way to make something work that is otherwise broken is ghetto. It is something in which someone can take pride. It is in this vein that I believe China to be ghetto. I don't mean that China is broken (and by no means is it hood), but rather that people find ways to make it work.
Clearly, the ingenuity is a byproduct of back-breaking poverty. If you can just buy a new one, there's no need to try to make the old one work, and if you can barely afford to feed your family then there's no way you're buying something new if you can find another way. However, the sad origins of the ingenuity don't detract from how impressive it is and seeing how people have rigged things is one of my favorite parts of walking around China.
In other news, earlier this week I was chugging some water while the exceedingly long bell sounded during class. I wasn't even thinking about it at all and I finished about a half of a liter within that time frame. I set down my bottle and looked at my class and their mouths were absolutely agape in wonder. It's good to know that something I do gets the kiddies all excited!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Weekend of Weird
It's been a kind of weird weekend. Yesterday, I sacrificed a whole lot of dignity and played ultimate frisbee. It took an annoyingly long time to get there. Wuhan University is having its Cherry Blossom Festival and traffic was nuts. I waited for a taxi for a good 10 minutes, gave up, and took a bus. The bus took a different route and hit a massive traffic jam. I asked if I could get off the bus and the driver said no. Another girl asked in a much firmer way and he said no. The bus literally did not move for 10 minutes. The other girl, I kid you not, climbed out a window. Finally we get to a place where he will let us off and I hit my head getting off of the midget bus. All of this to play frisbee?
Aside from the fact that we were playing frisbee, I had a great time. There was a wonderful group of people with a great mix of foreign and Chinese and there was, thankfully, a highly variable skill level because I cannot throw frisbees. Or really catch them with any regularity because they're not like balls used in real sports. Anyways, I had a good time hanging out and indulging my competitive side. Also, news flash, playing sports uses a lot of muscles that you do't engage when you're running in a straight line, so this morning was kind of fun.
Today, I woke up, had a leisurely breakfast and has some great chats with friends, went on a run, ate lunch, saw the cherry blossoms, bought Wuhan University playing cards and a map and a heart-shaped keychain, and got my haircut, all before 2:30. BOOYAH.
I then embarked on a mission to buy some pu-er tea. It is delicious and I decided that it was time to start making my own tea around the house. My friend took me to a marvelous tea shop that I loved and wanted to go back to. I found it, which was something of a miracle, and then went in where I promptly got awesome, non-creepy/stalker service. I sat down to try some tea and the owner sat next to me. We had met, but he had clearly forgotten and we got to talking. Before long, he had taken me on a tour of his shop, which is awesome and full of ancient things, and he took me to his office where he showed me his calligraphy and let me try! I was using a real brush but just practice paper, which is good because I am an abysmal calligrapher. He then made me another cup of tea. A cup of tea that cost 300 kuai. That is about 45 dollars. I had a 45 dollar cup of tea. Excuse me?
He explained to me that this exorbitantly expensive tea is just for friends and then asked me if we were friends. I said yes. I am going back on Saturday to meet his daughter who will teach me how to play the guzheng (what did people do before wikipedia?) and they will teach me about history and help me with my calligraphy.
I then went downstairs and another man befriended me. He got my number as I gave it to the man whose daughter will teach me history and had me drink some tea with him. I was subsequently invited to dinner, which I refused because I was not ready for dinner a deux. He then told me he would give me a ride home, which I said was not necessary but he insisted to the point of walking me outside and guiding me to his car door. He then called his son in Australia while we were in a traffic jam and had me speak to him. He has called me twice this evening. Oh boy. This is something of a pattern in my life.
Despite this aggressive friendship, I am going back next week, because I really like the store owner and the store has good ambiance and I think I could study there very well. Also, I like the idea of learning more about ancient China and maybe how to do a proper tea ceremony.
I also got great headphones and ate a lot of bean curd today. Two random strangers asked me to take a picture with them by the cherry blossoms (which, incidentally, were not awesome yet, so I will be going back). I got a haircut by myself and I don't look deformed. It's weird, but I think that being in China completely changes what makes your day good. Back home, strangers asking me for pictures would be a red flag for crazy, but here it's a nice gesture. At least I choose to see it that way. Here, little things like your favorite noodle shop not being full or people saying, with a note of surpise in their voices, "Your Chinese is great," are the kind of things that make me really, really happy. It's a nice life when the smallest things can make you extremely happy. I mean, the converse is also true. If one thing goes wrong, it alllllllllllll goes wrong, but then these little things set the world to rights again.
Addendum: I also found English names for several students, bought new cleaning supplies, cleaned my room, reviewed some characters, and edited a speech for a student (she quoted Nixon- hilarious). The kid was on fire today.
Aside from the fact that we were playing frisbee, I had a great time. There was a wonderful group of people with a great mix of foreign and Chinese and there was, thankfully, a highly variable skill level because I cannot throw frisbees. Or really catch them with any regularity because they're not like balls used in real sports. Anyways, I had a good time hanging out and indulging my competitive side. Also, news flash, playing sports uses a lot of muscles that you do't engage when you're running in a straight line, so this morning was kind of fun.
Today, I woke up, had a leisurely breakfast and has some great chats with friends, went on a run, ate lunch, saw the cherry blossoms, bought Wuhan University playing cards and a map and a heart-shaped keychain, and got my haircut, all before 2:30. BOOYAH.
I then embarked on a mission to buy some pu-er tea. It is delicious and I decided that it was time to start making my own tea around the house. My friend took me to a marvelous tea shop that I loved and wanted to go back to. I found it, which was something of a miracle, and then went in where I promptly got awesome, non-creepy/stalker service. I sat down to try some tea and the owner sat next to me. We had met, but he had clearly forgotten and we got to talking. Before long, he had taken me on a tour of his shop, which is awesome and full of ancient things, and he took me to his office where he showed me his calligraphy and let me try! I was using a real brush but just practice paper, which is good because I am an abysmal calligrapher. He then made me another cup of tea. A cup of tea that cost 300 kuai. That is about 45 dollars. I had a 45 dollar cup of tea. Excuse me?
He explained to me that this exorbitantly expensive tea is just for friends and then asked me if we were friends. I said yes. I am going back on Saturday to meet his daughter who will teach me how to play the guzheng (what did people do before wikipedia?) and they will teach me about history and help me with my calligraphy.
I then went downstairs and another man befriended me. He got my number as I gave it to the man whose daughter will teach me history and had me drink some tea with him. I was subsequently invited to dinner, which I refused because I was not ready for dinner a deux. He then told me he would give me a ride home, which I said was not necessary but he insisted to the point of walking me outside and guiding me to his car door. He then called his son in Australia while we were in a traffic jam and had me speak to him. He has called me twice this evening. Oh boy. This is something of a pattern in my life.
Despite this aggressive friendship, I am going back next week, because I really like the store owner and the store has good ambiance and I think I could study there very well. Also, I like the idea of learning more about ancient China and maybe how to do a proper tea ceremony.
I also got great headphones and ate a lot of bean curd today. Two random strangers asked me to take a picture with them by the cherry blossoms (which, incidentally, were not awesome yet, so I will be going back). I got a haircut by myself and I don't look deformed. It's weird, but I think that being in China completely changes what makes your day good. Back home, strangers asking me for pictures would be a red flag for crazy, but here it's a nice gesture. At least I choose to see it that way. Here, little things like your favorite noodle shop not being full or people saying, with a note of surpise in their voices, "Your Chinese is great," are the kind of things that make me really, really happy. It's a nice life when the smallest things can make you extremely happy. I mean, the converse is also true. If one thing goes wrong, it alllllllllllll goes wrong, but then these little things set the world to rights again.
Addendum: I also found English names for several students, bought new cleaning supplies, cleaned my room, reviewed some characters, and edited a speech for a student (she quoted Nixon- hilarious). The kid was on fire today.
Monday, March 9, 2009
I see white people
One of the many take-home lessons from this weekend: There are SO MANY white people in Shanghai. It is out of control and kind of confusing.
This weekend, I went to Shanghai for two reasons. The trip started because of a literary festival featuring James Fallows, who is now in the running to be my BFF, but ended up being a great reason to see some Amherst people as well.
I left on Thursday. I thought that my flight was at one. It turns out, I have extremely low functionality when it comes to military time and I was four hours early. There is nothing near the Wuhan airport so I sat in a shop for two hours, ate overpriced tofu, and watched middle-aged men play video games and, I kid you not, HOWL at the screen. I choose to see this as karmic retribution for the fact that I almost missed the last two flights I took.
I got to Shanghai and got on the Mag-Lev train. This train is SWEET. It was going 301 kilometers per hour which was, apparently, slow for this train. I then got into Shanghai and hit the metro with the rest of rush hour traffic and met up with three Amherst friends who are living and taking classes in Shanghai. We went out for Italian, which tasted incredible and like the best Italian food I've ever had in my entire life. They thought it was so-so. Clearly, they haven't been in China long enough. We then met up with yet another Amherst friend. The whole evening was wonderful.
The next day...we slept. And did some Chinese and ate some good food. But mostly we lounged. That night we met up with yet another Amherst friend (!!!) and some of his posse for dinner and then drinks. I know, aside from these Amherst kids, precisely two people who live in Shanghai. One of them happened to be sitting at the table next to us at dinner.
On Saturday, we went to the literary festival. Outside of the literary festival, I saw the second person that I know in Shanghai. Weird. The first speaker was talking about her book on the kitchens of China, which I was pretty stoked to hear about as it is extremely pertinent to my life. Unfortunately, she was not a great speaker. She read parts of her book, which I sort of expected, but these were some looooooooong excerpts and she read to us like a student who had been cold called to read the novel aloud in English class- halting, nervous, and monotonous. I left partway through. I came back for the Q and A and she still stank. She got wonderful, thoughtful questions and replied in stilted three-sentence answers. Turns out, we never should have even gone because we got the shaft on seats for James Fallows and had to sit on the floor.
The upside? We were sitting on the floor next to him. Pretty sweet. James Fallows is a writer for The Atlantic. He was Carter's speechwriter and has written several books on things about his various assignments. I think that his books are mostly compilations of articles, but he is an engaging writer. He has a knack for making problems understandable without robbing them of their complexity or coming off as condescending. Though I believe that his speech would have been great regardless, after Lackluster McGee who made kitchens in stinking CHINA uninteresting, he was AWESOME. He spoke about China, about Obama and the economic crisis, and the current state of journalism.
Most of the questions that were asked of him were completely idiotic, though- a lot of people who wanted to hear their own voices, etc. He handled them nicely and was completely gracious, funny, and thoughtful about each one of them. The man also clearly dotes on his wife and likes to have adventures. I really do want him to be my friend. I'll work on it.
So anyways, after that we stood on the Bund for a bit and went to Thai food for dinner. HEAVEN. Also, I might have had two smoothies...Jason and I were walking around before dinner and we went right by a smoothie shop and got one before dinner. And then everyone was jealous and we went back after dinner. Whoops.
On Sunday we walked around the French Concession for a bit. There were lovely art galleries, it was wonderfully bougie and deserving of its own mention on Stuff White People Like, and the company was great. It turns out I really love Shanghai. It's a big city but it has tons of small, exciting neighborhoods and it feels less sprawling and dirty than Beijing. I liked Beijing, to be sure, but Shanghai has a wonderful, more condensed feel to it. One thing that I don't like as much is that it is a bit more upscale and high-roller style, but I think I can get over that because there is still magical street food.
Anyways, wonderful weekend, but I am also glad to be back because today was gorgeous for the first time in a looooong time and it looks like the weather will be good all week long!
This weekend, I went to Shanghai for two reasons. The trip started because of a literary festival featuring James Fallows, who is now in the running to be my BFF, but ended up being a great reason to see some Amherst people as well.
I left on Thursday. I thought that my flight was at one. It turns out, I have extremely low functionality when it comes to military time and I was four hours early. There is nothing near the Wuhan airport so I sat in a shop for two hours, ate overpriced tofu, and watched middle-aged men play video games and, I kid you not, HOWL at the screen. I choose to see this as karmic retribution for the fact that I almost missed the last two flights I took.
I got to Shanghai and got on the Mag-Lev train. This train is SWEET. It was going 301 kilometers per hour which was, apparently, slow for this train. I then got into Shanghai and hit the metro with the rest of rush hour traffic and met up with three Amherst friends who are living and taking classes in Shanghai. We went out for Italian, which tasted incredible and like the best Italian food I've ever had in my entire life. They thought it was so-so. Clearly, they haven't been in China long enough. We then met up with yet another Amherst friend. The whole evening was wonderful.
The next day...we slept. And did some Chinese and ate some good food. But mostly we lounged. That night we met up with yet another Amherst friend (!!!) and some of his posse for dinner and then drinks. I know, aside from these Amherst kids, precisely two people who live in Shanghai. One of them happened to be sitting at the table next to us at dinner.
On Saturday, we went to the literary festival. Outside of the literary festival, I saw the second person that I know in Shanghai. Weird. The first speaker was talking about her book on the kitchens of China, which I was pretty stoked to hear about as it is extremely pertinent to my life. Unfortunately, she was not a great speaker. She read parts of her book, which I sort of expected, but these were some looooooooong excerpts and she read to us like a student who had been cold called to read the novel aloud in English class- halting, nervous, and monotonous. I left partway through. I came back for the Q and A and she still stank. She got wonderful, thoughtful questions and replied in stilted three-sentence answers. Turns out, we never should have even gone because we got the shaft on seats for James Fallows and had to sit on the floor.
The upside? We were sitting on the floor next to him. Pretty sweet. James Fallows is a writer for The Atlantic. He was Carter's speechwriter and has written several books on things about his various assignments. I think that his books are mostly compilations of articles, but he is an engaging writer. He has a knack for making problems understandable without robbing them of their complexity or coming off as condescending. Though I believe that his speech would have been great regardless, after Lackluster McGee who made kitchens in stinking CHINA uninteresting, he was AWESOME. He spoke about China, about Obama and the economic crisis, and the current state of journalism.
Most of the questions that were asked of him were completely idiotic, though- a lot of people who wanted to hear their own voices, etc. He handled them nicely and was completely gracious, funny, and thoughtful about each one of them. The man also clearly dotes on his wife and likes to have adventures. I really do want him to be my friend. I'll work on it.
So anyways, after that we stood on the Bund for a bit and went to Thai food for dinner. HEAVEN. Also, I might have had two smoothies...Jason and I were walking around before dinner and we went right by a smoothie shop and got one before dinner. And then everyone was jealous and we went back after dinner. Whoops.
On Sunday we walked around the French Concession for a bit. There were lovely art galleries, it was wonderfully bougie and deserving of its own mention on Stuff White People Like, and the company was great. It turns out I really love Shanghai. It's a big city but it has tons of small, exciting neighborhoods and it feels less sprawling and dirty than Beijing. I liked Beijing, to be sure, but Shanghai has a wonderful, more condensed feel to it. One thing that I don't like as much is that it is a bit more upscale and high-roller style, but I think I can get over that because there is still magical street food.
Anyways, wonderful weekend, but I am also glad to be back because today was gorgeous for the first time in a looooong time and it looks like the weather will be good all week long!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Random Musings
So it has been raining here for a good two to three weeks now. This is deeply depressing. I'm used to greyish skies, but completely grey and raining forever?? YEESH. Two days ago there was wintry mix. Also gross. Yesterday there was a 15-minute patch of sun and I was so happy my heart nearly burst out of my chest.
The sun was like the icing on an awesome day, though. I had a great tutoring session with one of my two awesome new tutors. I'm starting to really get in the swing and learn more words and speak more fluently. For some reason, I still am not terribly confident in certain situations, but I've been feeling very good during tutoring and with some folks on my street. This is also weird, but I know how to read a lot of characters whose meaning I do not know- that's not usually a problem, but I think that as langauge problems go, there are much worse.
Then I had a great lunch and a wonderful class. I have had many decent classes. I have had classes that I have kind of enjoyed. Monday was the first class that I have so enjoyed that I didn't want to end. I was laughing and having a great time with them. They're a little rowdy, to be sure, but they are also responsive and engaged and I HEART them.
At the gym, I was running on a treadmill and the kid next to me kept checking on my speed and adjusting his to match. After 15 minutes, he was toast and I was still going. BOO YAH. It's probably because he kept looking at his muscles and flexing a little bit. Hilarious. I prefer the treadmills by the weight area because you can watch the menfolk strut around and preen which is pretty amusing.
Today was less awesome, but what can you do.
This weekend I'm off to Shanghai to see James Fallows speak. As providence would have it, I'm also going to see some Amherst kids. Nice.
The sun was like the icing on an awesome day, though. I had a great tutoring session with one of my two awesome new tutors. I'm starting to really get in the swing and learn more words and speak more fluently. For some reason, I still am not terribly confident in certain situations, but I've been feeling very good during tutoring and with some folks on my street. This is also weird, but I know how to read a lot of characters whose meaning I do not know- that's not usually a problem, but I think that as langauge problems go, there are much worse.
Then I had a great lunch and a wonderful class. I have had many decent classes. I have had classes that I have kind of enjoyed. Monday was the first class that I have so enjoyed that I didn't want to end. I was laughing and having a great time with them. They're a little rowdy, to be sure, but they are also responsive and engaged and I HEART them.
At the gym, I was running on a treadmill and the kid next to me kept checking on my speed and adjusting his to match. After 15 minutes, he was toast and I was still going. BOO YAH. It's probably because he kept looking at his muscles and flexing a little bit. Hilarious. I prefer the treadmills by the weight area because you can watch the menfolk strut around and preen which is pretty amusing.
Today was less awesome, but what can you do.
This weekend I'm off to Shanghai to see James Fallows speak. As providence would have it, I'm also going to see some Amherst kids. Nice.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
My private shames in China
I really like Chinese food. I really do. Unfortunately, I also have several embarrassing food secrets in China.
My problem with food is that I cannot happily eat a whole mess of tuber and call it dinner. Don't get me wrong- I love the vegetables and odd bits of roots but I also love proteins. Unfortunately, due to a bout of paranoia due to a few bird flu deaths, I no longer eat poultry (though it is impossible to eradicate eggs, which still give me the heebie jeebies, but I'm choosing to view eggs as baby steps towards regaining my sanity) and I'm usually a little nervous about beef and pork because the pieces are usually so small that it's hard to know what meat you're really getting and I like to be completely sure. So anyways, due to my status as a complete paranoiac, I rarely eat meat. This means that I eat a lot of tofu. What's really nice about China is that there are a lot of different kinds of tofu. My new favorite is a thin sheet that I think is formed during the making of soy milk. YUM CITY. Then there are the small dry pieces, the flat long pieces, and regular tofu. I don't even think that I've exhausted all of the possibilities here. Oooh and there's also the stinky one that has a funky but intriguing taste. Aside from occasional flatulence, which for some reason only rears its head when I'm at the gym, the only problem is that tofu is mostly accompanied by small meat bits. If there is no meat, there are usually little slivers of vegetables, but nothing that makes you feel like you're eating roughage, you know? Nothing like, say, a salad.
Anyways, what this means is that I occasionally order two dishes. One is always a tofu and one is a vegetable. I don't think that this is excessive- they come in small bowls! Plus, one of them is just cabbage or bok choy or an unidentifiable root vegetable. Even though I am basically eating rabbit food, people look at me like I'm eating two huge buckets of KFC with a gravy chaser. As a result, I engage in something I call "shame chopsticks." Sometimes when I get two dishes, I also get two pairs of chopsticks. To pretend I have a friend. Every once in a while, I get "shame rice." That's right, sometimes I get two bowls of rice to divert suspicion.
It's not like this is (completely) borne of paranoia, either. People have actually asked me if I have a friend coming over for dinner. When I give them my bewildered-by-the-question look (luckily, this looks a lot like my "I do not understand the words coming out of your mouth" look), they explain, "Because you're getting two dishes...you must have a friend coming over, right?" One time, I was caught in a weak moment and I responded truthfully, admitting that there were no friends involved in this lunch. The shopkeeper asked me, "Then why are you buying two dishes?" I am not particularly adroit when I speak Chinese so I inadvertently made my caught-in-a-lie face (luckily, this looks a lot like my "I wonder how you say this in Chinese face") and told her a lame story about a neighbor being ill so she couldn't get her own food.
I realize that this is oversensitive but I had a little incident last week. I asked for my lunch without MSG. The woman at the counter looked at me like I was a crazy person and asked me if I was sure. She then told the cook, who did a classic double-take and then he asked, "Who asked for that?" All of a sudden the woman was pointing at me and they both snickered. I mean, whatever, because it was a strange request, but my fragile little ego was bruised to the point that I haven't been back. It's only been three days, though, so I will probably cave soon. However, my top favorite lunch spot in all of China reopened, so I have been in heaven for the past week. They have a small buffet-style set-up, so I can get tofu and vegetables at the same time and in appreciable quantities. It is my meal-time happy place. Also, the couple that runs it is wonderful and likes to teach me things.
I think that when you spend this much time alone in a country where you have a poor command of the language these completely ridiculous hangups are inevitable. At least this is what I tell myself.
My problem with food is that I cannot happily eat a whole mess of tuber and call it dinner. Don't get me wrong- I love the vegetables and odd bits of roots but I also love proteins. Unfortunately, due to a bout of paranoia due to a few bird flu deaths, I no longer eat poultry (though it is impossible to eradicate eggs, which still give me the heebie jeebies, but I'm choosing to view eggs as baby steps towards regaining my sanity) and I'm usually a little nervous about beef and pork because the pieces are usually so small that it's hard to know what meat you're really getting and I like to be completely sure. So anyways, due to my status as a complete paranoiac, I rarely eat meat. This means that I eat a lot of tofu. What's really nice about China is that there are a lot of different kinds of tofu. My new favorite is a thin sheet that I think is formed during the making of soy milk. YUM CITY. Then there are the small dry pieces, the flat long pieces, and regular tofu. I don't even think that I've exhausted all of the possibilities here. Oooh and there's also the stinky one that has a funky but intriguing taste. Aside from occasional flatulence, which for some reason only rears its head when I'm at the gym, the only problem is that tofu is mostly accompanied by small meat bits. If there is no meat, there are usually little slivers of vegetables, but nothing that makes you feel like you're eating roughage, you know? Nothing like, say, a salad.
Anyways, what this means is that I occasionally order two dishes. One is always a tofu and one is a vegetable. I don't think that this is excessive- they come in small bowls! Plus, one of them is just cabbage or bok choy or an unidentifiable root vegetable. Even though I am basically eating rabbit food, people look at me like I'm eating two huge buckets of KFC with a gravy chaser. As a result, I engage in something I call "shame chopsticks." Sometimes when I get two dishes, I also get two pairs of chopsticks. To pretend I have a friend. Every once in a while, I get "shame rice." That's right, sometimes I get two bowls of rice to divert suspicion.
It's not like this is (completely) borne of paranoia, either. People have actually asked me if I have a friend coming over for dinner. When I give them my bewildered-by-the-question look (luckily, this looks a lot like my "I do not understand the words coming out of your mouth" look), they explain, "Because you're getting two dishes...you must have a friend coming over, right?" One time, I was caught in a weak moment and I responded truthfully, admitting that there were no friends involved in this lunch. The shopkeeper asked me, "Then why are you buying two dishes?" I am not particularly adroit when I speak Chinese so I inadvertently made my caught-in-a-lie face (luckily, this looks a lot like my "I wonder how you say this in Chinese face") and told her a lame story about a neighbor being ill so she couldn't get her own food.
I realize that this is oversensitive but I had a little incident last week. I asked for my lunch without MSG. The woman at the counter looked at me like I was a crazy person and asked me if I was sure. She then told the cook, who did a classic double-take and then he asked, "Who asked for that?" All of a sudden the woman was pointing at me and they both snickered. I mean, whatever, because it was a strange request, but my fragile little ego was bruised to the point that I haven't been back. It's only been three days, though, so I will probably cave soon. However, my top favorite lunch spot in all of China reopened, so I have been in heaven for the past week. They have a small buffet-style set-up, so I can get tofu and vegetables at the same time and in appreciable quantities. It is my meal-time happy place. Also, the couple that runs it is wonderful and likes to teach me things.
I think that when you spend this much time alone in a country where you have a poor command of the language these completely ridiculous hangups are inevitable. At least this is what I tell myself.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Land of Ice and Snow
While in China, there have been a lot of guesses as to my nationality. French, British, German...all fairly standard I would say. In Harbin, I added one more to the list: Russian. If I hadn't left my trapper hat in that stinking cab in Xi'an, I would have had the look on lock. To be fair, there were a trillion furry hats on the streets, but they were all looking pretty skanky and I doubt that there are strong controls on the quality of fur sold in China and all I could think was "MANGE." Apparently, Russian trappers come over and barter with pelts which I would have paid to see, but it wasn't meant to be. Luckily, we also avoided an accidental trip to North Korea or Russia. I just don't think either would have been pleasant.
(Ok, so I left after writing that little bit of the post because I decided that it was now or never on going to the gym. I was on a treadmill. I do a thing at the beginning where I go to the lowest speed and just push through my calves for a little extra stretch. The man next to me apparently believed that I was trying to get the treadmill to go faster, gave me a look of bewildered pity, and said, "You push these buttons to make it go faster...")
Harbin's claim to fame is that it is extremely, extremely cold. They harvest ice cubes from the river and build massive edifices that they light with neon during the winter. Additionally, they make huge snow sculptures. However, Harbin is not completely tourist-friendly, which makes it hard to find the stuff that you want to find. The result of that is that instead of seeing the big Snow and Ice World we saw the Disney ice world for kids. Until we figured this out, we were walking around the part thinking about how tacky this was. We could not believe that this was the ice festival that everyone was so excited about. I mean, it was tacky. They had ice bikes, of which only one was not broken. They had small rides that were scarier than any carnie ride I've ever seen before. That didn't stop me from going up the ferris wheel, though...but it was scary. Everything was purportedly based on a Disney movie, but I could not figure out what part of Alice in Wonderland that structure was from. There was a big ship from Pirates of the Caribbean, a "palace" from Aladdin, and strange ice sculptures all over the place. It was cold and Weird (note the capitalization), but we felt strangely compelled to walk around, because we thought that it was the big attraction.
And then it wasn't. No, it turns out we went to the wrong ice festival. Unfortunately, we only had one more day in town. So we went during the day, when the lights were off. Our cab driver said, "You know, it's really pretty...at night..." Regardless of timing, it was still incredible. I mean, the sheer size of the ice structures was insane and they had all sorts of smaller sculptures and snow sculptures and rides and it was nuts. We went tubing down a small hill, which was super fun. I was at the top of the hill and a Chinese man who was helping his daughter pushed me, without any warning, which was surprisingly fun. We also had a really nice conversation with one of the crews that was working around the park. They were all wearing long green Mao coats and wielding saws, which they used to cut pieces from a massive piece of compressed snow. They were using it to patch up parts of the big structures. We chatted for a while about our lives and Harbin, which was a really fun interlude.
Harbin also has a Siberian tiger park. Holy cats. These are some big old felines. They just kind of stalk around and loll about. We were in a bus walking through and there were two adorable little boys who kept saying things like, "Hello 老虎(lao hu/tiger)." How adorable. Their parents, and almost all of the other adults, were kind of gross and overbearing, so the kids were nice and refreshing. The adults honest to goodness would get up and stampede to the side of the bus and open the windows to try to get pictures. It is a huge tiger park. They have like 200 tigers. You will see another one in like 12 feet.
At the end, you could feed the tigers. I bought a strip of meat and lowered it with tongs and a tiger jumped up, put its paws on the fence, and took it from me! Very exciting. It does cast doubt on how well these animals are being rehabilitated for the wild...especially because you can buy live creatures. A chicken was 40 kuai, a goat was 200 kuai, and you could actually buy a COW. A COW. What? The chicken were popular and were being kept in a small bucket. Yeesh.
There were other exciting big cats there, too. A cheetah, some leopards, white tigers, white lions, and a LIGER. WHOA. Also, apparently, we caught the leopards in heat. It was really dirty and we felt like complete pervs for the rest of the day...especially because we both took videos. Yikes.
Harbin has historically had a lot of Russians living in the city, meaning that there is a lot of Russian architecture in the city. It felt like Europe! There was a wonderful Russian Orthodox church that we visited. A very intrepid bride was outside taking her wedding pictures. The pictures are a very big deal in China and this woman was brave enough to take a picture not wearing a coat in a short-sleeved gown. My snot had frozen the second that I walked outside. This woman was a champ.
There was also a Jewish cultural museum because Harbin had a population of about 20 thousand Jews that sought refuge from Russia. It was actually a pretty cool story and the museum was in an old syngagogue. There were a lot of old pictures of the Jewish community which were really nice to see. Ehud Olmert's parents lived in Harbin for a while! He was featured very prominently in the museum. A lot of the plaques around the museum said things like, "Chinese is a nation of the strongest humanism." Wonderful and ironic though these plaques were, the best part of the museum, in my opinion, was the stairwell dedicated to "Jews of the World Famous." Some people, like Mendolssohn and Kafka, got two shout outs. George Gershwin had a picture, but Ira got no love. There was no chronology or organization; it was just kind of a random assortment of indubitably accomplished, famous, and noteworthy Jews. There was also another stairwell devoted to Albert Einstein, though he had no connection with Harbin at all. I love Chinese museums.
On the way to Harbin, we almost missed our flight. I mean, we arrived with one minute left to be able to check in and had to jog to make the plane. Luckily, there wasn't much action in our terminal, so we didn't have to jump a lot of people. On the way back, I almost missed my flight again. I checked in with about 10 minutes to spare, but still. I am a stickler for getting to the airport way early to avoid issues, something that Gus and I talked about extensively. How fitting, then, that right after we have that conversation I almost miss not one, but two flights. Thankfully, though, I made them both and I've been back in Wuhan for almost a week. It's fun to watch everything come back to life, to watch people return to the street, and to see all of my favorite vendors return. I'm still waiting on my favorite lunch spot, but once they're back...I'm in business.
(Ok, so I left after writing that little bit of the post because I decided that it was now or never on going to the gym. I was on a treadmill. I do a thing at the beginning where I go to the lowest speed and just push through my calves for a little extra stretch. The man next to me apparently believed that I was trying to get the treadmill to go faster, gave me a look of bewildered pity, and said, "You push these buttons to make it go faster...")
Harbin's claim to fame is that it is extremely, extremely cold. They harvest ice cubes from the river and build massive edifices that they light with neon during the winter. Additionally, they make huge snow sculptures. However, Harbin is not completely tourist-friendly, which makes it hard to find the stuff that you want to find. The result of that is that instead of seeing the big Snow and Ice World we saw the Disney ice world for kids. Until we figured this out, we were walking around the part thinking about how tacky this was. We could not believe that this was the ice festival that everyone was so excited about. I mean, it was tacky. They had ice bikes, of which only one was not broken. They had small rides that were scarier than any carnie ride I've ever seen before. That didn't stop me from going up the ferris wheel, though...but it was scary. Everything was purportedly based on a Disney movie, but I could not figure out what part of Alice in Wonderland that structure was from. There was a big ship from Pirates of the Caribbean, a "palace" from Aladdin, and strange ice sculptures all over the place. It was cold and Weird (note the capitalization), but we felt strangely compelled to walk around, because we thought that it was the big attraction.
And then it wasn't. No, it turns out we went to the wrong ice festival. Unfortunately, we only had one more day in town. So we went during the day, when the lights were off. Our cab driver said, "You know, it's really pretty...at night..." Regardless of timing, it was still incredible. I mean, the sheer size of the ice structures was insane and they had all sorts of smaller sculptures and snow sculptures and rides and it was nuts. We went tubing down a small hill, which was super fun. I was at the top of the hill and a Chinese man who was helping his daughter pushed me, without any warning, which was surprisingly fun. We also had a really nice conversation with one of the crews that was working around the park. They were all wearing long green Mao coats and wielding saws, which they used to cut pieces from a massive piece of compressed snow. They were using it to patch up parts of the big structures. We chatted for a while about our lives and Harbin, which was a really fun interlude.
Harbin also has a Siberian tiger park. Holy cats. These are some big old felines. They just kind of stalk around and loll about. We were in a bus walking through and there were two adorable little boys who kept saying things like, "Hello 老虎(lao hu/tiger)." How adorable. Their parents, and almost all of the other adults, were kind of gross and overbearing, so the kids were nice and refreshing. The adults honest to goodness would get up and stampede to the side of the bus and open the windows to try to get pictures. It is a huge tiger park. They have like 200 tigers. You will see another one in like 12 feet.
At the end, you could feed the tigers. I bought a strip of meat and lowered it with tongs and a tiger jumped up, put its paws on the fence, and took it from me! Very exciting. It does cast doubt on how well these animals are being rehabilitated for the wild...especially because you can buy live creatures. A chicken was 40 kuai, a goat was 200 kuai, and you could actually buy a COW. A COW. What? The chicken were popular and were being kept in a small bucket. Yeesh.
There were other exciting big cats there, too. A cheetah, some leopards, white tigers, white lions, and a LIGER. WHOA. Also, apparently, we caught the leopards in heat. It was really dirty and we felt like complete pervs for the rest of the day...especially because we both took videos. Yikes.
Harbin has historically had a lot of Russians living in the city, meaning that there is a lot of Russian architecture in the city. It felt like Europe! There was a wonderful Russian Orthodox church that we visited. A very intrepid bride was outside taking her wedding pictures. The pictures are a very big deal in China and this woman was brave enough to take a picture not wearing a coat in a short-sleeved gown. My snot had frozen the second that I walked outside. This woman was a champ.
There was also a Jewish cultural museum because Harbin had a population of about 20 thousand Jews that sought refuge from Russia. It was actually a pretty cool story and the museum was in an old syngagogue. There were a lot of old pictures of the Jewish community which were really nice to see. Ehud Olmert's parents lived in Harbin for a while! He was featured very prominently in the museum. A lot of the plaques around the museum said things like, "Chinese is a nation of the strongest humanism." Wonderful and ironic though these plaques were, the best part of the museum, in my opinion, was the stairwell dedicated to "Jews of the World Famous." Some people, like Mendolssohn and Kafka, got two shout outs. George Gershwin had a picture, but Ira got no love. There was no chronology or organization; it was just kind of a random assortment of indubitably accomplished, famous, and noteworthy Jews. There was also another stairwell devoted to Albert Einstein, though he had no connection with Harbin at all. I love Chinese museums.
On the way to Harbin, we almost missed our flight. I mean, we arrived with one minute left to be able to check in and had to jog to make the plane. Luckily, there wasn't much action in our terminal, so we didn't have to jump a lot of people. On the way back, I almost missed my flight again. I checked in with about 10 minutes to spare, but still. I am a stickler for getting to the airport way early to avoid issues, something that Gus and I talked about extensively. How fitting, then, that right after we have that conversation I almost miss not one, but two flights. Thankfully, though, I made them both and I've been back in Wuhan for almost a week. It's fun to watch everything come back to life, to watch people return to the street, and to see all of my favorite vendors return. I'm still waiting on my favorite lunch spot, but once they're back...I'm in business.
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