Still wanting to put 2012 on everything, it will take time not unlike other years. Today was an outing day for me. Yesterday Nate and I stayed at home gladly because it is cold outside, but we were waiting on our bottled water delivery. Today after I emailed my friend Ellen, HI ELLEN, I hopped on my bike and went to the Gongren Lu (Road) Market. (The boys went in another direction, I'll let them blog and tell you about their day) I have yet to find hair oil in the form that I used in the states but I did get a larger bottle of body lotion and some green peas, yup freeze dried peas are a snack over here and I love them. They come in all kinds of flavors my favorite being garlic, but there is a wasabi flavor that is like horseradish sauce, kind of like Arby’s Horsey Sauce. The peas I got today are all mystery flavored, sure if I read Chinese better I could read what flavor but since I don’t it is another round of ‘GUESS THAT FLAVOR’ I keep a bottle of water nearby just incase of a hot attack. I tried to find a candy that we got one day, it was tasty and I’ve kept the wrapper in hopes of finding where it is. I got some candy, but so far it doesn’t seem like it at all, it is good, but just not the taste I was looking for. Oh well, onward with my search I guess. I also got a bowl of ‘tofu soup’ It had the same color as a bean soup, but it had bits of tofu floating in it and some clear noodles and cabbage pieces as well. It was spicy and I learned from the last time Chuck and I were there that bringing my own drink is a good thing. I brought my thermos with water in it from home. It is easy to remember to keep hydrated and drink plenty of water when the food is spicy and your mouth needs to be cooled down. Of course after eating and drinking you do need to use the bathroom and the ones that we pay for at the market are very clean but they are also cold. I try hard to not have to use toilets away from home right now simply because they are cold and it is a hassle to remove the layers of clothes to keep you warm so that you can use the toilet. Believe me my need to go was greater than my desire to keep myself warm the last thing I wanted was wet clothing because I couldn’t make it back home. I was wishing for a super market that has an inside toilet, but you live with what you’ve got. In order to get the prices of the street market, some things have to be given up. I’d also say that the majority of the public toilets we go to are free, but sometimes free means differing levels of clean, here the restrooms are always clean (the attendant mops after each customer)for that I am willing to pay. And really it is just the price of life. We don’t have gas for a car to buy, nor do we have car insurance so those costs that we have in the states we don’t have here. We pay something to parking attendants whose job is to watch the bikes and scooters that are parked and locked outside of the various businesses, but if you walk, there is no such thing as paying a parking attendant. I took a picture of an ice patch today’s temp was 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Kind of cold to be riding a bike by US standards, but if this is your mode of transportation what are you to do sit around and wait for spring? We go grocery shopping on bikes and to most places that we want to go to we do it on bikes. Walking will get you in the neighborhood but if you want to explore someplace further from home the bike will get you there. I also took some pictures and they will be posted to the pictures for January section.
Yesterday Nate and I went to the grocery store and I thought I had gotten eggs, well I did get eggs but I thought that I had gotten fresh eggs. They weren’t Chuck tried to break them to make breakfast and they were boiled we think. We have discovered something unusual here in that Chinese like eggs that are soaked in soy sauce some are dark brown, the eggs this morning were black. Chuck tried to improve upon them by cooking them but the ‘white’ that turned into a jelly of some type seemed to melt under the heat and the black yolk was all that was left. I’ve put pictures on the website. I got them because the shells were such pretty colors. I’m leaving the artistic side at home next time I go grocery shopping and taking the practical side only.
It has been awhile since last I wrote here so here is an update:
On Monday I had a lesson with my tutor Michael, yes this was a make-up because he was up north in Harbin looking at the ice sculptures and his train didn’t get him back until late on Sunday. When he was here on Monday he brought a drink for Nate and I to try, it was made of Russian bread in a liquid form and looked like ginger ale and tasted like soft pretzels, Nate loved it, me it was okay. I wouldn’t buy it for me, but then again I don’t think I’d throw it out either. After that Nate and I went walking to Vanguard to get some groceries and we stopped to get baked sweet potatoes from our favorite vendor. While we were there a young woman came up and told Nate that he was handsome. Nate was not impressed! I was reminded yet again that when my son does find girls attractive our house will probably be a busy one. The girl was making eyes at Nate and I thought he would be sick, the attention of girls is “getting old” according to my pre-teen son. Tuesday was my last class with my Business English Negotiation students for this semester. I am sorry to see this group of students go, but I know that some of them will stay in touch and all of them will do well in English. My last class saw lots of missing students because other classes had there tests scheduled for our class time. Wednesday was an epic day for me. I walked to the China Post and mailed a letter to my mom. It was my first experience doing any mailing from China to the US and I am looking forward to seeing how long it takes for my letter to get to her. I’ve been telling her about my Chinese lessons in how to write as well as speak and so some of my Chinese Characters are included in the letter. I also walked to our local copy shop to get ready to hand in my grades. Both Chuck and I are making copies of our grades so we can have them to show us how to go about setting up our classes for next semester. I only hope that I still have my Business English Negotiations classes. Also the spring on my kickstand on my bike came off today but I found the spring. It was all in one piece and it can be put back on, just don’t have the right tools and we will have to make a visit to the mechanics shop later this week. Thursday and am I excited today I hand in my grades for the classes I taught this past semester, my goal of taking care of school related business before my vacation is soon to be realized. We ate at a restaurant near the old campus when we got back. It is a traditional Chinese place so we got LOTS of double takes as people walked into the diner to eat lunch. The food was good but just spicy enough for us to have to walk to the old campus and get ice cream to cool our mouths. That got more stares, was it that we are foreigners or was is that we were eating ice cream in January wearing winter gear, or perhaps both foreigners eating ice cream in January but at least we didn't have to worry about the ice cream melting on our hands...LOL I also wrote a story for Nate based on the location and feeling that he gave me. I had to write on boredom at an amusement park that wasn’t easy but the story brought a smile to Nate’s face. Today Friday, not much happening today, I went for some pampering today since today was the first day of my vacation. I made the decision to sit down and write for at least 15 minutes everyday and I started right off doing that today. Writing can be about anything and even though I feel that my life is kind of routine I know that picking up and moving halfway around the world means your life is anything but routine. Everyday is something new or a new way to do the same old thing that you have done for years at home before you moved. Biggest thing that I have learned is that if you understand a few words in another language and then speak them, it is assumed that you can understand a flood of them and the flood will soon start! That is perhaps why I’ve been shy about trying my knowledge of new words to say something will mean people will say something else and that will lead to that dark and murky place of... “I don’t understand you!” Today was a good day, if it was interesting. Chuck and I went to the spa where we got excellent foot massages, but because of the holiday the men’s side didn’t have everything running correctly. Not only that, but today was also a time for school aged children to be at the spa. Today while sitting in the sauna a Chinese girl came up to me and started to speak in English. She’s not bad but at 10 she probably doesn’t have many years of lessons yet. She was eating an apple or a ping gou as it is in Chinese and I asked her if it was good. I think I surprised her by using the name she calls it. Then after a wonderful foot massage, I was just chillin’ in the relaxing area watching TV (a Chinese war film with Chinese subtitles that I was trying to read) three kids came in and changed the TV to Garfield and after changing the channel they left; children’s day at the spa. After we finished up there we went out for lunch as we traditionally do. We did something different today and tried a traditionally Chinese noodle shop. Hot and Sour Rice Noodles were our choice today. Anytime a place in China says that it is hot, that is code for a torch will be placed in your mouth. The noodles were hot, but they were also tasty. We also met a journalist with a local television station. She knows a little English and says that I may call her to see the studio and also to practice my Chinese.
See that a New Year. I hope that all of you had a great 2012 and I wish you nothing but happiness and blessings in 2013!
To catch everyone up on what we have been doing lately on the 30th we (Nate and I) sat around the house and Chuck got out and took to exploring on his bike. He mopped before he went out and that is where my mop picture with wet curtains came from. On the 31st New Year’s Eve Chuck and I went to the Gongren Street Market and found that the street was closed for the block of the market but since we are on bikes, we were able to get on the sidewalk and go around the closure. I got some much needed writing stationary, a new back pack and mask. Chuck got some CD’s for his classes next semester and also some more DVD’s to watch during the 6 week break coming up. Then we had lunch at one of the more popular vendors there. We got soup, this vendor had 4 different types of soup and we tried 2 of them. I got a spicy noodle and tofu soup and I have to admit that while in America I’d never tried tofu and thought that I would not like it but it takes on the flavor of whatever you have and it was good. The noodles or aloe chucks were clear and the broth was more spicy than fiery but a sample of Chuck’s bean soup helped to calm my spicy mouth down. I didn’t have a drink with me, DUH, so I tried some of Chuck’s flower tea, not my favorite but I can say that I tried it now. On our way out I got some lime flavored water. Today the first day of the New Year, I walked (yes walked, you can see more that way) on my own to a restaurant that serves noodles. I got a big bowl of noodles and some very spicy (hotter than….) mystery meat with sesame seeds on it as a side dish. I had the traditional boiled water to go with the meal. I also got a show or actually what I think was a rehearsal for a dance to be performed for Chinese New Year in February. Why was I on my own today you ask? Chuck and Nate with Johnny had gone to the spa. Nate has been under the weather for a few days and hasn’t been able to go to the spa (he likes it now). As a treat Chuck took him and went to breakfast and then the spa. Right now we are all back in our apartment just chillin. |
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