Mikaela and I have been in China over two weeks now, and we are both pretty happy to have school start soon, which will be on the 5th of September. We have been enjoying exploring this city, learning about our new friends and fellow neighbors, and adjusting to life here. But, this last week we have been struggling with being bored. It is silly that one can be bored right after they move to a new country, but we simply do not have the energy or time to go out every day, nor do we have the language skills to direct a cab to those areas.
Mikaela and I feel we are in some sort of low spot, and maybe it just means we are at the end of our China honeymoon stage. I dunno. It is nice to get out and do something. Last night we went to Druid's Irish Pub here in Yantai, run by this Irishman named Pete. It was their three year anniversary, and one of teachers at Yew Wah, an Australian named Greg, was the musical talent and the M.C. Mikaela and I didn't win any of the prizes being given out, but one of our fellow teachers, Jaime (music teacher) won a cigarette lighter. Fun! We uploaded a bunch of pictures of Druid's to our photoblog.
Teacher orientation starts this next week, which is exciting! It is wonderful to be a part of a school community which is much more tight knit than a school community back home. How often do teachers in California have dinner with each other, drink with each other, go to beach together? We all have each other's cell phone numbers, know where each other resides, and are all willing and eager to go together to the grocery store (Jia Jia Yue), or to Wal-Mart, or something. We LIKE hanging out together, and we are open with who we actually are, and not fake. Our relationships are being built on more than half hour interactions in a lunch room.
Prayer requests for Mikaela and I are to be fulfilled by recorded sermons, at least in the short term, to find a church locally, and to be able to build a relationship with our Chinese neighbors. Again, feel free to share this blog with anyone, and don't be afraid to post comments!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Popcorn!
While heading down the brick path back home today, a literary figure stepped out of the pages of a recently read novel and parked himself in front of our apartment building: The Popcorn Man!
Before I even knew that my application was being considered by YWIES (Yew Wah International Education School) I had been reading an interesting-looking booked picked up from a pile at a high school rummage sale back in Turlock. The title was "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min. (Highly recommend it!) "Pearl of China" is a biography/historical fiction about the famous Pearl S. Buck, who forever changed both Chinese and American novel history...but that is another story! (Heh, heh...now you want to know more, right?) In the novel, Min recounts Pearl's childhood experience of the local popcorn salesman. Both Pearl and her best friend run out excitedly to watch the tradesman at work whenever he comes through town. The popcorn man puts the kernels in an oblong kettle, and turns the kettle 'round and 'round over a fire. Then, at just the right moment, one end of the kettle is removed and the kernels all pop at once with a deafening BOOM! Like the blast of a cannon, the fresh popcorn shoots into the awaiting long, cloth bag.
As we approached the apartments I first espied a woman selling plastic bags of popcorn in the shade...a little further away was a man turning some sort of black kettle over a flame, with corn husks scattered all about. I did not realize what was going on until my ears rang with the mighty blast of the "popcorn cannon" (as I think of it). I turned around with a excited smile on my face and shouted to my friends, "That's the popcorn man!!"
As I was cooling off in the apartment, I could not get that popcorn out of my mind. The kettle was booming outside, and there was a small sort of adventure to be had. Grabbing some small change, I hopped down the stairs to one of my new friend's apartment, and invited her to accompany me on the popcorn purchasing mission. She readily agreed, and we went on our way.
Okay, so, this must be said...I still am learning how to say numbers in Mandarin!! This makes buying anything without a predetermined price very difficult. ;-) I pulled out my coins (totalling 1.70 RMB) and showed them to the popcorn saleswoman. She wanted 2 RMB, which I am sure was a "western price," but having no ability to properly haggle, I agreed. My friend graciously ran back and got enough money for the both of us to buy what our eyes desired (which ended up being more than our stomachs could handle!) The saleswoman was very happy, and eagerly had us try the popped rice as well. In the end, we were all laughing and smiling...in spite of the language barrier, even. And we ended up with some pretty tasty popcorn. Tastes kind of like the Corn Pops cereal!
Before I even knew that my application was being considered by YWIES (Yew Wah International Education School) I had been reading an interesting-looking booked picked up from a pile at a high school rummage sale back in Turlock. The title was "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min. (Highly recommend it!) "Pearl of China" is a biography/historical fiction about the famous Pearl S. Buck, who forever changed both Chinese and American novel history...but that is another story! (Heh, heh...now you want to know more, right?) In the novel, Min recounts Pearl's childhood experience of the local popcorn salesman. Both Pearl and her best friend run out excitedly to watch the tradesman at work whenever he comes through town. The popcorn man puts the kernels in an oblong kettle, and turns the kettle 'round and 'round over a fire. Then, at just the right moment, one end of the kettle is removed and the kernels all pop at once with a deafening BOOM! Like the blast of a cannon, the fresh popcorn shoots into the awaiting long, cloth bag.
As we approached the apartments I first espied a woman selling plastic bags of popcorn in the shade...a little further away was a man turning some sort of black kettle over a flame, with corn husks scattered all about. I did not realize what was going on until my ears rang with the mighty blast of the "popcorn cannon" (as I think of it). I turned around with a excited smile on my face and shouted to my friends, "That's the popcorn man!!"
As I was cooling off in the apartment, I could not get that popcorn out of my mind. The kettle was booming outside, and there was a small sort of adventure to be had. Grabbing some small change, I hopped down the stairs to one of my new friend's apartment, and invited her to accompany me on the popcorn purchasing mission. She readily agreed, and we went on our way.
Okay, so, this must be said...I still am learning how to say numbers in Mandarin!! This makes buying anything without a predetermined price very difficult. ;-) I pulled out my coins (totalling 1.70 RMB) and showed them to the popcorn saleswoman. She wanted 2 RMB, which I am sure was a "western price," but having no ability to properly haggle, I agreed. My friend graciously ran back and got enough money for the both of us to buy what our eyes desired (which ended up being more than our stomachs could handle!) The saleswoman was very happy, and eagerly had us try the popped rice as well. In the end, we were all laughing and smiling...in spite of the language barrier, even. And we ended up with some pretty tasty popcorn. Tastes kind of like the Corn Pops cereal!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
First Week Firsts
1. Cooking with an awesome wok
2. Eating tofu/bean curd and liking it!
3. Made our first friends
4. Took a cab to Walmart (in China!)
5. Visited and signed up for a membership with Metro, a German store analogous to America's Costco
6. Caused some smiles by saying thank you ("Xie xie")
7. Caught a mini sand crab at the beach in Yantai
8. Saw the world's largest ship-building crane http://www.yantai-raffles.com/index.php
9. We both caught a cold or flu
10. Used a Chinese pit toilet
11. Had an ultrasound during a physical examination to check out the health of our livers
2. Eating tofu/bean curd and liking it!
3. Made our first friends
4. Took a cab to Walmart (in China!)
5. Visited and signed up for a membership with Metro, a German store analogous to America's Costco
6. Caused some smiles by saying thank you ("Xie xie")
7. Caught a mini sand crab at the beach in Yantai
8. Saw the world's largest ship-building crane http://www.yantai-raffles.com/index.php
9. We both caught a cold or flu
10. Used a Chinese pit toilet
11. Had an ultrasound during a physical examination to check out the health of our livers
Friday, August 12, 2011
If you don't go shopping, you don't eat!
Obvious statement, I know. But so true.
I awoke this morning with the anxious question, "What have I done??" running through my mind. We also awoke with our stomachs growling, as Zach and I had both fallen asleep around 4 PM the previous day, and had unintentionally missed dinner. What did we have to eat? Leftovers from lunch the other day, which were frozen through in our freezer...a choice of two Top Ramen-style noodle bowls, and 4 peaches. Our 5:30 AM breakfast that morning consisted of tea, 3 peaches and a shared noodle bowl. After a couple of hours of anxious procrastination [mostly on my (Mikaela's) part], we decided to go out to the corner grocery store a couple of blocks away. As we walked out of our air-conditioned apartment, and down the humidity of the stairwell, we stopped by to see if our neighbors were at home. Our downstairs neighbors are another couple who have come to teach as well, and were the first to arrive. (We were the second.) Fortunately, they were home, and were glad to accompany us to the store, which they had already visited in during their time here. It was very much relieving to have friendly guides and fellow Californians to share the shopping experience with.
How did we know what we were buying, you may be wondering? Well, thanks to our global economy's symbol/picture-driven product labeling habits, we were able to find what we needed. Bathroom cleaner had a picture of a sparkling bathroom, etc. And then there were of course many recognizable products and produce. With much rejoicing did we find instant oatmeal for our breakfasts! Other items were labeled in Chinese and (minimal) English. We bought an all-purpose cleaner called "Green Way," which, I am assuming, was a mimic of "Simple Green." (This cleaner actually turned out to be quite caustic, which was great for cleaning, but probably not great for the environment as labeled!)
We are learning a lot about how to do and act from our constant observation of locals. In the produce section, we noticed that there is a clerk with a station of scales, which is where things are weighed and priced. If you bring an un-marked bag of produce to the register, they simply throw it aside and you have to buy it later. After weighing and tagging several bags of produce, I told the clerk "Xie xie, thank you," and she shook her head in a befuddled manner and mumbled quickly back in Chinese, "Don't worry about it." I don't think she was used to that at all, whereas we say thank you all the time in the States.
In the evenings, clerks in the produce department call out back and forth to each other--I am thinking that this might be verbal advertisements to the shoppers. Altogether, it is a very loud and bustling experience. The environment of the grocery store is something very different too. Constantly crowded, people push past each other without notice or a word, and push as closely together in line as possible. Having someone's shopping basket banging against the back of my legs constantly (BAM, BAM, BAM) while waiting in line earlier tonight almost drove me crazy! Thank you, Casey, by the way for your word of advice: "T.I.C. This is China!" It is going to take me a bit to get used to the lack of space bubbles in the stores. I am assuming that perhaps this shopping environment is more characteristic of the city; although I will amend my statements if I find any differences during our time here!
Well, we have some food in our fridge and cabinets, and relief is starting to settle in. Next step: learning to cook with what we have!
I awoke this morning with the anxious question, "What have I done??" running through my mind. We also awoke with our stomachs growling, as Zach and I had both fallen asleep around 4 PM the previous day, and had unintentionally missed dinner. What did we have to eat? Leftovers from lunch the other day, which were frozen through in our freezer...a choice of two Top Ramen-style noodle bowls, and 4 peaches. Our 5:30 AM breakfast that morning consisted of tea, 3 peaches and a shared noodle bowl. After a couple of hours of anxious procrastination [mostly on my (Mikaela's) part], we decided to go out to the corner grocery store a couple of blocks away. As we walked out of our air-conditioned apartment, and down the humidity of the stairwell, we stopped by to see if our neighbors were at home. Our downstairs neighbors are another couple who have come to teach as well, and were the first to arrive. (We were the second.) Fortunately, they were home, and were glad to accompany us to the store, which they had already visited in during their time here. It was very much relieving to have friendly guides and fellow Californians to share the shopping experience with.
How did we know what we were buying, you may be wondering? Well, thanks to our global economy's symbol/picture-driven product labeling habits, we were able to find what we needed. Bathroom cleaner had a picture of a sparkling bathroom, etc. And then there were of course many recognizable products and produce. With much rejoicing did we find instant oatmeal for our breakfasts! Other items were labeled in Chinese and (minimal) English. We bought an all-purpose cleaner called "Green Way," which, I am assuming, was a mimic of "Simple Green." (This cleaner actually turned out to be quite caustic, which was great for cleaning, but probably not great for the environment as labeled!)
We are learning a lot about how to do and act from our constant observation of locals. In the produce section, we noticed that there is a clerk with a station of scales, which is where things are weighed and priced. If you bring an un-marked bag of produce to the register, they simply throw it aside and you have to buy it later. After weighing and tagging several bags of produce, I told the clerk "Xie xie, thank you," and she shook her head in a befuddled manner and mumbled quickly back in Chinese, "Don't worry about it." I don't think she was used to that at all, whereas we say thank you all the time in the States.
In the evenings, clerks in the produce department call out back and forth to each other--I am thinking that this might be verbal advertisements to the shoppers. Altogether, it is a very loud and bustling experience. The environment of the grocery store is something very different too. Constantly crowded, people push past each other without notice or a word, and push as closely together in line as possible. Having someone's shopping basket banging against the back of my legs constantly (BAM, BAM, BAM) while waiting in line earlier tonight almost drove me crazy! Thank you, Casey, by the way for your word of advice: "T.I.C. This is China!" It is going to take me a bit to get used to the lack of space bubbles in the stores. I am assuming that perhaps this shopping environment is more characteristic of the city; although I will amend my statements if I find any differences during our time here!
Well, we have some food in our fridge and cabinets, and relief is starting to settle in. Next step: learning to cook with what we have!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Arrival in China
We made it to Beijing! And to all those wondering if I peeked out the window, the person sitting ahead of us, with whom we shared the window, was actually awake and kept opening the window with unexpected wooshing slides. Unfortunately, all we saw in these intermittent peeks were clouds; when there were breaks in the clouds, only clouds beneath could be seen (From stratus to cumulus!)
I awoke from the last of my random one-hour naps with the feeling that the plane was slightly descending in altitude. Intense curiosity filled my mind, and I brazenly opened the window (only halfway, to at least be partially considerate) letting in a flood of golden light. My first glimpse of China was magical.
The sun was setting, which bathed everything in a golden hue. I saw smooth mountains, and numerous river valleys pass by, and even smoke from one campfire winding its way up into the sky. I love looking out at the landscape when on a flight, and this sight was utterly new to my eyes.
I awoke from the last of my random one-hour naps with the feeling that the plane was slightly descending in altitude. Intense curiosity filled my mind, and I brazenly opened the window (only halfway, to at least be partially considerate) letting in a flood of golden light. My first glimpse of China was magical.
The sun was setting, which bathed everything in a golden hue. I saw smooth mountains, and numerous river valleys pass by, and even smoke from one campfire winding its way up into the sky. I love looking out at the landscape when on a flight, and this sight was utterly new to my eyes.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
On Our Way
This was the last day in the country of our birth for 11 months. The whole trip is so surreal to me, yet there are moments of realization of the gravity of it all...like waiting in the airport terminal with hundreds of people, most of whom are on their way back to China. And then there were my mother's tears...I cannot think about them for too long or I will start crying myself.
We are now almost (ha!) 3 hours into or 12 hour flight to Beijing. From Beijing- *cough* - after our 5 hour layover- we take our short hop of a flight to Yantai. I keep wondering if I will be able to sleep that morning (arrival at 12:15 am, local time). 15 hours ahead we will be.
I am becoming so sleepy right now, as seem the rest of my fellow passengers. Before I doze off again (hopefully no drool this time) I really want to check out the window again. After our first meal, the flight attendants made everyone close their window shades and dimmed the lights. According to the flight map updates, we should be off the coast of Alaska! I wonder what that looks like? Don't want to wake up the others though...we are chasing the sun and light may be too offensive for my snoozing flight companions.
We are now almost (ha!) 3 hours into or 12 hour flight to Beijing. From Beijing- *cough* - after our 5 hour layover- we take our short hop of a flight to Yantai. I keep wondering if I will be able to sleep that morning (arrival at 12:15 am, local time). 15 hours ahead we will be.
I am becoming so sleepy right now, as seem the rest of my fellow passengers. Before I doze off again (hopefully no drool this time) I really want to check out the window again. After our first meal, the flight attendants made everyone close their window shades and dimmed the lights. According to the flight map updates, we should be off the coast of Alaska! I wonder what that looks like? Don't want to wake up the others though...we are chasing the sun and light may be too offensive for my snoozing flight companions.
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