What a weekend! Seriously, life is easy.
Friday we got out of school and walked to the supermarket. One thing I've realized; I must walk like a freak. No matter what I do, I always get mud all up the back of my pants; like up to the KNEES. I was watching other people... and no one else does. I must flip my feet funny? I tried everything; walking pigeon-toed, bow-legged, prancing a bit like a pony, dragging my feet... nothing works. I was just wearing tennis shoes, so it's not like that was the issue.
Anyway, we bought some stuff, ate some dinner, and took a tuck-tuck home (it was raining, and I didn't want my pants to get MORE filthy). Amy is a happy camper; she now has this cute little hammock-like fruit basket for all the fresh fruit she buys! Saturday was lazy. We sat at home most of the day cleaning, eating, watching tv, writing, etc. I even painted with watercolor! (don't ask me how it turned out). That night we went to dinner with our neighbors Jarvis and Larissa. They are such fun. We went to a pointy restaurant and picked 6 dishes. The table was FULL. Sweet and sour pork, eggplant, beef and onions, mushrooms in some kind of yummy sauce, sesame-crusted SOMETHING (maybe okra, we guessed?), chicken and asparagus, some Snow beer, and tea. We didn't even get any rice, and we were FULL! We decided to walk home instead of taking a taxi. It was a nice night stroll. S
unday we had breakfast and lunch, then ventured out to explore. We walked around the city from 12:30 until 5:30! Needless to say, Amy's flip-flop clad feet are a bit blistered. The food here is sooo good (our cafeteria food is an exception to that, though). The fruit is amazing. Apples don't have that waxy covering on them. The pineapple is so fresh and juicy. Kiwis are cheap, and sooooooo good. Then there's pears, papaya, mangos, bananas, starfruit, dragonfruit, grapes... the list goes on and on! People eat a LOT of fruit here. I rarely see someone walking down the street eating a candy bar; but there are people munching on fruit everywhere. The vegetables are good too. My favorites are snap peas and eggplant. Bamboo is good, too. It's not like you get at home. It's not in tiny little slivers. There are big chunks that are cooked to tender perfection. I'm not big on most of the meat here. A lot of it is on the bone, and it's too hard and embarrassing to try to eat with my chopsticks. Sometimes I'll do chicken or pork.
Okay, if you get easily grossed out, don't read this next part...
The pork in the cafeteria is basically just a pig all chopped up. There is SOOO much fat on it; and they don't SKIN the pig. So you often get chunks of fat with the pig hide still attached. That isn't the worst part. One day, I had some bamboo (which is cooked with pork chunks). I don't ever eat the pork, but it flavors the sauce. So I looked at this piece, and realized it was the skin. That grossed me out. Then I saw a HAIR sticking out of it. Then, I saw a bump NEXT to the hair. Was it a wart? No. A mole? No. IT WAS A PIGGIE NIPPLE. Yes, I had a piggie nipple on my plate. A hairy one. SO lunch was done. Now that I've completely grossed you out, it's time to go.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dinner Out
Dinner last night was sooo good. We went to dinner with Spencer and Andy, some foreign teachers from our school that we've hung out with a couple times. Do you want an exact account of our evening? I thought so. I can't give you that, but I can do my best!
We left at 5:00. We decided we were going to go to a restaurant in the Fuyang International Trade Center Hotel. It's is FANCY! We started walking to the main road, with the goal of hailing a cab. No such luck. We walked a ways and repeatedly got waved away by cabbies when we tried to get them to pull over. They all go to dinner at the same time. You'd think some would catch on and go "Oh, I can make big bucks at 5:00!", but no. We finally found a tuck-tuck willing to bring the four of us. That's a lot of weight in a little tuck-tuck. We tucked ourselves into the little box in back and then chugged our way across town.
The hotel is gorgeous; right on the river. We went up to the restaurant. The first thing we did was pick our meals. They have models of every dish sitting out on display in some rooms. There must have been at least 100! We settled on some and went to the dining room. Gorgeous furniture, tableclothes, pottery, crystal, etc. It was definitely swanky. We sat down, drank our Coke out of wine glasses, and ate our dinner. When in a group, you normally eat the food in a specific way. You order several dishes, and everyone shares. They get put in the middle of the table. If it's a big group, it's on a lazy susan. With just 4, it wasn't. You use your chopsticks to reach for what you want, and pop it right in your mouth. There is a small plate if you want it, but normally it's just to put a few pieces of meat or veggies on it. The food was sooo good.
We had 2 cold dishes (you normally start with these). There was one with wilted greens, and one with edamame (soy beans). Then, our entrees came. We had 4 dishes.
Pork ribs: bite sized chunks of pork ribs. They were so tender and yummy.
fried potato bites: Fried in breading. They tasted like tater tots!
Little sandwiches: You could use your HANDS! They were about the size of a McGriddle at McDonalds... mmmm.. McGriddles... anyway, they had lettuce on them, and there was a side of bacon to put on them.
Eggplant: This is the BEST DISH IN CHINA. It's sliced into small pieces and served in some sort of brown sauce. mmmmmm.....
Then, after we were finished, they brought out a fruit plate. Watermelon, cherry tomatoes, and longens (little cute fruits that you peel). Afterwards, we slowly walked home. I'm not sure if we MEANT to walk instead of find a taxi, but why not? We looked in a couple musical instrument shops, and talked. We also were in search of a "Walls Ice Cream" freezer. Apparently, they have these everywhere. Spencer and Andy wanted to show us. We finally found one, and each got an ice cream bar. We got home around 9:00 (it must have been a long long walk!).
That wasn't nearly as exciting as I wished it was...sorry. You had to be there!
The weather in Fuyang is really irking me right now. It is pouring rain. Again. On friday. All week, it was sunny, warm, and gorgeous. And, like clockwork, the weekend comes and it rains.I don't really mind the rain normally; I actually like it. But on the weekends, we can't eat at school. So we have to either go out to eat, or walk to the supermarket to buy groceries. We normally do a mix of both; but there are puddles everywhere! The streets are narrow, and you get splashed! Arggh. I think it's rained every weekend so far. Well, hey. At least they sell umbrellas at every corner :)
We left at 5:00. We decided we were going to go to a restaurant in the Fuyang International Trade Center Hotel. It's is FANCY! We started walking to the main road, with the goal of hailing a cab. No such luck. We walked a ways and repeatedly got waved away by cabbies when we tried to get them to pull over. They all go to dinner at the same time. You'd think some would catch on and go "Oh, I can make big bucks at 5:00!", but no. We finally found a tuck-tuck willing to bring the four of us. That's a lot of weight in a little tuck-tuck. We tucked ourselves into the little box in back and then chugged our way across town.
The hotel is gorgeous; right on the river. We went up to the restaurant. The first thing we did was pick our meals. They have models of every dish sitting out on display in some rooms. There must have been at least 100! We settled on some and went to the dining room. Gorgeous furniture, tableclothes, pottery, crystal, etc. It was definitely swanky. We sat down, drank our Coke out of wine glasses, and ate our dinner. When in a group, you normally eat the food in a specific way. You order several dishes, and everyone shares. They get put in the middle of the table. If it's a big group, it's on a lazy susan. With just 4, it wasn't. You use your chopsticks to reach for what you want, and pop it right in your mouth. There is a small plate if you want it, but normally it's just to put a few pieces of meat or veggies on it. The food was sooo good.
We had 2 cold dishes (you normally start with these). There was one with wilted greens, and one with edamame (soy beans). Then, our entrees came. We had 4 dishes.
Pork ribs: bite sized chunks of pork ribs. They were so tender and yummy.
fried potato bites: Fried in breading. They tasted like tater tots!
Little sandwiches: You could use your HANDS! They were about the size of a McGriddle at McDonalds... mmmm.. McGriddles... anyway, they had lettuce on them, and there was a side of bacon to put on them.
Eggplant: This is the BEST DISH IN CHINA. It's sliced into small pieces and served in some sort of brown sauce. mmmmmm.....
Then, after we were finished, they brought out a fruit plate. Watermelon, cherry tomatoes, and longens (little cute fruits that you peel). Afterwards, we slowly walked home. I'm not sure if we MEANT to walk instead of find a taxi, but why not? We looked in a couple musical instrument shops, and talked. We also were in search of a "Walls Ice Cream" freezer. Apparently, they have these everywhere. Spencer and Andy wanted to show us. We finally found one, and each got an ice cream bar. We got home around 9:00 (it must have been a long long walk!).
That wasn't nearly as exciting as I wished it was...sorry. You had to be there!
The weather in Fuyang is really irking me right now. It is pouring rain. Again. On friday. All week, it was sunny, warm, and gorgeous. And, like clockwork, the weekend comes and it rains.I don't really mind the rain normally; I actually like it. But on the weekends, we can't eat at school. So we have to either go out to eat, or walk to the supermarket to buy groceries. We normally do a mix of both; but there are puddles everywhere! The streets are narrow, and you get splashed! Arggh. I think it's rained every weekend so far. Well, hey. At least they sell umbrellas at every corner :)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Students
Field trip! There were kids all over the place!
The boy on the left is a handful; but he loves English class!
Okay, first things first. How come I've got a dozen people who say they are reading this blog, but no one leaves us comments? So sad. :)
Second: I wanted to tell you a little about our students. They are probably my favorite thing about China so far. Nothing makes you feel warmer and fuzzier than having a little kid scream your name and run across the courtyard just for a hug or a hello. Matthew's students are "cuter". They are teeny; 2nd and 3rd grade. They have trouble making a "th" sound here, so everywhere we go we hear little voices shout "Mashew! Mashew!". My students call me "Amahnder". Amanda is hard to say too; they add an r to the end, no matter how much I correct them. My students are great. They know more English than Matthew's, so they can be a lot of fun. They are still pretty limited. Here are some funny conversations I've had.
-teaching on, in, near, etc.
Amy: What is IN your desk? IN your desk?
Student: A teacher!
Amy: You have a TEACHER in your desk?
Student: (giggling and recovering from his mistake) Yes, a very small one!
-The greeting that they do NO MATTER WHAT.
Amy: Good morning, class! How are you?
Class: Good morning, Amanda. I am fine, thank you; and you?
Amy: I'm fine too!
-I'm trying to slowly teach them things other than "fine"... like I'm hot, I'm sleepy, I'm tired, etc. They can't ALWAYS be fine!
-What sport do you want to play?
Student one: I want to go hiking. What do you want to do?
Student two: I'd like to sleep. Do you want to go sleeping with me?
(The whole class cracks up)
Student two: Oh... SWIMMING! SWIMMING!
Amanda: What is in the garden?
Student: Insects.
Amanda: Good! What insects?
Student: (ponders, then answers tentatively) ME!
Amanda: YOU are an insect?
Student: (giggles uncontrollably) No! No! An ANT.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Work Ethics Over Here
Hm... what's the work ethic like across the world? It seems like people work longer days. This is shown through the fact that even though my school is a boarding school, almost ALL the students live right here in the city. They all go home every weekend; but since Mom and Dad work so much during the week, it's better for the kids to stay at school.
Longer days, yes. But the labor part of it? It's a mix. There are the guys who pedal the big taxi-tricycles around; they obviously work HARD. There are the construction workers dangling way up in the air on a new building being held up by sticks; that's hard work. There's the janitorial staff here at school; this place is always being cleaned! The cafeteria is mopped after every meal. They sweep the whole courtyard every day. They stay busy; they work HARD.
But... there's a different feel to it. Like the teachers. The teachers are often at school from 7:30-5:00; longer than 8 hours. But, when they are not teaching, they are surfing the internet; sleeping; or watching movies online. That's a lot of down time. I'm told we have very full schedules, and we are only IN the classroom about 14 hours a week! There is the kitchen staff; they work a long day. I think it's the same staff for breakfast (starting at 7:00), lunch, and dinner (served until 6:00, then clean-up). BUT... in between meals, they play cards for several hours, or sleep. Shop owners have a round table set up with a card game going at all times. Some watch tv.
And SLEEP. How do these people do it? I'm not sure what home life is like; or how much sleep they get at night; but they can SLEEP. I've gotten on a train, and seen a person sit down and zonk out in a matter of 2 minutes. They will stand, grip the hand holds on the bus, and drift off, swaying and tilting with the bumps. In the teachers office, they will lay their heads down and sleep like a baby. There's even a "nap" chair that reclines with a foot rest (although that's normally used by the pregnant teachers). The kitchen crew sleeps in the cafeteria in between meals. Babies sleep in their mothers arms as they walk. I am SO jealous! I wish I could do that!
Longer days, yes. But the labor part of it? It's a mix. There are the guys who pedal the big taxi-tricycles around; they obviously work HARD. There are the construction workers dangling way up in the air on a new building being held up by sticks; that's hard work. There's the janitorial staff here at school; this place is always being cleaned! The cafeteria is mopped after every meal. They sweep the whole courtyard every day. They stay busy; they work HARD.
But... there's a different feel to it. Like the teachers. The teachers are often at school from 7:30-5:00; longer than 8 hours. But, when they are not teaching, they are surfing the internet; sleeping; or watching movies online. That's a lot of down time. I'm told we have very full schedules, and we are only IN the classroom about 14 hours a week! There is the kitchen staff; they work a long day. I think it's the same staff for breakfast (starting at 7:00), lunch, and dinner (served until 6:00, then clean-up). BUT... in between meals, they play cards for several hours, or sleep. Shop owners have a round table set up with a card game going at all times. Some watch tv.
And SLEEP. How do these people do it? I'm not sure what home life is like; or how much sleep they get at night; but they can SLEEP. I've gotten on a train, and seen a person sit down and zonk out in a matter of 2 minutes. They will stand, grip the hand holds on the bus, and drift off, swaying and tilting with the bumps. In the teachers office, they will lay their heads down and sleep like a baby. There's even a "nap" chair that reclines with a foot rest (although that's normally used by the pregnant teachers). The kitchen crew sleeps in the cafeteria in between meals. Babies sleep in their mothers arms as they walk. I am SO jealous! I wish I could do that!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Expats Come Together
Yes, 2 posts in one day.. don't complain.
We just got home. I just had to blog about our night, even though it's probably not all that interesting to anyone but me.
We were meeting up with Tim, the San Francisco guy, for dinner with some other foreigners. We got the address of the restaurant texted to us. We took a cab, and he dropped us off at a barber shop. After some initial confusion, we found Tim and went up into the restaurant; an awesome place with a private room for us. We all sat at a big round table with a "lazy susan" in the middle for all the dishes. We knew we were in for some fun when we met the crazy mix of people.
-1 guy from San Francisco
-1 guy from Massachussetts
-1 guy from massachussetts' Chinese girlfriend
-1 guy from Germany
-1 girl from South Africa
-1 guy from Vancouver, Canada
-1 Chinese bar owner who spoke only Chinese. He knew how to get us to toast though!
-1 guy from Great Britain
-2 crazy Michiganders :)
What a riot! We learned a little more about everyone, and had some great food. They just ordered about 10 dishes and we would grab things with our chopsticks, and spin it around when we wanted something different. There was lots of food, lots of beer, and lots of laughs. Most people who know me know that I am not a beer fan; but hey, why not cave and go with it? I had 2. Every 2 seconds it seemed like someone was toasting, and you have to down your little glass of beer. We had bottles, and we'd pour it into a glass about twice the size of a shot glass.
Family Guy quotes were said; quotes from Snatch were said; jokes were made, friends were made... good night! After dinner we all went to a billiards hall. Great fun; even though I'm terrible! Matthew won 30 yuan :)
So, there ya go. We now have more friends, more places to go, and things to do! Life is just never gonna be boring!
-
We just got home. I just had to blog about our night, even though it's probably not all that interesting to anyone but me.
We were meeting up with Tim, the San Francisco guy, for dinner with some other foreigners. We got the address of the restaurant texted to us. We took a cab, and he dropped us off at a barber shop. After some initial confusion, we found Tim and went up into the restaurant; an awesome place with a private room for us. We all sat at a big round table with a "lazy susan" in the middle for all the dishes. We knew we were in for some fun when we met the crazy mix of people.
-1 guy from San Francisco
-1 guy from Massachussetts
-1 guy from massachussetts' Chinese girlfriend
-1 guy from Germany
-1 girl from South Africa
-1 guy from Vancouver, Canada
-1 Chinese bar owner who spoke only Chinese. He knew how to get us to toast though!
-1 guy from Great Britain
-2 crazy Michiganders :)
What a riot! We learned a little more about everyone, and had some great food. They just ordered about 10 dishes and we would grab things with our chopsticks, and spin it around when we wanted something different. There was lots of food, lots of beer, and lots of laughs. Most people who know me know that I am not a beer fan; but hey, why not cave and go with it? I had 2. Every 2 seconds it seemed like someone was toasting, and you have to down your little glass of beer. We had bottles, and we'd pour it into a glass about twice the size of a shot glass.
Family Guy quotes were said; quotes from Snatch were said; jokes were made, friends were made... good night! After dinner we all went to a billiards hall. Great fun; even though I'm terrible! Matthew won 30 yuan :)
So, there ya go. We now have more friends, more places to go, and things to do! Life is just never gonna be boring!
-
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Ah, the Weekend.
This is the pagoda we climbed up to. I don't think they really do anything there; from what we heard, it's probably actually new, built for tourist purposes. But it sure is pretty!
Tim took this picture... that's Fuyang down below! I'm glad it's dark; you can't see how red my face is. 
This is the street we walk down to the market. Lots of cute puppies hang out here.
School on a rare sunny day. This was the afternoon after a good rain, so the air was a lot cleaner :)We finished school at about 2:00 on friday. It's been a nice, relaxing weekend (like most are here!). Friday we went to the supermarket and to KFC for dinner. Yummy chicken nuggets! Saturday was laundry/housecleaning day, along with some online tv watching and a dinner out. For lunch, I made a yummy stirfry; pork, carrots, green peppers, and snap peas with some spices. Dinner was SUPERBEES PIZZA! We've been wanting to go back for about a week. We got the Spiced Pizza... cheese, sausage, onions, green peppers. It's soo good. We even got cokes to go with it. It was a good time; we took the time to do a "teach Amy geography" lesson. I swear, Matthew is just full of knowledge; now if only I could retain it when I learn it!
The city is so alive at night. Once the sun goes down, more vendors come out. There are cabs, tuck tucks (3 wheeled scooters with a carriage built in back for passengers), big tricycles (a guy in front pedals the bike, and passengers climb in back) and cars are everywhere. Music is playing, people are milling around.. it's nice! We took a nice stroll home.
Today we slept in. Lunch was our favorite; bacon and bok choy. Today I mixed some carrots and mushrooms in too. Matthew is out trying to get a hair cut. We'll see what he looks like when they are done! Tonight we're going to meet some people for dinner. We were going to go to a teahouse, but it's pretty rainy out and they changed their minds. Oh, well; dinner is good too!
Friday, April 17, 2009
What are the people like in China?
That's kind of like asking "what are Americans like?". Everyone is different. But, for the sake of this blog post, I can group most of them into a few stereotyped categories :) Almost everyone is extremely friendly.We basically have encountered 3 groups of people.
Other foreigners: These are the people we've hung out with. There are two other couples on our floor. One couple is from Utah. They teach in the primary school with us, so we share an office as well. They are the lucky ones that get the first graders (first year English students!). They're very friendly. We've gone to dinner and the foot massage place with them, and they've helped us acclimate, helped with setting up bank accounts and cell phones, etc. There's another couple next door to us; he's from LA, she's from South Africa. They are a riot. We went to the pizza place with them; good food, some weak Chinese beers, and lots of laughs. The 6 of us share a "laundry room". This is actually just a vacant apartment. There's a huge round table in there, so we're going to set up some game nights, and make it a "community room". There's also another guy from Lansing, and his roommate from San Francisco. We spent some time with them on wednesday; checking ou their digs, seeing the other side of town, eating BBQ (it was sooo good) and seeing the most beautiful park in Fuyang. It was a good time! We've seen/bumped into a a few other foreigners around as well. There's a kareoke bar, the Music House, that caters to foreigners on the other side of town. I'm sure we'll go at some point and try to meet some more new people!
The Chinese English teachers: We work in the English Teachers Office. This means we each have desks in a big room with about 20 other teachers. The teachers are great; we have one with us in every class that we teach. They help keep the students under control, translate if we really need it, and learn from us (and us from them). Their English is pretty good, but there are still a lot of language barriers to get over. I've gotten into more than one converstation where we just get stuck, because we can't communicate. I think there is also a barrier there because they've gone to school for this, and plan on making these jobs their careers for the rest of their lives. They have to give exams, grade papers, discipline students, etc. We walk in for a year-long "experience", don't have to test, grade, etc, and live grandly doing it. They are all so nice and polite; but sometimes it's hard.
the Other People: These are everyone else. Grandparents at school. A lot of teachers have their parents babysit while they are teaching. This means there are several grandparents milling around with little babies, who toddle around all day. These people can't really speak any English; but I'm on smiling terms with several! The flatbread lady. We buy flatbread quite often on our walk home from the market. We frequent this same lady's cart. We're trying to skip her sometimes, so she doesn't see us half a mile away and start preparing food! She is very happy, smiley, and speaks no English; but you can fix the issue by pointing and gesturing. We get along just fine. There are the people we walk past when we go places. Young people say hello. Older people stare. Some people take pictures. Parents point to us so their kids can see us. There are the people at the supermarket. This cracks me up; everyone is SO interested in what's in our cart. Sometimes we're great; bok choy, carrots, bread, pork, fruit, etc. We don't get so many stares. But stick some coke and ice cream bars in there and you'll get their attention! The store employees on the way out. They stamp your reciept. They are linked into some comm system, so they come out over a loud speaker saying "Ni Hao". Matthew and I both frequently hear them say something in Chinese, but it sounds just like "Princess bunny". Of course, there are more people. But this will get very long if I continue to ramble.
In general, people seem a bit more open and friendly than at home; except in traffic! If you don't watch out, you WILL get run over. It's up to pedestrians to move; not the other way around. That's what horns are for; to warn walkers and bikers that a taxi is plowing through :) (not really...).
Other foreigners: These are the people we've hung out with. There are two other couples on our floor. One couple is from Utah. They teach in the primary school with us, so we share an office as well. They are the lucky ones that get the first graders (first year English students!). They're very friendly. We've gone to dinner and the foot massage place with them, and they've helped us acclimate, helped with setting up bank accounts and cell phones, etc. There's another couple next door to us; he's from LA, she's from South Africa. They are a riot. We went to the pizza place with them; good food, some weak Chinese beers, and lots of laughs. The 6 of us share a "laundry room". This is actually just a vacant apartment. There's a huge round table in there, so we're going to set up some game nights, and make it a "community room". There's also another guy from Lansing, and his roommate from San Francisco. We spent some time with them on wednesday; checking ou their digs, seeing the other side of town, eating BBQ (it was sooo good) and seeing the most beautiful park in Fuyang. It was a good time! We've seen/bumped into a a few other foreigners around as well. There's a kareoke bar, the Music House, that caters to foreigners on the other side of town. I'm sure we'll go at some point and try to meet some more new people!
The Chinese English teachers: We work in the English Teachers Office. This means we each have desks in a big room with about 20 other teachers. The teachers are great; we have one with us in every class that we teach. They help keep the students under control, translate if we really need it, and learn from us (and us from them). Their English is pretty good, but there are still a lot of language barriers to get over. I've gotten into more than one converstation where we just get stuck, because we can't communicate. I think there is also a barrier there because they've gone to school for this, and plan on making these jobs their careers for the rest of their lives. They have to give exams, grade papers, discipline students, etc. We walk in for a year-long "experience", don't have to test, grade, etc, and live grandly doing it. They are all so nice and polite; but sometimes it's hard.
the Other People: These are everyone else. Grandparents at school. A lot of teachers have their parents babysit while they are teaching. This means there are several grandparents milling around with little babies, who toddle around all day. These people can't really speak any English; but I'm on smiling terms with several! The flatbread lady. We buy flatbread quite often on our walk home from the market. We frequent this same lady's cart. We're trying to skip her sometimes, so she doesn't see us half a mile away and start preparing food! She is very happy, smiley, and speaks no English; but you can fix the issue by pointing and gesturing. We get along just fine. There are the people we walk past when we go places. Young people say hello. Older people stare. Some people take pictures. Parents point to us so their kids can see us. There are the people at the supermarket. This cracks me up; everyone is SO interested in what's in our cart. Sometimes we're great; bok choy, carrots, bread, pork, fruit, etc. We don't get so many stares. But stick some coke and ice cream bars in there and you'll get their attention! The store employees on the way out. They stamp your reciept. They are linked into some comm system, so they come out over a loud speaker saying "Ni Hao". Matthew and I both frequently hear them say something in Chinese, but it sounds just like "Princess bunny". Of course, there are more people. But this will get very long if I continue to ramble.
In general, people seem a bit more open and friendly than at home; except in traffic! If you don't watch out, you WILL get run over. It's up to pedestrians to move; not the other way around. That's what horns are for; to warn walkers and bikers that a taxi is plowing through :) (not really...).
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Pictures!
This is a picture I took in Hangzhou. See the rows of bikes?
This picture was taken in a park in Hangzhou before we came to Fuyang. I love these willow trees; they are all over!
These students are from a 6th grade class Matthew taught in Hangzhou. They love getting their picture taken!
Us walking to Zhejiang University our first weekend in China
This is us with Rainbow, the education student who helped us navigate the city and figure out how to get anywhere in Hangzhou. She was so helpful!
More pics to come...we have Fuyang pictures to post!
An uneventful day
What is a normal, uneventful day like for us?
6:45: wake up. Our alarm plays Chinese music. We get ready, email, shower, etc. and then go to breakfast downstairs at 7:45
8:00: get to the office. We have 3-5 classes each day, each 35 minutes
11:35: go to lunch
1:00: back in the office
2:30-3:00: go home
Our evenings are free... walk to the market, go out to dinner, spend time with friends, etc.
What do we hear here in China?
Morning: horns, horns, horns. Lots of cars and trucks. Music from the courtyard. The streetsweeper plays the "Happy Birthday" song.
afternoon: Kids screaming, birds singing, horns, horns, horns.
evening: horns. Cars.
Late night: Oddly, almost all traffic stops. Bugs and frogs. I'm not sure where all of these frogs are hiding in the city.
6:45: wake up. Our alarm plays Chinese music. We get ready, email, shower, etc. and then go to breakfast downstairs at 7:45
8:00: get to the office. We have 3-5 classes each day, each 35 minutes
11:35: go to lunch
1:00: back in the office
2:30-3:00: go home
Our evenings are free... walk to the market, go out to dinner, spend time with friends, etc.
What do we hear here in China?
Morning: horns, horns, horns. Lots of cars and trucks. Music from the courtyard. The streetsweeper plays the "Happy Birthday" song.
afternoon: Kids screaming, birds singing, horns, horns, horns.
evening: horns. Cars.
Late night: Oddly, almost all traffic stops. Bugs and frogs. I'm not sure where all of these frogs are hiding in the city.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Food
Another post based on a question I've been hearing repeatedly... What are we eating?
Hm... we get 3 meals a day free in the school canteen, 5 days a week. This seemed awesome at first. But now we see why it's not quite so awesome; it's not so good! We eat breakfast and lunch there, but are cooking a lot more, or going out for dinner.
Breakfast: I always have congee and a steamed bun. Congee is rice porridge; this one has red beans in it. It tastes slightly sweet. Matthew eats stuffed steamed buns; with sausage or veggies in them.
Lunch: Rice, and entree's. These change daily; although I normally stick with the same few. Bok choy, bamboo, or other veggies. Sometimes they serve a beef-stew kind of thing; baby potatoes, carrots, and beef. Matthew eats almost any of it. The meat entrees have a lot of bones in them; they just chop up the whole chicken, side of beef, fish, etc. Everything is really grisly and fatty, and I just can't do it! They also serve some "different" stuff... duck heads, eggs with baby chickies in them, tripe, chicken feet.
Dinner: If in the canteen, the same as lunch. Otherwise, we cook for ourselves or go out to eat!
What can we cook for ourselves? Here are the meals so far we've stuck by:
-Bok Choy, stirfried with bacon. Yum yum! We liked this before we came.
-Grilled cheese (the store sells american slices!)
-PB & J
-Pork steak and potatoes
-veggie stir fries
-ham and eggs
What about restaurant eating?
-KFC (yes, it's different from home. A lot of dark meat... and no macaroni and cheese!)
-SummerTown... a Chinese restaurant. FABULOUS. We went here for dinner with Spencer and Andy, a couple from Utah that teaches with us in the primary school. It's a "pointy restaurant", meaning that they have examples of the dishes set out, and we can point at the ones we want! My favorites are the noodles (stir-fried with cabbage, carrots, shrimp.. which I avoid), or the snowpeas with beef.
-Superbee's (PIZZA! We went here last night with Jarvis and Larissa, the other foriegn couple at our school). The pizza was really good, although there were some wierd ones; under one, the English read "Cooks the intestines, smokes the ham, onions, peppers". Oh, and Brazil trip throwback: CORN PIZZA!!!!
-The Dumpling restaurant (don't know the name..).. we went here and there was no english menu, and no pictures to point at! So we just took what the woman pointed to on the Chinese menu. It was alright; but I don't know that we'll go again.
So there you have it; also, there are snacks around. One woman who runs a little cart by the market loves us; we buy her flatbread all the time. There's candy and fruit everywhere. So we're not starving! :)
Happy late Easter, everyone; it's monday morning for us already. Back to work!
Hm... we get 3 meals a day free in the school canteen, 5 days a week. This seemed awesome at first. But now we see why it's not quite so awesome; it's not so good! We eat breakfast and lunch there, but are cooking a lot more, or going out for dinner.
Breakfast: I always have congee and a steamed bun. Congee is rice porridge; this one has red beans in it. It tastes slightly sweet. Matthew eats stuffed steamed buns; with sausage or veggies in them.
Lunch: Rice, and entree's. These change daily; although I normally stick with the same few. Bok choy, bamboo, or other veggies. Sometimes they serve a beef-stew kind of thing; baby potatoes, carrots, and beef. Matthew eats almost any of it. The meat entrees have a lot of bones in them; they just chop up the whole chicken, side of beef, fish, etc. Everything is really grisly and fatty, and I just can't do it! They also serve some "different" stuff... duck heads, eggs with baby chickies in them, tripe, chicken feet.
Dinner: If in the canteen, the same as lunch. Otherwise, we cook for ourselves or go out to eat!
What can we cook for ourselves? Here are the meals so far we've stuck by:
-Bok Choy, stirfried with bacon. Yum yum! We liked this before we came.
-Grilled cheese (the store sells american slices!)
-PB & J
-Pork steak and potatoes
-veggie stir fries
-ham and eggs
What about restaurant eating?
-KFC (yes, it's different from home. A lot of dark meat... and no macaroni and cheese!)
-SummerTown... a Chinese restaurant. FABULOUS. We went here for dinner with Spencer and Andy, a couple from Utah that teaches with us in the primary school. It's a "pointy restaurant", meaning that they have examples of the dishes set out, and we can point at the ones we want! My favorites are the noodles (stir-fried with cabbage, carrots, shrimp.. which I avoid), or the snowpeas with beef.
-Superbee's (PIZZA! We went here last night with Jarvis and Larissa, the other foriegn couple at our school). The pizza was really good, although there were some wierd ones; under one, the English read "Cooks the intestines, smokes the ham, onions, peppers". Oh, and Brazil trip throwback: CORN PIZZA!!!!
-The Dumpling restaurant (don't know the name..).. we went here and there was no english menu, and no pictures to point at! So we just took what the woman pointed to on the Chinese menu. It was alright; but I don't know that we'll go again.
So there you have it; also, there are snacks around. One woman who runs a little cart by the market loves us; we buy her flatbread all the time. There's candy and fruit everywhere. So we're not starving! :)
Happy late Easter, everyone; it's monday morning for us already. Back to work!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Living Conditions in Fuyang
A lot of friends and family have been asking how our living conditions are. The answer is that they are not that different from apartment living at home! I'll tell you a little about where we live.
We live in a high-rise apartment building next to the school compound. The school either rents or owns the bottom 5 floors. The rest (it's 21 floors) are apartments for other Fuyang residents. We live on the fifth floor. The front of the building faces the street. The back of the building faces the school. We have 4 elevators to choose from!
The fifth floor is a designated "foreign teachers" floor. I think the school plans to bring in more teachers in the future. Right now, there are only 3 couples; us, Spencer and Andi (from Utah), and Jarvis and Larissa (from LA). The other 10 or so apartments are vacant! We have a one bedroom apartment. It's fairly small; probably about 500 square feet. We have a dining room, bedroom, computer alcove (not really a room... it's pretty small), bathroom, and kitchen. Lets start with the bathroom.
The bathroom has a western-style toilet (yay for sitting down!), a pedestal sink, and a standing glass shower. This is special in China; most bathrooms don't have anything enclosing the shower. You just mop the whole bathroom after a shower!
The dining room is just that; wood-looking linolium and a table with 4 chairs. We also have a water boiler in there. You can't drink water in China without boiling it. We just stick a big water bottle on top, and pull the lever, and it's boiling hot! We don't have a living room; the dining room is actually plenty big enough for a couch and end tables. One of our neighbors is buying a new couch, so we might be inheriting one very soon.
The kitchen is very small; we get three meals a day free in the school canteen 5 days a week, so we don't cook much. A small freezer/fridge (VERY small), 1 burner gas stove, a microwave, some cupboards, and a sink. Tile floor :)
The computer alcove; a window connecting into the kitchen and another connecting to outside. A small desk and chair. Room for shoes!!!
Bedroom: Queen sized bed and two nightstands. A wall unit with two small wardobes, drawers, room for our tv (it's pretty big!), and space on top for our luggage. It's a small room, but works just fine. The beds in China are rock hard; but we've found a mattress pad and are now getting along nicely.
The only thing I don't like about the apartment is that right outside the window is a big ledge that accumulates "things". People often hang laundry out of their windows, and it falls. It lands under our window. Random socks, underwear, trash, etc. And rain. I think this summer might be stinky!
There are small differences; there is no central heat or air. We have a wall unit in the bedroom that works fine. The bathroom has a water heater we need to turn on before showers. There is a laundry room for the three couples (an empty apartment; we have 1 washer, 1 dryer, and racks to hang drying clothes). A dryer is a novelty in China; it takes 4 hours to dry a load, but comes in handy in a pinch!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Call Me Sniffles
I've caught it; a dreaded Chinese cold. I don't really think it's that different from an american cold; except that I don't have Sudafed! Sneezes, sniffles, coughing, it's all there. And right after Matthew got over it! Oh, well; the weekend is coming in a couple hours, and I plan on doing a whole lot of NOTHING. :)
We've had some adventures since we got here; today I'll share our wednesday adventure!
We went to class, as usual. Mid-morning, we were informed that we'd be going to Hangzhou (a big city an hour from here) with one of the Chinese English teachers. They didn't know how to explain what we'd be doing, or why. We figured it had something to do with the company that placed us in Fuyang, because they have offices in Hangzhou. So we followed Helen (the Chinese teacher) to the bus station. It's quite an experience! We were very happy to go, because we were able to see where the bus station was, how to buy a ticket, where to get off, etc. The tickets are 5 yuan (less than a dollar) for an hour bus ride. We got off at a crowded bus station, hopped in a taxi, and ended at a police station. We then figured out that we were doing the finishing touches on our work visas. We are now officially Foreign Experts according to the government! Helen had some personal errands to run in the city before we returned. We didn't mind; we went to a street market. It was full of Old world China stuff; lots of trinkets, tea, silk, umbrellas, chopsticks, etc. And a MCDONALDS! We did it; we got food, fries, and sundaes. It was fabulous. Later, Helen called and we met her to go home. A taxi ride, bus ride, and tuck-tuck (small 3 wheeled cart) ride later, we were home once more.
Things are going well; classes are getting easier, annd we're getting more familiar with out surroundings. We can take a taxi on our own, shop, and now go to Hangzhou! We're excited to spend a weekend there checking out the West Lake (you should google it.. it's gorgeous).
At some point, we'll start posting pictures here; but we're having camera issues. If it's not one thing, it's another! There are a bunch posted on my Facebook, if you have an account.
Anyway, my 4th grade class is starting; no rest for the sniffly!
We've had some adventures since we got here; today I'll share our wednesday adventure!
We went to class, as usual. Mid-morning, we were informed that we'd be going to Hangzhou (a big city an hour from here) with one of the Chinese English teachers. They didn't know how to explain what we'd be doing, or why. We figured it had something to do with the company that placed us in Fuyang, because they have offices in Hangzhou. So we followed Helen (the Chinese teacher) to the bus station. It's quite an experience! We were very happy to go, because we were able to see where the bus station was, how to buy a ticket, where to get off, etc. The tickets are 5 yuan (less than a dollar) for an hour bus ride. We got off at a crowded bus station, hopped in a taxi, and ended at a police station. We then figured out that we were doing the finishing touches on our work visas. We are now officially Foreign Experts according to the government! Helen had some personal errands to run in the city before we returned. We didn't mind; we went to a street market. It was full of Old world China stuff; lots of trinkets, tea, silk, umbrellas, chopsticks, etc. And a MCDONALDS! We did it; we got food, fries, and sundaes. It was fabulous. Later, Helen called and we met her to go home. A taxi ride, bus ride, and tuck-tuck (small 3 wheeled cart) ride later, we were home once more.
Things are going well; classes are getting easier, annd we're getting more familiar with out surroundings. We can take a taxi on our own, shop, and now go to Hangzhou! We're excited to spend a weekend there checking out the West Lake (you should google it.. it's gorgeous).
At some point, we'll start posting pictures here; but we're having camera issues. If it's not one thing, it's another! There are a bunch posted on my Facebook, if you have an account.
Anyway, my 4th grade class is starting; no rest for the sniffly!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Welcome!
This is our first blog post from the great country of China!
Our other blog just didn't work out; we kept having issues. Hopefully all is resolved now, though!
The large majority of posts will be written by Amy (Me...). Matthew just doesn't get excited over blogging. I can't imagine that! :)
We will be posting pictures, adventures, and observations here. Today is day number 14 in China. We are settled into our apartment on the school grounds. This week was our first week teaching; and boy, do we have stories we could share!
The biggest surprise was that we are teaching elementary school students, not high school. Matthew has the little ones (2nd and 3rd grade) and I have 4th and 5th grade. The students are really excited about us and about learning English. They are already a handful; but so much fun!
Life in China is already much different than I expected. I'll be sharing reasons why sometime soon. For the most part, we are adjusting well; getting lots of exercise, meeting new people, sampling new foods, and seeing new things! Home sickness has already hit hard for Amy; but it's mixed with a lot of excitement about being here.
Welcome to our blog!
Our other blog just didn't work out; we kept having issues. Hopefully all is resolved now, though!
The large majority of posts will be written by Amy (Me...). Matthew just doesn't get excited over blogging. I can't imagine that! :)
We will be posting pictures, adventures, and observations here. Today is day number 14 in China. We are settled into our apartment on the school grounds. This week was our first week teaching; and boy, do we have stories we could share!
The biggest surprise was that we are teaching elementary school students, not high school. Matthew has the little ones (2nd and 3rd grade) and I have 4th and 5th grade. The students are really excited about us and about learning English. They are already a handful; but so much fun!
Life in China is already much different than I expected. I'll be sharing reasons why sometime soon. For the most part, we are adjusting well; getting lots of exercise, meeting new people, sampling new foods, and seeing new things! Home sickness has already hit hard for Amy; but it's mixed with a lot of excitement about being here.
Welcome to our blog!
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