"T" in Tennessee!

Fun at the Fun Cafe!

There's a great vegetarian cafe/coffee house near my workplace called the "Fun Jing Cafe."  I'm not sure what Fun Jing means in Chinese....but I've always called it the "Fun Cafe." ha  I've eaten there many, many times, along with introducing it to ALL my colleagues (which caused the owners to give me a VIP card wherein I get a discount each time I go there).  It has great western and Chinese dishes but all vegetarian.  My favorite is the mushroom penne pasta in alfredo sauce with a loaf of delicious french bread on the side.  Love it!  The Fun Cafe closed down about 6 months or so ago for complete redecorating. It also changed ownership, I have come to find out.  It's reopened and today I went there for a late lunch along with a couple of friends/colleagues.  It's now the "Fun Jing Veggie Cafe."  I have walked past it many times in the last 6 months and at one point during the renovation, they had a sign up calling it "Journey's End."  But in the end...they apparently opted for the same name.  It's very open and airy with LOTS of glass and chrome now and very cool.

The great pasta dish and warm french bread (which comes served with some very hot salsa...not butter. Apparently, they believe butter is not vegetarian).

Simone's great sorbet dessert in an edible bowl. I didn't taste it...but wish I had.  I'll just have to go back and order up my own sometime.  The prices are all a bit higher (the pasta dish I enjoy that was once 26 RMB is now 32 RMB) but that's to be expected with new ownership.  The service, as always, was wonderful.

So I snapped a couple of pics of the inside....but not as many as I would have liked....

.....because a guy came over and told me I couldn't take photos! ha ha  I said, "Why?"  And he smiled and very politely explained why....which was totally lost on our foreign ears....but we smiled and said, "Okay" and theorized that he was saying, "Well, you see, we're afraid maybe you'll show the photos of our great new interior to someone who will then open a similar cafe and steal our interior design from us!"  Whatever.  Now, it's only a challenge for me to take more photos (very discreetly) next time I go there! ha  My VIP discount card is apparently still valid....which is nice and we received 30 RMB off our total bill (which was 150 RMB).  They did say, however, that now the discount only applies to bills in excess of 88 RMB.  Before, I could go in there alone and still get a discount.  No matter.  This little vegetarian cafe serves very good food.  Their twice-baked potatoes are wonderful but I was sad to see that their great veggie burger is no longer on the menu.  I noticed they now have a salad called "JUST ARUGULA!" ha  Alan ordered up a veggie tempera dish that I'd like to try in the future, along with other new items they have on the menu.

So tomorrow.....it's May Day (May 1st) here in China, which is Labor Day and everyone is off work on a Friday! :)  I'm heading to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium which has long been on my list of places in Beijing to visit before leaving.  Can't wait to see the pandas (I've never seen live pandas) and also the dolphin show, which I hear is very good!  Stay tuned!  T.

Lobster, BIG Lobster Dinner!

Yeah...it's a two post evening. Nothing like days off to post accounts of life in Beijing!  So...here's the story.  I frequently pass (on taxi rides home...if I go by bus I don't travel this way) by a certain restaurant that has a HUGE lobster attached to the 5 floor building that houses the restaurant.  I have a student whose mother (Jeanette) has become a good friend of mine and with whom I've taken a couple of trips around China with (Guilin and Pingyao).  She's a good friend now and enjoys taking me to wonderful restaurants around Beijing (which I've previously blogged) which I would otherwise not know about.  The last time I traveled with Jeanette, to Pingyao, Seven and her husband, Joe, also joined us.  So Jeanette said she wanted to take me and Seven and her husband out to dinner.  She knew I have wanted to eat at the "big lobster on the building" restaurant so that's where we went tonight.  I had NO IDEA this restaurant was so famous and SO expensive.  Honestly.....if I had known I would never have mentioned this restaurant.  Upon arrival with Seven and her husband...I took these photos before we went inside to join Jeanette and her daughter, my student, Nicole.

Seven (QiMei) and her husband, Joe, in front of the "big lobster on the building" restaurant.

Another shot of the big lobster!  I was told that this restaurant has been operating for 13 years.

Perhaps you can't see just how BIG these lobsters are!  They were HUGE....like I've never seen before!  The tail alone....of the one that we enjoyed (a/k/a ATE) was longer than my hand!

We ordered a small lobster (ha, right?) as the lobster here cost 500 RMB ($75) per kilogram.  This lobster, their smallest on this night, was 3.5 kilograms.  You do the math.  It was EXPENSIVE and I can't tell you how bad I felt throughout this meal, even as much as I enjoyed it, that my friend was paying for the entire meal for all of us!

This is a platter of raw fish (salmon and other delectable goodness) that Jeanette had ordered as a starter.  Two years ago I would have never even TRIED such foods.  Now.....I not only tried a piece of each....I really enjoyed it! 

This is our first presented lobster dish.....huge chunks of lobster nestled in a wonderful butter sauce with delicious homemade noodles!  It was so cool....because they set the tray on the table and then added water to what was dry ice underneath the platter.  I took a video of it and will post it for our viewing as soon as youtube is up and running (or until I find another venue for videos).

Huge delicious butter-encased chunks of lobster!  And the service at this restaurant...unbelievable!  The glasses you might have seen in the photos that look like wine were actually a flower tea which was very delicious.  Folks came around every 15 minutes or so with fresh hot rolled up towels for us to wipe our hands and mouths on.  The waitstaff were so attentive to us....though I must say, as they had a foreigner dining with them on this evening...perhaps our waitstaff were extra specially attentive.  Still.....the service was wonderful!

Our second lobster dish was the flesh from the tail....covered with wonderful garlic (heavy on the garlic) sauce!  Have I mentioned how very DELICIOUS all this lobster tasted?

"What's this?" I said.  "It's the lobster brains," I was told!  Hmmmmm.  Nothing goes to waste here in China.  Still....the brains couldn't have produced such a huge dish.  But hey....I didn't ask any further questions. I partook....a little....and waited for the next lobster dish! ha

Yes!  A wonderful soup (bisque?) of lobster broth with rice and very delicious! Just so you know....we got our "greens" in by enjoying a wonderful platter of asparagus!  When we got the bill, Jeanette asked for a discount!  What??  You see, in America we would only ask for a meal to be discounted if something was terribly wrong with the meal.  So I asked Seven what was going on. She explained that in China....when you spend a LOT of money on a meal at a restaurant it is customary to ask kindly for a discount.  It doesn't mean that anything was wrong.  They discounted our meal by 400 RMB!  So I decided to exercise an American/Western custom...to the amusement of my Chinese friends....and called over the waiter, asking to speak to the manager.  She was summoned and came over to our table.  I stood up and shook her hand and told her in English what a wonderful meal I had enjoyed (as my friend Seven translated).  I told her to please tell her chefs how very much I enjoyed the meal.  She seemed so very pleased and chatted for a minute or two with us.  What an incredible evening and meal!  I will never, ever forget this experience.  There is NO way that a lobster dinner in the States could even come CLOSE to this culinary experience!  We then left the restaurant to go our separate way with Seven, Joe and I sharing a taxi back to our homes.

As we waited for a taxi on the street....I turned around and took this photo!  Have I told you lately how very much I love living in Beijing?  LL, T.

A Nice Evening!

I was recently invited to the home of a friend for dinner.  They live very close to where I live but it was like I was in a different world....with no high rise apartment buildings, no noise...and a beautiful green environment surrounding their villas.

Just beautiful surroundings at these villas.

I'm still learning things about my new camera. Not too good with the close-ups.  I made some adjustments and....

Now that's better.....

I love Japanese maple trees!  This beautiful complex had many!

The villas next to my friend's complex were also just wonderful!  These places are very expensive here in Beijing!  The environment is wonderful and relaxing and noise-free.  But there are no supermarkets within walking distance, no bus stops, etc.  Still.....to live here would be a dream!  Some of the villas had garages just like in America....which is something you don't see often.  I had such a nice time at my friend's home.  Their home was beautiful and their master bath was a bathroom I can only dream about! ha  They had a whirlpool jet bathtub that was truly big enough for 3 people!  I asked the lady of the house whether she uses it often and she said, "No, it uses a LOT of water and I think that's a bit wasteful!"  Chinese folks, no matter their wealth, are very frugal and they are very concerned with saving money for their child's future and their own future.  Still....I had to hold back from asking if I could come over sometime just to take a nice whirlpool bath! ha 

My friends prepared a wonderful meal of pork and vegetable jaozi (dumplings) for dinner but first we went outside to the special trees they had planted and picked the new leaves from the tree.  Why?  Because they chop them up and add egg and fry them up for eating!  I was amazed.  I've never eaten leaves from a tree before.  My friend, Seven, tells me that these leaves are VERY expensive if you attempt to buy them in a supermarket and that her mother's complex has some of these trees planted and folks pick the young new leaves.  You can only eat the new growth so now is the time.

This is some of the new growth that we picked for cooking.

The new leaves have been washed, chopped, added to egg and some spices and fried into patties.  They were definitely edible! :)  Over the nearly two years that I have now lived in China I have become very open to trying just about anything!  I ate a respectable amount of these patties with no problem.  For my Western palate, it was new and unusual and I'm glad I had the experience.  It was yet another memorable evening with new friends and I consider myself so very fortunate to be invited into the homes of folks here.  LL, T.

A Wonderful Evening of Dance/Drama in Beijing!

Yesterday evening, after a long day of teaching, I traveled with a student to a wonderful dance/drama performance here in Beijing.  She's one of my upper-level students, and her father had been given 2 tickets to a dramatic dance performance that was in town for 3 nights.  I've never considered myself very lucky.....but I was VERY lucky to be able to attend this performance with my young student and friend!  We had VIP tickets so we were 6 rows in, center stage!  There were tiny red lantern flashlights laying across each seat in this beautiful circular theater.  The venue was at near capacity on this night, the second night of the three night event.  I regret to say that I cannot tell you the name of the theater nor the name of the performance as all information was in Chinese and Nicole, my student, had a tough time trying to translate the name of the dance company, etc.  She did say, however, that this dance company has traveled world-wide and it was very famous.  I soon came to understand how true!  What an incredible night.  So Nicole's parents drove us to the performance when I finished teaching at 6:40 and provided a sack of McDonald's food for us to eat in the car for dinner.  Have I told you how very much I now enjoy the "special sauce" (thousand island dressing) on a Big Mac now?  But this is about the performance........

The event began with dancers in full costume and make-up coming out in the dark audience holding lanterns and they were right beside me!  The entire theater full of folks turned on their little flashlight lanterns and began swinging them and it was cool beyond words!  So pretty and mesmerizing.  I finally figured out how to take photos with my new camera with the flash OFF so here's a few:

 First, a photo of Nicole, my student and young friend.

An opening scene.....this was a tale of tragic love told through dance and music and it needed no words (even though between acts the story was explained on screens in Chinese....Nicole translated a bit for me but the story was easy to understand through the dance/drama).

It's not very hard to understand the emotions here....

The two lovers......

Amazing, right?

Beautiful costumes!

The two main stars take their bows....but oh...there was much more!  Like this:

Wow!

Yep! :)

The performance ended and Nicole and I made our way outside to where her parents were waiting to drive us home.  Nicole's mother, Jeanette, had stopped by a Russian bakery and bought wonderful loaves...BIG round loaves...of Russian bread!  So I took mine to work today and everyone really enjoyed it....SO much that I had make sure I saved a few pieces for myself! ha

 

Back in my apartment....I have to show you the cool little lantern flashlights!

A great evening!  Today, I had a great discussion with some of my advanced students.  You see, I've been showing the movie, "Freedom Writers" to some of my classes.  They loved the movie (starring Hillary Swank as Erin Gruwell, the real life teacher in California).  It has opened up some incredible dialogue with my students. 

New vocabulary words!  We had a great and meaningful discussion about these words!  The students opened up and talked about their own prejudices as I shared the prejudices commonplace in America.  The reality is this.....every nation has prejudices against certain people groups.  Perhaps good and meaningful discussions among young people will be what brings about change (tolerance/acceptance) in our world.  One can hope.....  LL, T.

A Beautiful Day in the 'Hood!

Yesterday, I got out and about for a while to take care of errands.  What a gorgeous day! 

I've posted a similar photo of my apt. building before but the sky was just so wonderfully blue and I never want to forget all my good times living in this building, my wonderful neighbors and neighborhood.  I really feel fortunate to live in a neighborhood with nearly NO foreigners (there's a few that I see from time to time).  It was just the kind of living experience that I envisioned when I moved here.

The big apartment building to the left is where Kang (a former colleague) used to live.  Again...such a great day.  So I took this photo while waiting for the bus.  I was on a mission to go to the ICBC bank and then head across the street to the hospital to pick up some meds (much like going to the pharmacy with a prescription in the States....here those meds are filled at a hospital pharmacy).  At the bank I needed to exchange some RMB for some USD (in preparation for sending some money home wherein I must exchange it from RMB to USD and then hand it right back to them to transfer electronically to my account in the U.S.  It's just how things work here).  So I had no choice but to try and explain what I wanted to do in English (as I had no local friend with me) and all went well.  The only down side was that they pushed me AHEAD of all the Chinese citizens waiting with their numbered tickets to do their own banking and I didn't have to wait at all.  I felt bad about this but didn't want to turn down their generosity in making sure my needs were taken care of.  You see, Chinese citizens are ALWAYS very eager to help foreigners and make their tasks easier.  I appreciate this greatly but wonder if folks are silently cursing me, ("Damn foreigner...now it's gonna take me longer!"), you know?  And it also made me think of how we treat foreigners in the U.S.  It's a sad fact that we would never direct a foreigner to the head of a line simply because they are foreign.  But oh.....what if we did?  What if all foreigners living in the U.S. were treated with such attention and generosity as I am treated here in Beijing.  The special attention that I receive here in China is one of the greatest symptoms of future "reverse culture shock" which I have read about.  When I return to the U.S. I will no longer be given any special attention as I will have been accustomed to for two years.  Reverse culture shock is a very real thing and can cause depression for a Westerner after living in an Asian country.  I think I'll weather it well but only time will tell.  There is a part of me that will welcome the non-attention I will get in the States.  But I should also say that because there is much attention focused on foreigners here in China....it allows me to be able to smile and talk to many folks here.  I really love that.  I will miss walking along the street and hearing someone very far away from me suddenly yell out, "HELLO!" :)  I have never once ignored such a bold gesture and always reply with at least a return "HELLO!" and a big smile.

This is the Holiday Inn just across the street from the hospital and next to the ICBC bank.  This Holiday Inn has employees who speak great English.  During the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics this hotel was completely booked with folks in town for the baseball and basketball events as they were held nearly around the corner! This hotel has a daily buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner that is wonderful.  I've enjoyed it a few times.  Wonderful Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Western dishes and also made to order items.  Delicious!  It's like no Holiday Inn I've ever visited in the States.  They have a beautiful indoor pool and an elegant interior and it's given me a whole new view of Holiday Inns across the world.  As a child, when traveling, my family would frequently stay in Holiday Inns, so I have very special memories about this chain of hotels.

So here I am walking along the street toward that big building in the distance to the left.....which is the West Point (XiDian) shopping plaza.  I go there a lot.  Everyone there knows me! :)  They have a great supermarket called Bon Jour (yeah...it's a French chain) and also a KFC and several floors of bargain shopping.  But I digress....so I'm walking along the street and noticed a small store selling sweet potatoe chips!  Had to have some! 

They are really delicious!  Sweet potatoes....cut thin and fried!  Sweet potatoes are sold whole on the streets and folks buy them and then break them open, peel back the skin and eat them.  No salt, no butter, just pure delicious sweet potatoes!  Can you imagine!

This is a first for me.  I walked onto the XiDian plaza and there they were.....ducklings, chicks, turtles and goldfish being sold on the street.  Oh, I've seen the turtles and goldfish before but never tiny ducks and chickens!  I heard the seller tell one person that the ducklings were 3 RMB each (45 cents).  I stood for a while gazing....trying hard to resist buying them all up and taking them to a nearby lake for release.  It also brought back memories of the late 1960's....when I would see pastel-colored chicks being sold at Sanderson's Dime Store in Donelson, TN!  Folks will buy a little duckling because, you know, they're just so cute...but then they get bigger and then they let them go outside their apartment complexes.  In the complex behind my workplace there was a full-grown duck hanging around for a while.  Some nice person brought out a tub of water for him/her but it wasn't long before I never saw that duck again.  And yes, it's true.  One of my all-time favorite dishes here is duck.  Still....... 

Such cute ducklings!  A passerby (who has unfortunately experienced bad burns on her hand) was trying to feed one of the little ducklings!

Turtles are considered good luck in China!  Lots of folks own them....as well as lots of shopowners.  My hairdressers have a nice big turtle on their counter.  I was eating dinner with a friend recently and the folks at the next table had 2 very big turtles that they were letting walk around on their table and their plates and stuff.  They noticed me staring at the turtles so one man got up and came to our table and presented one of the turtles for me to hold (while my friend told me how turtles can have bad diseases! ha).  So I held the turtle and gave him/her a few strokes and then, smiling, returned the turtle (trying hard not to put my hand to my face/mouth until I returned to my apt. for a good handwashing! ha).

Lots of folks on the plaza on this pleasant afternoon.

When I got home....I decided to take a few photos from my 24th floor balcony. I zoomed in on the old CCTV Tower with my new cam! :)  It's actually about a 30 minute ride by bicycle away but it has a great observation deck and revolving restaurant at the top.  I'm definitely going to go up to the top on a clear evening....just before dusk....so I can see all the lights of this huge city come on.  Sometime.....soon.....before I leave for good.  It's on my list (as it's been for over a year now).  Sigh.

Zoomed-in photo from my balcony of the hills in the distance.

Here, you can see the old CCTV Tower in the distance (that I previously zoomed in on).  And as far as the eye can see.....apartment buildings.  LOTS of apartment buildings!

Another "zoomed in" photo of the beautiful colors of today's sunset!  As always...LL in C (Loving Life in China), T.

Day of Trippin' Around the Wu!

There's an area in Beijing called Wudaokou!  It's a wonderful area of Beijing that is frequented by many, many University students...Chinese and foreign.  It has many wonderful restaurants and many great coffee shops, great shopping, etc.  Today...I met up with a colleague and friend, Simone, who is from South Africa.  Her parents are ethnically Chinese, though like Simone, also born in South Africa, and it was her grandparents who were born in China and immigrated to South Africa.  Though Simone looks Chinese....I actually don't notice that because to me she is a foreigner like me, but from South Africa.  So today I actually forgot that she appears to be Chinese and not a foreigner to folks on the street.  At one point in our time together we stopped to look at the T-shirts a street vendor was selling and Simone took a liking to a particular T-shirt that was very cute.  She asked how much and he said, "25 RMB" so I immediately said in Chinese, "That's too expensive, give us a better price!"  He laughed, we laughed and I told him Simone would give him 15 RMB for the shirt.  I didn't even notice that all kinds of folks around us were now staring and laughing as I tried hard to bargain down the price of the shirt.  He laughed and said, "Okay, 20 RMB."  Simone thought that was great and we had an agreed upon price!  She then reminded me that she looks Chinese so the reason everyone was staring and laughing was because here was this big American negotiating a price for a CHINESE! ha  It didn't even occur to me that they would think this weird.  So then we both started laughing and we told the guy that she was from South Africa and that I was American.  Then I said, "Women shi Beijingren!"  (We are Beijingers!") ha ha  Everyone thought this was very funny!  It was just one of many cool experiences I've had in Beijing where my American antics and warped attempts at speaking Chinese produces lots of laughter.  Simone bought the T-shirt and we walked away laughing!

So....backing up....I left my apartment at 9:00 am, dropped off some clothes at my "wash lady's" house (while her daughter was still sleeping on a bed in the living room)...walked to the street and caught a taxi to the Yuquanlu subway stop ($1.50 for the taxi ride....and that's only because I was behind schedule...otherwise, I would have taken the bus).  So I get to the subway station, tap my transportation card which deducted 30 cents for the ride...and caught the subway to Fuxingmen, where I would transfer to Line 2 (from Line 1).  All went well as I was only a short distance I had to walk to transfer to the Line 2 platform.  Then I rode Line 2 for 3 stops and exited in order to transfer to Line 13 to get to Wudaokou subway stop.  However, the walk from Line 2 to Line 13 took FOREVER!  It was unbelievable.  I walked up then down then up then down...and finally made it to the Line 13 platform to a short 3 stop trip to Wudaokou!  The entire trip took me almost exactly one hour and then I texted Simone that I had arrived and where I was and we met up.  We did a little stationary shopping at a cool Korean stationary store in a big mall and then proceeded to LaBamba's for some Mexican food for lunch!  I had the fajitas and Simone had enchiladas.  She hasn't had much Mexican food in her lifetime (okay, pretty much none) and it was a great experience for her.  Unfortunately, I forgot that I have a great new camera and could have taken photos of the food! ha  The truth is....I've lived in Beijing for over a year and half now and I am now forgetting to take photos for the blog because....well, I live here! ha  But have no worries....after our wonderful long lunch full of great food and conversation....we walked around an outdoor bargain marketplace where I bought some wonderful T-shirts for a friend....and I remembered to start taking photos! ha

So here we are at the outdoor market and Simone is giving me her best "peace sign pose!" ha  See the guy smiling to the far left?  He indicated for me to take HIS photo while throwing down the peace sign so I happily did so!

What a beautiful day!  Blue skies...fluffy clouds...and a nice cool wind blowing!

It seems like overnight all the trees have turned green!  The "greening of Beijing" is a wonderful sight.  Today was one of those exceptionally great weather days in Beijing!

On my return to my neighborhood...I once again transferred from Line 13 to Line 2 at Xizhimen and having to walk outside for a short distance to reach the Line 2 platform, snapped this photo of the cool triple buildings!

Descending to the Line 2 platform at Xizhimen to go 3 stops to the Line 1 Fuxingmen stop where I'd take Line 1 a mere 8 stops to Yuquanlu.  I've ridden the subway a couple of times in the very front car where I can peer into the driver's compartment and watch where we're going through the tunnels but this was the first time I was in the LAST car and was able to watch through the tunnels as we traveled.  On this trip, a couple of beggars traveled through the cars to the end where I was.  They were burn victims, a man and a woman.  Their faces had been severely burned and disfigured.  The woman had no hands...just stumps.  The man also had severely disfigured hands and face.  Very sad to see.   Several folks gave them money and I rummaged for money and gave it to them and then smiled.  The woman smiled at me and it totally lit up her face.  They sat down on the floor near me and we continued to flash smiles at one another until I reached Yuquanlu and exited the subway.

Upon exiting at Yuquanlu I decided to walk the short distance to McDonald's to pay up another 3 months on my internet usage.

So this is the McDonald's closest to my apartment.  It's a 24 hour McDonald's....although the latest I've ever visited it (just once) was 11:00 pm.

See this "ATM-like" machine?  I can pay for my internet usage here.  I pay about $15.00 a month for broadband internet access in my apartment.  When I established internet in my apartment, I paid a year in advance.  Now I pay monthly via this machine at McDonald's.  So after this, I exited McDonald's (I resisted buying a few double Cheeseburgers to hoard in my fridge) and went next door to the Chaoshifa supermarket to do a little food shopping and then hailed a taxi for the short ride back to my apartment (I could have easily taken a 3 stop bus ride but I had 2 bags of groceries which can be difficult to negotiate on a crowded bus).

So here's a couple of pics of the great "knock off" T-shirts I bought for a new friend in the States today!  Her name begins with "J" and ends in "A."  She'll know who she is!   Maybe I shouldn't tell her I only paid $3 for the T's! ha  I LOVE bargain market shopping! :)

I also bought this today! What's this, you say?  Hmmmmm.......

Still unsure? 

They are "retractable" traveling chopsticks!  These are for a local foreign friend....but I'm wishing I didn't have to give them up. I might just have to buy a second pair.

One of my supermarket purchases today.

Shrimp flakes are very fishy and shrimpy smelling.

A very good day, today.  LL, T.

Lovin' Horace!

I teach several students on a one-on-one basis.  They're called VIP students.  I've been teaching Horace since late in his 6th year of life. :)  He's now in his early 8th year!  He's an adorable, smart, energetic kid and I love him to bits!  We spend an hour and a half together every Friday evening and it's usually the highlight of my teaching week.  We study, we play games, we sing (oh yeah...we sing a lot!), we jump around the classroom (okay...HE jumps around), and he makes me very happy....no matter what is muddling up my mind.  Being with Horace puts my mind in perspective for a wonderful 90 minutes.  There's tons I'll miss about teaching kids at EF in China....Horace is very high on that list!  So this little blog entry is dedicated to him!

Classic Horace catchin' a little air! ha

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing that I introduced Horace to the game of "Uno."  He LOVES it!  At the beginning of our class time, he's all, "Teresa, do you have the Uno cards?" ha  So to fufill Horace's craving for the game of Uno and to continue to get some good English studying...I devised a plan.  If I win, then he must perform an educational function.  It might be reading for me, writing, doing a grammar exercise, etc.  If he wins...then we continue to the next game. At first it worked great! ha  But then Horace became an EXPERT at playing Uno and beats me frequently!  Far too frequently! ha  I need to come up with a better plan......

"Wait a minute, Teresa!  YOU didn't win 5 times....I won 5 times!"  He was right. :(  Incidentally, you should know that because it's just the 2 of us playing....the games last 3 minutes or less.  And we don't begin our Uno playing time until toward the END of class. :)  But it's definitely Horace's favorite time of the lesson.

Did I mention how much I love this kid?  AND his new buzzcut! :)

Horace recently lost BOTH his front teeth.  That second one is finally coming in!  I got very lucky when I was assigned to teach Horace.  He's an exceptional child.  His parents AND his mother's parents speak English so he was raised speaking both English and Chinese.  However, his reading and writing skills were lacking. We've made tremendous progress with that and I'm so proud of him.  He may be only 8 years old...but I can have wonderful conversations in English with him.

All these photos were taken with my new cam!  I also just tried to post a great video I took of Horace delivering his "My Little Room" speech in English!  SO cute.  Unfortunately, without the aid of youtube.com (which.....sigh....is still blocked in China) I can't post this great video for your viewing pleasure.  But Horace has totally memorized a great little speech that I helped him with a little and it's very cute.  At some point in the future, I will post it for your viewing pleasure. :)  LL, T.

Being Illiterate Sucks!

Actually, I'm more than illiterate.  I can't read or write in Chinese and I only "get by" with the Chinese language. Tonight, I had a limited conversation with a neighbor as we waited for the elevator in the lobby of my apt. building and I could tell that he was saying, "You should be speaking Chinese by now!"  He's right.  They've been seeing me for nearly 2 years now.  So I tried to tell him, in Chinese, "Yes, you're right.  But I'm an English teacher and my job is to speak English all the time."  He seemed to understand and smiled.  Still, I'm frustrated that my Chinese speaking abilities are still quite lame.

So I returned to Suning (the electronics store on my street) today to purchase my display model Canon camera!  I walked in and noticed that the camera box was back in the display case.  Just my luck that no one who helped me yesterday evening was present today.  So when a sales assistant came over to me I pointed to the camera and said, Wo de, Wo de (mine, mine) and indicated with my hands that I had money to pay for it.  Lots of "ting bu dong" (I don't understand you) on both our parts ensued and they indicated for me to wait a minute.  They brought the official "translator" for the store to me! ha  His English was pretty good and understood that I wanted to buy the camera.  Still, he said I had to wait for the proper sales assistant to return from lunch before I could purchase the camera.  So I waited.  Eventually....everything went just fine and I purchased my new Canon Powershot 2000 camera for the agreed upon price from yesterday and I only had to make one call to a friend to translate for me! ha  When the "translator" told me to follow him upstairs to the official cashier to pay for the camera, I told him I'd first like to see the camera again first.  They opened the display case, took the box out and showed me the camera.  When they opened the box, there was my little slip of paper on which I had written, "TERESA." ha  I smiled and said, "Wo jiao Teresa"  (I am Teresa).  Kinda funny.

So here's a pic of my camera:

I took a few pics with my new camera but importing them to my computer was a HUGE hassle and took me a long time (since I can't actually read the instruction book and had to rely on trial and error....big on the errors)!  On hindsight, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to buy a camera without an instructional book in ENGLISH!  Sigh.  But no worries. I'll get Seven to help me figure it all out soon enough.

I left Suning and crossed the street to KFC cause nothing makes my warped and poor Chinese abilities feel better than a "Zinger (spicy) Chicken sandwich" from KFC! ha  And KFC and McDonald's here have English menus that they will bring out and then you can just point to what you want! ha  So with zinger sandwich and fries in a bag, I left and went next door to the eye glasses place to buy some contact solution.  Here's a few pics taken with my new cam! ha

A little close-up action! ha  Okay, is this the most BORING blog entry ever?  Sometimes, however, I need to say things that are really for my own future reference and reflection.  This entry is one of those.  Sorry for such a lame entry.  Incidentally, I'm currently watching CCTV 9 (China Central TV)which is the English news channel here in China.  So here's the scoop.....because of the nature of this news channel, I get a great overview of news from all over the world.  Right now....they're talking about Obama's approach to new relations with Cuba.  Very interesting.  But I also get great news on many countries that I might not get on my local news channel in America.  Folks here are still very pro-Obama. :)  I'm hoping President Obama can continue to improve the relationship between the U.S. and China.  Right now.....right this minute.....my thoughts revert to the very real fact that 5 years ago I would never have imagined myself living and working in China.  I must say.....once again (sorry).....that it was because of meeting just one human being....a young Chinese student....that brought about incredible change in my life.  Many folks believe that there are no "coincidences" in life; that everything happens for a reason.  I believe that.  It also brings to my mind (geez, I seem to be getting a little wacky with the thoughts now! ha).....a quote from Margaret Mead, famous anthropologist and enthnographer.  She said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  I believe that.  Wholeheartedly. Continuing to Love Life in China, T.

"The Legend of Kung Fu" at the Red Theater!

Yesterday was a full day of teaching (yes, it was also Easter Sunday, but that is a holiday not celebrated in China, as you might imagine).  I arrived at 8:00 am and my last class ended at 5:30 pm.  Then I was off to the subway to take a 45 minute ride (2 lines) to the Tiantan Dongmen station (outside the entrance to the Temple of Heaven) where I would meet 10 colleagues from various EF Kid's Schools to attend the "Legend of Kung Fu" show.  It was held at the Red Theater.  The performance was GREAT but like the Beijing Opera, Forbidden Love, this show was geared towards tourists as it was all in English.  The theater was full of foreigners from all over the world, as well as many Chinese.  This time, there were only Chinese subtitles for Chinese citizens in attendance.  This show is very famous and has traveled all over the world.  It tells the story of a young boy who leaves his mother in search of becoming a Kung Fu master.  It's very good and the display of Kung Fu is amazing, as well as the singing and other things such as acrobatics and some amazing stunts from long cloths hung from over the stage.  Again, as there were many signs admonishing folks NOT to take flash photography....I hesitated until the very end not being sure my flash wouldn't go off.  (I'm remedying this situation soon as I'm picking up my new digital Canon camera tomorrow!).

The Red Theater.  It is, indeed, red.

The young boys performing in this show were absolutely amazing.

The guy in white (the young boy who grew up and became a Kung Fu master) was great!  The way they had him change from the young boy to the young man was also very theatrical and was like a quick disappearing act!  Very impressive.

Amazing show!  At far right you can see the one female in the show.

Final bows.

The new young Kung Fu master to the left, and the old Kung Fu master to the right.

After the performance, these performers came out into the lobby for photo opportunities.  What a wonderful show and a wonderful evening in Beijing with colleagues.  At the end of the show, everyone decided to head out to a restaurant for a late dinner but me and my tired old body declined and hit the subway for the 40 minute ride home (standing all the way, of course).  This is another event that I'll be recommending to my brother and sister-in-law when they visit in August (hopefully).

Focus is a bit off, but you can see the "spring," right?

That's my apartment building and that's my balcony at the top right! 

Today, the first of my two OFF days....I lounged a while (a/k/a laid on my couch watching DVDs for a few  hours) and then went on a cleaning spree of the ole' apartment.  Then I took the bus up a couple of stops to one of my favorite DVD stores (I know, like I don't have enough DVDs already), bought 4 movies for $4.25, and then walked from there to a Japanese fast food restaurant called Yoshinoya.  I ordered a big bowl of rice and shaved beef.  Delicious.  I asked for soy sauce.  They didn't understand.  So I called Seven to translate and turns out they had NO soy sauce!  What?  Huh?  Still, I enjoyed my meal and then walked to the Suning electronics store nearby to check out the cameras.  Lo and behold they had a Canon digital camera displayed for 1737 RMB!  Since it was under my 2000 RMB budget, I had them show it to me.  It looked great! 10 megapixels and 6X zoom capabilities.  All I needed.  Again, I needed to place a call to Seven to translate for me and that's when I learned that the display model was the only one they had left.  So I asked Seven to ask them for a discount since it was the display model.  So they agreed and told me the cost would be 1391 RMB!  Cool!  We proceed with the purchasing activities (which do not happen quickly in China).  They switched the language on the camera to ENGLISH for me and cleaned it and showed me the original box with everything intact, the USB cord, operating book, etc.  I was a bit dismayed to learn that the instructional information was ONLY in Chinese! ha  That's okay.  Seven can translate it for me to get me started until I return to the States and then I'll order up the instructional book in English.  So the sales guy indicated for me to wait.....so I waited.  In the meantime, a nice Chinese gentleman tried his best to engage me in conversation.  I rattled off all I could say in Chinese....the most important of which was, "I'm an American and I'm a childrens' English teacher."  So he motioned me over to 3 Chinese kids checking out an electronic game that says things in English and I said a few words to them, to the delight of the older gentleman who kept telling them to talk to me, talk to me! ha  Finally, the sales guy returned and said lots of things to me, none of which I understood.  Sigh.  Another call to Seven.  Turns out, it was inventory day and the camera I wanted to buy hadn't yet been entered in their inventory computer data so they said I'd have to return tomorrow to buy the camera.  No problem.  I'll go back tomorrow and get it.  Like in the States, when we put something on hold, we put our name on it.  So I wrote my name, "TERESA" on a piece of paper and laid it on the camera box.  They thought that was very funny! ha  I can only hope it's actually there tomorrow when I return to buy it. :)  It's a great price and the fact that it's the display model is fine with me because folks never ask to handle a display model unless they actually intend to buy it.  This camera probably hadn't been handled more than 3 or 4 times, if that.  I left the store and took the bus just one stop to the supermarket near my apt. and purchased the makings of a great beef stew I'll prepare tomorrow in my crockpot.

I'm outta here now to watch one of my newly acquired movies. :)  LL, T. 

A Devastating Tornado, Spring, and a Birthday!

This morning, at 5:30 am, I woke up suddenly with a song playing in my head.  I know...sounds weird, right?  It was.  It was like a radio playing this song in my head and it wouldn't turn off.  It was Helen Reddy's song from years and years ago, "You & Me Against the World."  I have always associated this song with myself and my son, as I raised my son alone.  Some of the lyrics:

You and me against the world; sometimes it feels like you and me against the world; when all the others turned their back and walked away; you can count on me to stay.

So the song kept playing and I had a distinct feeling that I should call my son.  However, I can be a bit paranoid at times when it comes to the safety of my son so I tried hard to ignore the "radio" in my head and go back to sleep.  I knew I had recently used up my only int'l calling card (I can't just make an overseas call directly from my Chinese cell phone; must have a special calling card).  Still, the song keep playing in my head as if Helen Reddy was putting on a special concert in my brain.  I tossed and turned and dozed.  Then, at 7:00 am, my phone rang.  I groped for my phone on the nightstand, noticed it was a call from the States, and quickly answered:

Me:  Hello!

My son:  Can you call me right back or should I talk quick! (you see, sometimes he will call me and I'll call him right back on one of my calling cards to avoid a very expensive call from his cell on his end).

Me:  No!  I don't have a card, talk to me!

My son:  Well, I just wanted to let you know before you heard about it that a bad tornado has hit Murfreesboro (in Tennessee, where he lives) but I'm fine.  Our house is fine (he lives with a few roommates in a house).

He proceeded to tell me very quickly about the tornado, when it hit (around lunchtime, about 5 hours previous to his call) and I told him I'd get up and get online and we could chat via computer.  Because I heard my son's voice right when I answered the phone I really didn't have any time to panic since it was evident he was okay.  But how weird is all this!  Here's 2 photos, the first my son took with his phone and the second lifted from www.tennessean.com (Nashville, TN's major newspaper).  Tragically, a new mother and her 2 month old infant died as she tried to flee their house (which was ultimately flattened) and get into their car.  My son drove to the neighborhood of a friend and though the house next to his friend's house had a huge tree in the middle of it...his friend's house was okay.

This is not my son's friend's house but a house in the friend's neighborhood.  He was told that all the occupants of this house got out safely.  Amazing photo of the destruction of a tornado.

An aerial shot from the newspaper that shows the exact path of this devastating tornado.  Tornadoes can completely destroy a house while leaving the house next to it basically untouched.  On to some happier information:

Spring blossoms are in full bloom in Beijing and I hope to take more photos soon.  The cherry trees are beautiful!  Beijing is a HUGE city and relatively speaking, in such a huge city, there's not a whole lot of "green" around but the parks here and courtyards are very nice and the landscaping wonderful!

Today, in my last class of the day which starts at 4:20 pm (one of my most advanced classes), it was one of my student's (Linda) birthday (yesterday).  So she brought in the rest of the cake that her mother had ordered for her for their family to enjoy!  We sang happy birthday to her and enjoyed helping her eat the rest of the cake! ha  There are about 25-30 students in all my classes that I have been teaching since the first day I began teaching.  Linda is one of those students so she is extra-special to me.   I currently teach about 60 students each week in various classes.  The average size of my classes is 10 students (sometimes more, sometimes less).  We limit our classes to 15 students so our students can get the most from studying English.  If the classes were much larger, we'd have a hard time talking with each and every student one on one.  English classes in Chinese schools can be around 40 students.

Linda, the birthday girl, with the remainder of her birthday cake!  I told her she must make a wish and blow out ALL the candles lest her wish not come true!

Oops!  One candle remained lit! ha

I found a cute little video on youku.com (Chinese equivalent to youtube) and these cute little alien-like guys sang happy birthday in three-part harmony!  Very nice.  Incidentally, youtube is BLOCKED in China right now.  This is due to the unfortunate posting on youtube by some numbskull of a skirmish in Tibet.  Chinese officials don't take kindly to such postings on sites that can be broadcast to the world and I don't really blame them.  Many times, a video is NOT a true representation of what really has happened as we sometimes don't see the "before," just the "aftermath."  I never saw the video that caused youtube to be blocked but I must say I'm a bit sad that it's blocked because I use youtube often in my classes to show my students many interesting things.  Hopefully, things will relax soon and youtube will be unblocked.  It's been unblocked since a few months before the Olympics.  youku, however, is a great site and a close second to youtube.

Linda turned 13 yesterday, by the way.  She enters offical "teenagehood." :)  Sometimes it's hard for me to know the actual age of my students because of this:  if your birthday is in September and you will be turning 15, then on January 1st of that year, folks will say "I'm 15" because they WILL be 15 in that year.  So I always have to ask "When is your exact birthdate?"  They tell me and then I say, "Oh, so you're 14 and will turn 15 in September!" ha  Another of the little cultural differences that I know much more about from living and teaching in China.

A little shout out to Ina, Mustafa, and Charlotte!  I received your snail mail and thank you so much!  Congratulations to Ina and Mustafa who will be officially married in July in the wonderful picturesque town of Townsend, TN in July.  And to Charlotte: your kind words meant a lot to me!  Thanks! LL, T.

Forbidden Love in Beijing!

Last night, I joined about 11 colleagues and friends at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities to see a classic Beijing Opera, Forbidden Love.  It's a well known folk tale about a snake spirit known as Lady White, who joins the human world and falls in love with Xu Xian and they are married.  He doesn't know, however, that she's really a snake spirit.  Along comes the monk, Fahai, and ruins everything for her by exposing her to her husband, who nearly dies from shock.  No worries, however, as Sister White goes in search of a magic herb to bring him back to life.....only to lose him forever because that bad guy, Fahai, summons heavenly soldiers and sucks her into a magical alms bowl and then buries it underneath a pagoda.  This particular opera is very much a tourist opera as they have big screens that show subtitles in Chinese, English and Japanese.  They were SO helpful because otherwise, I wouldn't have known what was going on. There were great representations of acrobatics and martial arts in this opera and it was 2 hours of good Beijing entertainment.  Lady White was known as "Sister White" on the subtitles and her sister was "Blue Sister."  The sounds of Beijing opera can get VERY high-pitched and more than once I envied the young boy in front of me who had no qualms about putting his fingers in his ears when the vocal pitch was so high it was screeching! ha 

I didn't take photos during the performance because I am still using a borrowed camera and didn't know how to make sure the flash wouldn't go off (which was forbidden).  Instead, I took several photos of all the performers as they were taking their final bows.  Wouldn't you know it, however....my flash never went off and I could have taken many wonderful photos during the performance.  If my brother and sister-in-law visit me this summer then I will arrange for them to go to this opera. 

White Sister (the snake spirit) takes her bow.

Taking a bow.

In the forefront you can see Blue Sister, White Sister and Xu Xian, the husband of White Sister!  The costumes (and make-up) were amazing!  Tai hao le!

Beautiful White and Blue Sisters!

Husband Xu Xian defers to his lovely snake spirit wife, White Sister! :)  We had a great time and then I returned by subway to my neck of the woods.  I walked from YuQuanLu (the subway stop close to my apt) to the bus stop to catch the bus to my apt. which was only 3 stops away.  I was engaged in broken Chinese conversation (me in the broken part) by a young man and his wife.  I managed to understand that they also lived on my street, DaChengLu.  When the appropriate bus still hadn't come along after about 20 minutes of waiting, he hailed a taxi and indicated for me to join them.  They stopped when I indicated my apt. gate and let me out and refused to take any money for my share of the taxi ride.  Such wonderful folks in Beijing!

Recently, I polished off all seasons of One Tree Hill and am now embarking on all seasons of The Office.  I have so many DVDs now that I'm thoroughly ashamed to admit just how many!  I'm thinking it's time to stop buying them!  But my work colleagues are loving it as I take stacks into work for everyone to enjoy!  I recently watched Marley & Me (I must say, the book was much better) and also "The Day the Earth Stood Still."  I liked this movie but I am now a fan of little Jaden Smith (Will Smith's young son who was in The Pursuit of Happyness) so it was great to see him acting in this movie.  He's definitely following in his father's (and mother's) footsteps.  I also enjoyed seeing Dakota Fanning act in "Winged Creatures."  I LOVED her in "Hounddog" which you really should see and, of course, her latest, "The Secret Life of Bees."  Yep....I have WAY too many DVDs!  About 3 or so nights a week CCTV 6 shows a movie in English (no dubbing, thankfully, just Chinese subtitles) so last night I watched Julia Roberts in "My Best Friend's Wedding" for about the third time. :)  Okay...enough DVD talk.

Had a wonderful time tonight with a friend at a coffee shop in Wudaokou.  Wudaokou is an area of Beijing that is full of college students, many of whom are foreign.  We had a couple of hours of great conversation (and a wonderful tuna fish sandwich) at a table on the rooftop deck next to a table of girls who were speaking in German.  I will miss the international flavor of this wonderful city when I return to live in Nashville.  It will feel strange to only hear English being spoken.  I envy folks living in U.S. cities where there are multiple nationalities and it's not uncommon to hear many different languages being spoken.  In Nashville, however, I'll expect to only hear southern American English. :)  That's okay.  I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my life and will do my best to find adventure in my days in Nashville just like in Beijing.  LL, T.

Tomb Sweeping Day in Beijing!

Before I write anything, I want to make sure that anyone reading this blog entry understands that I mean no disrespect at all by showing photos of some tombstones and things at Babaoshan National Revolutionary Cemetery!  I post them to show cultural differences and hope that it brings better understanding to some folks who read this blog.  I also want to stress that I kept my camera in my coat pocket and took photos only when I could make sure no one was watching me. 

Having said that, let's start at the beginning.  Wendy, an American colleague of mine, and I wanted to see what Tomb Sweeping Day was all about and the only way to do that would be to actually visit an important cemetery in Beijing.  Babaoshan is just one subway stop away from the subway stop closest to my apt.  So I met Wendy and off we went around 10:00 am.  We met an American man on the subway who was also going to the cemetery with his Chinese wife and child and he kindly pointed us in the right direction once we came up out of the Babaoshan subway stop (however, we never saw him at the cemetery...but that's because it's a VERY big cemetery).  We walked for about 15 minutes and came to the entrance.  There were lots of street vendors selling flowers and fake money and things that are offered on this important day when Chinese people honor the dead.  There were also lots of policemen around to help with any crowd issues.  We were actually expecting a lot more people than we actually saw.  Still.....there were LOTS of people!

We entered the Babaoshan Cemetery (where many soldiers from way back are buried and the ashes of the last Emporer of China, Pu yi, was once at this cemetery but in recent years has been moved to another location just outside of Beijing.  There are also several important Westerners buried at Babaoshan but we didn't know this until we did some research online AFTER our visit.  I will be going back to Babaoshan to try and locate some of these tombstones one day before I leave China.

So.....on this important day, folks bring food, incense, fake money, photos of luxuries such as cars, TVs, etc., alcohol, cigarettes, fruit, and many flowers to the tombstones of their loved ones.  In days past the fake money and other photos, as well as the money, as burned at the tombstone site.  However, it is now illegal to actually burn these things at the graves in large cemeteries (if everyone burned these things then there would be smoke everywhere!).  It's still done, however, in rural areas.  They also bring water and cloths and clean the tombstones.  They also bring paint and repaint the Chinese characters on the tombstones.  It was very humbling to see folks washing off the marble tombstones.  Not only were Wendy and I the ONLY foreigners that we saw that day in the cemetery....but we also saw only 2 children amongst so many adults.  Chinese folks believe that children shouldn't be brought to the cemeteries until they are much older (as my students told me).  Chinese believe that by bringing all these things to the grave site....then the loved ones can have these things in their afterlife.  I was amazed to see some fake U.S. money at one resting place.  Perhaps that person had visited the U.S. on several occasions in their life.

Although I never saw anyone burning anything (other than some incense), the fire department was "at the ready."  I was struck by the neat order in which everything was laid out in case of a fire emergency and since the firefighter in the front seat of this big firetruck was dozing....I quickly snapped a photo, only to walk around the firetruck and notice other firefighters inside the truck who were NOT asleep and stared at me curiously! ha  We quickly moved on.

I felt remorse upon seeing this grave site to see only a small custard pie and an orange.  My students later told me, however, that there are probably lots of soldiers buried at this cemetery that are unidentified so perhaps someone left these things in honor of an unidentified fallen soldier.  I should also mention that the majority of folks buried have been cremated, which is very common in China.  So it is their ashes, not their embalmed bodies (such is common in American cemeteries) that are buried here.  I've made no secret with my own loved ones that I want to be cremated upon death and not have my body embalmed.  There are many "funeral" stores in Beijing where ornate boxes are sold to house the ashes of loved ones.  My close Chinese friends wouldn't go inside with me (believing it to be bad luck) so one day I went inside one all on my own and looked at some of the wooden boxes.  They are absolutely beautiful, some being adorned with inlaid jade and other stones and ornately carved.  The more beautiful ones can easily cost upwards of $500 U.S.  My students told me that some folks DO buy the boxes for their ashes before they die.....but only if they are very old already.  They were completely confused when I expressed a desire to buy one for myself.  But we'll stop that kind of talk for now......

The apple is sitting on top of a paper depicting many things one want desire in their afterlife...including a shiny red sports car.

Beautiful!

The green bottle is rice liquor and there's also a box of tissues left here.  I'm not sure of the significance of that offering.  The multiple plates house many traditional Chinese pastries.

I know it looks likes bodies are actually buried here but my students tell me it's really just their ashes.

This grave site included a plate of chicken, an open beer and sticks of incense, among other items.  A young Chinese man who noticed Wendy and I walking around stopped to talk with us in English.  So nice.  He told us that all the offerings would be removed by many workers at the end of the day!  I can't even imagine what a huge job that would be!

A quick photo of my fellow adventurer, Wendy! :)  Wendy is a very brave mother and wife.  She moved here with her husband and 3 young children and she is adjusting very well to this brave new world! :)

My students tell me that the Chinese characters in the middle say "mother, father" and then their familhy name and to the right....their birth and death dates.....and to the left then names of their children who arranged the tombstone for their ashes.  Again, very poignant for me.

It looks like I was right behind these folks taking a rest atop a grave site.  But actually, I was very far away and zoomed in with my camera.  I just thought they were a very interesting couple (most likely a father and a daughter, but I don't know) who were no doubt contemplating thoughts of their loved one.

My last photo of the Babaoshan National Revolutionary Cemetery!

Lots of folks!

So we left Babaoshan Cemetery and returned to the entrance where we began our adventure.  We then walked down the street in search of a taxi to take us to Sam's Club (there is only one Sam's Club in Beijing and perhaps all of China), which I knew was very near to where we were.  So we walked, and we walked, and we walked! :)  It seemed like miles but was probably only about one mile! ha  We made it to a busy intersections and decided to try to find a taxi to take us to Sam's Club.  The first taxi driver, upon my showing him my Chinese Sam's Club card, had no idea where it was.  So we got out and decided maybe we should just try to walk there.  I called a foreign friend who told me which direction he thought we should walk.  Good thing that I decided to give the taxi a second try.  This taxi driver, when I showed him my Sam's Club card, knew where to take us but it turned out we were only 3 blocks from our destination! ha  We could have SO walked there! ha  But it's okay...the taxi ride was just $1.50 and we were at Sam's Club!  We enjoyed buying many imported items, including some slices of delicious pizza! :) My No. 1 purchase was Land O'Lakes sharp cheddar cheese! ha ha

Wendy and I had a great day together by venturing out into a day among only Chinese citizens.  We learned a lot and became more aware of the culture in which we are living.  It's easy to live in Beijing as an ex-patriot (non-Chinese) and not experience true Chinese culture.  I didn't move here, however, to live the life of an ex-pat who doesn't get to know the land and culture in which I live!  I may only have about 5 months left in Beijing and China.....but I intend to make the most of my time until I return to America so you should definitely stay tuned! :)  LL in C, T.

Cake Update and Training!

I took a taxi to work today to ensure my cake made it safely! ha  Because our Director is on annual leave, I presided over the teachers' meeting today.  I set the cake on a table in the middle of all of us with it completely covered up....and made them wait an hour to see what was within the foil while we discussed work issues. ha  They all LOVED the cake and it was gone in no time!  The Westerners loved it but the Chinese teachers thought it was a bit too sweet, even though they ate all of their slices.  I'm going to bake a few more cakes in my crockpot, I'm sure, before leaving here. :)

Recently, we had a regional training (all the Kid's Schools in Beijing....four....of our company).  Don't we all look so "robot-like" in our new "uniforms?" ha  So we now wear khakis and casual EF shirts....but we can't wear comfortable sneakers.  We must wear either brown or black shoes with brown or black socks! ha  Go figure.  Violations of the "uniform" code can mean termination!  Only in China......

We really are a happy bunch of people!  As in all work situations, there's things we don't like and complain about....but the reality is that we all appreciate one another and all our different cultures.  We enjoy getting together...even when it's for sometimes boring trainings (not that they are ALL boring).  We represent 7 wonderful countries and cultures and we kid each other about our different speech tendencies and just generally have a good time together! :)  It's so nice to work with folks from different countries and get to know them.  It opens and broadens the mind....and that is ALWAYS good! :)  LL, T.

Crockpot Queen of Beijing Bakes a REAL Cake!

So having bought the Duncan Hines cake mix and can of frosting.....I was anxious to try out my skill at baking a cake in the crockpot.  I did so tonight so I could surprise all the teachers at my work tomorrow during the weekly teachers' meeting. Honestly, I was just hoping I could get the cake out of the clay crockpot in enough big pieces to piece it together with the frosting!  I did MUCH better than that! :)  Here's a blow by blow:

The mix called for water (I used purified water), 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil (I used corn oil) and 3 eggs (mine were brown).  I had to separate the mix into 2 parts and I beat it heavily with the spatula in my hands as I have no mixer.  I poured it in and set the crockpot on LOW.  A hour in this is what it looked like.  The outside edges were shapely up nicely so I switched the control to high and check again in another hour.

So it was shaping up nicely but then I removed the clay pot and shook it and saw this:

Oops! The center was still very cake  batter-like! ha  Back in the crockpot for another 30 minutes!

Oh my gosh!  I did it!  And it's ALMOST perfect....which in crockpot speak means it's PERFECT!

Only a small portion left in the crockpot....which I'm happy to report didn't go to waste! ha  YUM!

The cake is still steaming....and the frosting awaits.....so 30 minutes later.....

Just admit it!  It's beautiful, right? :)  And as far as leftover icing on the spatula goes:

ha ha ha ha!  Waste not, want not!

And even though I thought my iced chocolate cake was beautiful....I decided to "bedazzle" it a bit with some Chinese marshmallows! :)

I don't care at all what anyone thinks.....my cake is BEAUTIFUL!  I anticipated difficulties transporting it to work tomorrow so tonight I bought some big  a$$ pieces of aluminum foil to create a bit of a tent over my masterpiece! ha

So....with apologies for so many photos of just one simple cake....know this:  In the States baking a cake would be a simple thing with batter in two round cake pans, baked in an oven.  In China, however, it's rare for folks to have or own an oven.  So I can only say that I am EXTREMELY proud of my crockpot-baked cake! :)  Baking this cake in a crockpot is just one example of many things that I have learned to alter....including my way of thinking!  I can honestly say that after living and working in China....I will be and am forever changed....and make no mistake.....this is a GOOD thing. A very GOOD thing!  Loving Life in China!  T.