Sometimes, regardless of where you are, there are days you just want to do nothing. Sometimes you just want to sit at home and finish that book that's been sitting in your apartment for months, or watch that movie that's been laying around for a while. Sometimes, you need a break from that excitement.
That's the one downside I've noticed from living in China. If there are blog posts to be had, or even youtube video. It's got to be exciting. Hell, you wouldn't get much notice if your youtube video was you sitting on your ass and talking. Unless you're funny as Jenna Marbles. That girl knows how to make people laugh. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The thing that no one ever mentions in blogs, vlogs, or youtube videos, is that there are going to be days that you need to do nothing. You need days to recharge. This is one of the reasons I only post once a week. I won't be able to have excitement every day. I tend to feel bad at times, cause I know that's one of the reasons people come to this page. They're curious about China, and what happens there. Well, things do happen. But not every day. The bright side is, when excitement does happen, it happens. And I have a ton to talk about.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Adventures in Hot Pot
Hot Pot. One of the tastiest, yet in some ways the laziest ways to use food to make money. You walk in with a group of friends, and you sit around a table that has a large stove in the center of the table. Everyone sees a menu, usually written in Chinese, and you write down what you want. Meat, vegetables, etc. A lot of the time, if you have a Chinese friend with you, you have them write and translate. Especially if you're not confident with your Chinese. (Two thumbs and not confident with her Chinese? Me!) Then a bowl with two halves is placed on the stove, which has been lit. One side is a regular, probably a little more bland broth while the other side is spicy as hell. While you're waiting for both broths to boil, the food arrives. When it gets here, and the broths boil, you place the food in the broth and let it cook. It's all fun, games, and great eating until someone brings out the duck blood.
A few nights ago, I went to hot pot with a few co-workers. There were four foreigners and two Chinese co-workers. We went to a lesser-known hotpot and ate our fill in potatoes, beef, lamb, lotus root, you name it. As we filled up, a white container was brought out with red gelatin-like cubes. Curious, we all asked, "What's that?" And they answered, "Duck blood!"
Even though I had no interest in trying it, I was curious on how it worked. I was expecting a red liquid, but instead it looked like red tofu cubes. They put some of it in when the foreigners were done eating. Instead of melting, it hardened up so that when you ate it, it would actually be chewy. It was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen.
Later, I found out that this isn't just a thing in China. In a European country that I can't remember, maybe Germany, but don't quote me on it cause I'm not sure, duck blood is a thing. The more you know.
Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try this? I don't know. But for now, I can only watch in fascination that something so strange can be thought of as a food.
A few nights ago, I went to hot pot with a few co-workers. There were four foreigners and two Chinese co-workers. We went to a lesser-known hotpot and ate our fill in potatoes, beef, lamb, lotus root, you name it. As we filled up, a white container was brought out with red gelatin-like cubes. Curious, we all asked, "What's that?" And they answered, "Duck blood!"
Even though I had no interest in trying it, I was curious on how it worked. I was expecting a red liquid, but instead it looked like red tofu cubes. They put some of it in when the foreigners were done eating. Instead of melting, it hardened up so that when you ate it, it would actually be chewy. It was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen.
Later, I found out that this isn't just a thing in China. In a European country that I can't remember, maybe Germany, but don't quote me on it cause I'm not sure, duck blood is a thing. The more you know.
Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try this? I don't know. But for now, I can only watch in fascination that something so strange can be thought of as a food.
Friday, September 11, 2015
9/11 Flashback
It's technically September 12th in Beijing right now, but I know it'll still be Friday when people read this post. On a normal day I'd be looking for some sort of awkward topic to post, or talk about some lingering culture shock, despite being in this country for 2 years now. But since most of the people reading this post will be reading it on September 11th, it's only fitting that I talk about where I was that day. There are some things about that day that are surprisingly vivid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 8th grade. My second class of the day was Choir. I was in the choir with the guys. I don't remember what song we were working on when another teacher suddenly burst into the room, talking in a surprisingly low voice and waving his arms everywhere. No one could hear what they were talking about, but we got some glares from the two teachers when the chatter started up between all of us, students. One of my friends and I still argue about which teacher it was that walked in. I said it was the Geography teacher, while he said it was the History teacher. After he left, we turned on the TV.
There are two times in my life where something stunned a whole class into silence. The second was in Senior Year. The first was that very moment we turned on the TV. For about five to ten minutes we watched the TV. We saw the second plane hit the tower, and we saw the smoke raising from both buildings. I remember thinking this was one realistic TV show, not realizing it wasn't fake. I didn't realize how real this was until my choir teacher turned off the TV, shook his head, and simply said, "Wow." Then we kept rehearsing our choir songs.
To this day, I question why my teacher turned off the TV and simply had us continue with the class. One of my friends said that the teacher didn't care. I personally found that hard to believe. Maybe the teacher expected us to thin whatever was happening in New York City at the time was going to happen to us at any minute. Maybe he thought going through the class and giving us something to distract us from what was happening was better than trying to supervise a class of freaked out 13-year-olds. Whatever it was, it's hard to say if it was a good move or not.
After class, I ran into my epic friend, and she asked me if I saw the news. Everyone had. The whole school was talking about it by the end of class. We kept seeing the same images of people covered in white dust guiding people away from the site. After lunch, it was common knowledge that a plane hit the Pentagon, and another plane crashed in a field. Rumors spread around that school was going to be cancelled. And that we were the next target. In English class, a boy passed a note to me telling me how scared he was. I quickly wrote back, "Don't worry. We're in Houghton Lake. There's no reason for anyone to come here." At lunch, the principal announced that no, school would not be cancelled, and we'd continue the day.
When my mom and stepdad came home from work, we all gathered in front of my mom's TV. My mom, stepdad, sister, brother, step-brother, and me. We watched continuing footage. The whole country shut down. Even the Disney parks were closed. It was one of those few moments where everyone sat around the TV. For once, my mom wasn't loudly shushing someone for asking a question.
~~~~~~~~~A FEW DAYS AGO~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently, I'd seen a facebook post claiming that 9/11 didn't happen. One in particular showed a picture from 9/11 claiming that it was . All I can do is challenge them to go to New York themselves. I was there in 2007, and there was no sign of any Twin Towers. We'd be hearing about it if there were. Dwight D. Eisenhower once ordered the Army to take tons of pictures of Concentration camps in World War II because there would be people claiming the Holocaust didn't happen. It reminds me of that.
If there's anything to point out about that day, I believe it's part of the reason my generation has become so informed. With this event, and the events that followed, it's made us want to find out the information for ourselves instead of trusting one source. That's an interesting side effect of that day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 8th grade. My second class of the day was Choir. I was in the choir with the guys. I don't remember what song we were working on when another teacher suddenly burst into the room, talking in a surprisingly low voice and waving his arms everywhere. No one could hear what they were talking about, but we got some glares from the two teachers when the chatter started up between all of us, students. One of my friends and I still argue about which teacher it was that walked in. I said it was the Geography teacher, while he said it was the History teacher. After he left, we turned on the TV.
There are two times in my life where something stunned a whole class into silence. The second was in Senior Year. The first was that very moment we turned on the TV. For about five to ten minutes we watched the TV. We saw the second plane hit the tower, and we saw the smoke raising from both buildings. I remember thinking this was one realistic TV show, not realizing it wasn't fake. I didn't realize how real this was until my choir teacher turned off the TV, shook his head, and simply said, "Wow." Then we kept rehearsing our choir songs.
To this day, I question why my teacher turned off the TV and simply had us continue with the class. One of my friends said that the teacher didn't care. I personally found that hard to believe. Maybe the teacher expected us to thin whatever was happening in New York City at the time was going to happen to us at any minute. Maybe he thought going through the class and giving us something to distract us from what was happening was better than trying to supervise a class of freaked out 13-year-olds. Whatever it was, it's hard to say if it was a good move or not.
After class, I ran into my epic friend, and she asked me if I saw the news. Everyone had. The whole school was talking about it by the end of class. We kept seeing the same images of people covered in white dust guiding people away from the site. After lunch, it was common knowledge that a plane hit the Pentagon, and another plane crashed in a field. Rumors spread around that school was going to be cancelled. And that we were the next target. In English class, a boy passed a note to me telling me how scared he was. I quickly wrote back, "Don't worry. We're in Houghton Lake. There's no reason for anyone to come here." At lunch, the principal announced that no, school would not be cancelled, and we'd continue the day.
When my mom and stepdad came home from work, we all gathered in front of my mom's TV. My mom, stepdad, sister, brother, step-brother, and me. We watched continuing footage. The whole country shut down. Even the Disney parks were closed. It was one of those few moments where everyone sat around the TV. For once, my mom wasn't loudly shushing someone for asking a question.
~~~~~~~~~A FEW DAYS AGO~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently, I'd seen a facebook post claiming that 9/11 didn't happen. One in particular showed a picture from 9/11 claiming that it was . All I can do is challenge them to go to New York themselves. I was there in 2007, and there was no sign of any Twin Towers. We'd be hearing about it if there were. Dwight D. Eisenhower once ordered the Army to take tons of pictures of Concentration camps in World War II because there would be people claiming the Holocaust didn't happen. It reminds me of that.
If there's anything to point out about that day, I believe it's part of the reason my generation has become so informed. With this event, and the events that followed, it's made us want to find out the information for ourselves instead of trusting one source. That's an interesting side effect of that day.
Friday, September 4, 2015
How to Fight the System and Win
I don't always lose my Chinese bank card. But when I do, it's around the time the Chinese government has started up some new, weird regulation making it harder to bank in China. Essentially making the Chinese banking system more bullshit than it already is.
On this particular Tuesday, I realized I didn't have my bank card. So, being that it was my day off, I decided to take a trip to the bank. Normally, you'd have to take a number and wait for it to be called. Since my Chinese is very hit and miss, I decided to wait in line at a desk and explain the situation. The first thing they did was take my passport. They do absolutely nothing with it. But they have to make a copy each time. So if you lose your card while you're getting your visa renewed, you're kinda screwed. I don't understand the point.
Anyway, they did the usual paperwork, but then out of nowhere stopped. They'd told me that because I used my passport number I had to wait seven days. I'm not sure if it was because I told them that it wasn't happening, or because I had my Foreign Expat Certificate, but with a little patience and very strong, "No, I'm not borrowing money from other people when I have money" I managed to get a new card.
I'd like to say it was cause I never once changed heart and kept telling them no, but I'm not sure that was it. I'd like to say it was me FEC that saved me from going a week without money, but I'm not sure. Either way, thank goodness for my pride. One thing I hate more than anything is being in a situation where I might have to ask someone for money. It's a pride thing. So if I'm actually asking someone for money, I'm really hurting.
One of the big mysteries, maybe, will be what got me to win the system. Or with my luck, someone will read this and tell me exactly how I did it. Either way, it sounds like a shock to most people when I tell the story. Random bit of pride for the win!
On this particular Tuesday, I realized I didn't have my bank card. So, being that it was my day off, I decided to take a trip to the bank. Normally, you'd have to take a number and wait for it to be called. Since my Chinese is very hit and miss, I decided to wait in line at a desk and explain the situation. The first thing they did was take my passport. They do absolutely nothing with it. But they have to make a copy each time. So if you lose your card while you're getting your visa renewed, you're kinda screwed. I don't understand the point.
Anyway, they did the usual paperwork, but then out of nowhere stopped. They'd told me that because I used my passport number I had to wait seven days. I'm not sure if it was because I told them that it wasn't happening, or because I had my Foreign Expat Certificate, but with a little patience and very strong, "No, I'm not borrowing money from other people when I have money" I managed to get a new card.
I'd like to say it was cause I never once changed heart and kept telling them no, but I'm not sure that was it. I'd like to say it was me FEC that saved me from going a week without money, but I'm not sure. Either way, thank goodness for my pride. One thing I hate more than anything is being in a situation where I might have to ask someone for money. It's a pride thing. So if I'm actually asking someone for money, I'm really hurting.
One of the big mysteries, maybe, will be what got me to win the system. Or with my luck, someone will read this and tell me exactly how I did it. Either way, it sounds like a shock to most people when I tell the story. Random bit of pride for the win!
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