Watch out World!

 

She's in double digits now! Can't believe my girl is growing up. She's a lovely child and is just a joy to be around. She decided on a new haircut for her birthday and she looks terrific!

Top Commandments for Living in China . . .

There's a "Ten Commandments for Expats" floating around the web. I have no idea where or who started it, but I've revised it for living in China. Additionally, I changed the language to be "plain speaking" as I'm a big fan of keeping things simple.

1. Do not expect to find things as they are in your home country. You left your home country to explore new and different things.
2. Don’t take things too seriously. This is China. It may be different tomorrow.
3. Don’t let other foreigners get on your nerves, especially those who live here. It’s likely that one or both of you will be transferred soon anyway.
4. Do not act all high and mighty. You are the same person you were back in your home country before you had maids and drivers here. [NOTE: Many expats in larger cities have house helpers (ayis) and/or drivers. It's not very common in my part of the country.)
5. Don’t buy everything you see. You already have a house full of things stored in your home country.
6. Do not sit around and mope. Do not feel unwanted or unskilled. Do not feel sorry for yourself. There are many people in worse off situations than yours and there are many organizations that would be grateful for your donations of time and energy.
7. Do not complain about the food. There are many who do not get three nutritious meals a day.
8. Get used to the top five questions: “Where are you from?” “How long have you been here?” “Do you like Chinese food?” “Are you married?” and “How much money do you make?”
9. If you are noticeably “not-Chinese” and live outside of large cities, then develop a thick skin and get used to being stared at. Just deal with it and keep going.
10. When in China, be prepared to do as the Chinese do. Go with the flow and adapt.
11. Learn some of the language. There is never a better chance to learn a language than when you are in the country where it is the native tongue. You will have plenty of chances to use what you study!
12. Learn all the various meanings of “没有” and how to interpret which meaning applies to your current situation.
13. Do not judge all the people of China by the one person who has given you trouble.
14. Do not act superior to the people of China. There is much to learn from them.
15. Always have an attitude of “The more I know about China, the more I know that there’s a lot that I don’t know.”
16. Remember . . . you are a guest in this country. Those who treat their host with respect will be honored.

I'll add to these as I think of them or as others let me know of their additions.

Mixed up letters

 

 

 

 

Street markets are very common here. At any location throughout the city, you can find someone selling items out on the sidewalk. Most of the time, these are against the law and occasionally, the police go through the area and everyone scatters.

However, this particular market is a local night market. Not only do random sellers come out, but many of the local shops bring goods out as well. They usually start setting up around 6:00ish when the actual shops themselves close for the day.

I don't usually take photos of "Chinglish" but sometimes, I just can't resist. I literally did "snap and run" photos this day . . . clicked and walked on. One lady did catch up with me and asked why I was taking photos. I told her that I was an English teacher and that I was taking pictures to show my students what "works" on a tee shirt.

The last one is quite amusing to me. I don't understand why this shirt even exists, but it humored me.

Boboli pizza, eat your heart out!

 

 

 

 

We like pizza. There are a few pizza places in town, but we don't like going to them. First off, their pizzas aren't *that* good. Secondly, we're not willing to pay the price. A small pizza usually costs about 50 yuan and a large one is between 75 and 100 yuan.

Enter the world of "REAL" pizza!

People from the Uyghur minority group make an amazing flat bread that looks just like the Boboli pizza crust you can find in a grocery store. However, I've never had a Boboli that tastes like this! This flat bread has sesame seeds all over, as well as a lightly salted spice mixture.

Most of the time, I buy this from sellers who are selling from a cart. I've never seen anyone make them before, so I was thrilled to discover the process.

The first photo is a huge cauldron. The flash whited out the red glow of the flames at the bottom of the cauldron. Someone makes the dough (usually just flour, water and a bit of oil) and flattens into shape. It then gets placed in a pan of spice and sesame seeds. The baker then places the dough on a cloth-covered pillow type thing and brushes the edges with oil. He then takes the pillow and inserts his whole hand into the cauldron and presses the dough against the side of the cauldron. He can have as many as six or seven pieces going at once.

He takes the crust out at some sort of halfway point and brushes the sides with oil again and puts it back in. For this procedure, he uses long tweezer types tongs.

When the bread is done, he places it off to the side to cool for a minute and then the customer can bag up what they want and go.

Second photo is the top of the bread and the third photo is the bottom (the part that sticks to the sides).

The last photo is what this bread looks like after we make our simple cheese pizza. (I didn't have time to run out and get other toppings for them.)

Four crusts . . . fresh as fresh can be . . . 10 yuan
Pizza sauce . . . yes, I bought a sauce that is a simple recipe of crushed tomatoes and salt . . . can use it as a base for anything . . . 35 yuan (that's for 2.5 liters!). . . enough left over to freeze . . .
1 kilo of mozzerella cheese . . . enough for four pizzas . . . 54 yuan

Total cost for our terrific pizza meal? 99 yuan! And we had leftovers! And we have enough stuff to do it again next week . . . provided I go back to the same place and buy more bread!

Want a bud?

 

 

And I don't mean "Bud Light!"

We hit 80 degrees F today . . . only ten days after our daytime high was 19 degrees F. (I really need to look up how to insert that degree symbol in this blog!) It was downright HOT and the local plants are responding with a vengeance.

This tree is a Chinese magnolia . . . for reasons that I'll never understand, the flowers bloom first and then fall off the tree. THEN, the leaves come. I'll take the flowers and the leaves anytime as they are so much more attractive that the "stick in the mud" that the tree looks like in its "naked glory."

More signs of spring

 

 

At first glance, that tree looks pretty much like a dead bush. However, as you look closer, you can see the buds sprouting. I like how even a broken branch has some healthy buds happening! This will be a beauiful lilac tree with an incredibly fragrant smell at sometime in the not-so-distant future.

It must be springtime

 

To most, springtime means April showers and beautiful May flowers.

We do get beautiful flowers . . . just not until after the annual dust storms. I went out to add money to my phone today and just as I walked back in, the wind picked up. I said to my neighbor (who is new to our area), "Here comes a dust storm."

We went upstairs and watched it roll in. Not a very bad one as far as dust goes, but enough to leave its print. Or rather, enough for us to leave our footprints in what was left behind!

Half as much work means half as much fun

 

I've always wondered why every construction crew in the world seems to always have some people working and some people just . . . ahem, . . . watching.

I joined the peanut gallery on this one. This picture was taken from the second floor window in the stairwell of my building. The work is about 25 feet from the building door. As I watched the guys, it struck me again (no pun intended), at how much physical labor a lot of people put in each day. Dang . . . that sledge hammer looks like it's heavy!

After a while, the three guys working stopped and took a break and the three watchers took over the work. Now it made sense . . . by having two crews there, you end up with a continuous work force.

In spite of China's advances (and there are many), it is still a developing nation. Sights like this are so extremely common, especially in my neck of the country.

Care for the Elderly

 

This is a banner on my campus . . . ironically, next to the kindergarten! Basically, it means, "Care for the Elderly begins with me."

A recent article from a plenary session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing appeared on the CCTV website. http://english.cctv.com/program/chinatoday/20100311/100995.shtml It's a hot issue in the country as generational roles are changing as a result of the one-child-per-family policy. In previous generations, the role of grandparents was to care for multiple grandchildren. However, in these days, most grandparents have only one grandchild to care for, thus reducing their "usefulness" in an aging population. Here's the article:

"China's aging population is growing rapidly. The latest projection is that in 2050 one out of three Chinese will be over 60 years old! This issue, not surprisingly, has generated heated debate in the annual session of the top advisory body, the CPPCC.

"China is likely to grow old before it grows rich.

"That's the concern of some CPPCC members attending the body's annual sessions in Beijing.

"According to the latest figures, China currently has 20 million people over 80 years of age. That number will quadruple in 40 years. And by 2050, 400 million Chinese will be above 60 years old which means one in every four Chinese will belong to that category.

"The United Nations maintains that a country with more than ten percent of its population over 60 is an aging society.

"However, targeted services lag far behind.

"In most Chinese cities, senior citizens' homes are few and far between. The existing ones can't provide senior residents with sufficient activities. That's why for most Chinese, when they grow old, they stay with their children or spouses.

"Yang Chao, CPPCC member, said, "Senior citizens' homes should include recreational centers, hospitals and senior citizens' universities...where they can draw, read books, play ball-games, swim and form discussion groups. It should be a place to empower the senior citizens again."

"Some CPPCC members suggest that more of the national budget should go towards serving China's aging population, namely by building more infrastructure and improve service in senior citizens' homes. They say the government should encourage insurance companies to be more involved in providing services for senior citizens. They can work with neighborhood committees across China to provide a tailored service.

"Yang said, "Commercial organizations should play a bigger role. The government should also have some favorable policies such as tax reduction for senior citizens."

"CPPCC members say for those senior citizens who prefer to stay in their own homes, relevant services should be expanded. Besides regular food delivery and medical services, psychological counseling should also be provided."

Fur Hat in the Morning . . .

 

The weather here is absolutely schizophrenic! It can be 25 degrees F when we wake up and get up to 70 degrees in the warmest part of the day. Heating is not consistent. The annual sandstorms are beginning to roll through, so you can't leave your windows open when you are not home. It really is tough to know how to dress these days.

A friend of mine told me that in Xinjiang (province west of us) it's not uncommon to wear a fur coat in the morning and to eat watermelon in the afternoon! This man is living proof of that saying!

This picture was taken around lunchtime.

School Daze

 

Classes started up again this week after a long winter break. The first week is always hard, especially for people who most likely haven't spoken a word of English since their final exams back in December!

My goal was to get my students into a teamworking atmosphere. I had them build pyramids out of cups . . . using yarn on rubber bands! It emphasized the point that while one person can easily build the pyramid using their hands, that it took skill and teamwork to do the same activity using different tools. Language point? It's easy to speak in your mother tongue, but it takes skill and teamwork to have a conversation in a second language. I think the exercise got the point across very clearly.

By the way, the man on the right side of the photo is only one year younger than me. When I first saw him, I thought that I might have finally gotten a student older than me . . . but not this time!