May 9, 2007
(Matt aka Mu Bai)
We've been without an internet connection since May 1st. I think in the four months we've been here, we've been 'disconnected' about 30 days. But alas, unless something tragic happens, we should be set. I'm writing this for the first time at home. That's right--internet in the comfort of our own home. Imagine the luxury! Between access in my office and at home, we should be able to be connected all the time. OOOOH. Now that we have internet at home, we've found a school for Sam, we're close to having good 'American-style' health insurance, and we found a TV station that broadcasts American Idol, I'd say we're living well.
As you may have noticed, I have a Chinese name. Carol and Sam have had Chinese names for quite some time. Sam's is Ma Kai (meaning Powerful or Success), and Carol's is Mei Hua (meaning America and China together, and Beautiful Flower). After much deliberation, I have finally settled on taking the name of my Chinese hero--Li Mu Bai--from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I think it would roughly translate to White or Pure Eye. You can't get better than that. Now if I can just get some of his sweet moves down...
April 26, 2007
(Matt)
Do you karaoke?
Neither did I until the other night. After giving my presentation, my supervisor invited everyone to a party at a local resturant. Apparently, karaoke is a big deal here. Most people got up to sing, and Carol and I were invited to participate. We sang a very forgettable duet. At least I hope it will be forgotten soon. They wanted Sam to sing too, but he really wasn’t interested.
Speaking of Sam, he lost one of those loose teeth I mentioned before. Now he has three missing teeth on the top and one on the bottom. He thinks it’s cool that he can stick his tongue out without opening his mouth. Carol thinks it would be fun if he lost the other loose one soon, but if he did, I think we’d have to start feeding him intravenously.
He made it through the first week of school. He's just been going for a few hours in the afternoon. When he feels comfortable he'll go the whole day. Today he said he's not ready to go the entire day, yet, but perhaps he'll be ready soon.
April 24, 2007
(Matt)
Just a quick update on how we're doing. Sam started school yesterday. It's a good school that's not too far from where we live. The people who work there are wonderful. We actually visited this school a few weeks ago and really liked it. The problem was that they don't have a kindergarten--they start with first grade. We had wanted to put him in a kindergarten and then put him in this school in the fall, but after not finding anything we liked, we decided to go ahead and put him in kindergarten now. Although there were tears when Carol dropped him off, he came home saying that he really liked it. We'll see how today goes.
I'll be giving a presentation in a couple hours. They asked me to talk about life and studies of graduate students in the U.S. I'll try not to discourage them too much : ) Thanks, Feng and Chen for your thoughts.
Fragrant Hill is a beautiful place to live in the spring time. I now know why it's called Fragrant Hill. There are so many trees and plants in bloom that it's a pleasure to walk outside just to smell the air.
I've included some pictures from the picnic dinner we had the other night in "our" garden.
For those of you wondering, Sam's two front teeth are just starting to poke through, but the two on either side are loose.
There is beauty all around...
Sam and me watching the bats fly over the pond.
Carol and I celebrated our 9th anniversary last weekend. A babysitter stayed Friday night with Sam while we stayed downtown. We had a great time. We saw a Beijing acrobat show Friday night and went to a market the next day. I wasn't sure if I should applaud or cringe when the acrobats bent in ways clearly not intended for man. The market was fun. We didn't go to buy anything, just to look around, but I did end up purchasing a couple of walnuts. I saw this show here that extolled the virtues of walnut therapy. I have to say that I am feeling more at one with the universe now.
April 17, 2007
(Matt)
I just went back to our apartment on my lunch break to pick something up. The phone rang, which is unusual because nobody calls us on our land line.
"Hello."
"(A bunch of chinese words)."
"Sorry, I don't speak chinese."
"(More chinese words)."
"Um, english?"
"(An even longer sentence in chinese)."
They hang up.
A couple minutes later the phone rang again. I almost didn't answer it, but I thought maybe the person found someone who speaks english.
"Hello."
"(Chinese again)," says someone new.
"Sorry, I don't understand."
"(More chinese)."
"Nope, still don't get it."
"One, two, three, four," comes the reply in english.
"One, two, three, four?"
"Uh, sorry, sorry."
The person hangs up.
Calls like that have happened a few times. I figure as long as it's not someone calling to tell me an asteroid will crash into Beijing in 10 minutes and kill everyone, I'll be OK. If our power gets cut--no problem. If our water gets turned off (as it did yesterday when the gardeners turned on the sprinklers)--we'll deal with it. I need to go to the police station--sure.
That reminds me. A few weeks ago my colleague called me and asked if he could come talk to me right at that moment.
"Well, actually, I'm about to leave."
"This is an emergency," he said. "The police are waiting for you downstairs."
"Well, I guess I can squeeze them in."
I had visions of being cuffed and stuffed in a small, dark, damp, prison cell. As it turned out, he just needed to fill out some paperwork. I have no idea what it was about, but it didn't appear to be as big as it sounded on the phone.
Ah, the many joys of not speaking the native language.
April 11, 2007
(Matt)
So, Carol calls me at work the other morning and says, "Our power's out."
"Is it just our apartment or the whole building?"
"Just our apartment," she replies.
Well, after looking into it, I discovered that we needed to go pay our electric bill. I had to get a card for our apartment, take the card to the bank, put money on the card, bring the card home, and swipe it in a slot near our circuit breaker. Apparently, you prepay for the electricity and then recharge the card before it runs out. At least that's how you do it if you know what's going on. That's how we'll do it next time.
Things have been pretty busy around here. I'm preparing for my first trip of the year to Inner Mongolia. I'll be going up towards the end of the month to select study plots and set up grazing exclosures. I've also been working on getting manuscripts ready to send off to get published (hopefully). I'll need to get several more published if I hope to be ready to apply for academic positions later in the year.
Things have also been crazy busy here where we live. This is a beautiful part of town, but as we're realizing, everyone else in Beijing knows that as well. Now that spring is upon us tens of thousands of people are coming out every weekend to see the botanical gardens and Fragrant Hill. Last Saturday I left our home at about 4:10 to catch a bus to go to church to watch general conference. As I walked out to the main street I was overwhelmed with all the people waiting at the bus stop. I knew I'd never be able to get on a bus there, so I decided to walk a ways down the road where it would be less crowded. To make a long story short, at 5:25 after a 6-mile walk and not getting a bus or seeing a single available taxi, I decided it was time to call it quits for the night. I gave up and came home.
The next day we were riding the bus home from church in the afternoon when suddenly the bus stopped, the driver turned off the engine, and opened the doors. Some of the people got off and some stayed. What's going on? Major traffic jam. We got off the bus and walked 2 to 3 miles home. I didn't think Sam could make it, but he was a real trooper. If we had had to do that when we first moved here, he definitely would not have made it. But since this is a walking culture and lifestyle, we've all adjusted and are probably more fit now than we were when we had a car in the States.
March 28, 2007
(Matt)
Camel is tasty.
Last night we ate at a Mongolian restaurant with some friends that are going back to the States this week. This was a restaurant a colleague took me to last year when I visited Beijing. I thought I remembered that the restaurant was pretty good, so I’ve been looking for an opportunity to take Carol and Sam to it. I recommended the restaurant, so off we went. Our waitress recommended several dishes including camel palm—we settled for camel meat instead. Although it didn’t look appetizing, it tasted great. In fact, I think this was one of the best meals I’ve had since we came here. We had radish sprouts, a yummy yummy salad, a bok choy/mushroom dish, some kind of fried vegetable ball, chicken and potatoes, a pork/vegetable wrap, and, of course, the camel. Oh man, we’ve found a new favorite restaurant. All this fed six people and cost less than $30 US.
On a different note, we’re greatly looking forward to General Conference. Our Branch will receive DVDs of conference, and then we’ll have the opportunity to watch all sessions next week instead of this week. Then, the Sunday after that (April 15th), we’ll have our Easter sacrament meeting. This should be interesting as Carol and I have been asked to speak that day.
Church has been an enriching experience. We have members from every continent except Africa and Antarctica. (There may be someone from South Africa, but I’m not sure if they’re still here). It is common to have translators for those that speak in sacrament meeting. Yesterday’s testimony meeting was one of the most spiritually-powerful meetings I’ve attended. A sister from France bore her testimony in French as another member translated it into English, and a member from Taiwan bore his testimony in Chinese as his wife translated. It is inevitable that when people from all over the world come together, you’re going to learn a lot.
March 26, 2007
(Matt)
First, the bad news. The heat got turned off last week. I'm not talking about just the heat in our apartment, I'm talking about the heat in Beijing, maybe all of China. Every Spring (March) the government turns the heat off and then turns it back on in Fall (November). When I asked my colleague about this she said if it gets cold at night they might turn it back on during the night. Based on what we've seen so far, the 30s isn't considered cold.
Now, the good news. Fortunately, the temperatures have been rising fairly steadily. We're now getting into the mid-50s during the days with an occasional high in the low 60s. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 48. We also figured out that the air-conditioning unit in our living room blows hot air. We enjoy our nice warm living room.
It's interesting that the only ones that have a problem with little or no heat are us Americans. It's just a fact of life for the people here, and so they just deal with it. As Carol would say, "They carry their weather with them." And that's literally true. They all wear multiple layers of long underwear non-stop during the winter months.
I think it's time we go to the store so we can carry our weather with us as well.
March 18, 2007
(Carol)
NKIE. It’s a brand name. You know, the one with the swoosh.
We were at the market—silk market to be exact—looking for something that would fit on my American size feet and body. Most other markets don’t have anything that fits. They only go up to about a size 6 or 7 in shoes and the biggest they have in women’s clothes is around a size 8. Those of us who are something bigger are relegated to the realms of XXXL. And sometimes the silk market. Big fat American tourists go there so sometimes they have big fat American sizes—like 10 or 12.
So while at the market, Sam and I also looked at the other wares for sale. He was in need of a few things like house slippers—because we don’t wear shoes inside the house and the concrete floors are really cold—and a long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants. While I was trying to keep away from the people in the stalls pulling my arm and saying, “Hey, lady, come to look at my shoes,” while simultaneously stroking Sam’s arm, pulling him close to kiss him on the cheek and look at his eyes, I spotted some Nike slippers. I didn’t care that they were Nike, I just wanted something that would fit Sam and were inexpensive. I knew I could get them for less than $3. So we bought them quickly and moved on. We also found some genuine (of course) Versace shoes for me, some Abercrombie and Fitch pants, a three piece suit and two Ralph Lauren shirts for Sam. All for a grand total of about $44. And I still think I paid way too much for it all. When we got them home, Matt realized that there was something a little askew with Sam’s shoes—Nike was spelled NKIE. It doesn’t really matter. We just wanted some slippers.
The markets are a new experience for us mall-shoppers. They are usually in buildings with small stalls from 25-100 square feet. Most stalls only have a small selection of things to buy. The stalls are one after another in the big buildings and form halls for shoppers to walk through. The buildings are multiple levels and each level has a different specialty. Hongqiao (the Pearl Market), for example, has a fish market on the bottom floor, electronics and small gifts on the 1st floor, shoes on the second floor, scarves and other stuff on the other floors, and pearls—rows and rows of pearls and pearl vendors—on the 4th and 5th floors.
People who shop at the markets are interested in cheap things. A lot of tourists go to the silk market, so you don’t see many Chinese people who go there because things are over-priced. But other markets, like Hongqiao, you see a mix of locals and tourists. Other markets we go to are filled with local people with us as the only foreigners. The key to shopping in the markets is bargaining. The vendors will ask for an astronomically high price. The lady who sold us Sam’s slippers originally asked for 95 yuan or about $12. We got them for 20 yuan or about $2.50. (I still think I could have gotten them for 15 yuan). Usually you can cut the price by 1/5 and sometimes more or less depending on the item. But you have to know how much to pay and stick to it.
I have felt bad about paying so little for things. Then I realize that even though they don’t cost a lot in U.S. dollars, they do cost a lot of yuan. And we earn yuan. Plus, the vendors are still making a fair profit. They wouldn’t sell it to us if they weren’t. We have had vendors tell us no and let us walk away because they wouldn’t make a profit. It’s not so much how much the item is worth, it is how much it is worth to you. Sam didn’t have enough long-sleeved shirts so when I was bargaining I needed them and wasn’t ready to walk away at a low price. To me they were worth what I paid for them. When I went to another stall, I heard another vendor offer the same shirt for 10 yuan less. I hate that. But, I can’t win them all. And bargaining is bargaining. I had a lady take me shopping for Chinese New Year decorations. She had bought some dragon lanterns just a few days earlier and had talked the vendor down to 25 yuan for two. We went back to the same market and another vendor and asked for the same dragon lanterns. His first price was 17 yuan for me. That’s just the way it goes. It depends on what it is worth to the vendor and to you. The value may fluctuate during the day and season. But it is fun—sometimes. Sometimes it is just a pain and I wish for a price tag. I guess if I want that I can go to Walmart.
Another story. We bought an ‘iPod’ at Hongqiao. It was advertised as 8 gig. When we got it home and tried to put songs on it, it gave us a formatting error—it would only hold about 20 songs. Matt did a little research and found out that it really only had 200 megabytes. We took it back yesterday and, surprisingly, they gave our money back. But we learned a lesson. Markets are places to go for cheap things. Sometimes you can get a good deal and sometimes you can get taken. Check for quality and do your research. We’ll certainly keep shopping at the markets and we’ll certainly use our lessons that we’ve learned.
March 17, 2007
(Carol)
Taxi cabs.
I remember once in Chicago when Matt and I were riding home from the Museum of Science and Industry. We caught a cab and panicked the whole way. Our cab driver was going in and out of traffic and zooming around like a drunken teenager. We were so relieved when the ride was over and we had miraculously made it home safely.
That ain’t nothin’. I am now a firm believer that miracles happen every minute in Beijing. I often see 5 cars fit into 2 or 3 lanes. The other night our driver turned left into head-on traffic. Oh, and it was raining. And did I mention that cab drivers here don’t seem to believe in heaters or defrost? Well, the other cars didn’t happen to see our headlights coming at them until we were an inch or so away. I am not kidding about an inch. Then the honking began. It all worked itself out and we arrived safely, if shaken.
The next morning it was still cold and apparently the cab driver that morning didn’t realize that the inch or so of snow on his back window might impair his field of vision. So the snow stayed on the cab and we drove to church. Well, the windows started to fog up and the driver decided that the most efficient way to fight the fog was to roll the windows down, turn off any semblance of heat coming from the heater and wipe off a 6 inch square in front of his face with a Kleenex. We made it safely to church.
I have come to grudgingly admire this efficient use of resources. If you have a traffic jam, why not drive on the shoulders of the road? If you only need to be in part of a lane, why not share it with another driver or two? Why not try to cool things down a bit to fight fog instead of warm things up? Why quibble about a red light when no cars are coming?
These questions are asked only half in jest. We got into our cab this morning to go to church and, much to our relief because we were a few minutes later than we had planned, he began to pass cars on the shoulder and honk at pedestrians to let him through. We arrived in plenty of time.
So if you plan to come visit, and please do come visit, sit back and enjoy the ride.
March 16, 2007
(Carol)
School days…, (we’re in the thick of them)
Are such fun…, (and we’re sick of them, you can take your pick of them)
We’re looking for schools for Sam and it is a chore. The first one we looked at turned out to be in the middle of a military complex. Matt’s Chinese colleague took us there and when we got to the office, they were surprised that we had gotten past the armed guards. It seems that they don’t allow foreigners there. They said that they would allow Sam to attend school there, but Matt and I couldn’t pick him up or drop him off. We wouldn’t be allowed in the classroom or on campus. They asked us to go out the back way.
The next school we looked at was a local, public elementary school. We had high hopes for it because the teacher spoke English. I observed an entire afternoon. I was a little concerned because the teachers seemed stern, but I also expected a little of that. So the next day I let Sam go for three hours on his own. When I picked him up he was in tears. It seems that the teacher got angry with him for running too fast. She said it wasn’t safe for him. I didn’t know running was a safety hazard, but we have been informed by more than one Chinese teacher that it is. So now we know. Don’t run fast. Later that day Sam said that he had seen a teacher hit a young boy twice in the head. Well, that was the end of that school.
The next day we went to a bilingual kindergarten. The class is taught in Chinese, but English is taught as the second language. We like this alternative because the teacher—especially this one—speaks English very well. She also was good at teaching Sam Chinese along with speaking English. The class size was small, and there was a little more of kids being kids—not so much structure. The big drawback is the hour commute and the tuition that is over 1/3 of our income.
There have been a lot of schools since then. One of the coolest is a school that has been used since the Qing Dynasty. It is very close to our house and is in an old courtyard. The school curriculum is centered on Chinese culture and the kids learn traditional Chinese painting, history, and culture.
The school culture is very different and I can't figure out if I don't like the schools themselves or the school culture at large. The schools are oriented to rote memorization. Even the play is in groups and they have the kids sit and stand and exercise in straight lines and everything is organized. The kids go to school as early as 7:30 a.m. to as late as 4:30 or 5:30 p.m., depending on the school. Many of the kids sleep at the school and are only home on weekends. We are looking at another one that looks promising, but we'll see. Sam would have to go to 1st grade instead of kindergarten. There are kids his age in the class, so it might be a good fit. It just seems like such a big jump. I'll be observing it next week so we’ll see.
I don’t think that America has the corner on good education. Indeed, I see a lot of good in Chinese schools. I just hate the thought of Sam being so serious about school so early on and spending so much time away from home. I’m sure something will work out.
March 11, 2007
(Matt)
I mentioned that we went to Ditan during Spring Festival. It was a quaint little gathering including us and 500,000 Chinese people. It was fun despite the crowd. Actually, it might have been fun in part because of the crowd. It’s not an authentic Chinese experience if you aren’t packed together like sardines. It was a typical fair-type atmosphere. There were performers, small shops, and food. Some of the food was quite interesting. In one of the pictures, you may be able to distinguish scorpions on a stick (two varieties), ducklings (I think) on a stick, giant cockroaches on a stick, and what look to be grubs on a stick. We settled for the ever-popular meat on a stick (we didn’t ask what kind).
Ditan
Ditan
While we were there, a mother of the boy with the painted face asked if she could take a picture of Sam with her son. Then she asked me to take a picture of her son and her with Carol and Sam. That’s happened a couple times now—people asking me to take a picture of them with Carol and Sam. Apparently, they don’t want me in the picture. I guess they can see who the attractive ones are in the family.
Carol snapped a picture of a man at Forbidden City asking me to take a picture of him with Carol and Sam.
This is a picture of Sam trying to push a metal ring with a rod. After Sam struggled with it for a while, I decided to
teach Sam how to do it. Turned out I couldn’t do it any better than he could. It really is harder than it looks.
A man at one of the shops was selling his miniature creations. They were cicada skins (exoskeletons) glued to pussy
willow seeds. He had them in all kinds of arrangements—playing basketball, jousting, performing circus acts, etc.
Perhaps the coolest thing at Ditan was the kids bubble ride. They put kids inside this plastic bubble, blew it up, zipped it closed, and then pushed them out into a pool of water. It was like a giant hamster ball. Carol and I wanted to go out too, but I think they had a weight limit. I think something like that would be popular in the States, except that it probably wouldn’t happen because of liability issues (drowning and stuff).
We also went to the Forbidden City during Spring Festival. This was the place were the emperors lived. Common people were not allowed to enter—hence the name. It’s a spectacular place to visit to see how the royalty lived. Descriptions were given of the different palaces within the city. Many of the descriptions went like this, “This is the building where the emperor would get dressed after breakfast…This is the palace where the emperor would take his afternoon rest…” Amazing to think of people living like that while many of the common people had virtually nothing.
A picture of Mao Zedong adorns the entrance gate of Forbidden City.
After spending the day at Forbidden City, we watched the military lower the flag in Tiananmen Square. Again, it was an intimate gathering of us and several thousand people. I think this would be akin to seeing the American Flag taken in at the Capital building in Washington D.C.
This is Tiananmen Square, which is directly in front of Forbidden City.
I thought this was interesting. Forget the diapers, split pants are the way to go. When the little ones have to go, they go.
Everyone knows that the Chinese are, for the most part, a very petite, slender people. Before we moved here, I thought they were skinny because of healthy eating. I think that was definitely a misconception. Cooking oil is sold by the gallon because they use so much of it in their food. You almost can’t buy cooking oil in containers smaller than that. After living here for some time, I now think they are a slender people first, because of genetics, and second, because this is a culture based on walking and riding bicycles. Not many people own cars, so they rely on public transportation to travel long distances and their own legs to go shorter distances. It’s still about a 10 minute walk for us to get to the nearest bus stop or to get to a street where we can hail a taxi. I have no idea how much I weigh, but when we moved here I had a little cushion around my mid-section but not any more. It’s been years since I haven’t had at least some jiggle on my belly. Now that I’m forced to walk everywhere it’s resulted in a fitter, slimmer, me. Just see the close-up, before-after pictures to see the amazing transformation. (Pictures have been removed for public benefit).
Not even Texas has bottles of oil this big.
This posting wouldn’t be complete without saying a word about the Chinese people. I’ve never met a kinder, more helpful, selfless people. I am constantly amazed by these wonderful people and this beautiful culture. We have been treated so well since we’ve been here. Sam even has a Nai nai and Ye ye (grandma and grandpa). About a week ago, an older lady approached Carol as she and Sam were playing on the playground in our apartment complex. She invited them in and immediately took a liking to Sam. She told him to call her Nai nai and her husband Ye ye. The other day, Nai nai had Carol over to teach her how to make Jiaozi (dumplings), and then I arrived on my lunch break to partake of the feast.
Also, it is proving difficult trying to find a school for Sam. (I’ll have to save that as yet unresolved story for later). Despite the difficulties, there have been many people who have done so much to help us in this regard. People have spent literally hours on the internet and phone helping us find schools; people have personally accompanied us to schools, and others have met with school administrators all in an attempt to find a suitable school for Sam. We are truly blessed to be able to associate with so many wonderful people.
March 10, 2007
(Matt)
Chinese has been more difficult to learn than we thought it would be, so today we met with a girl we hired to teach us Chinese. By the end of our lesson I was feeling pretty good about my progress. My pride quickly dissipated though when we went to a restaurant after the lesson. I accidentally bumped into a waitress and blurted out in perfect Chinese, “You’re welcome,” at which all five of the waitresses laughed. “Er, uh, excuse me,” I finally managed to say. “You’re welcome,” they kept saying to each other as I left the restaurant. Well, at least my pronunciation was good enough to be understood—even if the words didn’t come out quite right.
March 6, 2007
Happy Year of the PIG!!!
(Matt)
I know this is a bit late, but we didn't have internet access for over two weeks. Hopefully, the kinks are now worked out, so we'll be able to keep our web journal more up to date.
Spring Festival was amazing. There is so much to write about I won't be able to cover everything today. I'll have to post a bit every day for the next while.
Fireworks--I quickly learned that the US has no concept of fireworks. We went to a little road stand to pick up some noise makers for New Year's Eve. Man, what a collection! We could buy anything we wanted--I'm talking professional grade. That big pack by my side cost about $120. Unfortunately, we didn't buy that one. Even the cheaper ones that we bought were incredible. We took some video of our own little firework show, but the video file is too large to put on this site. You'll have to take my word that it was awesome.
The brick around Sam's neck was about 5 feet long. It was the shortest one we could find.
New Year's Ever was the loudest night of my life. We didn't go to a professional fireworks show, but I don't recall seeing a better show anywhere in my life. We went outside to where some people were gathered to light the stuff they bought. It was like a firework finale that lasted more than an hour.
It got to be a bit much for Sam.
Over the holiday we went to a festival at Ditan (Temple of Earth), the Forbidden City, and several markets. We'll have to write about that later.
February 14, 2007
(Matt)
I made a new friend the other day. His father is best friends with my supervisor. Although his English is exceptional, he’s trying to improve his pronunciation. I think that’s where I come in. He’s been hanging around with me at work the past couple of days asking me questions and jotting things down in his notebook. As he also answers my questions about Chinese, it’s been a great exchange of teaching and learning for both of us. Because his school will start up again after Spring Festival, I’m not sure how long this exchange will last. I’ll enjoy it until then.
Here are a few not-too-recent pictures.
This was in the middle of the night just before we left to go to the airport in Austin. Carol and I pulled an all-nighter getting everything done. With all of our things in storage, Sam was relegated to sleeping on the floor with our coats.
We were all pretty tired when we got to Beijing, but only one of us was actually asleep.
We bought this loaf of bread and were surprised to find strawberry jelly already smeared around inside.
Another picture from the botanical garden.
One more picture at the botanical garden. The Temple of the Resting Buddha is in the background on the left.
February 11, 2007
(Matt)
It appears that I should have a running thread devoted just to Sam. Today we took the subway and bus home from church for the first time. It took two hours but was much cheaper than taking a taxi. On the subway, Sam sat down next to a boy who looked to be about 5 years old. The boy's father pulled out a camera and took a picture of both of them. The family had luggage with them, so I’d assume they were headed home for Spring Festival--not an uncommon site these days. I can see the family slide show now, “And this is a picture of us at the Great Wall, and this is a picture of the American boy on the subway, and this is…”
I had an awakening experience today. The community we live in at the Institute is gated with security guards posted at the gates. I don’t mean to conjure up visions of grandeur. The guards are only there to make people pay who want to come in to the botanical gardens, not to protect our luxurious apartment. Next to one of the gates that we always walk through is a very small building—I’d say no more than 6.5 feet by 8 feet. Sometimes I’ve seen two security guards—one standing outside and one inside the building. I was also aware that they keep our mail inside the building. What I didn’t realize until today was that those security guards live in that building. As we were walking by today I looked through the window and saw a sink, bunk beds, and clothes hanging up around the room. I was shocked and humbled. Here are two kids (they don’t look to be much older than 16) I’ve often walked by the past month and assumed that they went home to a decent apartment every night living in a building that looks uninhabitable and is small enough to fit inside our living room. In an instant it became very clear to me that many things I think I need are quite frivolous and perhaps wasteful. I feel the need to reassess my priorities.
February 6, 2007
(Matt)
On Saturday we were walking along taking about emergency preparedness for our family. Among other things, we decided we should get some flashlights as I thought it high probability that our power would go out some time. Yesterday as Carol was out-and-about, she saw some flashlights and bought three for 6 Yuan (less than $1). At 9:00 last night the power went out. For what ever reason, a wire in our fuse box fried and cut all our power off. We pulled out the flashlights and were able to go about our normal business. That was an especial tender mercy of the Lord for our 6-year old who is terribly afraid of the dark. We were able to leave a flashlight on in his room and, because of which, were able to have a fairly uneventful night.
February 4, 2007
(Carol)
We went to our local market the other day. I wish we could take a camera in there to show you all what it was like. There were rows of small shops and open-air stalls. We were looking for some chicken and hamburger and maybe some steak. The local meat market wasn’t exactly where I should look for those things, I found out.
We walked into a shop. The whole picture was overwhelming for someone who wants an impersonal relationship with meat. I like mine without a head—preferably in a form where it only vaguely resembles the animal of origin—all wrapped up in sanitary plastic wrap and kept at a constant temperature.
In the market, there were rows of all different types of meat—and I mean different. There were long rippling strips of red something that I can only guess were intestines. Sausages in different colors and widths snaked in oblong rings. White squares of stomach with lace-like villi swayed in its rippling clear liquid and dark purple tongues flopped on a cold white cutting board. The floor was wet and the place smelled raw. The winter cold eased my worries for a moment until I saw everyone’s hands moving from meat to money and back again. This was antithetical to antiseptic.
I returned home without hamburger.
I finally found some chicken and steak and hamburger on another shopping trip a few days later. This time we went to a large store that had everything—something like Wal-Mart. And they had hamburger. I waited my turn to get the meat.
This time I was prepared for chicken with heads but not for the rest of the experience. The woman in front of me, picked through some steak. I mean steak out in the open air, not wrapped. With two fingers, she picked it up to look at it, a little like you might examine fruit. She picked up one piece and then another until she found the one she wanted, leaving the rest for other customers—like me, I suppose.
I decided to stay away from the steak and went to the hamburger. It was out in the open, too. I think I was supposed to reach in the pile and pick it out myself. Oh no. So I picked up one plastic bag, put my hand in it, and used it to scoop out my portion. At least I didn’t have to touch it. I moved to the chicken using the same method of retrieval. At last I finished—shaken—but finished. I got enough hamburger and roast and chicken legs and chicken breasts to last for a month. That was a really difficult experience for me and I am not anxious to experience it again.
I am a little nervous to share this experience because I don’t want people to read it with their nose turned up. It was a shock to me, but also a learning experience. The next day I learned that when people buy their meat in the markets they shop for the meat they will eat that day and then they go home and wash it carefully with soap and water and cook it thoroughly. Not so germ-friendly. I doubt I will ever get to the point of shopping for meat at this market, but I can respect the people who go shopping every day and work daily to have food for their families. There is something to be said for living in the day, knowing that tomorrow will be its own experience. Things are certainly different in China than I’m used to, but it works well for the people here. I love learning about their way.
Food:
I love the dining out experience. When we go out to eat we rely on pictures and luck. If the menu doesn’t have pictures, we turn the pages of the menu and point to something. The other day we ended up at a restaurant that had pictures. We picked something that looked like chicken and something that looked like beef. The chicken was delectable. It was chicken and peanuts with a sweet sauce that I could have eaten for a week and never wanted anything else. The beef we ordered turned out to be liver. Liver is not a Simmons family favorite. It seems like we have as much luck just pointing to something on the menu as when we have a picture to look at.
Sam’s Club:
Shopping is a different experience here. There are a lot of people that work at the stores. They have people in every aisle—sometimes two or three. And they have strong opinions about what you should buy. We went to Sam’s Club the other day. I went to pick up some toilet bowl cleaner and the lady standing by the toilet bowl cleaners made it clear to me, even though we speak very different languages, that it was too expensive and I should buy the other brand. I faltered because I really did want the other toilet bowl cleaner. But after a good long talking to, I was convinced. Maybe I’ll sneak away with the other toilet bowl cleaner the next time.
It was a shorter shopping trip for us and our cart was only half full. But when we brought it up to the front, we noticed people staring and pointing at our cart. Then we noticed that most people had only bought a few things. I wonder what they would think of us in the U.S.A. when we load up our carts until the cereal boxes fall off the top of the cart.
Movies:
We have loved buying movies. We have avoided the street vendors because we haven’t wanted to support piracy, but we figured we would have a look at Wal-Mart because they’d be legal. We were astounded at the prices. For about three U.S. dollars, we bought four movies. We repeated the experience at Sam’s club. They have a lot of classics and past Oscar winners. They also have a good selection of new releases. We have never wanted to buy movies in the U.S. because they have been so expensive. But now we might imbibe in DVD-collecting. Some of my favorites: Guys and Dolls, La Strada, Life Is Beautiful, and Roman Holiday.
Chopsticks:
We were worried that it might take Sam a while to learn to use chopsticks. The first few days were a bit dicey and he often resorted to fingers or forks or just plain stabbing the food. But he soon learned how to use them and now his skills far surpass his parents. He can pick up a whole dumpling, eat rice, noodles, and just about anything else we’re eating. He likes using them better than a fork or spoon.
(Matt)
Sam’s celebrity status continues. Yesterday we visited the botanical garden across the street from the Institute. We went up to a snack/tourist shop because Sam wanted to eat a hotdog-shaped thing that was roasting on the counter. There was a man in front of us buying a toy sword for his son who looked to be about the same age as Sam. Just as he was leaving he turned around and handed Sam a sword, too. I thought we stood out before getting the sword, but I can imagine how we looked as the white family with the son running around slicing the air with the touristy-toy sword. It made me smile.
It just occurred to me that we haven't described our living arrangements. We have a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a three story building. We have two beautiful sunrooms—one at each end of the apartment. They serve as a drying room for our laundry and a storage room. Our kitchen is complete with a stove top (no oven) and counters that are about 2.5 to 3 feet high—definitely made for people shorter than us. We have running water in the kitchen and bathroom with a hot water heater for the shower. The shower head is detachable, so I rigged up a holder over the sink so that we can wash our hands in the sink with hot water. Sometimes we carry hot water from the bathroom to the kitchen to wash our dishes. I usually only do that when my hands are cold though. We have a skinny refrigerator and microwave, and we bought a water machine to filter our water. The water is not safe to drink without filtering it first, but I’m told it’s OK to brush your teeth with it. We bought a rice cooker a few days ago. What a beautiful invention. Stick the rice and water in and 15 minutes later you have perfectly cooked rice. That is definitely one thing we’re bringing with us back to the States.
Although we lack some things that would be considered standard in the States, I think our apartment is pretty good for Chinese standards. A married couple I work with stopped by our place last week. When we asked them if their apartment was like ours they said, “Oh, of course not.” They live in separate dorms—each with four or five other roommates. They have an apartment in the city that they go to on weekends. I have to say we’re extremely blessed and happy with everything. There are very few things that I miss.
Our indoor snow (styrofoam) fight
January 30, 2007
(Matt)
It's interesting being the only white people in this part of the city. For the most part I'm getting used to people staring, but I'm not so sure about Sam. Although it’s unusual for people here to see adult foreigners, I’m sure many of them have never seen a little white boy. Everywhere we go people smile at him and talk to him—mostly in Chinese. On the bus the other day, two older women sitting in front of us kept turning around to look at him while they spoke with each other. Last night while we were eating at a restaurant a man tried to talk to us in broken English. He repeatedly said Sam was beautiful then came over and picked Sam up several times, rubbed his cheeks, and hugged him. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to sign Sam up for a movie deal—it seems he’s almost reached celebrity status. Sam’s been a good sport about it. He generally just smiles.
We're finally getting settled in. We've taken taxis and buses by ourselves, and we're learning how to buy things at the local markets and major shopping centers--all signs that we're becoming self-suficient. We've purchased about everything we need (except a rice cooker and English-Chinese dictionary). My language aquisition is on the fast track as I think I have already learned how to say three words. At this rate I should be at the level of a ten-month old Chinese child by the time we leave.