Sean and I will have a difficult time finding an English Valentine’s Day card here in Dan Yang, China. I guess this will force us to use our creative side to make our own. This will make our day very special but another thing that has made our day special is that we will both be on China television!
Yesterday, Sean was taken by surprise when our host at the school interrupted him in the middle of class to be interviewed by a T.V. crew. He was asked about Valentine’s Day in America, what it meant to him and what he would normally do to celebrate it. (I am sure that he did not mention that for the past few years he has had to buy several valentines gifts for his several valentines…haha) Unfortunately, they also asked about the origin of the holiday which he was not quite sure about (neither was I). And then today, as I was mopping our floors, I received another call from our host wanting to interview both of us. I quickly got dressed and immediately started researching the history of Valentine’s Day (we would not be caught twice in the dark!) I met with our host and then found Sean after his last class of the day. The television crew taped us walking together and then they wanted to come to our flat to do the rest of the video. (I was glad I just finished cleaning!)
They proceeded to tape Sean writing out a card to me and then they had us act out a scene from a typical Valentine’s Day exchange of flowers, candy and a card. It was very cute. To my dismay, they never asked again about the origin of Valentine’s Day. Apparently, they too, have Google here! The spot will be aired tonight at 9pm and I am hoping that our cable box will work for the few minutes that we need it to work. Just like many things in our apartment, the cable box still needs fixing. However, our host intends on taping the clip for us and I hope somehow we are able to show it to you. (well if it looks good we will show it to you!)
We have been celebrating Valentine’s Day in America since 1840 (thanks Google) and it is just now starting to catch on in China. However, it seems that many men (boys) spend way too much money on gifts for their special valentine and it has become a social and economic problem, especially for the students in high school. This is why the news team is doing a spot on what a typical American would give to his beloved to show his affection. This will be an informative public service announcement and terrific publicity for our schools. Our host was very happy that we agreed to do it. Duh, Sean and I say “NO” to a chance to be on television? NOT!
And by the way, Valentine’s Day started many, many years ago - back in 3rd century Rome. An emperor decided that men that were not married made better soldiers so it was forbidden for priests to perform marriage ceremonies for young men. Well, a priest by the name of Valentine disobeyed the emperor’s orders and continued to perform marriages of young couples and eventually he was discovered and sentenced to death. From prison, the night before his execution, he sent his beloved a letter and signed it, “From your Valentine”. A phrase we still use today.
OK, you can believe it or not. I happen to think that it was something that a man with the last name of Valentine who worked at Hallmark invented because Valentine’s Day is the second biggest card giving holiday, second to Christmas. Maybe that is a bit cynical. Happy Valentine’s Day, regardless!
2.10.2009
240 smiling, shining faces for Jennifer
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| Jenn's first day as a teacher... |
I was not nervous at all today, well except for the bicycle ride to school. The fog was as so thick, I could not see twenty feet in front of me. And even though I take all back roads to get to school, I still share them with pedestrians, other bikes, trikes, electric bikes, mopeds, and cars. And that is the exact hierarchy of who has the right of way. So even though I have moved up from pedestrian to a bicycle, I am still only second rung on the ladder. Let’s just say I am very awake by the time I get to school.
I cannot explain the excitement around me when I am on campus. Everyone looks at me and says hello then giggles. I had two girls run up to me as I walked down the corridor because they wanted to know when I would be teaching their class and to tell me that they were very excited to see me. I was asked a few times to touch my hair. Of course, I let them. I have already started to receive emails from students wishing to be “pen pals” which I think will be fun for both of us. I really feel very comfortable here.
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| We are officially teachers... |
Then after that class ends at 3:15, they all run from class, down the stairwells, through the courtyard, and line up in straight lines throughout the entire school premises. Three thousand students all line up, space themselves evenly, and get ready for their afternoon exercises. The Chinese anthem begins to play and they start their well rehearsed routine of bending, jumping, stretching, jumping, hopping, and turning from side to side. I have never seen anything like it and hope to get a video of it to show you.
As I go around the room having the students introduce themselves to me I find a mixture of personalities. Many of the girls are shy and so are the boys. I can tell when they are really embarrassed because their cheeks get very red. I try not to put them on the spot and remind them that I am their friend. Some cannot even maintain eye contact with me. I know that I am a different type of teacher than they are used to and I will work very hard to get them to open up. Some get so nervous I can actually see them shake. Others have notes written on their hands in pen to help them get through the introduction with me. And of course, there is the class clown or the popular ones that I can pick out immediately.
But even after saying that, they are the truly the most wonderful people with such genuine and innocent hearts. This is going to be a life changing year for me, I can feel it already. Yes, I miss driving my little car to work, especially when you see me on my little bicycle and computer bag spinning down the road (queue Wizard of Oz music here), but the work that I am doing these days feels even more important than dispensing medication when I was pharmacist. At least that is how I feel for now. I hope that doesn’t change.
Bye for now!
2.09.2009
Mr. Sean's first day at school...
I too had quite a day today! All of my 2,000 new students are back from Spring Festival and I started my first day as a Foreign Expert English Teacher here at DanYang Sr. High School, China. Back in the states I have taught classes for Information Technology companies as a corporate trainer, developed training materials and resources as an instructional designer, and my graduate work at USF provided several years of teaching experience teaching adults - so I was comfortable knowing these high school kids are technically adults too and I'm used to standing in front of a class in a variety of environments. My anxiety however, came from not knowing what to expect as far as classroom setup (how were 60 students going to be sitting, for example), power options, projectors, etc. Trying to prepare for everything beforehand, I brought my laptop, some desktop speakers, a CD I had burned to set the tone of English early (love ballads from the 1970s should give them a good introduction, eh?), and a big bag of candy.
I got there early and instead of introducing myself immediately (it was still their break time and they don't get much of it), I got myself oriented but they all stopped what they were doing and simply stared anyway. I put on some music and just let them listen and relax a little while longer, pointing to my watch to let them know we were about to begin.
Before the starting bell rang, the room was filled with whispers, then laughter, then more giggles, then shouts to classmates in Chinese I couldn't understand and I could feel the curiosity and excitement reach a fever pitch. I waited as long as appropriate, then wrote my name on the blackboard and said hello. The whole class roared back, "Hello!" and I knew this was going to be fun. My supervisor, Mr. Chen, also joined the class early but I had 60 sets of eyeballs glued on me so intently that I honestly did not even think twice about him being there for my first day.
Because there are distinct differences in the way children learn (pedagogy) vs. the way adults learn (adragogy), I have been very much looking forward to teaching these high school kids because their typical learning environment is so different than our approach in the states. In the states, and most other countries, by the time young adults are in their last years of high school, they are usually independent thinkers who will question many teaching styles and they only value the subject matter if it can be applied to their immediate lives. As they get older they do not want, nor is it effective, to be spoon-fed information like younger children and this transformation requires a wider variety of teaching methods to motive them now (such as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory stimulation). Older students begin to demand respect for their maturity and autonomy and if that is not given they can be the bain of existence for many high school teachers.
Here in China however, there is a twist to this understanding of how students learn. The twist is that Chinese schools do not foster independent thought whatsoever, regardless of age, and in the past this type of autonomous thinking and behavior has resulted in negative, even tragic, consequences (I am understating these to remain polite to my gracious hosts). Instead, the Chinese classroom structure today still relies heavily on what we refer to as "the sage on the stage" approach to teaching. In other words, the teacher is absolute ruler in the classroom and in general they expect strict discipline and it is typically not a relaxed atmosphere.
Although as research into Chinese educational accomplishments can attest, this style of teaching can be very effective, it is much, much different than other teaching styles and approaches in other, more liberal societies. This type of classroom structure may be good for some learning, the military for instance uses it almost exclusively, but in my experience (and research confirms) it is simply not effective for teaching oral English to young adults.
With these dichotomies in mind, my goal was to be as open and friendly on our first day as possible, and let the students know that this oral English class is going to be modeled on classes in the United States so it will be different, and hopefully more fun and enjoyable than what they are usually expecting. Another cultural obstacle to learning oral English is the ingrained standard of saving face. Chinese students will do anything they can to "save face" and history shows it is difficult to get them to speak oral English especially with the social stigma of getting things wrong. Being wrong in front of a teacher is one thing, but being wrong in front of 60 of your peers can keep even the most confident and learned student quiet and timid. That's where the music and the candy come in.
I introduced myself and spent a good amount of our forty minutes on rules for the classroom. The first rule is that we are here to have fun, and talk! There will be lots of talking in my class and it also okay for you to raise your hand at any time if you need more information about what I am saying (verses not understanding what I am saying). I explained that I may talk too fast and for them to please raise their hand and slow me down - and it's okay to not know everything here because we are practicing English. Just like with sports, it takes practice and nobody is perfect all of the time. They nodded, and giggled, and I could tell they were eager to test their newfound liberties. I knew I was making headway when they answered my questions aloud, this is not typical in a Chinese classroom here, and by the time I got through with introducing myself, I could feel the classroom relax a bit.
With the bag of candy in hand, I had the entire class introduce themselves one by one, telling me a few things about themselves. Some of them have English names and some don't, most love basketball, table tennis, badminton, swimming, but many don't like sports at all. Just like kids all over the world; many enjoy music, spending time with friends, and an eye opening statement from more than a dozen was they enjoy sleeping. Sleeping. Imagine getting that response from a kid in the U.S. - "and one of my favorite things is sleeping!" Here, it is the norm and certainly understandable, considering the work load. Each student was nervous, some visibly shook while speaking to me and their class, but they struggled through it and their English level surprised me.
We made it around the room with the introductions, I gave them a small assignment for next week to write a short paragraph about what they did for Spring Festival (it was over a two week holiday for Chinese New Year), and asked them if they had any questions for me. They squirmed noticeably. I waited, smiled, and waited some more.
Nope. Not yet. No questions this morning.
But I did get them chatting amongst themselves and many of them wanted to ask me things but they opted not to jump into the spotlight yet. The bell rang and it was I who packed up and moved on, their next class was due to start in ten minutes. They all said goodbye in unison, and I told them I would see them next week and to have a great day. They exploded with laughter!
I understand their trepidation, and hopefully with more conversation, perhaps more candy, and small changes in their usual classroom routine, we all will be talking and learning together in a week or two. This is the beginning of an exciting year for me, and them too.
Cheers!
I got there early and instead of introducing myself immediately (it was still their break time and they don't get much of it), I got myself oriented but they all stopped what they were doing and simply stared anyway. I put on some music and just let them listen and relax a little while longer, pointing to my watch to let them know we were about to begin.
Before the starting bell rang, the room was filled with whispers, then laughter, then more giggles, then shouts to classmates in Chinese I couldn't understand and I could feel the curiosity and excitement reach a fever pitch. I waited as long as appropriate, then wrote my name on the blackboard and said hello. The whole class roared back, "Hello!" and I knew this was going to be fun. My supervisor, Mr. Chen, also joined the class early but I had 60 sets of eyeballs glued on me so intently that I honestly did not even think twice about him being there for my first day.
Because there are distinct differences in the way children learn (pedagogy) vs. the way adults learn (adragogy), I have been very much looking forward to teaching these high school kids because their typical learning environment is so different than our approach in the states. In the states, and most other countries, by the time young adults are in their last years of high school, they are usually independent thinkers who will question many teaching styles and they only value the subject matter if it can be applied to their immediate lives. As they get older they do not want, nor is it effective, to be spoon-fed information like younger children and this transformation requires a wider variety of teaching methods to motive them now (such as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory stimulation). Older students begin to demand respect for their maturity and autonomy and if that is not given they can be the bain of existence for many high school teachers.
Here in China however, there is a twist to this understanding of how students learn. The twist is that Chinese schools do not foster independent thought whatsoever, regardless of age, and in the past this type of autonomous thinking and behavior has resulted in negative, even tragic, consequences (I am understating these to remain polite to my gracious hosts). Instead, the Chinese classroom structure today still relies heavily on what we refer to as "the sage on the stage" approach to teaching. In other words, the teacher is absolute ruler in the classroom and in general they expect strict discipline and it is typically not a relaxed atmosphere.
Although as research into Chinese educational accomplishments can attest, this style of teaching can be very effective, it is much, much different than other teaching styles and approaches in other, more liberal societies. This type of classroom structure may be good for some learning, the military for instance uses it almost exclusively, but in my experience (and research confirms) it is simply not effective for teaching oral English to young adults.
With these dichotomies in mind, my goal was to be as open and friendly on our first day as possible, and let the students know that this oral English class is going to be modeled on classes in the United States so it will be different, and hopefully more fun and enjoyable than what they are usually expecting. Another cultural obstacle to learning oral English is the ingrained standard of saving face. Chinese students will do anything they can to "save face" and history shows it is difficult to get them to speak oral English especially with the social stigma of getting things wrong. Being wrong in front of a teacher is one thing, but being wrong in front of 60 of your peers can keep even the most confident and learned student quiet and timid. That's where the music and the candy come in.
I introduced myself and spent a good amount of our forty minutes on rules for the classroom. The first rule is that we are here to have fun, and talk! There will be lots of talking in my class and it also okay for you to raise your hand at any time if you need more information about what I am saying (verses not understanding what I am saying). I explained that I may talk too fast and for them to please raise their hand and slow me down - and it's okay to not know everything here because we are practicing English. Just like with sports, it takes practice and nobody is perfect all of the time. They nodded, and giggled, and I could tell they were eager to test their newfound liberties. I knew I was making headway when they answered my questions aloud, this is not typical in a Chinese classroom here, and by the time I got through with introducing myself, I could feel the classroom relax a bit.
With the bag of candy in hand, I had the entire class introduce themselves one by one, telling me a few things about themselves. Some of them have English names and some don't, most love basketball, table tennis, badminton, swimming, but many don't like sports at all. Just like kids all over the world; many enjoy music, spending time with friends, and an eye opening statement from more than a dozen was they enjoy sleeping. Sleeping. Imagine getting that response from a kid in the U.S. - "and one of my favorite things is sleeping!" Here, it is the norm and certainly understandable, considering the work load. Each student was nervous, some visibly shook while speaking to me and their class, but they struggled through it and their English level surprised me.
We made it around the room with the introductions, I gave them a small assignment for next week to write a short paragraph about what they did for Spring Festival (it was over a two week holiday for Chinese New Year), and asked them if they had any questions for me. They squirmed noticeably. I waited, smiled, and waited some more.
Nope. Not yet. No questions this morning.
But I did get them chatting amongst themselves and many of them wanted to ask me things but they opted not to jump into the spotlight yet. The bell rang and it was I who packed up and moved on, their next class was due to start in ten minutes. They all said goodbye in unison, and I told them I would see them next week and to have a great day. They exploded with laughter!
I understand their trepidation, and hopefully with more conversation, perhaps more candy, and small changes in their usual classroom routine, we all will be talking and learning together in a week or two. This is the beginning of an exciting year for me, and them too.
Cheers!
Ms. Jennifer's first day at school...
I thought I was nervous my first day as a student at High School back in the United States. That was nothing compared to the feeling I awoke with this morning. As I got ready for my first day as a Foreign Expert Oral English Teacher, I found my stomach in my throat. Sean tried to reassure me that I would be great and as I rode my bicycle over to my High School, I tried to relax and enjoy the excitement of this new experience.
I walked into my first class with butterflies as big as flying dragons in my belly. As I turned to write my name on the board, I heard the students snickering and reading my name as I wrote it. I then turned to say “Good Morning” and it was returned with a very warm “Good Morning” back to me. I was going to be fine. I went on to tell the students about me, my family, my education, and why I was here in China. They sat in their chairs eagerly waiting for each word to come from my mouth. I tried to speak slowly so that they could understand and for the most part I think that they did. I would throw in a funny statement once in awhile just to see if they would laugh and they did at all the appropriate moments, confirming to me that they understood.
I told them the few rules I had for the class such as raising their hand and only speaking English while we had class together. And then I had them introduce themselves to me and the rest of their class and to tell me a few things about themselves. After a few giggles and laughs, we went around the room one by one until all 60 had spoken. I was surprised at how good their English was and by how sweet they were to me. Most of them stated their names and ages (aged 16-18) and then went on to say a few things that they do in their spare time such as basketball (huge here), music (backstreet boys!), computer games, and of course, TV. I have violinists and pianists, badminton and ping pong players, cooks and artists, all with the desire to learn my native language.
Some of the students welcomed me to their city, some invited me to meet their family, and some want to be best friends while others told me how beautiful my smile is. I was asked how old I was by all of the classes. I am not sure why but I was honest and told them 41 and they replied with an “Ohhhhhh” and some chuckles and whispering. I don’t know if that is good or bad… doesn’t really matter, it was cute. I was asked about American students and culture and about how I am able to live here in China without knowing the language. I was even asked to sing for my first class but I replied with, “They don’t pay me enough to sing for you” which got a huge laugh but I did tell them that I would bring in some American music along with the words and that we could all sing together.
I was shocked to see how much energy these kids have. They go to school 7 days a week and from 6:30am to 10pm! Yes, I wrote that right. I cannot believe that they do it but they do. There is a 2 hour lunch and nap time in the middle of the day but still, when do they get to do homework? They have 8 other English classes during the week. They learn grammar, reading and writing. I hope to get with the other English teachers to see what they are teaching so that I can incorporate that into my lessons as well. For the most part, I think my first day went very well. I am still in shock that I am here in China teaching English. Sean and I realized that it was exactly one year ago today that we took our teaching certificate classes and became certified. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be doing this, I would have laughed at you. One just never knows where life will take you.
I walked into my first class with butterflies as big as flying dragons in my belly. As I turned to write my name on the board, I heard the students snickering and reading my name as I wrote it. I then turned to say “Good Morning” and it was returned with a very warm “Good Morning” back to me. I was going to be fine. I went on to tell the students about me, my family, my education, and why I was here in China. They sat in their chairs eagerly waiting for each word to come from my mouth. I tried to speak slowly so that they could understand and for the most part I think that they did. I would throw in a funny statement once in awhile just to see if they would laugh and they did at all the appropriate moments, confirming to me that they understood.
I told them the few rules I had for the class such as raising their hand and only speaking English while we had class together. And then I had them introduce themselves to me and the rest of their class and to tell me a few things about themselves. After a few giggles and laughs, we went around the room one by one until all 60 had spoken. I was surprised at how good their English was and by how sweet they were to me. Most of them stated their names and ages (aged 16-18) and then went on to say a few things that they do in their spare time such as basketball (huge here), music (backstreet boys!), computer games, and of course, TV. I have violinists and pianists, badminton and ping pong players, cooks and artists, all with the desire to learn my native language.
Some of the students welcomed me to their city, some invited me to meet their family, and some want to be best friends while others told me how beautiful my smile is. I was asked how old I was by all of the classes. I am not sure why but I was honest and told them 41 and they replied with an “Ohhhhhh” and some chuckles and whispering. I don’t know if that is good or bad… doesn’t really matter, it was cute. I was asked about American students and culture and about how I am able to live here in China without knowing the language. I was even asked to sing for my first class but I replied with, “They don’t pay me enough to sing for you” which got a huge laugh but I did tell them that I would bring in some American music along with the words and that we could all sing together.
I was shocked to see how much energy these kids have. They go to school 7 days a week and from 6:30am to 10pm! Yes, I wrote that right. I cannot believe that they do it but they do. There is a 2 hour lunch and nap time in the middle of the day but still, when do they get to do homework? They have 8 other English classes during the week. They learn grammar, reading and writing. I hope to get with the other English teachers to see what they are teaching so that I can incorporate that into my lessons as well. For the most part, I think my first day went very well. I am still in shock that I am here in China teaching English. Sean and I realized that it was exactly one year ago today that we took our teaching certificate classes and became certified. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be doing this, I would have laughed at you. One just never knows where life will take you.
2.08.2009
A trip to the supermarket, Chinese style...
If you have ever walked into a grocery store that caters to a certain ethnic group, where the labels are written in another language, then you might understand a little about the difficulty of shopping in a Chinese supermarket. We have ventured out and found a few big markets… one we refer to as WalMart because it sells just about everything and the other I would equate more to a Publix because it is a little nicer, only sells food but it is more expensive. They are both located about a mile from the apartment which means we walk there, buy as much as we think we can carry and take a taxi home. I never really liked shopping back home so this makes this task doubly irritating but still it must be done.
The first thing that hits you when you walk into a Chinese market is the smell. It is not until you make it back to the meat/fish department that you realize where it is coming from. They have everything you can imagine and some things you have never seen before. I love watching the live eels slither or frogs jumping on each other in their buckets. I try not to stare at the fish heads or make faces when I see the chicken feet. We try and guess what the meat is that we are purchasing. We had picked up something that we thought was bbq pork but it turned out to be strips of gelatinous pork-flavored pressed meat, like a high-quality spam. Sean loves to do his chicken impression for the butcher to make sure that is what he is picking up. There is every body part for every animal, cooked or raw, available for purchase. Eggs are not found in the refrigerated section but are in crates where you ask the clerk to carefully place your purchase into a plastic bag.
Then it is off to the produce department. We had purchased a wok and were eager to find all of the vegetables we think go into a good stir-fry. We picked out some scallions, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage, water chestnuts, snow peas, mushrooms (they have so many types!) and green peppers. There were many things that we could not identify but the locals were filling their shopping carts with them. They love their nuts and seeds here and you can fill a bag from the bulk containers and have the clerk weigh and price them for you. They also have many pickled items such as garlic and ginger… the rest we were not sure of what they were.
You can only purchase rice and oil in bulk quantities, the smallest being a 5lb bag and a gallon container, respectively. There is every type of noodle available, tied in a bundle, dried out and placed in an area for you to select from. We have discovered a brand of instant beef noodle that fills the tummy so we buy these is bulk quantity. We found a recipe on the internet for a black bean sauce that is delicious over beef or chicken. This required us to search through the many labeled bottles to find hot pepper sauce, red wine vinegar, specific spices and, of course, Chinese fermented black beans. We did this by comparing the symbols on the bottle with what was in our Mandarin book. After making the sauce we discovered that we most likely did not get the right black bean as ours were still a bit hard and green but the sauce was still good and best of all, home-made.
You can purchase toothpaste, soaps, cleaning supplies and other items pretty easily by looking at the pictures on the labels. There is Pepsi, Fanta, Coke and other familiar items in the drink aisle but we have found a wonderful orange drink made by good ole’ Minute Maid that we love! I have been able to find only instant coffee (which I am grateful for) and Sean loves the huge selection of teas. In the snack aisle you can find every flavor potato chip… even hotdog and zesty beef flavored! We opt for the American Classic Lays. Amongst all of the boxes of different types of cookies you can even find Oreos and Chips Ahoy.
The paper goods aisle is a bit different than home. In a country where you should never be caught without a pack of tissues in case you need to use the bathroom, they have many bulk packs to choose from. They do have toilet paper even though the China sewer system cannot tolerate it being flushed. And since they are huge into recycling here, there is not a roll of paper towels to be found. There is no plastic wrap or aluminum foil either. Everything must go into Tupperware which is also hard to find ones that have a tight fitting lid.
All that being said, I did find Peanut Butter and Jelly. Now back at home I used to make a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich (just like you would a grilled cheese sandwich). Since we only own the wok, I was adventurous and tried to make it work. Over an open flame, I grilled our lunch and served it to Sean. They did not look great but it was a delight to eat something that tasted a little like home. Until next time… Bon Appétit!! Or shall I say Zhen Haochi!
The first thing that hits you when you walk into a Chinese market is the smell. It is not until you make it back to the meat/fish department that you realize where it is coming from. They have everything you can imagine and some things you have never seen before. I love watching the live eels slither or frogs jumping on each other in their buckets. I try not to stare at the fish heads or make faces when I see the chicken feet. We try and guess what the meat is that we are purchasing. We had picked up something that we thought was bbq pork but it turned out to be strips of gelatinous pork-flavored pressed meat, like a high-quality spam. Sean loves to do his chicken impression for the butcher to make sure that is what he is picking up. There is every body part for every animal, cooked or raw, available for purchase. Eggs are not found in the refrigerated section but are in crates where you ask the clerk to carefully place your purchase into a plastic bag.
Then it is off to the produce department. We had purchased a wok and were eager to find all of the vegetables we think go into a good stir-fry. We picked out some scallions, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage, water chestnuts, snow peas, mushrooms (they have so many types!) and green peppers. There were many things that we could not identify but the locals were filling their shopping carts with them. They love their nuts and seeds here and you can fill a bag from the bulk containers and have the clerk weigh and price them for you. They also have many pickled items such as garlic and ginger… the rest we were not sure of what they were.
You can only purchase rice and oil in bulk quantities, the smallest being a 5lb bag and a gallon container, respectively. There is every type of noodle available, tied in a bundle, dried out and placed in an area for you to select from. We have discovered a brand of instant beef noodle that fills the tummy so we buy these is bulk quantity. We found a recipe on the internet for a black bean sauce that is delicious over beef or chicken. This required us to search through the many labeled bottles to find hot pepper sauce, red wine vinegar, specific spices and, of course, Chinese fermented black beans. We did this by comparing the symbols on the bottle with what was in our Mandarin book. After making the sauce we discovered that we most likely did not get the right black bean as ours were still a bit hard and green but the sauce was still good and best of all, home-made.
You can purchase toothpaste, soaps, cleaning supplies and other items pretty easily by looking at the pictures on the labels. There is Pepsi, Fanta, Coke and other familiar items in the drink aisle but we have found a wonderful orange drink made by good ole’ Minute Maid that we love! I have been able to find only instant coffee (which I am grateful for) and Sean loves the huge selection of teas. In the snack aisle you can find every flavor potato chip… even hotdog and zesty beef flavored! We opt for the American Classic Lays. Amongst all of the boxes of different types of cookies you can even find Oreos and Chips Ahoy.
The paper goods aisle is a bit different than home. In a country where you should never be caught without a pack of tissues in case you need to use the bathroom, they have many bulk packs to choose from. They do have toilet paper even though the China sewer system cannot tolerate it being flushed. And since they are huge into recycling here, there is not a roll of paper towels to be found. There is no plastic wrap or aluminum foil either. Everything must go into Tupperware which is also hard to find ones that have a tight fitting lid.
All that being said, I did find Peanut Butter and Jelly. Now back at home I used to make a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich (just like you would a grilled cheese sandwich). Since we only own the wok, I was adventurous and tried to make it work. Over an open flame, I grilled our lunch and served it to Sean. They did not look great but it was a delight to eat something that tasted a little like home. Until next time… Bon Appétit!! Or shall I say Zhen Haochi!
All aboard...
This is a bit delayed but still wanted to post it... Sean and I decided that with some extra time on our hands we would go to Beijing for the Chinese New Year and see what all the hubbub was all about. Train travel is crazy right now for anyone, but especially if you don’t know the language or the procedures. We booked ourselves two “hard sleeper” one-way tickets. You can only purchase tickets at the train station that you are leaving from so there is no such thing as buying round trip tickets.
Our first overnight train ride was not too bad. Most people stare at us and some even try to have a conversation. I met another school teacher (who insisted I take one of his beers) and then a girl (she called herself Amanda) who actually spoke very good English. I brought her back to our bunks and we chatted for awhile. It was nice to talk to someone else other than Sean and I am sure he felt the same. We shared our space with four other people. I was just glad to have the bottom bunks. We brought along some DVD’s to kill the time and at 10pm, the lights went out. I had read about how terrible the bathrooms are on the train and they were right…that is all I will say about that. I slept like a baby, unfortunately, Sean found himself awakened by every creak of the train.
When we arrived in Beijing it was 6am and freezing cold. Beijing is much more spread out than Shanghai which meant that we needed to take a taxi to most places. We took in the Forbidden City, Tian'an Men Square and some temples. We were quite disturbed by the crooked taxi drivers in Beijing who I guess they feel that a tour of the city should be included with every trip. It only took us a day to figure out the scam and from that point forward we didn’t get in a taxi without first discussing the fare. Sean and I agreed that we liked Shanghai more than Beijing. It is said that most people do favor one over the other. I guess it would be like comparing New York City to Indianapolis. We like the crowds of people and the hustle and bustle of the condensed city so I guess that is why we prefer Shanghai.
After seeing as much of Beijing as we cared to, we still had a good week before we had to go back to DanYang. So of course we hopped on another train and headed to Xi’an which is smack dab in the center of China. We were traveling in luxury this time as we did not have “bunkmates” to share our tiny 6’ x 8” compartment. I actually was able to hang a comforter from the upper bunk to give us some privacy from the people that walk down the aisles at all hours of the night. I think we both slept through the night and as our train pulled into the station, we were refreshed and ready for our day.
This is of course when Sean discovered that we had lost the camera and his separate adventure began. A few hours and taxi drivers later, we arrived at the HQ Guesthouse (hostel) and were able to start our adventure in Xi’an. We traveled by bus to see the Terra Cotta Warriors (the reason for this 14 hour side trip) and rode bicycles on the Xi’an wall while the constant barrage of firecrackers continued to scare away the demons for the Chinese New Year. (Yes, 15 days of firecrackers!)
I stated before that you cannot purchase round trip tickets so you can imagine our surprise when the lady at the ticket counter at the railway station said that there were no tickets to Shanghai for at least 3 days. Seasoned travelers such as ourselves knew there must be a way around this situation. We opened our handy China book and found a few big cities located close to where we needed to go and took a chance that we would be able to catch another train from that city to our final destination.
As our luck (karma) would have it, we were able to leave the following day at 10pm and arrive in Nanjing at 12 noon and then take another train into DanYang. Unfortunately, this train was booked beyond capacity. Sean had the middle bunk, I had the upper bunk (which had about 3 feet of headroom) and there was another 6 people sharing the remaining 4 bunks. I am sure it could have been much worse… I just limited my intake so that I did not have to come down from my bunk and use what they call toilets. Again, keeping my comments to a minimum, I could actually see the railroad tracks as I flushed the trough. I miss western toilets!
It was an amazing trip and even more amazing is the fact that two Americans were able to navigate their way through the sea of Chinese people during the busiest time of the year, purchase tickets to the correct places, board the right trains, find the right bunks, find something to fill our bellies, locate
hotels, tell taxi drivers where we need to go, and make it back home safely. Every once in awhile, I turn to Sean and say “Hey, we are in China and we are doing it”…. Yes it is even hard for us to believe it sometimes too. We are so fortunate.
Our first overnight train ride was not too bad. Most people stare at us and some even try to have a conversation. I met another school teacher (who insisted I take one of his beers) and then a girl (she called herself Amanda) who actually spoke very good English. I brought her back to our bunks and we chatted for awhile. It was nice to talk to someone else other than Sean and I am sure he felt the same. We shared our space with four other people. I was just glad to have the bottom bunks. We brought along some DVD’s to kill the time and at 10pm, the lights went out. I had read about how terrible the bathrooms are on the train and they were right…that is all I will say about that. I slept like a baby, unfortunately, Sean found himself awakened by every creak of the train.
When we arrived in Beijing it was 6am and freezing cold. Beijing is much more spread out than Shanghai which meant that we needed to take a taxi to most places. We took in the Forbidden City, Tian'an Men Square and some temples. We were quite disturbed by the crooked taxi drivers in Beijing who I guess they feel that a tour of the city should be included with every trip. It only took us a day to figure out the scam and from that point forward we didn’t get in a taxi without first discussing the fare. Sean and I agreed that we liked Shanghai more than Beijing. It is said that most people do favor one over the other. I guess it would be like comparing New York City to Indianapolis. We like the crowds of people and the hustle and bustle of the condensed city so I guess that is why we prefer Shanghai.
After seeing as much of Beijing as we cared to, we still had a good week before we had to go back to DanYang. So of course we hopped on another train and headed to Xi’an which is smack dab in the center of China. We were traveling in luxury this time as we did not have “bunkmates” to share our tiny 6’ x 8” compartment. I actually was able to hang a comforter from the upper bunk to give us some privacy from the people that walk down the aisles at all hours of the night. I think we both slept through the night and as our train pulled into the station, we were refreshed and ready for our day.
This is of course when Sean discovered that we had lost the camera and his separate adventure began. A few hours and taxi drivers later, we arrived at the HQ Guesthouse (hostel) and were able to start our adventure in Xi’an. We traveled by bus to see the Terra Cotta Warriors (the reason for this 14 hour side trip) and rode bicycles on the Xi’an wall while the constant barrage of firecrackers continued to scare away the demons for the Chinese New Year. (Yes, 15 days of firecrackers!)
I stated before that you cannot purchase round trip tickets so you can imagine our surprise when the lady at the ticket counter at the railway station said that there were no tickets to Shanghai for at least 3 days. Seasoned travelers such as ourselves knew there must be a way around this situation. We opened our handy China book and found a few big cities located close to where we needed to go and took a chance that we would be able to catch another train from that city to our final destination.
As our luck (karma) would have it, we were able to leave the following day at 10pm and arrive in Nanjing at 12 noon and then take another train into DanYang. Unfortunately, this train was booked beyond capacity. Sean had the middle bunk, I had the upper bunk (which had about 3 feet of headroom) and there was another 6 people sharing the remaining 4 bunks. I am sure it could have been much worse… I just limited my intake so that I did not have to come down from my bunk and use what they call toilets. Again, keeping my comments to a minimum, I could actually see the railroad tracks as I flushed the trough. I miss western toilets!
It was an amazing trip and even more amazing is the fact that two Americans were able to navigate their way through the sea of Chinese people during the busiest time of the year, purchase tickets to the correct places, board the right trains, find the right bunks, find something to fill our bellies, locate
hotels, tell taxi drivers where we need to go, and make it back home safely. Every once in awhile, I turn to Sean and say “Hey, we are in China and we are doing it”…. Yes it is even hard for us to believe it sometimes too. We are so fortunate.
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