Puffs

Yesterday we went to the Ningkang Yuan shopping area near our apartment. We were heading to one of our favorite coffee shops - E-Coffee - but on our way stopped in at a bakery to get some bread.

While Inga was picking out a loaf of whole-grain'ish bread, I was drawn to the "French Puffs," which looked more or less like what the name suggested, except that they were huge. I talked Inga into getting some (3 for 10 yuan, how could you pass that up?), so we took our collected carbs to the counter to pay for them.

[Side note] in Chinese bakeries, you pick up a tray and a pair of tongs, then proceed around the shop to choose which baked goods you want to buy. The cashier will then use the same tongs to place your selections into bags for you to take home. Not a bad system, really, assuming that they wash the tongs and trays on a regular basis. [End side note]

Anyway, the cashier proceeded to take our tongs and use them to stab a hole in the top of each of the giant puffs. This was unexpected. But the next thing she did was to take a pastry bag and "inject" the puffs with a custardy filling. Sweet! The filling even tasted good, too - something you don't take for granted after eating many Chinese pastries.

After paying for the bread and puffs, the cashier gave us a scratch card. I used my key to remove the silver coating, but the writing underneath was very difficult to see, let alone read. The cashier took a close look at it, and gave us a small custard desert as our prize. I don't if we actually won that, or if she was just too embarrassed to tell me that I had totally destroyed the card with my key, but at least we got some free stuff out of the deal.

At E-Coffee we ran into some friends and fellow Zhong Relations members - including two guys from Huangshi that were in town for a visit. E-Coffee is a nice, clean little cafe that lots of the area expats like to visit. The bathroom was even recently remodeled, yielding a new sink and toilet, among other things. Unfortunately the new toilet is a squatty potty, replacing the old (but still fully functioning) Western-style toilet, and the old faucet doesn't quite fit the new sink (see below), but what ever works, right?

Sports Meeting

This past Thursday and Friday were our school's Sports Meeting days. Each department/school has some of their students and teachers march in a parade during the opening ceremony. Once again, we foreign teachers were asked to march in the parade. At least classes were cancelled during sports days, so it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, right?

Well, this year, the school (at one level or another) decided that we should wear tai-chi uniforms…and perform some tai-chi moves in front of the grandstands. Thankfully we did an acceptable job - considering that most of us had never done tai-chi before, and we had our one-and-only lesson two days previous. Aside from the obviously amateur performance, we also had to be outside at 7:30am in fall weather. If our uniforms were any indication, tai-chi clothing is translucent and otherwise a poor insulator. This required some creative layering. but we did get to keep the uniforms in the end. :)

Practicing my moves

Almost ready to perform

After the parade, ten of us participated in a basketball relay, which involved running from the top of the key to the opposite basket - while holding the ball - then putting the ball through the hoop, and running back to hand the ball to the next person. Of course, most of us laowai were still wearing some combination of our tai-chi outfits and under-layers, which made us even more photogenic than usual. Sigh. (I'll post pictures of the race if I get them in a timely fashion).

As a token of the school's appreciation for our participation in the race, we were given these gift-boxed towels:

The cover reads, and I quote, "Crude Bamboo Fibre Is A Newly Luxury Scouring BathHouseware, Which Is The Prosperities Of Sweetness, Easiness, Savageness, Antibiotic Skin Friendly." Yes, that's right, Sweet Savage BathHousewares, that won't irritate your skin. Chinese gift FTW.

And on a side note, I recently got a weibo (微博) account - like a Chinese Twitter - so you can "follow" me if you're interested (http://www.weibo.com/2860355771/profile?leftnav=1&wvr=3.6&mod=personinfo). One of my students started "following" me on weibo the other day, and left this message to introduce herself: "Mr. K, I am your student from one year old. My English is very poof/".

That reminds me of one of my middle school teachers, Mr. Jensen, who used to say, "Poof! You're a good student." Perhaps I should try something like that in my classes - "Poof! You can speak English."

Celebrations, Coffee and Exhibits A-E

October began with a week-long holiday, and as you will read, we kept the celebrations going for the past three weeks. From September 29 to October 7, most of China had time off from work and school so there were plenty of crowds and increased traffic everywhere we went. Both Trevor and I enjoyed the break from our teaching. Two events of note that week were:

• Sophia Carpenter's 5th birthday party! As an unofficial auntie and uncle, we were excited to bus cross-town to help celebrate. Sophia's mom, Becca, planned a fun Mickey Mouse-themed party. 'Uncle Trevor' was even a good sport about styling some ears for the cause...well, at least for the first ten minutes of the party:

Becca's parents had arrived in China the night before and since we know them from our hometown, it was an extra-special celebration.
They brought Sophia some really fun gifts from the U.S.: a Snow White costume and Lego blocks. It was also great fun to watch Sophia open her birthday gift from her parents: ROLLERBLADES! It was her birthday come true!

• Later in the week, we attended the Chinese wedding ceremony of one of my colleagues. She actually got married in Wales over the summer so this was more of a reception to celebrate with family and friends in Wuhan. We brought 'Alfred' the furry cat to the wedding for fun. Not surprisingly, he soon found the plate of shrimp.

 

After the time off, it was back to the work routine, but fortunately the celebrations didn't stop. On October 16, Becca Carpenter's mom celebrated her birthday in China. We were really happy to be included in this special dinner at the Aloha Diner. 'Oma and Papa' (as they are called by their granddaughters) are very special people as they have shared their generous hearts and wisdom with both of us and our families since we were born. It means a lot to have them visiting Wuhan this month.

Later that week, my school held Field Day in which all staff, students and teachers were divided into one of four teams. We competed in all kinds of events and tried to win enough points for the year's Field Day trophy. I thought I was in ok shape from all the walking and biking I do in China, but after competing in the one-legged balancing act, hula hoop, sprints and the wheelbarrow race, the sore muscles for days afterwards told me otherwise. Trevor has Jianghan University's 'Sports Day' this coming Friday. We'll let you know how he does marching in the opening ceremony (wearing tai chi clothes no less!) and some sort of basketball relay. :)

 

This past Saturday night, we combined the continuing celebrations with coffee. Really.Great.Coffee. Our friends (and fellow Zhong Relations teammates) Paul Korson and Adam Carpenter, along with their Chinese business partner Louis, opened up their business--ROCC Coffee (Specialty Coffee Roasters of Central China). Their business space looks really great and there were about fifty people at the opening.    

There was a contest to guess how many coffee beans were in a small bag. I had flashbacks to learning estimation in third grade as I calculated my guess:  

 

And whatever my third grade teacher taught me about estimation must have stuck...because I won the contest! Thanks Mrs. Mattson! I will raise my coffee mug of Costa Rican blend to you! And thank you, ROCC Coffee for working hard to launch this business in Wuhan--we're so happy for you! 

 

 

All right, so just so you don't get to thinking that all our life in China is pretty 'normal,' I will wrap up this post by submitting these 'normal for China' scenes from recent weeks:

Exhibit A: That is one mean looking fish that gave his life for this grocery store. It startled me as a I walked by.
 



Exhibit B: It's very common to see recycling carts like this in the streets. It makes those color-coded bins seem a little too tame, huh?



Exhibit C: We have a restaurant called 'Teddy's Kitchen' where it's perfectly normal to have a giant (grungy) bear sit by your side. Around the restaurant, there are glass display cases of stuffed, dressed-up bears. It's just a little bit creepy...

Exhibit D: We spotted this one Saturday afternoon at Wal-Mart. Sure, kids in shopping carts are normal here...but an ADULT!?! We obviously had to take a photo, but none of the other shoppers batted an eyelash at it.

Exhibit E: These items were our first package from the U.S. this second year and it literally had me JUMPING UP AND DOWN with excitement. These just can't be found at the nearest grocery store in our neighborhood...or any store in Wuhan, really. Our dear friends Nathan and Kara sent us some wonderful smells and tastes of fall, and being remembered meant more than they will ever know. This package was definitely a highlight of the month of October.  

 

 



 

What's Up? Part 2

I'm sure that the question of our roof's destruction has been haunting you all week - or at least that's what I tell my self. The good news is that the mystery has finally been solved - the project has been completed!

That got your attention, didn't it? :) But before I show you the finished result, I want to show you one more picture from the process:

A couple days ago workers added tar to line and water-proof the hole. It's becoming more and more clear, no?

So, does everyone have their guesses in?

Are you ready for the final result?

The end of all the hammering, digging, cementing and tarring is...

[drumroll]

...

Absolutely nothing!

Oh, China.

What's Up?

As September has been passing us by, both Inga and I have been settling into our new routines. Though, I've only had one class per week right now, so it hasn't been too hard to settle into a 6-day weekend. The freshman finished their military this past week, so tomorrow I have to begin teaching classES (plural), and otherwise earning my keep around here.

Inga is getting over a flu (one of many sick folks around here), but thankfully I have remained healthy thus far. And, with six new freshman classes beginning, hopefully I will continue that way.

In other news, we had some mysterious sledge-hammering and pick-axing going on above us. When I went up to investigate, this is what I found...

Despite my general interest in the reason for this (de)construction, I was also surprised to discover that our building's roof appears to be a cement sandwich: concrete on top; a layer of hard, crumbling something in the middle; and concrete on the bottom. We'll just assume that's compliant with any applicable building codes.

In the following days, the "hole" began to take shape...

Ah yes, it's all becoming clear now. Today, perhaps taking into account the long-term forecast, a tarp was added to cover the hole...

So, it's up to you now to figure out the purpose of this hole. Wading pool? Sand box? I'll have a prize (completely intangible, I assure you) for the person/s that guess correctly. Go.

TIC

We China hands have an expression, "TIC," or "This is China." It's the verbal equivalent of a helpless shrug that accompanies those otherwise speechless moments when life in China throws you a curveball. Today was one of those days.

Ironically, I taught a session on TIC at our new member training. I admonished our teachers; Lower Your Expectations, Be Flexible, and remember that You Choose Your Attitude. I think I survived today without being a hypocrite, but the day's not over yet :)

Around 7 am I headed out for a bike ride. Since I have a really light teaching schedule currently, I've tried to schedule in some exercise while I can. I explored/got lost in a new section of Hanyang, and made it back to campus around 8:15. It was a good ride - the fun of seeing new places, the fulfillment of a good workout, and the promise of a much-needed shower back at home. As I was cruising toward my apartment, I saw the new teachers heading out for the 8:30 meeting where they would get their textbooks. From the crowd, one of the returning teachers, Jay, called out, "Hey Trevor, aren't you going to the meeting?" I replied that I already had all the books from last year, so that there was no need. "[Our co-teacher] wanted all of us to be there - he called me this morning."

I quickly did a cost/benefit analysis of taking a shower and thus either missing the meeting entirely or being very late, versus going to the meeting in my sweaty workout clothes. Option B seemed to be the best, so I somewhat self-consciously proceeded to our destination with the other teachers. It turns out that the school had switched to the 2nd edition of the textbook series, meaning that I indeed did need to be there to get the new books. Only one problem - the school had ordered half as many texts as needed. Oops. I was one of the unlucky ones that left without the new books. As I pondered with Jay how this would affect my lesson plans, we grabbed some Wuhan-famous reganmian on the way back. Oh well, TIC.

Old Book / New Book:
What has been changed, what remains the same?

When I got back to the apartment, I realized I had just enough time to shower and bike over to Aloha to help a friend unload the equipment for his new ice-cream business at 10 (maybe I should wear my watch when I'm out biking, hmm…). The truck arrived, and after some arguing with the guards, we managed to get it parked reasonably close to the restaurant. Apparently commercial ice-cream making equipment is large and heavy. Thankfully we had about eight guys there to wrestle three large, heaving boxes off the back of the truck. Apparently, unloading large, heavy boxes is made more difficult when one half of the workers can't easily communicate with the other half about how the box should be moved, slid, tipped, carried, or set down. Still, after about an hour, the equipment was de-crated and moved into the restaurant. Then I got an urgent phone call from our co-teacher: we had an emergency meeting at noon - in about 20 minutes - regarding the textbook situation, and I needed to inform as many people as possible. After sending out a text message to the teachers, I had just enough time to bike back to campus to be there for the meeting. Well, TIC.

The gist of the meeting was basically that not only were some of us teachers without the new textbooks, but so were all of the sophomores who were starting Oral English this week. So, after all the headache and hassle of trying to get new textbooks for the teachers, we now needed to get old textbooks for the teachers. Of course, since I already had a full set of old textbooks, this completely negated the need for me to have been there at the first meeting. The rest of the meeting was comprised of basic information and warnings to the new teachers, and I just sat quietly and reminisced as each point came up. Two hours after we began, we were dismissed. TIC

Trickle, trickle, little drip; how I wonder why you are

I had been planning on doing some work at Aloha this afternoon, so I was eager to get going since I was running late because of the meeting. I ran up to our apartment to get a drink of water and grab some supplies, when I noticed a drip from our office ceiling. This is never a good sign. I looked out the balcony window to see a sheet of water falling from above. That is definitely not a good sign. I ran upstairs to our neighbor to see if the water was in her apartment, which it very much was. Her balcony had flooded and was seeping into her office and under her faux-wood floor (and down into our apartment). Back down the stairs all the way to tell the landlady the problem, then all the way back up the stairs to the roof to see what exactly the problem was. Apparently workers were filling up rainwater catch-basins on the roof to check for leaks(?), and left the hose on when they went to lunch. Oops. After diverting the water elsewhere, I went back inside to try and help our neighbor. In order to help her balcony drain, I ended up opening the access cover on the drain pipe (at our balcony), and let the water drain there - and down my arm - to avoid the blockage. Meanwhile, just for good measure, the leak in the ceiling spread out and dribbled on my desk and laptop. About an hour after I had gotten back to the apartment, the leaking stopped and calm returned to the world. This Is China.

Some Highlights from America

We returned to the U.S. on June 29 for six weeks’ summer vacation. What was on our America priority list after ten months away? Well, catching up with you, our faithful readers! We enjoyed countless meals and conversations with friends and family. Our time was indeed full of travel, but all in all, it felt like a meaningful recharging before starting off our second year.

Some weeks we took lots of photos. Other weeks we were having so much fun we neglected to dig out the camera. There were many high points in those six weeks, and the ones shown below are just a sampling:

1.       Taking a trip to western Washington, including Bellingham, where Trevor went to university for two years. We went to one of his favorite spots, Rocket Donuts, and marveled at the ‘jumbo donut’ (the shop only makes two or three of these gigantic pastries daily).

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2.      After adjusting to a bus-and-walking lifestyle in China, driving surprised us. We could do and see so much more in a day in the U.S. Driving also gave us funny roadside views, like this farm where they grow jumbo marshmallows (near La Conner, WA).



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3.       We had a great visit with my aunt and uncle who actually came through Wuhan last March on their China trip. It was lots of fun talking about their travel experiences and seeing their photos. They also have an amazing yard which my uncle has transformed from a goopy swamp into a forest and lake wonderland.

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4.     We took another trip with Trevor’s parents and visited his grandma in Spokane, Washington. The city boasts a treasure called Manito Park, which includes a huge rose garden, quiet Japanese garden and an extensive greenhouse. We definitely took time to stop and smell the roses there.

5.  Returning to Pullman, Washington, for about a week was a real treat.  The ripening wheat of the Washington-Idaho Palouse created a landscape patchwork of greens and golden. Each day there we made warm connections with friends and former students. It made me so happy to hear my former violin students play again and to see how much they have grown in a year. We also really enjoyed going to a U-pick flower garden, making fresh cherry cobbler and eating grilled vegetables straight from our friends’ garden.

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6.  Having our ‘China radar’ on was a running joke while in America. But honestly we couldn't help but keep our eyes and ears peeled for anything Chinese.  It made us feel a little more ‘at home’ when we did. I was SO EXCITED when my ears picked up a couple speaking in Chinese in the Bellingham Ross...and I understand a little of it, too! We didn't however try the advertised Thursday Chinese buffet special...

7. We enjoyed many great meals thanks to both sides of our families. After adapting to a more family-style eating habit in China, it was a bit surprising to be served our individual orders on plates the size of platters at a Mexican restaurant. But boy had we missed Mexican food! Here’s a photo of when Trevor’s parents took us out to Southern BBQ. We certainly can’t get pulled pork this good in China!

8. Ten months of navigating crowded bus systems was one of our achievements in Year 1. To compare the bus experience in America, we rode the bus one day. We got seats! Both ways! And no one pushed us on the bus! Now granted we took the bus in a considerably smaller city than Wuhan (as in population 60,000 vs. 10 million). But nevertheless, we thought we’d give you a photo comparison of our China and U.S. bus experiences:

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While the whirlwind of vacation reconnected with many people who are dear to us, we started feeling the pull of our 'home' for this season of our lives. We're grateful for our friendships both in the U.S. and in Wuhan, and slowly we're learning how to best stay connected to both types. Thanks to many of you who mentioned regularly checking our blog. It means a lot to us to hear of your interest in and support for our China adventure. Stay tuned for year two!