This post is coming to you from the Be For Time Teahouse. Well, I'm writing it while we're here, but unfortunately they don't have wireless internet, so we'll be posting it from yet another net bar. This might be a temporary situation, as the lady who runs the luguan said something about the whole neighborhood's wifi being down. It doesn't make much sense to me, but I did spy a wireless router at the luguan, so who knows.
Anyway, about the Be For Time Teahouse! Here's the premise: you pay Y18 (a little more than US$2) to come in, and you can drink as much as you want. They have everything, it seems: all kinds of tea, coffee, juice, soda, flavored milks, and ice cream, plus a whole list of things I can't even read (including some red bean, green bean, and corn flavored concoctions). You can buy food, but they also give you several plates of nuts, crackers, and seeds to munch on. It's a pretty good deal, and if it's possible to pig out on liquids, everybody here does. So far we've had a pot of oolong tea, an espresso, a mocha, two cups of pearl milk tea (boba, for our Taiwanese readers), and two dishes of ice cream - and we're only getting started! Luckily they serve small portions so you can order one of everything.
As we've already posted and told everybody that we've talked to since we've arrived here, we love Harbin! The city is really beautiful, and the best part: no pollution! At least it seems like there isn't any in comparison to Beijing, where it hurt my lungs to go outside.
Last night we tried to take the bus to Zhongyang Dajie, but since it's a pedestrian street, buses don't run there, so we had to guess what stop might be close. We were off by a mile or two, but the walk took us along the river, through an enormous maze of people selling chuar, fruit, clothes, junk-knacks, plastic household tools, dress shoes - you name it, they had it. (I've heard the only thing you can't find in Harbin is a potato masher, so parents, if we get really desperate for mashed potatoes, you might have to ship us one :)
Once we made our way to Zhongyang Dajie, we ate dinner at the Orient Dumpling King Restaurant, which was highly praised in both guidebooks that we own. Unfortunately, they only had one kind of vegetarian dumplings - zucchini (we think) and egg - which was disappointing. They were pretty good, though.
We wandered around Zhongyang Dajie for a few minutes, then settled at a beer tent. During the summers here, there are semi-permanent beer tents set up all over the city, with beer on tap and snack booths lining the sides. We had a pitcher of beer and a tub of popcorn (it was sweet, not salty - another disappointment) before feeling chilly and deciding to leave. We checked out one of the many Russian goods shops, which we now know sells furs, vodka, and stacking dolls.
In other news, we registered and paid for classes - in cash, up front. It's nerve-wracking carrying so much money around. Classes start Monday, so we're anxiously waiting to see what they'll be like (and who our classmates will be). We debated between two class levels and decided to register for the harder of the two classes, since the easier class uses the same books that Tom used last time we were in China. Thankfully, we still have the option to move down if it's too much. Wish us luck!
A note from the net bar: Tom is such a good boy; he's apartment hunting while I'm surfing the net. I should probably help him... or else he might make me call and talk to people on the phone! Oh no!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
HIT it, maestro!
We are in Harbin and all is well. After being kept awake during our all-night train ride by a loudly snoring man who slept in the bunk above Lisa, we stumbled through the train station with our loaded bags clanging like gongs against the stairs. As we stepped outside, all kinds of cab drivers, hawkers, peddlers, and beggars surrounded us, and, through the confusion, we chose an honest-looking cab driver to take us to a hotel to drop off our stuff.
Trying to figure out exactly what to do, we went to the main pedestrian street in Harbin (Zhongyang Jie) and gawked at the Russian-style architecture lining the street. We finally decided we needed to get lunch and get to the school at which we wanted to study. Lunch consisted of two delicious bowls of "pulled noodles" (la mian) for a total of $1. Afterward, we took another cab to Harbin Institute of Technology (a.k.a. HIT, or Haerbin Gongye Daxue) and looked for the foreign student center.
Much questioning about the loaction of the foreign student center later, we found our place and quickly ascended three flights of stairs. In a whirlwind of paperwork and 15 minutes later, we were all registered for classes.
This morning, we moved to a better guesthouse (luguan - cheap hotel) near campus and began to pick classes and pay tuition. Right now, we're looking for an apartment (the dorms are expensive and less connected to actual Chinese people), which should be easy because a teacher gave us a list of several open places located within walking distance of campus.
Two interesting notes on Harbin:
1. The Mandarin spoken here is crystal clear. In Beijing, the cab drivers and working-class people tend to have an thick accent, adding Rs onto the ends of words and sounding like they had marbles in their mouths. Here, however, just about everyone sounds like a language professor.
2. The majority of foreign students we've seen so far are Russian and Korean. It makes sense - Harbin is in the area formerly known as Manchuria, which is right between Russia and Korea. The strange thing, though, is that most of the Koreans are North Koreans and nearly all the Chinese students speak some Russian.
Sorry that we don't have pictures yet. We don't have internet access with our own computers right now, so we're at a "net bar" (wang ba), which is basically a room with 100 computers and just as many nerds playing online games. When we get access with our own computers, we'll upload pictures of campus and such.
Thank you for reading.
Trying to figure out exactly what to do, we went to the main pedestrian street in Harbin (Zhongyang Jie) and gawked at the Russian-style architecture lining the street. We finally decided we needed to get lunch and get to the school at which we wanted to study. Lunch consisted of two delicious bowls of "pulled noodles" (la mian) for a total of $1. Afterward, we took another cab to Harbin Institute of Technology (a.k.a. HIT, or Haerbin Gongye Daxue) and looked for the foreign student center.
Much questioning about the loaction of the foreign student center later, we found our place and quickly ascended three flights of stairs. In a whirlwind of paperwork and 15 minutes later, we were all registered for classes.
This morning, we moved to a better guesthouse (luguan - cheap hotel) near campus and began to pick classes and pay tuition. Right now, we're looking for an apartment (the dorms are expensive and less connected to actual Chinese people), which should be easy because a teacher gave us a list of several open places located within walking distance of campus.
Two interesting notes on Harbin:
1. The Mandarin spoken here is crystal clear. In Beijing, the cab drivers and working-class people tend to have an thick accent, adding Rs onto the ends of words and sounding like they had marbles in their mouths. Here, however, just about everyone sounds like a language professor.
2. The majority of foreign students we've seen so far are Russian and Korean. It makes sense - Harbin is in the area formerly known as Manchuria, which is right between Russia and Korea. The strange thing, though, is that most of the Koreans are North Koreans and nearly all the Chinese students speak some Russian.
Sorry that we don't have pictures yet. We don't have internet access with our own computers right now, so we're at a "net bar" (wang ba), which is basically a room with 100 computers and just as many nerds playing online games. When we get access with our own computers, we'll upload pictures of campus and such.
Thank you for reading.
Friday, August 24, 2007
A Quick Note from Knife and Fork and Spoon
...the really cute restaurant we pass by every day and say, "We need to go to Knife and Fork and Spoon!" So we did. Not bad - a vegetable pizza, a tomato, mozzarella, and pesto salad, and two sodas for less than $5, and tasty too.
Anyway, the quick note is to say that we're heading to Harbin tonight. We had a bit of trouble getting tickets; we went to the ticket-selling place down the street and, according to them, all that was available were super deluxe rooms in a super deluxe train - for over double of our budget. In a panic, we rushed to the train station and had no problems buying two regular sleeper seats for our expected price. Later, we had a moment of regret over not having the super deluxe experience, but then we realized that the money we saved will pay about two months' rent.
So, we'll take pictures on the train and let everybody know how the adventure goes. See you in Harbin!
Anyway, the quick note is to say that we're heading to Harbin tonight. We had a bit of trouble getting tickets; we went to the ticket-selling place down the street and, according to them, all that was available were super deluxe rooms in a super deluxe train - for over double of our budget. In a panic, we rushed to the train station and had no problems buying two regular sleeper seats for our expected price. Later, we had a moment of regret over not having the super deluxe experience, but then we realized that the money we saved will pay about two months' rent.
So, we'll take pictures on the train and let everybody know how the adventure goes. See you in Harbin!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
A Harbinger of Change, and, The Final Beijing Noose
First, I must announce the big news: Lisa and I are moving to Harbin. Our job opportunities in Beijing fell through, and so we've decided to move out of Beijing and up north to the "Ice City" to study Chinese at the Harbin Institute of Technology where the school is cheap, the English is few, and the people speak perfectly clear Mandarin. For some perspective:
Harbin has an interesting history. Although originally part of Manchuria, the city was originally founded by the Russians in 1898 as a hub for their new railway into the East China sea, where they'd drill for oil. In 1917 and following, a bunch of White Russians (those opposed to Lenin's newly-established government) fled there. Thus, there's a huge Russian influence in the architecture and even an orthodox church. Then, in the 1930s, the Japanese took over and experimented their germ warfare techniques on Chinese peasants (there's still a Holocaust-like museum there). There, the Japanese set up the puppet government Manchukuo, where the deposed Manchu emperor (Puyi) was given part of his kingdom back. However, after WWII, it went back into the hands of the Chinese. Then, in the Cultural Revolution (1967-77), when all the fervent Maoists wanted to kick out all the evil foreigners, almost all the Russians were expelled.
Additionally, Harbin is noted for its Ice Sculpture festival every year, in which dozens of hands carve buildings, statues, etc., out of the frozen water. Another attraction is the Siberian tiger preserve nearby.
Now, as promised, here is a post about chuar, the kebob style of food favored by Chinese Muslims (known as Hui). Generally, mutton and baked bread appear, spiced up & impaled, as chuar. One of our favorite places to go is to this restaurant, and it provides a happy ending to a well-spent Beijing day.
Above, you'll find the entrance to the restaurant, named Hui Wei Zhai. It translates loosely as Muslim-flavored zhai. The final character is used for fasting and for the month of Ramadan, so we're not really sure what it's supposed to mean. In any case, no one eats inside because it's lovely out in the hot Beijing night, and so you see, on the right, a group of foreigners chowing down.
Here we have one of the servers, i.e. one of the sons of the boss because everyone who works here seems to be family, cooking our chuar. The grill is small (no more than .5' x 3') but a fiery furnace fueled by the cheap yet environmentally destructive coal.
Derek and I eating our chuar. The fatty pieces are the best.
A plate of chuar pre-consumption. Chuar goes really well with a cold Tsingtao (Qingdao) or Yanjing beer, which is both tragic and ironic because the Muslims don't drink alcohol and will never be able to experiece their own dish in all its glory.
Here is Lisa enjoying her kao mantou, or roasted bread, prepared chuar-style. It is both delicious and traditional.
Behind the man at another chuar restaurant, we see a string of lights that shows the character for chuar. This character is one of the few instances where the Chinese language is intuitive. If you look, you'll see a skewer going through two pieces of meat or bread. Just compare the lighted character with what Lisa's eating in the picture above. Hah!
That is all for now about chuar. It is one of the few dishes for which I'll make exceptions to my vegetarian lifestyle. It's a unique experience, something that could only happen in China, where the Hui Muslims, although they've Sinicized in every other aspect of their lives, have contributed a lasting cultural monument to the Glorious People's Republic of China.
Harbin has an interesting history. Although originally part of Manchuria, the city was originally founded by the Russians in 1898 as a hub for their new railway into the East China sea, where they'd drill for oil. In 1917 and following, a bunch of White Russians (those opposed to Lenin's newly-established government) fled there. Thus, there's a huge Russian influence in the architecture and even an orthodox church. Then, in the 1930s, the Japanese took over and experimented their germ warfare techniques on Chinese peasants (there's still a Holocaust-like museum there). There, the Japanese set up the puppet government Manchukuo, where the deposed Manchu emperor (Puyi) was given part of his kingdom back. However, after WWII, it went back into the hands of the Chinese. Then, in the Cultural Revolution (1967-77), when all the fervent Maoists wanted to kick out all the evil foreigners, almost all the Russians were expelled.
Additionally, Harbin is noted for its Ice Sculpture festival every year, in which dozens of hands carve buildings, statues, etc., out of the frozen water. Another attraction is the Siberian tiger preserve nearby.
Now, as promised, here is a post about chuar, the kebob style of food favored by Chinese Muslims (known as Hui). Generally, mutton and baked bread appear, spiced up & impaled, as chuar. One of our favorite places to go is to this restaurant, and it provides a happy ending to a well-spent Beijing day.
Above, you'll find the entrance to the restaurant, named Hui Wei Zhai. It translates loosely as Muslim-flavored zhai. The final character is used for fasting and for the month of Ramadan, so we're not really sure what it's supposed to mean. In any case, no one eats inside because it's lovely out in the hot Beijing night, and so you see, on the right, a group of foreigners chowing down.
Here we have one of the servers, i.e. one of the sons of the boss because everyone who works here seems to be family, cooking our chuar. The grill is small (no more than .5' x 3') but a fiery furnace fueled by the cheap yet environmentally destructive coal.
Derek and I eating our chuar. The fatty pieces are the best.
A plate of chuar pre-consumption. Chuar goes really well with a cold Tsingtao (Qingdao) or Yanjing beer, which is both tragic and ironic because the Muslims don't drink alcohol and will never be able to experiece their own dish in all its glory.
Here is Lisa enjoying her kao mantou, or roasted bread, prepared chuar-style. It is both delicious and traditional.
Behind the man at another chuar restaurant, we see a string of lights that shows the character for chuar. This character is one of the few instances where the Chinese language is intuitive. If you look, you'll see a skewer going through two pieces of meat or bread. Just compare the lighted character with what Lisa's eating in the picture above. Hah!
That is all for now about chuar. It is one of the few dishes for which I'll make exceptions to my vegetarian lifestyle. It's a unique experience, something that could only happen in China, where the Hui Muslims, although they've Sinicized in every other aspect of their lives, have contributed a lasting cultural monument to the Glorious People's Republic of China.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Nan Luo Gu Xiang: The Hip Street Next Door
The apparent dearth of serious information in our posts may lead you to believe we aren't up to much. This is true. However, that does not mean that we will, any time soon, run out of things about which to post. The following is an example.
As we've mentioned many a time before, we live in a hutong (traditional Beijing alley/sidestreet) within the downtown area. As a "traditional" area, our neighborhood attracts quite a few tourists racing through on pedicabs or tramping about awkwardly with backpacks and dreadlocks. In response to this abundance of foreign interest, one hutong perpendicular to our own, named Nan Luo Gu Xiang, has become a trendy hangout filled with bars, coffee shops, restaurants, massage parlors, souvenir shops, etc. We have documented this street before in our August 9th post, "More Crazy Capers."
Seemingly unrelatedly (although unexpectedly related), Lisa and I peruse the New York Times every couple days in order to keep abreast of current events. While looking through the Travel section, and particularly the Beijing archives, we stumbled across this article: Back-Street Beijing. The article reports on our very own Nan Luo Gu Xiang, and even the Muslim/chuar restaurant we go to once every 2-3 days! We went to this place again last night and took pictures, so we will do a bit of our own reporting soon enough.
In other news, we've been buying cheap (5 kuai, or about 60 cents US) DVDs and watching them late at night. Last night's special was the Simpsons movie. Also, we went to a wonderfully creepy Daoist ("Taoist" by the old romanization system) temple called the Dongyue Temple, which features rooms of statues depicting various possible afterlives. We will certainly post on this in the next few days.
So fear not, gentle readers! Our cup runneth over with the ruddy ale of day-to-day life in the fastest-changing city in the world!
As we've mentioned many a time before, we live in a hutong (traditional Beijing alley/sidestreet) within the downtown area. As a "traditional" area, our neighborhood attracts quite a few tourists racing through on pedicabs or tramping about awkwardly with backpacks and dreadlocks. In response to this abundance of foreign interest, one hutong perpendicular to our own, named Nan Luo Gu Xiang, has become a trendy hangout filled with bars, coffee shops, restaurants, massage parlors, souvenir shops, etc. We have documented this street before in our August 9th post, "More Crazy Capers."
Seemingly unrelatedly (although unexpectedly related), Lisa and I peruse the New York Times every couple days in order to keep abreast of current events. While looking through the Travel section, and particularly the Beijing archives, we stumbled across this article: Back-Street Beijing. The article reports on our very own Nan Luo Gu Xiang, and even the Muslim/chuar restaurant we go to once every 2-3 days! We went to this place again last night and took pictures, so we will do a bit of our own reporting soon enough.
In other news, we've been buying cheap (5 kuai, or about 60 cents US) DVDs and watching them late at night. Last night's special was the Simpsons movie. Also, we went to a wonderfully creepy Daoist ("Taoist" by the old romanization system) temple called the Dongyue Temple, which features rooms of statues depicting various possible afterlives. We will certainly post on this in the next few days.
So fear not, gentle readers! Our cup runneth over with the ruddy ale of day-to-day life in the fastest-changing city in the world!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Another episode...
Sorry, all who are on slow internet connections - this post is a bit graphic-heavy.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The Berenstain Bears Move to China
Perhaps the most exciting thing as of late is that last night, we went to a very large (4-5 storey) bookstore in Xidan (near Tiananmen Sq.). Derek was looking for Tin Tin comics in Chinese, so we browsed through the children's section. To our surprise, we stumbled about nothing other than a bunch of those childhood morality tales, The Berenstain Bears!
So, this means we've been learning new Chinese vocabulary through The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room and The Berenstain Bears and the Gimmes. Take a look below to see a very poorly-lit, very touched-up photograph of my newest book.
While downtown, we sneaked a peak at the newly-built concert hall near The Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen. It looks like a large egg or a steel watermelon. In any case, it fits in with the rest of the ugly, Soviet-inspired buildings precisely because it's equally out of place in the East.
In other news, we all went out to dinner with a Calvin (and CVCA - my high school) grad named Aaron and his Chinese girlfriend. We went out for jiaozi, and, as soon as we walked out of their apartment it began to rain. So we rushed to a cab to save ourselves from the onslaught, drove for a very short amount of time and jumped out at what we thought was the right place. However, this turned out not to be the restaurant, and we dashed through the downpour, all wet anyway.
We're going to try to start seeing more sights around town, but no promises. The camera is tempermental, and it's up to it whether you get any pictures.
So, this means we've been learning new Chinese vocabulary through The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room and The Berenstain Bears and the Gimmes. Take a look below to see a very poorly-lit, very touched-up photograph of my newest book.
While downtown, we sneaked a peak at the newly-built concert hall near The Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen. It looks like a large egg or a steel watermelon. In any case, it fits in with the rest of the ugly, Soviet-inspired buildings precisely because it's equally out of place in the East.
In other news, we all went out to dinner with a Calvin (and CVCA - my high school) grad named Aaron and his Chinese girlfriend. We went out for jiaozi, and, as soon as we walked out of their apartment it began to rain. So we rushed to a cab to save ourselves from the onslaught, drove for a very short amount of time and jumped out at what we thought was the right place. However, this turned out not to be the restaurant, and we dashed through the downpour, all wet anyway.
We're going to try to start seeing more sights around town, but no promises. The camera is tempermental, and it's up to it whether you get any pictures.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
More Crazy Capers!
Last night, Tom and I went on a (not very successful) picture-taking excursion down Nanluogu Xiang, the street by our house where we spend most of our time. Feeling inspired by Tom's Crazy Capers of Mask-on-Neck and Zoomy-Yak, as well as Comic Life, a comic-making program that came with my Mac, I decided to make a comic documenting our experience! (Also, the pictures were too boring to post by themselves.)
Comic Life is pretty cool - I wanted to go nuts with photo effects and graphics, but I figured that since the point of the comic was to show you around, I should give you guys a clear look. Hopefully, I'll soon get a handle on the program, and then I can deliver some truly awesome comics. But for now, enjoy.
(By the way, I made them appear as large as Blogger would let me, but if they are too small, you can click on them for a closer look.)
Comic Life is pretty cool - I wanted to go nuts with photo effects and graphics, but I figured that since the point of the comic was to show you around, I should give you guys a clear look. Hopefully, I'll soon get a handle on the program, and then I can deliver some truly awesome comics. But for now, enjoy.
(By the way, I made them appear as large as Blogger would let me, but if they are too small, you can click on them for a closer look.)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
(Cloud) Seeds of Change?
First and foremost, I must break the news that we did not, in fact, attend the Beijing Olympic Celebration in person. Time simply got away from us, and we ended up going to a nearby restaurant, watching it on TV there between bites of jiaozi (dumplings). The celebration looked quite spectacular, with all sorts of dancers, singers, MCs that ooze million-dollar charm (and even Yao Ming) praising the past and future glories of Chinese civilization in the forefront while, lurking behind, the portrait of Mao atop Tiananmen shining like the rising sun.
The good thing about watching the ceremony TV from a restaurant (which, by the way, never seems to happen in the States - everyone eating dinner glued to the tube) was that we got to see a children's song and dance performance that came on afterward. The disturbingly cute Friendlies, the official Olympic mascots, even came out and danced with everyone. For more information on these cuddly weapons of mass emotional manipulation, see this. They appear on T-shirts, hats, buses, car seats, subway stations, commercials, coffee mugs, and even giant propaganda posters which encourage Beijing residents to "talk about culture" and "sacrifice" and "be joyful."
In other words, we discovered, through a Dutch guy we met the other day, why it rained like clockwork at 8:00 for three days straight: cloud seeding. This is the process of shooting chemicals, like dry ice or silver iodide, into the air to make it rain or make it rain longer. The United States, apparently, used it in 1972 to extend North Vietnam's monsoon season by 30-45 days. Now, China uses it to clear the air of pollution and make the increasingly arid Beijing a little more fertile. Here's Wikipedia's blurb:
"The largest cloud seeding system in the world is that of the People's Republic of China, which believes that it increases the amount of rain over several increasingly arid regions, including its capital city, Beijing, by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired. There is even political strife caused by neighboring regions which accuse each other of "stealing rain" using cloud seeding[5]. About 24 countries currently practice weather modification operationally. China also plans to use cloud seeding in Beijing just before the 2008 Olympic Games in order to clear the air of pollution. [6] "
If this were the still the Cold War, I'd be frightened out of my mind right now.
Today, I planned a little excursion to the library of The Beijing Center, a study-abroad hub run by Jesuits. I took a Chinese Literature class there two years ago, and Lisa and I have both used it's library's extensive scholarly resources when researching our projects on the One-Child Policy and Internet Censorship. It's located a little bit out of the main area of the city, so I took two subways and walked quite a bit to get there. When I arrived, the gate through which I normally enter was closed, so I walked 15 minutes or so to the other side of the school. I entered and then backtracked a good ways and got to the right building. Of course, I took the elevator to the wrong floor, backtracked, and then, when I reached that wonderful library, it was closed for the day for maintenance. Aiya!
We promise to put up more pictures soon, but we haven't really gone anywhere exciting (with our camera) recently, so it would have been more of the same.
That's all for now. Ta-ta!
The good thing about watching the ceremony TV from a restaurant (which, by the way, never seems to happen in the States - everyone eating dinner glued to the tube) was that we got to see a children's song and dance performance that came on afterward. The disturbingly cute Friendlies, the official Olympic mascots, even came out and danced with everyone. For more information on these cuddly weapons of mass emotional manipulation, see this. They appear on T-shirts, hats, buses, car seats, subway stations, commercials, coffee mugs, and even giant propaganda posters which encourage Beijing residents to "talk about culture" and "sacrifice" and "be joyful."
In other words, we discovered, through a Dutch guy we met the other day, why it rained like clockwork at 8:00 for three days straight: cloud seeding. This is the process of shooting chemicals, like dry ice or silver iodide, into the air to make it rain or make it rain longer. The United States, apparently, used it in 1972 to extend North Vietnam's monsoon season by 30-45 days. Now, China uses it to clear the air of pollution and make the increasingly arid Beijing a little more fertile. Here's Wikipedia's blurb:
"The largest cloud seeding system in the world is that of the People's Republic of China, which believes that it increases the amount of rain over several increasingly arid regions, including its capital city, Beijing, by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired. There is even political strife caused by neighboring regions which accuse each other of "stealing rain" using cloud seeding[5]. About 24 countries currently practice weather modification operationally. China also plans to use cloud seeding in Beijing just before the 2008 Olympic Games in order to clear the air of pollution. [6] "
If this were the still the Cold War, I'd be frightened out of my mind right now.
Today, I planned a little excursion to the library of The Beijing Center, a study-abroad hub run by Jesuits. I took a Chinese Literature class there two years ago, and Lisa and I have both used it's library's extensive scholarly resources when researching our projects on the One-Child Policy and Internet Censorship. It's located a little bit out of the main area of the city, so I took two subways and walked quite a bit to get there. When I arrived, the gate through which I normally enter was closed, so I walked 15 minutes or so to the other side of the school. I entered and then backtracked a good ways and got to the right building. Of course, I took the elevator to the wrong floor, backtracked, and then, when I reached that wonderful library, it was closed for the day for maintenance. Aiya!
We promise to put up more pictures soon, but we haven't really gone anywhere exciting (with our camera) recently, so it would have been more of the same.
That's all for now. Ta-ta!
Back to Reality!
Well, I hope you all enjoyed your stay in Tom's Comic Book World. Unfortunately, his fortune-telling skills are a bit off, as we didn't get a massage, we didn't take any pictures (although we will definitely take some tonight, as it's one year until the Olympics and there's a big celebration at Tiananmen Square in an hour or so), and we didn't resolve our job hunt, but we're working on it.
We did, however, visit 10 Kuai Bar, which is just like it sounds: everything on it's (admittedly limited) menu is Y10, or about $1.25. I expected cheap, gross alcohol, but the drinks were good and the bartender was very nice. The only other person there was a traveler from the Netherlands, who bought us a round of drinks and made good conversation. All in all, not a bad night.
The weather is finally hot and dry, which means: laundry! We did what was at least two washing machine loads worth (ha! Washing machines!), and it took me over two hours. But I'm not complaining, because my pajamas are clean and they don't smell like wet dog or mildew from hanging in the humid shower.
We have more news, but we're off to the celebration, so we'll post again soon - with pictures!
We did, however, visit 10 Kuai Bar, which is just like it sounds: everything on it's (admittedly limited) menu is Y10, or about $1.25. I expected cheap, gross alcohol, but the drinks were good and the bartender was very nice. The only other person there was a traveler from the Netherlands, who bought us a round of drinks and made good conversation. All in all, not a bad night.
The weather is finally hot and dry, which means: laundry! We did what was at least two washing machine loads worth (ha! Washing machines!), and it took me over two hours. But I'm not complaining, because my pajamas are clean and they don't smell like wet dog or mildew from hanging in the humid shower.
We have more news, but we're off to the celebration, so we'll post again soon - with pictures!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Brace yourself for . . . The Crazy Capers of Tom Mask-on-neck and Lisa Zoomy-yak in the Northern Capital
IN THIS ISSUE:
Marvel at Marble!
My (Coffee) Cup Runneth Over!
Sic Transit Curricula Vitae
A Lotta Hot Pot!
We Can Web-Cam Week-End
New York Times Two
Yesterday morning, I went to church at the Congregation of the Good Shepherd (http://www.goodshepherdcongregation.com/pages/index.php ), an international church here that's a liturgical, small, close-knit, and well-connected. It's located on the third floor of this ritzy expat club. As I've been recently living in the dusty hutongs, the uppercrust extravagance came as a jolt to my system. Especially strange were the marble-laden bathrooms with toilet paper right there next to the sit-down, Western-style john. I took much delight in all the things I had nearly forgotten about American living.
One especially good feature of the Congregation of the Good Shepherd is the post-service, coffee-drinking social time. The coffee is absolutely wonderful (and free), a treat because it's so hard to get good coffee without spending an arm and a leg and a few other unnameable appendages. I met a kind lady during this time whose two-year-old son speaks Mandarin as well as English, thanks to a Chinese ayi (nurse) who watches him all day. She said she'd help me out if I needed anything.
In employment news, I've been accepted at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, but I've yet to sign a contract. The job with North China Electric Power University is questionable - a long story that we hope to get straightened out in the next few days. Lisa is meeting up with a guy who works for the Beijing Olympic Committee who might be able to fix her up with a job there. If all else fails, Derek said he'd recommend us to his current employers at a language institute.
Last night, we went out for hot pot (huoguo) with Derek. Hot pot is generally a wintertime thing, but we were all in the mood last night. Basically, they bring you out a pot filled with water that's either sweet/gingery or spicy or both (which is what we got) and place it over a gas burner. You then get raw meat, vegetables, noodles, tofu, etc. and place them in the pot for brief cooking. You have a bowl of sesame-ish sauce filled with chopped cilantro and onion in which you cool your piping hot food. It makes for a good, northern-style meal, something to try if you're ever in Beijing. It ended up being a little more pricey than usual, but just as we started to complain, we realized that it was still around $4/person.
In other news, we both have webcams and Skype, and Lisa recently finished a session reconnecting with her parents. If you have Skype, feel free to look for us, although we may not be on at the usual hours, as the time difference is 12 hours with Eastern Time and 15 hours with Pacific Time.
Otherwise, not too much is happening here. We've been surfing the net in cafes recently, reading interesting New York Times articles and emailing family, friends, and enemies. Keep in touch, email us if you want a more intimate conversation, and stay healthy.
NEXT TIME:
More Pictures!
Employment Resolution?
The 10 Kuai Bar!
Who Wants a Body Massage?!
Marvel at Marble!
My (Coffee) Cup Runneth Over!
Sic Transit Curricula Vitae
A Lotta Hot Pot!
We Can Web-Cam Week-End
New York Times Two
Yesterday morning, I went to church at the Congregation of the Good Shepherd (http://www.goodshepherdcongrega
One especially good feature of the Congregation of the Good Shepherd is the post-service, coffee-drinking social time. The coffee is absolutely wonderful (and free), a treat because it's so hard to get good coffee without spending an arm and a leg and a few other unnameable appendages. I met a kind lady during this time whose two-year-old son speaks Mandarin as well as English, thanks to a Chinese ayi (nurse) who watches him all day. She said she'd help me out if I needed anything.
In employment news, I've been accepted at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, but I've yet to sign a contract. The job with North China Electric Power University is questionable - a long story that we hope to get straightened out in the next few days. Lisa is meeting up with a guy who works for the Beijing Olympic Committee who might be able to fix her up with a job there. If all else fails, Derek said he'd recommend us to his current employers at a language institute.
Last night, we went out for hot pot (huoguo) with Derek. Hot pot is generally a wintertime thing, but we were all in the mood last night. Basically, they bring you out a pot filled with water that's either sweet/gingery or spicy or both (which is what we got) and place it over a gas burner. You then get raw meat, vegetables, noodles, tofu, etc. and place them in the pot for brief cooking. You have a bowl of sesame-ish sauce filled with chopped cilantro and onion in which you cool your piping hot food. It makes for a good, northern-style meal, something to try if you're ever in Beijing. It ended up being a little more pricey than usual, but just as we started to complain, we realized that it was still around $4/person.
In other news, we both have webcams and Skype, and Lisa recently finished a session reconnecting with her parents. If you have Skype, feel free to look for us, although we may not be on at the usual hours, as the time difference is 12 hours with Eastern Time and 15 hours with Pacific Time.
Otherwise, not too much is happening here. We've been surfing the net in cafes recently, reading interesting New York Times articles and emailing family, friends, and enemies. Keep in touch, email us if you want a more intimate conversation, and stay healthy.
NEXT TIME:
More Pictures!
Employment Resolution?
The 10 Kuai Bar!
Who Wants a Body Massage?!
Qinlao Hutong
Come along as we show you the neighborhood!
Walking down the Qinlao Hutong. This little street gets a surprisingly heavy load of traffic, including bikes, tricycle carts, cars, taxis, minivans, you name it. Also, cars tend to drive maddeningly fast, but at least they honk a lot so you can hop out of the way. Amazingly, you can hear none of this traffic from inside the siheyuan (courtyard).
Tom stepping inside the 11/9 gate, where Derek lives.
From right inside the gate.
Inside the next gate. Note Derek's drying laundry on the left and his bike to the right. I don't think Tom was irritated with me, despite his expression.
Straight ahead is Derek's neighbor. To the left is Derek's kitchen and to the right is the door to Derek's pingfang (apartment).
Tom entering the apartment (with Derek's laundry).
Looking back through the gates toward the main street of the Qinlao Hutong.
In other news, there isn't much. I do feel compelled to introduce everyone to a delightful website called CouchSurfing, which aims to connect travelers all over the world and increase the trust and goodwill we all have in each other. If you register with the site, you can sign up to "couch surf" (for free) in somebody's apartment where you're traveling. And, since this sort of website tends to attract a certain sort of people, it functions as a social networking site where you can meet people and get involved with the city. (Parents, it also includes a fairly elaborate system of verifying identities and banning bad people, so no worries.)
The Beijing chapter is quite active, with house parties and bar get-togethers happening every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Not feeling up to meet scores of people in one batch, we met up with a very interesting girl for coffee and then an impromptu Korean meal together. It was quite fun, not to mention nice to get connected with another expat in the city. I also have a meeting scheduled with a CouchSurfing expat from Australia, who just may be able to get me a job working for the Olympics.
Hope everybody is doing well back in the States (and beyond). We miss you.
Walking down the Qinlao Hutong. This little street gets a surprisingly heavy load of traffic, including bikes, tricycle carts, cars, taxis, minivans, you name it. Also, cars tend to drive maddeningly fast, but at least they honk a lot so you can hop out of the way. Amazingly, you can hear none of this traffic from inside the siheyuan (courtyard).Tom stepping inside the 11/9 gate, where Derek lives.From right inside the gate.Inside the next gate. Note Derek's drying laundry on the left and his bike to the right. I don't think Tom was irritated with me, despite his expression.Straight ahead is Derek's neighbor. To the left is Derek's kitchen and to the right is the door to Derek's pingfang (apartment).Tom entering the apartment (with Derek's laundry).Looking back through the gates toward the main street of the Qinlao Hutong.In other news, there isn't much. I do feel compelled to introduce everyone to a delightful website called CouchSurfing, which aims to connect travelers all over the world and increase the trust and goodwill we all have in each other. If you register with the site, you can sign up to "couch surf" (for free) in somebody's apartment where you're traveling. And, since this sort of website tends to attract a certain sort of people, it functions as a social networking site where you can meet people and get involved with the city. (Parents, it also includes a fairly elaborate system of verifying identities and banning bad people, so no worries.)
The Beijing chapter is quite active, with house parties and bar get-togethers happening every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Not feeling up to meet scores of people in one batch, we met up with a very interesting girl for coffee and then an impromptu Korean meal together. It was quite fun, not to mention nice to get connected with another expat in the city. I also have a meeting scheduled with a CouchSurfing expat from Australia, who just may be able to get me a job working for the Olympics.
Hope everybody is doing well back in the States (and beyond). We miss you.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Some Pictures!
See Tom's post below for more details and an update.
What's this, you ask? Perhaps a late night at Houhai, the nearby lake? A little house on a peaceful river? NOPE, it's our hutong! I suppose nobody has any perspective on what our neighborhood looks like (whoops, sorry about not posting any pictures earlier - we'll get on that), so: I took this picture standing in our doorway. Straight ahead is a neighbor apartment, to the right is Derek's kitchen (it's not attached to the house), and to the left is another neighbor apartment.
Here are some more pictures, with flash this time:
Standing in the doorway, turned to the left. Note the enormous rain drops and the rapidly rising water.
To the right this time. This is Derek's kitchen.
I was afraid that the apartment was going to flood! Perspective-wise, this is looking straight down at the door jamb and the rising waters. This was relatively early in the night, and it got worse as time went on. But the apartment stayed relatively dry. (And sorry, Mom, it's pretty much impossible to keep the door jambs clean here. :) Trust me, I've tried.)
What's this, you ask? Perhaps a late night at Houhai, the nearby lake? A little house on a peaceful river? NOPE, it's our hutong! I suppose nobody has any perspective on what our neighborhood looks like (whoops, sorry about not posting any pictures earlier - we'll get on that), so: I took this picture standing in our doorway. Straight ahead is a neighbor apartment, to the right is Derek's kitchen (it's not attached to the house), and to the left is another neighbor apartment.
Here are some more pictures, with flash this time:
Standing in the doorway, turned to the left. Note the enormous rain drops and the rapidly rising water.To the right this time. This is Derek's kitchen.I was afraid that the apartment was going to flood! Perspective-wise, this is looking straight down at the door jamb and the rising waters. This was relatively early in the night, and it got worse as time went on. But the apartment stayed relatively dry. (And sorry, Mom, it's pretty much impossible to keep the door jambs clean here. :) Trust me, I've tried.)
The Party "Rains" in Beijing
Just as we thought it would rain no longer, down came the whips of rain, with thunder in their wake. I know Lisa has described the sewage, garbage, and general flotsam and jetsam that wind their way through the Beijing streets when it storms here, but I thought I'd add my own perspective. As I wrote in my private journal the other day, the rains here are like something out of the Book of Revelation - lightning rends the heavens in two, a terrible fury rockets downward, and chaos ensues upon the earth.
The rain poured so heavily last night that the floodwaters threatened to burst through the door to our apartment (which is several inches off the ground). Lisa took pictures, which we'll post shortly. Derek, our kind host, was trapped in the subway station and didn't return from his Beijing workaday odyssey until sometime around 11 pm. While the waters raged, he bared his feet and walked, naked from the shins down, through the brown rapids to return home - an act of daring, in my mind, equivalent to walking on coals.
This night, however, we were prepared for the rain. Rather than being caught out at a restaurant without umbrella or flotation device, we ate instant noodles (which, by the way are far far better in China than anything you'll find in the States - Chinese paomian [lit. "brew noodles"] compared to ramen is like my current HP Pavilion Notebook compared to that old 486 upon which you played "Oregon Trail"), made French-press coffee, read Derek's old issues of Harper's, and solved several crosswords.
In other news, my new cell phone actually works, and works quite well. It slides into place, has a camera, and makes all kinds of carnivalesque beeps with which Lisa and I annoy each other.
I have a follow-up interview with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, this time with the dean of the school present, too. Wish me luck, place it in a box, and mail it rush delivery to the Dongcheng District of Beijing.
Tonight, we dine like kings and pray for drought.
The rain poured so heavily last night that the floodwaters threatened to burst through the door to our apartment (which is several inches off the ground). Lisa took pictures, which we'll post shortly. Derek, our kind host, was trapped in the subway station and didn't return from his Beijing workaday odyssey until sometime around 11 pm. While the waters raged, he bared his feet and walked, naked from the shins down, through the brown rapids to return home - an act of daring, in my mind, equivalent to walking on coals.
This night, however, we were prepared for the rain. Rather than being caught out at a restaurant without umbrella or flotation device, we ate instant noodles (which, by the way are far far better in China than anything you'll find in the States - Chinese paomian [lit. "brew noodles"] compared to ramen is like my current HP Pavilion Notebook compared to that old 486 upon which you played "Oregon Trail"), made French-press coffee, read Derek's old issues of Harper's, and solved several crosswords.
In other news, my new cell phone actually works, and works quite well. It slides into place, has a camera, and makes all kinds of carnivalesque beeps with which Lisa and I annoy each other.
I have a follow-up interview with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, this time with the dean of the school present, too. Wish me luck, place it in a box, and mail it rush delivery to the Dongcheng District of Beijing.
Tonight, we dine like kings and pray for drought.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Search for a Hand Machine
I think we've discovered how to have things to write about: no, not do more things! All we have to do is wait a few days between posts!
We've been writing from a nice cafe called "Zha Zha's Cafe." I have no idea who Zha Zha is, but I hope it's the nice older lady who speaks to us kindly and reads us characters off the menu when we don't know how to say them. It's a cute little place, well-decorated and homey, and they play either piano concertos or classic rock on the stereo. I'll bring my camera next time and take pictures.
The weather here has been crazy. The last two days have been sunny in the mornings. By 3pm or so, dark clouds roll in and it rains a fair bit in the late afternoons. Then, around 9pm, the skies open up, there are fantastic thunderstorms, and the streets flood. Unfortunately, this always coincides with our dinners out, so we sit in the restaurant, dejected, watching the rain flood the city. The first night this happened - Monday, I think - was the worst. Getting home was a nightmarish dream sequence: we dashed through ankle-deep puddles of what must have been acid rain, trash, and raw sewage, all the while trying to avoid being hit by bikes, taxis, and buses, as lightning flashed blindingly directly overhead.
We figured this wouldn't happen two days in a row, so we decided to clean house for Derek on Tuesday. Tom cleaned the kitchen and swept, and I mopped the floors and cleaned the bathroom. Taking advantage of the sunny skies, I did some laundry (mind you, this was no small task: I was on my hands and knees with a bucket in the shower). As luck would have it, we no sooner hung the wrung out towels and sheets to dry when it started to rain again! So now our towels still smell musty. But we put in a good effort.
Tom bought a cell phone today, and being the nice person I am, I went along to keep him company (however, don't be fooled: I ended up being nothing more than a big pain in the you-know-where). Near Capital Normal University, the school we attended in 2005, we found a gigantic underground electronics market. When we asked a cell phone salesman where we could buy used cell phones, he laughed and said nobody sold them there. But then they took us to the cell phone repair guy, who pulled several phones out of his desk drawer and offered to sell them to us. Despite the shadiness of the transaction, Tom bought one - the phone itself was 200 yuan, or about $25 - and an $8 phone card.
Still, I think we got a little bit ripped off. The salesmen, who were all crowding around and watching the spectacle, asked me if everybody in America thought Tom was shuai - handsome. Tom is quite the hottie in China. All the girls fawn over him incessantly, and even the men take notice. (Tom, I hope you are blushing. But, I tell you, dear reader, it's true.) However, whenever a salesperson tells you that you're good looking, it means they're ripping you off. Oh well.
Derek has a book called The Chan's Great Continent that Tom has been reading - and I have been waiting for him to finish so I can start. It's by Jonathan Spence, a well-respected scholar of China. I'd recommend reading any of his books, as he is academically sound and an interesting read. This book in particular documents different perspectives of China ever since Marco Polo was there (or was he?...) in the 1200s. We thought we'd share a quote with you spoken by Father Francisco Pimentel, a Portuguese Jesuit, when he visited Beijing around 1670:
"In summer the heat is excessive, and a greater torment is the dust, of which there is so much and fine that, when we went out on the street, our hair and beards looked like those of millers covered with flour. Bad water; innumerable bugs that get in one's clothing at night, and while we were there they bit many of us. The flies are infinite and importunate, and the mosquitoes worse... The streets are not paved... and this is the reason why there is so much dust, and when it rains unbearable mud" (43-4).
Hmm... sounds familiar.
P.S. Check out this link from The New York Times that Tom just sent to me: Chinese Market Awash in Fake Potter Books
We've been writing from a nice cafe called "Zha Zha's Cafe." I have no idea who Zha Zha is, but I hope it's the nice older lady who speaks to us kindly and reads us characters off the menu when we don't know how to say them. It's a cute little place, well-decorated and homey, and they play either piano concertos or classic rock on the stereo. I'll bring my camera next time and take pictures.
The weather here has been crazy. The last two days have been sunny in the mornings. By 3pm or so, dark clouds roll in and it rains a fair bit in the late afternoons. Then, around 9pm, the skies open up, there are fantastic thunderstorms, and the streets flood. Unfortunately, this always coincides with our dinners out, so we sit in the restaurant, dejected, watching the rain flood the city. The first night this happened - Monday, I think - was the worst. Getting home was a nightmarish dream sequence: we dashed through ankle-deep puddles of what must have been acid rain, trash, and raw sewage, all the while trying to avoid being hit by bikes, taxis, and buses, as lightning flashed blindingly directly overhead.
We figured this wouldn't happen two days in a row, so we decided to clean house for Derek on Tuesday. Tom cleaned the kitchen and swept, and I mopped the floors and cleaned the bathroom. Taking advantage of the sunny skies, I did some laundry (mind you, this was no small task: I was on my hands and knees with a bucket in the shower). As luck would have it, we no sooner hung the wrung out towels and sheets to dry when it started to rain again! So now our towels still smell musty. But we put in a good effort.
Tom bought a cell phone today, and being the nice person I am, I went along to keep him company (however, don't be fooled: I ended up being nothing more than a big pain in the you-know-where). Near Capital Normal University, the school we attended in 2005, we found a gigantic underground electronics market. When we asked a cell phone salesman where we could buy used cell phones, he laughed and said nobody sold them there. But then they took us to the cell phone repair guy, who pulled several phones out of his desk drawer and offered to sell them to us. Despite the shadiness of the transaction, Tom bought one - the phone itself was 200 yuan, or about $25 - and an $8 phone card.
Still, I think we got a little bit ripped off. The salesmen, who were all crowding around and watching the spectacle, asked me if everybody in America thought Tom was shuai - handsome. Tom is quite the hottie in China. All the girls fawn over him incessantly, and even the men take notice. (Tom, I hope you are blushing. But, I tell you, dear reader, it's true.) However, whenever a salesperson tells you that you're good looking, it means they're ripping you off. Oh well.
Derek has a book called The Chan's Great Continent that Tom has been reading - and I have been waiting for him to finish so I can start. It's by Jonathan Spence, a well-respected scholar of China. I'd recommend reading any of his books, as he is academically sound and an interesting read. This book in particular documents different perspectives of China ever since Marco Polo was there (or was he?...) in the 1200s. We thought we'd share a quote with you spoken by Father Francisco Pimentel, a Portuguese Jesuit, when he visited Beijing around 1670:
"In summer the heat is excessive, and a greater torment is the dust, of which there is so much and fine that, when we went out on the street, our hair and beards looked like those of millers covered with flour. Bad water; innumerable bugs that get in one's clothing at night, and while we were there they bit many of us. The flies are infinite and importunate, and the mosquitoes worse... The streets are not paved... and this is the reason why there is so much dust, and when it rains unbearable mud" (43-4).
Hmm... sounds familiar.
P.S. Check out this link from The New York Times that Tom just sent to me: Chinese Market Awash in Fake Potter Books
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