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?!