Note: We wrote this post together last night, which was the actual festival day. Now it is Wednesday morning and we are in a net bar. Read on...
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival from Harbin! A few words of explanation: Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is a time when families gather together to gaze at the round moon and eat the round mooncakes to signify their eternal unity. Despite the happy sentiment of this tradition, moon cakes are, in fact, utterly disgusting. Of all the Chinese people we asked, literally everyone responded that they do not actually like to eat mooncakes. However, everybody also told us that they eat mooncakes every year to celebrate the festival. We suggested that perhaps they eat other round foods, such as eggs or even peaches, to celebrate the eternal unity of their family, but they seemed perplexed by the suggestion. Oh well, we tried.
In keeping with tradition, we bought two mooncakes filled with egg yolks - actually the variety closest to edible, surprisingly enough. (There are many other varieties, filled with such delicacies as flower petals and bean paste.) We hurriedly ate them with a little help from what Tom likes to call "good ol' Mr. Coffee," although I suppose that is not very Chinese of us. Nonetheless, we stared at the moon through the hazy sky (and the warped glass of our porch) and thus celebrated the holiday along with a billion other people.
In other news, I had a very nice birthday. Rather, I had a nice birthday week, as the celebration was dragged out for several days (I didn't complain). I cooked a birthday dinner for Tom and me - pasta, tomato sauce, and a bottle of red wine which was actually decent. On my actual birthday, some of my classmates decorated the room, which was very fun because the teachers didn't want to erase the drawings on the blackboard but were subsequently left with a tiny square in which to write. That night, our class - and even two of our teachers - went out to eat together at a nice restaurant. I also received many nice gifts, the highlights including a Chinese Bible and a stuffed Fuwa - one of the Beijing 2008 Olympic mascots.
Here, I intended to post some pictures, but the computer that I'm using will not read my thumb drive, no matter what I try (which isn't much because everything is in Chinese). So, next time!
Next week we have a whole week off of school for National Day. We don't have much planned (except a potential visitor: our friend and fellow Calvin student Tabitha), so hopefully we can catch up on many of the posts - and all those pictures - we've promised over the past month!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Air[dry]ing Our Dirty [actually Clean] Laundry!
The long-awaited tour has arrived - at least in part! Sorry if the pictures are kind of small this time. The way I had to upload them is the second best method. But at least there are finally pictures! (I think you can click on each picture to enlarge if necessary.)
Note: I threw those grapes away immediately after taking the pictures. (Not very delicious.) But I did want to relay my amazement to you.
In other news, we did a whole lot of cleaning this weekend, as you may have noticed by the pictures! Today was the first hot and sunny day in the last two weeks, so we took advantage and washed practically every article of clothing we have. (I also mended both of my pairs of jeans. By an unlucky twist of fate, they both ripped badly within the first week of our arrival!) Things are getting put away and the apartment looks really nice.
I also went shopping with Kyla for a new cell phone. The Chinese method is way better than the American one: you buy a phone (mine was Y300, about $40), then a SIM card. The SIM card was Y100 ($12), but only Y30 of that actually pays for the card - the rest goes toward the calls you make. Each text message you send or call you make is Y.25 ($.03) (per minute for the calls). Receiving is free. There's no monthly charge! although there is a Y10/month minimum, and I decided to pay Y2/month extra to get nights and weekends for only Y.1/minute. So cheap!
Also, Jinpeng said that people from home can send letters and packages to us via his coffee shop. Here's the address:
Lisa/Tom
c/o On the Way Coffee House
103 Qiaodong Street
Nan'gang District
Harbin, China 150001
If you do send us a package, and if you have time, could you write Jinpeng a postcard and send it in the package? (He speaks English.) He collects postcards from all over the world, and we think it would be nice as a thank you for him letting us use his address. If you can't, no worries.
Next time: another room of the apartment and the newest Chinese National Holiday - my birthday!
Monday, September 10, 2007
And out runs my time at the net bar!
Sorry to all who rely on our website for daily edutainment! We've been so busy lately that we don't have time to go to the net bar every day and update - which is just as well, because between paying tuition, all six months of rent - plus a deposit and some utilities - up front, buying books, changing our visas (very expensive for Americans), and furnishing our apartment, we don't need another thing to spend our time or money on. But we will do our best to post as often as possible, since we miss everybody at home and want to keep in touch with all of you!
Things have been going really well. Obviously, we've been keeping busy. It seems like our list of things to do never gets shorter - welcome to the real world, I guess? But, in reality, we're slowly getting settled. As Tom already posted, we rented an apartment, and aside from a few quibbles (unreliable water, seventh floor, a minor cockroach problem - currently being taken care of I might add, and a very loud and busy train track right behind the building), it's a really nice place.
We're getting furnishings settled, finally. Still no real beds, but we can't really afford them anyway - and we're happy with our set up. I'm sleeping on a perfectly me-sized futon, and Tom got some foam squares that Korean missionaries left with Jinpeng and has assembled them to make a bed. Don't pity him; they're actually quite comfortable.
Yesterday, we went with our friend Kyla to buy bedding. As we got on the bus, the bus driver accused us of shorting him a kuai, and Tom had to give him another coin just to end the fight that was quickly brewing. Several stops later, we arrived at the biggest warehouse I have ever seen. When we walked in, there were tiny stalls to our right and left selling curtains, tailored clothing, fabric, bedding, and bric-a-brac for farther than I could see. Just as my mind began to wrap around the enormity of the place, we turned a corner and it went on in THAT direction for as far as I could see! Then, we discovered we had to go to the third floor to find what we were looking for! It was absolutely crazy!
Kyla told us that she's a really good bargainer, and she wasn't kidding. We had excellent luck! I bought a huge, warm, wonderful, 100% goose down comforter for the low, low price of... US$15! Off to the next stall to buy a cover. We picked out some fabric (I had to compromise with Kyla because, to save money, we were each getting one made out of the same fabric) and as we watched, the lady sewed two comforters and two pillowcases at top speed. After some more hunting, we bargained for two pillows and a comforter for Tom, and, our arms full of bags, got on the bus to go home.
To our great surprise, we got on the same bus as the one we rode a few hours earlier - same driver and everything! It was sort of embarrassing.
On a different note, one thing we've been really missing, especially now that we have our own kitchen, is Western food. Although we can get every fruit, vegetable, and grain under the sun, there are many essential ingredients we can't get our hands on, like most spices and, surprisingly, legumes (though maybe we just haven't found those yet). We've found olive oil but we haven't bought any, since a small bottle costs about US$10 - and don't forget how much my down comforter cost! However, so far we have made successful batches of salsa, sweet potato fries, and a full diner breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns, and coffee.
Anyway, off to study! (Classes are going well, by the way.) How are things at home?
Things have been going really well. Obviously, we've been keeping busy. It seems like our list of things to do never gets shorter - welcome to the real world, I guess? But, in reality, we're slowly getting settled. As Tom already posted, we rented an apartment, and aside from a few quibbles (unreliable water, seventh floor, a minor cockroach problem - currently being taken care of I might add, and a very loud and busy train track right behind the building), it's a really nice place.
We're getting furnishings settled, finally. Still no real beds, but we can't really afford them anyway - and we're happy with our set up. I'm sleeping on a perfectly me-sized futon, and Tom got some foam squares that Korean missionaries left with Jinpeng and has assembled them to make a bed. Don't pity him; they're actually quite comfortable.
Yesterday, we went with our friend Kyla to buy bedding. As we got on the bus, the bus driver accused us of shorting him a kuai, and Tom had to give him another coin just to end the fight that was quickly brewing. Several stops later, we arrived at the biggest warehouse I have ever seen. When we walked in, there were tiny stalls to our right and left selling curtains, tailored clothing, fabric, bedding, and bric-a-brac for farther than I could see. Just as my mind began to wrap around the enormity of the place, we turned a corner and it went on in THAT direction for as far as I could see! Then, we discovered we had to go to the third floor to find what we were looking for! It was absolutely crazy!
Kyla told us that she's a really good bargainer, and she wasn't kidding. We had excellent luck! I bought a huge, warm, wonderful, 100% goose down comforter for the low, low price of... US$15! Off to the next stall to buy a cover. We picked out some fabric (I had to compromise with Kyla because, to save money, we were each getting one made out of the same fabric) and as we watched, the lady sewed two comforters and two pillowcases at top speed. After some more hunting, we bargained for two pillows and a comforter for Tom, and, our arms full of bags, got on the bus to go home.
To our great surprise, we got on the same bus as the one we rode a few hours earlier - same driver and everything! It was sort of embarrassing.
On a different note, one thing we've been really missing, especially now that we have our own kitchen, is Western food. Although we can get every fruit, vegetable, and grain under the sun, there are many essential ingredients we can't get our hands on, like most spices and, surprisingly, legumes (though maybe we just haven't found those yet). We've found olive oil but we haven't bought any, since a small bottle costs about US$10 - and don't forget how much my down comforter cost! However, so far we have made successful batches of salsa, sweet potato fries, and a full diner breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns, and coffee.
Anyway, off to study! (Classes are going well, by the way.) How are things at home?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Slapdash Claptrap ON!
A quick post because my time is limited...
1) We found an apartment! It's really nice, relatively cheap (about 835 RMB, or US$105, per month), close to our new friend Jinpeng's coffee shop, near our school, clean, spacious, and has hot water. However, it has no beds, no refridgerator, no washing machine. We're working on the beds (we've got a sofa and a sleeping bag to work with), it'll be cold enough soon to store food outside, and we can wash clothes by hand.
2) We're switching down a level in Chinese. Our reasons are:
(a) It's slightly above our heads. We could get by with lots of intense studying, but that would be much less fun in the long run.
(b) Literally all of our classmates are Korean, and half the fun of going to an international school is getting to know people from all over the world, not just Korea.
(c) The East Asian, Confucian educational method of rote memorization and recitation is a drag, yet all of our Korean classmates are used to it. Today, our teacher even said straight out, "Reciting the phrasing of the book is better than summarizing the content in your own words." Thanks a lot, Confucius.
Otherwise, things are good. We've been hanging out with Jinpeng and another American who is passing through on his travels. We also met another Chinese person from Couchsurfing, Kyla, who may have a few leads for us as far as jobs are going.
One note on the apartment buildings. All of the hallway and stairway lights are clappers. You remember those infomercials - "clap on, clap off"? Well, it's that. Make a loud noise, and on goes the hallway light. I like it.
My time has passed. Goodbye for now.
1) We found an apartment! It's really nice, relatively cheap (about 835 RMB, or US$105, per month), close to our new friend Jinpeng's coffee shop, near our school, clean, spacious, and has hot water. However, it has no beds, no refridgerator, no washing machine. We're working on the beds (we've got a sofa and a sleeping bag to work with), it'll be cold enough soon to store food outside, and we can wash clothes by hand.
2) We're switching down a level in Chinese. Our reasons are:
(a) It's slightly above our heads. We could get by with lots of intense studying, but that would be much less fun in the long run.
(b) Literally all of our classmates are Korean, and half the fun of going to an international school is getting to know people from all over the world, not just Korea.
(c) The East Asian, Confucian educational method of rote memorization and recitation is a drag, yet all of our Korean classmates are used to it. Today, our teacher even said straight out, "Reciting the phrasing of the book is better than summarizing the content in your own words." Thanks a lot, Confucius.
Otherwise, things are good. We've been hanging out with Jinpeng and another American who is passing through on his travels. We also met another Chinese person from Couchsurfing, Kyla, who may have a few leads for us as far as jobs are going.
One note on the apartment buildings. All of the hallway and stairway lights are clappers. You remember those infomercials - "clap on, clap off"? Well, it's that. Make a loud noise, and on goes the hallway light. I like it.
My time has passed. Goodbye for now.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Finally, Some Good News!
We only have time for a quick post, but here it is:
1. We're finding a place to live! We met a guy named Jinpeng on CouchSurfing and he's been helping us find a place to live. So far we have to decide between a nice apartment for Y900/month ($115 or so) or renting a room from a nice Catholic family for Y400/month ($50ish). The apartment is too big, and the room is probably too small. The family will cook food for us, but we won't have anywhere to go to "escape" from China when it gets to be too much. We welcome all input, suggestions, and advice!
2. We're making friends! Jinpeng, aside from being extremely helpful, is also extremely nice. He owns a coffee shop and so far we've met several of his friends who have come in to talk to him. So it looks like we won't be on our own for the whole time we're in Harbin.
3. Jinpeng is also a Christian! We've been thrust without knowing it right into the center of the Christian community in Harbin. (We didn't go to church with him today because we're so tired and they leave at 6:45am, but we plan to next week.)
In other news, classes start tomorrow. We've already started studying in order to stay on top of the material - it looks like we're going to have at least 100 vocab words a week.
Hope things are going well for all of you, wherever you may be.
1. We're finding a place to live! We met a guy named Jinpeng on CouchSurfing and he's been helping us find a place to live. So far we have to decide between a nice apartment for Y900/month ($115 or so) or renting a room from a nice Catholic family for Y400/month ($50ish). The apartment is too big, and the room is probably too small. The family will cook food for us, but we won't have anywhere to go to "escape" from China when it gets to be too much. We welcome all input, suggestions, and advice!
2. We're making friends! Jinpeng, aside from being extremely helpful, is also extremely nice. He owns a coffee shop and so far we've met several of his friends who have come in to talk to him. So it looks like we won't be on our own for the whole time we're in Harbin.
3. Jinpeng is also a Christian! We've been thrust without knowing it right into the center of the Christian community in Harbin. (We didn't go to church with him today because we're so tired and they leave at 6:45am, but we plan to next week.)
In other news, classes start tomorrow. We've already started studying in order to stay on top of the material - it looks like we're going to have at least 100 vocab words a week.
Hope things are going well for all of you, wherever you may be.
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