Lost and Found in Translation

View from the second floor of Shanghai train station. 

Interior of Hot Pot restaurant

During the next week, Emma asks if I would like to try Hot Pot with her. I have tried dishes like this in the states but never to the decadent level of the average Chinese Hot Pot place. You choose your meats, veggies, and broths and a cart is wheeled out to your table and then your burner is turned on so the magic can begin! You also go to a buffet of sauces where you can mix and make your own dipping sauce. The whole thing is quite an extravaganza and delight. Emma insisted on me trying a few different internal organs. I tried stomach, throat, and a few bites were quite enough for me. To the Chinese, this is a delicacy and they promote and advertise the dishes with fervor. Remember, just because we don’t do it doesn’t make it wrong! Hot Pot is to be eaten with friends over hours of time. In both cases I have eaten Hot Pot, it has offered two different broths for cooking so one may try a spicy and not spicy, a creamy or broth based. The possibilities are endless.

Hotpot tools 

Stomach anyone?

Emma, her friend and I!

People Street

The weekend before my first week of actual teaching, I decided rather impulsively to take on the challenge of getting myself to Shanghai. Looking back at it now, it does not seem that complicated, but the first time navigating anything in a foreign land has its challenges. I purchased my ticket online with my passport number, your passport is your only valid form of ID when traveling in China. The trip would take me about 36 mins and cost about the equivalent of $10. I went to visit a friend I met via WeChat in Shanghai and she was gracious enough to show me around. We had a little trouble finding each other in the train station but thanks to our handy-dandy Wechat location tools we were able to get each other's icons to collide on the map in no time. She is a teacher too and we spent the afternoon doing a quick tour of the city, checking out the English bookstore. (No photos, sorry)  We munched on soup dumplings and avoided the rain which fell like buckets intermittently throughout the day. The city was packed full of people. Sooo many people. It was a little unnerving at times and claustrophobic, but the fact the pack just keeps moving is helpful. At a certain point it started raining rather dramatically and silently and in unison, the droves of Chinese passersby simply lined up along the buildings and under awnings crowded together like a tightly packed tin of sardines. It was a little body-snatchers-esque, quite frankly but utterly and totally fascinating. My friend took me to the Bund, which is the riverfront that looks over the city's financial district. Shanghai reminds me of San Francisco in some ways, old meets new, West meets East. It really is quite phenomenal. After a long quiet damp walk, we hobbled into an Italian restaurant and I had ravioli and a Caprese salad for dinner. It was pretty darn good and frankly, it was nice to have cheese!

Bullet Train! 

Bustling City 

Neoclassical fusion in the architecture

Boarding the train

View from the bullet train

Inside the train station

Shopping Mall

Old meets new everywhere!

Soup Dumplings! Yum!

Pollution was very much more visable in Shanghai

The Bund

Nighttime Skyline view

More People, more people, more people! 

Train Station

I have seen many versions of the Wall Street Bull in China

Rainy walk to the Bund

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View from my walk to the train station in Shanghai

Lotus leaf lunch! 

When I returned from Shanghai, Emma took me out to dinner and shopping. We ate at a restuarant that serves a dish traditional to this area. It is pork wrapped in rice and cooked in lotus leaves. They are delicious and flavorful. The leaves actually give the rice and meat an amazing amount of robust flavor. As we left the restaurant there was a chorus of matronlly women synchronized dancing in the parking lot outside of the restaurant. It was as if we walked out into a flash mob! The music was blaring loudly on a small jukebox and the ladies swayed and stepped gracefully in the warm inky air. "What is this?" I asked Emma, looking at her in amazement. She explained that older women from different apartment complexes all get together and form dance troupes. These dance troupes compete for awards and they take it very seriously. I got a video of a group of women dancing on the street corner later that night so you can see what this looks like. Afterward we went to the super market where I delighted in buying some tea. All the different flavors and colors were before me like a rainbow of delishiness! I selected some dried fruit tea and went home a very happy camper! 

This is the rice cake wrapped in lotus leaves  and rice porridge 

Buying tea makes me so happy! 

Image I put into my PPTS for example

My first week of teaching was discussed in a previous blog, but I think things are going well under the circumstances. Students are responding well to my teaching and I feel I am arranging an effective class for art making and language learning. It is something that could only be provided to me as an instructor in this sort of environment and gives me a lot to think about in terms of further research.

My Teaching boards on a good day! 

How my classroom is looking these days!

Some of the things I have added: I have posted a picture of the classroom tables, so when we go through the clean up procedure they can look at an example as opposed to listen to me tell them what to do. Remember language is a barrier. I also Tell them too, but the visual reinforces the instructions. 

This is Piearo! I miss him so! 

One of the things that have been hard to deal with is the street animal problem here in China. I try to keep in mind the differences in culture. In our culture, we very much see our pets as members of the family. They have the same priveledges as we do: sleep in our beds, get walks on leashes, sit on the furtniture, we talk to them like people and rehome them if so needed. We contact local shelters or try to find a new good home for our pet. This is not the case in Asia. In Asia, animals are animals. When animals are considered unwanted, for reasons which may span from can't afford to feed, is more work then they thought or anything that might cause an owner to want to get rid of their pet... It seems, for the most part, they put the animal to the street. In their minds, I believe they think they are doing the animals a favor, letting it 'back' into the wild. But in many cases, these animals are not fixed and now there are throngs of homeless dogs and cats everywhere. I would not say it is 'herds' of them, but it is not often I do not see a stray dog or cat on my walk around town. For those of you that know me well, you know I have already adopted (or rather he adopted me) a dog when I lived in South Korea about ten years ago. His name is Piearo and I love him and miss him dearly. It was a hard call deciding not to bring Mr. Peeps (as he is often called) with me but after many heartwrenching considerations, I decided it was not in his best interest. First, China has a quarantine for dogs that are coming into the country. This can be avoided for like $3000.00. Otherwise, it is a ten-day quarantine of which you are at the mercy of whoever may be in charge of the kennels. Food and water are promised but may not be delivered and I have heard stories of dogs being returned to their owners in shambles, never the same or worse.. not at all. Second, I was very aware that my schedule was going to require me to be out of the house for at least nine hours every day. Peeps is a people person (if you know him, you know what I mean) and it would make him very sad to be alone all day every day. So with a heavy heart, after I accepted the position, I decided to leave Mr. Peeps with my parents to which he is a very happy pup. He probably is sleeping happlily on the lap of my father as you read these lines! Anyway, seeing this many homeless dogs and cats, most of which seem rather happy with their plight, forces a break in my personal creed: I shall help any animals anywhere anytime that needs my help. If you were to ask Andy, he could vouch for this as he has had to stop everything a few times to help me aid in animals in need. There have been some gruesome and harrowing tales that I will not go into here, but let me just say it was hard. But being in China, I am in a new country and I don't speak the language nor know where to take an animal if I were to capture one. I also read that many of the animals have rabies and other diseases. This would not help if I got sick while trying to help animals who may or may not need my help. So it was also a difficult decision to walk by the animals I see on my way to school. I do bring treats in my backpack and feed the creatures I happen to encounter. For now, it is the best I can do. That being said, I know I do not have a life suited for a dog, but I do however have a giant apartment (By Chinese standards) all to myself and know this would be a perfect home for a kitty cat. I decided the Friday I booked my ticket to Shanghai that I would put my radar out for a cat that needed a home and wouldn't you know, later that night someone posted on a WeChat Expat Jiaxing group that she had a kitty that needed a home. His name was White Boy. Yes, WhiteBoy. Lillian is Chinese and rescues cats in the area. White Boy has had a rough life so far at age 1 being bounced from a few homes and possibly at least one where he was unfortunately mistreated. And knowing what I knew of WhiteBoy, we seemed to be a perfect fit. Lillian has opened an English Training School here in Jiaxing and she has turned out to be a good friend of mine. She brought WB in a carrying case which she had to take to work that day. I met her in the courtyard of my apartment complex. She brought his litterbox, food, treats, and a carrying case. She also brought heartworm meds and his vaccination records. I felt it was as good as adopting a new family member from the humane society. White boy, whose name still makes me laugh, is not without his quirks. He is loving, affectionate, and smart too. So smart, he can actually open doors with his bare paws! I learned quickly that I must be extra vigilant to bolt my door to my apartment inside and out otherwise I shall come home to a door wide open, no cat and no belongings! So far we have only had one incident the first day I got him. (Door open+ cat + all belongings..thankfully) I have renamed him 'Ming' after the white poreclain vases of the Ming Dynasty. I will say he has become a little less of a punk since the rebranding! We work well together and I am happy to give to an animal in need of a home. But ask me at 4am and I may feel differently as he likes to do his best impersonation of the Bejing Opera at that time. Lillian mentioned she was bringing me 'dead bird treats' she said "he loves them" and in my mind, I was like "oh, she must mean like chicken, like cat treats." But imaginee my surprise when they actually WERE dead birds. Dehydrated dead birds to be exact. They smelled like nothing I have ever encountered before and it was not long before I abandoned this treat and replaced them with a more stomach friendly food for Ming. (again, going back to our food doesn't look like the animal thing we have in Western culture that makes us all feel more civilized)

Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644), Vases. Many of them have blue floral motifs. 

The dead baby bird 'treats' mentioned above. 

The adoption posting for White Boy

One of the photos Lillian sent me of Ming. 

Ming on my bedroom nook, quite at home!

Korean Food! OMG, I moved to a place that has Korean restauarnts! This delights me too! And it is owned by North Koreans. I was asking how this is possible? "How did the owner escape?" "No, said the Chinese teachers, North Koreans can come to China no problem." "Oh, that's right!" I said in my mind as I thought, I am so not in Kansas anymore. It was soooo good to go to an authentic Korean restauarnt. I had been to a few but nothing compared to the mulitsensory experience of dining in a Korean BBQ place. We ordered all our food through an APP and it came magically to our table in throngs. I was with three other Chinese Teachers who spoke Chinese almost the whole dinner but I didn't care. I was in my happy place! And it was sooo authentic. I really surprised the waiters as I said, "the food was delicious, thank you very much!" in Korean as I exited the restaurant. 

View from the building across from the restaurant. 

Black sausage, Ramen, Kimchi

Bibimbop!

Many side dishes and a seafood noodle dish

Tofu Chigae

The Hive: how shipping gets done in China! Let me introduce you to one more wonder of China: The Hive. The Hive is how you recieve all reasonably sized packages. They are installed in just about every large business and apartment complex around. They are communal, which means whatever door you may pick up your package one day will be someone else's compartment the next. How this works is that you approach the screen in the middle of the pod and scan the QR code on the screen. If you have any packages, then the computer will indicate which compartment your parcel is located in and then the door will magically pop open and you collect your item and close the door. It is all quite extrordinary! 

Use your WeChat APP to scan the code here. 

And then the compartment magically pops open and you get your box! 

There is a slew of fruits I have never seen before like these dragon eyes. They are a little like a lynchee but with more citrus. 

Fruit wich looks leathery on the outside

But peel away the skin and a fleshy berry in inside! 

It looks almost like a Lychee.

It has a dense black pit which gives it its namesake "Dragon Eye" 

All that is left after eating is the pit! 

Bonnidee Cafe is a strange and wonderful western friendly joint complete with fake deer drinking peacefully in the fountain. When we headed here one Saturday morning, we were told, they weren't closed but you could order your food now and it would be ready in two hours when the cooks arrive.   

At Bonnidee: its like a picnic indoors! 

Poshy and cozy interior of Bonnidee 

I also got me some rollerblades, but have been hesistant to use them for obvious reasons. I figure when the courage strikes me right I will go. For now I am happy getting around on two feet. 

Hanging out with the Skating Club at school

Tooling around Jiaxing. Saturday morning traditional breakfast: which I did not know what it would entail but would definitely not be bacon, eggs, and pancakes! 

Moon River in the day time. The historic area of Jiaxing

Traditional Chinese Breakfast: Shrimp dumplins, braised greens, geleatian
neopolitan made from flowers, and puffed bread. 

Bikes are everywhere! 

Moon River is of course surrounded by a river! 

Vendor grilling delectables at the Snack Street Market 

Snack Street and fruit market near Jiaxing College 

Indoor/Outdoor market

Snack Street! 

Mid-September, I was invited to a surprise sushi dinner for Alina's (one of our English Chinese Teachers) birthday. This was an amazingly delicious event. Sorry, there is so much food (or am I ?: ) in this post, there is a lot of eating going on! And eating I believe is directly related to culture so game on! It was a scattered shower afternoon as I made my way via DiDi to the restaurant that was indicated in the WeChat invitation. The restaurant is owned by the same person that runs the Western Cafe at our school. He was trained in Australia and seems to know what he is doing! The place is immaculate on beautiful grounds surrounded by water and a park. It was a gorgeous and delicious afternoon! 

Our walk around the restauarnt grounds. 

Sashimi sushi boat

A cake for a queen!

Lastly, I think I would be misrepresenting myself if I did not speak candidly about my experience. With all these amazing and delicious adventures, plus the really rewarding job I have, there is much to be thankful for. Still, I have very difficult bouts of homesicknesses these days. I miss the people I love and the connections to my own culture. All of this is very normal for any expat to experience. A wise person told me 'Missing the people you love only proves that you truly love them.' That being said, it can be lonely here. I try to keep in mind this is temporary and I will be home for the summer, but sometimes the summer seems so far away. I remind myself, no one moves to China because it is easy. I find this simple code keeps me in check on a daily basis.
1. Take care of yourself: eat well, sleep enough, exercise, moisturize, bathe, meditate/reflect to connect with a greater purpose.
2. Do something new each day. explore, learn, create, connect, eat (yes, eat twice!)
3. Be gentle with yourself: when I am sad, its ok to be a little sad. Time takes time but know vigilantly the difference between healthy sad and wallowing sad. Have no tolerance for wallowing sad.
4. Remember that you will spend most of your life NOT in China: live every moment with child-like wonder for the world around you. Let me never squander the gift that this precious experience is offering.
Things like WeChat and Skype Video Chat makes friends and family not so far away from home. I can't imagine not too long ago what it was like for those far away travelers to only correspond in the way of letters on a monthly basis or even only a voice on the other end of the line. Having my family available to me live in video form makes the distance far more tolerable. I will say at times, Asia in not for the faint of heart, but worth it. And until I return home, I have moments like these to keep me company. I try to remember I am making my family proud by being here each and every day. There is work to do and things to see...  So, I take the pangs with the zings and trudge forward through this crazy adventure that is.. being an Art Teacher in China.