The Finale

So I am currently sitting in a classroom looking at the lovely John
Callahan and one of our teachers bust out a song for our performance
tomorrow. Yes, I did say performance. I will be singing 北京欢迎你, Check
it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPiWsequAZw but unlike the
lucky John Callahan, I will be doing mine with my entire class of ten
as an accompaniment. Needless to say, it will be a good sight to see.
They have practiced this song about 30 times in the time I have been
sitting here. This is one of the reasons I will NEVER be able to marry
a chinese guy. This song performance is becoming too serious. Come on
China, relax a little.

Speaking of relaxing a little, I have never felt as relieved as I did
30 minutes ago. I have officially finished my studies in Shanghai. I
don't know if you have ever had that feeling of a massive burden being
lifted off but you should try it sometime. Honestly, I have never felt
so light on my feet than now. Too bad I am too exhausted to go
anywhere but my bed. I decided right now in my lightness to go over
things I have learned from Shanghai.

-Chinese people actually aren't that weird. I am kind of weirding
myself out by saying that but a lot of them are the same as we are.
-Asian girls like to dress like baby dolls. It's true. They told us
that is the way to look cute in China. We didn't comply. This time.
-American spicy is NOT even close to Chinese spicy. Be prepared if you
decide to go for "their spicy".
-Don't be afraid to go up to someone and start talking. The worst that
can happen is that they laugh at you and that happens anyways.
-Don't be afraid to ask someone something if a) you don't know where
you are or b) you don't know what you are doing
-practice some charades before you go anywhere in china. I am now a pro.
-Always use the american bathroom when you see it.
-There is nothing better than owning the season of a TV series. But
really. Gossip Girl is now on my list of favorites.
-Always bring more than one book with you if you plan on staying more
than a month.
-Tan isn't everything. Until you return to America.
-Egg is your best friend. So is Diet Coke.
-Study their cuisine BEFORE you come to China. That is by far the
hardest part of the place.
-Say Obama to Chinese people. And find out what happens. It turns out good.
-Eat dumplings as long as you can to save money for shopping. It's
worth it but I will not eat another dumpling for a LONG time.
-Rain is way better than the worst heat I have ever experienced.
-When China gives you lemons... I suggest you make some lemonade
because you can't find it anywhere here.
-Go to a track at night (they call them playgrounds...). It's a great
"family" experience seeing that every old person and their mom come
out.
-Get used to being stared out. Yesterday, the people beside me in KFC
just looked at us and didn't even eat their food. It's totally
normal...in China.
-Chinese Karaoke is NOT American Karaoke. Go for it. It's worth it.
And please choose one of the three: "Get Low", "Fergalicious", or
"Survivor".. they definitely were the favs of the night.
-Stay away from Bai Jiu at all costs, but it is unavoidable as the
night goes on.
and lastly...

Enjoy your life no matter where you are.

-A

When China Gives You Lemons...

...you freak out. But Really. 

Remember that part about me being freaked out by weird meat? Well keep that in mind for my next story. 

Sometimes it is very easy to forget that you are halfway across the world in a totally different culture. That is, until you step outside on the street. While we have people walking everywhere, texting, chatting, trying to get to their next lunch date, etc etc...China has a whole culture on the street. Street venders EVERYWHERE selling everything you can imagine (fake OPI? Check. Your newest dress? also check.), people playing with live chickens, beggars getting in your face asking for money, and so on. It is so vibrant, a totally different way of life and is just the thing that quickly puts you back into the real world. Food will also very quickly make you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore. It is possibly the hardest part of being here. You never quite know what you are getting into with dishes because you never quite know what you are order. (My previous post on the egg is a GREAT example as well as the bamboo I ate yesterday, and the weird rice-ball congealed soup that is actually really good. 

Okay, now that I have painted this picture...let me get back to my story.  Casually eating lunch with our teachers the other day (they always order THE BEST food), I decided to go for some sort of chicken dish. Back to a little explanation--if you didn't already know, chinese people always eat family-style in a restaurant. So mostly you use a spinning glass table for easy access and on occasion have to stand up to reach something. I stood up to reach this big dish so I couldn't see what I was grabbing. Not hearing what the chinese conversations were around me, I grabbed some meat and sat back down. Little did I know, one of the teachers and my friend were telling me something and I just wasn't listening. I GRABBED THE FOOT. Literally. There was a chicken foot on my plate. Thinking to American culture, that is NOT something that is associated with a chicken dish so I was not expecting to grab it. Let's just say I freaked out big time. Usually if I prepare myself, I can have a very calm reaction to something like that, but this was an utter freak out of surprise. I think the teachers were a wee bit scared.  

Lesson learned. Stay away from the foot. 

Double Post!

So I know I have been slacking on here so this is a post of all of those little things of China (bullet point-style).

1. My new motto--"Street Food: Just Do It". It is definitely iffy and more than likely going to make you sick at some point in your life but the key points of it's greatness are a) it is quick b) it is cheap and c) you make new best friends with the people selling it. They love us. I'll be sure to get a picture with them before we leave. Don't freak, there are absolutely no sanitation laws here so I can only imagine what I accidently eat. 
2. Eat the fruit in season. Right now it is Watermelon and Peaches--YUM! If it isn't in season, it's pretty gross. 
3. I found my dream Raybans. Story of the purchase later because while I do not own the yet, it is all in due time (and some really good bargaining). The starting price is 400, I am working for a 75% cut. 
4. Scarf count: 21
5. 3020 is ridiculous. Lot's of work. Lot's of studying. Still have my head above water. Barely. 
6. After a near death experience, my computer is still alive! I learned a new cultural thing through the experience: When giving money to a lady, put it in her hand. It took my a good 15 minutes to figure out what she was trying to tell me. I wanted to give her the money and she acted like she didn't want to take it. it was confusing and ridiculous. 
7. 23 degree Celsius-- premo temperature for your dorm room. It took us a little bit to figure that out. 
8. Quickly discovered it you miss out on the 12 o clock premier of Harry Potter it is actually not the end of the world. But can't wait to see it!
9. Somehow managed going in with an old chinese lady on buying shampoo when she saw I was looking at smaller bottles. It was something like buy one get one half off and she pretty much dragged me to the check out. I purchased Panteen... although what kind, I have noooo idea. Let's just say China is not for good hair. 
10. Thinking about Deb Ball Stuff? Nahhhh. Have a date yet? Nahhhhh. I'm working on it. China currently is taking the Southern culture out of my body. It is a good thing home is in 2 weeks! 

If I think of more, they will be posted but for now it is time to get to work!

-CAD

American Goggles

"鸭蛋“...

shit. 

That was the only word that could come to mind when I heard that lovely Chinese come out of my "chinese parent's" mouth. 

I recently went to do a "home-stay" with a Chinese family that lives a little outside of the center of Shanghai. They were unbelievably courteous and I ended up leaving with a fully stomach, some great tea, the knowledge of knowing how to make my own dumplings, a bag full of snacks, one coke, and a snoopy pencil case. I would say it was an overall success. I don't fully understand the whole idea of losing face but I do realize that when a guest comes to their house, the sacrifice everything to make that person overly contempt. It was amazing to experience that culture. 

Unfortunately with an extremely courteous culture, there also comes the part of you having to be extremely courteous as well. For those of you that know me, I am not the most liberal eater in the world. Weird meat creeps me out, and I pretty much grew up on chicken fingers and french fries with a lot of ketchup. I quickly discovered you kind of have to throw that out the door when you are in China. Especially at someone's else's house. So this brings me back to the lovely new phrase I heard at their house. 

鸭蛋 is the "ya dan" or duck egg. But these were not just any duck egg, they were the full on Chinese delicacy kind of duck egg. In English we like to call these Century Eggs. Let me help you understand why: 

Century eggs look like they have been fermenting in the earth for about a century or two. Don't worry... it is only a few months haha (I think they said since winter for these.. if I understood correctly). They wrap duck eggs in dirt, bark, lime and whatever else to make the eggs almost petrify. When you take the shell off, the white is actually a dark brown and the center resembles something that has been under your couch for way too long. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg. Yummy, huh? When I saw it on the table I didn't think much of it, thinking it was a normal chicken egg with soy sauce or something added. Little did I know...

The end of the tale is that it was already in my chopsticks when she said "鸭蛋“ so I had to get it down. As you can see, I am still alive to tell the tale and officially can say I tried something weird.

What really got me about this egg was that after doing some research, I discovered a story where CNN listed this delicacy as one of the grossest things to ever reach their mouths. Let's just say China didn't take that too well and CNN was forced to apologize. While it is definitely not tasty, why would our national news network post that? It got me thinking...

-Why are we so scared? 

For us to criticize other people's cultures is to criticize our own American culture. We may be a breed of our own, but we exist today because of other nations. Chinese people always ask me what American food is and I have to honestly say besides hamburgers and hot dogs, I have NO idea. Everything we eat is originated from somewhere else. Hummus? Greece. Pizza? Italy. Take Out Chinese (although Sesame Chicken does not exist in China...)? You guessed right, Smart Cookie-- China. 

I used my American Goggles when i was in that situation and I shouldn't have. So what if we don't ferment eggs in the ground for months? It is time to drop the barriers and just go for it. I think if I didn't know what this egg was, I still wouldn't be a fan of the taste but at least I wouldn't have been scared of it. It is when I drop the barriers of "trying to experience China" that I actually experience it the most. Just live the life of where you are and go with the flow. Take the Goggles off and don't judge them for their own culture. 

In terms of China, they are the only country in the world that doesn't have a definite start to their civilization. Cool, huh? So why be scared of a culture that has had centuries to try these things out? Bottom line is: if you get offered the egg (or full eel in some of my friend's cases...), take a deeeeeeeep deeeeeep breath and just go for it. Even if you end up gagging it up, at least it makes a good story hahaha

-CAD

Less than 2 weeks to go until sunshine, American food, and a good gym! 

Send Me on My Way

Shanghai is hot. I don't know how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit but it is hot enough to know it's hot. I am currently sitting in a classroom in our building doing a little homework and also thinking about how unbelievably hot it is. They tell you the second month is hot but man, this is hot. Okay, enough about being hot. That is not why I decided to take a break from my studies to write a post. 

If you have never checked out http://8tracks.com... do it asap. It is a great way to find a great playlist that you don't have to make yourself and are able to find those songs you just needed in your life at that point in time. Isn't that great? Finding new songs is the best. This sort of discovery just happened to me. The title of this playlist says it all: "Why does anger exist when there is music like this?". "Send Me On My Way" by the Rusted Roots in on there. This means it's worth taking the time to find it. 

Sitting here listening to "Send Me On My Way" (a song I would never choose to listen to on my own, thank you 8 tracks..) gave me such an unreal thought. Ever had one of those? Where you are thinking woah, this is actually real. Take the time for those moments. Why do something great and exciting without taking the time to see the reality of the moment? I think we sometimes just do what we think we should be doing and don't notice the awesome-ness of the moment. Yeah, I am in China for studying which is kind of lame, but I am in China. How many people go to China and get to be personally involved with the real culture (even if the weather is similar to a sauna)? I never thought I would say this but I swear Chinese people are actually cool and don't studying all the time! Just ask the shirtless ping pong players we can see outside our hotel window. Okay, but really. They are pretty normal. 

To go on your own somewhere (figuratively speaking) is always hard. But as you grow up you kind of have to tell people "send me on my way" and pick up on your own path. By doing this, you will never be stuck in a "bubble" that most people find troubling... you expand your experiences to the rest of the world around you. Soon you will make the world your home, and you never feel too out of place if you take the time for those "reality moments" and of course a few DMCs (Deep Meaningful Conversations). DMCs are great. 

So the bottom line is take the time for "the moment" and don't forget to find a great playlist to go along with it. 

-CAD

Beijing

20 Things that I learned about Beijing: 

1. Do not fall asleep on a train. Even if it is at night. Let's just
say I may have developed a great relationship with motion sickness
here.
2. In note to the first lesson learned--Chinese traditional medicine
is great. Describing things to them is a little complicated, though.
3. In note of that: Chinese people love Americans that love to speak
to them... aka the people that can only speak Chinese. Although we
have the problem of forgetting this isn't our own secret language and
that the majority of people know exactly what we are saying.
4. We wish Chinese had a word that just sounded like an "a"
(consonant... not vowel) because with the Beijing accent they would
sound like pirates ("arrr").
5. The Forbidden City has 9 parts to it. Like giant parts. All of
those pictures you see people...That is just a part. As you can see,
they alllll look exactly the same. Our teachers gave us 3 ours to roam
this place. Let's just say we waited by the back gate for almost 2
hours.
6. That Square that is really famous for certain actions I shouldn't
talk about on the internet currently... it was pretty cool. Very
expansive... but really just a walk-through-and-see kind of place.
7. We discovered Chinese parent's love to put their children with us.
Don't stand somewhere too long--they will place their children beside
you. Although we really don't know what they do with those pictures.
Maybe I am on someone's mantle at home!
8. We went to an area called Houhai that was like bar city! I swear
every place was a bar (with some lovely chinese music). We had dinner
there. People also ate baby scorpions there.... I picked a puff pastry
similar to a funnel cake instead. You decide who is cooler.
9. Beijing has the second largest shopping mall in all of Asia. It was
amazing. They had a longchamp STORE. Too bad I am too Cheap in China
to buy anything over 150 kuai (until today.. dun dun dun..是我的秘密 aka
it's my secret until I return).
10. Mango is my new best friend. In 2 days I have had 3 different
mango things. Let's just say it wins in the competition against bean
popsicles.
11. Beijing food is wayyy weirder. We saw a street vender selling star
fish and snakes. I know I should step out while I am here, but the
normal meat is sometimes weird enough...
12. I experienced China's Underworld today at the underground tombs.
It was surprisingly a pretty nice place. No worries, I jumped through
the gate-way back to the real world so it was just a short visit.
13. Climbing giant animal statues at the Ming tombs was probably the
most fun we have had yet. Unfortunately that is not what they were
actually there for and we were probably defacing their gods or
emperors or something.
14. Yes, the Great Wall of China really does have that many steps.
Your legs will hate you but it is sooo worth it! We went to a
different part so no bobsled for me, but it was still really cool.
15. The Great Wall is also the only place you can evidently get a tan
here. Thank goodness I did, my body was suffering my Summer
paleness... no wonder Asians love being pale. They can't be any other
tone here.
16. We also managed to get lost at the Great Wall and take a massive
detour including walking on the Highway. Lesson learned: you are not
in "The Hangover" even if you look like it by the time you walk back
to the bus.
17. Chinese opera is an experience. Definitely. There are no other
words. I'll give you a presentation when I get home. Get ready. They
think I should go on tour.
18, If you see an American toilet, use it.
19. Watched a man make my personal noodles in front of me today.
Coolest thing in the world. I have no idea how he did it.
20. So I can't think of #20 but I just wanted it to be a solid 20
sooo...I have had McDonald's more times here in a month than in 2
years in America. Delivery makes all the difference in China. 

Enjoy!

-Abs