Real Chinese Food

It should come as a surprise to no one that I would find it difficult to eat here. I have however tried pig spine, pumpkin, octopus and spicy scallops all of which are very...interesting. Moving to China has to be the best diet ever. Most days I go for cereal in the morning and then someone at work will order me some yummy spicy veggies, chicken and rice in the afternoon. I, of course, only eat the chicken and rice and then have to explain how I don't really like vegetables. Then I get a lecture from the local staff about how that's bad for my health - which I find quite funny considering how much oil and MSG they use to cook anything. I ordered noodles from this one place and they were literally swimming in oil. I left the restaurant feeling like I had just drank at least a pint of oil. I need to learn how to order takeout dishes (like the one the local teachers get for me) in Chinese though - especially since most options only cost like $1 or $2!

I took a trip to the local supermarket the other day and snapped a few photos so you all could see just how special all of the food is.

I'm sure I was like the least culturally sensitive person ever as I walked through the aisles snapping pics but oh well - there are so many people in Shanghai, that the likelihood of me seeing the same people again is quite slim.

Before coming to China I read that chips are quite expensive so I spent the last week at home chowing down on my favorites. After a visit to the supermarket that I learned that it's not so much the cost as it is the flavors. They have everything you could think of (and then some that I wish they hadn't thought of) including: blueberry, French chicken, Texas grilled BBQ, Italian red meat, Mexican tomato chicken, prawn (shrimp), and cool cucumber.

  

 

I also get a big kick out of the English translations (or Chinglish as its often called) on things. Anyone interested in trying some pillows with rich cocoa filling or dried black fungus? Sounds appetizing!

For the first week here I think I ate about a pack of these cookies each day. They had them in Spain so when I first saw them at the local convenience store I just had to get some. The chocolate ones are better than the strawberry.

I have no idea what these corn and banana things are but I think they may be some kind of liquid yogurt. Interesting packaging for sure:

No trip to the grocery store is complete without your unrefrigerated little hot dog thingys or some shaved pork topping.

The fresh (sometimes more fresh than others) seafood section of the store is the best. There are tanks of live eels, frogs, crabs, snakes, and some with floating dead fish.

 

 

Then they have all these containers of fresh dried (if that's even possible) sea creatures. Can't say I've tried any of this stuff yet.

They also have aisles and aisles of shrink wrapped dried fish and animal parts. I've seen some of the kids in my classes come back from their break and they'll be eating dried chicken feet - tasty! In addition to the dried feet, they also have dried squid, roasted fresh ray and cod.

 

 

 

The fruit section of the store is probably my best bet for finding something edible. I tried dragon fruit the other day when Pam and I met up with some of her co-workers at this all you can eat and drink (Sangria - mmmmm!) brunch and it was ok. Looks a lot like white kiwi but doesn't have much of a flavor but it looks really cool before and after you cut it!

I'm tempted to try some of these other fruits and veggies as well:

 

 

After I get back from Inner Mongolia I need to get a rice cooker (no instant rice here) so I can eat something besides sweets and fruit. 25 kilos of rice might be a bit much but I am going to be here for an entire year! They also sell these flavor cubes that people put in soups, rice dishes and noodles - again I love the Chinglish translations: essence of chicken and bird's nest sugar free with collagen. Yum!

I have no idea what this hair-like stuff is:

Oil anyone? At any given time you can walk down the street and see people carrying gallons of oil on their bikes or scooters.

Speaking of bikes - they sell them at the grocery store! I think I want one so I can brave the crowded streets of Minhang (the area of Shanghai where I live) and bike to work.

Now for a brief history lesson - China is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the moon festival) later this week. It's a harvest-oriented holiday that dates back over 3,000 years to China's Shang dynasty. Held annually on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar, there are lots of folk tales and traditions that accompany the event. It's also considered to be the second most important holiday in China following the Lunar New Year so it's neat that we're getting to see and experience all the decorations and preparations for the event. The kids at school are excited about the different kinds of moon cakes that people make/sell and bring to family events during the holiday. I have yet to try one but Pam says they have sweet, sour, salty and meat flavors. They've been preparing for the event for quite some time in the super markets and sell the moon cakes everywhere!

 

 

I'm off to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, work on a few Globalist features and then pack for the Inner Mongolia trip tomorrow! 

All Moved In!

About 10 days ago, Pam and I moved from our hotel to an apartment near our offices/schools. After lots and lots and lots of looking, we found a cozy 2-bedroom apartment right across the street from Pam's school in a really nice apartment complex. My work is about 5-10 miles away so I take have to take a bus or sometimes I share a cab with my co-workers who live nearby. Last weekend one of the local teachers at my school took me home on her motor bike - it was so fun! It's especially nice that we don't have to spend 90 minutes commuting each way like we did when we were at the hotel.

Our complex is called "City of Charming Sun" - gotta love that Chinglish translation. Since China is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic (PRC) on October 1st there are flags everywhere! The landscaping around all the buildings is really nice.

 

 

 

There's a Papa John's right across the street. Here, the pizza places are like really fancy restaurants complete with bicycle delivery if you wish. I'd never seen a sit-down Papa John's until China. Pam and I tried it out soon after we moved in and it was so good - I'm sure that had more to do with the fact that we hadn't really eaten much over the past few weeks than about how good it actually was.

Our apartment complex is just off of Lianhua Lu (Lu = road, and it just happens to be one of the few words I know in Mandarin). While it's outside of the main city, it's still a a busy area. And there are bikes everywhere - new and old!

The owner of the apartment left us many decorations and lots of dirty cabinets:

While they are certainly interesting, we've since carefully placed all the "unique" statues in a cabinet for safe keeping. But we kept the crazy blinking neon light feature and dragon decoration. One apartment we looked at had a sparkly red mirror and zebra sink - so random!

The shower is one of my favorite parts of the apartment. It has this great dry sauna feature. There are 8 light switch thingys in the bathroom. I have no idea what they all do individually but if you turn them all on together the lights turn on along with the sauna:

Speaking of light switches - they are everywhere in this apartment! In the living room, dining room and kitchen there are a total of 15!

 

 

Yes, our fridge is in the dinning area. I think it's too big to fit through the little kitchen doorway!

Here's a shot of Pam's room:

Her room looks great! She remembered that her bed was purple so she chose sheets that matched at Ikea. I accidentally forgot that my walls are this pink and my bed is blue so the orange doesn't really match but it's bright, which is what I was going for!

My room has the washing machine and mini-laundry room attached to it, which means I have lots of windows and some ridiculous curtains:

And some great decorations anytime we decide to be domestic and do laundry:

We've actually managed to do nearly 10 loads of laundry since we moved in as the machine can only hold 6 pairs of pants at once. I have no idea what any of the buttons mean so the first time I just pressed everything until it started and then crossed my fingers in hopes that nothing would get ruined!

We spent the last week cleaning and getting things organized. It took us nearly a week to get the Internet set up because it wouldn't work after they came to install it and the computer tech guy couldn't seem to figure it out. I'm quickly learning that problem solving is not one of China's biggest assets. I guess it comes from all of that rote memorization learning in school - sure they know lots of facts and figures but when it comes to problem solving something seems to be missing. Thankfully, one of Pam's co-workers finally set up for us.

I've only taught 3 classes so far and they went alright. I'm sure I'll become a better teacher with time or at least I hope so! I have a variety of ages and levels, which is great because I get to plan lots of different activities. I like that for once at work I'm encouraged to be creative! In addition to teaching, I also have run several life clubs at the school which are opportunities for kids to use their English skills outside of their text books. Twice I've had the Small Stars kids who are 3-6 years old and I've done art projects with them, used lots of puppets and sung some really random songs. Then, the other day I had High Flyers who are 7-10 years old and I did a gymnastics-themed life club. It was a hit with the parents and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

Saturday was my last day of work for 8 days - even though I've only been working for 3 weeks! There's a week long holiday in honor of China's National Day (60th anniversary of the PRC's founding) and the mid-autumn festival (more about that on the next post). Because we have the time off and Shanghai is about to be flooded with tourists from all over, Pam and I are headed to Inner Mongolia on Wednesday. I plan to sleep in a Yurt, horseback ride in the grasslands, see a yak, and ride a camel in the desert!