Trips and Travels

I'm going to stop apologizing for not posting weekly, I promise. 

But really, I'm doing y'all a favor, because I don't have have anything particularly interesting to say these days. 

That's not to say that I'm not full of wit and verve, because let's be honest, I'll be full of that well into my octogenarian days. Our weeks have been, mostly, filled with the mundane aspects of everyday life in one's home country. 

Super Husband and I have both been working, trying to regain some of the savings that we'd built up in Beijing and then run through during almost three months of unemployment. 

We've also made a list of places that we'd like to go before we have children. It's a long list, so who knows if we'll get to all of them, but we'll do our best. We're currently debating where should be first, India and South East Asia, or Europe. We're leaning towards the former, as Europe is generally more family friendly in terms of public transit, and "health concerns". 

Here's our list, as it stands now. There's no particular order to the list, it's just the order in which we thought of the countries. 

1. India
2. South East Asia
3. Turkey
4. Morocco
5. Peru

Wait, hold the press -- A quick search on Kayak shows that a trip to Turkey may be in our future. 

Oh, how I love to travel. So long savings, hello spice market. 

Speaking of travel, I diiiid just make a 2,000 mile drive. Houston - Dallas - Childress - Amarillo (this is where it got exciting, because we were on Historic Route 66) - Tucumcari - Albuquerque - Phoenix - Barstow - Bakersfield - San Mateo. 

Although not exactly a vacation, it was still nice to enjoy even the illusion of traveling. And I got to bark at the Sea Lions, just like Nonnie taught me. 

And it's always nice to be missed. Hyoga and Midna will hardly leave my side for fear that I'll be leaving for more than a few hours again. 

School, Work, Volunteering, and HELP

I've been seriously neglectful the past... month. But in my defense, reading about the mundane daily activities of someone living around the world from you is about 1000 times more interesting than reading about someone living 15 minutes away. And lately our activities have been pretty mundane. But I do have a few nuggets of exciting news to impart, plus a call for your help:
Super Husband was accepted into a "continuing education" certification program for English-Spanish translation and interpretation at the University of Houston, which he takes on Saturdays. He also received his acceptance for readmission to the university for the Spring 2014 semester, so he's back on track. Woohoo. Did I already talk about his bike? Super Husband is the next Lance Armstrong. Without the dopping... or the tour du France... Okay, so really, Super Husband loves his new bike, and has decided that EVERYONE and their mothers should get a bike because biking is the most awesome time. I'll be getting one soon. Super Husband is also the proud new owner of the Limited Edition Zelda WiiU, and Zelda Windwaker. But not even Zelda could break up his love affair with DCUO (DC Universe Online, an MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Game)). DCUniverse takes up a lot of our down time, and is causing us to miss out on our favorite shows. But that's okay. Some evenings I actually prefer to watch CougarRed Arrow (his character) or Sage (mine) run and fly around a digitized Gotham, Metropolis, and The Watchtower, and beat up the bad guys. And right now it's The Witching Hour, which means that everything is all decorated for Halloween. A game after my own heart. Oh, speaking of Halloween, we carved pumpkins last week, but they're already rotting into indistinguishable lumps of orange. I guess we'll wait to replace our orange blobs until a little closer to the big day. No use buying three sets of pumpkins, even if the spiced, toasted seeds I baked were delicious.
So, that's Super Husband's new news.
And in the Wonder Wife camp, it's pretty exciting, too. But there's a tiny backstory, so bear with me.
A couple weeks ago was Family Weekend at my little sister's university, up in Arkansas. Dallas is a little more than halfway to her university, so I drove up to Dallas to hang out with my dad and go see a movie, and a Leon Redbone show that Thursday evening. The movie turned out to be Girl Rising, an absolutely amazing documentary about the struggles of girls around the world, and the overwhelming desire, and need, for girls' educations. The film was aired by The Gendercide Awareness Project, and I was so moved by the film that the next morning I browsed their website, and others about gendercide. I'd never really heard of gendercide before, and definitely didn't realize that it effected the entire globe. So I sat down and wrote an email, explaining that while I would love to be able to support the cause with a financial donation, my strength lies in my ability to donate my time. (I've sent more than one of these e-mails to different charitable and NGO organizations since I was in my late teens, and GendAP is the FIRST organization to get back to me with anything other than a pre-fab, "thanks, but we need money" e-mail.) After meeting with the founder and president of the organization we hit upon a plan to bring the message, outreach, and fundraising to the Houston Area. So, starting later this year I'll be organizing screenings of Girl Rising, talks to schools, churches, and anyone who is interested, and raising awareness of an issue that effects our entire planet. (If you would like to learn more about gendercide, and the work that GendAP does, please please please feel free to e-mail me.)
So there's that exciting, amazing, wonderful news. And then there's also the fact that I got a job. I'm nannying for a really, really nice family in West U. They have two kids (4.5 and 2.5), and a beagle, and they enjoy collecting twigs, doing crafts (but not with the twigs we collected, because that would be unreasonable, apparently), and asking for something to eat and then telling me they don't like that particular thing that is exactly what they asked for. Yay.
I'm pretty sure that's all the interesting stuff that's happening here... So now the call for help:
In addition to neglecting the blog as a whole, I've neglected to do some of the things I promised for it. Specifically, a helpful guide for moving to and living in Beijing.
I can only think of so many things. Okay, so I can think of a lot of things... Buuuut I bet you can think of some super helpful things, too!
I NEED your questions, your advice, your qualms, and your queries.
Please please please!
I have a pretty decent sized list already, but I need more, I tell you. More! Hopefully by the end of next week I will have enough stuff to make a Moving to China tab on the blog.
And with that, it's time to savor my coffee, and continue reading Unnatural Selection.

Waiting

I had been waiting for something new, something exciting to post here. Something along the lines of "We both landed our dream jobs and couldn't be happier".
It hasn't happened.
Hence the lack of posts.
What has happened is far less exciting, and a lot less lucrative.
We are living in the day by day. Applying for jobs, moving book cases from one room to another, cooking dinner, realizing that juicing can be gross sometimes.
We're watching our savings dwindle, but enjoying the fact that we get to spend virtually 24 hours a day together.
Anyone know of a good work from home job?
Or any job at all?

It's not all bad, or boring. Super Husband bought a new road bike, and it's a beauty. He's ridden almost every day (with the exception of the last few, because it's been pretty wet here) and he loves it. His longest ride so far is just over 15 miles, I think. Now he wants me to get one.
We'll see.

And I've started running.
Sort of.
I've been out a few times, in the mornings when Super Husband runs with the dogs. But it's been raining, and I've leapt at the excuse to stay curled up in my warm bed, warm dog at my feet.

Hopefully soon we'll have all sorts of adventures to write about.
Right now we're just waiting.

Thanks for the Gumbo, Bopa

This evening marks the end of our first week back in the US, and it has been a bit of a blur. 

I won't lie, we're not even unpacked yet. 

But my sister is all moved into her new house just off campus in Arkansas, and my parents and I are on the road back to Texas. 68 miles to Texarkana, y'all. 

There is, of course, a 20oz cup of Dr. Pepper in the cup holder next to me. 

From my vantage point in the back seat any and all photos I might take of the open road will be marred by headrests and bug splotches on the windshield. 

While we may not have settled back in to our old life completely some things have been accomplished since our departure from China. 

I endured a trip to the DMV to update my driver's license. Super Husband has made huge strides in correcting his erroneous un-enrollment from uni. We've eaten lots of food. Including the best bowl of gumbo I've ever eaten. Mmm, gumbo. 

And frito pies, and Tex-Mex, and Greek food, and Turkish food, and Thai food, and ceviche... And ice cream. Oh, the bluebell, ooh, the Ben & Jerry's. 

Now it's time to start an exercise regime... Darn it. 

We still haven't seen everyone, or done everything (or eaten everything) that we were missing while away, but we're making progress. And we had time to make some plans while we were abroad, too. Changes to the house, a coat of paint here, a slight rearranging of furniture there. We've got our work cut out for us. 

Speaking of work, that is one area in which we have made no headway. Now that we've had a whole week to... Relax? Is that what we were doing? Surely not. Anyway, now that week one is out of the way it might be time to buckle down and start the rather unfulfilling process of sending out hundreds of resumes and emails. Woohoo. 

But not until I get off I-30. 

Paradise

Sorry for Radio Silence

On Friday, July 26^th Super Husband and I went to the airport after a lovely hotpot dinner at HaiDiLao with some of the Red Lions.

We flew to Bali, which is my favorite place on the planet (so far) for a week of rest and relaxation, and sun.

We spent the first three days of our vacation in the hilly, mountainous paradise of Ubud. I was somewhat sad to see that while much of Ubud remains the same, it is changing. The market at the city center was a warren, a beehive of small, almost closet sized shops that was so much fun, so interesting to navigate through. And while that still exists, there seems to be a move to create more boutique type shops, almost a mall type feel. While I can see the appeal this would hold for certain travelers, it takes some of the fun away for me. My favorite part of the Ubud market was navigating the hallways and finding some of my more interesting purchases.

Despite the small changes we did still manage to pick up much of what was on our list. Super Husband bought a very handsome linen shirt, and a pair of “Balibong” shorts. I was able to find the one thing that I was most looking for: batik wrap skirts.

Of course, we also ventured over to the Sacred Monkey Forest, where Super Husband made a friend, and then an enemy. He ended our walk through the forest by sustaining a monkey’s bite to the head, and a scratch to the neck. Not to worry though, he’s fine.

We also sampled much of the local cuisine, enjoying sate, babi guling, nasi goreng, ayam bakar, and countless other dishes.

An afternoon trip to lunch while overlooking some of the world’s most beautiful terraced rice paddies was followed by a relaxing evening drinking from freshly cut coconuts and watching the sunset behind the Tanah Lot temple.

Ooh, Bali.

From Ubud we ventured to the beachy paradise of Nusa Dua. While we were less than impressed with our hotel, it was still lovely to spend the mornings watching the sun rise over the water. And do basically nothing else.

The joys of reading on the beach know no bounds.

But, like all vacations, our time in Bali had to come to an end. Of course, we couldn’t leave before we acquired henna tattoos, and for me, a mani-pedi on the beach.

 

Once back in Beijing it was time to throw myself into the AH graduation, which went off without… okay, with only a few hitches. At the end of the day, though, all of the children and parents were happy, and everyone did a beautiful job. It was officially my last day with the Red Lions, and while I managed to keep my tear ducts in check it was still hard to say goodbye. I didn’t manage to hold all tears at bay for long, though. A touching text message from one of the moms did bring forth a somewhat unexpected onslaught of tears on Sunday while Super Husband and I were eating pizza and watching beerpong with friends.

Speaking of beerpong, kudos go out to Super Husband and Zach for winning second place in the doubles beerpong tournament the Thursday before we left for Bali. Now we have a red ribbon to go with the sea of blue and green ribbons.

Now it’s our last Monday in Beijing, and we’re 98% packed. Our list of things to do is fairly slim, and we’re mostly just trying to figure out if we’ve forgotten to do, see, or buy anything important.

Hopefully not. 

What We Will Miss

Things we will miss when we've left Beijing 

**This list is not, I repeat not, in order of importance, but in order of I what I thought about first while sitting on the subway this morning** 

** ** also, I did write this almost entirely while using public transit, so there may be typos. I apologize** ** 

1. Ease of using public transport -- we've gotten really very used to just hopping on the subway and getting wherever we need to go. While the new Metro Rail line in Houston will be nice, it's a far cry from the convenience and accessibility of the Beijing DTA. Especially from our house, which is close to the connection of two major lines. 
2. Markets -- I have an abiding love for a good market. Whether it's a vegetable market, a clothing market, or a household goods market I love it. The bargaining, the stuff, the cool finds, and weird things. Target is still my favorite in the US, but if I had to choose between it and a nice bazaar, I'd definitely go for the bazaar. 
3. Not tipping-- in China you don't tip. Anyone. And it's lovely. Pedicures are already cheap here, but when you take into account that you don't have to add 20% on top of that... Well, call me a cheapskate, but I love it. 
4. Cultural differences -- now, this may seem counterintuitive, but while they drive me up the wall, I still love the little nuances and big differences between our cultures. It's interesting to learn about what people here believe causes illness and what will cure it. Or the fact that dental hygiene is only important AFTER one has lost ones baby teeth. 
5. Prices-- this more or less goes hand in hand with the tipping thing, but you've gotta love that really, really good Chinese food won't set you back more than five dollars. And good hot pot, can be had for less than $10. I've recently purchased shoes for $10, and don't even get me started on the jewelry. The cost of living in general is really nice, and even if rent can be a little high when your monthly electric bill is less than $30, even in the summer, well, it's hard to complain. 
6. People-- no, I'm not talking about The Horde that I race to beat to the subway doors each morning, or the teaming masses that pack into the subway car with me. I'm talking about the friends and connections we've gained here. The couple at the fruit shop, the man at the vegetable shop, the people at the Muslim restaurant down the road, the noodle restaurant woman, the couple that makes my breakfast every morning, the woman that flags down the bus in the morning, the cleaning lady at the school who suffers through my attempts at Chinese. These people have become a part of our life here. I don't know any of their names but I have almost daily interactions with most of them. And then there are the friends we've made. The people that have kept us from clawing our eyes out in boredom, introduced us to cool new places to go, things to do, things to eat. The people we'll stay in contact with for the rest of our lives. And then, for me, there are my students. Sometimes I worry that I'm an overly-attached teacher, but in the five months that I've been with these children I've grown to care about them, worry about them, and love them. Of course, even if we were to stay I wouldn't be their teacher any more, but I hope that I'm able to stay in contact with them and see the amazing people I have every confidence they'll become. The Red Lions are a special group of children, and I'm going to have a really, really hard time saying goodbye to them. 
7. Food-- as foreigners here we make a joke that is generally phrased something like "when Chinese people want to go out to eat Chinese food what do they say? 'Lets go get food.'?". But in reality I'm pretty sure they specify the region in China they're in the mood to eat from. Sichuan, Yunan, Beijing, Zhenjiang, Shanghai... I'm going to miss that variety, and availability when we move back. Because while there are Sichuan restaurants, it's not the same. And I've never seen a Yunan restaurant, which is a huge shame, because it is amazing food. And, to tie it in with price, it's really nice to be able to feed 6 adults a full meal at a nice restaurant for under $50. 

What We Wont Miss

This week has been rather eventful, and still I can't think of anything to write about.

Maybe it's the stress of getting the Red Lions ready for Graduation, and my eminent departure.

Or the stress of finding out that the University of Houston failed to warn Super Husband that if he didn't register for courses for four "terms", or one year, he would be automatically un-enrolled, despite the fact that the scholarship he's on was awarded through the University itself.

But this week seems a blur.

Super Husband and I did make another dent in our list of things to take home. Two tea sets have been acquired, now we just need to acquire the tea. Shoes, purses, and wallets have also been added to the take home collection.

The only things left on my personal list are pearls, jade, and a qipao.

We have plans to take care of all three this weekend, so we'll be all set, and can devote our last weeks in Beijing to enjoying ourselves, and not frantically searching for those last items to take home.

We're leaving a few things behind. Well, more than a few. There are some things that are too big, and others that are too heavy for the temperate climes of Houston. Some shoes that were worn out, and a few cardigans that are way past their prime.

All in all we're ready to be back home. The closer it gets the farther it feels, somehow.

Why is that?

Somehow saying "it's just a month and a half" sounded so much better than "in three weeks we'll be home". But that's it, just three weeks and we'll be flying over the pacific.

So, in honor of the theme that's been growing here, here's a list of things I won't miss about Beijing (Super Husband's list is different, so he can update y'all on that, if he decides to):

n  Packing, like a sardine, into two forms of public transit, at least twice daily for my commute. – I’ve taken pictures of the lovely sardine cans that pass as subway cars at rush hour here, but it doesn’t do it justice. There’s a smell, especially now that it’s summer, of people being pressed together in a way that would normally require some sort of relationship, or at least a knowledge of the other persons’ name, or accent, or something. And old sausage. I don’t know why, but line 13 smells like old sausage.

n  Human Feces in the Street – Yup, this is a thing. A thing I’ll never miss. Stepped in dog poop? Are you sure it’s dog? No! You’re not. You can’t be. Because grown people pop a squat, pull down their pants, and poop in the street.

n  Vomit. – Honestly, I never thought I'd write something like that, but there is an obscene amount of vomit just... Everywhere here. I'm pretty sure I can count the number of times I haven't made it to some sort of receptacle on one hand. And I'm including the two inebriated debacles in this list. People here just vomit in the street and on the sidewalk with absolutely no regard to the fact that people will be walking there in the immediate future. And it's not just "oh, I saw this one guy vom on the sidewalk one day"... It's ALL THE FLIPPING TIME. It's gross.

n  Not having toilet paper in the individual stalls. – Here, in most places, the toilet paper is outside the stalls, and you get yours before you go into the stall. This is annoying, and weird, and I don't like it.

n  Pollution – maybe I should put this at the top of the list... No, vomit definitely trumps it. I thought I came from a polluted place, and that Jakarta was polluted, but it's nothing like Beijing. Beijing takes the cake. And then makes it dark, disgusting grey with coal smoke, exhaust, and whatever else we breathe in on a daily basis.

n  Lack of A/C – This may make us sound a little spoiled, but it’s hot here right now, and it would be nice to sit down at a restaurant and not continue to sweat. Or get on the subway and not have it feel like you’re going to run out of oxygen before you get to the next stop. Super Husband is lucky because the school he’s teaching at right now keeps their classroom at 23c, but because the nurse at AH is … (stupid is the nicest word I can think of) I’m not allowed to use my air conditioner anymore.

That about sums it up. I’m sure there are more things that I wont miss, but these are the big six.

Super Husband says that these are too negative, but rest assured, this list will be followed closely (in the next three days) by a list of things we will definitely miss. Yunan food is among them. 

Nine Needles in My Head, 13 in His Back

This morning Super Husband and I walked the two kilometers from our apartment to the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine to meet two friends who study there, and have them guide us in our acupuncture adventure.

I've wanted to try acupuncture since before we moved to Beijing, but web searches and asking around yielded almost no results. I had been told at one point that because I'm western I needed to go to a different place, not where Chinese people would go. Of course, that's an incredibly annoying answer to get from someone. Why? Because I need to pay more? Because they'll do something differently? That's not what I wanted. I wanted the Chinese experience. The full on TCM (traditional Chinese medicine).

Today we got it.

We met our friends at the entrance to the university and followed them around the corner to a small hospital type building where we registered for our treatments and went down a corridor to the treatment areas. I was told to sit down and put my right wrist on the table, then the left. The doctor asked my friend a series of questions, "what is the problem?" "headaches with nausea, wakes up a lot at night" "does she hold her head like this a lot?" "well, she's a teacher".
He poked at my neck and upper back for a moment, and then prescribed an upper back massage followed by acupuncture treatment.
The massage was... nice? Mostly it was painful, but I could tell that they were really working out knots that had been tightening since my last massage in Houston, over a year ago.

While I was getting my massage Super Husband was repeating the process. He told the doctor about his lower back pain, and was prescribed two massages and acupuncture for his "uneven spine".
I don't think they're telling us he has scoliosis.
After my massage I was told to lie on the bed on my back, and the doctor proceeded to put nine needles in my face and head. One at the top of my head, five at my hairline, one between my eyebrows, and two in my neck, near my lymph nodes. I also received four needles in each hand, and three in each foot.
I lay there, dozing and relaxing for somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes, listening to the sounds of the patient next to me receiving her treatment of cupping. After the needles were removed I felt completely relaxed. Super Husband put it nicely a few moments ago, saying that after his treatment he felt as if he'd slept for 24 hours. I arrived in the other treatment room in time to watch some of Super Husband's second massage, and the insertion of his needles. He lay on his stomach, and received two at the base of his hairline, 13 down his back, making him resemble a stegosaurus, and one in each ankle. I read while he lay there dozing for his twenty minutes.
We wont know the true results of the treatment until tomorrow or the next day, since mine at least was in part for sleeping issues, but it is definitely something I'll go back for before we leave. And I'd like to find a place to go in Houston, as well.
I wouldn't define it as a "miracle treatment", but that feeling of pervasive relaxation was hard to beat.

I do need to say, for those who may be reading this and deciding to go to this same hospital, it's not for the feint of heart, or the new to Asia.
The was moxibustion, which made the fact that the doctors were all smoking less obvious, but no less noxious. The walls look dirty, and while the needles are sterile, the used ones don't go into a "sharps" container, as we would see it in the west, but are collected into a bucket in each room to be thrown out.
We were certainly the only westerners receiving treatment while we were there, and while no one seemed shocked to see us, it isn't the kind of place that tourists would flock to.

But we're happy with our truly Chinese experience with TCM, and that's what matters.

Speaking of lists...

Now that Super Husband and I are officially moving back to where the stars at night are big and bright we've been thinking more and more about returning to Beijing, or China at the very least.

Eventually. 

And one thing that has crossed our minds is what kind of apartment we will want. Now that we've lived in a sixth floor walk up for the better part of a year I can safely say that an elevator is on that list. Especially if we're returning with a Super Baby (It's in the five year plan, but not necessarily in the immediate future). 

So here's the list:

1. Elevator -- If we only live on the fourth or fifth, or even sixth floor we'll probably take the stairs most of the time, but it's nice to have the option of not hauling yourself, your groceries, or your suitcases up 99 stairs. 
2. A bathroom bigger than a postage stamp -- Now, this isn't a hard and fast requirement for me, or Super Husband, but wouldn't it be great to not have to worry about your shower flooding your entire bathroom, since they're one and the same? Or have conditioner constantly in your sink? In a perfect world we could even have a tub. It's not unheard of here. 
3. A courtyard, or some semblance of a community -- Right now to get to the front door of our apartment you have to navigate through some parked cars, after walking for a while down an alley. Which is fine. But it would be nice to have a small courtyard, or communal space where you can sit and have a coffee. And not feel like you live down an alley, frankly. 
4. A grocery store -- This is perhaps my top requirement after an elevator. We have two small shops around the corner here, but neither of them have things that I would consider basic staples, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, milk, or yogurt. They more closely resemble what my mom calls a stoop 'n' snatch it. They have oreos, salt, haw candy, and sodas. I'd like picking up some milk and cheese not the be an hour long ordeal that requires prior planning. Now, this could perhaps be overlooked if my or Super Husbands place of work were to be extremely close to a good store. Then it'd just be a matter of stopping off on the way home. 
5. A decent kitchen -- These are hard to come by here, but like the bathroom it would be nice to have something larger than a stamp. I'm not asking for a dishwasher, or even a proper oven (please, oh please could I have a proper oven?), I just want to be able to move around... you know, not hit my head on the gas meter if I take a single step back from the stove. Yes, that did happen this morning.
6. Close to a subway stop -- I'm pretty spoiled for location at my current apartment. A seven minute walk takes you to the intersection of two major lines. I can get basically anywhere in the city with minimal transfers. I really, really don't want to live much farther than that from a subway stop. I know people that take the bus to the subway, or bike to it, and it just adds so much hassle to their day. So, call me spoiled, but it goes on the list. 
7. A decent couch -- I didn't realize how important this would be to the comfort of life, but it is. Right now we have a crappy futon, that's a little bit broken. And we don't use it. At All. Well, except for when I tutor, then I sit on it and the kids sit on the floor usually. But it has mostly been relegated to "place we set the bags after shopping" and in the winter "place to put the coats if there are already too many on the coat rack". I want a nice couch. Something worthy of a nap, or curling up on and reading a good book. 

Less Important Things: Things that aren't make or break, but would be oh so nice to have. 

1. AC in the living room -- It's July now, and daytime temperatures haven't dropped below 85f (27c) in a few weeks. We're spending way too much money on the AC in our bedroom, but it's worth it not to wake up feeling like you just took a dip in a pond. And so, with the requirement about having a good couch, we'll need an AC unit in the living room to go with it. Because what good is a good couch if all you'll do is sweat buckets while your sitting on it? Of course, fans can be purchased and plugged in, so this could work, too. 
2. A decent TV -- I don't watch TV in China, Super Husband does, but only rarely. I do, however, watch movies, and it would be nice to be able to do that on something other than a laptop. 
3. Good storage space -- Our apartment now has plenty of storage, and I love it. A large ikea dresser/closet unit in the bedroom, a bookshelf in the living room, plus a nightstand, a desk, an "entertainment unit" under the TV, and a built in unit by the door. We've never not had enough room here. 
4. Good laundry porch -- Right now we have a great porch area where our washing machine is, and where we hang all our clothes to dry. It has screens on the windows, and it just the right size for all our clothes hanging needs. Of course, it would be nice to have an even bigger porch, where we could put chairs out on nice days, but I'm pretty sure that's asking too much of a Beijing apartment. 
5. Close to work -- Now, this would be great no matter what city you live in, right? I absolutely loved biking to and from work every day. It was both invigorating and relaxing. What more do you want? But baring that, it would be nice not to have to endure a 45 minute commute smashed up against other passengers, some of whom have yet to be introduced to deodorant... or personal hygiene of any kind. 
6. Good Feng Shui -- When in Rome, they say. Even before moving to the 'jing I was a believer in the powers of feng shui. Now, don't misunderstand. I am by no means saying that it is a magical heal all in your life, but it just makes sense. Get rid of clutter - duh. Beautify your space - duh again. But I do also feel like the "flow of energy" is important. Our apartment now has great feng shui (except that our front door leads to a somewhat dark hallway) and it makes it easier to be happy here. Good light. Good air flow. Good energy flow. Plus, our bed even faces the right direction for my personal pa'kua readings (east, if you were wondering).  

As of right now I'm pretty sure that sums it up. Who knows what we'll be able to find in three to five years when we're talking about moving back here. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a place that meets all of our criteria. Or maybe we'll have to spend weeks hunting for a place that meets only some of them. 

Of course, we know from personal experience, and from others who have been searching, that realtors here wont show you a good apartment at first. They'll show you six crappy places that are over your budget until you get really, really frustrated and finally, after some hair pulling and some threats to go to another agency, then they'll show you the place you've been looking for. 

And then you have to pay them. 

Ahem, *ding ding ding* ahem ahem

Super Husband and I have an announcement to make. 

We are coming home, returning to the Lone Star State, to the hot outdoors and air conditioned indoors of Houston. 

While some days it feels like just yesterday we were sitting at IAH waiting for our delayed flight to take off, it also feels like it's time. 

By the time we return home it will have been exactly 345 days since our departure from the world's most air conditioned city. 345 days since Bluebell ice cream, or good Mexican food, or good Italian food... Since driving a car, since being in a place where I understood everything that was being said to, or around me. 

So now I'm making lists. 

Lists of things to buy for ourselves before we leave.

Lists of gifts to take back to our nearest and dearest.

Lists of things we'll miss.

Lists of things we won't.

And lists of things to do, see, and eat when we get home. 

Taco truck tacos are currently at the top of the running for First Meal, El Alazan, to be exact. Bluebell, is of course up there. Demeris bbq's french fries, Hobbit Cafe's... Everything. 

Hot wing sauce, vegetarian food, cooking in a well equipped kitchen, real grocery stores... S'mores. 

I told my mom when she was here that I'll actually have to start running when we get home or I'll gain weight from eating all the things we've missed. Because of course I don't miss vegetables. We have those here. It's the splurge foods, the celebration foods that you crave. 

Real cheese. Oh, how I've missed feta! And mozzarella! 

And picnics in the park, and grilling, and gumbo, and mustard, and black beans, and corn tortillas, flautas, and the occasional Dr. Pepper. 

And porches. For some reason I really miss porches. 

Okay, so enough about all that. Let's talk about this past week. 

Hmm... Oh yeah!

We won first at pub quiz, yet again! And because it was also Super Husband's last day of school in Beijing (that's right, he finished his last final a week ago, and has a certificate to prove it) we celebrated afterwards at Pyro and danced (he didn't dance) to the DJ stylings of the very talented Mr. Rogers. Twist and Shout was played. A good time was had by all. 

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but as far as I can remember the next out of the ordinary occurrence was our trek through the Summer Palace. That place is HUGE. I don't think we even covered a quarter of it in the three hours we walked around. We did choose a good day to go, though. It wasn't swelteringly hot because of the cloud cover, although that did impede our photo taking somewhat. I would say that it's worth a visit if you have time, but it isn't on my Must See in Beijing list. In fact, it's a relatively new build, having been originally built in the early 1700s, then rebuilt after the Opium Wars in the late 1800s. Architecturally it's fairly run of the mill, but what is interesting it the sheer size. I work next door and I had no idea. 

After swinging by the market to pick up a gift for Super Husband's teacher, and a shirt for himself, we had dinner and headed to Liudaoko for KTV. 

Neither Super Husband nor I had previously participated in this Asian phenomenon, but it was definitely a good time. They didn't have Tiny Dancer, but Bohemian Rhapsody was belted out at the top of everyone's lungs. We didn't even make it home until 5am. Needless to say Sunday held very little excitement. 

I did make couscous and pecan chicken. Not the pecan chicken I grew up with, but a tasty facsimile. 

Monday was a Monday, although it felt like. Wednesday. 

I met my friend Kate for dinner at Bleu Marine so that I could try their Danish offerings. Kate is the perfect guide for this because, well, she's Danish. We then walked through a light rain to a mall where we got lost twice while trying to find Cold Stone Creamery. Maps in malls here have no rhyme or reason, and in the end it was even labeled incorrectly. Cold stones not in SB 218. 

After dinner we took the subway back to our respective stops. By the time I reached my stop it was pouring outside. I don't know that I've ever even seen it rain that hard here before. And I walked through it. 

Let me just add in a word to the wise here, leather purses from the pearl market are not 100% water proof. Maybe closer to 97%. Wich is an improvement from no percent, of course, but I did spend much of Tuesday with a fan in front of my bag to completely dry out the interior. 

Yesterday was Wednesday, when I began writing this, I thought I would be able to post it via the VPN built into the wireless at Lush before quiz, but alas and alack, for whatever reason my devices refused to log into the wireless. 

Poo diddly. 

So now I have to report on Wednesday, as well. 

The morning started out fine. It's been a long week; it feels like it should have been the weekend eons ago. In the afternoon yesterday the "N" level teachers had our weekly level meeting(okay, it's supposed to be weekly, but we don't aaalways do it every week). Well, I'll not go into details on such a public forum, but it ended badly, with three out of five of us leaving the room feeling unjustly attacked, and not even by anyone with any authority. A brand new teacher, actually. I'm just glad that my time here is coming to an end if that is going to be the environment from now on. 

And now it's Thursday. Fourth of July. The only thing that makes it special, or different from any other day is that we're allowed to wear shorts. 

Wooooohoo. 

Of course, I am wearing blue shorts, a red shirt, and a red and white scarf in my hair. And my students are learning about how we celebrate Independence Day in the U. S. A.

Parades, fireworks, swimming, hotdogs... That sort of thing. 

A *sort of* Surprise Visit

Every week that goes by brings us closer to Bali.
That has been my mantra for the last two weeks, now that the heat has set in, in earnest and there's no relief from the humidity. The subways are getting a little... ripe, and I'm "feeling the heat" before I even have my morning coffee.
But this past week was special because my mommy arrived in Beijing on Monday night! It was a short visit, but a visit none the less. I knew she was coming some time in June, probably, maybe. But it wasn't until Saturday evening that I was e-mailed her official itinerary, and did a little dance and shouted a little bit.
I took Tuesday afternoon off to hang out with her, and Super Husband took her to haggle with the glasses people in Panjiayuan that morning. Sadly her adventures there were not as fruitful as ours, but she still managed to walk away with a pair of prescription sunglasses. Apparently the "boss" being in the shop is bad for business, because the endless arguing lost them the sale of two additional pairs of sunglasses. Some people just don't realize that a little discount here means a whole lot more sales over there. And Super Husband says he'll be looking elsewhere for any more eyewear purchases we make in Beijing.
After lunch at Luga's Mexican in SanLiTun (if you go, go to the one attached to the Italian place and the German place, not the one attached to the Vietnamese place. The selection is better.) we headed to the pearl market to peruse. While neither mom nor I made any purchases Super Husband found a very cool phone case, a holographic batgirl from the first edition of the "New 52", and he also bought me a jade pendant.
Mom was understandably jet-lagged by mid-afternoon, so we all retired to her hotel, where she napped and Super Husband and I sipped Starbucks in the lobby. We dined at an adequate but not amazing Thai restaurant in the adjoining mall, and called it an early evening. We all had places to be the next morning.
Wednesday evening, after a day of business meetings, mom joined me at Lush for Quiz. We once again took home the first prize, this time by a margin of only one point. It would have been higher but we didn't listen to mom when she said that Martina Navratilova was the winningest tennis player of all time. We did, however, score big with the Disney Princess quotes round, thank you very much.
Thursday, mom's last day in Beijing, she and Super Husband trekked out to the Bagou area where we had a lunch of Peking Duck, and those delicious, spicy green beans. Then they came and visited the school, where mom met my students. Of course, they weren't particularly talkative having just woken up from their naps, but they had said they wanted to see my mommy, so there she was.
After work I took the subway all 22 stops to Guomao (I had a seat the whole way! It was glorious.) where we got lost trying to find Bleu Marine, a Danish and French steak restaurant. It threatened to rain on us as we wandered around, but we managed to find it before it really let loose. We chose that restaurant on the recommendation of a friend, and were not disappointed. In fact, I have plans to return next Tuesday.
Mom flew out of Beijing on Friday morning, and Friday evening while Super Husband studied for his upcoming finals I had dinner with two friends, and one's visiting brother. He had just arrived that morning, and so jet-lag once again made it an early night for all.
Saturday was uneventful for me, but Super Husband saw not one, but two movies. One of which was the new Superman! He didn't call me in the middle of the night to tell me it was horrible, or amazing, so I guess it passed muster without breaking any records.
And now it's Sunday, a day for lesson planning, blog writing, and tv watching. Although, my tv watching has taken a dive lately. I just can't seem to find a "summer show" I really love.

On an unrelated note:
I'm still compiling lists of Beijing Tips and Tricks, so if anyone has any advice, or questions, please, please e-mail me so that I can make sure everything is addressed!

Hurrah for Two Day Work Weeks

It's Saturday, and it's smoggy, and hot outside. But not even that can dim our enthusiasm for Beijing.

Okay. That's not entirely true.
I'm typing this from the confines of my air conditioned bedroom, and have not set foot into the heat or smog yet today. It's perfectly possible, nay - likely that come nine or ten tonight we'll be singing an entirely different tune. One of sore feet, sweaty backs, and arms tired from lugging loot around the city.
We're heading out to Panjiayuan to get Super Husband a few pairs of glasses (at $30 a pop we can afford to buy more than one at a time) and then over to the Panjiayuan Antiques Market. We don't exactly have a list for ourselves right now, but I've not been during the weekend when it's supposed to be full of all kinds of goodies from ages past, and present.
Our previous trip there yielded some nice silk purses and bags, and some chopsticks. And that was on a Monday, so who knows what a Saturday will yield.

******
Skip to eight hours after that first bit was written and we have successfully procured three new pairs of glasses for Super Husband (two sporty/informal pairs, and a "business" pair), a silver bracelet with the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac on it, a silk table runner, and a calligraphy set. Getting the lenses in the glasses took so long that we didn't get to Panjiayuan until after 4pm, and they begin packing up around 4:45 for a 5 o'clock closing, but over all we were fairly productive.
Add to that some homemade french fries and I'm calling it a day.

We were also full of energy because this past week was only a two day work week. Huzzah and Hurrah. It's amazing the difference that kind of thing can make.
On Friday the Red Lions, Maroon Lions, Teacher Korey, and I attempted to make ice cream in a bag. I'm putting pretty heavy emphasis on attempted. I'm not ducking the blame here, but it's pretty much all the nurse's fault. Hers, and the fact that the freezer at the school isn't worth a hang. I asked the nurse (she's the only one that's allowed in the kitchen besides the cooks) to freeze plastic ziplock bags of water so that we could just break up the ice and put our bags of sugary milk in there and shake shake shake. Without telling me, she deemed it unhealthy to freeze stuff in plastic bags, and instead put a huge bowl of water in the freezer. That would have been annoying, but fine. Except only the top 1/2inch layer froze, and the rest was just cold water. So, we worked with what we had. After 10 minutes of shaking yielded no results we decided to just put the bags of "ice cream" into the freezer until it was time to send the kids home, six hours later. When I went to check on it at 4:50 we still just had cold milk.
I was so disappointed.  So we sent bags of milk home with our kids and told them to freeze it at home, and hopefully it would work.
On Saturday morning one of the moms sent me a photo of her son eating his ice cream, so at least they finally got to enjoy the fruits of their (really, I did all the work) labour.

Now it's Sunday, and we're FaceTiming with Super Husband's brother. We can't decide whether to spend the day being lazy (our prerogative) or go shopping for things to send back to Houston with my mom. Because she's coming to Beijing on a business trip, and I'm so excited. Although she and I will both have to work, we'll at least have a few dinners together.

Zhongzi, Dragons, and Protective Bracelets

Seven Day work weeks are the worst. For everyone. The kids hate it, the teachers hate it - Horrible. By Sunday two of my students were home sick, and all of the Maroon Lions were desperately trying to infect the rest of the school with their tiny children coughs.
But today, Tuesday, is Dragon Boat Festival, which means we have yesterday, today, and tomorrow off work.
Neither Super Husband nor I have really gleaned the history behind Dragon Boat. We're pretty sure that it has soooomething to do with a soldier who drowned himself as a sacrifice in order to save a bunch of other people. But I dunno.

 I guuuueeeess I could look it up. 

Hold Please.

Okay, so I've done some research, Wikipedia was involved, as were other sites, and it turns out I was about half right. Or really only correct about someone drowning himself. The poet Qu Yuan was exiled from the court of the Chu kingdom because some other guy didn't like him (I'm pretty sure I'm over simplifying this, but whatever.) and he wrote a few patriotic poems, and then drowned himself in a river so that he didn't have to see his beloved Chu kingdom invaded by some other kingdom... maybe the Qin kingdom. This is kind of where stories differ. Some sources are saying he drowned himself in despair over the exile itself, others say he couldn't bear to see the conquering of the Chu kingdom. Either way, all stories seem to agree that when local villagers realized what he had done they searched for his body in "dragon boats" and threw food, like zhongzi and eggs, into the river to attract the water-borne creatures away from his... ahem... corpse.   

So, the lowdown on zhongzi is this -- They're rice dumplings. There are traditionally two types, sweet, and spicy. The spicier zhongzi are traditional in southern China, and are usually filled with pork or chicken, and dipped in a spicy sauce when eaten. The sweet zhongzi, traditional in the north, are filled with fruit, often jujubes, and are dipped in sugar when eaten. I thought they were wrapped in banana leaves (which I don't like) but apparently it's actually a bamboo leaf, so that's cool. If you would like to make zhongzi, for whatever reason, there is a video of an older asian lady (I didn't watch it) making them on youtube. 

On Sunday the older kids at school made them, and it was hilarious to me to listen to the foreign teachers try to coach the kids in English about making them. Finally, at least for one class, the Chinese teacher just took over and made it a Chinese lesson. 

While the older kids were making zhongzi the younger classes made "five color thread bracelets". The site I linked to earlier, not wikipedia or the video, talks about the significance, but not the history, of these thread bracelets. I'm wearing one right now, and I made one for Super Husband. They are said to protect against plague and disease, and you have to wear it until after the first rainfall, when you're supposed to take it off and throw it into a river. I may or may not remember to do that. 

Moving away from Dragon Boat festival a little, the quiz team won first place again. Because we're just that cool. 

And that looks like it's about all the news I have... 

Oh, wait. I forgot about Sunday's Korean dinner. 

We struggled to get a taxi for almost an hour. Honestly, that's never happened before. We ended up taking a "black cab" after ten or 15 regular taxis, all empty and displaying their "available for hire" signs, drove right past our frantically waving arms... I even closed my umbrella in hopes that the prospect of a dripping umbrella was the major deterrent, but no such luck. After all that we finally arrived at our destination, a Korean restaurant hidden behind some construction and a guard booth (there was a big golden retriever in said booth, and he was rewarded for his existence with some scratches behind the ears).

My experience with Korean food is limited to three separate dining experiences, two of which were in Beijing, so I am far from an expert on the subject, but what we had was good. Of course, we did let an actual Korean person do the ordering, so that might account for some of it. 

First out was a plate of boiled pork, and kemchi. This was accompanied by a basket of lettuce, and we were told that you make a lettuce wrap out of the kemchi and pork. 

Kemchi and Boiled Pork

Korean Mijiu (rice wine) mixed with Sprite

We also partook, for the first time for either Super Husband or I, of Korean mijiu, or rice wine. This particular mijiu was brought in a large pot, and mixed with Sprite. I don't really know if that's somehow fairly traditional, but it seems that it is one of the "flavors of choice". It's served in these little metal bowls (that I couldn't help thinking of as dog food bowls every time I took a sip) and it was really pretty tasty. Super Husband said that it tastes like ice cream, and while it is a smooth, sweet flavor, I wouldn't go quite that far.

We were at this restaurant for the belated birthday celebration of one of Super Husband's Korean classmates, and we found out that there is a "traditional" birthday hazing ritual. When you're down to the dregs of a pot of mijiu everyone must add something (and I mean anything) to the pot. Soy sauce, soju (another Korean alcohol), hot sauce, broth from the soup we were eating, and even lettuce were added to the mijiu, and all were subsequently consumed by the birthday boy. And here, let's just all give thanks for the fact that they didn't know when my birthday was, because my stomach was barely strong enough to withstand his torture, much less drinking that slop myself. Ick. 

And that really is everything... unless it isn't. But it is, for now. 

Fragrant Hills, Taco Rolls, and Evil Balloons

This week was action packed. Or at least the latter half was.
Monday I found out that I'd been nominated as head of the decorations committee (of which I am currently the only member) for the American House graduation ceremony, and a group of managers and I went to check out the location. It's a lovely hotel with a Mayan theme, and the room we chose will suit perfectly. It has a decent size stage, with wings and back entrances so that the kids don't have to run through the audience to get on stage.
Now I just have two months to figure out exactly what decorations we'll use.

Super Husband sighted exhaustion and malaise  (and I'd like to think a little bit of wanting to spend some time with me) and played hooky Tuesday and Wednesday. I cooked at home and he studied and watched Chinese soap operas.

Much of Thursday afternoon was spent planning for Friday's Children's Day celebration, and that meant blowing up copious amounts of balloons. I only got through seven or eight balloons before my previously only mild latex allergy kicked in. I spent the rest of the day repeatedly washing my hands and face, and hoping that reapplication of chapstick would assuage the burning of my lips. It didn't.
So I can never touch a balloon again, apparently. Thankfully other teachers are not so afflicted, and we ended up with over 250 balloons by the end of Thursday.
Friday morning was a hectic blur of tying ribbons (apparently ribbons and streamers are the same thing...? I definitely asked for streamers when I ordered the decorations) hanging balloons, moving tables, and setting up chairs. But by 9:30 all of the parents had arrived and the children were in their costumes for the performances. The Red Lions danced to YMCA (I will not be taking credit for that, their Chinese teacher chose it.) and while I thought they had done better in practices their parents said they were amazing. And really, that's what matters.
After the performances everyone made their way outside for face painting, bobbing for apples, water balloons, egg races, and basketball tosses. It was like a mini-carnival, and the kids had a blast. 

This is Ellen, she's on of the Managers. But mostly this is the only picture taken that shows any of the decorations. 

After clean-up it was time for a little staff bonding, complete with pizza and drinking games. I never lost, and so was spared from having to down large quantities of whiskey.

Saturday we enjoyed a relaxing morning. My usual tutoring session was cancelled because the parents wanted to treat their kids to a school free Children's Day.
In the evening we joined a few friends for dinner at a famous Sichuan restaurant here in Beijing. Both Super Husband and his roommate felt that it was some of the best Chinese food they had eaten in Beijing. After dinner we strolled around the Olympic area, catching glimpses of the Water Cube, and getting quite close to the Bird's Nest. I often forget how close I actually live to the Olympic area, but I could easily ride my bike there if I wanted to. 

On Sunday we lunched on Kraft macaroni and cheese, courtesy of a Christmas present that my parents brought from family in Texas. I will admit to changing the recipe slightly. Instead of milk and butter I mixed the cheesy packet with a cup of plain yogurt,and I also added a cup of spicy baked zucchini slices. All in all I think it was a healthy enough lunch. Especially considering that we spent the next four hours hiking around the Fragrant Hills with the Red Lions. 

It was even lovelier than I thought it would be. Super Husband and I have decided that we need to go at least two more times before the end of summer. 

After trekking along the paths and getting really nice and... I would say sweaty, but I was taught that women only "feel the heat"... So, after feeling the heat we all shuttled over to a Mongolian restaurant where we were celebrating Britney's fourth birthday. 

We had a really lovely meal. Super Husband particularly enjoyed the lamb ribs, and I liked the stewed beef and potatoes with cilantro. They also served "spring rolls", but they were unlike any we'd tried anywhere else. They more closely resembled a taco than what most westerners consider a spring roll. A thick tortilla or pita bread with pieces of sliced lamb, spring onions, chives and lettuce. It was very good, but dry. I'm wondering if maybe we didn't miss a sauce that you put on it,  or perhaps dip it in.
Another interesting aspect of the meal was when the performers asked both Super Husband and me to do a traditional toast. While it didn't involve a speech, it did involve flicking wine from our right ring fingers toward the sky, then the ground, and then dabbing it onto our foreheads, and finally drinking the wine in a single gulp. After we finished those prerequisites we were draped with a silk scarfs,  which we took home.
All in all it was a lovely day, and the birthday girl was more than happy with the turn out.
When we got home we barely had the energy to download the photos from our phones and camera before conking out for the night.
Now it's Monday, and the start to yet another seven day work week. This time we've ameliorated the situation somewhat by adding in fun activities that will teach, while giving the teachers a bit of a break.