Update One: In honor of our new vow to create a page dedicated to tips for moving to, living in, or visiting Beijing we have added an "E-mail Us" widget (they're called widgets, and I actually looked it up --
"widget |ˈwijit|
noun informala small gadget or mechanical device, esp. one whose name is unknown or unspecified.• Computing an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service." )
This widget should be on the right hand side of your screen, and is your one-stop-shop for all things "question and answer". It's right under that Subscribe widget *ahemahem*.
Because of the wonders of MODERN TECHNOLOGY (in my head that was a booming "god" voice, like the one they use on The Simpsons) one or both of us will receive and respond to your message with an alarming sense of urgency... or at least within 24 hours.
Update Two: The threat of a torrential downpour caused the Red Lions' outing to be moved to next weekend, sadly. While the sky hasn't actually opened up yet, it is rather menacing.
The fragrant hills will have to wait.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Paying What's Owed
Super Husband and I were FaceTiming with some friends in Houston when we realized that somewhere along the way the purpose of International Adventures was buried beneath anecdotes and quips.
While we always wanted a one stop shop to share our experiences and stories with those that haven't spent a year in Beijing we also wanted to share tips, pointers, suggestions, and "how-tos" for those that are about to embark on their Beijing adventure.
So, if you've just found out that you're moving to Beijing, or even just coming for a visit, send us an e-mail with any of your questions and we'll get back to you with answers.
In the meantime Super Husband and I will come up with a list of things that we wish we had known on day one of moving here, and hopefully that will make someone's life much easier.
And now, on to those anecdotes.
Monday and Tuesday held little of note. Super Husband and I tried a new dish at the restaurant closest to our house. It's called xiangu rou pian'r mi xian, and it's basically noodles with beef, mushrooms, carrots, and bell peppers (I can't ever remember how to ask for no bell peppers. They are the scourge of my meals), but what really sets this dish apart is the lovely broth it's all served in. It has just the right amount of spice, it's flavorful, it's light, there's no oil in it. It's perfect. Now I know what to have Super Husband fetch if I'm ever under the weather, and vice versa.
My quiz team won first place again on Wednesday, and although the leader board is over victory was still sweet.
Thursday was also less than eventful. Poor Super Husband had to run errands for me, picking up my passport from the PSB and reregistering me with the police. But the visa issues are over.
On Friday a clown came to the school for a student's birthday. I'm not a fan of clowns, they don't scare me, but I don't need to be near them. This one stayed on stage for the most part, until it was time to hand out balloons for balloon animal time. With 50 kids sitting on stools chaos quickly ensued. The biggest issue was that at first pass not all the children were handed balloons. This is, obviously, unacceptable. But after 30 minutes of cajoling, fetching a second and third balloon pump, and some consoling, everyone left the multipurpose cafatorium with a balloon animal or flower.
Next Friday is Children's Day, and we're having a school-wide celebration, complete with choreographed dances done by each class. The Red Lions are dancing to YMCA. It wasn't my first choice, but they're learning the steps, and they love to shout out "Y-M-C-A", so I'm hoping it goes over well. We've only practiced onstage once so far, but I have high hopes for a successful show. I'm also in charge of decorations for Children's Day, and I'm anticipating that much of that morning will be spent blowing up balloons; one of my least favorite activities in the world.
Tomorrow, Sunday, Super Husband and I have been invited my the Red Lions to go hiking, and then have dinner near the fragrant hills. We haven't been before, so this will be a real treat. I'm already charging the camera, so hopefully we'll have a ton of lovely photos of the mountains around Beijing to post come tomorrow evening.
While we always wanted a one stop shop to share our experiences and stories with those that haven't spent a year in Beijing we also wanted to share tips, pointers, suggestions, and "how-tos" for those that are about to embark on their Beijing adventure.
So, if you've just found out that you're moving to Beijing, or even just coming for a visit, send us an e-mail with any of your questions and we'll get back to you with answers.
In the meantime Super Husband and I will come up with a list of things that we wish we had known on day one of moving here, and hopefully that will make someone's life much easier.
And now, on to those anecdotes.
Monday and Tuesday held little of note. Super Husband and I tried a new dish at the restaurant closest to our house. It's called xiangu rou pian'r mi xian, and it's basically noodles with beef, mushrooms, carrots, and bell peppers (I can't ever remember how to ask for no bell peppers. They are the scourge of my meals), but what really sets this dish apart is the lovely broth it's all served in. It has just the right amount of spice, it's flavorful, it's light, there's no oil in it. It's perfect. Now I know what to have Super Husband fetch if I'm ever under the weather, and vice versa.
My quiz team won first place again on Wednesday, and although the leader board is over victory was still sweet.
Thursday was also less than eventful. Poor Super Husband had to run errands for me, picking up my passport from the PSB and reregistering me with the police. But the visa issues are over.
On Friday a clown came to the school for a student's birthday. I'm not a fan of clowns, they don't scare me, but I don't need to be near them. This one stayed on stage for the most part, until it was time to hand out balloons for balloon animal time. With 50 kids sitting on stools chaos quickly ensued. The biggest issue was that at first pass not all the children were handed balloons. This is, obviously, unacceptable. But after 30 minutes of cajoling, fetching a second and third balloon pump, and some consoling, everyone left the multipurpose cafatorium with a balloon animal or flower.
Next Friday is Children's Day, and we're having a school-wide celebration, complete with choreographed dances done by each class. The Red Lions are dancing to YMCA. It wasn't my first choice, but they're learning the steps, and they love to shout out "Y-M-C-A", so I'm hoping it goes over well. We've only practiced onstage once so far, but I have high hopes for a successful show. I'm also in charge of decorations for Children's Day, and I'm anticipating that much of that morning will be spent blowing up balloons; one of my least favorite activities in the world.
Tomorrow, Sunday, Super Husband and I have been invited my the Red Lions to go hiking, and then have dinner near the fragrant hills. We haven't been before, so this will be a real treat. I'm already charging the camera, so hopefully we'll have a ton of lovely photos of the mountains around Beijing to post come tomorrow evening.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Salt, Books, and A Big Party
I'm starting out strong. Only seven days since I last sat down to write a post.
I'll be better, I promise.
Since last Sunday not much has happened.
Tuesday evening held another episode of Game of Thrones for me, which I watched while eating what should have been a really yummy home cooked meal, but turned out to be just waaaay too salty. I had a small pork loin that Super Husband had defrosted on Sunday, but that we hadn't cooked so I decided to braise it in a little garlic soy sauce, which was a good idea until I also threw my vegetables in there. The entire meal had so much salt that when I woke up on Wednesday I had to drain my hands and feet by holding them up in the air like a cat looking for a tummy rub. The meal did have one high note, though. I tried a recipe for baked french fries that has a lot of merit. The fries weren't as crispy as I like, but that had more to do with the fact that I didn't follow the directions for the recipe exactly. I also made some zucchini "fries" that were amazing.
I've been on Pinterest a lot lately and it has been both fun, and torturous. I'm really looking forward to having a fully stocked kitchen again. But I'm also looking for recipes that I can make here, with my limited access to ingredients. My search has been fruitful, like the french fries, and zucchini fries, but it also makes me long for the days when I could make anything under the sun after a 15-minute trip to Fiesta.
Wednesday held another night of Lush Pub Quiz. It was the last quiz of the ten-week leader board and we held our own, coming in third overall. So now, or at some point, we get a pizza party at Lush's sister restaurant, Pyro Pizza. I hosted a guest round that night on books that have been adapted for the big screen. It proved to be a difficult round, but not the most difficult of the night. The round on obscure historical events was easily the most challenging, and had us all wracking our brains, or even saying "I've never heard of that".
I very much enjoy writing guest rounds, though. It forces me to look up events and information that I wouldn't have necessarily been as interested in otherwise.
On Friday the power went out at the school, interrupting what should have been a lovely afternoon watching Over The Hedge. Instead we shuffled the kids outside to play around on the swing sets. They might have actually preferred that. Their capacity for sitting still and watching a 90 film is less than a tired teacher might hope.
After work we all headed to a party hosted by two coworkers, where drinks, games, and dancing flowed freely throughout the evening. Everyone was very impressed with Super Husband's sketch book, which he was forced to show everyone, while much ooohing and aaaahing ensued. I was very impressed with one coworker's ability to salsa, and his bachata was pretty sound, too. I tried to teach my Polish coworker to bachata, but he might have had one too many Cuba Libres to do anything but salsa. (Haha, see what I did there. Cuba libre - salsa... ... So maybe it's only funny to me. Whatever. I laughed in my head)
That reminds me; on Friday morning I was alone in my classroom before the official start to the school day and Café Tacvba's La Ingrata came on. I started dancing around, watering our class plants, tidying my desk and didn't really notice that one of my students had come in until she said "WHAT YOU DOING?" (We're still working on correct grammatical structure. They're only four. "What are you doing?" seems to be one of our higher hurdles.) Anyway, I don't think she accepted "dancing" as the correct response, because she turned around and said "No... May I go to the bathroom?" She couldn't even stand to be in the same room as whatever odd flailing of limbs she perceived my dancing to be.
Saturday was the tenth annual Beijinger Bar and Club Awards party, and as both Lush and Pyro Pizza were nominated for a number of categories Super Husband and I had no choice but to go out and show our support.
While the party officially began at 4pm, a few of us met for a late lunch at Home Plate, a small but delicious bar-b-que restaurant near Sanyuanqiao subway station. Super Husband had the chop beef sandwich, which he was most pleased with, while I opted for a corn dog and a salad. Yes, I had a corn dog. Don't judge me. It was homemade, and delicious. Especially when dipped in their bar-b-que sauce. Mmmm.
From there we took cabs to the Galaxy SOHO, a very new, very modern building that will become a shopping mall/office building/apartment complex, but is still a vast empty space with very, very cool architecture.
Neither of those photos really do justice to buildings, but they're what I've got.
I'll be better, I promise.
Since last Sunday not much has happened.
Tuesday evening held another episode of Game of Thrones for me, which I watched while eating what should have been a really yummy home cooked meal, but turned out to be just waaaay too salty. I had a small pork loin that Super Husband had defrosted on Sunday, but that we hadn't cooked so I decided to braise it in a little garlic soy sauce, which was a good idea until I also threw my vegetables in there. The entire meal had so much salt that when I woke up on Wednesday I had to drain my hands and feet by holding them up in the air like a cat looking for a tummy rub. The meal did have one high note, though. I tried a recipe for baked french fries that has a lot of merit. The fries weren't as crispy as I like, but that had more to do with the fact that I didn't follow the directions for the recipe exactly. I also made some zucchini "fries" that were amazing.
I've been on Pinterest a lot lately and it has been both fun, and torturous. I'm really looking forward to having a fully stocked kitchen again. But I'm also looking for recipes that I can make here, with my limited access to ingredients. My search has been fruitful, like the french fries, and zucchini fries, but it also makes me long for the days when I could make anything under the sun after a 15-minute trip to Fiesta.
Wednesday held another night of Lush Pub Quiz. It was the last quiz of the ten-week leader board and we held our own, coming in third overall. So now, or at some point, we get a pizza party at Lush's sister restaurant, Pyro Pizza. I hosted a guest round that night on books that have been adapted for the big screen. It proved to be a difficult round, but not the most difficult of the night. The round on obscure historical events was easily the most challenging, and had us all wracking our brains, or even saying "I've never heard of that".
I very much enjoy writing guest rounds, though. It forces me to look up events and information that I wouldn't have necessarily been as interested in otherwise.
On Friday the power went out at the school, interrupting what should have been a lovely afternoon watching Over The Hedge. Instead we shuffled the kids outside to play around on the swing sets. They might have actually preferred that. Their capacity for sitting still and watching a 90 film is less than a tired teacher might hope.
After work we all headed to a party hosted by two coworkers, where drinks, games, and dancing flowed freely throughout the evening. Everyone was very impressed with Super Husband's sketch book, which he was forced to show everyone, while much ooohing and aaaahing ensued. I was very impressed with one coworker's ability to salsa, and his bachata was pretty sound, too. I tried to teach my Polish coworker to bachata, but he might have had one too many Cuba Libres to do anything but salsa. (Haha, see what I did there. Cuba libre - salsa... ... So maybe it's only funny to me. Whatever. I laughed in my head)
That reminds me; on Friday morning I was alone in my classroom before the official start to the school day and Café Tacvba's La Ingrata came on. I started dancing around, watering our class plants, tidying my desk and didn't really notice that one of my students had come in until she said "WHAT YOU DOING?" (We're still working on correct grammatical structure. They're only four. "What are you doing?" seems to be one of our higher hurdles.) Anyway, I don't think she accepted "dancing" as the correct response, because she turned around and said "No... May I go to the bathroom?" She couldn't even stand to be in the same room as whatever odd flailing of limbs she perceived my dancing to be.
Saturday was the tenth annual Beijinger Bar and Club Awards party, and as both Lush and Pyro Pizza were nominated for a number of categories Super Husband and I had no choice but to go out and show our support.
While the party officially began at 4pm, a few of us met for a late lunch at Home Plate, a small but delicious bar-b-que restaurant near Sanyuanqiao subway station. Super Husband had the chop beef sandwich, which he was most pleased with, while I opted for a corn dog and a salad. Yes, I had a corn dog. Don't judge me. It was homemade, and delicious. Especially when dipped in their bar-b-que sauce. Mmmm.
From there we took cabs to the Galaxy SOHO, a very new, very modern building that will become a shopping mall/office building/apartment complex, but is still a vast empty space with very, very cool architecture.
 |
| Galaxy SOHO - Day |
 |
| Galaxy SOHO - Night |
The party started in earnest around 4:45, with drinks sponsored by Jaegermeister and Heineken, food from Ganges, and sorbet from... some place.
Lush and Pyro were nominated in a total of 11 categories, and they took home an award in all but one. Lush got Best Wudaoko Bar, Best Pub Quiz, and a bunch more that I can't remember off the top of my head. I do know that together Lush and Pyro got Best Manager, which is quite the accolade.
That party ended at 9pm, but riding the wave of success, the "Wu Crew" headed to 3sums for celebratory drinks. I'd not been there before, I think it's relatively knew. It's a hamburger joint that also serves drinks. The highlight for me, however, was not on the menu, but hanging from the ceiling.
You can bet I availed myself of these particular pieces of furniture for as long as I could.
 |
| Swings! In a restaurant! SWINGS! |
Alas, the hamburgers we thought we'd be getting were not forthcoming so from 3sums we headed to Four Corners, which is owned by a Houston transplant, and is set up in a pretty cool venue. There's patio seating, a large stage, and a back room filled with comfy chairs and couches for lounging in large groups. Alas and alack, their kitchen closed two minutes before our arrival at 11:02, so after a long respite filled with lots of conversing and some horseplay we all adjourned to Lush, where we new the kitchen didn't close until 4am. After a cup of coffee and some delicious pancakes for me, and a bowl of granola and yogurt for Super Husband we decided it was time to call it a night, and bid our friends adieu at 3am.
Today, Sunday, with sore feet from dancing and no desire to do anything but lounge around we're perfectly happy to have nothing more strenuous on the agenda than catching up on New Girl (and if I can convince him, maybe Criminal Minds).
Let the doing nothing commence!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Worst Movie Ever, and Milk Names
I realized last night as I was getting ready for bed that it had been a very long time since I'd written a post. This thought was almost immediately confirmed by my mother, who sent me a message in Words With Friends saying that I needed to update the blog. Through the week I compose posts in my head, only to find that the words have deserted me, or the inclination to type them out, or worse yet, the time in which to do it. But it's Sunday now, and I'm lazing about.
So here I am, dutifully typing away as I try to remember what all we've done these last few weeks.
Super Husband has rejoined the Pub Quiz team, and was instrumental in our coming in fourth last week. We could have tied for third, but I couldn't remember that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island. I got as far as Robert, but couldn't pull the last parts out of my brain in time.
Two weeks ago Super Husband and I co-authored, and co-hosted a guest round at Quiz for Cinco de Mayo. I'm fairly pleased to say that it was challenging without being one of those rounds where you just stare at the person on stage and think "Are you sure that you and Wikipedia aren't the only people that know this stuff?"
This week I'm going to submit a round on "Literature in Film" so we'll see if I get to guest host another round.
The three day weekend that followed that hellish seven day work week was relaxing. A group of people met for brunch at American Steak and Eggs, where the grits are actually how grits are supposed to taste, the biscuits and gravy is yummy, and the poutine is pretty darn good. From there we hailed a taxi to SanLiTun (pronounced SanLiTour, if you're from Beijing) where we sat on a patio and sampled Prince's (whisky ginger ales, with a fancy name) and Mostreetos (mojitos from a little shop on the street).
That was all two weeks ago. This past week was a much quieter one. A group met up once more at a friend's apartment for the weekly showing of Game of Thrones on Tuesday nights, where we ate macaroni and cheese, courtesy of my recipe, which is my mom's recipe, which is her mom's recipe, and so on. It was delicious of course, because really, have any of Nana's recipes ever steered anyone wrong? Towards a coronary event, maybe... but wrong? No!
Wednesday was the aforementioned quiz nights, where we came in fourth. Still nothing to sneeze at. Competition is stiff as we near the end of the ten week leader-board. I'm pretty sure one of the teams is using their smartphones to cheat, but proof is minimal, so I'll keep that to myself for now.
It's started heating up here, with temperatures in the high 80s most of the day. I'm desperately trying to figure out how to order a fan off of Taobao. We moved one step closer to this goal yesterday when we found out that you can order a Taobao rechargeable card online, and then put money on it at the post office. I'm not sure if it's exactly smart to give myself unlimited access to Taobao, because it's a little like Amazon on cocaine. They have everything, from Minnetonka moccasins, to puppies, to live caterpillar kits. (Confession - I know they have the moccasins and the caterpillar kits because I plan on buying both... the puppies I heard about from a friend).
Yesterday, Saturday, we did gloriously nothing. Apart from walking to Ito Yokado to buy some pantry staples like Tabasco sauce, peanut butter, and the yogurt drink that Super Husband likes.
Speaking of peanut butter, a PB&J sounds like a yummy late morning breakfast... Mmm.
So here I am, dutifully typing away as I try to remember what all we've done these last few weeks.
Super Husband has rejoined the Pub Quiz team, and was instrumental in our coming in fourth last week. We could have tied for third, but I couldn't remember that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island. I got as far as Robert, but couldn't pull the last parts out of my brain in time.
Two weeks ago Super Husband and I co-authored, and co-hosted a guest round at Quiz for Cinco de Mayo. I'm fairly pleased to say that it was challenging without being one of those rounds where you just stare at the person on stage and think "Are you sure that you and Wikipedia aren't the only people that know this stuff?"
This week I'm going to submit a round on "Literature in Film" so we'll see if I get to guest host another round.
The three day weekend that followed that hellish seven day work week was relaxing. A group of people met for brunch at American Steak and Eggs, where the grits are actually how grits are supposed to taste, the biscuits and gravy is yummy, and the poutine is pretty darn good. From there we hailed a taxi to SanLiTun (pronounced SanLiTour, if you're from Beijing) where we sat on a patio and sampled Prince's (whisky ginger ales, with a fancy name) and Mostreetos (mojitos from a little shop on the street).
ASIDE: My friend Korey is actually good friends with the Mostreeto Man, and due to their friendship I got to meet the newest addition to the Mostreeto family, a bouncing baby boy who has yet to be named.
This is very common in Chinese culture. Naming a child immediately after birth is considered very strange to them. One of the foreign teachers at American House just had a baby and when she announced his name all of the Chinese teachers were very surprised that he already had a name, being only two days old. In China, and much of Asia, you wait until you have an idea of the baby's personality, who s/he is, before giving them an official name. That's why children here all have what we call "milk names", names that they'll grow out of, or that only their immediate family will ever use for them, like XaioNu (little cow), DaNu (big cow), YaYa (rustling noise), XiaoBe (little shell)... These are all milk names of children I've taught here. Of course, by the time they reach kindergarten age they already have their official names, and most even have English or Western names already.
So, back to SanLiTun... from there we took still more taxis to Korey and Zach's apartment and watched the single worst movie I have ever seen. The Room, with phrases like "You're tearing me apart Lisa" and "Oh, hi ______"it's a gem. Especially if one makes a drinking game out of it. Which is necessary, because watching it at all is a little torturous, and watching it without a drink is a nightmare. Tommy Wiseau is a madman, and he looks like SheHulk. All in all, it's bad.
After watching The Room we also watched Episode 5, Season 3 of Game of Thrones. I spent a good chunk of my lunch breaks during the previous seven day work week, and a large portion of the weekend watching seasons one and two, and the beginning of season three. Now I'm hooked, although I have to say that episodes five and six were both a bit of a letdown... I'm tempted here to geek out and just devote a couple of paragraphs to Game of Thrones, but I'll resist the urge.
That was all two weeks ago. This past week was a much quieter one. A group met up once more at a friend's apartment for the weekly showing of Game of Thrones on Tuesday nights, where we ate macaroni and cheese, courtesy of my recipe, which is my mom's recipe, which is her mom's recipe, and so on. It was delicious of course, because really, have any of Nana's recipes ever steered anyone wrong? Towards a coronary event, maybe... but wrong? No!
Wednesday was the aforementioned quiz nights, where we came in fourth. Still nothing to sneeze at. Competition is stiff as we near the end of the ten week leader-board. I'm pretty sure one of the teams is using their smartphones to cheat, but proof is minimal, so I'll keep that to myself for now.
It's started heating up here, with temperatures in the high 80s most of the day. I'm desperately trying to figure out how to order a fan off of Taobao. We moved one step closer to this goal yesterday when we found out that you can order a Taobao rechargeable card online, and then put money on it at the post office. I'm not sure if it's exactly smart to give myself unlimited access to Taobao, because it's a little like Amazon on cocaine. They have everything, from Minnetonka moccasins, to puppies, to live caterpillar kits. (Confession - I know they have the moccasins and the caterpillar kits because I plan on buying both... the puppies I heard about from a friend).
Yesterday, Saturday, we did gloriously nothing. Apart from walking to Ito Yokado to buy some pantry staples like Tabasco sauce, peanut butter, and the yogurt drink that Super Husband likes.
Speaking of peanut butter, a PB&J sounds like a yummy late morning breakfast... Mmm.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)