Two of my least favorite things: Goodbyes and Haircuts

Sometimes getting close to people sucks. The very Queenie that I just wrote a post about left our company today, for reasons I'm choosing to not discuss. We all cried because everyone loves her and we're really going to miss her. And her little xiǎo gǒu, Doudou. She told Chelsie and me that (translated by Yogi) "we don't need to be able to talk because we just have a connection". Bye bye Queenie, wǒ ài nǐ (I love you).

Also, goodbye Doudou....we'll miss you and all the precious outfits Queenie dressed you in. Wǒ ài nǐ.

Hey guys look at me! I'm a BEE! 

There's a Doudou in my hood!

Now, on to the haircut. I haven't had one since I left for China in May and my hair badly needed a little trim to get the split ends off. I don't even like getting a haircut in America, let alone here in China where I can't communicate with anybody that I just want a TRIM. SO, the solution was to bring Herby with me so she could speak for me. I paid the equivalent of about $16 to get my hair cut by the best guy they had there. This turned out to be a good choice.....
Herby came up and said "do I need to take a picture for you?" haha she knows me so well

Feeling nervous....

This guy was definitely a big shot around this place. He had 2 other people just standing there, waiting to hand him a comb or blow dryer or scissors or a straightener. They watched his every move and if they were really lucky, even got to help. Well.....one of them got to help blow-dry my hair....haha

Veeeeerrrrrrry focused.

I very much appreciated their focus. I also appreciated that the styling was included in the haircut. In America, I never want to go out in public after I get a haircut - I have to go home and do my hair so I can look half-way decent. So I appreciated it when they got the straightener out and actually did my hair for me. This guy was pretty dedicated to getting my hair to look as straight as possible and flip under at the ends. It ended up fairly well, even though he cut it precisely to the "awkward length"....at least it'll grow back out by Christmas. Anyhoozle, I was happy that my Chinese haircut was a normal one....so happy in fact that I was inspired......

I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth

Then it was time for a yummy yummy lunch of beef noodles. I love these.

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Queenie, Turtle Love, How Much?!

It's been proven: people can be good friends without being able to speak the same language. The reason for this affirmation: the new front desk girl at the office named Queenie. First off she asked Chelsie and me to give her an English name. We came up with Jenny. Her name in Chinese starts with a Q, though, so she wanted an English name that started with a Q.....soooooo......Queenie it is. She also just so happens to have a little Chinese designer puppy named Doudou. They're these adorable little tiny chocolate-brown toy poodles (this isn't Doudou, it's just a random little guy I found on the internet):

She brings him in to work and just hands him to us so we can hold him and love on him. The only semi-problem with this is that our boss doesn't really like him in the center for some odd reason that is unbeknownst to me.....who wouldn't want this little fluffball around? So today Queenie brought Doudou into work and very sneakily handed him to Chelsie and me in the office and walked back to the front desk, all nonchalantly. We were loving on him and all of a sudden our boss walked into the office! So I hid Doudou under my sweatshirt and she didn't even notice. Queenie came in with this sly little grin on her face and took him from me and put him in her jacket and snuck him back home. She also got me a beautiful necklace for my birthday even though she only just joined the office crew and we don't know each other very well. Aaaaand she came in and watched us learning the Thriller dance today and gave us a big round of applause. She also has a cold and wore a mask into work today so she wouldn't cough all over everyone. I was feeling so sad for my new friend coughing and being sick all day so I asked Bella how to tell her I hoped she felt better. She taught me and I went up to Queenie and said "Kuai dian hao qi lai" and she got a big smile on her face and even teared up! She told Yogi to tell me that she was moved to tears....all because I learned how to say "feel better" in Chinese. She put her little mask on and came and gave me a hug. I just love her, she is so sweet. She even did a beautiful traditional Chinese dance at my birthday:

So. All in all, I have a new Chinese friend.

Then.....I came home tonight and did my first Insanity workout from week 2. I thought.....I was going......to die. It was awful but I worked through the pain because I knew Abby Vester would be proud of me. After my awful awful exhausting workout I went to the little convenience store downstairs to get some water.....and I discovered this:

Blackberry soda? YES. DE-LISH-US. (That's delicious spelled phonetically....for effect.....) I got 2 sodas and a water and asked how much it would be. I was suuuuper confused about the price the man kept telling me because it sounded eerily similar to "san kuai" which means 3 kuaui.....I offered a 10, he refused; I offered a 5 and he took it. When he came back with change I had to ask how much it was for one soda and his answer was......YI KUAI. (one kuai, which is equivalent to about 16 cents). Yeah.

Then Chelsie pointed out that the turtles were doing a very interesting thing that can only be done justice with a picture (they're best friends):

It was TURtally adorable.

Never Been Kissed....

....in China. Today in my art class there was a little preview boy named Niuniu. (Preview meaning this was his first class ever at Romp n' Roll.) He was really into the art project that we were doing and was a pretty independent little guy. After class I gave him a Rompy stamp and his mom was encouraging him to blow me a kiss. He hesitated. Now, when most kids hesitate it's because they're deciding if they really want to interact with me, so I'm used to this. What I was not expecting was the big fat kiss that he gave me, right on the lips! Children in China just don't do this the first time they meet a foreigner. I was so shocked that I probably made a face very similar to this:

His mom and dad started laughing so I laughed and Niuniu laughed at how sly he was. It was pretty cute and I couldn't help but smile. Add this to the hug I got yesterday from one of our kiddos and multiply it by the hug I got today from another little boy and I'd say the result is that Chinese children are starting to love me. It's an incredibly rewarding feeling because these babes don't just hand out affection to foreigners like it's candy - I have to work for it. It's awesome to feel like I'm really starting to bond with our kids and I look forward to more big hugs......and maybe kisses?

Sleepy Tai Qi (Day 7)

Waking up to an alarm while on vacation is not my idea of fun. BUT....I figured if I was waking up to go do some Tai Qi (chi) it might be okay. Chelsie and I went up to the rooftop and had our own personal instructor teach us all about the movements and benefits of tai qi. The instructor kept joking with me about being sleepy because I was yawning about every 2 minutes. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but we got it eventually. It was a nice relaxing way to start the day, but I don't think I liked it enough to start doing it regularly. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not much of a wake up early in the morning kinda person, unless it's Christmas morning and I'm going downstairs to check my stocking. That I'm okay with. We didn't take any pictures of us doing tai qi, but if you wake up early enough and go to pretty much any park around Beijing, this is what you'll see:

After some breakfast it was time to pack up and get ready to head back to Beijing. Our plane ride was a lot better than the one going to Yangshuo. It took off on time and was uneventful except for a bit of turbulence. There was a little kid sitting about 5 seats in front of me and I played peek-a-boo with him for a minute. It was funny, the first few times I just did it and he watched me with that deer-in-headlights look on his face. Then his little head disappeared for a minute and then his eyeballs poked out and then his nose and then he giggled and hid back behind the seat. We proceeded to play this game for a few minutes until he lost interest. It was pretty cute though. Well, we landed back in Beijing, got back to our apartment, and watched a movie. Tuesday was a lazy morning, a 2 hour trip to the gym, and then some pizza for dinner. We're settling back into life here in Beijing and it's actually nice to be back "home". Now at work we're gearing up for our big Halloween event - if we stick to the plan Chelsie and I made up, it's gonna be a good one!

Dragon's Backbone (Day 6)

Today was spent (unfortunately) mostly sitting on a bus. The girls who work at our hostel recommended we go see the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces because they are a very beautiful and popular scenic tourist destination. So….we did. Well, the bus ride there was about 3 hours long. We stopped in a village where all the women have very long hair. It cost extra money to go into the village and see all the cool stuff, so we opted out since it’s nearing the end of our trip and our cash is a bit low. Our tour guide did tell us some interesting facts about this village though….if a woman has a bun on the front of her head it means she is a mother. If the woman gets married she will tie up all her hair and cover it and only show it to her husband that night. (Oo-la-la) If she has a bun on the side of her head it means she is single. Then she told us about 3 pools they have that you can sit in: a large, medium, and small pool. The custom used to be that if a person chose to sit in the large pool it meant they are very lonely so a whole family will come and sit and bathe with them. If a person chose the small pool the people would be worried that you will catch a cold, so they will come snuggle around you. And if you picked the medium pool, you are very lucky – you got to chose a woman (if you are a man) or a man (if you are a woman) to come bathe with you. Note that I said that’s what the custom used to be. Now, because China commercializes everything, the small pool is for a foot massage and the large and medium pools are for killing pigs. Yes, I did say killing pigs. Don’t ask me why. So while everyone else went into this village, Chelsie and I and a few other people chose to sit outside and wait. There were some dogs roaming around that were fun to take pictures of, one even begged us for some meat from the bamboo rice we got. 

Our group finished their little tour of the long hair village and we hopped on a different bus that was better equipped to go up the winding road to the top(ish) of the mountain. And quite the winding road it was. I had to close my eyes because I didn’t want to see how sharp the corners were. When we finally reached the top we headed into what was pretty much another “hey-lady” market. We walk walk walked up up up and got lunch at a restaurant that served local food. Just like all the food we’ve eaten here, it was delish. Then we had a couple hours to ourselves so Chelsie and I decided to do a little shopping and a little photographing and a good amount of sitting and waiting. 

It was pretty cold up there on the mountain, which was a very serious reminder that I haven’t experienced a real winter in 4 years. I hope Beijing is nice to me, but I don’t think it will be. When we finally got back to Yangshuo after a bus ride that seemed to take FOR-EV-ERRRRRRRRRRRRRR we hustled our buns over to West Street. Why? you may want to ask…..well I’ll tell you. Remember that month I spent in Wuhan, pretty much miserable the whole time, and the only bright spot in my day was seeing my fave kids at the center and working with the most wonderful person in the world – Candy….? The one who held my hand in the hospital after my asthma attack and was my stand-in mommy? Well, we learned a few days before we left for Yangshuo that she would be here the same time as us and we met up with her and her friend Tina tonight! It was sad because if we hadn’t spent all day on a bus we could’ve seen them for longer, but we went to dinner and talked and it was great to see her again. We miss her so much! Wo ai ni Candy!

Your English is Very Bad (Day 5)

 Day 5 of our Yangshuo vacation came with a re-discovery of childhood for Chelsie. It had been at least a decade since she rode a bicycle and today we rode them at least 9 miles back into town. We started the day with a pretty discouraging rain storm and then a bicycle ride through the heart of town (which was actually quite dangerous) to the boat dock. We hopped on a bamboo raft, tied our bicycles to the front end, and headed down the Li River. We soon discovered that this was the same route we had kayaked down a couple days ago but…..oh well. We saw some different sights and actually had things explained to us by our lovely bamboo raft driver man. We learned that those people who have a bunch of seaweed-looking stuff on the rafts (see pictures from kayaking day) are harvesting water grass for the water buffalo. We also passed by a very old building and learned that 20 years ago it used to be a sugar factory. Pretty cool. At one point we passed a boat full of Chinese people who were trying to talk to us but only knew “hello” and then they babbled some other things. Our driver man said to them “Your English is very bad!” and we all laughed. Then Chelsie responded with “dui” (correct) to which he laughed even harder. Even his son who had come along for the ride thought it was pretty funny.

Sugar factory

After about a 20 minute ride we were dropped off at Liugong Village. Our driver man pointed the direction to the road back to Yangshuo, shook our hands, and then we were on our own yet again. But not for long. As we walked up the path into the village we were met by a lady who offered to cook us some local food at her restaurant (really her home) and said we could park our bicycles there and explore the town while we waited for them to prepare our lunch. She was prepared with an English menu which tells me that she gets a lot of business from foreign tourists. Anyways, we parked our bikes, ordered our food, and took off to explore. This town was more so the China that I think I was expecting to find upon my arrival here 4 months ago. Thank goodness it wasn’t. The town was very quiet aside from a few kids dilly dallying around and chickens crossing the road at will.

When we came back our food was ready. Now….I’m the kind of person to whom presentation matters. If my food doesn’t look good, I might not eat it. At least, I used to be that way. China has certainly made me re-evaluate some of my standards about food presentation. When this dish was placed in front of me, what I really wanted to do was wrinkle my nose in disgust and say “no thanks” to the mushy looking slop. However, I’ve learned that a better way to evaluate food here is to smell it. This I did, and discovered that it smelled delicious. I decided to give it a chance, and it turned out to be delish. Eggplant might be one of my new favorite vegetables.

After lunch it was time to hit the road. Our nice lady pointed us towards the road and off we went. The scenery was gorgeous. The peace and quite was incredibly relaxing. The day had been a bit rainy so the air was cool and moist – basically the perfect conditions for a bike ride. I learned one lesson, though: when resuming bicycle riding after not doing it for about a year, it’s best if the first trek isn’t 9 miles long. When I got off that bike I was walking like a cowboy who just got back from a 3 week cattle-herding trip. Ouch. All in all, Yangshuo is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been and if you’re ever considering a trip to China and want some gorgeous scenery – this is the place.

It's fall!!!!

Cooking = Love (Day 4)

Day 4 of our vacation was spent by sleeping in, getting massages, and generally lounging around until mid-afternoon. Around 3 we headed into town to meet the person who would pick us up to go to a cooking class. She took us and a group of about 8 other people to the local market. She showed us lots of produce and explained how Chinese people generally cook it. She also kindly informed us that the market was divided up into 2 parts, and in the second part we may see cats and dogs getting their heads cut off, so we could opt out of that part if we wanted to. Most of us did, but a few brave souls went into the meat section. I’m fairly certain I would have vomited had I seen a dog getting its head chopped off. But….now I know that if a dog is meant to be eaten, they shave all its fur off. Now I’m going to be sad every time I see a shaved dog.

On to the cooking! 

 We learned how to make several things. First up were stuffed vegetables. We made a mixture of ground pork, spring onions, oyster sauce, and salt to use as the stuffing. We put this into mushroom caps, an eggplant “hamburger” haha, tofu (not even close to my fave), and then made some meatballs with the remaining meat. These were then steamed while we made everything else.

Now, on to possibly my favorite dish of all time (vegetable-wise): eggplant Yangshuo style. We used eggplant (something I never thought I would like, much less love), garlic, ginger, spring onions, chili paste, and oyster sauce to create a concoction of deliciousness such as your palate has never experienced. I’ll certainly be making this for my family when I come home for Christmas – get excited – as well as on a regular basis for the rest of forever. Yum.

It was so good that I was sad when it was gone. Did you hear me Mom? I was sad when my vegetables were gone!

Then it was on to the beer fish (locally called Pijiu Yu). Now, I’ll be entirely honest about this: I hate fish. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this dish, and I still think I would like it a ton more if it were made with chicken….but it wasn’t bad. We used catfish, tomato, green and red peppers, spring onion, garlic, ginger, salt, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and beer (dur). I wasn’t exactly a fan of the beer flavor of the sauce, so maybe I could find a substitute for it when I make this dish with chicken? Cooking gurus, help me out!

And den……chicken with cashew nuts. No words can describe how much I enjoyed this dish. I thought I knew how to make good chicken….and I still think I do! (You thought I was going to say that I was wrong about that didn’t you?! Nope, I still think I was and am a pretty good cook.) But this cashew chicken was a whole new dimension. The sauce was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. We used chicken, roasted cashew nuts (do you know how easy it is to make your own roasted nuts?!), carrot, garlic, giner, salt, oyster sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, and greenie beanies. Throw it all together and BOOM! you have a masterpiece! And here’s what I’ve discovered is the secret to Chinese vegetables: they add them very very last and only stir-fry them for a moment – long enough to get hot, but not long enough for them to get squishy and gross. We had been keeping our fish and bok choy (I didn’t like it at all so I didn’t even bother writing about it haha…) under our wok lid. Put all 3 together, plus our steamed stuffed vegetables, and it was time for dinner!

The setting of our cooking class was rather quite picturesque. It was a very “out-of-the-way” little place and such a lovely place to sit and eat the delectable dishes we had created. 

Chelsie had a very fun and interesting cooking friend next to her. He was already in the middle of drinking a beer (who knows what number) when we arrived, and as Chelsie later informed me, was taking shots out of little airplane bottles of liquor the whole time we were cooking. He was a very silly German man. He waved his giant Chinese knife – you may know it by the name of a CLEAVER – around like it was a tea spoon and kept joking with our instructor about accidentally chopping off his fingers. At one point Chelsie asked him if she should be nervous to be standing next to him. Fortunately he wasn’t drunk enough to be a disaster, but certainly tipsy enough to be utterly hilarious. It’s fun to make friends.

 I’m fairly certain that Erica, our teacher, deserves photo cred. just for putting up with the lot of us. She was awesome. At one point, she was explaining what kind of cooking oil to use when cooking Chinese dishes. She told us not to use sesame or soybean oil because the flavor would be too strong. She said we should use peanut oil because it was the best….however due to her accent she pronounced it was “penis oil”. Every single person in the room (German, British, and American alike) wanted to laugh. Chelsie’s friend kept looking over at her as though he was going to die from holding it in…..but alas we were all polite and did not laugh at her ChEnglish. She was a fantastic teacher and I had a great time cooking again for the first time in months!