When Worlds Collide: Part 3

Back in Hangzhou

I was trying to figure out how I wanted to separate these blog posts. I knew I couldn't just have it all in one post--yes I crammed a lot of stories into my Spring Festival posts (Right here!!) but those were all easily split up by location. I could have separated these posts Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing but then we would have the farewell or the salutations right in the middle and that would just drive me bonkers. So I've done a mixture of time and space separation. Hangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou... so you're not even half yet (sorry).

March 23rd

On Sunday, we headed down to one of my favorite places in all of Hangzhou--Hefang Street. Yes West Lake is beautiful and that is a place that you have to see if you ever visit Hangzhou, blah, blah, blah... BUT! Hefang Street is MY favorite place to go. It's designed with buildings that look like they are from old China, there is a pagoda towering on top of a nearby hill, and West Lake is only a few blocks away. THIS is the place to go souvenirs shopping whether your like kitsch (like I do!!), artwork, or strange food.

 

 As you first enter the street, you are greeted by a huge Buddha lying back and smiling at you with a bunch of small children playing all over him (I just realized how creepy that actually sounds). I've been to Hefang Street a few times now (usually around Christmas time) and I always stop and smile at the Buddha and take a photo (of course). 

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2013

March 2014

Other than the little kitschy things and paper cutouts that I have somehow resisted buying and filling my apartment with (thus far), I love to go to Hefang Street for the food. That is one thing that China does right--street food, finger food, food on a stick that you can just walk around and chow down on. From candied strawberries (think of the strawberries at the China pavilion in EPCOT during the Flower and Garden or Food and Wine Festival), sugar shaped into animals, dragon's beard candy, squid, stinky tofu, duck head, crab, dumplings... from the sweet and delicious to the creepy and disgusting, Hefang Street has got it. And while we were wandering around doing some souvenir shopping and just drinking in the sights and sounds, we ate... Oh boy did we eat.

Some were hits and some were major misses.

The HITS:

*The candied strawberries. I will always think back to my first time having them on Christmas 2012 with Rachel and Olivia. They were freshly dipped and so delicious. I feel like I need to buy the candied strawberries whenever I see them on Hefang Street. 

*Dragon's Beard candy. This stuff is delicious no matter what my dad or brother might say to you. I had it for the first time when I visited China in 2012 and instantly fell in love. It's the consistency of (kind of) cotton candy but it has peanuts and peanut butter on the inside. I don't know how to properly describe it but it's really good. One thing I did learn, though, is don't buy the prepackaged stuff to bring home to your family--it is NOT the same. For over a year, my family never trusted me. It was time to get Mama Woomer to believe. When I saw the dragon's beard candy stand, I ran over, bought a box for 10元 and forced her to eat it. She was nervous (who could blame her?!) but after she took a bite, her eyes grew wide and she declared for the camera (yes I needed proof), "That is really good!"

*Peanut brittle, ice cream, taco thing. Yup, I will stand by that name. They take a really flat pancake (think of French crepes), put three scoops of ice cream on it (one of the colors is purple... not sure what flavor that is), and they actually use a wood planer to scrape the peanut brittle candy onto the taco... Sounds strange but it was good. Adam, Mama Woomer, and I all shared it and I think deep down inside, we all wished we had gotten our own.

The Misses:

*The evil crab apple thing pretending to be a candied strawberry. Poor Mama Woomer was the one to get this bad boy. At the bottom of each stick of strawberries there is this little (we think) apple that is also dipped in sugar. It looks delicious and she made the mistake of popping the whole thing into her mouth. Instantly, you could see the regret in her eyes. She started to laugh which turned into screams as she realized just how disgusting it was. Adam and I encouraged her, "Just spit it out on the ground!" There was even a hole in the manhole cover nearby but she refused to spit it out on the ground (polite American). With this nasty evil apple still in her mouth, she dug through her Mary Poppins purse to find a tissue to spit it out and throw away... She was still learning...

*The "squid" on a stick. Now, Mama Woomer is not the most daring when it comes to crazy food and she's not a particular fan of seafood but I came to find that any time Adam would recommend something or attempt to get her to try something, she would listen to him! We saw people walking around with squid on a stick (something that Adam and I both like) so we searched and found a guy who was dancing and singing, barbequing sticks of squid. We added some spices and even got one for free--one for each of us! But biting into it, we quickly realized that it was not squid... none of us could bite it off the stick! There we were: the three laowai failing miserably at eating the Chinese street food. At least we got some good photos out of it!!

I love both their faces throughout this whole thing...

March 24th

Monday was a slow day in Hangzhou--a teaching day. Finally Mama Woomer got to see me work my magic and stupefy my students into thinking that I was an actual teacher. I had three classes but only took her to two of them (the first one is too early in the morning and the students are the type that would not take advantage of a foreigner being in class with them). My other two classes did not disappoint. After a tongue twister activity and their current event presentations, I unleashed them on her, letting them ask any questions they wanted.

"How old are you?"

"How do you like China?"

"Who is your favorite child?"

"Is your son sexy?"

"Dance for us!" <--Not lying

It was a fun and entertaining day and I think that the students really enjoyed her coming to visit.

 March 25th

Tuesdays are the most evil day on my calendar. I have to get up at 5am to take an hour and a half long bus ride to the OTHER campus on the other side of the city, Xiasha. I wish that I didn't have classes out there; I wasn't going to make my mom get up at 5am, and so, because of that, they did not get to meet her and ask her questions (there is one class in particular that I adore from that school so I always feel bad when they get the short end of the stick because they are not on the Cangqian campus). 

ANYWAY! After I returned to Cangqian around 1 o'clock, Mama Woomer, Adam and I hopped back on a bus (this trip was so exhausting!!) to head out to the tea fields. We stopped at one of our favorite places to grab yummy, cheap food--Pacman--and then we were off!!

She's getting better at chopsticks!!

It was so cool getting onto the bus that takes you out to the tea fields. You're still in Hangzhou but you are driving through so much green--actual forests, a park, the countryside, and eventually you spot people out in the fields, picking tea. It's always a (literal) breath of fresh air to get even just a little bit outside of the city. I hadn't gone out that way since mine and Adam's first date ♥

The tea fields are beautiful and tower over you as they roll their way up the hills. We ventured our way through the town, watching the workers head out to the fields, people drying the leaves, washing the leaves, actually harvesting the tea!! Last time Adam and I had been there, it was like a ghost town so it was so cool to see everyone working... As a result we were like our very own tourist attraction!!

 We ventured up and into the fields, climbing higher and higher up the hill. It was certainly a bit treacherous (especially coming down). Climbing up the hill brought back memories of hiking through the Himalayas (not really... but it was still great)! It was like a ridiculous bonding exercise for all of us... and at the top? Surprise hats that we found, stole, and posed with!! 

Coming back down to the safety of (somewhat) level ground, we put our feet up and enjoyed a cup of tea... overly priced tea at 30元 a cup... And that was the cheap stuff!! But how often can you sit between your boyfriend and your mother in China surrounded by such beauty, sipping on a cup of hot tea just picked off the hill around the corner?

March 26th

Wednesday was the return of THE West Lake. I swear, with the random nighttime walks with Adam and showing Mama Woomer around, I have seen West Lake more times then I've seen Niagara Falls (not really... but it's starting to feel that way)!! We had a later start so we got to West Lake right around early dusk. We were on a mission. Mama Woomer had only a few requests of what she wanted to see and do while she was in China and one of them was Leifeng Pagoda on the shores of West Lake. Adam had never been and so the gang of three hopped on a few buses and marched our way past the slowly wandering Chinese tourists to make it to the pagoda before it closed.

The flowers were blooming, the birds were chirping, and I'm sure the sun was shining somewhere behind all that pollution. 

The pagoda really is beautiful, though nowhere near as big as it might look in photos (kind of like the Brandenburg Gate). It sits atop a hill that you can take an escalator up to the top (no lie) and it probably has the best view of West Lake you can get. It's a great shot with the rolling hills, the boats on the water, all of downtown Hangzhou... And we were lucky enough to be there are the sun was setting. 

 The story of the pagoda is something like this:

Bai Suzhen, an immortal snake lady, left heaven and came down to Earth. When she got here, it was raining and a man named Xu Xian offered her his umbrella. It was true love and they got married and lived together for years until an evil sorcerer revealed her true form to Xu Xian--she was Lady Snake. Something terrible happened, there was a big war with fish people, and Bai Suzhen was trapped inside the pagoda. She would be trapped here for as long as it stands... but I did read somewhere that it did collapse one day and people saw a beautiful young woman crawl out from the ruins. 

Acting out the story of THE West Lake for your entertainment

That night was a memorable night for many of us... but especially Mama Woomer. 

We had had a less than stellar dinner and it was time for an after dinner snack... Well what could possibly be better than chicken feet?!?! Adam, the martyr that he is, got two chicken feet: one for Mama Woomer and one for himself (I sure as heck wasn't going to try that again!). I'm not sure, but I think this might have been a bonding moment for them. One thing I am sure of: no one was a fan of the chicken feet.

We ended the night on a pretty lovely note, watching the West Lake water show... As magical as you can get being this far away from Disney World!!

March 27th

Another teaching day. Monday was post graduates. Thursday was my precious freshmen. They are usually too terrified to speak up for anything. When I walked in, they all muttered, "Good morning," like they usually do but they all sat up straight and shouted, "Good morning!" the minute they saw Mama Woomer trailing in behind me. 

Not as talkative as the post-grads, I think Mama Woomer was their first foreigner they interacted with other than me... and I think that is pretty cool.

We ended our time in Hangzhou on a nice, relaxing note. Questions from my students who just ate up every word Mama Woomer said, hanging out at DH's apartment, and then street food again for dinner (hey! It was Thursday... It's tradition!). 

That was good for us because up next was the wild, crazy, and hectic Beijing!

Until Next Time,

Amanda  

When Worlds Collide: Part 1

Mama Woomer Comes to Hangzhou

I am a very compartmentalized type of person. I think it is one of my faults. I have spent a lot of time away from home, my friends, my family with going away to college, a missions trip, studying abroad, doing the Disney College Program, and now moving halfway around the world to China. The way I survive and the way I never get homesick is I lock a part of myseld away, whether it's my friends or family or my tiny little hometown. For the most part (other than Christmas), I have managed to avoid homesickness but my method may not be the very best. I've lived very separate lives--HOME, SCHOOL, DISNEY, CHINA. They've never really met one another... Until March 19th when my mama arrived in Hangzhou for a two week visit in China.

I wasn't sure what to expect--I'd gotten mixed reviews on previous family visits from my friends: some people enjoyed showing their parents around, others had a hard time with it, some family members loved China, and others full on hated it. How would my mom be? I know she's a pro at crowds but what about the squatty potties? The food? Chopsticks? People staring at her?

I admit, I was TERRIFIED to think that my mother would be in China, sneaking into this private world that I've had all to my own for almost seven months at that point. I was TERRIFIED to be responsible for her, to have to entertain her, and take care of her. I was TERRIFIED to have to navigate my way not only around Hangzhou but also up into Beijing.

I don't know why I had those fears... none of them came true. Turns out, the mama LOVED China (she even got used to the chopsticks and squatty potties). I wasn't too bad at navigating, haggling for prices on souvenirs, and I was able to entertain for the full two weeks. She got to get to know Adam, meet my friends, see me teach my classes, walk around my town, see THE West Lake, and I even managed to get her to KTV.

Be prepared for the epic saga of Mama Woomer's visit to China...

March 19th

I woke up EARLY Wednesday morning to make sure I got to the Hangzhou airport in time to pick Mama Woomer up. Adam, the hero that he is, woke up early with me (like 6am on our day off type of early) and we made out way to the bus stop on campus only to find that the buses did not start running until after 7am. Cue my panic. We ended up walking to the main street and after a series of three buses we were at the airport too early (sorry Adam!). I had prepared my mom pretty early on what to expect at the airport. From what I remembered flying in, there was just a sea of humanity as soon as you collected your bags... In the domestic arrivals hall it would seem. I told her to try and find us in the international arrivals hall in the sea of people... All five of us. >_<

Adam felt bad that we didn't come up with a sign to welcome her so we quickly worked with what we had: a red pen and a piece of tissue paper. He set to work on quite the impressive sign that people actually stopped to read.

It read:

"Welcome to China, Mrs. Woomer! This is your daughter!"

<----

The best part was that some random guy came up and started reading it and Adam had to break the bad news to him. "Dude, it's not you."

After waiting a painfully long time (I could not shake the idea that she was somehow lost somewhere in Hong Kong but then I thought that she would make her way to Disneyland and then my fear turned to jealousy) and after foreigner after foreigner walked by, there she was--the single most NOT Chinese person to walk through that door.

Hugs were exchanged all around. Smiles. Happy feelings. Laughter. THIS is what family is all about. Even though we had not seen each other in almost seven months, and even though we didn't talk as often as we used to, we were able to pick right back from where we left off... but with a newly added companion ^_^

With her cup of coffee in hand and some of her luggage passed around (let's be honest: those brownies, mac 'n cheese, and hair dye was all for me), she was ready to face the world outside that is China. We hopped on the shuttle bus and went right to the back (where the foreigners belong) and that bus soon got PACKED. We bounced up and down along the highway and Mama Woomer tried desperately to not waste any of her coffee (aka: spill it on the girl sitting in front of her).

And of course, there is a KFC behind her -_-

After the bus and a taxi ride, we had arrived in Cangqian where we unpacked, wandered around, looked at the campus, explored town, and met up with Miaomiao and the four of us ventured back into Cangqian town for a poor man's version of hot pot. Hot pot is a really fun meal where you order meat, veggies, noodles, and anything else that your heart desires, and you cook it in boiling water. It's a lot of fun but a bit more challenging for someone who is not used to chopsticks (as we came to find out) but it led to a fun night where we laughed a lot and we learned that Mama Woomer had nowhere to go but up when it came to her chopstick skills.

Adam showing off...

March 20th

The day was a slow one for Mama Woomer. Jetlag seemed to hit her hard in the afternoon and it was a day of teaching for me. But in the evening, classes were done and the mama was wide awake once more--time to explore Cangqian! We headed down to our friend, DH's, apartment for the evening, stopping along the way to grab a little dinner. Adam and I are particular fans of the street food of China from the BBQ, baozi, and jidan bing. Jidan bing is like a glorious Chinese burrito with egg, meat, lettuce, and magic sauce wrapped up with a crunchy shell (or gooey depending on where you get it). We are friends with the man who makes the wraps on our street and he was excited to have another foreigner as a customer. He just smiled and laughed when I told him she was my mom (in my pathetic Chinese). Adam was great explaining what she could put in the wrap and he helped her order her very first bit of street food in China (not going to lie... it warmed my heart ♥).

That evening she got to meet the first of my crazy group of friends--Hannah R and DH. And she got to revel in the glory that is DH's amazing apartment and forever compare it to my pathetic excuse of a home...

Every Thursday night, it is tradition for Adam and I to go and get BBQ street food and we felt a deep need to introduce this to Mama Woomer. The food was my biggest concern with her coming to visit China. She usually eats pretty healthy and (no offense) but she's not too daring when it comes to trying wild and crazy foods (though she did prove me wrong during her time here). We ventured into the newly opened street food mecca right by campus and explained to her that you take a tray and just pick out whatever you want from the freezers--lettuce, mushrooms, onions, bread, niangao (pounded rice), fish (no thank you), different kinds of meat (don't ask us what kind--we have no clue... we hope it's chicken), chicken feet, potatoes, dumplings, sausages. With the BBQ piled high and a beer in our hands, we settled onto our bright orange plastic chairs and thoroughly enjoyed Mama Woomer's very first street food experience.

BACON!!!

March 21st

Sadly, on mine and Adam's six month anniversary, he had to work all day. But the weather was warming up, the sun was shining in the blue sky (什么?!), and the mama was here... there was nothing better to do than visit 西湖: THE West Lake.

Now if you ever visit Hangzhou, you must go to West Lake and you must find it to be the most beautiful lake in all of China. If you don't? They'll take your visa away... Not really... but you will get exasperated looks of disbelief from any local you meet. I admit, it is a beautiful lake with tons of trees and flowers, the hills surrounding the lake are beautiful, there are tons of little boats out on the water, Leifeng Pagoda hidden in the mists (pollution), and TONS of people. It is probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in Zhejiang province and definitely the #1 attraction in Hangzhou. I've been to the lake a few times now--once in December 2012 with Rachel, last summer with Miaomiao, and at night a few times with Adam--but I've never been there on a beautiful, sunny day so I did enjoy myself.

Ignoring the fact that our bus broke down about 15 minutes away from the lake and the fact that Mama Woomer walked unknowingly into the stench that is stinky tofu, it was a great relaxing day and a nice easy introduction into China. There were the old people dancing, karaoke singers singing their awful country music, erhu and flute players, vendors calling out to us, and enough sights to have the mama stop to take pictures constantly.

Stinky tofu!!

It was nice being able to just walk around and talk, girl to girl, like we used to do. Even better: no one could understand what we were saying so we could say whatever we wanted (and eventually, she began to take advantage of that)! From friends and family back home, dad and Jed, my new friends, my Spring Festival trip, Adam, and life in China, we talked for hours (with a possible stop at Dairy Queen... don't you dare judge) and awe ctually walked almost halfway around the lake before we decided to turn around.

On our way to the metro stop, we did stop off at the bathroom and Mama Woomer came face to face with her very first squatty potty!! I like to think that she came out triumphant...

One subway ride and a bus ride later, we met up with Adam and some of the others from my little group of friends here in Hangzhou for a nice dinner that Adam put together for everyone to meet with my mama (♥). We went to one of the nice, Hangzhou places: Grandma's Kitchen and it was a wonderful night with a great group of people and super delicious food (Adam even tricked Mama Woomer into trying jellyfish!).

Happy 6 Month Anniversary ♥

Adam, Hannah R, Nathan, Nate, Steve, Hannah S, Mama Woomer... It looks like a murder mystery!!

It was such a nice introduction for Mama Woomer in China. She had tried some of the classic food--sometimes in a nice, fancy restaurant and other times sitting on plastic stools. She got to see West Lake, travel by buses, metro, and taxi (the taxis scare her). She met some of Adam's students, smelled stinky tofu, used a squatty potty, and met some of the people who have become very important to me during my time spent in China... And it had only been a few days!

Up next: Shanghai!

Until Next Time,

Amanda