Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!

Before I came over to China, all I knew about the Mid-Autumn Festival was that there was no school and you get to eat mooncakes. It is the first holiday in a series this year with National Holiday starting up next week--that is an eleven day vacation for me!!

I tried talking to my classes and a few of the Chinese students about the holiday--what exactly were we celebrating when we ate those mooncakes? Well, with the help of Adam and Wikipedia, I finally learned the legend behind the Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the Chinese Moon Festival). There are a few different versions of the legend out there so I combined them to make the story what I wanted it to be:

Chang'e (the goddess of the moon) and her husband Houyi the Archer lived in heaven with the immortals, good people, and fairies. One day the ten sons of the Jade Emperor transformed into ten suns and the Earth began to burn. Houyi, being a great archer, shot arrows at nine of the suns, saving the Earth and leaving one sun to warm the planet. The Jade Emperor was angry--Houyi had just killed nine of his sons--and so he banished Houyi and Chang'e to live as mortals on Earth. 

Houyi saw that his wife, Chang'e, was miserable living her life as a mortal and so he went to the Queen Mother of the West to get an elixir that would make them immortal once again. The Queen gave him a pill that would grant both of them immortality--but the pill was so strong that it needed to be broken in half for each person. Houyi brought the pill home and warned his wife to stay away from it. Curiosity getting the better of her, Chang'e found the pill and ate the whole thing before Houyi could find her.

She began to float up to the moon where she remains to this day with an elixir making rabbit and a man named Wu Gang who continues to try and cut down the cassia tree--the giver of life. Houyi was not willing to shoot his wife with his arrow to stop her from floating to the moon and so he ascended to the sun and they now represent yin and yang. 

The end.

I did find other versions where Houyi was evil and Chang'e ate the pill to stop his greediness and another with Houyi's evil assistant who Chang'e stops by sacrificing herself. Both are pretty badass versions but since the Mid-Autumn Festival is a romantic holiday, I decided to go with the lovey dovey story instead.

So Wednesday was my last day of work. After a long bus ride back from the Xiasha campus filled with too many people and boxes and boxes of mooncakes, I made it back to Cangqian and my holiday began.

The school gives the the gift of mooncakes every year. I had heard tales of these cakes from the likes of Rachel and even got one for Christmas while I was in China last year so I was excited to get the giant box of mooncakes.

And here we see the mooncake box working its hardcore camouflage skills...

There are twelve mooncakes in each box and talk about Russian Roulette! Some are chocolate, green tea, and marzipan while others are egg and meat. The trick it to just make your choice and go with it. I have the God given talent of picking the absolute WORST cakes. My first one ever tasted like a roast beef sandwich back at Christmas time and this year, I did no better--two meat flavors and one that I have no clue what it was. I guess that you could say that was the fun in it all... if Adam hadn't kept getting all the good flavors... >_<

 

Not too sure about our life choices...

The Cangqian gang had a small trip planned for the Mid- Autumn Festival. Thursday (9/19) was the actual holiday of Mid-Autumn. It was quite the romantic holiday spent mostly on buses and wandering around Xiasha, lost. We (DH, Adam, and myself) set out across the city at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we finally arrived at Other Adam's apartment at around 7pm. That is a four hour trek just through the city of Hangzhou. We had a few crowded bus rides, we made the mistake of getting off the bus WAY too early, we fought long and hard trying to find a taxi (on a holiday, near a campus... good luck with that, future self!), we wandered around the city for probably an hour... but we laughed and joked along the way making it bearable and (dare I say) even fun? Well, I'm not sure if DH thought it was fun...

While we were walking around, the sun set and the moon started to rise. Luckily, the sky was relatively clear throughout the last week (aka: no pollution) so we've been able to watch the moon get fuller and fuller. Mid- Autumn is a celebration of the moon and it was a beautiful, bright moon that shone down on us on the night of the festival even as we wandered around Xiasha, lost.

Finally, we were able to snag a taxi cab and we piled in and arrived at Other Adam's apartment. How does this bizarre little group celebrate the Mid- Autumn Festival? Poker and street food! The guys were kind enough to try and teach me how to play poker properly (I played years ago in Girl Scouts but I'm sure eight year old girls didn't really follow the rules). I didn't do too terrible... if anything, I think I'm better at poker than I am at Settlers! Later in the night, we were hungry so we wandered around the city and found a mini-metropolis of street food vendors. Score! What was the best part? Vegetables wrapped in bacon (yes I only ate the bacon).

While wandering out and about, we also came upon a claw machine near Other Adam's apartment. Looking in at first, it just looks like a good old fashioned claw machine but upon further inspection:

Yes those are cigarettes in the children's claw machine. My brother is a champion claw machine winner and so after all the guys attempted to win, I gave it a go hoping that maybe some of my brother's skills were inherited and I had the talent as well. Lo and behold, I actually won something from a claw machine... I got me a pack of cigarettes!!

Friday morning, we headed out to the train station to catch a train to Shaoxing. I love riding on trains. I have never ridden one in the US--my first time on a train was in Sweden when I rode into Stockholm for the first time. But this was my first time on a high speed train. I think it is always nice to get away from your home--no matter where it is. You get so used to and comfortable with your home base that you become stagnant; it's little adventures outside your comfort zone that are always fun and the most memorable. It was nice to just sit on the train and watch the city of Hangzhou disappear behind us and mountains and fields come into view as we zoomed by.

So much green!! 

After a 20 minute train ride, we arrived in Shaoxing and met up with the rest of the FoC group in a huge apartment dubbed Zion--this place is bigger than my house back in America with three floors, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. I think socializing with the rest of the group was just a pretense to get us to Shaoxing where "Big Pizza" is. "Big Pizza" is kind of like Cici's Pizza--it's a pizza buffet. I know I haven't even been over here for a month but damn that pizza was everything I had wanted over the last few weeks. Pizza, ice cream, chicken wings (but not really), french fries, spaghetti, and all you can drink beer (I told you--China is awesome). The Cangqian gents enjoy making fun of me and my inability to finish any of my meals (portions are huge!) but I am proud ot say that I had three plate-fulls of pizza that night.

No shame.

There was probably about 30 people in the house altogether. There were several married couples and so I suppose the hierarchy of life grants them access to the bedrooms so space filled up pretty quick. Couches were taken as well as beds and sleeping bags so both the Adams and I ended up sleeping outside on the balcony. It was ridiculous and so much fun... I have a feeling I won't soon forget about falling asleep out on a balcony during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. Though I will try to forget about being woken up by rain falling in through the window on me...

Just like camping!!

A trip involving getting lost on the streets of China for hours, sweaty bus rides, cigarettes from claw machines, and sleeping outside would be incomplete without a torrential downpour which we got on Saturday morning just as we were ready to set back out to Cangqian. There was no point fighting it--none of us had our umbrellas or any raincoat so we just ran through the rain, resigned to the fact that we were getting soaked.

Well at least we know one of us looks good in the rain... >_<

 As we tried to get into the Shaoxing train station, we came across an almost impassable obstacle in the history of ever--the Puddle of Doom. It nearly submerged the wheels on taxis and when they did drive through them, I was strangely reminded of Splash Mountain. I almost felt like this was the final level in a video game--you've gotten this far, you have just one more obstacle left in order to make it to your goal. By this point I was soaked to the bone, my shoes had squishy little puddles in them, and I had nothing to lose... I just ran right through the puddle (possibly laughing like a maniac). It was hilarious seeing everyone around us (including the Adams) taking their shoes off and trudging through the water, not thinking about what exactly said water was made up of (other than good old H2O). Either way, everyone was laughing at that point and I think that made everything fun once again (again, I didn't see DH laughing so I'm not sure what his stance is on that).

If this puddle is not terrifying, I don't know what is.

SPOILER ALERT: We made it through and got back to Cangqian in one piece even if we did look like sad little dogs that had been left out in the rain for far too long. It was a fun holiday made up of rain, poker, getting lost, street food, ridiculous claw machine prizes, rain, the full moon, camping out on a balcony, mooncakes, and more rain.

It was a great holiday even if I didn't do too much of what  the Mid-Autumn Festival is all about. I've got one full week of teaching and then it is on to National Holiday!

Until Next Time,
Amanda

A Breath of Fresh Air

I have been in China for more than two weeks now (that anniversary came and went on Thursday) and this Tuesday will mark the two week mark of me living in Cangqian just outside of the city of Hangzhou. Yes, I am technically outside of the city but there are still days when you cannot see the sun or the sky and that may not always have to do with cloud cover (let's be honest--we all know that it's pollution). So when I was given the chance to venture out of the city and into the local countryside yesterday, I jumped on the opportunity!

The few days of rain and haze were behind us and it was a beautiful sunny (and hot) day where the sky was almost blue and you could even see the mountains in the distance.

Adam and I hopped on a few buses and after not too long, we were on our way!

Yay for long, hot bus rides!!

The ride out of the city and into the local town was absolutely beautiful and the much needed natural therapy that I needed. Hangzhou is considered to be the "greenest" city in China and not because they are environmentally friendly (because, well, it's China) but because they have a lot of trees and plants all around the city. Of course, coming from Western New York where we have Letchworth State Park, Allegany State Park, and some of my favorite hiking trails of all time (Erie County Forest Preserve for the win!), to say that there are a lot of trees here in Hangzhou is like a bad joke that makes you want to cry. However, the further from the city you drove, the more trees you saw.

It was just so nice to see green. Good, deep, beautiful, wonderful GREEN. I found that I missed it. More than I thought I would. The way the sun shines through leaves on the tops of the trees, the green hue you see everywhere, the few patches of sunlight that reach the ground--I love it! While the trees we drove by were nothing like the forests in New York and other parts of America, I did find myself feeling like I was right back at home. At one point, I spotted a log cabin that made me feel like I was back camping at Allegany when I was a little girl. Needless to say, I got excited when I saw the familiar sight.

After about a 30 minute bus ride, we got off in the middle of a small town with winding streets, alleyways, and mountains and hills towering up above you just covered in rows and rows of tea.

Now for those of you who know me, I love tea. Despite my post on coffee and cafes here in China (found right here!), I love me some tea and never pass up the chance to drink it (some might call me a tea snob). So many shops that sell tea (like Teavana in the mall) like to tell you where your tea comes from and many times they tell the story of how your cup of tea has tea leaves in it that came from China, hand picked in tea fields growing up the side of mountains. I always find these stories interesting but I also always thought that they were probably a bit exaggerated to make their tea exotic and more desirable than the teabags you can get at the grocery store. Well I do like to be proven wrong sometimes.

This town was made up of a single road where cars, bikes, and buses zoomed by and surrounding the tea houses and restaurants were steep hills (I like to call them mountains even though it's probably not true) and you just saw rows and rows of tea going on for as far as you can see (for me that is not very far but you get the idea). It looked like a big green, cozy quilt just covering the hills.

See? Cozy quilt!!

It was one of the coolest things I have seen since I've gotten to China. Having been surrounded by tall buildings, honking cars, and nonstop construction, it was so surreal and cleansing to be surrounded by the natural beauty of China (not to mention my little tea snob heart was in its glory).

We walked past some women working in the field who waved at us and called out, "Ni hao!"

Everything was so relaxed and simpler. I've only been in China for two weeks but this was much needed. It is crazy to think that I've only been in China for 17 days now and I've been in Cangqian for only 12 days--so much has happened: I've done so much, met so many amazing people, eaten so much street food... oh yeah... and started teaching.

It feels like I've been here for months already... And I admit that I cannot wait to see what more China has in store for me...

Until Next Time,
Amanda

After the First Week

So after this morning, I have officially completed my first week as an English teach for Hangzhou Normal University. There were some ups, some downs, and a whole lot of me not knowing what the heck I was doing.

I teach two different classes--Oral English I for the freshmen (which will begin next week) where we focus on interview skills and Oral English for graduate students where they have not given me anything to go off of. All the school wanted was for us to get the students to talk and they don't really care how we go about doing that. They suggested working with music, TV shows, and movies and after a whole lot of semester outlines with completely different plans each time, I decided to focus on American history and culture through different films like The Outsiders, Forrest Gump, Remember the Titans, and National Treasure... but it was a long and painful process for me to get to that point.

For me, school started on Tuesday. I had two classes that morning from 8:05-11:20 in the morning. The night before, I was a bit nervous and that morning, I was terrified. I had been in China for almost 2 weeks at that point and found that I was enjoying myself more than I had even expected... but I guess that was because I had forgotten the main reason as to why I was here--to teach. Well it all came crashing down on me that morning and I thought of just packing my bags and heading back home to Tonawanda. Luckily, I had Adam there to remind me to breathe and said what I've heard so many times--I know more English than everyone in the classroom combined. Reassuring me that my students wouldn't be total brats and would actually like me (yes, because I am a goofy foreigner), I was able to walk into my class with a smile on my face (though I still had butterflies practicing the cha-cha in my tummy).

In each of my classes, I start with an introduction to the class. We go through the syllabus I came up with and then I show them a quick power point about me, showing them photos of my house (which they LOVE), my school, and also my time in China back in December. From there I pass out note cards and I have them fill it out with information such as their Chinese name, their English name, ID number, email, etc. After a few minutes, I have them stand up one at a time and introduce themselves to me and the rest of the class.

My first class at 8:05am was a bit rough. They weren't very talkative and didn't seem to comprehend what I was talking about most of the time.Of course, this class was a complete learning process for both them and me. I had to consciously slow down my talking (and you all know how fast I chat away), repeat myself whenever something was important, and I had to really encourage them to speak up. As we went around and introduced ourselves, I just had them stand up at their desks but because they were so quiet, I had to stand right in front of them so they were really only talking to me (and that was not what I had wanted).

My next class came directly after at 9:45. This one was a bit easier. They liked the idea of learning English through watching movies and acting out scenes. Of course, I realized after the fact that it is because they have all majored in something to do with broadcasting, animation, cinematography, etc. They had movie requests (Titanic, of course) and other ideas for the class. Again, when we went around to introduce each other, they stood up in their seats and, while their English was a bit better than the first class, they were still very quiet. The class had less people than my first class (about 25), so we had about 15 minutes to kill. I decided to introduce them to "Never Have I Ever." It took them a minute to get the idea of the game but then they went with it and I think they had a lot of fun!

Trust me when I say I was so relieved once that bell rang and my first day came to an end! I knew that, even though I still wasn't 100% sure what I was doing, I could get through this.

Foreign teachers, Amanda and Adam, in their fancy first day of school clothes!!

Day two was certainly entertaining. Aside from teaching two days at Cangqian campus where I live, I also have to teach at the old Xiasha campus. It is about an hour and a half bus ride through the city of Hangzhou to the school and I have a class that starts at 8:05 which means I have to catch the 6:20 bus which means I have to get up around 5:30... which means I am not a happy little Amanda on Wednesdays...

Luckily, I have been to Xiasha before when I visited Rachel and Olivia in December. I knew exactly where I had to go for class and had a (relatively) easy time finding where the bus picked us up and dropped us off. I figured that once I got to the campus, everything would be nice and easy--a basic repeat from the day before.

*cue ominous music*

Have I ever mentioned that I am technologically impaired? Well I am and my first day at Xiasha was a less than desirable moment to have my lack of technology skills rear its ugly head. Backstory: We have ID cards as teachers that fit into a machine that turns the computer and projector on, as well as lowering the screen thingy (that's the technical name). Well apparently, these magic cards don't work at the Xiasha campus and no one felt the need to tell me this. So for my first class at Xiasha, I had NOTHING to work with. I had no computer so I had no power point, no internet, nothing. I had to stand in front of the class and try to fill 80 minutes. Luckily, there was almost 45 students in that class so introductions took up tons of time.

All of this being said--I LOVE my Xiasha students. They are so much more talkative. They say hello and good morning to you as they enter the room. Before I even started class, they applauded for me. When we went around the room to do introductions, the first student ran to the podium at the front of the room and everyone else copied him which forced them to speak up for the class to hear them and it felt more like they were getting to know one another as opposed to just talking to me which is exactly what I had wanted.

Where that class was huge, the next class that directly followed was tiny!! It had a grand total of ten students. Yes, you read that right--10 STUDENTS. Where the previous class killed me with the technology, this class killed me with lack of syllabuses... I had run out in my last class!! I was able to figure out the computer with the help of some of the students and was able to go through my original lesson plan and still go through the syllabus with the students before emailing it to them. Their English was great and I even had three boys who had the courage to include declarations of love for me in their introductions. Of course, when everything was said and done and we had gone through all the introductions, we still had about a half hour to go... I guess that is one of the things that stinks about having a smaller class... I tried "Never Have I Ever" one more time and they just did not get it which is fine; at least it made me realize that I need to prepare a bit more for that class.

And today was my Friday. I had only one class to teach first thing in the morning and it might have been the greatest class on the planet. After a little hiccup in regards to the technology, I think I really felt myself getting into my own groove. I made sure to speak slowly as I went through the syllabus and power point presentation (which ended up taking up almost half the class) and then the introductions took up the rest of the class. I didn't have to fill the time at all with icebreakers or stupid time fillers. I also really felt like the students could understand what I was saying--they laughed when I said something funny, showed interest in my house and swimming pool, and were disappointed to hear that I don't really live in New York City. The students were great and seemed like they were excited to be there and be in the class. I have a good feeling about them.

As a reward for never bursting into tears this week, I let myself eat a few (yes, only a few) green tea Oreos, compliments of Mr. Adam Limpert who has learned of my deep and passionate love affair with them.

Never underestimate the love I have for these little beauties...

So that was my first week in a major nutshell. I am so relieved to have made it through relatively unharmed. Now I have four days to think about what I am actually going to be teaching these students and prepping for my freshmen classes to start up next week.

ALSO: I have a feeling you should buy shares in the green tea Oreo stock because I plan on eating my weight in them...

Until Next Time,
Amanda

Poking, Prodding, and Color Blindness?!?!

So if any of you are ever interested in coming over to China to teach English, there are a few hoops you have to jump through and one of them is the physical exam. Now I got mixed reviews on this--some people attempted to freak me out about it while others told me it was nothing but a waste of 2 hours of your life. Either way, after almost two weeks (it hasn't even been two weeks yet?!?!), it was time for my physical exam.

When you arrive, you take a number (like everywhere in China). After a bit of paperwork (this country runs on paperwork, I swear) and some photos (7am? You can better I looked gorgeous for my close up!) it was a race through the hospital to see what foreigner would finish first (I won by the way)!!

First stop? Blood test. Now for those of you lucky enough to get to go to the lab and get your blood drawn, you kind of know how it goes: wait an hour for your name to be called, go to a private room with a terrifying looking chair (usually green), hand over your insurance card, have the lab assistant poke you with a needle, and after 38 seconds you are good to go. The Chinese laugh at that 38 seconds... You walk up to a window (kind of like when you go to the movies), choose which arm you want to sacrifice, stick it through the hole in the window, they poke you with a needle (some things never change), they hand you a cotton round to dab the blood, and they send you on your merry way. And while I consider myself a semi-pro at having blood drawn and donating blood, my arm still hurts like nobody's business and it looks like a nice blue bruise is making itself known.

The next one might have been the hardest one... Urine sample. I know, I know... "Ew! That's gross!" But if you think it's gross when you have the luxury of sitting on a Western toilet, imagine doing it with nothing supporting you and trying desperately to A). actually hit the tiny cup they gave you and B). not peeing on your shoes. Let's just say, when all this China business is over and done with, I will have the best thighs on the planet.

After that it is on to the sonogram! Everyone must get a sonogram. Why? To see whether or not you have a little bitty baby growing in your tummy! Yes, even the guys (one never wants to pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger). The good news? I am not pregnant! YAY!! We don't have to call the Vatican and let them know we have another immaculate conception on our hands!!

After I proved that I was not a mama to be, I found myself feeling strangely like Victor Frankenstein's Creature. They put (what I think looked like) car jumper cables on my ankles, wrists, and the evil sticky circles that they put on E.T. I had been warned about this part and while nothing happens, you still can't help but wonder if whatever they are doing to you (I'm assuming something with electricity but I honestly don't know) is doing anything that might not be the best down the road. Whatever it was, I have a weird purple circle left on my chest... Can anyone tell me if that is supposed to be there?

Next was called "Surgery and Medication." Not really sure what this was about. They pushed on my stomach, looked at my wrists and fingers and sent me on my way... I'm still confused about that one... 

Next was the funniest one to me. I had talked to my friend, DH, about this the night before. Color blindness test. Why it matters whether or not you are color blind, I don't know. But one thing I do know--I am NOT color blind. Too bad I couldn't convince the Chinese to believe that... You sit in front of the specialist and they hold up a book with pages of colorful dots and it is your job to try and figure out what picture is hidden within the dots (kind of like those Magic Eye drawings). Let's just say, I failed with flying colors. Though I still stand by the fact that I saw a triangle and not a star.

From there I went to the "Pre-exam" office (way to not do things in order, Amanda!!) where I got to learn how tall I was in centimeters and how much I weighed (after this summer, I did not need to know that!! ) and blood pressure... pretty self explanatory.

Last was the chest X-ray. I was told by Adam that they usually tell people that they have "bad lungs"... our theory is that they say that just in case the pollution surrounding you (and it's a lot) gets to you.

Yeah... Breathe it in... Pollution.
(And this is on a beautiful day!)

And that was pretty much my day in a nutshell. The sad thing is that it took twice as long to get to the hospital than it did to actually go through the medical exam (yay for Hangzhou morning traffic). It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be but I'm certainly not lining up to do it again any time soon. But if you are ever going to go to China for an extended period of time, you'll most likely have to go through something similar to this and just as long as you're not pregnant, you'll be golden!!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes so I'm sure if not tomorrow than sometime later this week, I'll update you on how my first lessons went... To say I'm a bit nervous would be a bit of an understatement.

Until Next Time,
Amanda

PS- I love where I live so much, I don't want to leave you with an image of the sun hidden behind the thick layer of pollution, so here's a photo of today's blue sky (it's been a couple days since we've seen it)!!

It's so beautiful!!!

Home Sweet Home

I am happy (and relieved) to say that I have finally moved into my apartment in Hangzhou (or rather, Cangqian).

To give you all a recap, I've been living in a hotel/apartment complex near the city center since last Thursday with the promise each day that we would be able to move in the next day. To be in downtown Hangzhou was nice--especially since it was right by the old Wenyi campus where I had stayed when I visited Rachel last year--but we got to know an area of the city that we really weren't going to be spending too much time in. Eh... it is what it is...

Thanks to Rachel's advice, I did snap a few photo of the apartment and the surrounding area:

I suppose it wasn't so bad staying there (other than the cleaning ladies who ignored the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door every morning at 8am and the cockroach that I shared the room with) but after traveling thousands of miles away from home, all you want to do is snuggle in and get to know your new home. Instead, I had to live in a (somewhat nasty) hotel on a bed that wasn't nearly as comfortable as a table with every day, the promise of "Maybe you can move into your apartment tomorrow."

Now, they claimed that the apartments just weren't ready (to be specific, it was the hot water). My initial thought was, I asked you when I should be here and you said the 28th. My flight got delayed, I got here a day later than originally planned, and you're still not ready for me? And then desperation began to set in and I was willing to move in without the hot water being hooked up (it is summer here in China afterall and I am basically taking cold showers anyway).  But instead of letting the people who have traveled so far move into their new homes, they wanted to put us up and make sure everything was in order before unleashing us on the apartments. Very Chinese. They never really went along with that idea which got me thinking that it was probably something more than just the hot water.

Finally, after five days of living in the hotel, we got the OK to move into our apartments on the Cangqian campus of HNU. Going in, I knew that the size was less than desirable (and so does the school--we are actually getting paid an extra $200 a month to live in these apartments) so I wasn't too disappointed when we arrived.

I live on the top floor (penthouse baby!!) with two rooms to call my own. We have a bedroom and a "study." The study is basically a big empty room with two tables in it. I was hoping that it would have a couch to maybe put people up if they ever decided to come visit (so if you do come, be prepared to snuggle in my bed). The only saving grace in that room is that there is a huge fridge (I say huge like I am comparing it to the fridge I had in my dorm room in college). The bedroom is nice in comparison to the "study." It has a bed that is twice as big as my bed back at home, a flat screen TV, a wardrobe and shelves that cover an entire wall, private bathroom complete with Western toilet (thank God), and (even though it is only a glorified dryer, I shall use it as) a balcony! On a sunny (aka: low pollution) day, you can see the mountains in the distance.

My "study"... a bit lacking, I would say...

BEFORE

My bedroom... definitely can't complain about the size of that bed!!

AFTER

I'm proud of my little corner of happiness!

 The view from my room... dig through the pollution--you might see the mountains...

At first, I was a bit disappointed that the campus is so far away from the city (a 30 minute bus ride will hopefully get you to downtown Hangzhou) but then I ventured into the nearby town and I fell madly in love. There are tons of little restaurants (Muslim noodle place, FTW!!), fruit markets, hair salons (no seriously, there are probably more than a dozen on just the one street), and the friendliest people I have ever met. Where the people in the city would see that you're a foreigner and just stare, the people of Cangqian will either say, "Ni hao!" or (even better) "Hello!" I eat that up!! 

A nightly routine with the guys of Cangqian--Adam, DH, and Adam (I feel like that should be the name of a TV show or something) is to go out into the streets of Cangqian and try the street food. I wish I had gotten decent photos of this--basically you sit on little kid lawn chairs at tiny tables, pick out your food (chicken [we think], veggies, delicious rice patty thingys [both spicy and sweet], bread, and peppers), and the people cook it for you while you sit either in the street or right on the sidewalk... at one point they used a hair dryer to cook some of the food. Every night, there are locals lurking around these delicious tables and every night we are attempting to communicate through broken Chinese, even more broken English, and charades, toasts are being made, and photos are being taken by the locals who are just so excited to see a foreigner in their town... at their favorite restaurant! 

Just today as I was walking along the street with Adam Squared, I saw a grandmother holding (what I assumed to be) her grandson. I heard the word laowai 老外(which is one of the many words the Chinese have for "foreigner"), followed by some rushed Chinese, and then "Hallo!" I couldn't resist turning around and waving to the little boy who started to giggle right away. 

These are the types of encounters I have dreamed of and I feel so blessed to have been put into a community like this. It's like a tiny, hidden miracle that slowly revealed itself--at first I was so sad to be so far away from the city but since I've been out here in the "country," I think that I couldn't be happier.

So happy I've finally found a place in China to call home.

Until Next Time,

Amanda

Bizarre Foods with Amanda Woomer

I think we all know (if not LOVE) the show on Travel Channel with Andrew Zimmern, Bizarre Foods. It's one of my favorite TV shows and after I got to meet him (very) briefly while working down in Disney World, I loved him and his show even more. Every time I watch his show, I ask myself, "Could I eat that?" and so far the only thing that I know I could never do is the fertilized chicken eggs in the Philippines. I like his philosophy of, "If it looks good--EAT IT!" and especially when I am traveling, I like to try and remember this each time I sit down to eat.

Well let me just tell you that living in China is definitely a culinary adventure. Everyday when I go out to try and find a place to eat, it is a difficult task (if they don't have an English menu) and so I have been reduced to choosing my meals based on the photographs of them on the menu and hoping for the best. The first time there was only one picture on the menu of some kind of soupy noodle dish with pork (which ended up being delicious) and yesterday was a major success with rice, veggies, and (I think) beef {I know that's really something you never want to say but it was very good so I am going back to Andrew Zimmern and standing by my choice to eat whatever type of meat it was from whatever part of the body because it was delicious}.

Delicious pork soup... 好吃！

Going into restaurants and just ordering food based on how they look in photos (that are designed to make them look the most appetizing) is a bit like playing Russian Roulette. Sometimes it's a win and sometimes it is a big, fat loser. So far I am two for two and I hope to keep it that way.

Apart from getting to explore the culinary delights of the restaurants found in downtown Hangzhou, I have gotten three home cooked meals since I've arrived, all of them compliments of my former college roommate, Miaomiao, and her family.

Saturday, I spent the entire day at Miaomiao's house with her husband, Chenzhi, and her parents (who I met at her wedding) and her grandfather (who, despite the fact that he knew I couldn't understand him, decided to have a constant conversation going with me). I arrived just in time for lunch and found myself ready for a home cooked meal (I guess I've been spoiled my whole life by my mom's cooking). We had crab, noodles, rice (of course), bamboo (which I might have eaten half the plate), green beans, soup, and some meat.

We sit down and begin eating and after we get passed everyone praising me on my chopstick skills (I don't think I will ever tire of that), we began to dig in. I've found that it can be best not to ask what you are eating until after you have already tried it, deemed it to be good or bad and then go from there (either a second helping or going on to something safe and recognizable, like, you know, vegetables-- and that is what I was sticking to for the first few bites of the meal: bamboo, green beans, and spinachy greens). But then Mama Huang went in for the kill.

She picks up a piece of meat from the bowl and places it on top of my rice. I don't have to tell you that (obviously) I eat it; this is due to A). my (sometimes untimely) adventurous spirit and B). a desire to not offend the mother of one of my dearest friends who, no doubt, made said questionable meat. So I pick it up with my chopsticks (yes, I've begun to pick up heavy-ish things!!) and take a bite.

What is with the Chinese and their obsession with anise flavored things? First the chicken feet from Hefang Street last year and now this?!? *sigh* Other than that, what did it taste like? Chewy. Fatty. Sticky. Not exactly sure how I felt about it but I guess I enjoyed it enough to keep going without even knowing what exactly I was eating. It wasn't until Miaomiao had the grace to let me know, that I wanted to put my chopsticks down and start to cry.

She turns to me and asks oh- so innocently, "Do you also eat pig feet in America?"

Say what?!?

If I ever doubted my acting abilities prior to this moment, those doubts were immediately washed away. I informed her that, while pig feet is available in the United States, it isn't one of the more commonly consumed parts of the body. Dodged that bullet.

Chenzhi, Miaomiao, and me--notice the full bowl of pig feet in the middle of the table

 

 

After a trip to THE West Lake (which is so much more beautiful in the summer than December) and looking at Miaomiao's wedding album, we came back to her house for round two.

 

We had a delicious soup with eggs and tomatoes, asparagus, rice (duh), some more crab, and guess what reared it's ugly head again? Yes, indeed... those little pig feet. Trying to be polite bit me in the butt... I tried to pick the smallest one out of the batch and as I tried to lift it up, realized that it was much heavier than it should have been. Mama Huang in her helpful state, picked up that very piece and placed it in my bowl once more. How sweet...

 

This thing was a monster! I tried to bite into it, my teeth basically bounced off of it. Yum. I tried dropping it and putting it back in my bowl and it stuck to my fingers. Oh boy! As I turned it around, little hairs from the piggy's little feet where there. Oh boy, am I full!!

 

Needless to say, that was quite the culinary adventure. The only thing that made up for the pig feet is the yangmei, or waxberry, we got to eat for dessert... SO YUMMY!! <--and THAT is not sarcasm.

 

So you might be thinking, "Amanda! You can't possibly think that eating just pig feet is enough to compare yourself to the great Andrew Zimmern!" and I would tell you that you would be correct.

 

Which is where last night comes into play.

 

After another lovely day at THE West Lake and after we got so lost on the bus that I finally had to break down and hail a cab and find the nerve to tell him in Chinese where we needed to go, we arrived at Miaomiao's house to eat dinner with her and her two coworkers.

 

Shufei, Shuhua, and good ol' me

 

I walked in and saw the dinner table all set. There was bamboo (yay!!), green beans, "eggs and grass", crab, chicken nuggets (love it), and cicadas.

 

No, no. You read that right.

 

Those loud, obnoxious bugs that keep you awake at night in the summertime. Cut in half, the bugs covered the plate and it was quite intimidating. I won't lie, I freaked out when I saw the plate and started to laugh like a crazy woman which made everyone in the apartment thoroughly entertained.

 

I went through all the other dishes and knew that it was time to face the cicada. Miaomiao liked to peel them open and just eat the insides but her friend Shufei liked to eat them whole because "he has a strong stomach." I couldn't help but think of how some people eat sunflowers seeds in America--a lot of people like to bite them open and just eat the tiny seed inside but myself (and at least my father) like to eat them whole... I guess that means we have strong stomachs. Hey dad! When you come to China, we know that you can totally eat cicadas now!

 

I spent a fair bit of time trying to decide which bug I would devour and even more time just staring at it between my chopsticks. Just like the chicken feet, I wasn't exactly sure how to approach it. But finally with Shufei's encouragement and Miaomiao's laughter, I popped it in my mouth with a war cry.

 

And you know what? It wasn't too bad!

 

If I had to try and describe what it tasted like, I would say it tasted like breakfast sausage dipped in maple syrup. Bizarre and unexpected but I liked it enough to eat 6 altogether (for a total of 3 cicadas).

 

You had better be impressed my this!!

 

 

I can say that I never thought that I would have the opportunity to eat a bug and actually take that opportunity. I like to think that local cuisine is one of the best ways to get to know a culture. Yes, you can visit the sites and see the different mountains, lakes (like THE West Lake), monuments, etc. but that is what every tourist who visits every country can do. Sometimes it takes you stepping out of your comfort zone a bit (or a lot) to help you transform from the tourist and into the traveler.

 

I think by just closing your eyes and going for it (and sometimes screaming while doing so can help), you find that maybe some things aren't as bad as you had originally thought. And even if it is... Well... at least you have a good story to tell after it!!

 

With a full tummy and a bit of a boosted ego (now I know how Mr. Zimmern feels!) and Until Next Time,

Amanda