the only downside to listening to weird girl music is that it takes a while to hear real girls screaming outside.

 we couldn't find her once we made it down 13 floors. the three (drunk) men who were with her were there though, stumbling back inside, so i'm hoping that she's okay and safe.  i hate worrying that i could have done something more. usually at home i think i would call the police, but here i do not know the number, and i do not know how to say 'there is a girl screaming at three men around her who might be hitting her but i cannot tell'.  we all know my intense desire to be a great superhero, so who really knows what would happen if i could speak competent chinese?

 

the original title of this blog was going to be:

 

amy's first trip to the p.s.b.

  

and would have continued something like this:

  

    on the second day of a three day trip, amy and her friend heidi arrived at the town of xiahe (also known as labrang), a small town in gansu province. they took a hired car there, driven by a funny tibetan man.  while in labrang, the girls hoped to check out the monastery, the prayer path, and maybe eat a yak burger before getting a night's rest at one of the many hostels in town. the next day they planned to catch an early bus to lanzhou, the capital of gansu province. 

none of this was to occur though. five minutes after driving through a military blockade, the girls found themselves surrounded by people, all (kindly) telling them that they could not stay in town. used to crowds and false (or changeable) information, they paid their driver and made their way into a nearby hostel, where the reception woman regretfully told them that she could not house them for the night because xiahe was currently closed to weiguorens (foreigners). still feeling like there was some way they could work around this inconvenience, amy and heidi found their way back onto the street, eyes open for another hostel in which to plead their case. really- they just wanted to stay for one night. 

back on the street, a mere 10 minutes after arriving in town, the police were rolling up- two cars waiting for them.  an english speaking officer addressed them: "my dear gentle ladies, please get into the car, we would like to ask you some questions at our office". so they hopped in. really though,  who closes a county to foreigners? china. that's who. 

the p.s.b. was very nice- they just asked a few questions that the girls answered vaguely, took some information from their passports, explained that xiahe was currently closed to foreigners and that there really was no way that they could stay (even for the night) and then drove them out of town. on the way out, their english speaking officer pointed out the heavy military presence in the town (columns of soldiers marching in unison, in riot gear), but clarified that they were there just for precaution. really, everything else looked very peaceful and orderly and holiday-ish: the stores were closed for chinese new year, the children were out playing together, and monks were walking around in droves.  the girls were dropped off outside of the military-manned checkpoint and were told to wait for the next bus- it would take them to linxia. "please, come back in the summer", their officer said, "we would be glad for you to visit us". and, if they can make it, they will. 

 

-------

  

and that was all. it was a little nerve-wracking, but there was really no way we could have known. they just closed the town at the start of chinese new year- a precaution taken because of the rioting that occurred in march in this region of china. and linxia had amazing meat sticks, so it was fine. i am looking forward to making a trip to labrang in the summer. even though i was thrown out of town, i was totally invited back. 

 

our three day trip went something like this:

 

xining to tongren- bus

tongren to our friend's village- car

back to tongren- car

tongren to xiahe- car

xiahe to linxia- bus

linxia to lanzhou- bus

lanzhou to xining- train

 

there will be photos later. 

i like korean pop music now and i can't stop listening to wonder girls (nobody)

apologies are in order. i have been busy and lazy and i keep getting distracted during my computer time.  i'm officially sorry that i've been so lax on my blog posting. hopefully this will not happen many more times. 

 

apparently my new year resolutions were this:

-work on my posture

-realize how blessed i am

-get really good at apologizing (i'm not sure i'm actually good yet, but i've been practicing a lot)

-feel like i am unstoppable and unbreakable and do silly things

-keep realizing how young  i am 

 

the first one was the only one i actually thought about seriously, and the rest are just things that seem to be happening with alarming regularity. 

 

what are your new year resolutions?

  

a few of you may have heard that i went on vacation in the early part of january. sara and i had been planning to take this time for a few weeks of vacation, and  it was probably the best thing that could have happened.  all we knew was that we wanted to go somewhere warm. after doing a little bit of research, we figured the WARMEST place in china would be sanya, the southernmost tip of hainan island. it is referred to as "the hawaii of china", so we were looking forward to the beaches, the foods, and not having to wear 3 layers of clothing at all times. 

  

i am pleased to say that we experienced all of this and more, thanks to the fantastic people we met along the way. 

  

this is a quick overview:

- take a train from xining to chengdu

- hang out with cool kids in chengdu (eat the best hotpot in the world)

- take a plane from chengdu to sanya

- meet more cool kids, get a ride from them into town

- meet up with our couchsurfing host and get shown our apartment. 

- meet the turtles!

- eat seafood, barbeque food, and other delicious things (like our new favorite fruit)

- dance a lot with our new club kid friends

- make friends with musical old men- play and sing (sara is a wonderful violinist)

- happy new year with friends from the airplane- sing with new friends from the philippines 

- eat more. sightsee a little. walk around a lot. 

- sit on the beach. tan. get sunburned. swim a little. commandeer comfy beach lounges.  

- go to a fishing village. 

- get put up in a few hotels by our awesome host who is living in sanya to rescue sea turtles. 

- do some interviews for our host. 

- film a turtle video. hold a turtle on my lap. 

- catch train from sanya to guangzhou.

- hang out with our friends in guangzhou

- go to hong kong via fast train. 

- eat sushi, samosas and delicious street food.

- see some art galleries 

- walk in and out of various places with fabulous fashion (but it was all 'tai gui le' (so so expensive))

- meet a fantastic older woman who has had such a full life. 

- eat at mcdonalds

- find the arts and crafts area of town

- go to the bird and flower markets

- eat at many many pastry shops. 

- get a little homesick for xining. 

- catch a train back to guangzhou

- see our friends again

- catch an early morning flight back home to xining.

 

here are a few photos from the trip: 

  

train train train. 27 hours. 

 

everyone likes chengdu.

 

all children in chengdu are cute. and sweet. 

 

 

the turtles who stole my heart. there are four of them. guess the names. 

 

we got to feed them. i got pinched by a crab for the first time in my life. 

 

 

this is my dream fishing boat. 

 

sara loves the baby turtles. 

  

 

so do i. there were so many of them!

  

 

sanya from the deer turning back statue. 

  

 

delicious seafood dinners. every night. thank you ocean. 

    

the love tree. it's real.

   

 

 sitting at the beach. 

  

  

hong kong is actually called 'meat city'

 

 

this is how we knew we weren't in 'china' anymore. 

 

 

beads, bangles and glitter. and ribbon. rismondo's dream street. fabric, too. 

  

hey big buddha. (biggest ever sitting bronze buddha)

 

 

samosa city. chungking mansions.

  

modern art? thanks hong kong!

 

 

peter, you could come here, too!

 

 

we came for the sushi. honestly- we got off the train, found a sushi place, and ate there every day. 

  

so. that was our trip. maybe i will regale you with in-depth stories later- if you really want to hear about something, let me know. 

 

for now, i will be teaching monday thru friday for the entire month of february. 5 days a week is tough- especially with the baby (7-11 year olds) students, but i'm hoping that i will emerge with no wounds and amazing patience. and really smart students. 

if i just listen, maybe i'll understand more.

sometimes do you just become overwhelmed with all the things there are to do in the world? this is something i have been thinking about lately- i have this deep fear in me that somehow i will miss out on something important, and i think that dictates how i live my life, and gives it this almost frenzied quality, like i'm constantly whiplashing trying to check things out. i am working more and more on being completely satisfied and content- excited even- with what is in my life right now. i keep being reminded of how amazing my life is. 

i have been speaking more chinese lately- it isn't coming easy, but i am having more conversations, and i feel like i'm pushing myself more. rather than just sitting in the taxi, i try talking to the driver the whole time. at the internet store, i ask questions (and somehow i won 20 RMB in the lottery!), and i try out my hand at teasing my doormen(i'm not sure if they laughed because i was funny, or because i seemed crazy). 

 

the past few weeks:

 

Part one: corban. 

 

about a week or so ago, the muslim community celebrated corban- which is a traditional remembrance of god providing a sacrifice for abraham because of abraham's faith and trust. here, they celebrate this by praying at the mosque and then going home with sheep to sacrifice. i slept in a bit too late to see the praying at the mosque (picture thousands and thousands of white hats moving in unison), but i woke up in time to spend the whole afternoon watching the sheep process. and i even made some friends!

 

 they had the fattest sheep 

  after spending about an hour outside of the mosque watching people haggle over sheep, weigh them, tie them up, and so on, i kind of wanted to see how they took care of the rest of the business. 

so i bided my time, waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and discover the mysteries of at-home animal sacrifice. 

 

 super kind old man

i helped this man and his grandson pull their three sheep home from the fat sheep truck. they were supremely stubborn sheep- i guess i would be, too, if i were about to die. luckily, their stubbornness gave me a way to get into the party by seeming helpful, instead of nosey. also, his grandson spoke pretty good english, and was impressed that i knew about the holiday's meaning.

 

leading the sheep 

 it's kind of fun, leading sheep around. all of the boys were smiling, and the sheep were lively and moving. heading away from the mosque there were tons of guys with sheep, and trails of little sheep droppings. 

calm the sheep down and smile.

 

  this old guy was totally cool. at one point, his sheep carcass fell off a tree, and i caught it by the leg tendon. i don't know which was more unclean- me, a non muslim, touching the sheep, or the sheep's body falling into the dirt. either way, he seemed thankful.   

 

 i was really impressed that everyone was okay with me walking around and taking photos. i probably saw like 40 sheep get slaughtered that day, so i'm really familiar with the process now. 

this is how it goes: 

this butcher owned the place. 

a. pull the sheep home.

b. tie the sheep to a tree. 

c. the sheep will lay down (at this point, i think the sheep is in shock, because it has been led past a ton of it's comrades who have been killed) near the tree. 

d. put a cloth over the sheep's eyes. 

e. have the imam pray over the sheep.

f. slit the throat, and hold the head back while it bleeds out. (slip the imam some cash).

g. have the butcher come over, remove the skin, hang the sheep in a tree and remove the guts. 

h. clean out all the intestines with hot water, hack apart the animal, and share it with your friends and family. 

the cool thing is that they definitely use all of the animal in this tradition. i got invited to this man's house, and i ate intestines, liver and heart of sheep. i think. they were really kind and hospitable, and, as my friend told me "when you come into a muslim's house, don't plan on doing much beyond eating".

 

 

part two: chinglish.

 

this is the menu at my new favorite korean restaurant. beyond being amazingly cozy and providing delicious food, i can never stop searching the menu, laughing and dancing at the translations. really. 

 

  

 

my favorite? south korea is grim. i also like firing and employee.

 

part three: open mic night

 

this is my project. i miss open mic nights (namely poetry night) in america, so my friends let me use their coffee shop to have one here. at the first open mic night, a boy came and street danced. AWESOME!

this is carrianne. the green house is her coffee shop. she is fantastic. 

 

so far, we are having open mic nights once a month, on tuesdays. the first two have been really quite fun. 

 

 

part four: christmas party food decorations

 

if i could take a cooking class, i would learn how to do this. 

 

 to conclude, i have been quite busy. i have been having a grand time. i have been making new friends. today was my last day of teaching for a few weeks, and tomorrow i am getting on the train to go on vacation in south china. i am hoping for warm weather on the beach and delicious seafood, preceded by a fantastic cocoon of a train ride. you will hear from me in a few weeks. 

i hope you all had a marvelous christmas and that your new year will shape up in a fancy fun way. i love you. 

sick day storytime

i woke up this morning feeling awful.  i don't know what it is about rushing from the bed to the bathroom every few minutes to empty various parts of my body that makes me feel like a seven year old child, but all i want is my mother. i am simultaneously thankful that my roommate is on a trip right now, because it means that i can be thoroughly and disgustingly sick without feeling self conscious or apologetic about the whole ordeal. i still miss my mom. 

 

now, though, i am experiencing a reprieve from the nausea and it is time to tell a story. one thing that i often miss while living in china is listening to the stories of the people around me. this is part of what pushes me to learn chinese, though i am growing more and more aware of how difficult real fluency will be, and it will certainly not be attained in just one year. but now that i am meeting more and more english speaking people, i am being given the opportunity to hear more and more stories. these stories are so different from ones that i know, and sometimes it takes me weeks to wrap my head around them- some things are so different from anything i have ever been used to- and i'd like to hope that these stories change me a little.  this is one i have been thinking about for a month or so:

 

i was talking with a girl the other day. she is my age, a university student, from a family of three children. she is intelligent, asks questions uncommon to china, can argue, and wants to travel. her english is admirable- she has been learning for two years and we can carry conversations that avoid weather, favorite foods, and the hobbies we often partake in.  

 

and so we are talking, and i ask of her family, does she have siblings, where is her hometown, does she (like so many others) want to return there? and she responds: two siblings, her parents live in a large city in a different province, and she wants to travel.  

 

how do you have two siblings? i ask. 

 

in a place where the one child policy has been dictating birth and family planning for almost thirty years, it is unusual to meet people my age with families of more than two children. there are a few exceptions- from what i can tell, urban ethnic minorities are allowed two children, while their rural counterparts are at times able to have three or four. the han chinese (the people group that accounts for about 92% of the population) are given stricter guidelines: rural families are allowed two children on a case by case basis, and urban couples are allowed one child. if another child happens, the family is punished with a fine, and they have to pay for the extra child's schooling. if the first child a couple has is a girl or is disabled in some way, they are able to petition for the right to have another child (hopefully a boy). if they are allowed another child, they usually have to space it out by 5 years. and that is it. there are exceptions made for twins (twin boys are especially lucky), and the actual execution of these rules varies by province and officials, but this is pretty much what i understand about the one child policy. 

 

so, you can imagine my surprise when i heard this han girl telling me she was from a city and had two other siblings. she went on to tell me her story. her father is the only man in their entire family- she has a few aunts, and none of them had male children. according to the family,  it was now up to her father (and mother) to produce a male heir and thus continue the family line. or something like that. i still can't quite grasp the full import of being totally responsible and accountable to the family.  or the seriousness of the need to have a boy.  in this family, the first child was a girl. not good. her parents were ready to try again, so they (and the rest of the family, i guess) petitioned the government to allow them to have a second child-to try for a son. the officials said 'have at it, in five years' and they did. five years later, the mom was pregnant with a baby boy, but seven months in, she miscarried. and the family was devastated, especially grandma. at the pressing of the family, they tried again, and a year or so later, my friend was born. grandma had the foresight to have her daughter-in-law give birth quietly at home, so there was a small conference as to what to do with this second girl baby.  there was no way the government would let them try for a third child, but there was also no way that grandma was going to not have a male heir. so they hid her. they did not kill her, but they sent my baby friend to the countryside to live with another grandmother, and then they told everyone the baby had died at birth. 

  

about a year later, they had another baby. at long last, they had a boy, and everyone was very happy. even my friend is very proud about her brother. there was a little prince to carry on the family after her father's death. my friend stayed in the country, was raised by her grandma, and saw her family once ever year or so. as long as she can remember, she has understood the importance of her brother, and she accepted that she had to be hidden from the government officials. until she was fifteen or so, she hid among the other children in her grandmother's village, and she knew that everyone else in her family (besides her parents and siblings) thought she was dead.  around this time,  in order to give her a better education, her parents confessed. i don't really get the details of this part, or why they waited so long, or if they intended to confess... but they did. and they paid an enormous fine, and her mother went to jail for a few weeks, and now she is in college and her sister is in college, and her brother is in college but prefers gambling and alcohol to learning.  

 

the most impressive part of this to me is that she is not bitter or angry or hurt. not at all. she loves her family, loves her brother and her grandmother. this is what they had to do. perhaps she is even a bit thankful for not being completely abandoned or even killed. these things happen here, too.  i do not know if this is the formative story of her identity, or if this is the part of her story she tells to foreigners because she knows it shocks them. there are so many things that i do not know about her, but this story she told me keeps me thinking about how similar we are, and how differently we have lived. 

 

------------- 

 

other news is this: somehow the internet is magic and i am able to have a washington based internet telephone number. skype, for a small (extremely small) fee, has now given me a phone number and a voicemail and also free calling to the united states. what this means for me is that i can call people without spending 2 cents a minute, but what this means for you is that you can call me just as if you were calling me when i was living in washington. for the same amount of money, which is maybe free if you have a good plan. if i am on my computer, i will answer. if i am not on my computer, it will go to my voicemail, where you can leave me a message filled with love and kindnesses. or a poem or a song. and then i can call you back.  so, if you are simply dying to call me every day and leave me loving messages, my number is (360)746-2780. it is always nice to hear from friends. especially around the holidays (hint). and i will try to reciprocate. i love how magical the internet is sometimes.  

four shower november is OVER!

this will surprise my mother, but i took 3 showers in the month of november. 

yes. sometimes it was disgusting. 

I BIT THE NAIL!

since i arrived in china, i have been doing two things consistently:

 

• not capitalizing (unless something is of the upmost importance)

• making lists

  

these are life shaping lists, experience lists, lists that i will look back on when i am old and say "ahh, i accomplished that", or "now i must do this before i can die", or maybe even "i am glad i never got around to doing that: what a foolish girl i was". it is a cathartic habit.

 

one of the lists i have been continually revising is entitled:

 

THINGS I DO NOT EVER WANT TO DO IN CHINA

 

items cover a broad spectrum: get a tattoo, eat fermented duck eggs, eat pig feet, walk barefoot in the street, hock a loogie in a restaurant, ride in the hard seat section of the train, go to the hospital (again), etcetera, etcetera.  

 

just so you are aware that i am not a huge lame-o who does not want to experience culture, you should know that there is a much longer list of things that i do want to do while i am in china.  

 

anyway, since the last time i was in the blessed middle kingdom, i have been appalled by the practice of eating chicken feet. thoroughly disgusted. i admire the determination to not waste any part of the animal's body, but ever since a woman tried to sneak a chicken foot into my instant noodles* on the train from lhasa two years ago, i have had, at the top of my T.I.D.N.E.W.T.D.I.C. list:

  

EAT CHICKEN FEET

 

and also, at the top of my list of things to do in china:

avoid chicken feet.

 

i have had people say "amy, it is a cultural thing, you have to try it. blah blah blah."   to this i say: THEY WALK AROUND IN POOP THEIR WHOLE LIVES! 

 

i, for one, am not in the habit of eating poop. no thank you. 

-------

chinese people explain it like this: 

"we eat the chicken feet because we do not enjoy the large pieces of meat. the chinese prefer the smaller, more delicate portions of the chicken, and of the other animals also- pig feet, chicken wings, chicken leg, intestines, pig nose. we can not eat portions as large as the breast of the chicken, it is just too much."

today at work we were talking about finding turkeys for thanksgiving. my boss, a chinese businessman, asked me 

"do you eat the turkey feet?"

after confirming that we do not, in fact, eat the turkey feet, he continued; "what a waste! you could make much money from the turkey feet. they would be quite delicious! what do you do with them, just cut them off and throw them away?"

i don't really know what we do with all the thanksgiving turkey's feet. i told him that maybe they grind them up and make them into strange canned meat, or perhaps use them for some sort of animal food or fertilizer. i do not know. but, i do know that i do not want to eat them, or even have my friends eat them. 

--------

once, on that same train from lhasa, i watched a couple munch chicken feet for hours and hours. it is a stomach turning process, if you think about it too much. the feet are cold, often pickled, and are fleshy little buggers. and this is the most terrible part: the nails are still attached! here is an example:

 

look closely, and you will notice the little claws that scratch around in the poopy dirt all the time. mmmm. 

  

in order to eat these delicate appendages, one must gnaw. a lot. which brings me to my recent experience. 

 

-----

 

one of my students, a fantastic 14 year old girl named katie, invited me to her house for dinner with her family. i met up with her, and arrived at her family's apartment** to find that her grandparents and aunt had all shown up for the occasion, which is awesome- i was really excited to be around older chinese people, because most of my time is spent with the younger generations. while the adults were playing ma zhong, katie showed me her sims family, and then we sat down to eat. 

lo and behold, there on the table, amongst plates and plates (probably 15) of tasty looking food, there were the chicken feet! i thought to myself i'll just avoid that, there is so much food, there's no way they'll notice if i don't take some of the chicken feet. and i'll avoid those other dishes that look like they are only skin. okay. dig in. what do you know, but her dad, after pouring me a glass full of baijiu***, plopped a chicken foot and some pig skin down on my plate. i couldn't avoid it. there were three generations of expectant faces watching me. to avoid looking completely ridiculous trying to navigate my way around a fleshy claw, i played dumb.

 

 "ummm... this is my first time with one of these... how exactly do i eat it?" 

 

first, katie said that i didn't need to use chopsticks, and then came the fateful words: "now put this part, is it the nail, into your mouth, and bite it off. then put it out onto your place." so i did. and then i found my way into the next joint, and bit it off and gnawed and gnawed until i had pried some of the cold skin loose, then i removed the bone from my mouth and put it in my bone dish and continued on to the next joint. and then i ate cold pig's skin. all to be polite. i now have hella guanxi(good relations) with that family****. 

 

so, was it that bad? i think i will borrow my friend joel's description: it is like biting into a pencil covered in rubber-bands. and you are trying to EAT the rubber-bands! and they are cold, and a little wet, and they do not have much give. and the whole time you're eating it you're thinking this has been walking around in poop for it's entire existence. not pleasant. 

 

overall, i am rather proud of myself for eating the chicken foot and the pig skin (and also skin gelatin and intestine) for the sake of good manners, but i am not about to try to do it again, unless i absolutely have to. you can be proud of me, too!

 

the fresh product:

 

notice the nails. 

---------------------

*just a little thing about instant noodles: in chinese they are called fangbianmian which directly translates to "convenient noodles". it is one of my favorite words to say. 

  

**another note: katie's family is loaded. i knew this because they have a stuffed eagle with it's wings outstretched mounted on a rock in their living room. awesome. also it is positioned under an enormous set of deer antlers.  

 

***say it: "buyjo". it is like the most intense grain alcohol ever. well, that i have tried. it tastes like what i imagine kerosene or rubbing alcohol would taste like.  he said white wine, and i said yes. i sipped the thing all night and never finished. 

 

****later in the meal, katie's Grandpa had a stroke or something, i'm not really sure. now he is in a larger city's hospital because they found a brain tumor. it was very intense, and i honestly thought he was going to die. thankfully he did not, but please keep him and his family in your thoughts. 

well then, what do you like?

i like when things get better. 

 

confession:

recently, i have been having a pity party.  it's been going on for a while, and ultimately ended with a giant three day festival called "amy can't quite bring herself to get out of bed", at which point i realized that i was being ridiculous. sure, i'm a bit homesick: culture shock is setting in.  yes, the weather is changing, and teaching english is a little challenging... oh, and chinese is not the easiest thing in the world. but really, i need to put things into perspective. or at least start looking on the bright side of things. 

 

so. the pity party is over. now begins the "buck up amy g, you have a fantastic life and people love you and you are trying new things and your country elected a new president who seems to have a heart and also immaculate articulation" party. okay. on wednesday (because of the time change) i sat in my bed (this was during the pity party) and watched obama's speech probably 8 times (not all the way through- i was just waiting for it to load) and cried. i was in a fragile state already, but i am a sucker for hope and passion. and elocution. i am excited/hopeful. but, as a woman (so rudely) pointed out to me in a coffee shop the other day "not EVERYONE is excited", so i am staying more quietly glad, and hoping that mr.obama will do things that will earn the respect of his detractors. 

 

some of you may be wondering something like "amy, you're away from everything you've ever known, including: your family, your best friends, the ocean, normal bread, convenient dairy free options, and stores that stock your size of shoes. how on earth are you not having a pity party all the time??"

 

 

let me show you:

 

 

reason i am not having a pity party #1.

 the food is too good (and cheap) to be sad for too long.

these 面条  (noodles) are handmade to order. 

this is a piece of sheep stomach. and also some lotus. i ate both of them at...

HOT POT!

i love hot pot. i am now the proud holder of a v.i.p. card for the hot pot restaurant 2 minutes from my front door! 

 

reason 2. the plant market.

i can go here whenever i feel sad, and walk around in the enormous greenhouse. and buy things.

my friends joel and jesse help me transport my bounty. 

 

3. fall colors happen in china, too!

 

my weekly scrabble challenger lives down this little alley. there are apple orchards on the other side of the trees. i like to walk here. 

 

we went on a camping trip here, and while the experience was laughable at best, 

the trees were changing, and that was cathartic in itself. 

 

number 4. children. 

this it the sports school near my house. these children start at seven am. i like to watch them play soccer and basketball, and yell things like "foul" "traveling" and "nice pass". 

i met these boys in the alley behind my favorite market. they buy these crawdad creatures from the seafood vendors, then they race the animals. 

this girl was on vacation. i was going swimming, she was a twirling fairy. 

 

 

5. glamour shots.

 

reason 6.  beer testing.

 

we were walking past the beer aisle one day... and decided to try them all. 

pabst: highest alcohol content of all contenders.

the contenders:

pabst

snow

chill (carslberg)

pineapple beer

ginger beer

lychee beer

pabst knockoff

harbin wheat

another ginger beer

the winner: ginger beer. but we hear lhasa beer is good, so we're holding our breath and hoping. 

 

7. nice people who help me.

this is my roommate. her name is Tseba. she is an ultra smart girl: besides her heart language, tibetan, she also knows english, and chinese. she is a translator. also i am becoming a cleaner person, because she likes clean space. 

 

this is my chinese teacher, Sheila.  she also has a lot of languages: chinese, qinghai dialect, english and korean. she is a teacher at my school, and she is ULTRA patient. 

 

reason 8. you know... chinese things.

hey halal festival!

 

this baby goat thing loved me. it wouldn't come to it's mother's bleating, and i think i should have taken it home. see how much it trusts me. 

 

these are polite chinese fingers. it is what classy chinese ladies do to get the men, and the respect. i do not have delicate fingers, so it is a tough thing for me to get the feel for. 

 

 

 9. it is getting too cold for this sort of thing.

which gives me a reason to dress cozy cozy. 

now i have a new jacket, and i am working on my "keep the heat in" outfit. last year it was

  -50ºC. yikes. 

so. the pity party is over for now. here's hoping it doesn't try to repeat itself anytime soon. tomorrow i am going to dinner at a middle school girl's house- i met her at an english corner that i help out at. we just got done texting, and i'm hoping that my "i like to try new things: surprise me" response to her query about what i'd like to eat was not a mistake. her grandparents and parents will be there- i need to not lose face. she is ultra adorable too- she just texted me:

 

AMY~i hope we

can have a good time

tomorrow right?

and i am so excited

just can't go to sleep. 

 

 

i know. so sweet, so honest, so direct. it is lovely. 

wish me luck. love you.