So Hanzhong had another day of heavy rain, which for me meant the four streets surrounding my apartment were flooded. It happened for the first time in July, just before returning to 'Merca. And it happened again today.
It was a pretty heavy day so let me say the heavy rain was symbolically appropriate. When I headed to work the streets were fine; when I returned home they were a knee-deep, fast-flowing river. Of course. That kind of day.
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After work I walk to a fancy bakery where I pick up a chocolate donut. I then head to another, even better, bakery to get a beef sandwich. From this bakery I can see the street my house sits on and it looks like a lake. I backtrack about two blocks in order to get a cab; after a long wait and many lost conversations I finally find one who's willing to take me near my house.
The taxi driver leaves me on the curb where the water is barely flowing over-- I take a giant leap and manage to get only a little wet. I make it home via some back alleys only the locals (yeah, I'm a loc) know while avoiding the floodwaters.
But of course, this is also a night I have to go out. Ayyyy. I manage to find a bicycle taxi guy to ferry me across the flooded road to a non-flooded part where I catch a taxi to some bars. I meet up with some Chinese friends I dislike (mainly because the laugh at my pronunciation) and then meet up with my most favorite Chinese person ever-- my friend Yang Lu-- who is super-cool and does NOT make fun of my accent.
I know I will likely have to cross the flooded road on my way home so make it a point to drink much pijiu (beer) in case the worst-case scenario proves true. Judging by how the night went, worst-case was expected and was a fitting end to my night. Ha.
The taxi driver refuses to drop me off on the curb and instead leaves me across the flooded street from my home. What to do? It's the Second World...you improvise!!!
First, PEE. Many beers, lowered inhibitions, running water...what did you expect?!
Step Two: Remove shoes, roll up jeans.
Step Three: Cross, slowly. Acknowledge others crossing with a "Shit, man!" look.
Step Four: Remove socks, throw as far as possible in ironic disgust and put shoes on.
Step Five: Look at doorman and show rolled-up jeans as proof you walked across flooded street.
Step Six: Remove clothing; play Two and a Half Men DVD; type.
Annoying? Yes. But these types of events (and resulting infections) make life interesting, at least for me. SL
09 August 2010
Eight Days to Eat the World
I returned home for 8 days with a long list of things to eat. Given the complexity involved in finding lunch dates I left California very satisfied at the foods I managed to eat in that very short time. What follows is my food diary whilst in the Golden State:
Tuesday (7/20):
Wednesday (7/21):
Thursday (7/22):
Friday (7/23):
Saturday (7/24):
Sunday (7/25):
Monday (7/26):
Tuesday (7/27):
What didn't I have? NOODLES!
What did I miss?
Fresh bagel from the Bagel House in Naglee Park
Chicken shawerma plate from Alhana Foods in San Mateo
Katsu Curry
Bun cha (ruled out because of the noodles) from City Bakery
French Dip (with cheese) from Original Joe's
Philly Cheesesteak SL
Tuesday (7/20):
- At home: baguette, beans, cotija cheese
- Round Table Pizza (Guinevere's garden and BBQ Chicken), garlic twists, A&W Root Beer/Dr. Pepper
Wednesday (7/21):
- At home: eggs, beans, avocado salad, green beans, coffee
- Pickle
- At home: Chiles Rellenos, potato pancakes
- At home: Costco roast chicken
- At M&M's: Homemade chili and hummus, tortilla chips, Hamms
Thursday (7/22):
- Neto's Sausages, Santa Clara: Calabrese sausage sandwich, onion rings, Barq's Root Beer
- 7-11: Sleazy Dog and Dirty Nachos
Friday (7/23):
- At home: Chicken Mole Enchiladas, white rice with potatoes
- Some Brewery in Pacific Beach: Blue cheese bacon cheeseburger with deep-fried onions, fries and beer
- From some cart on the street: 1 cream cheese and chili dog; 1 cream cheese, chili and bacon dog
Saturday (7/24):
- From my room, the Party Suite: Salami, peperoni and nacho cheese
- Wedding Dinner: Roast beef, Caesar salad, mac n cheese slathered in nacho cheese, fish taco, nacho cheese, mini slider, Gin and Tonics
- Nacho cheese on assorted edible delivery methods
Sunday (7/25):
- Bahia Resort, San Diego: Poolside Cheese burger + PBR
- San Diego Intl Airport: Fountain Coke (this one counts as a meal)
- At home: Beans and cotija cheese, one cheese enchilada
- In n Out: 3x2 Meal, Root Beer and Dr. Pepper
Monday (7/26):
- Gombei, Japantown: The Gombei (Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Shrimp, Croquette) and the famous fried tofu
- Roy's, Japantown: Mocha
- At home: Chicken Green Enchiladas
- At Casa Mateo: Sauteed Veggies over quinoa, fresh guacamole
- At Blue Sun Studios, Oakland: Schafenberger brownies and Fenton's ice cream
Tuesday (7/27):
- Freshly Baked Eatery, San Jose: Turkey and Swiss sandwich
- In n Out: Barq'sRoot Beer
- Sushi Kazoo, Willow Glen: Assorted sushi, mainly hamachi nigiri but also some deep-fried Philly rolls
- Casa Vicky's, San Jose: Carnitas burrito (first time here; disappointing)
What didn't I have? NOODLES!
What did I miss?
Fresh bagel from the Bagel House in Naglee Park
Chicken shawerma plate from Alhana Foods in San Mateo
Katsu Curry
Bun cha (ruled out because of the noodles) from City Bakery
French Dip (with cheese) from Original Joe's
Philly Cheesesteak SL
23 June 2010
A Ride in the Clouds
The afternoon is warm and a cooling breeze blows over the land; it's Tuesday and have nothing to do so jump on my bicycle and attempt to find the elusive "Second-hand Bike Market." The Market, I'm told, is the place where I will be able to find a Flying Pigeon, an old bike I've been trying unsuccessfully to buy from old men, the only people who still ride them. Since nobody in China knows how to give directions or can tell me the exact location of anything, I ride aimlessly hoping to happen upon the Market.
Fail.
No matter.
The dusty asphalt turns to dirt and wanders into little farm plots just outside of town. I follow the dirt road into another miserably verdant plot and find myself on the airport runway! I stand. I lay. I look around. I'm confused. Nobody to run me off? I'm fairly sure this is unsafe. Further off farmers haul vegetables across the runway, a lucky shortcut for this poor lot.
I retrace their paths into other plots where exposed septic tanks evaporate under the open sun. The rows of corn and watermelon amidst which they sit will be the recipients of human and animal waste in a few days. Gross? Yes. But I appreciate the honesty with which they do this.
I ride on. The people here are extremely friendly and all smile at my presence, a gesture I return.
Nearer the Han Tai River vegetables give way to rice and farmers are busy replanting rice into flooded fields [Initially the rice is planted densely in small plots then replanted into larger fields and the plants given space to grow. I suspect this is done to allow for an extra harvest of fast-growing plants such as greens or sprouts]. The green color of rice plants is incredible for its purity and vitality and stands in stark contrast to the back-breaking labor involved in its production.
My ride continues through hamlets consisting of anywhere from 10-50 densely-constructed homes. The majority have been rebuilt out of brick or stone but vestiges of mud-brick homes remain-- some still inhabited; others slowly returning to the Earth.
The villages are connected by a new concrete road about two meters wide which must be greatly-appreciated by the farmers living in these villages. Oh, and by me (and my aging body)! I do venture onto dirt roads within the villages but more often than not (5-3) I am chased out by dogs, less friendly to outsiders than their owners.
Fail.
No matter.
The dusty asphalt turns to dirt and wanders into little farm plots just outside of town. I follow the dirt road into another miserably verdant plot and find myself on the airport runway! I stand. I lay. I look around. I'm confused. Nobody to run me off? I'm fairly sure this is unsafe. Further off farmers haul vegetables across the runway, a lucky shortcut for this poor lot.
I retrace their paths into other plots where exposed septic tanks evaporate under the open sun. The rows of corn and watermelon amidst which they sit will be the recipients of human and animal waste in a few days. Gross? Yes. But I appreciate the honesty with which they do this.
I ride on. The people here are extremely friendly and all smile at my presence, a gesture I return.
Nearer the Han Tai River vegetables give way to rice and farmers are busy replanting rice into flooded fields [Initially the rice is planted densely in small plots then replanted into larger fields and the plants given space to grow. I suspect this is done to allow for an extra harvest of fast-growing plants such as greens or sprouts]. The green color of rice plants is incredible for its purity and vitality and stands in stark contrast to the back-breaking labor involved in its production.
My ride continues through hamlets consisting of anywhere from 10-50 densely-constructed homes. The majority have been rebuilt out of brick or stone but vestiges of mud-brick homes remain-- some still inhabited; others slowly returning to the Earth.
The villages are connected by a new concrete road about two meters wide which must be greatly-appreciated by the farmers living in these villages. Oh, and by me (and my aging body)! I do venture onto dirt roads within the villages but more often than not (5-3) I am chased out by dogs, less friendly to outsiders than their owners.
09 June 2010
Damn you Mongorians!!!
China has a physical Great Wall built over many hundreds of years to protect against attack from northern tribes, Mongolians included. China also has something nicknamed the Great Firewall of China, the main Internet control mechanism in the country. And for my first two months here I was able to get through using various bypasses-- Internet-based proxies and web anonymity programs mostly-- until my Gmail account was hacked in late May (Google alerted me via a conspicuous red script which said something like "Your Google Mail account has been hacked from within China. Please change your password blah blah blah." ).
I don't want to Geek you out with the details but I'll leave it at this: after that hack I was essentially trapped behind the Great Firewall of China. It was frustating because I just really wanted to go on Spacebook, watch YouTube and add stuff to the blog, however infrequently I may. I consulted many Forums seeking advice and solutions but it seems it was a nation-wide problem: at the end of May the authorities decided they would crack down on all unauthorized Internet access.
After two months of bypassing censorship I felt extremely frustrated-- and Chinese-- when I was unable to access sites I wanted. But after a month I have found another way through, however temporary it may be.
What's my solution? Ha, can't say. SL 1, CN 1. SL
I don't want to Geek you out with the details but I'll leave it at this: after that hack I was essentially trapped behind the Great Firewall of China. It was frustating because I just really wanted to go on Spacebook, watch YouTube and add stuff to the blog, however infrequently I may. I consulted many Forums seeking advice and solutions but it seems it was a nation-wide problem: at the end of May the authorities decided they would crack down on all unauthorized Internet access.
After two months of bypassing censorship I felt extremely frustrated-- and Chinese-- when I was unable to access sites I wanted. But after a month I have found another way through, however temporary it may be.
What's my solution? Ha, can't say. SL 1, CN 1. SL
Legs & Guts
It's Summer in China! How do I know? Legs & Guts!
Women do their very best to show off their legs [insert whistling here] and the men, when they wear shirts at all, have a tendency to roll them up over their belly and gently tap or rub their gut. It's especially funny when young kids do it!
Women do their very best to show off their legs [insert whistling here] and the men, when they wear shirts at all, have a tendency to roll them up over their belly and gently tap or rub their gut. It's especially funny when young kids do it!
01 May 2010
More Notes on the Chinese Language
Mandarin Chinese is the first non Latin-based language I have seriously tried to learn and it is very fun trying to unlearn everything I know about language. It has been about two months and I am now able to have very simple conversations with people.
All credit for my improvement goes to my Chinese friends who tolerate my limited speaking ability and indulge my desire to learn Mandarin. Not that it's boring to hang out-- communication is much, much more than just verbal exchanges so we spend a lot of time guessing what we're saying by drawing, writing, acting and-- I suspect, because I do it--just assuming what the other is saying (I can't recommend this approach but sometimes there is no choice).
Anyway, three interesting characteristics of Mandarin:
No verb conjugation
Tense is indicated by other words-- such as tomorrow or yesterday-- or by adding "le" after the verb to indicate it has been completed. Similarly, the verb remains unchanged regardless of the pronoun: I go; You go; He go; We go; They go.
There is no plural
Context or other words provide clues as to the intended meaning. For example, using the word "henduo [many]" is a dead giveaway to plurality.
Numbers are tremendously important
But unlike in English there are only eleven distinct numbers in Mandarin (0-10). Every subsequent number is a combination of these eleven: twelve is written "ten two [shi er];" twenty-five is written "two ten five [er shi wu];" seventy-three is written "seven ten three [chi shi san];" and so on.
Days of the week are xin chi followed by the numbers one through six for Monday through Saturday. Sunday is the exception.
Months are the simply the numbers followed by the word for month- yue. January is written "one month [yi yue]"; June is written "six month [liu yue]." This pattern holds true for all months.
All credit for my improvement goes to my Chinese friends who tolerate my limited speaking ability and indulge my desire to learn Mandarin. Not that it's boring to hang out-- communication is much, much more than just verbal exchanges so we spend a lot of time guessing what we're saying by drawing, writing, acting and-- I suspect, because I do it--just assuming what the other is saying (I can't recommend this approach but sometimes there is no choice).
Anyway, three interesting characteristics of Mandarin:
No verb conjugation
Tense is indicated by other words-- such as tomorrow or yesterday-- or by adding "le" after the verb to indicate it has been completed. Similarly, the verb remains unchanged regardless of the pronoun: I go; You go; He go; We go; They go.
There is no plural
Context or other words provide clues as to the intended meaning. For example, using the word "henduo [many]" is a dead giveaway to plurality.
Numbers are tremendously important
But unlike in English there are only eleven distinct numbers in Mandarin (0-10). Every subsequent number is a combination of these eleven: twelve is written "ten two [shi er];" twenty-five is written "two ten five [er shi wu];" seventy-three is written "seven ten three [chi shi san];" and so on.
Days of the week are xin chi followed by the numbers one through six for Monday through Saturday. Sunday is the exception.
Months are the simply the numbers followed by the word for month- yue. January is written "one month [yi yue]"; June is written "six month [liu yue]." This pattern holds true for all months.
15 April 2010
Some Notes on the Chinese Language
This is my first experience with a tonal language and I am still learning how it-- and they, in general-- work. Before coming I figured I would ignore the tones and just "try" to pronounce words correctly; it's worked fairly well thanks to the context I've used them in but I have had many incredibly frustrating times where I pronounce a word multiple times (and with varying accents) until the listener finally guesses what I'm saying (or pretends he does).
Mispronouncing a word in Chinese is nothing like mispronouncing a word in English; the closest analogy I can come up with are our homophones, maybe the words "beach," "bitch" and "beech." In this case, only a native or advanced speaker could discern the difference without context. But more accurate would be if there were four to six words that sounded similar so depended exclusively on exact pronunciation for meaning.
How difficult is this? The Communists have been trying unsuccessfully to create a universal language for China since 1948. What we think of Chinese is actually three main languages all of which are mutually unintelligible despite being written exactly the same: Putonghua, what we know as Mandarin and is the most used and understood; Wu, which is the dialect of the Shanghai region; and Cantonese, spoken in the area around Hong Kong. And within these groups there are hundreds of regional and sub-regional dialects which are understood by non-native speakers to varying degrees.
I'll leave you with this: by law, the only language spoken on television is Putonghua, the "national" language and standard dialect of Beijing. But because so many Chinese cannot understand this dialect all programs must be subtitled! SL
How difficult is this? The Communists have been trying unsuccessfully to create a universal language for China since 1948. What we think of Chinese is actually three main languages all of which are mutually unintelligible despite being written exactly the same: Putonghua, what we know as Mandarin and is the most used and understood; Wu, which is the dialect of the Shanghai region; and Cantonese, spoken in the area around Hong Kong. And within these groups there are hundreds of regional and sub-regional dialects which are understood by non-native speakers to varying degrees.
I'll leave you with this: by law, the only language spoken on television is Putonghua, the "national" language and standard dialect of Beijing. But because so many Chinese cannot understand this dialect all programs must be subtitled! SL
They All Look The Same
My school recently hired a couple of new staff for the reception desk. I interviewed them both and then spoke to them during their first day of work; very amiable girls, the sort you want as the face of any organization. On the second day one of them asked my name again (not surprising really: I forget names a lot-- especially Chinese ones-- so expect the Chinese to forget foreign names just the same).
But she knew my name; just couldn't associate with my face. She said I looked like one of the foreign teachers and she couldn't remember who was who. Well, if that foreign teacher had been Lou Diamond Phillips or an Aztec priest I could forgive her mental lapse but the guy she confused me with was much taller with short, dirty blond hair (very physically similar to my friend Matt A. AKA Hippie AKA Didgeridoo). I didn't know what to say...
"These foreigners, they all look the same," she must have thought. SL
But she knew my name; just couldn't associate with my face. She said I looked like one of the foreign teachers and she couldn't remember who was who. Well, if that foreign teacher had been Lou Diamond Phillips or an Aztec priest I could forgive her mental lapse but the guy she confused me with was much taller with short, dirty blond hair (very physically similar to my friend Matt A. AKA Hippie AKA Didgeridoo). I didn't know what to say...
"These foreigners, they all look the same," she must have thought. SL
09 April 2010
All At Once
Hmmm. I've been out drinking thinking and decided it was time for an update. There are so many things to say so I will put them all in one...ummm, thing.
Dogs
No, they don't eat dogs. That's dumb. And wasteful. But the middle- and upper-classes are crazy about their dogs. I was told that there was a fad a few years back where people dyed their dogs' hair; I've only seen it a few times but those dogs look so punk rock!! I love em. Still popular, however, is dressing up toy breeds. I have seen them with all sorts of outfits (from the slutty to the nerdy) and even with shoes! Imagine: a dog with shoes! Bad to the Ass.
Dogs
No, they don't eat dogs. That's dumb. And wasteful. But the middle- and upper-classes are crazy about their dogs. I was told that there was a fad a few years back where people dyed their dogs' hair; I've only seen it a few times but those dogs look so punk rock!! I love em. Still popular, however, is dressing up toy breeds. I have seen them with all sorts of outfits (from the slutty to the nerdy) and even with shoes! Imagine: a dog with shoes! Bad to the Ass.
24 March 2010
A Whole Wheel of Cheese
They don't have a distributor in my town so I will make the 4-hour trip north to Xi'an next Monday to meet with the distributor up there and buy a small wheel of plain Gouda and a small wheel of some other type. I'm also going to take advantage and buy some mustard and olives, which I've been unable to find here (It's terrible when you find yourself making a delicious pasta salad but are missing cheese, olives, and mustard! No emulsifier= bad vinaigrette!!)
On another exciting food note: after 4 weeks I was finally able to find non-sweet bread!!! It's been so disappointing going out and buying a loaf of sliced bread, getting the cheese (okay, we have cheese here but it's like a crappy version of American cheese) and ham out, making a sandwich and gagging at the first bite when I realize the bread is SWEET. Well, I finally found a store that sells baguettes and they're actually pretty good.
Next week I feast on real cheese and real bread!
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