Updated on August 4, 2011
Headlines
My life is made up of many lists right now. A list of things to pack. A list of papers to grade. A list of people to see before leaving. A list of things I want to purchase this summer. A list of ways I can entertain myself and keep myself awake during the 16 hour drive to Texas 36 hours after arriving in the States (I have a strict no-napping during jet lag rule, that, when broken, has disastrous effects). A list of meals that will finish off all of the food lingering in the freezer and refrigerator.
And so, I’m also providing you with a list of items that are not note-worthy enough to demand an entire post on their own, but still may provide some interest/amusement/entertainment to those of you curious about my life (and yes, Mom, I’m talking about you and perhaps maybe only you).
- The sun rises at about 3:30 AM these days. Seriously. By 7 AM, were you to judge by light and temperature, you’d think it was 10 or 11 AM. China is all on one time zone. Yes, I find this slightly ridiculous.
- It’s hot now. I know I complained about the forever long winter. And the fact that I wore long underwear all the way into May. At the time I was conveniently forgetting the fact that the teaching buildings have no AC. Teaching on the sixth floor of a building, in a room with about 50 computers, is like hopping in an oven with the Thanksgiving turkey for two hours. Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But it’s HOT. And I’m not pretty when perspiring. I’m not one of those who “glistens.” I sweat…and it’s not an attractive sight.
- I baked carrot cake cupcakes yesterday for our library assistant dinner. If you haven’t made a carrot cake recently–or ever–make one today. Seriously people, there is nothing better. I may not have taken all of the cupcakes to the party. I might have had a cupcake for breakfast.
- Speaking of carrots, I thought I was going to have to make a trip downtown just to get the carrots for the cupcakes (and it would have been worth the trip). When I went searching at the markets near campus the night before, no one had any carrots. When I ran into Wu running at the track yesterday morning, I mentioned the surprising disappearance of carrots and the need for my downtown trip. An hour later he called to say he and Rachel had stopped in the market after dropping off Sam at school and had found carrots. Have I mentioned I love living on a team?
- Yes, I was at the track. Running. Yes, this is very strange. It was good that I ran into Wu because I later got carrots. However, running at the same time as Wu is also depressing. Because I’m incredibly slow. And he’s not.
- This Saturday is Monday and this Sunday is Tuesday and Wednesday is a holiday. Yes, the insanity of Chinese make-up holiday days is back. In order to give students a three day holiday, Monday and Tuesday have been moved to the weekend. Why the holiday couldn’t be moved to Monday is beyond me. The make-up craziness used to confuse me. Then it made me frustrated. And now it just amuses me.
Updated on August 4, 2011
My alter ego: Ivanka
I am daily mistaken as a Russian. I could perhaps, without too much exaggeration, even change that to hourly mistaken. When I first came to China, I had no idea this false labeling was happening because I had no idea what the Chinese word was for Russian. The first time I learned the word was when I traveled up to Harbin with a Chinese friend. We made a day trip to visit the famous ice festival, and she laughed throughout the day about the number of people who commented on me being Russian. Harbin has quite the large population of Russian nationals, so I thought perhaps it was just the location. However, once I knew the Chinese word for Russian, I began to notice the word echoing in my wake wherever I went. Taxi drivers, shop clerks, and gossiping grannies all immediately jump to the conclusion that I’m Russian. Russian majors proudly come up to me and start prattling off in Russian, while I look at them with a blank stare.
It should be no surprise to those of you who know the team that my “Russian” identity has become a constant source of jokes and entertainment. A few years back the team purchased a “Russian” hat for me (just think heaps of faux fur), that conveniently got misplaced after being used for a Halloween costume. When a movie bought at the local market turns out to be only in Russian, someone chimes in, “Kat can translate!”
Recently, on our team retreat to Shenyang, we went to see Iron Man 2. Movies don’t play in English in our city, so it was quite a treat to actually go to a movie theater. The movie was just like what you’d see in the States, excepting the Chinese subtitles…and the fact that they garbled the language whenever Russia or Russian was mentioned (the Russians were the “bad guys” in the movie). So, of course, upon walking out of the theater, Robb quipped, “They must have seen Kat walking in and put on the non-offensive Russian reel.” As you can see, there is endless fuel for banter.
Up until today, I thought it was only the Chinese who mistake my nationality. And really, I can’t blame them–Russia is a whole lot closer to where I live than America. But today, as I was walking to class I saw one of the Russian foreign exchange students up ahead. At least I think he was Russian; he did have large sunglasses on that covered his face and this entire post is on how people can be mistaken for Russians. So let’s go back, I was passing a foreign exchange student of questionable national background. I smiled and was preparing to say hello when he launched, with a smile, into a sentence in Russian. I was a bit taken aback, and had already passed him before I could muster up any kind of response.
At least I know that if I ever get tired of China, there’s a country where I’m sure to fit in.
Updated on August 4, 2011
Here we go
In ten days I board a plane for the states.
Before then, I need to give and grade 125 final exams.
I need to grade and edit 52 introduction letters.
I need to grade 70 3-page listening to debate packets.
I need to bake a couple dozen cupcakes for a party.
I need to find a gift for and attend a wedding banquet.
I need to skillfully and artfully cram all of my belongings (including furniture) into my office and kitchen (my room is rented out during the summer).
I should finish about 200 pages of graduate reading and write at least three papers. Considering this statement does not begin with “I need,” it is likely to be left incomplete until I’m on American soil again. When I have no choice but to write insightful papers with a jet-lagged brain. It’s a skill I’ve been honing the past few years. I’ve done some of my best work at 2 am when I’m unable to sleep.
I must take a deep breath and remember…it’s not about the tasks, it’s not about the tasks, it’s not about the tasks…it’s all about the people. Unless I can fully embrace that knowledge, I’m sure to miss a few burning bushes in these last days.
Earth is crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees it takes off his shoes,
the rest sit round,
and pluck blackberries.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Updated on August 4, 2011
Swinging on sinks
Last night, I was hanging out with a good friend eating dinner and watching a movie when the building night-watchman/fix-it man/light bulb replacer/man of many hats stopped by my apartment. I hadn’t reported any problems with my place, so I was a bit surprised to see him. However, as he made his way towards the bathroom I figured he was there to fix the sink. The sink over the past few months had slowly detached itself from the wall. This process was in no way alarming to me, as the build quality in modern Chinese buildings is notoriously poor. It’s all about building things fast and cheap. Consequently, things break, leak, and fall apart with alarming rapidity. Since a wobbly sink (it’s a pedestal sink, so it wasn’t about to collapse to the ground) did not pose too much of a nuisance to my daily life, I hadn’t reported it.
One of the workers brand name cialis in the building must have noticed the problem, though, so the fix-it man arrived to inspect the situation and assess what tools he would need from the local hardware shop. He spent about five minutes examining the sink, and then headed out to announce he would shortly return with supplies. He then entered into a long spiel to my friend, of which I understood next to nothing. After he left the apartment, she started laughing and shaking her head while exclaiming, “I don’t understand!”
“What is it? Is he not able to fix it?”
“No, he told me to tell you to stop swinging on the sink.” Accompanied with this directive, she made the hand motion of violently swaying the sink back and forth. We both burst out laughing at the mental picture of me doing that with my pedestal sink.
Well shucks, folks, there goes my nightly entertainment/exercise regime of sink swinging.
Updated on August 4, 2011
Sunday snapshot: Special visitors
This past Wednesday, we had a special group of visitors roll into town for the afternoon. Our company has a language school in a nearby big city, and there just so happens to be a lot of families there. Consequently, there are a lot of American kids who meet together for school. This week their school headed on a field trip to our city.
My city is small–especially for China. The only foreign kids in our city are the three kids on our team. So you can only imagine the stares and attention garnered by a group of 13 young foreign kids…in a country where it’s not impolite to stare.
We walked from the train station to the city circle for a picnic lunch. At first, most people kept their distance. Only a few brave souls ventured out to get a closer look at the spectacle. Read More
Updated on August 4, 2011
Family Feud Birthday
It’s the end of the year. In teacher lingo, that means some of the fullest weeks of the year. There is no shortage of tasks on the to do lists around here. In addition, we’ve already celebrated 11 birthdays in the past 8 months. All of this added together means that we weren’t about to throw two birthday parties in the last two weeks of classes. So instead, we went all out with a joint bash for Kami and Lauren. If we were combining the parties, we knew we needed to come up with something good. And we outdid ourselves once again. Since there were two birthdays to be celebrated, it only seemed appropriate to have a battle between the birthday girls. And since we’re all one big family around here, Family Feud seemed to be the perfect battle to stage.
And in case you’re under the illusion that we spend weeks planning, here’s Jennifer and Rachel finishing up signs five minutes prior to the party.
Read More
Updated on August 4, 2011
Heliophobia
Heliophobia = fear of the sun
In China, white is beautiful. Store shelves are stocked to the brim with whitening creams. You’ll see more umbrellas on a sunny day than on a rainy day. Women bike through town in the middle of summer with darth vader-esque visors, and flowy flappy sleeves to cover their arms. My students, when accompanying me, constantly try to shield me from the sun with their glittery umbrellas. In the past (and to a certain extent today), white skin was a sign of prosperity in China; it meant you didn’t have to work out in the fields. Growing up in America, the tan kids were the rich kids–the ones who escaped the cloudy midwest for the beaches of Florida during spring break. In the States, we describe a tan as a “healthy glow.” In China, a healthy glow means you’re white enough to glow in the dark.
Yesterday, Wu and I were sitting outside the train station waiting for some special guests. We couldn’t help chuckling when we noticed the distinct line between populated and unpopulated sections of the outdoor waiting area. The line of separation was where the shade ended and the sun began. We, of course, were sitting out in the sun.
(Did you notice the other cultural habit? Men rolling their shirts up to cool off their bellies? Now that’s an attractive habit.)
More on our special guests and the reason for their visit later!
Updated on August 4, 2011
Story time (take three)
While the descriptions in this story are not nearly as vivid as the last story, I found this tale incredibly amusing. What do you get when you put together an old woman and a giant in a castle to show the moral of humility? Read on to find out.
Once upon a time, there was a splendid castle standing on the bank of a river. The castle garden was cultivated with perfumed roses. The birds singing gave a pleasant feeling. In the castle, the big fireplace and the beautiful wool carpet made the hall feel warm and comfortable. The kitchen was filled with a delicious smell, because the food was prepared. The castle was quiet and content and made people want to live in it.
There was a three-story tall giant. He was on the way to finding a castle. He had thick brunette curly hair and olive skin. His chubby body was in sloppy clothing. He was full of physical strength. His blow could cause a terrible sandstorm. He could push a tree down with only one finger. Because of his power, he thought he was the best man in the world and he could control everything. He was so huge that there was no suitable place for him to live in, and nobody wanted to share a place with such a man who considered himself as a superhero.
There was an old woman also on the way to find the great castle. She was old, but her hair had been combed fastidiously. Tender smiles could forever be found on her face. Her dresses were maybe as old as her, but neat and decent. Although she was poor, she enjoyed sharing food with the poor. Because she was garrulous and forgetful, she often brought troubles to people. She felt sorry to live with other people although they liked her. She decided to find a comfortable place to enjoy a comfortable old age.
The giant and the old woman met at the gate of the castle, and they knew the other also wanted the castle.
Updated on August 4, 2011
Story time (take two)
I’m currently making my way through my second class of fairy tales, and wanted to share another of my favorites with you. For this story, their assigned characters were a hunter and a knight, the setting was a forest, and the moral was hard work brings benefit. Enjoy this tale of a hard-working hunter!
With a castle nestled inside, a great forest was located in the north of the city. The forest was ancient enough that hundreds of species of tress and flowers, as well as other precious plants, were there which made the forest look rather thick. Trees in the neighborhood had such good relationships with each other that their roots and branches were firmly intertwined and could bear the weight of swinging animals. Some tiny spots of sunshine went through the crevices of the leaves and the golden rays cast over the ground.
In this forest there was a young girl Enid, who was famous for her beauty. She always wore a white skirt. She had long dense hair. It would dance when there was a gentle breeze. There was a pair of talkative eyes on her pretty face. Her lips were just like a pair of cherries that gave you the aspiration of kissing them softly. She was slim but full of youth and vitality. She was brisk of movement just like a deer walking in the forest back and forth. It was likely that even a rabbit would fall in love with her. Even the most evil man in the world would like her. However, she was not proud of these things. She was waiting for her true love year after year.
Updated on August 4, 2011
Boys will be boys
The team was heading out of the park last Friday, and I, as usual, was lagging behind taking pictures. I started to snap a couple pictures of the group heading out, knowing that those images were likely headed straight for the trash bin. Instead, I ended up capturing an amusing, albeit typical for this group, series of events.
The team is just calmly and leisurely walking back through the park. As usual, Daren (aka Mr. Long legs speed walker) is leading the pack. Read More
Recent Comments