China part 2

 

Too big to post all together…

 

 

Chinese food

 

1. Has more variety than I ever dreamed. Its ranking on my previous post about world cuisines is rising even as Thai fell a little after visiting Thailand. Thai food has its red, green, yellow, penang, and massaman curries which are all to die for. But the variety doesn’t even come close to Chinese food.

2. Is more mild and balanced than I expected. Peanuts and mushrooms are used in everything.

3. Doesn’t do desserts nearly as much as the US (fortune cookies were invented in the US I learned)

4. Is very fatty in the meat sense of the term. Not that I would know, seeing as if I’m going to avoid meat anywhere it would be China (there’s dog and donkey here for starters) but Jacob loves the pork and duck here. The goose, not so much.

5. The coolest thing I’ve tried so far is abalone soup. It’s a delicacy.

6. I want to learn how to make good bean curd. Even Jacob likes it as much as meat.

7. No food poisoning yet! I got a bad bug in Thailand but nothing here so far.

8. I can now use chopsticks when I eat. Admittedly, I hold it in a way no Chinese person ever did, but I can get food from the plate to my mouth. I’ll be happy to demonstrate it for you the next time we eat Chinese food together.

          

Our apartment

1. We ended up grabbing even though it’s quite expensive ($1400 not including utilities) because we didn’t want to be on an endless chase in our relatively short term here and twice we said we’d take an apartment we’d looked at and then got told “Oh, someone JUST signed the contract for it.” A Chinese marketing upsell ploy? We didn’t know, but anyways our apartment is quite beautiful and spacious. Turns out Beijing is ranked 16th most expensive city in 2010.

2. Was not cleaned and we had to hire a housekeeper as soon as we arrived because we didn’t have any cleaning supplies. Apparently that’s the norm here.

3. Has a super view of the city and is in between three shopping malls

 

Beijing ward

1. There are two. 800 members in Beijing I read online. We were kindly invited to a 4th of July celebration. 

2. We can’t bring up the Church and no one with a Chinese passport can attend.

3. This is really an atheist society. Religion has no role in the day-to-day activities of most people. Instead, work is the main activity. I said I though Americans were the hardest workers in the world, and Jefferson said, “Wait til you get to China.” People work 7 day weeks, 8 am to 11 pm here. It’s the norm. People want money! I have visited remnants of their religious heritage: a Buddhist lamastery and a Confucian temple.

  

               

 

Jacob

1. Has been asked to take part in an article in "Men’s Health” October issue. Its readership is 12 million.

2. Was contacted by Sports Illustrated for an article on vertical jump training.

3. Has been training people here at local gyms.

4. Did I mention how proud I am of him?

 

Kalli

1. Is a fitness guru’s wife, so I am training accordingly. Gym classes daily, as well as a new record of a one mile run at 9:13. I’ll admit that was with cheating and holding the bar. Hey, it’s not a world record but it’s a personal one.

2. made an important discovery. Apparently there’s a difference between eyeliner on your lower eyelashes and eyeliner on your skin between your lower eyelashes and your eyeball, called the waterline. It looks much better to wear it on the waterline. I am now a happy wearer of eyeliner (I share this in case there’s anyone else clueless about it like me).

3. believes it is worth it to come to China just for the shopping and the food. I have an admission: I don’t like shopping. Is that a betrayal to my sex? Am I unfeminine for that? I hate knowing what I want and being unable to find it, the process of trying on clothes, and worst of all in foreign countries, having to bargain. But here in China, shopping is sightseeing. I have never seen so many foreign, exotic products in my life. And the saleskeepers aren’t aggressive. Nice.

           

PS Hate to break it to everyone, but I’m seeing with my own eyes that at this rate China’s economy will easily surpass ours in a matter of years. They’ve got a billion more people and they work 70 hour weeks. It’s growing right before our eyes.