Crazy Day

Today we walked up to the Taoist temple. My colleague hadn't been there yet, so we both had our exercise clothes and comfortable shoes, and we went up. It's always very fresh when you get to the top. The way there is not so fresh, though.

We had a meeting at noon. Just before the meeting I decided on my National Holiday plans, which will include some time in Xi'an. The meeting was so long, and the whole time I was considering how to get the tickets booked, and then how to find the office to pick up the tickets. Anyway, I had to run home, and when I got home, I realized that I was logged in at the office. I had to go to the office to log out. Then I went back home, and booked the tickets. Meanwhile, two of my distinguished colleagues were downtown waiting for me to call.

So I called them. We realized that I made a mistake in my booking, so they had to come with me to get the booking changed anyway (their Chinese is far superior). So since I was going downtown alone, I finally ran to the cell phone shop, and bought a cell phone. I asked two girls there to come with me and help in case I didn't understand the cell phone people. Then I was able to call them, and get real time directions when I wasn't sure where to get off on the bus. I couldn't get a taxi, so I took the bus, and they met me, and we took a petty cab to the office.

Anyway, the end result is I got my tickets to Zhengzhou and Xi'an. Then we took a cab back. And I had EL tonight, but it was good. The students were talking about lots of interesting topics.

-吴佩芙

The Banyan Tree

Banyan trees are a new fascination, since moving to China. There is a restaurant near campus called "The Banyan Tree" where patrons eat under tarps and the banyan tree's branches. It's the best food we can get around campus, and they know that vegetarian food means "no meat whatsoever."

Ever since I was little, I have loved trees with things hanging down, such as willow trees. Banyans have air roots that hang down, like brown fuzzy strings. When an air root reaches the ground, It begins to transform itself into a vine and eventually into a twisty trunk. This is why a banyan tree's trunk is actually a mass of thick twisted vines, reaching an outstretched hand out and grasping the ground.

There is an even older and bigger tree near the middle of the campus.

As you walk along the road that goes through the campus, suddenly the walk opens to the wide expanse of shade under the banyan tree. Bricks are tiled in a circle beneath it, which makes it stand out among all the other trees.

-吴佩芙

Stop Everything...

...and cue the angelic music. Today I found a pharmacy.

I went to Lotus with my neighbor. We are both new to China, so we thought we would try to go to Lotus on our own. That way if we get lost, at least we'll be lost together. In the end, there were students on the same bus going and returning, so we had people to talk to and a little reassurance that we were going the right way. I had a few goals today.
Baking soda: negative.
Flour: affirmative.
Curling iron: negative. (Well, expensive and all complicated ones are available.)
Lentils, written in pinyin and characters: negative. :(

Another goal was to get bandages and something to disinfect a cut. So I asked a few people by saying bian1 dai4, which means "bandage." I also showed them a hang-nail, and made a motion like wrapping something around my finger. Eventually, I got pointed to this little area in the front of the store. It was a real pharmacy with everything. I got bandages and some cotton swabs with disinfectant inside. I also got tiger balm. My cold is almost gone, so I didn't spend the time trying to negotiate cold medicines. But, wow! Nobody knew that it was at Lotus. People were telling me crazy places to go to a pharmacy, which were far from us and difficult to get to. This pharmacy definitely had anything you need. It also had English labels on the shelves and cases, such as 'gastro-intestine' and 'gynecologic' and 'fever/nausea' and 'vitamins.' My neighbor got some calcium supplements there too.

I don't even care that much about the lentils anymore. It's just so satisfying to know where the pharmacy is, for when I get sick, and I don't feel like navigating the city to find one.

Yay!
-吴佩芙

Rainbow California Happy Zone

I've seen a lot of interesting Tshirts around lately. "Rainbow California Happy Zone" is one of the more enjoyable ones, but I thought "Jesus Loves Even You" was also notable.

Also notable today: we went to Lotus, which is Chinese Walmart. I got a couple of towels and some Chinese children's books that have both Chinese characters and pinyin. They are really cute. Another great find was butter, which I need to make that box of Mac and Cheese I brought, and any that others send me . Butter comes in a baby package, not bigger than 1/2 c. Finally, I went to the vegetable stand, and got green pepper and carrots. I made a stirfry meal to break in my wok and rice cooker.

This evening we had the most enjoyable food. It's the most enjoyable for me because I didn't have to pick around or pretend that I don't see the meat in a "vegetarian" dish. It was Chinese barbecue, which is available in a stall right outside the campus gate. Everything is on a stick, and you choose the types you want to be cooked on the spot with special spicy-salty seasonings. I got eggplant, tofu, and greens. It was delicious. The woman in the stall keeps track of everything, and at least for us, she remembers our choices and charges us appropriately when we leave.

吴佩芙

I made it...

Yes, that's right. I'm in China. All the blogger buttons are in Chinese, so luckily I was familiar with their locations before moving. The apartment is very nice. There's even a person who comes to clean once a week. Isn't that shocking. When they told us that, we thought they were joking.

So far, I've eaten a wonderful lunch at a nice campus restaurant. We brought leftovers home, so I was also able to have dinner from that meal. I bought some plain yogurt yesterday, which I had for lunch, along with a Nutrigrain bar that I had brought.

I can see that I will be getting a lot of exercise, since there are no elevators in the buildings. My own apartment is on the fourth floor. I'm so happy to be walking everywhere again, even if it's sometimes hot and uncomfortable to do so.

Furthermore, I had almost no jet lag. The plane to Hong Kong was from 1:50 am in the US, to 7:00am in China, and it was 13 hrs. So I slept on the plane, and when we arrived, it was morning, just as if I had slept a normal night, except that I had to sleep sitting up. Also, the airline food was pretty good.

More later,
MsLin
吴佩芙