Yes, I saw this written on a shirt yesterday, while I was walking down the street. I didn't have a camera, so I thought I would go back today. (I wanted to get my hair cut anyway.) I went back to the shop, and the shirt wasn't in the window anymore, and they wanted 189 yuan for it, and they wouldn't let me pay them to take a picture.
I had a great day. I went to Coffee Language downtown. I had coconut black tea and pumpkin-seafood soup. I had my book The Changeling, which I haven't read for a long time. It was very relaxing. They were playing really great music too, Neil Sedaka, Skeeter Davis, Sinatra, and one that sounded like a Sinatra song, but it was in Chinese.
I got a massage and a haircut. The massage was as good as usual. The haircut was my first one in China, and can I just say: These guys are good...These guys are very good. At first, I had to wait because the place was busy. It looked busy enough that if I was in the States, I would have to wait for an hour. The great thing about businesses here, is that they always have a huge staff on hand. So, I waited for 15 min, watching some fish in a fountain and drinking complementary green tea. They took me to a basement area, where they had set up some bed-like implements over wash basins. There are mostly men down there, and their jobs are to wash people's hair. American salons could take a lesson from Chinese salons because in Chinese salons your head is not supported by your neck in the wash basin. There is a little rubber square attached, which supports the back of your head. They massage your head for 30 min, very thoroughly. At the end, they clean your ears. I mean they put a swab in your ear, and it was so creepy. I was like, "I don't even know you!"
After that, I went back upstairs for the main event. I said "yi li mi-one cm,' and he got it. I think he checked the work of my American salon, and just followed the basic idea of what I had done previously. Another observation is, I don't speak much Chinese, but the stylist actually only cut off 1 cm, as I asked. I don't think I have ever succeeded in getting such a small amount cut in the States, where I enjoy stylists who speak my language, and I can tell them the "I'm trying to grow my hair out" story.
-吴佩芙
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
I don't get it, but thanks for the free nutmeg...
Another successful trip to town ended with me and my bags full of bread, Campbell's corn and mushroom soup, dried mint (that's right...), a fleece hoodie, and a 10-yuan Christmas tree and garland.
I had a goal, though. It was to find nutmeg. I had done some sleuthing, and I found out that nutmeg is used in Chinese medicine, for all kinds of crazy things, including for abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting mostly. It also has hallucinogenic properties. Anyway, if it's used in Chinese medicine, I figured I would be more likely to be able to find it. The supermarket didn't have it, but I found a little pharmacy while I was walking down the street. It was a Western pharmacy with TCM herbs in the back. I asked for rou dou kou, and the clerk took me to the back, and opened the huge jar filled with nutmeg. The scent was delicious, and there, among the Chinese clients getting their odd mixtures of herbs wrapped in white paper, I asked for 3 nutmeg seeds.
I got them wrapped in a plastic bag, and they were handed to me. I asked "Duo shao qian?--How much money?' The answer was "Bu yong, bu yong--It's not necessary." "Zhen de ma?--Really?" She was serious. Maybe it was the Laowai discount; maybe it was so little that they didn't know what to charge; or maybe it was a sample, and they're hoping I'll come back to buy 100 next week.
Christmas isn't Christmas without custard/eggnog or gingerbread, so I'm gearing up to make them in my crock pot. Nutmeg figures prominently in both, so in fact, one could argue that nutmeg itself makes the season. My colleagues grandma sent her some biscotti, flavored with nutmeg, which she shared with some of us, and I've been craving the warm, homey feeling of nutmeg ever since.
-吴佩芙
I had a goal, though. It was to find nutmeg. I had done some sleuthing, and I found out that nutmeg is used in Chinese medicine, for all kinds of crazy things, including for abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting mostly. It also has hallucinogenic properties. Anyway, if it's used in Chinese medicine, I figured I would be more likely to be able to find it. The supermarket didn't have it, but I found a little pharmacy while I was walking down the street. It was a Western pharmacy with TCM herbs in the back. I asked for rou dou kou, and the clerk took me to the back, and opened the huge jar filled with nutmeg. The scent was delicious, and there, among the Chinese clients getting their odd mixtures of herbs wrapped in white paper, I asked for 3 nutmeg seeds.
I got them wrapped in a plastic bag, and they were handed to me. I asked "Duo shao qian?--How much money?' The answer was "Bu yong, bu yong--It's not necessary." "Zhen de ma?--Really?" She was serious. Maybe it was the Laowai discount; maybe it was so little that they didn't know what to charge; or maybe it was a sample, and they're hoping I'll come back to buy 100 next week.
Christmas isn't Christmas without custard/eggnog or gingerbread, so I'm gearing up to make them in my crock pot. Nutmeg figures prominently in both, so in fact, one could argue that nutmeg itself makes the season. My colleagues grandma sent her some biscotti, flavored with nutmeg, which she shared with some of us, and I've been craving the warm, homey feeling of nutmeg ever since.
-吴佩芙
Saturday, December 1, 2007
I'm from out of town...
The house is quiet again. DBF's parents and cousin stayed for one night, visiting from Guangzhou. It was a good visit. I met them after the Friday meeting at the Front Gate. We went to my place, to get settled, and then we had dinner at East Gate. The English Festival opening night performance was held on Friday night, so there was some built-in entertainment for the visit as well. We also watched and looked at or exchanged digital photo presentations of our travels.
They brought some very useful gifts, including Chinese chestnuts, peanuts in shells, mandarin oranges, pears, dried sweet potatoes, and a bag of hyacinth beans, which they thought were lentils. I looked online to find out how to cook them, and it looks like they might be poisonous. Well, poisonous if you don't cook them and change the water many times.
We ate at the student cafeteria in the morning. Then we walked around the campus, saw the reservoir. Then the cousin's friend from the city came to pick us up, and we went to the fort on the seaside, which according to the sign is made out of granite, glutinous rice, brown sugar, and lime. It was interesting, and there were some photo ops.
We had dimsum for lunch, and I tried fish balls. I didn't like them, but I managed to swallow 7 of them, since it took so much effort to get the fish ball soup without meat floating in it.
-吴佩芙
They brought some very useful gifts, including Chinese chestnuts, peanuts in shells, mandarin oranges, pears, dried sweet potatoes, and a bag of hyacinth beans, which they thought were lentils. I looked online to find out how to cook them, and it looks like they might be poisonous. Well, poisonous if you don't cook them and change the water many times.
We ate at the student cafeteria in the morning. Then we walked around the campus, saw the reservoir. Then the cousin's friend from the city came to pick us up, and we went to the fort on the seaside, which according to the sign is made out of granite, glutinous rice, brown sugar, and lime. It was interesting, and there were some photo ops.
We had dimsum for lunch, and I tried fish balls. I didn't like them, but I managed to swallow 7 of them, since it took so much effort to get the fish ball soup without meat floating in it.
-吴佩芙
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hello, Touxie!
The apartment is cold these days. I find myself working with cold feet. I thought I would buy some socks and house sandals at QiBaJiu. I got some cute socks, and the slippers were so cute that I couldn't not get the Hello Kitty slippers.
-吴佩芙
-吴佩芙
Monday, November 26, 2007
Gua
The apartment smells like home. I made my Red, Yellow, and Green Dish tonight with some modifications. It's actually Green and Green today. It's supposed to be red pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini. I got green peppers at the vegetable stall on campus. Walmart had some zucchini-looking things. I suppose they are called Mexican squash in America. I got two big ones in case it was the right thing, and it was. It's totally unreproducible, though, because it was the only squash that didn't have an English tag at Walmart, and I could only recognize the character 瓜（gua: melon, gourd, or squash).
The topics of class are becoming drudgery. We started "immigration," but it can't be some interesting issue with provoking questions, it's about the immigration waves of the 1800's, like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It's designed for ESL, really. I don't feel comfortable with the topic because I feel like I'm always talking about America and how great America is and why people would want to go there. It's just too nationalistic for me. Oh, and by the way, there was also Angel Island, which is not exactly positive. I just don't want to discuss the topic at all. It's on the schedule for three weeks.
Last night I had a dream. I took Kavi to the vet. We had to wait a long time. In fact, I was getting a little mad because we were being passed over. And then I looked at him and he had collapsed in the box. I took him to drink from the water fountain, and he was ok. It was a little disturbing, though.
-吴佩芙
The topics of class are becoming drudgery. We started "immigration," but it can't be some interesting issue with provoking questions, it's about the immigration waves of the 1800's, like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It's designed for ESL, really. I don't feel comfortable with the topic because I feel like I'm always talking about America and how great America is and why people would want to go there. It's just too nationalistic for me. Oh, and by the way, there was also Angel Island, which is not exactly positive. I just don't want to discuss the topic at all. It's on the schedule for three weeks.
Last night I had a dream. I took Kavi to the vet. We had to wait a long time. In fact, I was getting a little mad because we were being passed over. And then I looked at him and he had collapsed in the box. I took him to drink from the water fountain, and he was ok. It was a little disturbing, though.
-吴佩芙
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Love
"God's grace is undeserved, but it's not unconditional."
Someone left their printing on the printer in the office. I was there to print class materials, but since it was left there, I thought I would glance to see if I could deliver it to the appropriate person. The material was Christian in nature, which didn't surprise me too much. Having not gone to church since before I came to China, I thought I would read a little to see what the study was about. This sentence sent me spinning.
Christian or no, does this sentence even make sense? Undeserved means unearned, which means you can't do something to earn it. Unconditional means made without conditions or unreserved. There are too many negatives in the sentence: "God's grace is undeserved, but it is conditional." Ew, gross. Doesn't putting a condition on something mean that you earn it? The question went on to say that one must be humble to receive God's grace. Does this make sense: The condition is to be humble, and by being humble you are deserving.
It was drilled into all of our heads early that Grace means 'undeserved love.' I guess it's kind of assumed that undeserved also means unconditional, since whatever makes one deserving must be a condition. I just don't understand how a sentence like that makes someone feel better. Maybe if you meet the condition, it's not a big deal to you. It's the premise that bothers me: If you meet the condition, then you are better than those who haven't met it. Instead of feeling good for feeling good's sake, we have to tear down other people in the process. I just don't think this should fall under the umbrella of "Good News."
-吴佩芙
Someone left their printing on the printer in the office. I was there to print class materials, but since it was left there, I thought I would glance to see if I could deliver it to the appropriate person. The material was Christian in nature, which didn't surprise me too much. Having not gone to church since before I came to China, I thought I would read a little to see what the study was about. This sentence sent me spinning.
Christian or no, does this sentence even make sense? Undeserved means unearned, which means you can't do something to earn it. Unconditional means made without conditions or unreserved. There are too many negatives in the sentence: "God's grace is undeserved, but it is conditional." Ew, gross. Doesn't putting a condition on something mean that you earn it? The question went on to say that one must be humble to receive God's grace. Does this make sense: The condition is to be humble, and by being humble you are deserving.
It was drilled into all of our heads early that Grace means 'undeserved love.' I guess it's kind of assumed that undeserved also means unconditional, since whatever makes one deserving must be a condition. I just don't understand how a sentence like that makes someone feel better. Maybe if you meet the condition, it's not a big deal to you. It's the premise that bothers me: If you meet the condition, then you are better than those who haven't met it. Instead of feeling good for feeling good's sake, we have to tear down other people in the process. I just don't think this should fall under the umbrella of "Good News."
-吴佩芙
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thanksgiving
On Thanksgiving night, I gave a speech at the English Lounge. The students were interested in Thanksgiving traditions, so I had a PowerPoint prepared. My distinguished colleague got the students to help make apple crisp in a rice cooker. It was really fun.
Friday night, we were all invited to the swanky hotel in town for a Thanksgiving buffet. It was really exciting, although there weren't a lot of traditional foods. I'd been wanting soup so bad, but the pumpkin soup was more like a roux. It was a nice dinner, and so exciting to go to the swanky hotel. It's not the same without Aunt Mrl's slow cooker corn and cheese and green bean casserole.
Today was my plan to go to Walmart for something to make into soup, some oatmeal, and contact solution. I found Campbell's soup, corn with mushroom. I had it for lunch with some Chinese black-and-blue fry bread with sesame seeds, which I found out was stuffed with red beans. Oh well, it was just like the Bread Garden. The soup smelled and tasted like corn casserole. Mmmm, soup!
-吴佩芙
Friday night, we were all invited to the swanky hotel in town for a Thanksgiving buffet. It was really exciting, although there weren't a lot of traditional foods. I'd been wanting soup so bad, but the pumpkin soup was more like a roux. It was a nice dinner, and so exciting to go to the swanky hotel. It's not the same without Aunt Mrl's slow cooker corn and cheese and green bean casserole.
Today was my plan to go to Walmart for something to make into soup, some oatmeal, and contact solution. I found Campbell's soup, corn with mushroom. I had it for lunch with some Chinese black-and-blue fry bread with sesame seeds, which I found out was stuffed with red beans. Oh well, it was just like the Bread Garden. The soup smelled and tasted like corn casserole. Mmmm, soup!
-吴佩芙
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