mini update on the lack of our blog presence in May

After looking at our budget for the past month, I've realized that every two weeks since the last week of April we've had visitors. That's right - ZM, Tan Jovi, Jelly, and Juice Springsteen all came for a visit. It's been a lot of fun to hang out and so what we needed.  Plus there was an added bonus of going to a lot of the best restaurants in town and with one restaurant in particular being visited 6 times in the last month.

Jarred and Shelley came a couple of days ago, on their way back home for the summer so we went out for my birthday while they were here. We tried out this French restaurant that I had been hearing a lot about, and it was as good as I hoped.

Next weekend Aaron and I are going to Hong Kong, then the weekend after that Aaron's mom comes!

That was the mini update -but, I'll be honest. The only reason I posted at all is because while I wanted to show everyone the cupping marks left on my back (in the previous post), I also don't want to get so wrapped up in things we've planned for the next few weeks that I don't blog and that picture of my back stays on the front page of our blog all month long....

from one new experience to another.

So, my head is always tilted to the left. You've probably noticed it. In America you probably saw a CR-V and knew it was me when you saw the silhouette of the driver's head tilted to the left as though lost in thought, or swooning over some romantic event.

I tilt my head because of a weak eye muscle - my head tilts to make it so I can see straight - or so the doctors told me long ago. I bet you feel bad now for laughing at my tilted head.

Well riding a horse for 3 hours (during the modeling trip) while you're head is tilted to the left is pretty hard on the neck. So, since Monday I have been having a lot of neck pain and stiff muscles. As soon as we got back home I decided to go to the Spa around the corner and get a massage to help relax my neck and shoulder muscles. Good idea. Then the lady at the spa recommended I pay just 20 kuai more for a massage that would be better focused on my neck and shoulders. Another good idea.

Mistake.

This is what happened:

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the ancient Chinese medicine treatment of cupping or 拔罐子 (ba guan zi) but it is a treatment where they put cups all over your back, suck the air out of them, sucking your skin into these cups.  They leave the cups on for about 15 minutes, then release them.  This supposedly pulls toxins from within your body and organs to the surface where they can be more easily released.  I had 13 cups put on my back.

I'll tell you what it does do - it hurts. And it bursts the capillaries in your back leaving black bruises all over your skin for what I read on the internet is anywhere from 3-10 days.

I didn't realize I was getting into this when I decided to pay $3 more for the more focused treatment on my neck and shoulders and I wasn't sure how to stop it once it started. After researching though, I have learned that some athletes used this traditional form of medicine during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and apparently so did Gwyneth Paltrow in 2004.

I will say this, it certainly does suck.

Internationally known and locally respected

We had an entourage of about 14 people. 1 professional photographer, 1 person for the lighting, 2 wardrobe people, the boss of the outdoor clothing company we were modeling for, 2 professional mountaineers, and the rest just all along for the ride, invited by the boss man.

We modeled "summer" clothing when it was about 50 something degrees outside and raining. We modeled quick dry clothing, horse riding jackets, mountaineering gear (which we wore as we hiked up the side of a mountain at about 14,000ft), hiking boots that were WAY too small for Aaron and too large for me. I wore a Chinese ladies's size Medium, which meant I had to squish my hips into what we would consider a Child's size Large.  Worst.  We rode horses for 3 hours up and over mountains. We spent one night camping out by the mountains (best sleep of the trip) and 3 nights getting "beauty rest" at hotels. We went to a Tibetan theater show - where we danced on stage and I was awarded with white scarves for my sweet moves.

We learned that "look natural" does not mean - do what you would naturally be doing, but hold a pose and make your body strong in a strange position that is actually not natural at all.

I learned how to say "Get out of the way of my picture," "Wear the bag on your back while taking the picture," "Wear the gaiters," "I'm allergic to horses" and, "No, I'm not sick. I'm just allergic to horses" all in Chinese.  

For some reason posting pictures on this blog sometimes takes a long time, but posting a youtube video, not so much. So I threw together some of the pictures that Aaron and I took into a video. These are not the professional ones. If we get those, I'll make sure to post those too.

Local Bank Account. Global Headache.

My wife has informed me that I cannot use our blog to post negative things.

So, after removing all the negative aspects, here is the story of me acquiring a Chinese bank account:

I now have a Chinese bank account.

Blue steel? Ferrari? La Tigra?

It's official. Aaron is a male model, and I am a female model.

In three weeks we will be hiking up to 13,000 feet to have pictures taken of us in outdoor gear for an outdoor clothing company here in China.

I feel like I am taking crazy pills.

I can't wait.

It's hot here.

Last week the weather jumped from beautiful sunny, 70 degree days to North Carolina summer temperatures.

Here is how we handle the heat:

Men go shirtless. Or just roll their shirts up over their belly. I bet I'll have a similar picture of Aaron before the summer's over.....or maybe before it even begins.

TCKs

Though I don't have kids, living overseas the topic of third culture kids (TCKs) comes up frequently in conversation. TCKs are kids who move from one culture to another culture, and end up having a culture of their own because they don't really identify with either culture. They take things from both cultures and mix them together creating a new thing.

Unlike TCKs since moving to China I would say I identify even more strongly with my birth culture than when I lived there. The friends that we have met since being in this city are from Bulgaria, Australia, New Zealand, the Northwest (practically a different country from the South), Canadians, Chinese, and minorities from China. In my language class, I am the only American, though there are two Canadians. The rest of my classmates are from Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Columbia, Czech Republic, Finland, and Bhutan.

Regine, me, and Megan
(Hong Kong & Australia, The South & Mexico, the Northwest)

When hanging out with friends I tend reinforce my Southern culture by bringing sausage, biscuits, and sweet tea to gatherings (the Aussies and the Kiwis call my biscuits "scones" and my cookies "biscuits". It gets confusing quick). I make wish lists of pretty aprons for hosting and listen to "Song of the South" by Alabama walking to class, which then makes me want to make sweet potato pie immediately. In class, though, I try to break every American stereotype, by reinforcing that Aaron doesn't like to watch NBA and I don't like to go shopping all the time with credit cards.

Living here I also feel the need to bring out my Mexican heritage and so will spend $5 on avocados to make half a cup of guacamole, and bring masa harina and my molcajete to China to make corn tortillas and salsas. I listen to spanish music when I run and speak Spanish in my mind constantly.

Having an Irish last name, I also have a draw to learn more about that, especially since my husband loves that he's Irish. So I make shepherd's pie and learn how to make guinness beef stew and champ.

When I come back to the states I am going to be the most Southern Proper Latina reciting limericks.

my biggest pet peeve

traffic. this is the intersection i walk through every day on my way to class. this was filmed during a less busy part of day, so it's not quite as bad as rush hour. watch the guy carrying some yellow thing. at one point you see him dodging traffic, and in the same shot you can see the green for pedestrians to cross. what you can't see is that those cars also have a green light. the trick to crossing this street, go with the pack. luckily every morning when i go, there is a huge pack to use as protection. so don't worry, mom. and aamee.

where we shop part 2 - chinese Sam's club

Fruits and vegetables are bought in the markets nearby the house, but for imported goods and dairy we have to go elsewhere.

There are a few options in our city for where to buy things like olive oil, pasta, cheese, bacon, cereals, hot chocolate, canned goods, tortilla chips, whipping cream, cream cheese....I could keep going on. Luckily we live close to one of the best options in the city.

It's called Metro, and it is the Chinese version (although I think it's actually German) of a Sam's club. You have to have a membership card to get in, and they sell everything in bulk.

imported pasta

Speaking of, my membership card is from the last Chinese city I lived in 4 years ago and on my card where it states my job description, it simply says that I am an "out of country native" or a "foreign nationality person." That sounds like the best job ever. I wish I could paid just for being a foreigner.


When isolated the last word means scholar, but could also mean warrior or a knight. So maybe my card is really trying to say that my job is to be a foreign knight, foreign scholar, or foreign warrior. I'll take any of those. The picture on the front of my card would indicate something other than a warrior though, since I am cheesin'. I was probably just really happy that I could even get a card at all that day, since I could hardly speak Chinese.

temptations lurking in the dairy section

At the register they scan your card, then scan your receipt to link your purchases with your card. The receipt always has your name printed on it. When they scan my card, even though on my card is my correct name, my receipt always says my name is Hamilton, Jr. and I work for the PetraEnergy Corporation. They never question it. I sometimes wonder if I should start introducing myself as "your friendly neighbor, Hamilton Jr., the foreign petroleum warrior. There were some pretty creative people working the day I filled out my Metro card application.

Metro is in between our house and our school, so pretty much everyday I walk by it, making it a constant temptation to go in and buy some imported product that I never or rarely bought in America, but sounds so good now - like millions of gummi bears or 15 pounds of Mozzarella cheese (I don't even really like cheese that much).

The budget definitely takes a hit when you make a unplanned purchase of a blender and $14 strawberry sorbet because all you want is a smoothie. This is the absolute worst place to go if you are hungry. If you're hungry, go to the meat section of the market. That'll cure your hunger, then go to Metro.

where we shop part 1 - market street

This is market street.

This street is a couple of blocks from the house which makes it convenient for when I need to pick up some last minute things for dinner.

The street is about 1/4 mile long and has about 30 vendors in stalls, all selling vegetables in season (vegetables always in season: chinese cabbage, spinach, another chinese cabbage, another green leafy vegetable, some more leafy vegetables). When I first went to Market st. it was pretty intimidating to try to figure out which stalls were the best quality and price, because they all look equally good to me. So, my decision on where to shop came down to whose Chinese I could understand the easiest, and who seemed the friendliest.

There is a lady that I go to for fruit most of the time, she seems friendly enough, but I cannot understand a word she says. So most times, I pick out the fruit that I want and watch the scale to see how much it is going to cost, since I won't be able to figure out whether she says it costs 4 rmb or 10 rmb. Then I smile, hand over what I think is right, nod, take the change, say "Xiexie" ("thank you"), and quickly walk away, fooling her into thinking I knew what was up. But I normally have no idea.

This is the stand that I have settled on for my vegetable stand. Their vegetables stand out in appearance, and the girl who works the stand is really sweet. She always greets me with a smile, and when other Chinese people walk up to her and ask her about the foreigner buying vegetables, she always tells them "She can understand Chinese." I'm not sure if she always speaks clearly, without the local slang or if she just does that for me, but I walk to the end of market street every time I go, to see her.

Meat for sale

Different stands sell different things. There are vegetable stands and fruit stands. You have meat stands, and you have stands that sell staples like spices, flour, nuts, and eggs. So most times I go to the market I stop at several stands along the way. I don't have a regular egg person or flour person yet, but I'm on the lookout for one. Normally I just go to the first one I come across.


Oh, one of the stands I forgot to mention is what I'll call the sea/river food/delicacies that sell items such as:

HUGE frogs

river turtles

you can make a delicious platter of eel, turtle, frog, and fish

Going to Market street is especially fun on Saturdays because that is the day when farmers from out of town come in on their bikes and line the street selling their fruits and vegetables, and you can often get a better price on fruit from the farmers.

Buying produce in China is a lot like going to a farmer's market in America, but way more fun because each time you go it is an adventure - complaining about the price of food so the locals know you're in the know about food prices, speaking the local dialect, dodging fish jumping out of buckets on suicide missions, chasing chickens around the street (because, hey, they're running around free and who doesn't like chasing chickens?), covering your nose when you walk past certain meat places, and seeing if you can actually understand what people are saying to you, after the sweet girl at the vegetable stand tells them that you can understand them.