Forget white Christmas! The Beijing smog is back after a week and half of clear blue sunny skies. (It may have been longer, but I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t here.)
Looks like I’m in for a dirty grey Christmas instead. Cheery!
That darn ambiguous humane quality
Edited this graf today:
Salmon’s cultural awareness and passion make poignant contrast to the indifference of Hainan residents. To protect local culture in Hainan requires enhancing local people’s recognition of the importance of culture and raising their humane quality. Then the international traveling island of Hainan can be founded successfully.
Besides sounding editorial, there was that gem of a sentence in the middle. Perhaps the awkward translation from Chinese to English has something to do with its uncomfortable political incorrectness, but my interpretation of the sentence is that Hainan residents have insufficient levels of “humane quality.” Is that supposed to be humanity? Is the reporter insinuating that Hainan residents are inhumane? Uncivilized barbarians?
Here’s the context: The government is spending lots of money to develop the island province of Hainan, China’s version of Hawaii. (It is not a “traveling island.”) As such, there are all these committees and organizations researching how best to proceed and subsequently reporting their findings. In the process, the often-touchy and easily offended Chinese government, notorious for its banning of any bad reports about it and its actions, has allowed this unflattering detail about its people in the media.
So, important distinction to be made here: Ripping on the government—wrong. Ripping on the people—totally OK.
Saving money and living better?
Finally found a decent apartment for a decent price with decent roommates in a decent location. My bedroom is pretty small, my mattress a bit firm (but not plywood), and my window nook/balcony nonexistent, but I am satisfied. And moved in! It feels good to be organized again and not living out of three suitcases.
My apartment, besides being in a rather upscale complex, complete with a courtyard garden, is also right down the street from a Walmart, where I immediately went to pick up some food and personal necessities. It got me thinking: Because China is usually backwards, is Walmart still evil as it is in the States? I don’t know what the impact Beijing Walmarts have had on the local stores; my feeling is that it hasn’t been very big. Prices are already low, and I can’t imagine Walmart prices being significantly lower that people would brave Beijing’s inconvenient transportation system just to save a few yuan, especially when Wu-Marts, Chaoshifas and Carrefours are themselves everywhere. Besides, with everything Walmart sells made in China, it’s not like shopping there is bad for the economy.
I got myself a down pillow for 79kuai at Walmart. Score!
Let it snow!
…back home.
Here’s some evidence that God hates me: It snowed in North Carolina today, a week after I left. According to my father, they got seven inches, which is more than anything we got in the past few years. I swear, this is a sign that I made the wrong decision.
Signs of Christmas
Baby, it’s cold outside. I’m parading around Beijing in negative temperatures. It hasn’t been above freezing (or anywhere near) in days. The lakes and canals are all frozen. Although, weather.com says it will be getting a little warmer over the next week.
Signs of Christmas are scattered throughout the city. I’ve seen stickers on random store windows and LED lights wrapped around bare trees. In the lobby of my office building, there are fake Christmas trees (they’re even decorated!) and Santa Claus heads hanging from the ceiling.
But perhaps the most festive Christmas display I’ve seen to date is hanging in Xizhimen on the side of a building. “High Christmas,” it shouts out in swirly letters to drivers-by, accompanied by what I am assuming are a band of blitzed-out-of-their-minds dolphins in sunglasses and coats rocking out.
Finally, Pt. 2
Last night here in the States for a year — unless I decide to blow all of my money on a plane ticket back home at some point. I’m hoping I won’t cave. Maybe I’m hoping that I will.
So tomorrow I will be spending pretty much an entire day waiting at airports or on a plane, after which it will magically be Monday evening in Beijing. Hello, new life. Still, I can’t help feeling a little (very) sad about things I will miss. Things such as (in kind of a particular order):
- (Ex)Boyfriend
- And subsequently, sex. Even in the unlikely event that an Asian guy is attracted to me, there’s still the very likely chance that he doesn’t know how to do it safely.
- Dairy. In China, milk comes in a bag. It’s not even refrigerated. It’s weird and creeps me out, so I’m going to miss milk. I’m also going to miss milkshakes and ice cream (which is kind of expensive). And I’m a sucker for creamy stuff, like creme brulee. And cheese!
- Other desserts, like cupcakes and pies and tarts and cheesecakes and, well, ice cream.
- Ovens. How am I going to bake desserts? Chinese people don’t seem to like things that concentrate heat in a box. They don’t have dryers, either, so I’m also going to miss soft, warm clothes fresh from the dryer.
- Clothes, in general. I left two-thirds of my skirts and dresses at home. I used to be able to wear a different dress or skirt for two whole months.
- Driving. I used to hate it, but what a difference a year makes! It’s nice to have that control, feel that superiority, and know I’m better than 99 percent of people out there. And on the many long drives back and forth between home and Chapel Hill, I loved speeding down the interstate with my favorite songs blasting and my mind wandering. You can’t really do that in Beijing.
Anyway. There’s more, like America and freedom and the like. But in an effort to not feel too sad about leaving all of these things behind, I am reminded that there is one thing I will not miss:
- Oysters.
Finally
Today is Dec. 4, three months after I accepted a job offer in China. I am still in the United States.
The Chinese embassy has approved my visa (Z class, sometimes known as a Foreign Expert visa — thanks, China, for recognizing my brilliance!). I am cleared to go back to Beijing to work, and I will arrive there Dec.14.
For anyone keeping track, I accepted the job offer Sept. 4. And for those of you who are considering working for a Chinese firm, here are some obstacles you might run into: Continue reading
Belt-busting time fillers
I’m supposed to move to China at some point in the near-ish future. Besides finding random ways to improve myself and friends/relatives to pester, I’ve taken to filling my otherwise-useless time with creating things. I’ve turned to my trusty passion, cooking and baking, basking in the white side of me. Oh, how I love producing edible treats of mouthwatering delight. (Strangely, most of the time, my food experiments don’t marbelize into such.) I wish I had been able to cook more while I was in school. Now I definitely won’t be able to cook much or bake at all in China.
A list of things I have cooked or baked since I’ve been home:
- Spiced apple pie — as American as you can get!
- Feta chicken with angel hair pasta
- Bell pepper chicken with feta orzo
- Chicken cordon bleu with prosciutto and provolone
- Avgolemono, orzo and chicken soup
- Smoked gouda and edam macaroni and cheese with chard and salami
- Coconut cranberry muffins
- Tapioca pudding with coconut milk
Things to take away from China’s birthday party
Nothing like a good op-ed piece and a national birthday to reawaken my pro-China inclinations. The Grand Parade was certainly magnificent (you can always count on China to put on an over-the-top spectacle), but still super dry and hella boring. The only highlights were:
- When, during the flag-raising ceremony, the soldier threw the flag into the air (at about 7:35 in the video). That is just cool.
- When the all-female brigade passed by, Hu Jintao cracked a smile for the first time and started applauding. Who doesn’t like hundreds of rifle-toting women in blue uniform dresses marching in a unison bloc?
- The nukes. On parade.
As for the op-ed, it should provide a cursory introduction to the fundamental ideas behind China’s actions, as well as a reminder that China does have veritable ideals of its own, fashioned from its millennia of history. They force my mind to bend in ways that my mind can’t (much like physics), but only time will tell if they will deliver. Cynics and critics still have a lot to say about China’s actual adherence and belief in those eight ideas (China’s selection of facts, the CCP’s performance legitimacy belies the party-state it set up), but the PRC is just 60 years old. While it has made some very rapid changes and progress in some areas, it remains — almost frustratingly — slow in reforming other areas.
60 years of the PRC!
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