Instructions for a delicious Hot Pot

Step 1: Gather some friends. If one speaks Chinese that is always a plus.

Step 2: Make some yummy sauce. Mine is a mixture of sesame, barbeque, parsley, garlic, and scallions.

Step 3: Have your pot prepared with half spicy and half not spicy.

Step 4: Collect your ingredients. We ordered lamb, beef, crab, cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bean curd, and mushrooms.

Step 5: Toss your ingredients into your pot to cook.

Step 6: Use your chopsticks to retrieve your delicious food. Eat up =)

Step 7: The final step is to have a man come and do a noodle dance for you! Enjoy your meal and leave with a very full belly.

Mandarin lesson:
Zhōngguó huǒguō 中国火锅 (Chinese hot pot)

Tiananmen Square and more

First I must say - I had a fabulous birthday in China yesterday. I will blog about that later when I have the photos from my party from Theresa =)

So today we decided to actually be tourists in this city and we went to Tiananmen Square. I am not really sure how I felt about being there. We did not stay for a super long time. We really just browsed through the gifts they had for sale. Really it wasn't much to see. It definitely did not live up to the hype. It just felt like a big tourist trap filled with overly-priced knickknacks. Theresa and I both really do not know much about China's history and to be totally honest with you... I am not really sure of the purpose behind Tiananmen. All I really know about it is that a bunch of protestors were killed there 20 years ago. We wanted to go to The Forbidden City as I know there is more to see there. Unfortunately we got a pretty late start to the day so it was closed by the time we were finished at Tiananmen.

Rubbing these knobs brings you money and luck!

I also got this video of the guards marching:

 
After we dilly dallied around Tiananmen we started on our hunt for some food. We ended up walking passed a beautiful lake that was lined with Weeping Willows and we bough some delicious banana popsicles. We regained our celebrity status again and had a few people stop and ask for pictures with us. This always makes me smile. And of course I like to add them to my repertoire of paparazzi photos.

We continued walking along the lake and ended up in Wangfujing. We ran into food street... well we actually ran into two food streets. The first was not as big or as crowded. There were definitely some pretty intriguing options.

Of course I had to get some videos of the food streets, too. Complete with my lovely commentary!

All-in-all we had a great day. I am totally exhausted and so Theresa and I are going to eat our leftovers from last night and watch a funny movie. I will be sure to update all about my birthday later on.

Oh, update and Gale and Peeta. Gale seems to be doing well. He is very active and is still trying to figure his way out of his cage. Peeta worries me. He does not do much. I am scared he may not make it. I put some more water in their tank and I gave them a little spot to climb up on for "basking." I am going to get them a nicer home soon.

Mandarin lesson:
Měishí jiē 美食街 (Food Street)

Team Peeta

It took me awhile to pick a side and stick to it. If you don't know what I am referring to then you should read The Hunger Games Trilogy. I finished the series today and although I am sad about the way some of it turned out, I must say that the books did not disappoint.

But, this is not a post about my latest read. Nope.

It is a post about my new, four-legged pets! Yep! Theresa and I went to the supermarket tonight (yes, the supermarkets here sell some pets) and picked out two very awesome TURTLES!

I have been wanting turtles for awhile now and Theresa and I decided today would be the day. She has been talking about getting a fish. She did not seem so sure about having turtles as pets. She even told me the other day they will strictly by my pets. I am hoping the turtles will rub off on her. 

It seems as though they may...

Theresa had to be the brave one and pick up a turtle first. I was a little worried at first. I eventually warmed up to the idea. Please make note of the excitement all over my face.

So these are our turtles. First up- Peeta

Peeta is much more subdued than Gale. He is very easy to pick up and he enjoys walking along your hands. He is stirred pretty easily but he does not try to get away. He is a little bit greener than his roommate which makes him easy to recognize. 

Next up- Gale

Gale is definitely more feisty. Notice that we left him in the sink to hang out instead of letting him roam around in our hands. He was trying to break free from the moment we left the market. We were discussing names for our my turtles. I thought of Rafael and Michelangelo. For awhile I wanted Joey and Chandler. But, it was Gale and his plan of escape that made me choose Peeta and Gale. This is a good way for us to be reminded of The Hunger Games.

Gale and Peeta. Friends for life. =)

And me, one happy camper.

 

Mandarin lesson:

Guī 龟 (turtle)

Picnic in the park

Last night Theresa and I had a picnic in the park. Even though I am not always totally in love with all things China, our picnic helped me see again that the people here are so amazing. T and I watched a man doing Tai Chi between some trees in a distance. We talked about how people in our hometowns would think the man was crazy if we saw him doing this at a local park. A woman was leading a dance class on the center square and her students were half my age yet far-surpassed my ballroom dancing skills. Some young men were coaching small boys and girls on roller skating. Parents were strolling through the walkways with their babies in hand. Children were running, laughing, and playing. A man set up shop next to us while he sold toys that lit up once the sun went down. A small fruit market led a bustling business in the corner of the park. Two older men laughed with each other on a bench. Many pedestrians smiled at us while they strolled by. Theresa and I ate sandwiches, carrots, and crackers with peanut butter. We sat on a bench and watched the culture laid out in front of us. I thought about how loving Chinese people are. They understand that it takes a village to raise a child. They genuinely care about each other and their surroundings. They do not need a special occasion to enjoy a day at the park. After we packed up the remains of our meal and headed back home we walked through a crowded square of many people of all ages dancing and twirling each other around. So basically what I am saying is, China is not the place we Americans tend to think it is. It is beautiful. It is kind. It is caring.

Mandarin lesson:
Měilì de  美丽的 (beautiful)

Happy 100 Everyone!

This marks my 100th post since I started this lovely blog of mine. Remember when I told all of you fine folks about my decision to move to China? I was pretty nervous back then. I had this skewed perception of what China was going to be. I stepped off the plane and into this new culture a little over three months ago. I wish I could say every day here has been a good one, but it has simply not been that way. As a matter of fact, there have been many, many bad days. I try not to blog about all of the bad things. You know, I like to stay positive on here.

Theresa and I have had a bit of an annoying weekend but we seem to be handling the stress pretty well. We tried for the third time today to get our Inner Mongolia tickets without success. We have decided to postpone the trip until we can get a Chinese coworker to help us buy the tickets. Basically China makes sure everything is as difficult as possible, especially if you are a foreigner. We should have known buying train tickets was going to be an unpleasant ordeal. So instead of going on a mini vacation for my birthday we are going to go out to a Blue's Bar and hope for some live music. The good news is that my mom is coming in 11 days. I can't believe how fast time flies. I can't wait for her to come because there are so many things I have been wanting to do but have not had the opportunity.

Today my roomie and I spent some time reading on the couch, ate our leftover Mexican food, and then headed out to get our train tickets (which did not happen) and grab a coffee at Central Perk. Yes, Central Perk, from Friends. We even sat on the big, orange couch. We had tried going there yesterday but it was closed, basically because that is how our weekend has been. It was really cool sitting inside the cafe. I was really praying for Ross and Rachel to walk through the door. That would have been something, huh?

I was very excited to find Central Perk

I was very sad to see it was closed.

Day 2 gave us a little more luck. Here we are on the famous orange couch. Also, check out the Chinese Phoebe in the background. I wanted her to start singing Smelly Cat soooo badly!

This post is kind of all over the place...

Basically since T has been back we have been enjoying a lot of good food. We actually found our favorite dumpling place is right down the street from us. We found a delicious Middle Eastern restaurant a couple of nights ago, ate some yummy Mexican, Indian goodness, and even ate some pretty delicious Chinese food last night. Who would have thought? Good Chinese food in China... We went grocery shopping today and now our fridge is full again. Maybe next weekend we will find some more tourist sites and actually explore some of this country that we are living in.

Yesterday, during our second trip to buy our unsuccessful train tickets, we met some travelers from Israel. They were trying to buy tickets to Inner Mongolia, as well. The crazy lady behind counter 16 (the designated foreigner counter) tried telling them to go to The International Hotel to buy their tickets. She told us this exact same thing last Friday. When we found The International Hotel the train ticket office was closed. We went back to the hotel yesterday morning to learn they (no duh) only sell international tickets. We were told to go back to the train station to buy our tickets. While waiting in line for the second time, the travelers from Israel asked us where we were going. We told them about Hohhot and that we wanted to ride horses and camels. When I heard the lady behind the counter telling them about The International Hotel I decided to interject and explain that they were not traveling internationally but instead would still be in China (i.e. they were traveling nationally to another province in China). Then the lady said they did not have train tickets to the city they were going to. That was basically all the help I could offer. When it came to Theresa and I buying our tickets the lady told us to come back today at 9am because we could not purchase our tickets for the 28th until 5 days before leaving. So today we went to a different ticket office that was near Central Perk and we were told there were no sleeper carts available. We decided we did not want to sit on a train for 10 hours overnight and that the vacation would not end up being as much fun because we would be too tired to enjoy it. So, in China, the third time is not a charm.

Even though all of that was a bummer... I have still been having a relatively enjoyable time lately. We are currently watching season one of Friends and we made the decision to add some very special four-legged friends to our Chinese home soon. More on that later.

Basically, I want to tell all of you reading this- Thank you for your love and support! I am happy you have been here along for the ride with me this whole time. Stay tuned for my next 100 posts.

Mandarin lesson:
Yī bǎi 百 (one hundred)

Bye Bye Pretzel M&Ms

Sadly my Pretzel M&Ms only lasted me through this week. I will be rounding the day out M&Mless. What other things do I wish I had readily available in China and am now accepting from anyone wanting to send me a package?

• More pretzel M&Ms
• Photos from home
• T-shirts size M (I didn't bring any with me)
• Special K granola bars
• Reese's cups
• Funny cards
• Words of encouragement

Please send to:
Chelsie Pait
Wangjing North Road #8
Rui Chuang Guo Ji International Center 2nd Floor
Romp N Roll
Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100102
Phone number: 011-86-10-18810054701

In other news-

Having Theresa at work has been really awesome. I love that I no longer have to teach class for several hours in a row. It is nice to have a break in between teaching. I think it also makes us both a bit more energetic during class. We also have more time to play in between and get to know the families better. We signed three new members this morning and are currently celebrating in the office. It is always a happy time when we sign new members. I think we are all really starting to get the hang of things around here.

T and I are thinking up what we want to do this weekend. We have to head back out to the train ticket office in our attempt to get tickets to Inner Mongolia next week. We are planning on leaving next Sunday (the 28th). Hopefully there are still tickets available in a soft sleeper.

Well this has been a very random post. I promise after we actually do something touristy I will update with more China-related things. For now I am going to enjoy my last few M&Ms and continue to chat with the office girls!

Zai jian!

Mandarin lesson:
Ni cong nǎ mǎi de? (Where did you get that?)

You know what I feel like?

I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Theresa and I had a roomie date night and went to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last night. I read the play my freshman year of college but I had not seen the movie. We took the bus (which took an insanely long time) out to Sanlitun. Then we used Theresa's little map that she had drawn out for us and we found our way to The Bookworm. We took our seats on cushions on the floor of the bookstore's roof and settled in for the viewing. We ordered some seriously delicious food. T ate a burger and I had a turkey and goat cheese panini. The movie was awesome. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the way people were laughing and clapping during the good parts. It was really cool to just lay out on the roof of a book store with a bunch of people watching a classic 50's movie.

Two nights ago we stayed in and made Reese's rice krispie treats. Read Theresa's blog for all of the yummy details. It has been really great finally having a roommate. We have been planning things to do during work this week. We are getting very excited for our upcoming trip to Inner Mongolia. We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of my mom and her friend, Tina. We will probably be spending the night in again tonight... snuggled on the couch to a movie and the rest of our delicious treats.

I still miss home but I miss it a lot less now that I have a roommate. I feel like I can finally start having the fun time that I wanted when I signed up for this experience. It really does make a difference having someone to do fun things with.

Mandarin lesson:
Hen hao chi 很好食品 (delicious)

My first package and a haiku about China's internet



Happy birthday to me!

My boyfriend finally made it to China

So I received my very first package here in China! It is complete with Easy Cheese, Halls cough drops, hot chocolate, REAL MAYONNAISE, Glee magnets, pretzel M&Ms and MORE! Bella came in to the office with a box in her hand asking me, "Chelsie? What is this?" And I very happily grabbed it from her hands an ripped the box open! I love getting mail =) Thanks dad, Crystal, and Jara for a wonderful, early birthday present. Theresa and I cannot wait to squirt easy cheese on Ritz crackers and dip veggies in Ranch.

I also wrote a pretty splendid haiku about China's internet last night. I think it sums it up perfectly.

haiku

slow slug hits china

great firewall - can’t hack it

infinite download.

Mandarin lesson:
Youjian 邮件 (mail)

I have a roommate

Well friends- it's official, alert the press! I HAVE A ROOMMATE! I stayed up late on Monday while anxiously awaiting the arrival of Theresa. I heard some commotion in the hallway and very quickly got a phone call asking me to open the door. It has been awesome having someone around to hang out with and talk to.

We went to our favorite dumpling restaurant, did some shopping at H&M, ate doughnuts and ice cream, bought some MAJOR groceries, and went to Ganges (Indian) for dinner. It has been great just knowing someone else is in the house with me.

I am happy that I had the experience to live by myself in a new country but now it is time to have some FUN.

Oh... and check out our stocked fridge and cupboard. Thank goodness for Theresa and her love of food.



Mandarin lesson:
Shi you 室友 (roommate)

Hey, why didn't I think of that?

When I made the decision to move to China I never thought of the possibility that maybe I would not like it.
I thought that living in another country would be fun all the time. I thought that working with people who did not speak my language would be a great learning experience. I thought that teaching children while playing sounded like the best of both worlds.

I thought that Skype conversations home would be enough to keep me satisfied.

I thought that it would be easy to meet people and have new experiences every day. I thought that learning how business operated in a new country would be exciting and fun.

I thought that it would be alright to make friends while knowing that one day I will have to say zai jian.

I thought that my opinion would matter. I thought that I would get used to my new life and would quickly accept it as reality.

I thought that riding on the subway was just a way to travel to another part of the city.


I thought that the drama would stay on my other continent. I thought that I could not be happy alone. I thought that all children wore private-covering clothes. I thought that my singing voice was equivalent to a dying cow. I thought that exercise was the enemy.

Can you figure out which things I thought right and which I thought wrong?

I thought that surviving without knowing the language would be easy.

Today I learned how to give a taxi driver directions to my work.

Mandarin lesson:
Wo yao chu Rui Chuang Guo Ji. Ni bu zhidao ma? Ok- Wo yao chu Wang Jing bei lu. (I want to go to Rui Chuang International Center. You do not no it? Ok- I want to go to Wang Jing bei lu. (My bus stop)).

Aloha from China!

Was our Hawaiian themed Summer Music Festival a success? Well, I will have to say YES it was! What do you think?

Aloha!

5 stars

I saw the final installment of Harry Potter last night. I felt like that basically was the ending of my childhood. It is on to adulthood now. It is hard to believe that Harry Potter has been around for half my life and now it is over. I will leave you with me just saying the movie was awesome. It was by far the best of the eight and I am so happy that even in China I could watch one of my favorite series!

The actual reason for this post is to explain the differences between Chinese and American movie theaters. I was super excited about the fact that we were allowed to bring in whatever food and drinks we wanted to. Herby and I went to KFC to pick up our dinner and we just brought it straight into the theater, no questions asked. Something I think is a bit strange here is that when you buy your ticket you are assigned a seat. I would have been really upset if we ended up on the front row, but thankfully we were on the back row. Apparently it is also totally acceptable to talk during the entire movie. This was something I definitely did not appreciate. The couple next to me was seriously making me a bit crazy. Something else that was really different was the fact that not only were there no commercials before the movie, there were no previews. The movie just started. It was the strangest thing. I was really confused and for a few moments I thought maybe the first minute of the movie was an ad for a new video game or something. I must admit it was strange watching the movie with Chinese subtitles. Yes, the movie was in English, but there were characters at the bottom of the screen for my fellow movie-goers. It was kind of funny because during totally serious parts of the movie people would start cracking up. It kind of made me wonder what exactly those subtitles said as I know Chinglish is quite hysterical.

The word wall yesterday was definitely a good one for the day-

Mandarin lesson:
Diànyǐng 电影 (movie) Diànshìjù 电视剧 (TV series)

Today I am not a foreigner

I woke up this morning and ate Fruity Pebbles for breakfast. I did laundry and the dishes. I facebooked, emailed, and laughed at Adam Sandler.I had gouda cheese with crackers for an afternoon snack. I went to the mall. I bought KFC for dinner and ordered in English (even though they had no idea what I was saying). I watched Harry Potter 7 part 1 (because I am seeing part 2 tomorrow). I lounged around on the couch. I didn't use a bit of my new language that I am learning.

Today I decided I was not going to be a foreigner. I decided I just wanted to pretend to be home for just a few moments. Being lonely is something I am sad to be getting used to. I am down to only one week before my roomie gets back from Wuhan. I have stuck it out for this long... just a little more to go.

Mandarin lesson:
Shǒuyè (home) Shēngbìng (sick) Xiǎng jiā (homesick)

QiXi Festival and WangJing gets cooler

Today is Chinese Valentine's Day (a.k.a. QiXi Festival). My wonderful assistant, Bella, has been teaching me for the last week or so everything I need to know about this holiday. She explained that roses are very expensive today and dinner reservations can be hard to come by. Well so far it sounds pretty similar to the American Valentine's Day which we all know and love. Actually, they are two very different stories. QiXi Festival happens on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar. Basically the story goes like this: Zhinü was the daughter of a goddess in heaven. She had the important job of weaving clouds. Apparently she did not love being in heaven. She decided to escape and come to earth to have some fun. She ended up meeting a boy, Niulang, and they fell in love and got married and even had two children without the permission of her mother, you know, the goddess in heaven. When the goddess found out she ordered Zhinü back to heaven and back to her cloud-weaving job. Needless to say, Niulang was very upset that he had lost he wife. One day his ox began to speak and it told him that he could kill it and wear it's skin and then he could go to heaven to find his wife. So the man sadly killed his ox and clothed himself in the ox hide and brought his two children with him to heaven. When the goddess found out the Niulang had come to heaven to find Zhinü she got very mad and she made a river in the sky with her hairpin which formed the Milky Way and it also separated the two stars, Altair and Vega. Zhinü and Niulang have to sit on opposite sides of the river while one weaves clouds and the other takes care of the children. However, once a year all of the magpies (which are apparently a type of bird) in the world go to heaven and make a bridge for the two lovers to meet. So on the day of QiXi Festival married and unmarried women are supposed to go to the temple and make a single wish. Married women wish for a baby and unmarried women wish for a husband. It is important not to be greedy and make more than one wish or there may be dire consequences. Young girls practice their sewing and weaving skills to show they will make good wives. Apparently people also paint ox horns in memory of the sacrificial ox of Niulang. I was a little bummed to hear that temples are not just open 24/7, so unfortunately I could not make it after work to wish for my husband. Bella and Herby also joked with me that maybe they could not understand English anyways. But I did learn how to say, "I want a rich husband," and I looked to the stars tonight to make my wish. Perhaps they heard me?

In other news, WangJing may actually be cooler than I previously thought. I decided that in honor of the holiday I would take myself out for a nice dinner. I had seen a Ganges Indian Restaurant the other day when I took the bus out to Sanlitun (i.e. America Town). I hopped on the bus from work and took it a few stops passed my apartment to eat some yummy Indian food. Then I walked around for a little while and found a foreign grocery store, an Irish Pub, a few bars, what looked to be a cafe of some sorts, and a STARBUCKS! As you know, my obsession with Starbucks has really skyrocketed since moving to China. I am so happy to know that there is one only four bus stops away from my home. While I was waiting for the bus to come to take me home I checked out my Chinese surroundings. I found tons of restaurants, including a few dumpling places. I am thinking Theresa and I will have a lot to explore in our new home city. There were also a lot of foreigners. I noticed a few Americans, some Indians, Europeans, and others from all around the world. I am really happy to know this area is so close to my house. I am thinking it is not so bad here!

Note: Starbucks, Cafe del Mar, Ganges, and MORE!

Street food! I have no clue what he has on that grill... Some sort of bird.

Mandarin lesson:
Wǒ xiǎng yào yīgè yǒu qián de lǎogōng. 我想要一个有钱的老公 (I want a rich husband.)

I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.

How far does this statement really take us?

Although I am a little out of the loop and tend to receive news a few days or weeks after it happens, the Save Our Schools march led in Washington a few days ago led me to do a little research on what is happening this summer with education in America.

I watched this video of Matt Damon and was empowered by his words to the teachers of our great nation. I am happy to know there are "millions of ordinary people" supporting teachers.




The Save Our Schools march was held a few days ago as a protest on Washington to give control of public schools back to the public.

I also recently read about Atlanta's cheating scandal which really comes as no shock to me. I believe that as long as testing determines a state's, city's, school's, teacher's, student's success... there will always be some form of cheating. I would like to know when in life it is accepted to evaluate someone's performance by having them bubble in a sheet of paper. I thought learning was supposed to be shown through action, motion, application. How is it possible to apply knowledge by coloring in a bubble on an answer sheet? Furthermore, I would like to know which of the writers and supporters of standardized testing were ever actually bubble-tested themselves.

Matt Damon got it right when he said the past decade has been a bad one for teachers. With the passage of No Child Left Behind the federal government made sure to promote the ideology of teaching to the test. And now with Race To the Top, America's education is being run more businesslike than ever. There are too many hands in public education right now which do not belong. People who have never taught a day in their lives are making decisions for the future of our country which they have no right to make.

I understand that it is obviously easier said than done, but America is headed down a slippery slope and with the rising bubble-test generation of leaders, I am not so sure we will come out on top. America's public education is supposed to create democratic citizens and responsible leaders for tomorrow. Instead, we are running schools like offices. We are promoting business executives to fund charter schools and saying that there is money to be made at the expense of a few local schools losing funding. Teachers are given monetary incentives to ensure passing percentages on standardized tests. Students are carrying the burden built by a failing bureaucracy.

I do believe in accountability in your profession. I believe in meeting standards and accomplishing goals. I believe in incentives, rewards, positive feedback, negative reinforcements for a wrongdoing. I do think their should be consequences when a teacher is no longer doing their job to the best of their abilities. I do think students should receive remediation when falling behind. I do believe we live in a world of great competitors and that we should strive for our nation to be the best.

I do not believe we should meet these expectations by closing schools, firing hundreds of teachers, creating more tests, or punishing children who have been wronged by the system. Why shouldn't we move to a method of testing which encompasses the whole child instead of just part? Portfolio-based testing could provide evidence of a child's abilities and would show the improvement made throughout the year, could focus more solely on the areas in which the child needs to work on, and would give us a better picture of the child's abilities. I am not going to get into the details of other modes of accountability. I am, however, going to say that the way we are grinding our students and our educators today is not working.

The public schools in America are supposed to help raise generations of children with firm ideals in democracy, freedom, independence, and citizenship. I am learning from living in a country that does not promote these beliefs in any way, that America is a country of great value to the world and we are lucky to call ourselves Americans. Why do we drill and test students so harshly in a country that was founded by free-thinkers? I am seeing that education in America and education in China may have more in common than I originally thought. The difference is that education in America is supposed to produce creative citizens in a free world and education in China is supposed to produce pawns in a government-controlled society.

Something to think about.

Mandarin lesson:
Kàngyì 抗议 (protest)

Bedroom Inspiration Board

So you saw the dreams of my living room last night. Here are some products of my dreamland future bedroom. Still sticking to the same color palette. I think I want the whole apartment to match! How neat would that be?

Note that the chaise is shown in both rooms. If the bedroom is big enough (in my non existent home) then I think it would be nice to have a reading nook. Also, those final two items could make up my vanity. The TV stand can lose the middle shelves and I can insert cute bins and the mirror can rest on top of the stand. IKEA was recently bookmarked on my favorites if you can't tell. I know that you do not see any yellow here... I am thinking gray walls still... but yellow accents in the room. Some frames, pictures, pillows, a throw blanket. Yellow, gray, and white- basically my favorite palette ever.

By the way, a post that actually has to do with my life will be coming up tonight. You know, my real  I am living, breathing, sleeping in China kind of life. Not my apartment dreamland that will be in a little less than a year kind of life. But I love my apartment that has yet to come.