Thanksgiving with Chinese Characteristics

Thanksgiving for me this year was celebrated in two parts:

Part 1: My Show Competition

This competition took place at work and as one of the newbies (along with my friend, Joel) we were 'volunteered' to organize and run this event...even though we'd never seen it, never heard of it. That's what new people get to do, right?! :) It turned out to be fine but we were running all over the place for a couple days leading up to the competition. The My Show Competition is one of the biggest advertisements for our center as it shows students giving speeches or performing skits, showcasing their English levels. We had 9 groups/individuals sign up to perform this year, based on the theme of Thanksgiving. It was everything that a competition should be...music, prizes, a host to lead the event, judges and visual aids. Most of the students did speeches on being thankful for parents or teachers and there was one really amazing skit where the students totally got into character...it was pretty amazing to see them do that! One of our favorite students, an older guy who is a doctor but also wants to learn English, chose the topic, "We should be thankful for the contributions of white people." At first we were thinking, wHaT in the WoRLd??? but it ended up being a very well-done presentation. Another quick story about this guy...I had him in an English corner once and during EC's the students are supposed to come with topics that they want to discuss. They almost always say things like travel, shopping, food or TV shows but one day I asked them what they wanted to talk about and without missing a beat this guy said, "Somali pirates." I love him! :) Anyways, back to the competition...when it was over we served up some roasted chicken in the Thanksgiving holiday spirit, a hit among the students!

Part 2: A non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner

I decided that since I had to work on the day that all my international friends would be celebrating Thanksgiving, I would make my own meal on the actual day and invite some friends to join me. This was the first time that I planned a big meal and made it on my own in China! I never cook here!! I had soooo much fun, though...planning the menu, buying (searching) for all of the things I needed, and then cooking with Tony and my roommate. This is what we made: Oreo ice cream pie, lemon bars, stuffing, mashed potatoes and broccoli salad. Then, we bought three different kinds of roasted chicken and some baguettes. We invited some other friends to join us...it was really a great night! So, my American holiday consisted of eating and celebrating with 7 Chinese friends and Sonja, my German friend. Hehehe...not the typical holiday at all but still with every bit of the meaning. :)

Get the Fire Out!

Last semester I wrote a blog about the Chinese massages that I get about once a month...the cheap, yet somewhat painful two-hour long massages. But, what I didn't mention are some of the other "treatments" that are available at the masseuse...and no, I don't mean THOSE kind of services! What I am talking about are two kinds of treatments that are meant to put a person's "ying and yang" into balance. When the ying is stronger, they will eat some ginger to balance it out. When the yang is stronger, they will do one of the procedures that I'll tell you about in the following. Chinese people also believe that your body's ying and yang represent the fire in your body and if they are off-balance than it is easier for you to get sick. So, when they feel a cold or other illness coming on, they will head to their local masseuse for one of two treatments: fire-cupping or gua sha.

Fire-Cupping: Take approximately 12-14 glass bulbs and light a fire under those puppies! Then, immediately stick it to the skin on your back which creates a kind of suction. After 10 minutes you are finished and ready to go. The only take away is the bruises it leaves behind...like you can see on my friend's back in the picture below! I have another friend who fondly calls this method, "octopus hickey's!" But, be cautioned...don't try this at home!

Gua Sha: This is another method that will balance your ying and yang but will leave you looking like you just came out of a butter knife fight. They take a small tool, usually the horn of a cow, and proceed to "scratch" your back in the same place, about 8 strokes. It is enough to leave a red mark but not enough to break the skin. They will do this along both sides of your spine and then across your shoulder blades and down to your lower back, about 12 marks altogether. In the picture above, you can also see a type of gua sha if you look at the marks between the fire-cups. Often times, these two procedures are done at the same time.

After both of these procedures you are meant to feel relaxed and free from any aches or pains. I haven't tried it yet... What do you think? Would you???

Obamao

You've probably heard that Obama spent 3 days in China recently and there was a lot of talk about him and his visit. One of the really interesting things was how they stopped all sales of a very popular item while he was here, Obamao t-shirts, key chains and posters. They have Obama's face printed and he is wearing a hat like Mao's Red Guards used to wear. He is also posed in a way that is very similar to a famous portrait of Mao. China decided that this might be offensive to Obama so they stopped all sales of the item while he was here. I don't dare write much more so if you're interested in the whole story and in seeing the pictures, just check out this link: http://www.chinahush.com/2009/11/15/china-bans-obamao-t-shirt-during-obamas-presidential-visit/

Another thing that really got Tony and his friends talking was about the meal that Obama and the president of China, Hu Jin Tao, shared together. They had a private meal and meeting that lasted for nearly 3 hours and during this time the lunch that was served consisted of 4 dishes and a soup. You may think that for two people this is plenty but if you ask any foreign visitors to China about their "VIP meal experiences" they will tell you that the amount and variety of food that arrives at the table is extraordinary. I remember going to a meal once in Hangzhou and losing count at 25 dishes for 9 of us. In Tony's words, "next time we go out for a meal, we're going to order the same dishes as Hu and Obama did...a meal for common people!"

I told some of my students that the biggest problem with Obama's visit was that he forgot to call me! As if!

Pumpkin Lamps

For Halloween this year I decided to break out of my anti-social, work all-the-time phase and invite some past students (friends) over to make Jack o' Lanterns. It was very spur of the moment but we ended up going to dinner and then going back to my house for carving craziness! First, we went to the local market and checked every vegetable stand to find the biggest and most beautiful pumpkins available. Our choices were somewhat limited but we found 3 small-medium sized pumpkins that I thought would work out okay. We had dinner then got to work! I gave the girls a run-through of how to carve a Jack o' Lantern and we looked up some pictures online so they could get some ideas...they've never done this before, barely even heard of it! I made them draw sample pictures on paper before they started drawing on their pumpkins. I was a little surprised at how they dug right in to get all of the guts out of the pumpkin...I thought they might be kind of "girly" about it. Then, they started drawing and carving. Each girl had a distinct style...

Angela. The smallest of the girls needed my assistance every step of the way. I held the pumpkin while she used both hands to push the knife through. Along with holding the pumpkin, I had to look inside to let her know when she got all the way through. She would say, "Am I through?" "Nope." 2 seconds later... "Am I through?" "Nope." Another 2 seconds... "Am I through?" "YES! Good job!" A few times when I glanced up her arms were shaking, she was trying so hard. I will be fair and say, though, that since the pumpkins were smaller, it was a lot tougher to get through the outside. She was dedicated and even though she ended up chopping off one of the intended teeth for her pumpkin, we were able to cut in a replacement.


Carmen. I don't think I heard a word out of her mouth from the time she started drawing to the time she finished carving. She was HACKING at that thing though and I had to warn her several times to move her fingers and not touch the blade directly. True dedication. When she finished, all I heard was a sigh as she examined her work and then started talking about all the things that she did wrong. Perfectionist!


Laura. I think that Laura was the least confident in her pumpkin carving skills. After every move, she exclaimed, "Help me! I did something wrong! It's not right! How do I fix it?" She ended up cutting out both teeth that were in the original plan and each time she lost one she just burst out laughing. Her Jack o' Lantern ended up being furthest from the drawing on the paper...we'll just call it the work of an artist, changing as she went along.


The finished products! From left to right: Angela's pumpkin, Carmen's and Laura's. Not bad for beginners, eh?


As the girls were leaving, they had a lot of questions about their "pumpkin lamps" (the literal translation from Chinese.) For example, how long can we keep them? Is there a way to make it last longer? And my favorite....

Can I eat it?? :)

A Day at the Waterpark

Way back at the beginning of October, during the national holiday week, Tony and I took a trip to the Tianjin Waterpark. It has recently been renovated and now it's open to the public for free! The day we went was so beautiful with a rare blue sky backdrop but apparently the rest of the city had the same idea as we did! It was so packed in there with people that it made it almost difficult to enjoy. Nonetheless, we had a nice time and got some good pictures. Some of the pictures are from the water fountain show and some are of the city landscape...you can see the Ferris wheel and the TV Tower in the background.

A Serious Case of Writers' Block

This is my diagnosis. Self-diagnosed and unable to think of a cure. Any doctors (or just wise people) who want to make a suggestion?