CHOPSTICKS

I have been in China almost 8 months and I STILL suck at using chopsticks.  I never hold them correctly.  I always struggle using them and trying to pick up my food.  I carry around regular western utinsils in my purse so I have a spoon and fork on hand when my chopstick frustration is more than I can handle.  I have a similar issue with holding my pencils and pens when I write.  From the time I was in kindergarten I never held my pencil properly so even now as an adult, I continue to get comments from others about it such as "Why do you hold your pencil like that? It's so weird." and "How can you write holding your pencil that way?"  But my writing is fine and completely legible so I suppose in the end it doesn't really matter how I hold it.  It's the same with chopsticks I guess.  Eventually the food gets to my mouth so as long as that happens then who cares how I hold them right?  Anyway, one of my friends here took pity on me and bout me some "training chopsticks."  They are the kind that the little kids use when learning to hold them for eating.  My training chopsticks are purple and have a panda at the top keep the ends connected.  I've tried using them and sometimes they work okay but I still can't use them very well.   Sigh.  

HOT POT

I LOVE HOT POT!  I've only had it a couple of times but it is really, really good!  For those that don't know what hot pot is, it is a fondue style of cooking and eating where you cook your food at your table.  When you go to a hot pot restaurant you can order a seasoned water, oil, or other liquid to cook your veggies and meat in.  Your table has a heating element and you boil the liquid right there to cook your food.  It is really fun and can take awhile but is pretty filling and tastes super fantastic.  If you can find a hot pot restaurant in your city then I definitely think you should try it out.  Of course it may not be as good as hot pot here in Beijing but most Chinese food outside of China isn't as good as it is here. 

CO-WORKERS

I haven't written anything about my co-workers so this post will be about them.  Disney has about 6 centers in Beijing and they are pretty spread out.  It is a really huge city and takes a bit of time to get from one center to the other.  I will be honest and say that I haven't really gotten to know most fellow employees until more recently.  I don't have anything against anyone but when I got here I just intstantly connected with members of my church that live here and they were an instant family and support to me.  Most of my time has been spent with them but as time has gone on I've been able to get to know and become good friends with others at Disney, especially those that work at my center.  I'm really grateful for my friend Stella who recently moved to France because her contract here came to an end.  She was amazing to work with - really friendly and helped me a great deal with learning the ropes and was so amazingly helpful. She was the only other teacher at my center when I arrived.  My first Director, Lesley, was really great and now my new director, Phoebe is super awesome as well.  My trainer Richard is a fantastic guy and there are some other teachers here as well that are just really nice and amazingly talented. There are two other teachers at my center now that I have become good friends with - Ryan is from Massachusettes and Kendel is from California.  There are a couple other new teachers too that I don't know very well yet - Jeffery and Kendal "with an a" to distinguish from the other Kendel.  Anyway... I've met a few other people recently from other centers who seem to be really cool.  I've learned over the last month how important it is to have a team of co-workers that are responsible and dependable.  Things were extremely frustrating for me recently and I started looking for another job but I can say that because of amazing co-workers that really stepped up to the plate, it has made everything so much better and I am so grateful for that.  I think I have always been blessed to work with such amazing people and it has made an amazing difference in my life. 

CCTV

The first picture is of the CCTV building here in Beijing. It is probably one of the most photographed modern buildings because of it's unique design.  CCTV stands for China Central Television.  There are a lot of channels but I think most of them suck and not just because I don't understand anything they are saying but it is just really, really different.  Pretty much everything is controlled.  Programs consist of a lot of drama-soap opera style programming and a lot of concerts and talent competitions.  There are always programs on with kids, adults, and music groups competing for judges.  The judges usually consist of a person famous in the entertainment business and a few military officers. I usually have my TV on the music channel but I am convinced that whoever runs that station decides what he/she likes and then forces everyone to listen to it because there is little variety.  I also usually watch channel 14 or 15 too because they will play classical music sometimes (actually I guess I don't really watch it but will have it on and listen while I do other things).  There is a channel that plays English movies and some of the HBO programs (United States of Tara, Whatever the Larry David Series was called, and a couple others that didn't interest me) in the evening. The movies usually suck and I don't watch them but every now and then there will be a good one on.  Another channel sometimes shows BBC programming so I finally got to watch Tess of the d'Urbevilles and the Candleford series.  Anyway, I miss all my American shows.  DVD's are cheap here and I bought both seasons of Glee for about 8$ the other day and caught up on that.  I'd love to get cable or something to have more access to English and American programming but oh well.  Sometimes I'm glad I don't have access to it because it allows me to get out more and experience Beijing.  

SLACKER

Please accept my apologies for being a slacker about my blog.  I don't really have a reason for not posting in awhile. Sometimes I am busy and I just forget and other times I am just lazy.  New Posts are now available.  

KNOT TYING

Last month in my Chinese class we had a woman come in to teach us about knot tying. We got to make a necklace and a bracelet from different colored threads.  It was a bit confusing at first but once I got into the grove and figured out the pattern,  it was easy to keep going. Traditional knot tying has been around for at least 1000 years here in China.  From what I read there is some evidence that is was around even hundreds of years prior to that and appears to be closely tied to Buddhist history.  Most of us think of boy scouts when we think of knots but It is considered very much an artform here in China.  I will say though, as I was making my necklace and bracelet I did have numerous flashbacks of my craft making days at campfire camp and church camp when I was younger.  Some knots are really basic and others more complicated.  Most knotted decorations are sold in markets and are usually red in color.  A lot of people hang up traditional knots in their homes for good luck and for prosperity.  I have one traditional knot hanging from a mirror in my apartment and you can see the picture below.  I know most of you have seen these kind of knots or something similar in Chinese restaurants or maybe other places.  

HUTONG TOUR

After my kite making class we headed to an area of Beijing called Houhai.  It is one of the areas of the city where you can visit hutongs.  The word hutong means "water well".  Homes are usually connected to each other along narrow alleys and roads.  This created very tight night communities among neighbors and residents. The government has demolished a lot of the traditional hutongs and other homes here in order to make way for newer and more modern apartment buildings.  The hutong tour was really, really great.  We got to ride in a rickshaw and we had a guide that explained the construction of the hutongs.  Hutongs and homes in China are designed in alignment with feng shui.  The hutong has rooms that face north, south, east, and west.  I can't remember all the details but the I believe the sons had rooms on the north end and the daughters on the south end.  The doorway and porch had design elements that indicated the social status of the family that lived there.  We got to visit the hutong of a family in Houhai and the lady that lived there made us lunch - lots of yummy, traditional dishes.  We also had a quick lesson on dumplings too.