Thursday, August 27, 2009
Old news and new news
Hi, everyone. We're still trying to figure out this here newfangled computer thing in China, so bear with us as I try to post some old things we've written in the last couple of weeks. I'm posting remotely for the moment, so I'm not able to see (or edit) the blog myself - apologies for any typos, omissions, etc.
Before we left, we told everybody we know that they can always be in touch with us via Facebook. Guess which application has been consistently blocked since we've been here? Yep, the good ol' book of faces... Sooo, a big favor - if you can read this blog, could you email the link to anyone who knows us? Emails to us are always (natch) greatly appreciated. I (Dave) have been a bit lax about getting back to folks who have written me, but promise to write back soon!
One more tip that I may or may not have written about: If you'd like to see our photos online, we have them posted at Flickr. Here's how to see them:
1) Go to flickr.com/photos/zawelski/
2) Sign up for a free Flickr account
3) Go back to our photo page and click "add zawelski as a contact".
4) We'll add you as a contact, and mark you as family/friends so that you can see pictures of us!
Okay, on to trying to add some blog posts with pictures. We're settling in fine here, cleaning out the place, making friends, etc. More news to follow soon.
Hi, everyone. We're still trying to figure out this here newfangled computer thing in China, so bear with us as I try to post some old things we've written in the last couple of weeks. I'm posting remotely for the moment, so I'm not able to see (or edit) the blog myself - apologies for any typos, omissions, etc.
Before we left, we told everybody we know that they can always be in touch with us via Facebook. Guess which application has been consistently blocked since we've been here? Yep, the good ol' book of faces... Sooo, a big favor - if you can read this blog, could you email the link to anyone who knows us? Emails to us are always (natch) greatly appreciated. I (Dave) have been a bit lax about getting back to folks who have written me, but promise to write back soon!
One more tip that I may or may not have written about: If you'd like to see our photos online, we have them posted at Flickr. Here's how to see them:
1) Go to flickr.com/photos/zawelski/
2) Sign up for a free Flickr account
3) Go back to our photo page and click "add zawelski as a contact".
4) We'll add you as a contact, and mark you as family/friends so that you can see pictures of us!
Okay, on to trying to add some blog posts with pictures. We're settling in fine here, cleaning out the place, making friends, etc. More news to follow soon.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Just in case you were wondering, we aren’t in any danger of starving to death. Food is a major element of the culture here, and we’re happy to participate in any way possible. Restaurants are plentiful and relatively cheap. We’ve even realized our goal of having a favorite noodle shop already.
Before coming, everybody was telling us how incredibly hot and spicy the food in Chengdu was. I may be about to jinx myself, but here’s a big secret: It’s not that spicy! Or let me rephrase that - if you’re used to spicy food (think Pueblo green chili, Indian food, etc.), it’s not that spicy. A few dishes that induce forehead sweat and hiccups, to be sure, but nothing so hot as to be inedible as of yet...
...Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the three fifth of our family members who is aged six or under. Then, Sichuan cuisine presents more of a challenge. We have had several meals where, between the three of them, our kids have eaten a grand total of two small bowls of white rice, three raw cucumber slices, two scoops of corn fried in egg, and one greasy piece of pork soaked in a glass of water.
Fortunately, there are several solutions. Sichuan places do offer some non-spicy dishes, so at lunch, our group has had a steady stream of tofu soup, the aforementioned corn fried in egg batter, greasy potato strips, and so on. There are also many Muslim restaurants, including our favorite noodle shop, that specialize in lamb and (non-spicy) noodle dishes. Other restaurants sell jiaozi (potsticker-type dumplings), which everyone likes but Zekey. When all else fails, we raid the grocery stalls for a wholesome old-fashioned meal of yogurt, peanuts, bananas, and bubble tea smoothies.
There is so much more to write about (for example, the first time we ordered in Chinese by ourselves!), so watch this space for much more on the wide wide universe of food in China...
Before coming, everybody was telling us how incredibly hot and spicy the food in Chengdu was. I may be about to jinx myself, but here’s a big secret: It’s not that spicy! Or let me rephrase that - if you’re used to spicy food (think Pueblo green chili, Indian food, etc.), it’s not that spicy. A few dishes that induce forehead sweat and hiccups, to be sure, but nothing so hot as to be inedible as of yet...
...Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the three fifth of our family members who is aged six or under. Then, Sichuan cuisine presents more of a challenge. We have had several meals where, between the three of them, our kids have eaten a grand total of two small bowls of white rice, three raw cucumber slices, two scoops of corn fried in egg, and one greasy piece of pork soaked in a glass of water.
Fortunately, there are several solutions. Sichuan places do offer some non-spicy dishes, so at lunch, our group has had a steady stream of tofu soup, the aforementioned corn fried in egg batter, greasy potato strips, and so on. There are also many Muslim restaurants, including our favorite noodle shop, that specialize in lamb and (non-spicy) noodle dishes. Other restaurants sell jiaozi (potsticker-type dumplings), which everyone likes but Zekey. When all else fails, we raid the grocery stalls for a wholesome old-fashioned meal of yogurt, peanuts, bananas, and bubble tea smoothies.
There is so much more to write about (for example, the first time we ordered in Chinese by ourselves!), so watch this space for much more on the wide wide universe of food in China...
Just a quick note to say that we have now officially moved to our new home at Xihua University in Pixian! For those of you that haven’t been keeping track, this means that we are finally in a permanent place. We’ve been nomads since the end of April, when we moved out of our apartment in Oak Park. In the greater scheme of things, four months is not a lot of time to spend without a fixed address, but right now, it feels very very good (and a bit overwhelming) for all of us to be able to unpack.
What we know so far:
Our apartment seems big right now, especially after a long series of guest houses, spare bedrooms, hotels, tents, etc. There’s a big living room when you come in, then a stair up to a dining area. Three bedrooms and a bath (well, a western toilet, sink, and a shower - no tub) to the back, and a laundry area, bathroom with a squat toilet, and a kitchen up front. Don’t worry - we’ll give you a guided tour once we get settled in.
The apartment looks like it has seen a steady stream of foreign teachers, and has all sorts of closets, desks, bookshelves, and dressers full of accumulated treasures left behind by former residents. Examples include: an artificial Christmas tree, a closet full of bicycle tires and camping gear, some moldy size 12 hiking boots, etc. We spent a good part of yesterday cleaning out dusty closets and washing linens while the kids played with toys that they hadn’t seen in four months because we’d had them packed away for China in that time.
Our foreign affairs office has been great! Luo Buo and Sarah, the two department assistants, were in and out of the apartment all day answering questions and helping us get things arranged for the upcoming school year. It looks like I’ll be teaching a full load of classes, and Jane will be teaching six to eight hours per week. Other good news is that we think we’ll be able to arrange our schedules so that one of us will be home with the kids at all times.
Speaking of childcare, we also met Jiang Ayi, the woman who had helped the previous family with cooking, cleaning, and childcare. We talked terms, and she’s agreed to start work on Monday! She’s agreed to do the cleaning and laundry for us, as well as some childcare for Ysa and one home cooked meal each day. (Yes, we feel spoiled...)
One thing still up in the air is the internet. We have access in our apartment, but need to wait until the start of the school year to set up an account in our name. We may be able to sign in under Luo Buo’s account if we navigate our way past finding a fixed IP address and a login page in Chinese - I guess if you’re reading this, we’ve solved that problem somewhat.
(quick update - Ack! Still can't see our blog, but I'm trying a new service to post remotely - if you see this, could you email us and let us know if it worked?)
What we know so far:
Our apartment seems big right now, especially after a long series of guest houses, spare bedrooms, hotels, tents, etc. There’s a big living room when you come in, then a stair up to a dining area. Three bedrooms and a bath (well, a western toilet, sink, and a shower - no tub) to the back, and a laundry area, bathroom with a squat toilet, and a kitchen up front. Don’t worry - we’ll give you a guided tour once we get settled in.
The apartment looks like it has seen a steady stream of foreign teachers, and has all sorts of closets, desks, bookshelves, and dressers full of accumulated treasures left behind by former residents. Examples include: an artificial Christmas tree, a closet full of bicycle tires and camping gear, some moldy size 12 hiking boots, etc. We spent a good part of yesterday cleaning out dusty closets and washing linens while the kids played with toys that they hadn’t seen in four months because we’d had them packed away for China in that time.
Our foreign affairs office has been great! Luo Buo and Sarah, the two department assistants, were in and out of the apartment all day answering questions and helping us get things arranged for the upcoming school year. It looks like I’ll be teaching a full load of classes, and Jane will be teaching six to eight hours per week. Other good news is that we think we’ll be able to arrange our schedules so that one of us will be home with the kids at all times.
Speaking of childcare, we also met Jiang Ayi, the woman who had helped the previous family with cooking, cleaning, and childcare. We talked terms, and she’s agreed to start work on Monday! She’s agreed to do the cleaning and laundry for us, as well as some childcare for Ysa and one home cooked meal each day. (Yes, we feel spoiled...)
One thing still up in the air is the internet. We have access in our apartment, but need to wait until the start of the school year to set up an account in our name. We may be able to sign in under Luo Buo’s account if we navigate our way past finding a fixed IP address and a login page in Chinese - I guess if you’re reading this, we’ve solved that problem somewhat.
(quick update - Ack! Still can't see our blog, but I'm trying a new service to post remotely - if you see this, could you email us and let us know if it worked?)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
disclaimer...
Oh, in case you didn't notice, the blog is a bit discontinuous as of late... We don't have internet access in the room that we're staying in, so we're relying on the internet cafe across the street for email. Facebook and Blogger are both blocked, though, so to get onto them, we've got to walk another 20 minutes to the director's house, where we can get onto their wireless with our laptop and use a proxy site. Exciting, huh?
Anyway, we should be more continuous in a couple of weeks when we get to our home in Pixian around August 23. More adventurous souls can email us for our cell phone numbers. (yep, we both have cell phones now!)
More things we don’t do with our kids in the States
This will come as a shock to most of you, but yes, we have been letting our kids zone out in front of the television during our language training here at Sichuan Normal University. But really, what’s not to love? Chinese TV is a great language teacher, it provides a great window into our host country, and, most importantly, it also has hours on end of talking pigs and monkeys zapping their enemies with kung fu moves...
Did I mention that our training is on a university campus? I knew this before we came, but I didn’t make the connection that university campus = not very many things for kids 6 and under to do. The kids are working valiantly to keep themselves entertained, but we will be glad to get to our permanent home and get settled in more.
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