The Amazing Box with Amazing Stuff

  I was pleasantly surprised when one of the teachers brought a large box to me at the end of the day this past week. I opened it right there at my desk because I did not have the patience to wait until I walked home. Upon opening it I discovered an amazing assortment of wonderful items that are extremely edible as well as a package of handmade cards (I am guessing handmade, hope that is right). I took out each item one by one and then read through all the cards. It made me a little homesick. Upon reading all the cards, which where Christmas/good wishes cards I realized this box was sent by a group of wonderful young ladies from my Church who I miss seeing every Sunday and giving hugs. I was extremely kind of you to send me a box of completely unhealthy American candy and the cereal (which was a brilliant choice). I have read all the cards several times and can feel the love. 

  I did share some of the candy with the other teachers in the office for they have never had some of the candy. I gave them each a Twizzlers. It was not really like any Chinese candy that I was aware of and I am not sure they really liked it. I think it was too hard to chew for them. They did love the Reese's and some of them took more than one. Those were the only two things I shared since many of them were going home. I have had a few other of my Chinese friends try a few pieces of the other candy and they have had positive reviews. Do not worry I am eating it too. 

  I cannot not comment on the many stamps that were placed on the package, as you can see below. It made me laugh. Not sure if it was completely done on purpose, or if that was how they had to put the postage but I loved it. Props to whoever had to stick all the stamps correctly on the package. I probably would have messed it up somehow. Thank you and I have a hug saved for all of you when I get home : ) You made my month!!!

Thanksgiving in China

  So, if I am friends with you on Facebook I assume you would have seen several photos of me at the Foreign AYC Teachers of Changzhou Thanksgiving Party so this may contain photos you have already seen.
  China does not celebrate Thanksgiving, it is really a United States thing, although other countries, like Canada, have their own Thanksgiving. Because of this I had to work on Thanksgiving, which did not make it feel like Thanksgiving, at all. My fellow AYCers, they are those that are in the same program as myself, decided that we were not going to let work stop us and were celebrating this holiday. Someone offered their apartment to the cause while we decided on what to bring. It was to be a carry-in. We decided on an American food, with an emphasis on Mexican cuisine, carry-in to be precise. I had already decide that I was going to make pumpkin pie, so I ignored the Mexican cuisine thing. I was pretty sure that the English teachers at my school had never tried pumpkin pie and I could not let that continue so I set about finding the ingredients and making a pumpkin pie from scratch, because you cannot find the cheaters canned pumpkin pie filling anywhere! I did find the disposable pie tins so I could actually make the pie shaped like a pie. That was exciting.
  Our meeting time was prepared and people were group chatting (using the app WeChat) what they were bringing. Someone was even making burritos, that was something to look forward to. Since I was making pie I had to find my recipe, google was helpful for the pie filling part and my grandma (mom's mom) was helpful for the crust. Event though I am thousands of miles away I still need my grandma's help : ) she is awesome! (Just noting that all my grandparents are awesome!! I think they are the most awesome two sets of grandparents in the entire world! . . . it is great if you think yours are but I will have to disagree.) So, I made my pie, it was okay, the teachers at the school thought it would taste better warm (since they eat mostly warms foods). I did inform them that it would taste really bad if they ate it warm but they still thought it would improve the pie. I did find cool whip (that is what I call it) to put on the top and that just make the cake . . . or pie (hehe). The teachers did not really know what the cool whip was to begin with but I knew some of them had tried it before and after explaining and showing them the bottle with the Mandarin characters on it they understood. Some of the English teachers' children came to the office after school, I did not have enough pumpkin pie left over for them to have some but I did spray some of the cool whip (it was in one of those spray bottle things) on their fingers. I told one of them to hold their pointer finger out and sprayed some of the cool whip on it, of course they all wanted some, and after they tried it they wanted more. They had to leave really soon after that so I was able to escape with some cool whip remaining.
  I meet up with a Chinese friend, he was wanting to go to the Thanksgiving party as well and learn more about American culture. We headed to the party and arrived before the burritos did, slightly sad timing but they eventually showed up. Here is what the table looked like, the stuff in the front is what the Chinese individual brought, so it is not American food, but the rest is bread, fruit, chips and guacamole, cheese, my pumpkin pie and other stuff. The burritos were not here yet when I took this picture.

  This is me with my pie taken by another AYC teacher, she requested this and I went along with it. I also stole it from Facebook, I was entitled to do that since it was of me : ).

  This last picture is of our Thanksgiving group. They are a fun bunch of people and have keep some of America alive in China.

Chinese Subway . . . No worries it is just like the one in the United States

 

   This week I was reminded of the heavenly taste of American food, specifically Subway. I was probably more overjoyed then I should have been, it was just a sandwich shop right? However, the idea of a cold ham and cheese sandwich is foreign here (like me . . . hehehe), at least it appears so to me. Chinese people in Changzhou do not normally eat cold foods, the only foods they really eat cold or room temperature are fruits. That means a sandwich is not on the menu, like ever, unless you go to a western restaurant. I did ask my students if they ate cold sandwiches. They responded that yes they did, but I have yet to see a Chinese person eat a cold sandwich. I personally really enjoy a good ham sandwich every now and again. I did find bread, cheese, and ham to make my own but the meat had a little different taste to it making it not the same, see the picture below. (Warning: It might look the same but it does not taste the same.)

  Upon entering the Subway you would think you were in a Subway in the United States except for the Mandarin characters all over the place. Also the workers at this Subway were pretty good at English, this was probably because many foreigners frequent the food chain. While we were there, at 11:30 in the morning, the only other customer that we saw was a tall, blond, bearded man. A foreigner. You can see the menu in the picture.

  This is looking from the inside out. You can see the popular Chinese mode of transportation through the glass doors: the electric bike (aka scooter).

  The process of them making your sandwich was exactly the same. I point at what I want in the United States and I pointed to what I wanted here. They did have fewer choices then I would have found in the States and several things were lacking from the menu like spinach, however it was okay. You can see what was offered in the pictures below.

  It was really cool seeing the sauces in English and Mandarin at the Subway.

  This is the completed sandwich, sorry about the bit taken out of the sandwich in the picture. I was so excited to try it out that I forgot to take a picture before beginning to eat it. It tasted exactly the same. It was toasted and everything. It was soooooooooo goooooood!!!!!!!!!! They also had cookies of which I bought one. It was also soooo goooood!! Not pictured, it ate it before I was able to take a picture . . . so sad for you . . . not for me!!!

  I was very happy this day . . .

So . . . I went to Suzhou . . . and took a lot of pictures . . . Yay!!!

  This past weekend I went to a city a little east of Changzhou with at least a 2,500 year history known presently as Suzhou. It has a larger population than that of Changzhou and is a tourist site largely because of it's gardens. I visited a older area of the city were many of the famous classic gardens declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites are located. Taking the high speed train I arrived near 9:00 and spent the rest of the day walking around, eating food, and of course taking pictures. The two places worth knowing about that I went to were the Couple's Retreat Garden and the Suzhou Museum. I will now walk you through the many pictures that I took. Get ready to be amazed!!! Oh, and I did not go off alone this time, I went with two other people, one British and one Chinese. Have you ever been the only American in a group??

  So, the first picture is taken because the Chinese individual was amazed that we were in a train car that had no other people in it, so I told a picture to memorialize the occasion. This was partly do to us getting on the wrong car . . . oh well, I got a unique picture!!

   The next picture is just of the city. Looks like a city does it not?

   So, I was hungry since I stupidly did not eat any morning nourishment, however everything was made so much better at the discovery of 'hotdogs' in a small gas station 'like' store. I say 'like' because you could not buy gas there and I say 'hotdogs' because they did not taste exactly like the hotdogs you can buy in a grocery story in Indiana . . . and I AM positive it was not dog or anything weird for those of you who might think that!!! Not saying you would but I know some of my family members pretty well!!!

  This next picture is one of those optical illusion, well really it is not but to me it is. We were walking down a street, the same one were the 'hotdog' was purchased and I noticed this (deisgn pictured below) several different places on the street. I asked the Chinese group member what it was and he responded with telling me it was the name of the street and actually was a Chinese Character. Can you see a Chinese Character in that? No? . . . well neither can I!!!!! See, optical illusion!!!!!!! If you hold it farther away, stare at it a for a time while squinting your eye and simultaneously turning your head sideways you can maybe, possibly catch a small glimpse of the character. Good luck!!!

   A bridge . . . it looked old . . . it held my weight as I walked across it.

   A lantern . . . with Chinese writing . . . that I cannot read . . . hope it does not say something bad . . .

 A street . . . with people . . . a very rare find in China.

 A really cool shop with a older Chinese lady in front slowly walking. I thought the picture would look really nice so I took it. Many of the shops along this river were quant little tourist traps. It is always better when the expensive prices are from a quant location right? I have to point out that on this trip I only paid for food and to see a garden. I overcame the tourist traps . . . I can hear you silently applauding. Thank you, thank you.

 The same really cool shop without the older Chinese lady in front, I think the Chinese lady gave it more character.

 Some of the tourist trap merchandise. I was attracted by the lights and of course went in to look and and touch, BUT NOT BUY!!!! I was informed by the Chinese group member that it is rude in China to touch things in a shop and pick them up to look at them if you are not going to buy them. I will forever be a rude shopper, I am doomed to be nothing else. I discreetly touch them. (I was unaware that discreetly has two of the fifth letter of the alphabet in it . . . were you? Learn something new every day . . . from spell check . . . haha (laughing at my own really bad joke . . . hehe). Umm . . . back to my discreetly touching . . . well it happened.

 This is a chair. It is in the street. I took a picture of it. It reminded me of the furniture that I would sometimes find left along a country road because someone though it was needed next to a river for all the people walking by to sit on and rest, so kind of them (this sentence was said in a voice of complete sarcasm). The are just making others clean up their trash. Here, I think someone actually used it for a chair and it was in a side alley, so all good.

   I really do not remember what this picture it taken of, or where it was taken. . . but, it looks Chinese so I included it.

 This was taken simply for the potted plants that were aesthetically placed in the window design on the left.

 Do you see the two men in the overalls on the right. I thought they were cute walking by and discreetly (just had to use it again hehe) took several pictures of them. They were probably friends that worked in one of the quant shops and were currently on break or just going to work. I do not think you would find this in the United States, men do not usually express their friendship by walking close and putting their arms around each other when they are walking down a street dressed in overalls. Just do not think that happens.

   A restaurant where you can buy food, we tried a type of tofu. Was not a fan of the sauce it was cooked in. You could also get chicken feet there.

 A small river.

A boat on the small river.

 Another boat on the small river. I pointed out the mop on the left hanging over the river to my group. I made a comment jokingly on how they would get the mop hung there, the British individual had to out do me and commented on finally understanding why the rivers were all murky looking. (People let their mops drip into it). (If you did not think it was funny then it was one of those had to be there moments.)

 The river again. We ended up following two French couples with five children between the two of them. The children were enamored by an old man fishing along the river. He did catch a fish while they were watching, it was about 6 cm long (2.5in.) It was a little weird to see such a large family I am use to seeing just a mother, father and one child. It was weird.

   Thought the many postal boxes looked cool so I naturally took a picture.

   Thought the shoes looked cool as well. Think the characters on the window panes are for good luck.

   Wanted everyone to see what the roofing looked like. The road was raised so I just stood on a small wall and was able to take this picture. They are a type of pottery I think.

   Here starts the Couple's Retreat Garden. I will just let you look. It is a house with gardens. The buildings are connected to each other with gardens. This picture is a map. You have to read the English names of some of those places.

 The Couple's Retreat has ended. Time for another river!!

  We walked by a building that was getting renovated and I decided to take a picture. I took it for another reason then just that one. Several different site that I have gone to are said to be really, really old however they are not the complete original but have been renovated to make them look better. That is not a bad thing but I do find it interesting that they say it is very old but much of the stuff has been rebuilt in the last fifty years. I do understand that it is good to rebuild and keep cultural history alive.

   There were several of these bike taxis that were waiting around.

   This was just a cool little car thing, could not help myself.

   This is a Finish restaurant owned by a Finish man who grew up in the Middle East. He came in while we were eating and we were able to hear him play a hand drum to background music. The food was good but was expensive because it was not Chinese food.

   Just a beautiful picture of the canal and city.

   The next three picture are of the Suzhou Museum. All museums are free entrance in China, I think western countries need to adopt this Chinese policy. It was filled with old calligraphy scrolls, pottery, and other old things. Was very interesting to see. There was a large pond in the museum and it had many pretty orange fish.

   Another river, this time with boats that you could take a ride on. We decide not too because it was a little more then we wanted to pay at the moment. We could always go back when it is warmer and take a ride.

   For dinner we had noodles at the restaurant pictured below. You can see the people sitting down through the doors on the left.

   At night the lanterns lighted up giving a calming glow above the wondering populations heads. I really liked this picture. The door on the middle building does kinda scare me a little not sure I would open it and stand on that little balcony if I it was mine.

   My last picture. You can see the affect of the lanterns. We ended up heading back a little earlier, getting our tickets moved up to a slightly earlier departure. Walked enough for one day. Before we headed back though we meet a young couple (I assumed they were a couple since they were traveling together) from Vancouver, Canada that were spending a month traveling around China and Vietnam. It was interesting to talk to them. I was talking to tourists, but I no longer felt like a tourist myself. I have been in China for three months. I am getting the hang of things and this is feeling like my home. It is a little weird, but hey I'm living in China. Hope you enjoyed the tour of Suzhou!