Let me begin by stating I’ve never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box or have the patience of an angel!

Cooking on a hotplate has been a life’s lesson at best, I feel confident I won’t starve to death if now left alone with just that to survive. I missed good baked food, so opted to purchase a toaster oven this semester.

Last night Kelly, Katie, Thomas and I headed to the Tai Hua to purchase one. We’d compared prices in a few stores and settled on the Y270 medium size one at Fresco. Between the three of us we are getting great at charades, mad-gab and correct assumptions when it comes to deciphering Chinese. We purchased the oven then completed the grocery shopping.

Isn't she a beauty? I can just smell the brownies and bread already!

Kelly and I headed home with great anticipation! I was set on toast, my first real slice of toast since arriving in China. We got home and set it up. It looks beautiful in our kitchen by the way but then again I’m bias. I put in two slices and set the time with the temp at 100*. I went to the living room to put in a movie and after 2mins returned to disappointment. The oven wasn’t even warm and the toast was still white!

 Humph I’ll fix that, I crank up the oven to 250*C and turn the timer to 20min. I know, I know, well I know now that was a little extreme. I went to watch the episode and planned on checking it in a few mins. What can I say a great TV show? I soon smelt the toast, thanks to Mom’s excellent cooking lessons I knew if you could smell it it was done. I guess I should rethink that strategy for meals cooked in a closed kitchen and you smelling it in a closed living room.

The washing machine was in use which meant the tap was occupied, luckily there were some water filled bowls in the sink to dowse the smoking toast.

I jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen to find smoke BILLOWING from the oven. No joke. Can I just say how grateful I am there are no smoke detectors in China. That would have been embarrassing and since it was night when I opened the kitchen window the smoke exiting wasn’t that noticeable.

After assessing the situation I unplug the oven, cracked the door and opened the window, a few mins later I turned on the stove vent. Yes I realized there was a more effective order but eventually the smoke decreased enough for me to stick a fork in a get the lumps of coal, that were originally slices of bread, and toss them in the sink. The smoke was so thick my eyes were stinging which did not help the process at all. Kelly was closed up in the office an oblivious to all the proceedings.

This was after about 10min

It took about 20min for all the smoke to finally clear and the smell to somewhat subside. For the few, Katie and Thomas to be exact, who know the funky smell* my apartment usually has, at least burnt toast is a welcome respite. See, there is always a positive side to be found.

 I think I can safely add yet another means to get my self killed in China, Toaster Oven. As if my poor street crossing skills weren’t sure enough.

*The smell is not of my doing, it was here before I moved in, goodness knows how I’ve tried to dispel it.

Wendy and Me!

Wendy and Peter took me out to dinner tonight to say goodbye, or rather see you later. Wendy knows how much I love trying to new food and promised to take me to a restaurant that specialized in Northern Cuisine. It was amazing! A back alley hole in the wall.

Bei Da Wang is down the same alley as our favorite soup place. I’ve always been too scared to go into an unrecommended restaurant as my ordering abilities are, well, non existent still. But this place has a picture menu!

Throughout the dinner I practiced Chinese with Wendy and Peter. I think I will have to make this a more regular occurrence as Peter is so encouraging!

Wendy suggested three traditional dishes that were phenomenal! The first a typical stir-fry with sugar peas, chicken, peppers and mushrooms.

Okay, I lucked out with location! I love northern food!

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The main dish didn’t have a specific name rather a list of ingredients. It was a soup of sorts served in a large wok that was kept heated during the dinner. Those are not marshmallows along the sides, but steamed rolls of sorts. The soup contained, spinach, peppers, peas, chicken, and potatoes. I really am falling in love with Chinese food. I just have to learn what to order.

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Chinese Mash Potatoes!

Last but not least on the menu for the evening was Chinese Mash Potatoes! Yes, y0u read that right, Chinese Mash Potatoes. They were delicious. I still can’t figure out what made them yellow rather than white but I’ve been told it was the potatoes used. It is chunky rather than smooth and the gravy is more of a caramel but it was delicious!

I’ve already decided this is where I want to go for my first dinner back. That is if it is still there. As we’ve sadly learned from our favorite wing place, what’s there one week can easily be gone the next.

A little history behind the name of the restaurant. The direct translation is  North Big Desolate , I think, Wendy was trying to describe the word ‘Desolate’. Anyway, it is the name of a location up north that was colonized by people from Shandong province that had been sent as part of a military campaign. The cuisine is a combination of North eastern traditions and Shandong dishes that evolved in this region.

I have this huge apartment with just me this term. I grew up in a home centered around the dinner table. I loved every min of it, even when I was sent away to my room,  those mins right before were always worth it!

I was making plans for this place even before I moved in, top of the list was a good dinner get together with the gang, Bonnie and the Japanese teachers. The good old shrimp and french fries was always a hit so I scheduled an evening and set to work.

In my enthusiasm for a good meal I forgot how terribly labor intensive breaded shrimp was when starting from scratch. Katie and Thomas were kind enough to take over the cooking. They got a head start while Bonnie and I were out buying train tickets to Harbin.

They had the first batch ready to go when we arrived and the Japanese teachers came right on time. I know bad hostess still learning, I entertained in the living room while Katie, Thomas and their friend Anna took over kitchen duty, shelling, battering and frying all evening. The food was delicious.

I love the Japanese teachers, Shiggy is hilarious and Mr. Kobayashi is sweet. I have to admit regardless of what he thinks of his English I think its amazing. We talked about classes and vacation plans. Since they were fellow foreigners I related some of my more interesting Student outburst stories. (Please feel free to ask me once I’m back in the States) As we talked Mr. Kobayashi asked if the Korean teachers would be joining us, I had not invited them as I was under the impression they didn’t speak English.

Lack of prep left us a few eggs short and the Japanese teachers were out. I decided to just cross the landing a ask my Korean neighbors, yes the ones I hadn’t invited. I found the word for egg in Chinese hoping they possibly spoke a little Chinese. I muddled through, “I need eggs, please” in Chinese and she kindly brought me a few.

When I returned with the eggs Shiggy asked why I used Chinese, “They speak English.” My jaw dropped. What, now I feel horrible. I had not invited them assuming they didn’t speak English and it would be uncomfortable for them. I specifically remember someone telling me they didn’t speak English. “Oh I don’t think the girls speak it well but the guy speaks great we chat all the time in English” Shiggy said. Really are we talking about the same Korean, the one I pass in the hall and ask “How are you?” to and he gets completely flustered nods his head then takes the stairs three at a time to escape.

Well now that the language barrier has been cleared up two days before the end of term I feel much better about ignoring them this whole time. Okay honest effort next term will be put in to get to know my neighbors.

The rest of the evening went well, learned a lot about Japanese culture. Looking forward to another term with my Japanese colleagues.

The center of life!

 After dinner I was shown to my kang in the adjoining room. One thing I’ve learned the Chinese pull out the red carpet for foreigners. I felt truly guilty when I realized they had given me the large Kang in the Master Bedroom, all to myself no less. There were no heaters in the house so I went to bed in thermals skeptical of the kang’s ability to keep me warm. Wrong decision! I soon learned the errors of my ways as I began stripping layers, then I was glad no one else was in bed with me as I eventually got down to my skivvies and still had to throw the blanket off at times. Holy smokes who knew!

Full Squid, hummm, did I really say that was the great dish?

 Friday morning I woke at 8 and entertained myself until I heard Wendy get up in the adjoining room.  Breakfast was leftovers from dinner and a larger dish of what I had commented on the night before. My bad, it was squid. Okay I hate squid unless it is battered and deep-fried and smothered in a cocktail sauce but I had to admit last nights did taste good surprisingly. But now it was the full squid not just strips.

Peter's Junior High

There is just no way to describe the loss of feeling when you finish this one.

Who said Exercising couldn't be entertaining?

That was a good stretch.

On to the Open Air Village Market. I was the only foreigner obviously and mostly likely the only to have ventured there. I was shocked when I few asked if I was Peter’s wife. Did not see that one coming. We finally just stuck with Wendy’s little sister, Can’t you see the resemblance?

Village Outdoor Market

A relative of Peter's, he gave me two free Candied Hawthorn sticks.

Oh no, please don't, oh great Peter just bought that for lunch. Umm do I have to I mean really what is it?? Oh just Pupas well in that case of course.

Then a quick spin to the beach, on the way we stopped at Shandong International College. The campus was dead.

Shandong International College

Can we say a little Europe in Shandong?

 

This was a random building on the campus. We never did find out what it was for but it just seemed so out of place.

Wendy says this place is packed in the summer.

I'm going to miss these two!

Sea farming

Are engines damaged when they get water logged?

Everyone does it! "Happiness to China"

Peter has quite the arm.

Collecting shells, I collected shells, Peter collected rocks and Wendy just shook her head asking what we planned on doing with them.

 

Beach homes of the rich.

We soon headed back for lunch, which I must admit I was not looking forward to as I knew the menu!

Don't these just scream yummm? Yeah I didn't think so either.

I'll try anything once, the second time is optional.

Pupas are Peter’s favorites it turns out so I turned to him for eating tips, wrong idea should have just waited for his dad. I tried Peter’s way first, pop the whole thing in you mouth and chew don’t swallow the casing just the creamy inside. After a few that way, yes I had a few, his dad came in a insisted his method was better, I have to agree with his dad. Pull off the end and using your teeth to squeeze/suck the filling out. I think I had about six although Lao lao didn’t think that was enough. I never could bring myself to eat the heat sack on the inside it was hard, after the gooy insides I just couldn’t bring my self to chew something crunchy.

Lunch with the family

Friday evening I watched “The Founding of the Republic” the Chinese film about the birth of China. It was on television and had English subtitles, surprisingly good subtitles to boot. I was also surprised at the sypathetic way in which Chang Kai Shek was portrayed throughout the film.

Saturday was colder than Friday so we remained in doors most of the morning. I took the time to study Chinese with Wendy.  A’yi and Lao lao made fish dumplings for lunch which were to die for.

A'yi and Lao lao making dumplings, yumm Now there's a wok.

After lunch I asked if I could take a walk around the village, Peter volunteered to give me a tour. It was fun just walking and looking but the guided tour made it amazing. He showed us all his old haunts and favorite spots.

Main Street

Peter's home village. Looking down Peter's street back to the Main Street.

 

Peter and his childhood home. His home is at the end of the lane.

Side Street

Nothing like a good game of "Arrows & Bows" Peter's favorite growing up.

The boundary between villages, crossing over

The villiage across the river - This is where Peter attended Elementary school.

Before garages where needed this was the original parking space.

This is a piece that has been up since Peter's childhood days, I'm guessing the original from the 50's. Where is Mao?

Exploring the villiage in the late afternoon was picturesque, now if I could only learn to capture that.

The family garden.

Saturday evening I watch one of Wendy’s favorite films, a good Chinese Spy movie. When I discussed the plot with Victoria upon my return boy did she have a good laugh at the historical inaccuracies of the aligencies portrayed in the film. It was intriguing and the subtitles were dencent. If you haven’t caught on by now the quality of the subtitles is something of a running debate in China. There is no point in commenting on the quality of the film, I mean what do you expect from bootlegged copies. But really are subtitles suppose to be legit no matter the picture quality?

 

Sunday Morning A’yi and Lao lao woke early to make a fresh batch of dumplings in China it is a tradition to serve dumplings prior to a departure as a sign of good luck. The dumplings resemble little boats and the attached saying is equivelent to “Smooth sailing”.

Sunday's farewell breakfast. Traditional dumpling sendoff.

You enter into a courtyard and rooms are situated along the right and back walls. The front walls are storage and pig pens there is only the outhouse along the left wall and a staircase to the roof.

 

 

Feeding the Kang

 

* The Kang is heated from outside. Corn husks are dried and stored all winter to feed the fires lit beneath the stone beds.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Day…humm…lets just say it was an adventure.

My first Christmas waking up to an empty house. I didn’t want to get out of bed as there just didn’t seem like any point. The usual hustle and bustle of Christmas morning was not there nor did I have the pleasure of looking forward to it. I finally dragged myself out of bed and over to the computer excited for my Christmas call home. I finally made it through but to my disappointment, as it was still Christmas Eve in the States, everyone seemed busy and some where not even home to chat. I did an unusually short call with and become rather childishly disgruntled by the whole thing.

I finally just turned my attention to the afternoon and weekend in Qingdao! One frustration of living alone is the fact that I have to remember to prepare the house for a trip. Mom thank you for all you do! I hate coming home to a dirty house which means the morning before a trip the usual list includes: laundry, dishes, trash, sweep, organize and close and lock up.

Christmas morning!

A few students dropped by to give me Christmas cards and Wendy dropped off a gift. I sat down and try to recreate a little Christmas opening my gift and reading cards. By 11 I was headed out the door to meet up with the  Gang at the train station.

Katie and Thomas invited a new friend along to join our foreign group for Christmas, no one should spend Christmas alone. The train was crowded as usual. The plan was to have a big familial Christmas dinner then hand out blankets to the homeless. [Last Christmas Victoria had experienced her coldest day in China and was horrified to see homeless people sleeping on the streets under nothing but a sheet of plastic. This year she vowed to correct this and purchased blankets to hand out to the homeless. We Weifangians were happy to help deliver the purchased blankets.]

Americans and Canadians

We arrived and headed to THE DINER for Christmas dinner. We were a merry party! There were about 28 of us in all, and the table next to us was all foreigners too! You felt like you were back in the states. It was interesting to be able to eavesdrop again, to be fair both tables were doing it because we were commenting on each other’s conversations. THE DINER had a wonderfully scrumptious Christmas menu but it was just out of my price range so I settled on a lamb sandwich. Not as good as their steak sandwich but NOT Chinese in the least so I’ll take it. Some days I just don’t want Chinese, Christmas is one of them.

After dinner the hostel hunt began. Thank heaven for Katie and her prepared self or we would have being sleeping on the sidewalk accepting blankets from Victoria. This Christmas was the coldest day in Qingdao and it even beat out last Christmas Victoria said. The BYU teachers headed back to the university and told us they would call when they were going to head out to deliver blankets. The Walk: we decided to forgo the bus and just go for a cab wrong idea. There was no cabs to be found and we were forced to keep walking to keep warm we finally ducked into a hotel and asked the door man to find us a cab. We soon realized we had headed in the opposite direction of the hostel. The doorman returned empty handed explaining there were just no cabs to be found on a night such as this! Oh just keep piling on the frustrations. We were all froze and our brief stay in the hotel lobby only seem to half thaw us. Working from a small google map we found a bus that would take us west and hoped for the best. We got off hoping the map was spacial correct, wrong again. After what seemed like eternity in the cold we found the hostel at the top of a hill. Katie had been unable to book a hostel online due to technical difficulties on the website, “Welcome to China”. Big Brother Hostel’s, yes no lie on the name, dorms were all booked and they only had a 4 person room at 200Y. That is hotel prices by the way and no way were we going to pay hotel prices for hostel accommodations. By the way the dorms had been 25Y so you understand our hesitation here.  Prepared Katie had a back up plan, we ventured out into the cold and by some miracle were able to find a cab within 5min. Mind you we were a double fare but hey we were out of the cold and sardines are toasty when they are packed together. I don’t know if the first passenger was fully aware of what he agreed to when the taxi driver accepted us. Somehow we were able to cram 6 people and all our luggage and bedding into a small cab not using the trunk.

Hostel Lobby

We finally made it to the next hostel when I realized I didn’t have everything that I needed to check in. At that point we were near the train station and I just figured I would catch a train back to Weifang if I had to. The Receptionist was kind enough to let me slide with numbers and a Driver’s License. She was even kind enough to give us member prices and we settled in for the evening. Victoria called and said there were no homeless people out so we would not be venturing out either. We dropped off the bags and headed down to the lobby to chat.

All decked out for Christmas

Okay this is were I go off on hostels! I LOVED THIS PLACE. The rooms were clean and warm once the heater got going, the lobby was phenomenal and the help well I don’t have enough glowing words in my vocabulary to cover how amazing they were. Their English was excellent (boy does that sound snobby) and they were extremely accommodating. We threw ourselves into the center lounging area and were soon joined by a British guy who had been sitting at the other end.

His name was Lew, he took a hiatus from school to study Martial Arts for a year in China. He is a drama major with a growing resume. We all had a lovely chat for the rest of the evening. It is always nice when you can sit and have a stimulating conversation at a normal speed with a normal vocabulary, excepting of course the occasional translation hiccups between British and English. We turned in around 11.

Christmas was an adventure or to be more honest was one adventure after another. But the company and accommodations at the end made it all worth it!

Today was the shortest day of the year. As a traditional Chinese superstition if you eat dumplings, which are shaped like and ear, your ears will stay warm the rest of the winter. In turn you will remain warm throughout the cold months.

Bonnie filled me in on this little tidbit of information while at lunch. While in China do as the Chinese, so I planned on grabbing some dumplings for dinner. I willing to participate in just about anything to get one step ahead of the cold. After the English competition I headed to Cantina #3 Window 15 ahh my favorite. Really I didn’t need any excuse to head for the dumplings as they are my favorites. Then I saw the line, or should I more accurately say the mob.

Unlike the British, the Chinese can’t queue for the life of ‘em. I’m afraid I’ll have to relearn manners when I touch down again in the US. Pushing, shoving and the good ol’ elbow jab has become a way of life. I’ve sadly adopted this mentality for buses, train lines and and any ticket counter,perhaps to quickly at that. Although this new method of impatience has easily been adopted in other areas of my life it is not so in the dinner line. I don’t know maybe the possibility that the person I elbow jab could be  a curious student who always yells “hello” once I’ve past or worse yet a student I would have to see the following day.

This said, I opted not to secure warm ears for the winter and avoid the good 30min wait. So Chinese burrito it was.

You can never get too many dumplings!!

No worries about the dumplings, I should have remembered I have the world’s best friend, Wendy would never let such a day pass. Just as I sat down for my burrito Wendy called and asked about my dinner plans and if I had eaten any dumplings for the day, I confessed I had just bought dinner. She explained she wanted to drop by some dumplings as it was tradition. I of course, gladly accepted.

So leek and meat dumplings it is! Delicious. Yum, why is it that the taste of street food and small shops can knock the socks of any restaurant in the US?

The sheer size of this thing is daunting. Almost the length of an entire chopstick.

Yes you read that correctly, there is a Chinese Burrito and let me just say, delicious! Rather than fight the line at the dumpling window I opted for another favorite on the Chinese menu, burrritoooo.  

The great thing about food windows and especially the burrito window is that it is all point and nod. No need for Chinese, the only word required is “là” – Spicy!

Ingredients: thin egg based tortilla, stringed potatoes, cooked cabbage, egg plant, hard boiled eggs, spinach, a healthy helping of sesame sauce and chili paste.

I've only finished the entire burrito once. Unfortunately it is not good the next meal.

I decided to try the potato dish all on my own.

The recipe as written by Kayte

Ingredients

• 3 Potatoes
• 1 Anaheim Chili
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic
• 3 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. Vinegar

1. Skin and thinly chop potatoes into strings (grate)

2. Thinly slice chili

3. Chop garlic into large chunks.

4. Cover the bottom of a wok with oil. Quickly heat garlic. Add potatoes and Chili slices.

5. Add a little soy sauce for color and let potatoes cook for about a min.

6. Add cold water (completely cover the potatoes) and cover. Let potatoes finish cooking until soft.

7. Add Salt and Vinegar to taste.

Well here was my result:

All in all not too bad. I little watery and rather bland but this was just round one.

I think grating rather than slicing for a half and hour also contributed to the bad consistency.

I seem to only add to my near death experiences here. Normally I do not consider myself absentminded or stupid but as of late there is really no other way to describe myself.

Walking anywhere is dangerous here as cars can and do drive anywhere they please. There are really no designated sidewalks and walking to the front gate can be a Frogger level at times. Just last week as I was headed out for the evening I was making my way around the round about at the front gate when a car approached from behind. Do I go left or do I go right? I choose the wrong direction I went left and so did the car. The sound of the brakes reverberated in my ears until I was  sitting safely on the bus.

Embarrassing as it is to admit that was not my first close call with a moving vehicle, not by a long shot. Although it was a step down from the buses I’ve walked in front of here.

Thank Heaven for safety shutoffs.

I don't think this is a good thing...

Okay I just realized how long this was, I needed to vent. Sorry, I obviously got carried away

Ahhh! I’m still cooling down.  A 45min bus ride turned into a two hour ping-pong game! We were suppose to have one last shrimp fry before Adam and Dantzelle took off. Okay so the journey started at 5:20 I decided to go ahead of Adam and Dantzelle as I didn’t want to sit around until Dantz finished classes. I was half way to Jusco (supermarket) when I realized I didn’t grab the money I had laid out, crap okay just skimp at the store.

I was trying to get ingredients for Easy Almond Roca for the Christmas Party this weekend. I needed to use Katie and Thomas’s toaster oven so couldn’t put shopping off. Chocolate is so dang expensive here. Don’t even try finding chocolate chips so I settled on a Y20 Dove bar got the rest and tried to find a bus direct to the University, this is were all my troubles began.

I should have just walked the extra two blocks and grabbed the 16 but no I wanted to be lazy. I called Katie and she told me the 52 would work but I would have to transfer to the 16 once I got to DongFong Lu, okay I can do that. Well obviously not. As warned the bus went down shady back allies but got back on a main road headed east. I thought it was the wrong street but I noticed that the 16 ran parallel so I jumped off, NEVER CHANGE your answer. That was something I learned in Elementary always go with the first answer second guessing is ALWAYS wrong.

I got off and tried my hand at characters. I knew the characters for South Gate (南门) found the stop four away and waited for the bus. Mind you I take full responsibility for the following adventure but the Chinese sure are not helpful when it comes to directions! Let me lay out what I know, Katie and Thomas work at Weifang University which in Chinese would be Weifang Daxue. They live outside the South Gate which is Nan men. Okay so logically put the two together and you get their stop right?!? Well the bus stop sign had a stop that read Nan men, I assumed (yes I know what assuming means) as Weifang University was a big place in town they were just dealing with gates. I hopped on the bus and asked the Driver Weifang Daxue nan men. He said no and point across the street to the opposite bus stop. The 16’s are tricky here there are two 16 routes both will eventually pass the University South Gate.

That is when I should have gone with my first answer yet again. I knew which direction I wanted to go. So why I was letting someone direct me differently when there was obviously a language barrier is right up there with getting in that cab with a stranger. I crossed the street and looked at the board again okay, I’ll give the driver this much to get to the stop marked Nan men I needed the opposite side of the road but turns out I was reading the wrong stop. I figured this out 15 min later when I realized I was back on the street I started on, back at Jusco. My heart sank, I called Katie to figure out what had happened, that’s when I found out all though it is a University they don’t call it Daxue it is Xueyuan or College! What the heck! So the bus stop I needed was on the original side labeled, Weifang Xueyuan Nan men. What I can’t figure out is why the driver didn’t catch my drift when I said University (Daxue). Daxue Nan men should at least indicate I want to go to a school. Turns out Nan men bus stop is a shopping mall. COME ON PEOPLE work with the foreigner here please!!!!!

I get off cross the street and broad yet another bus. This one was the right one I knew for sure as it was the bus stop I should have just walked to in the first place! By then I was completely exasperated with the whole situation but mostly at myself as I should have just gone with my first instinct.

I’ve come to realize I can gauge my mood by the volume level on my Zune. It is normally at about 6 while riding a bus. By the time I made the final switch I was on 14. 20 is when I buy a ticket for the next plane out of China. Excessive today, yes, hormones aren’t helping anything. To top it all off I missed my stop as I was too absorbed in self pity. So what should have been a Y2 45min ride was Y4 2hour ping-pong game across Weifang. By the time I reached Katie and Thomas’s I was on 16 and then Katie asked for the bread crumbs I’d promised to pick up. Whoops, Katie is just to gracious she was on the ball with a substitution and not a hint of frustration.

So lesson learned always go with answer number one. NEVER EVER EVER change your answer.