I come from China...

So I realized I never actually posted this, but enjoy (a few months late)!

Steve and I have been having a great time! But unfortunately, great time = no blog posts. But we've been able see so many things, and here's a brief overview:

A few weekends ago, we visited a seaside resort called Beidaihe. It once was the Communist Party official beach resort and Mao would often go there because he loved swimming so much. It was a two hour train ride through beautiful country. When we got there, we were told that only two hotels in the entire city could house foreigners, something having to do with our safety. One lady was saying that if we stayed at a different hotel and something happened to us then people would come after them. Basically it's now the official beach resort of the Russian mafia. It was nice, but everyone there was either Chinese or Russian, so naturally everyone thought we were Russian. I was super grateful that Steve could speak Chinese. The beaches were okay and the water was a little green (who knows what from), but it was nice to get away from the city for a while.

On our way home, we ate lunch at the train station before we left. We pulled out some cards to play speed (by the way, I'm the current champion). A lady came over and just watched us play cards and smiled. When we stopped, she grabbed a card and said that the back of the cards look different than in China, but the fronts look the same. Apparently there's a playing card monopoly going on. She was with a group of mothers and kids from Inner Mongolia who had come to the beach. They all wanted to take pictures individually with us and we got a picture with all of them. There was one little girl who wouldn't let go of my hand until we asked her if she wanted to go back to America with us...oh please, not America!

Our next stop was another Communist Party hangout. Up in the hills by Beijing, there is an awesome park called Fragrant Hills, which has a ton of temple sites and old temples. Mao and some of his advisors lived there right after the "liberation".

So here is Steve with one of the two generals guarding one of the temples at the park. I told Steve that these types of pictures were the best, the ones that really show how you're feeling when you're about to get crushed by a giant several times your size, but he just couldn't get into it.

The picture above is of one of the Buddhas we saw. In both pictures, the red ribbons are of prayers or good wishes of the temple's patrons. You could buy them at the temple, or bring your own. Lots of them were pre-printed with prayers like "Be successful at work" or "Do well in school." The second picture is one of the many trees surrounding the temple that were covered with the prayer ribbons.

This picture is of the grounds of the temple. They put a lot of work into making sure it was atmospheric, and it was even better centuries after it had been planned. It was a nice place to go for a while and be away from the chaos of the city!

First Things First

China has a long, rich history and a uniquely refined culture.  This culture can be seen everywhere from the elaborate and deliberate tea ceremonies to the cacaphony of distinctive accents hawking various wares along even the most deserted streets.  But it is widely recognized that China's cultural peak, the point at which the various voices carrying its history rise in the grandest harmonies, is its English translations.  For example:

This piece captures the distinctly Chinese, and yet fundamentally human, desire to mold an imagination that is not only brimming with creativity, but that also expresses itself disarmingly and politely.  And what lofty goals this wild-eyed yet friendly policeman presents us with: not only must we practice self-restraint, we must in fact be self-restraint.

The fine art of English translation finds perhaps its truest expression when combined with the art of food.  Though it may seem distasteful, even barbaric, to the Western palate, lettuce child has long been a delicacy in the Orient.  In this case, the popularity of lettuce child evidently led to its price being changed not once, but twice.  Incidentally, ten yuan is a true bargain for such a child.

A distinctly Keatsian cadence and the imagery, I dare say, of a latter-day Whitman.  Who could even pretnend not to be moved?

Full disclosure, this translation is completely accurate.  And completely disgusting.

Of course, no mere survey could ever do justice to the art of English translation, but there will be more to come...

Steve

Tokyo Sky Club...Yes Please!

Okay, so we're on our way to Beijing, and we have a little layover in Tokyo.  It's turning out pretty well, and the Delta lounge in Tokyo is INSANE! Even though the pasta and sauce had potatoes in it (wait, oh yeah, Italians always mix potatoes in with their pasta!) there was quite a good spread.  They have chocolate cake, sushi with gourd, sandwiches, salad, soup, the whole shebang. And they even have this little treasure:

Yes, you may be thinking this is how you become the next Green Lantern, or even the Green Hornet, but alas, no. This is one of Fanta's long lost greats.  Steve says it's Green Apple, although I'm pretty sure it said it was Melon Soda. So you're thinking just taste it, right? Not so easy,  it really does taste like some strange combination of the two. Despite its lacking of superhuman qualities, the first cultural food experience (the soda, not the pasta) in Asia was pretty dang good.

So far it's pretty close to home, except for the heated toilet seats. If you're brave enough to sit down on one in a public place, I'm sure they're quite pleasant.  But even better, they have rooms where you can take showers.  Basically you have your own personal bathroom in an airport halfway around the world.  Pretty sweet. 

Plus there's this bonus that everyone somehow knows to speak English to us.....

America's Next Top Chef

Steve has decided to learn how to cook...and apparently the learning curve is non-existent for him because he already made this:

Grilled pineapple and brown sugar, mmmmmmmmmmmm. If Homer Simpson were here, he'd be drooling right now. And.....drum roll please................

Honey and hoisin glazed pork tenderloin on the barbie. Steve even trimmed the pork himself before cooking it. And a picture of the great chef himself ("Let me taste this for you").

In other news, Steve and I have started a book club.  The only way I can actually keep up on a book is if we read it together, literally (and literaturelly, haha). We just finished Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. Definite good read, for girls at least, Steve kind of got suckered into it.

Right now we're a little ways in The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. A lot of the references are over my head, so it's a learning experience for me and a teaching experience for Steve. Good thing I married into cultural literacy. The book is about a young girl and an older lady who hide behind what society thinks they should be, until a stranger meets them and sees them for who they really are. So far so good I think.


Meanwhile, as I was writing this, Steve was working on this with the disposal...

Sorry Bill and Lisa, we'll get you a new teaspoon.

Well, just to the power of two right now....

This will get a little more exciting when we actually get exciting, but don't hold your breath...