tesibria

Leaving Home and Coming Home

It's soooo hard to leave home.  And, Shanghai has become home to us over the past five years.  Despite the challenges, I love this absolutely gorgeous city.  I've loved making our apartment our home.  I've been blessed to get to know some fabulous friends.  

And I have fallen utterly in love with, and become godmother to, two amazing, adorable children here.  And my heart is breaking everyday that I will no longer be seeing them every morning and afternoon.  It does help some that I already have my ticket for a two-week August visit so I can be with them when they start Year 2 at school, and future trips are being planned too.  But still.  Just. So. Hard.  

A big part of me does not want to leave home.

 

It's sooo exciting to be coming home.  And, Phoenix is home too.  I'm so excited that I'll be only a few hours away from my siblings -- only 1 or 2 time zones, rather than 12-14.  I can't wait to get to babysit my granddaughter.  I can't wait to reconnect "live" with friends back in Phoenix,  to get involved again in working to make Phoenix and Arizona better places to live, to cheer on the DBacks and Cardinals and Suns and Coyotes (live).  I can't wait to go flying with LOML and to ride Big Yellow with him.  And I can't wait for a DRY heat summer (instead of the incredibly humid Shanghai summer).  And I'm very excited that we will be living downtown (or much closer anyway) Phoenix.

A big part of me can't wait to get home.

 

Torn between two homes; both heartbroken and excited.  That's how it is right now we finish out our last few days in Shanghai.  

 

 

 

Tibet ~ General Impressions, continued

A few more general impressions regarding our trip to Tibet, before going into a day-by-day recollection …

“I’ll Be Watching You”

Honestly, I didn’t notice the heavy police presence at first.  I mean, I noticed police.  After all, we were stopped twice on the way from the airport to Lhasa, to have papers checked.  Ok – that was a bit different.  But, it didn’t seem a big deal.  I just didn’t feel their overwhelming presence for the first few days. 

However, the Presence seemed to grow each day we were there.  In the areas around temples, there was a (manned) police station on every corner.  I began noticing that there were cameras on every street.  And in every corner of the temple yards … and in the temples themselves.  Police were at every entrance – and walking around inside.  It was like being in London – only more so.

As we traveled out of Lhasa, we went through no fewer than a dozen checkpoints.  Ostensibly, most of these “checkpoints”  were for speed control purposes.* 

We’d stop in the line of cars.  The guide would jump out of the van with his/the driver’s papers and go up to the checkpoint window.  Papers would be reviewed (to make sure we had permission to enter that area), then he’d get a slip of paper. 

At least once every three stops, he’d need to come back to the van to get our passports/papers. Then we’d drive on.

 *About speed controls.  As explained to us, there have been many Chinese tourist bus accidents on the winding roads around Lhasa.  So, the government instituted these checkpoints as a safety measure to control speed on the highway.  When you go through a checkpoint, they note the time – and the time you should reach the next checkpoint.  You can’t get to the next checkpoint before the time stamped on your paper or you get fined for going too fast. 

As one might expect, this “safety measure” is utterly ineffective, although it’s a boon for entrepreneurs in the area.  What everyone  -- including our driver – does is just speed on through the area (using the horn far more often than the brake, unless an animal is at risk) … then pull over about five minutes before the next checkpoint.  Then just sit to burn off the extra time.  Sometimes we took a bathroom break in the bushes below the highway.  Sometimes we just hung out.  Sometimes we took pictures, although the “stop” areas were rarely scenic for whatever reason.  In the area between Shigatse and Lhasa, entrepreneurs have set up little shops/rest areas just before the checkpoints and their parking lots were filled with busses burning off time while their occupants shop at the stores.

The Ubiquitousness of Cell Phones

Cell phones are as ubiquitous in Tibet as in any other area of China.   It was quite common to ...

…walk into a temple and see the monk sitting there looking at his cell phone rather than the text of Tibetan scripture open to him.  (In one temple, two monks were huddled over a cell phone watching a video when we walked in, but quickly put it away …)

… see a man driving his kiangs cart down the street while talking on his cell phone.

… be in a temple (outside of Lhasa) and hear a devotee's cell phone go off loudly (inside the temple).  There’d be chatting for a bit, then the person would return to his or her chanting. Every once in a while, the person would step out of the temple....

Solar Energy Rocks in Tibet

Tibet is, apparently, at the forefront of solar energy development projects in China.  We saw that on a small scale.  Solar street lamps  and solar tea kettle heaters were in every city, town, and village (and monastery and nunnery) that we visited, however big or small. Villages might still have dirt roads ~ but they always had solar street lamps...

The tea kettle heaters were awesome.   The first time I saw one from a distance, I thought itw as an old-school TV satellite.  However, soon as we got close, it was obvious that they were solar “stoves” – and we could hear the water boiling in the kettles sitting on them.  

The Transportation Evolution in a Single Frame

In China Road (a great book by the way), author Rob Gifford describes China’s traffic as follows:

“The road itself is a crazy mélange of mobile humanity. Every type of human land transportation is here, heading in both directions, as though a conference on the history of road transport is being held somewhere and representatives of every era are hastening to attend. It’s like one of those evolutionary diagrams of man, emerging from the transportational ooze. People walking with their knuckles scraping the ground (not really), a scavenger pulling a three-wheeled cart, ringing a bell and shouting out to no one in particular. Men and women on simple, rickety bicycles, going barely faster than the pedestrians. Men and women, helmetless, zipping past on little scooters. Men and women with helmets on, clearly further up the evolutionary chain, buzzing in and out of the traffic on bigger scooters. Cars, pickups, cement mixers, local buses, long-distance buses, superdeluxe long-distance buses are all here too. Then, pulling up at a traffic light is the Homo erectus of this Darwinian scene. A shiny white 7 series BMW.”  (Kindle Locations 592-600).

We hadn’t really experienced that in the cities we’ve visited to date, but it’s certainly true in Tibet.  One can expect to see at any given time and on any given road (whether city street or country highway), people walking (often with huge bags on their backs), people on horseback or in carts being pulled by horses or kiangs, yak drivers, sheep drivers, people on tractors, bicycles, and motor scooters, and of course, people in cars, vans, buses, and trucks.

The Car Horn Noise Pollution

Oh, the terribly annoying car horn.  There is a lot of car horn noise pollution in Shanghai to be sure, so I've gotten a little more acclimatized to it (though I'm so grateful that our driver rarely uses his ~ and that our car has good sound insulation!).  

However, Tibetans – or at least our driver – take it to a whole other level.  At first I thought it was also quite random but as the days progressed, there appeared to be a purpose behind each honk.  So, not really random (I don’t think) – however constant. 

See a person walking on the side of the road?  Honk.  (I guess so they can hear you coming?). 

See a group of people sitting down having lunch on the side of the road?  Honk.  (So they don’t suddenly get up?) 

See a group of people in a field working?  Honk.  (Hey! How ya doing?) 

See a dog or cat running on the side of the road.  Honk repeatedly! (In vain hopes that he won’t startle and run out onto the road, at which time you must slam on the brakes.) 

See a low flying bird anywhere near the road?  Honk!!  (Maybe it won’t fly over the road.)

See a herd of sheep in the field nearby?  Honk!  (It does not stop the shepherd from herding the sheep across the road, but maybe that was the intent…)

Going around a blind curve?  No real need to slow down – just honk the whole way around!! (Hey other driver, I’m on your side of the road as I whip around this corner!!!) This made for very noisy trips several days when we were climbing up switchbacks to get over mountain passes.

Come up behind a car (or tractor, or horse-drawn carriage), honk!! (Hey, I’m going around you…or, even if I can’t, I’m gonna let you know that you’re slowing me down!) 

Coming into a village (many of which have a “no horn” sign?)  Honk!!!! (I can’t see you but I know that since this is a village, someone is going to be along this street!)  

I swear we did not drive a half mile without at least one honk.

Dogs and Cats and Cows

The number of free-roaming dogs in Tibet was astounding.  They can’t be called wild dogs because they are socialized and friendly.   But they have no collars and are apparently not owned by anyone.  They’re everywhere.   

They're usually in small packs.  And they look sufficiently fed.  Not necessarily cared for –mangy coats and only partially healed injuries were not uncommon – we didn’t see any that appeared to be starving. 

And they were fearless in that they’d happily lie down on the warm blacktop in the middle of the road.  I guess they know that any Tibetan will not  run over them.  During lunch one time, I watched a black dog nap in the middle of an intersection, while cars repeatedly slammed on brakes, honked horns – then went around him. 

Sometimes dogs followed us on walks.  They were always friendly and allowed us to pet them. 

There were not nearly as many cats around … and they were almost always in worse shape than the dogs.  Most of the cats we saw had terribly infected eyes and looked … bad.  They looked fed – but in bad shape.   

One poor cat came in and slept on the bench next to us during lunch.  He was a mess.  He’d clearly been in some fight – and lost.  He had a nasty open wound on his leg and just looked exhausted.  Broke my heart.

In small villages, many houses had a cow or a dzo tied outside the door, apparently to
provide milk and butter for the family.  They always had a rope tied to their horns.  The rope was just long enough that they could stand up and turn around.  They couldn’t take more than one step away, but they could kind of turn around and sit back down.  That was kind of tough to see too.  Especially when we'd walk by and they'd get up and try to come over -- but ... couldn't.

 

 

Tibet ~ General impressions (in somewhat random order)

I’m often just a bit overwhelmed when I return from a trip – over-stimulation or something – but this time, it seems even more so than usual.  I hope to share a bunch of pics and thoughts about our trip in the coming days but, first, some general impressions.

Devout

It was startling to see the number of people living out their faith/religion throughout the day every day in Tibet.  We’ve been to other countries where there are Buddhists and many Buddhist temples.  When we visited Kyoto Japan, we saw many Buddhist and Shinto temples.  The majority of people there were, like us, tourists.  We observed some people apparently carrying out certain rituals of their faith, but only a few.   When we visited Phuket, Thailand, the many Buddhist Temples we saw were surrounded by bustling markets.  And everyone (except for tourists taking pictures) was in the markets, not the temple.

Not so in Tibet.  The only place where one did not see someone carrying out rituals of their faith was in one’s own hotel room.   Everywhere else, there was at least one person reciting a prayer while counting the prayer beads in their hand, spinning a prayer wheel while walking a kora, or prostrating themselves along one of the koras. 

And I do mean everywhere.  One comes to expect it at every Buddhist temple or monastery or nunnery visited, but we also saw it on the main streets of Lhasa (and in other cities visited).  And, the day we drove from Lhasa to Ganden Monastery, we were about 20 miles outside Lhasa when we saw two young men making their way to Lhasa via prostration along the side of the road.  This, we learned, is not at all uncommon.  Thousands of Tibetans make a prostration pilgrimage to Lhasa each year.  (See, e.g., this New York Times story from several years ago.). 

Even when we were hiking with our guide out in the mountains, we could hear him reciting prayers or singing under his breath, and he always had his prayer beads in hand or around his wrist.  While we were driving from one place to the other, we’d hear both our driver and guide reciting prayers, beads spinning in their hands. 

We walked the kora around Jokhang Monastery (the most sacred temple in Tibet) several times. And, yes, there were other tourists like us there … but there were far more people who clearly were there to practice their faith.  And, there was no single age group – we saw many older people … and many people our age … and many young people, and even children walking the koras, doing prostration, or chanting prayers as they walked down the street (or sat behind the store register … or restaurant counter).  Especially in Lhasa, but really in every single place we visited.   

This --- despite "everything," Tibet remains a place filled with devout Buddhists who live out their faith daily --- left the most enduring impression.

A small child and a young man practicing prostration around the Jokhang Monastery outer kora.

A woman practicing prostration at Traduk Temple (Tsedang, Tibet).  The piles of stones are to keep track of completed prostrations - each time she completes one, she moves a stone from the left pile to the right pile.

Crowds of faithful walking the Jokhang Monastery outer kora.

Big

The mountains in Tibet are just so … big.  I grew up in the Allegheny Mountains in Western Pennsylvania.  Our home was near Mt. Davis, the highest point in Pennsylvania (3,213 ft), which I thought was pretty cool.  I remember the first time I saw mountains in the Rocky Mountains (1993!!).  They seemed sooo huge, compared to where I grew up.  I also remember the first time I hiked a mountain above the timberline – with Jeff.   It was Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona (12,637 ft).  That was the first time I actually got “above the timberline.”  I thought that was pretty cool too.  As we hiked a couple other mountains (Mauna Kea, Hawaii (13,803), Wheeler Peak, New Mexico (13,167 ft) and Mt. Elbert, Colorado (14,440 ft)). And, I was always amazed when we got up above the trees.  It just felt so ... high.

Then I went to Tibet ~ where the average elevation (14,800 ft) exceeds the highest point in Colorado.  It's hard to describe just how ... BIG ... the mountains seem.  We were at or above 12,000 most of the time,* yet could always see mountains towering ever higher on the horizon.  And they just go on and on ... and on and on.  It is a starkly beautiful -- and very BIG -- place.

*I must admit that I underestimated the whole "altitude" issue.  During the first few days, it was really challenging though, thankfully it got significantly better after a while.  But - on about the 5th day, I suggested to Jeff that the subtitle to this trip could well be "Fifty Shades of Headaches" -- because one of us (usually me) had some sort of headache for at least some part of nearly every day. Worth it though.  Totally worth it! 

One of several gorgeous ranges we passed on (this one on route from Tsdange to Gyantse).

Colorful. 

Oh the color!  Doors.  Windows.  Roof Eaves.  (... Scarfs. Skirts.  Hair pieces. necklaces. ...)   Oh the Tibetans do love their bright colors.  It was just wonderful! Homes might be otherwise somewhat drab, but one could always find a door, window, or roof eave that was brightly painted.  I went just a tad overboard with the pictures (more than 100...) but can't resist sharing just a few...

 

... to be continued ...

Catching Up...

Well … it’s been a while. I must admit to getting “lazy” by just posting snippets on Facebook over the past couple (errr… few…) months rather than blogging experiences. In brief …

In December, we traveled to Kyoto, Japan, which is a truly wonderful little city – as full of shrines, big and small, as Rome is full of churches. (Our photo book of this trip is available (hopefully) here.

We also traveled back to the US, visiting Phoenix (briefly), Indiana (Jeff’s homehome), Pennsylvania (my homehome) -- where I got to love on my grand nieces and nephew, then on to Telluride, Colorado for a bit of skiing over New Years. (Jeff proposed to me in Telluride on New Years’ Eve – it’ll always be a special place for us.)

During Chinese New Year (end of January/beginning of February), we traveled to Phuket, Thailand, for a liveaboard dive trip on the Aggressor. And I can confirm that the Aggressor is all it’s cracked up to be. We had a wonderful time. Few days on the island before and after the actual dive trip – then the seven day dive trip. (Photo book of Thailand trip available here.)  

In mid-February, I joined Jeff for a weekend in Singapore during the big Asia Air Show .. and we walked a bit of the city - and, of course, the zoo.

In March, Jeff took me to Hakuba, Japan for a long ski weekend.  Skiing in Japan can't be compared to skiing in US-West.  For one, basic ski safety concepts don't seem to apply ... people whizzed by at high speeds on every hill, including the bunny hill.  But we still had a great time and, as important, we had amazing food every night!!

And, what did I do in between these trips?  Well, I survived our first winter in Shanghai.  And now know that as sweltering as summers are, they're better!  The air pollution was pretty awful many many days, which made it "not fun" to go out and explore the city.  I hibernated - a lot - while here between mid-November and mid-March - because it was just too awful outside!  I tried to figure out Chinese theatres, with little success.  (None of the theatre websites are in English and the Google translator isn't always accurate.  Shanghai needs Flixster .. or any similar sort of thing that tells one what movies are playing at what theatre!  If it exists, I can't find it - only way to know guess what's playing is to find individual theatre websites, then check out each one.) Then again, as I understand, movie theatres are far less popular here than in the states.  Why pay $20+ for a theatre movie when you can go down to the local DVD store and get the same movie (albeit of varying quality) for $2?

Anyway, our favorite weekend entertainment turns out to be the Kung Fu Komedy Club - which gets some really good acts about once a month.  And there are still dozens hundreds of restaurants/little neighborhoods to explore as well.  Now that the weather (and air quality) is better, we're getting out every weekend again.  Which is great!

Or every weekend that we're here in the city anyway.  We just got back from another trip - this time, a ten-day trip to central Tibet.  And that's the *real* reason I'm writing this catchup -- because I want to share much more about that trip than will fit in a Facebook comment.  So ... more on Tibet coming up soon!

In re: cooking adventures

Jeff and I are celebrating our Thanksgiving a day early here (two days early US time) – tonight, since he has all day work meetings AND a dinner (?!) on Thursday and we’re taking the train to Nanjing on Friday for the weekend, so wouldn’t be here to eat the leftovers if we had dinner on Thursday anyway.  I’ve been cooking up a mess for two days.  It’s quite … “fun” … since my oven is in Celsius (and can only set in 5 degree increments) – which never match up to 300, 325, 350 or any other “US” standard recipe temp.  SO I either go up a notch or cook less time, or down a notch and cook more time. 

Anyway, I have, as is my nature, gone a bit overboard on the menu.  Which –after yesterday’s adventures may actually be a good thing as my edible results average isn’t that great (except in baseball.  If cooking were like baseball, I’d be a star, as I rather consistently have a close-to 500 batting average….)

So, yesterday, I premade the following

All-Purpose Gravy:  I made this almost exactly per recipe (except less than half of the beef broth called for), and it’s the one thing that seemed to turn out “correctly.  It’s delicious.

Crispy Onions – for the Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions:  I picked this recipe because – well, I love Smitten Kitchen – but also because I couldn’t find French’s fried onions so decided to try making them myself.  Now that’s a whole lotta work (and oil to dispose of) for a pile of crispy onions but they ended up being delicious. 

Crockpot Apple & Cranberry Sauce with Orange & Crystallized Ginger:  Of course, the best cranberry sauce ever is the one on the back of the Oceanspray bag.  But I couldn’t find any fresh cranberries here and thought that since there’s tons of ginger root, this might be interesting.  Since I couldn’t find crystallized ginger, I found a recipe to make it.  The crystallized ginger turned out wonderful, I think anyway.  It looks like the pictures and tastes like candied ginger.  (Ok, it has a REAL “bite” for something candied, but – good in small doses.).  UNFORTUNATELY, I decided to get creative with the cranberry sauce.  Me getting creative in the kitchen is generally not a good idea as stuff turns out only sometimes when I follow the recipe.  BUT – the ginger recipe said to save the “ginger syrup” for future use.  So, I tasted it and it was kind of good.  So, when the cranberry sauce was still way too tart, I decided to add some ginger syrup to sweeten it up some more.  That didn’t make it much sweeter at all – only slightly sweeter but now with a bite too.  So I had to add still more sugar.  Then - when I realized I was making things worse, I just stopped.  Have a feeling there’ll be LOTS of leftover cranberry sauce – I’ll have to think of some way to hide the leftovers in some other dish.   

Roasted Garlic Chipotle Sweet Potatoes:  Another disaster.  Jeff likes savory over sweet, so I was looking for a recipe NOT including brown sugar, etc.  Only problem was that I couldn’t find Adobo sauce from chipotle chilies (or buttermilk, but wasn’t really worried about that).  So I goggled and read somewhere (can’t find it now) that one can just “reconstitute” dried chipotle peppers in hot water.  And, while I was trying to figure that out, I boiled the potatoes too long so they were way too mushy/watery.  I drained and drained (but couldn’t use oven because the cheesecake was in there), but still too watery.  Then … I added the not-really reconstituted peppers.  It just made a mess – and didn’t make the potatoes hot/spicy either – I think because they were just too watery to start.  Not sure what I’m going to do, but I’m going to play with a bit more today (can’t make them worse), and then serve them with leftovers tomorrow, depending on whether I can make them taste worth eating…

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake:  This recipe looks sooooo delicious – other than the pecans.  I’m so highly allergic to walnuts and had a (very very) bad reaction a few months ago after eating some mixed nuts (that did NOT contain walnuts), that I’m  not taking any chances on a nut that even remotely looks like a walnut.  I know almonds are safe, so I used almonds instead.  Also, I couldn’t find graham crackers – actually 3 different “ex pat friendly” stores carried them – but were completely out this week.  (Also out of fresh sage everywhere.  But that’ll just affect the chicken...) But I did find a “premade” graham cracker crust.  It was all cracked up but – since I was using a spring form pan, I figured I had to break it up anyway.  So – I did.  Then added crushed almonds and just enough butter to make the stuff stick together again and reshaped it into the spring pan.  But – have my serious doubts whether it’s going to hold. 

I also could not find packed pumpkin anywhere, but pumpkins are plentiful, so made my own using this recipe – which really worked, although it took quite a while to get the last step right.  (Of course, I can’t exactly ask which pumpkins are “pie pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins” – because those concepts just … don’t translate.  But I knew that a small pumpkin at the local market was delicious after making clean eating pumpkin fries last week.  I was glad that I was patient because --  ohmygoodness, the batter for this pie is lick-the-beaters-then-lick-the-bowl clean delicious.  Then I baked.  But – recipe said bake until center was “just set.”  Well, I did google that to find out what it means and read this – and tried to follow it but think I guessed it right because five minutes after I took it out, it had fallen down/settled a good 1/3+ inch.  Oh well.  I still put on the sour cream topping (which seemed WAYY too runny to me), and put it back in – this time for 10 minutes instead of the 5, hoping that’d fix it.  Don’t think it worked though it did make the edges brown.  But at least it looked pretty (but for the too-brown edges) … right up until I laid a piece of wax paper over it (afraid cats would jump up – Gracie loves yogurt, sour cream, etc.).  The wax paper fell down onto the top – which of course messed up the perfectly smooth top.  I think I should have stopped at the batter phase and just served that in custard cups or something – it was truly scrumptious.

Sooo ……..  after cooking most of the day yesterday, I have really tasty gravy and crispy onions.  I have cranberry sauce that may not be edible.  The sweet potatoes are not servable in their present state.  The cheesecake is a mystery still – I’m afraid to take off the spring form until much closer to dinner, in case the topping runs and/or the crust crumbles.

HOPEFULLY, today will go better. I’m working on …

“Perfect Roast” Chicken:  We’re having chicken rather than turkey.  Turkey is not a Chinese meat, so it’s incredibly expensive.  (I saw 8-10 lb turkeys in three stores – priced at between $90-$100 each).   Even if turkey’s weren’t so expensive, our oven is so tiny I don’t think a 5 pound turkey would fit anyway, so – chicken it is.

“Simple is Best” Stuffing:   I couldn’t find plain white bread, so used a French Baguette.  Also added carrots just because the stuffing my sisters and I made always included finely chopped carrots, and it was always delicious. 

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions:  Have the crispy onions, so just have to make the rest… 

Balsamic Braised Brussels with Pancetta: Since I’m only batting 500, figure I need to make two greens in hopes that one turns out …  

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:  Since I ruined the sweet potatoes yesterday, I’m making plain ol’ mashed potatoes.  They’ll go well with the gravy anyway.  And I haven’t messed up mashed potatoes for a long time ….

It’s all an adventure, right?  One (other) wonderful thing about this whole experience is that I have the time to “play” and figure things out.  And I have a tolerant husband – who can make a great meal from scraps in 30 minutes or less, but still manages to tolerate most of what takes me hours to put together.  (And, all this also keeps me busy NOT thinking about fact that we're 1000s miles away from family this Thanksgiving...)

Anyway, by the end of this assignment, maybe I’ll be a halfway competent cook if I keep trying …

On making this house our home

Way back on October 9, I was all excited about the fact that our delivery was scheduled to arrive.  Well.  Suffice it to say that that was a bit (understatement) of a ShangLow kind of day because there was a substantial amount of damage to our "stuff" -- and, if that wasn't enough, they completely lost a tall dresser -- full of all my undies, socks, swim suits, pjs, etc, a wicker chest -- full of all our CDs, DVDs, and miscellaneous "stuff," and all of our pots and pans except for one.   :::sigh:::  As I said at the time, it's all just "stuff."  But, still -- we're still in the "claims process."  As in, we've submitted our claim and will wait and see what happens.  I find myself singing, "This is the move that never ends .. it just goes on and on my friend ... "  ... ... 

All that being said, I have so very much to be thankful for.  And, well, about 80% of our stuff -- including the "stuff" with the most sentimental value -- did arrive undamaged.  It was so much fun to unpack individual pieces and be thrilled that they were safe, then find special places to put them. 

And, while I was worried that I'd packed way too much stuff, I was very surprised as I put stuff away to find out that I really didn't!! Shocking.  Ok, I did find a couple things here and there that I don't need here.   (Since there are magnetic door stops on every door, I really don't need the half dozen door stops I brought.)  But, I've put away virtually everything and, believe it or not, we still have ample closet space and storage space.  (Ok, the camping stuff is BIG - too big to put in a closet, so that stuff stays in the monster gray tubs, but - that's a size issue, not a too-much stuff issue.)  And, even accounting for the space necessary to add in all the missing/damaged items whenever they get fixed and/or replaced, I think we'll be just fine with a bit of room to spare.

And, it's amazing how adding our "stuff" makes this place feel -- well -- like our "home."  I'm loving it. To be sure, there's stuff still to do (isn't that always the case).  And, to be sure, it's a different kind of home.  (That there are so few physical books is very very weird to me. But that's just how it is when you can only bring X number of books with you.) 

But -- all that being said, I am really enjoying this space -- and making this space "ours."  So, let me take you for a bit of a pictorial tour of our home:

Arriving from the elevator.  Ok, yes, that gold is ::cough cough:: just a tad overwhelming.  But, it it what it is.  I tried to soften it with woven rug and basket and one of my mom's paintings.

Now about the shoes.  I always thought that it was just a cultural custom to take one's shoes off before entering.  (I'm faced with just how ... uneducated I am about many things each day.)  It is a custom.  But - like many many old customs, it's also health-based. Shoes supposedly carry in the majority (I heard about 80% from one source) of the harmful particulates one has in one's home.  Once in the home, they get caught up in the ventilation and then in the air we breath.  So, by leaving shoes out in the foyer, we can substantially reduce our indoor air pollution.  The brown cupboard there is full of my shoes.  Jeff's shoes would only fit sideways.  (Mine barely fit - I guess we both have larger-than-average feet.)

I had been half-heartedly following the custom for the first month we were here -- and inwardly giggling when I'd be riding the elevator down and see someone's foyer literally covered with what looked like dozens of shoes. 

Now that I know the health "why" for doing so, I've become rather religious about it.  And I moved a chair out there to make it easier to put shoes on and off too.  (The deer pelt was a wonderful Christmas present from my sister-in-love and her love.  I'm trying to hide the fact that this is an extra dining room chair -- and trying to deflect from all that gold tone too.) 

The shopping bags are hanging right beside the elevator button -- because I kept forgetting to take one with me.  Thank goodness for Command Strips, Hooks, and Hangers.  Our cement-hard plaster walls would be utterly bare without them. 

Ok, moving on -- or, rather, in -- to our living/dining "great" room ... with a view:

While less than half of the "stuff" here is from our Phoenix home, the other stuff pretty much matches the style we had so it's enough to make it feel like home to us.  Actually, the layout and landlord/new pieces remind me more of my place in Chicago -- which I loved very much.  I'll take some night pictures at another time -- it's much more dramatic than daytime hazy pictures.  (Yes, that's haze today you see outside the windows.  AQI has been in the "unhealthy" range for two days now.  I understand November is the worst month for air pollution in Shanghai.  And this seems to be true so far.) 

The one-legged coffee table remains on the floor behind the couch.  (My Facebook friends know that this was one of the casualties of the movers.  I am haven't given up hope that adjusters will find a way to fix it -- and if they don't, I will.  So we'll just live without a coffee table/footstool/movie-night-pizza-table/stuff collector for a while longer.)  And the wall facing the dining room table is right now a very stark white wall -- which presents the perfect excuse for Saturday street shopping to find something to add color there.

I always wanted a full-length standing mirror -- and had no full length mirror here -- and we had a big blank wall to fill up -- and they're cheaper here than I've ever seen them in the US, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to get one. So, I did.  Just a couple days ago - from IKEA.

Now, I'm scared of these incredibly hard plaster walls after striking out trying to get picture hangers to work. 

(I tried about seven different ways recommended for plaster walls on Pinterest and other places.  None of them worked.  Even with Ook hangers.  Fortunately, I did my "testing" on the wall behind where I knew we were going to put the bed.  It's not a pretty sight.)  

Anyway, since we have two cats (and since I can be incredibly clumsy at times), I was afraid to just let it sit up against the wall.  So, I decided to splurge ($11.66) and have the IKEA guys come and secure it to the walls.  They just came today!  And -- I have to say that I love it.  It brings the light from the big living room windows back into the long hallway from the kitchen to the bedrooms.   (And, given that the cats have already tried to climb behind it, I'm thinking that this "splurge" was the right thing to do.) 

Now, on to the kitchen:

So, it's a basic galley kitchen.  It seems like There is a lot of storage, but it's "weird-to-us" storage.  There are only two shallow drawers - with hard dividers in them.  And the dividers are such that steak knives and the like are too big.  And, well ... I guess having a kitchen junk drawer is a foreign concept here.   Instead, there are just lots and lots and lots of shelves.  And they're short shelves - our wine glasses barely fit --and only barely fit on one shelf in one cupboard.  And they're not adjustable.  (I tried.  Another "whoops" that I have "fixed" with a combination of toothpaste and baking soda.) 

And the shelves under the counter are very deep - i.e., lots of wasted space, or inconvenience if you have to pull out all the stuff in front to get to the stuff in back.  (I'm not a cook, but even I can tell that this kitchen was not designed by a cook.)  Anyway, workaround queen that I try to be, I re-purposed one of the plastic organizers I brought with me as a junk drawer, and then got a couple tubs and made "drawers" in the two cabinets on either side of the stove.  It's not perfect, but it works to hold cooking utensils, measuring cups, etc., lids to pots and pans (the pots and pans went missing from our shipment, but the lids made it), and plastic storage containers.

I have to say that I just love the pull-out pantry -- and just made a magnetic wall since the fridge/freezer (beside the pantry) isn't magnetic.  It works -- for us anyway.

Also have to say that I love having a separate laundry room.  (Ok, so the machines don't work that great -- two sheets and two pillowcases are too much - have to do one sheet at a time....takes more than an hour to wash and nearly two to dry.) BUT there's room to move anyway.  I like it as organized.  And, for now, we have a sort of "wine cellar."  Ok.  Have I mentioned that drinkable wine is incredibly expensive here comparatively?  Well.  It is -- as in about three times the cost of the exact same bottle in the US - at least.  (And I'm just talking drinkable.  The "good" stuff is astronomically expensive.)   So when I find something on sale (so it's only about twice as much as in US), I get a few.  Well, last weekend Carrefour had a wine fair, with really great deals, so I stocked up. 

I will have to find an alternative wine storage system come Spring:  these two rooms are not climate controlled, so they will get way too hot next summer.  However, for now, the back room works great as storage room/wine cellar. 

There used to be a door between the two rooms, but it was just in the way, so I took it off and stuck it behind the shelving in the ayi room. 

As an(other) aside, I find it rather appalling that the "ayi room" -- designed for a live-in maid -- is uncooled/unheated!!  These rooms are sweltering in the summer and I can only assume they are going to be very very cold in the winter.  Weird.  There's also a mini-bathroom back there, with toilet, tiny sink, and shower head.  It's like being on a boat - just close the door and take a shower along side the sink and toilet.  Here - in our place - that bathroom stores the kitty carriers and a few other similar things that aren't climate-sensitive.  Anyway, I'm rambling (again).  Sorry. 

Ok -- out of the kitchen and back the hall to .. YOUR room. You know, when you come visit us?  Yes.  The sheets are fresh, the bed is made, flowers are fresh, and space is reserved in the closet of our Guest Room.   (And, we we have overflow space in my office too!)  I'm so looking forward to having visitors!

We are also blessed in that we each have our own office. Jeff's is out adjacent to the living room (which is great for when he has the very late night or very early morning calls), while mine is between the guest room and our bedroom. 

My office has a sleeper sectional ... just in case we get a family of visitors.  (I promise to relocate the litter box for the duration of your visit!!)   On a typical day though, this is pretty much an all purpose room:  my office, kitty hangout, my closet, etc.  And, the sectional -- or rather the pillows on the sectional -- serve as Gracie's safe place when the door bell rings, and her cave --  where she hides all the (fake) mice, tissues, bits of string, and whatever else she decides to horde in her special place....(It's going to be fun finding art to add color to these white walls.)

Jeff's office, adjacent to the living room, is smaller - but he also has the killer view of the river.  And he has his own bathroom.  It's a cute little office - with only one white wall for which we get to find some cool art or something to hang. 

Finally, our bedroom:  this one is still very much a work in progress as we are missing our TV stand aka tall dresser, and the walls are very bare, and we'll be looking for a rug to warm the floor (literally and figuratively), but we have the most important piece:  our bed!  I am soo thrilled to have our bed back.   And so are the cats.  We all sleep better now, to be sure!

It's also rather awesome to have a bath with a view, although it's not so great that the shower in the master bath is essentially nonfunctional.  I mean - it works - but it's a corner shower.  And the shower head sprays straight out -- onto the door.  If the door is closed.  If not, then it sprays right out onto the bathroom floor.

This wouldn't really be a big problem if you could just get in, close the door, then turn on the shower.  However, unless you're into ice-cold showers, you can't do that here.  You have to turn on the water for a good 5 minutes, then check it.  (Usually, at 5 minutes, it's "not freezing.")  Then check it again.  (Usually, but not always, at 10-12 minutes, it's lukewarm, so bearable.)  And, given the showerhead configuration, this means opening up the door at least three times with the shower head blasting water -- right out the door.  (I can only assume that the designer never took showers -- or didn't know about how long it takes to get water warm in these apartments.  Or maybe s/he was just a fan of freezing showers.)

So -- we shower in the hall bathroom, which actually is bigger so better anyway.  And, the good part is that if you get in the shower when it's warm, it'll be hot by the time you've shampooed your hair once, so ... I've learned to take warm-to-hot showers.  Of course, regardless of where we shower, we have to keep in mind that water just continues heating up.  So we have to adjust constantly to avoid it getting scalding hot. Essentially, it's like being on a boat:  one hand on the faucet, one hand to shower with.  (I'm exaggerating only a little teensy bit.  It's kinda crazy.  But you get used to it.)

Notice the bathrobe hanging on the door in the bathroom? Yes!!! Though I lost all my undies, socks, pjs, bathing suits, etc. etc., My bathrobe made it!! Yaaaay.

Anyway, the good thing (or, rather, another good thing) is that, after some repairs, the jacuzzi bathtub works.  And it's wonderful!  For me, the idea of a bath has always been way more appealing than actually taking one.  Five minutes after I got in, I'd be ready to get back out.  But - I can stay in a hot tub forever.  Ok, so this isn't really a hot tub, but I love the jacuzzi tub..  In fact, all this talking about it makes me want to go take a bath right now.  It's s chilly in here and the city lights are shining bright ... and a bath sounds like a perfect way to start my evening.

So, have a great evening folks.  Hope you enjoyed the tour.  At a minimum - if you made it this far - thanks for tolerating my blathering on.  But it just feels good to feel like I'm "home."

Things I'm learning

Ok, it's been a while since my last post and I have much to catch up on here.  However, just thought I'd share a few random things I'm learning ...

...To find out how old someone is here, you have to ask what year she was born – can’t just ask “how old are you?” Why? Because a Chinese baby is 1 at birth. However, when talking with Laowais, some (but not all) Chinese people tell you their age in “Western.” So you just can’t tell for sure how old someone is (in “Western”) unless you ask what year she was born.

...To find out someone’s birthday (in Western terms), you need to ask what day she was born – can’t just ask “when is your birthday.” Why? Because birthdays are based on the lunar calendar here. So a person’s birthday “date” changes every year. So often, the person will tell you the date that they celebrate their birthday THIS year (or, if it’s already past, the next year.) However, when talking with Laowais, some folks will tell you their “Western” birth date. You just can’t know unless you clarify.

...When speaking English, it's very important to always clarify numbers – especially those that end in “-teen” or “-ty.” Neither I nor J can distinguish between “15” and “50” when said by someone here (nor can others hear the difference when we say it).  We have been late – or early – a few times because we said 10:15, but the local person heard 10:50 (and/or vice-versa). This is so even though we clarify/repeat a few times. So, I had to learn to say 10:15 as “ten-one-five” and 10:50 as “ten-five-zero.”... Of course, we can avoid that entire problem by just saying the time in Mandarin: “shí diǎn wǔ fen” is clearly different than “shí diǎn wǔshí fen.” I’m starting to do that.

...Learning how to speak Mandarin using Pinyin (or understanding Mandarin when written in Pinyin) is easier than I thought it would be. At first, it was really hard. I mean, why use English letters if you’re not going to use English pronunciations??? Why’d they make “e” sound like “u” and “u” sound like “o” and “i” sound like “e” and “x” sound like “sh” and “z” sound like “g”?? Crazy!! At first it was like having to do a double translation: English > Pinyin > Mandarin. However, after a few weeks of that, it got much easier.

...I am not (at all) good at repeating tones/Mandarin words that I hear. But if I SEE them in pinyin, I can get relatively close. Well, except for certain sounds. Like the ü sound – which I doubt I’ll ever be able to say correctly in a sentence. (Ok. Say “oooooooooo.” Feel how your mouth is shaped. Now, make your mouth form that “ooooo” sound shape – but instead of saying “ooooooooooo” say “eeeeeeee” BUT DON’T MOVE your lips! Just say eeeee “through” an “oooooo” mouth. Go ahead. Try it! :::sigh::: My mouth just won’t work that way. just decided that I’d avoid any words with that sound in it. Only problem is, Mandarin for “attorney” is “lǜshī” – and in order to say any month, you have to say yuè – and anytime “u” comes after “y” in pinyin, it’s actually the ü sound.   :::sigh::: My poor tutor.  I just tell her we need to skip that word and I'll work on it.  After a bit, she agrees.  'Cause I'm just not getting it right.

...One can't assume that just because you bought something at a Lawoai store - or at a "reputable" local store, that it is safe and authentic.  Exhibit A:  We got a jar of peppers from a "reputable" (foreign-based) store.  Two weeks later, I realized that I'd experienced ... digestive distress ...after each time that J used the specific jar of peppers.   Exhibit B:  I purchased "Colombian Coffee Beans" from a "reputable" store.  The first two days that J used them, it was like he had morning sickness (dizziness, retching, etc.).  !! And he NEVER gets sick.  Exhibit C:  I purchased a (sealed, of course) bottle of Smirnoff vodka.  Not to drink (vodka and I do not mix well...) but for cleaning my vaping tanks (vodka is best cleaner, so I've been told.  I still put it in the freezer.  It's just what I've always done with vodka.  Imagine my surprise when I took it out to use it -- and it was half frozen.   According to the little freezer thermometer, the freezer is approx 20 celsius.  So - either my thermometer is wrong and this freezer is really really really cold, or the stuff in that bottle isn't really 80 proof Smirnoff vodka. 

All that being said, I've been purchasing vegetables and fruits from street vendors since we got here.  And neither one of us has had a moment's issue from any of the street/wetmarket fresh fruits/veggies we've purchased.  I'm becoming more and more enamored with fresh over canned ... it's better and safer.  Here, at least.

Ah, I have so much more to share but the kitties are going stir crazy right now for some reason - and it's impossible to type with one cat laying over my arms and the other getting tangled in my feet.  So clearly, I need to go play with them for a while. 

Will try to catch up on all that's been happening real soon!.

Shanghais and ShangLows

As Jeff reminded me a few times over the past three days, there will be “Shanghai” days, and “Shang-Low” days here. 

This week’s Shang-low moments have included …

…returning from vacation to learn that since it’s October, the PTB have shut off the air conditioning.  Even though it’s hot and humid outside (and about 90 degrees at home). 

And we can’t open the windows because we have cats and we’re on the 49th Floor. Andwhen we examine the windows and think, "nah, no way they’ll even try to get up here," then open just a couple – which brings sweet relief – we learn that yes, indeed, at least one can – and will – jump up and sit on the edge of the window, not caring that it’s 40+  stories up. … … …

So, after bribing him down with a treat, we realize that until we can devise some sort of screen, we really cannot open any windows regardless of how hot it is. So, we sweat. And hope it turns cooler fast.  

…walking into the laundry room to see water dripping from the ceiling onto the back of the washer where the plug is, and splashing directly onto the outlet where washer and dryer are plugged in. 

And when I report this electrical hazard to the property manager, the response is as follows: 

“Lots of people in this [building] have the same problem; it's because of the weather-typhoon in Shanghai these days.

[We] suggest that you can do some cleaning with buckets and mops. When the rain stops it will be good as usual.”

Uhm...Huh? Really?? I guess so, provided that there is no electrical short or anything. So, anyway, I unplug the washer, wipe up the water, put a bucket on top the washer (which can’t be moved much at all due to the drainage tube going into the floor), and set a timer to remember to empty it every few hours.  And then, when the rain stops, plug the washer back in and hope it works.  

Leaking about a gallon an hour ... for two days.  Thank goodness we were home.

…deciding that since it’s pouring outside, to eat in – only to discover that something went klafooey with the oven and I can’t get it to turn on. At all. No matter which button I push, it just reads STOP. 

And, while the landlord left all the “assembly” instructions of every piece of (already assembled) IKEA furniture in the place, we have no user manuals for any of the electronics. So I have no idea whether I’m just pushing the wrong buttons or something’s wrong with the stove. And so I Google the model number for 30 minutes, trying to find an online version of the manual, even though the internet is acting up again, cutting out every 3-4 minutes. And, it's just impossible to get to the “real” Google, even when on a US VPN, because it just keeps reverting to Hong Kong Google. In Mandarin. And the translator keeps crashing, so can’t read it.  Then I just give up and decide that Jeff has to cook because he knows how to cook everything on or with anything.

~~~

But then … when the rain stopped and I went out to market, and decided to try using a few of the Mandarin words I’m learning, and all the ladies stop and laugh and clap, nodding their heads. And I feel like I just won the National Spelling Bee!!! (But all I really did was say 49? in Mandarin … badly). 

And then I decided to see whether the repairs to the tub last week actually worked. And they did!  The tub fills up in only 10 minutes, and the jets work, and the tub no longer leaks when the jets are on! And ... it’s awesome!!!  This tub is so big I need to stretch to reach the other side!

 

And ... :::drum roll::: ... I learned that our sea shipment is scheduled for delivery – FINALLY – this Friday, which makes me dance around the place like a crazy woman. Our “glamping” days are ending, and I can’t say how glad I am about that!

Now, I'm trying NOT to count chickens and all that.  Things get delayed - often.  But it’s hard. I’m so ready for our stuff to get here! I’ve been “glamping” since July 18th – in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to shorten the time we did without our stuff while here. 

I’m ready to have my bathrobe back. And our bed!!! And a dresser to put my clothes (and … well, some different clothes will be great too). And our dining room table. And an actual wine glass, because it’s just not the same drinking wine out of a red solo cup. And a wine opener that actually works. And our potato peeler – I had no idea how much I used it until I didn’t have it.  And our good knives and a few more pots and pans and dishes.  And our camera cords, so we can download (and upload) pics from our travels.  And to have a few of our “favorite things” hung up on these very bare, very white (or slightly pink and/or slightly purple) walls.

Fingers crossed for Friday delivery!

 

(Of course, once it all gets here, I’ll be stressing about the fact that I packed and shipped too much stuff and don’t know where to put it all.  Because I know that I packed up way more than the list of things above, which are all the things I actually really miss………………) 

Snapshots of the Week

This popular local eatery repeats this slogan across four windows. 

I can only hope that I someday speak Mandarin as well as many here can speak English.  But sometimes, the "English" translations still make me giggle.  

Like, for example, T-shirts.  I cannot list all the "funny" (or maybe profound and I'm just missing it) things I've seen written on t-shirts worn here.  Just in the past week, I've seen the following (I started jotting them down or snapping a quick pic when one caught my eye):  

"Eyes without the cloudiness"

"Retreat:
When I'm with you I feel Gentile"

"Just take the pluge"

"Didn't"

"Transient Lovers"

"evil slot mach ines"

"MLFD
of beauty is
taste
the creation of
style is art"

 "HERD BOY'S:
Italy cutt neat and smooth glossy
Corporate management, it is refining"

 

And menus.  Most menus in the restaurants we go to frequently don't have English.  But last week, we went to one that did.  Sort of.   Dishes (we didn't order) included:

"Spicy Chicken Guts"

"Big Ear Pieces"

"Bursting Bullfrog"

"Lettuce Burn Belly"

"Millet Pepper Small Cock"

"Original Ecology Pork"

And my personal favorite:

"Purple Department Volume" 

I have much to share but it's been a long week, so for now will just pass on a few moments that I didn't capture on my camera this week ...

... The man listening to music in his earphones, hands clasped behind his back, walking down the street - backwards.   (My young friend D tells me that it's just another form of exercise.  I've seen it several times so asked her about it.)

... The woman squatting on the ground beside an outdoor prepared food umbrella station, cutting up a large fish with a huge meat cleaver, stopping every few minutes to sharpen the cleaver on the grooved alley pavement (or maybe to clean off the edge?  Not sure - multiple hard swipes at about 45 degree angle on both sides of the cleaver), before going back to hacking at the fish, then handing up the cut up parts to her partner who drops them into his enormous wok. 

... The three elderly ladies chatting it up beside the sewing woman who, apparently distraught to see me sit down on the sidewalk while waiting for my jeans to get fixed, cluck cluck at me, then get up and start ... talking forcefully at me, pushing a bag at me, and gesturing that I must sit on that bag, not the bare sidewalk.  (I only noticed the smell of .. urine after I was already down there and figured that it was in the water on the street, not up on the sidewalk.)

... The elderly woman on the sidewalk tsk tsking at the prior patch jobs on my jeans, and then fixing them -- and the new holes -- on her old foot-treadle Singer sewing machine.  For 20 rmb (about $3.25).

... A fish jumping out of the tub at the wet market; only to be quickly scooped up by the woman working the stall who was obviously used to this routine.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Things I wish I could capture in a photo

The kinds of things I see but just can't capture in a photo (yet anyway):

....The two mopeds flying towards me from the front as I walk, while hearing another moped beeping its horn at me from behind.  On the sidewalk.

... The car pulling up onto the sidewalk in front of me; the driver getting out, unzipping, then peeing in the bushes. While talking on his cell phone.

... The young lovers standing together, arms and legs totally intertwined ... while each one is texting (or doing something) on their phones with one hand.

... The young lovers having dinner, the girl with one hand combing through her man's hair and one hand holding the phone in which she is totally engrossed, while the boy uses one hand to eat his dinner and the other to play some game on his phone.

... The woman driving a moped, while reading her phone, for what appears to be a full block at least, until she's out of sight.

... The man driving a moped, who has a small child nestled on the foot stand, holding onto his legs, while he is steering the moped with one hand and texting on his phone with the other.   

... The woman turning at a big intersection while I'm standing at the corner, who is sort of lifting one leg and tensing the opposite arm to steady the not-quite-toddler sitting in her lap. 

... The many young real estate agents pacing on the street corner of our complex who look (and act) like concert ticket scalpers, accosting passersby with offers of great deals on nearby apartment leases, sometimes while talking into two different cell phones at the same time (every day, but even more so on the weekends).

... The man driving a moped with one foot up on the heavily-laden cart attached to a pedal/non-motorized bicycle driven by a young girl - he's pushing her down the street, impervious to the fact that multiple cars behind him are angrily beeping their horns at him for taking up two lanes of traffic.     

… The middle-aged lady hanging out her open window in her pajamas, yelling on her cell phone while waving her other hand wildly (and spitting intermittently without regard to the people sitting on the stoop below her).

... The employees at a hair salon that is just opening, gathered together in front to do some cheers then some tai chi, joyfully, the young women giggling at the young mens' moves.

... People waving down a taxi (arm straight out horizontal, palm facing down towards road, fingers wiggling).

... The young girls working the veggie stand who lay their heads down on the bed of greens to take naps during lulls in business.

... The young girl who is so tired she doesn't wake up when I call out to ask her for the price of this beautiful asparagus.

... The impeccably dressed older woman walking in front of me, who stops to hawk up an enormous loogie before walking on.    

... The man working another stand pulling of a chunk of meat selected by a customer, setting it on a piece of plywood on the ground and chopping it up, while preventing his little dog from grabbing the meat with one foot ... then bagging up the meat for the customer, while the little dog licks up the scraps off the plywood … then picking up the plywood and setting it back on the rack to await the next customer.

... The man who doesn't have a stand, but is squatting down beside two small tubs on the ground, carefully arranging the shrimps in one tub over ice - in an absolutely beautiful circular pattern.

... The four grandparents at a corner all in a circle, cooing over one adorable grandchild in split pants while they wait for the light to pass. 

 

... This is why, when I'm ready to pull my hair out because, for example, I *still* can't figure out how to set up the printer (because all the prompts are in Mandarin and I've never had a Canon printer before, and I can't find screen shots in English online, and the CD manual that came with it, which actually does have English, doesn't explain the various menus on the printer itself), I just decide to chuck it for the day and go for a long walk ...