Dec. 7, 2016
11:30 pm
Beijing, China
As you read this, I’d like you to take one moment to remember the men that lost their lives on December 7, 1941. This day 75 years ago changed the history of our nation and led us into one of the most horrific wars the world has ever seen. It is important to remember, though, that more than just our country was affected that day. That terrible day changed the lives of thousands who lost fathers, sons, brothers, and friends in the attacks. Just like 75 years ago, we have men and women who continue to fight and give their lives in order to protect our rights and the rights of others. Before you continue on to my next paragraph, spend a moment in silence and p—y for our troops. P—y for them and their families as they spend the holidays apart and p—y for their safe return home soon.
Shopping in China is always a fun experience. It’s very different from shopping in the US. Of course, by shopping I don’t mean going to your local grocery store or going to an actual shopping mall. No, what I’m talking about is real market shopping. Market shopping is so much fun and it’s also where you find the actual Chinese items that you’d want to send home for friends and family. I talked a little bit about the Wangfujing Market a few days ago. Today, I’m talking about the Pearl Market.
It’s known as the Pearl Market because, as the name implies, the market sells a lot of pearls. In addition to that, they also sell stereotypical Chinese items like luck knots, paintings, and other cool stuff, just like Wangfujing. The Pearl Market is different from Wangfujing in a few ways. First, the shops in Pearl Market are all inside this big shopping building. While each vendor still has its own little booth, they’re all inside. Additionally, sellers in the Pearl Market are not allowed to pull you over to their booths or be too rough with you. Apparently they got into some big trouble for that a few years ago. Finally, almost every vendor there speaks really good English. It caters to foreigners a lot more than Wangfujing, so everyone there speaks almost perfect English. I had some full on conversations with vendors at the market today.
Brian and I went to the Pearl Market today to do a bit more Christmas shopping. I’m starting to run out of time to buy stuff for all of my sisters. It’s just hard, though, because I don’t want to buy them something just to buy it. I want it to be something they’d actually like. I think I’m doing an okay job so far, but there are a couple who are harder to shop for. It was cool to go inside and look around. I found some really neat stuff there and I think I did a pretty good job of haggling down the prices. In the markets here, you have to barter. It’s completely expected and extremely necessary for foreigners. When a shop owner sees a foreigner, the price automatically goes up because they know they can get you to pay more. The key things to remember when you’re buying from them is that you have to be willing to walk away. I’m still not great at the bartering thing, but I’m getting better. It’s just hard for me to know what something is worth and if I’m getting taken advantage of. That said, I actually like bartering. It’s fun, even if I don’t always end up getting the thing I want.
Another really cool thing about Pearl Market, it’s right by the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is an ancient temple used back in the China’s dynasty days. The emperors would go there to make sacrifices to the gods for the harvest. Find out more here. Although we didn’t get to go see it because of our timing, we did see it from the rooftop terrace of the market. Yeah, they had some sort of rooftop garden where you could look out and see the Temple across the street. Unfortunately, the smog was super bad today, so I didn’t get great pictures. Hopefully you like the couple that I did snap.
Also, the on going joke for the day is that Brian and I are married. A vendor at one of the booths asked Brian if I was his wife. Of course, he answered no and said I was a friend. But for some reason that struck us as being really funny. I have no idea why. But we kept goofing off about it for the rest of the day. We came up with our proposal (I proposed to him and got a ring that was too big, so he wears it on his thumb). His one ring was so expensive that we decided to not even get bands. We got married in Vegas, where he then treated me to Dairy Queen for our wedding night dinner. It was a bit (okay a lot) ridiculous. And then we played it off during our shopping escapades. Brian saw a jade necklace that was 4500kuai and said that was really expensive. I, being the spoiled wife, said that I really needed it. He, being the jerk of a husband he is, refused to buy it for me. And that continued on throughout the rest of the day. We didn’t actually tell any vendors that we were married and any jokes about wanting stuff was said under our breath to make sure we didn’t give the vendors any idea about actually buying things. Basically it was a chance for us to goof off and have fun.
The night ended with a pizza party at Gretchen’s. She invited a bunch of people over from work to hang out one last time before she heads back to the states on the 13th. We had a lot of fun making homemade pizzas and watching Youtube movies. Unfortunately, Brian and I had to leave around 9:45 to make sure we got the train back. Overall, it was a really fun day hanging out with Brian and doing a lot of traveling around Beijing. And guess what! We only got lost twice!
Words to Remember: Genesis 50:15-21
Challenge: Day 3 – Read this passage and underline the word or phrase that sticks out to you. Take a moment to reflect on what you’ve underlined. What is Abba trying to tell you? Is there something He wants you to be working on as you go through today?
Happy Holidays!
Kristen
Quick note:
My dad mentioned that some people showed interest in sending me Christmas letters. Unfortunately, letters are a little tricky here. They don’t always get delivered correctly. As a result, my parents are collecting letters for me at their house and then sending them over in a package all at once. The package is going out on the 15th, so have your letters delivered by 12/14/16. The address is:
Kristen McKell
PO Box 1869,
Chillicothe, OH 45601
You can also scan your letters and send them to me via email at kristen@mckell.com. Finally, you can send your letter to me personally if you have it delivered in a UPS-type envelope. My center is the best place to have stuff shipped to since everything in China has to be signed for, but they don’t accept letters. A UPS-type envelope or a physical package is okay, though. The address is a bit tricky. For all US forms, use this address:
Kristen McKell
EF Kids and Teens Yizhuang Center
3rd floor, West Zone, Hualian Shopping Center,
No.8 Ronghuazhonglu, Yizhuang,
Daxing District, Beijing 102600
China
That address will only get the package out of the US, so you also need to have the Chinese address written in characters. Copy and paste the following address and phone number onto a word document and make the font fairly large. Print it out and put it on the package where it will definitely be seen. If the Chinese postal service does not see this address, they will simply throw the package away. Also, if you fill out customs forms, make sure to put that the package is worth somewhere under $100, otherwise I have to go pick it up at the airport. As you can see, it’s a lot of work to mail me a package. So, if you have a Christmas card for me, just send it to my parents and let them do it all at once.
Kristen McKell
英孚少儿英语
华联力宝购物中心3层西侧
荣华中路8号
亦庄经济开发区
大兴区
北京市电话18310226231
