April 5, 2017
5:00 pm
Beijing, China
Hey guys,
I know I’ve been gone for a long time, once again. Sorry about that. I’d love to say that I had a good excuse, but the truth is, I really don’t. Apparently I haven’t been very good about keeping my Lenten promise. Sorry, Abba! But enough apologizing; you guys don’t want to hear more of that. So, instead, let me tell you a little bit about what has been going on in my life.
The truth is, I haven’t been extremely active over the past week or so. Work has taken up a lot of my time and by the time I get home, I just want to curl up in bed. Most of the travel I’ve done recently has just been the bus ride to and from work. While that’s true, I have actually done a couple things of note recently.
- Brian and I decided to splurge and actually buy a good meal from the restaurant downstairs. We bought three real dishes and it cost us about 元90 a piece. Yikes! That’s more than I normally spend in one day, let alone on one meal! We asked for the dishes to go, because most of the customers there like to smoke. Neither Brian nor I are smokers, so it bothers both of us to stay in there for too long. They seemed fine with that, so we figured it would be no problem to take it to go. Well, we waited for a little while and they brought out the dishes. Two of them were put into togo containers, but the third was on a normal plate. We were both thinking, What in the world is going on? Basically they told us that we could take the plate and return it later. So they stuck it in a plastic bag and we carried the plate out of the restaurant. The dinner ended up being really good. Also, we believe the reason they gave us the plate is because the food we got is too sticky to go in a container. It took forever to eat, but was actually really good. Brian took the plate back to his room and had planned to return it the next day. Well, it’s now been over a week and I still don’t think he’s taken it back. It’s made it really bad to try to get dinner, because neither of us can show our faces in there until he returns the plate.
- The two of us also made another trip to Jenny Lou’s. I wanted to grab some flour, because Chinese supermarkets don’t carry regular baking flour. I ended up spending a lot of money there, once again. I swear, I should no longer be allowed to go to import stores. I find too many things that I want to bring home. The good thing is that the stuff I buy typically lasts me for a while. For example, I bought flour which will not be finished for a good bit of time and I got pancake mix, which will feed me for a few weeks. It was really nice to get some of that stuff, though, because I was able to do a bit of cooking that I’d wanted to do for a while. That night, I made fried lemon chicken (note to self: it does not taste good reheated) and a few days later, I made another batch of buckeyes to take into work. I was everyone’s favorite person that day 😉
- I started teaching the new Trailblazers (middle-school) product last week. It’s actually nice. My kids aren’t huge fans of it, but I actually feel as if I’m teaching them useful stuff. Additionally, it makes me really examine what I’m teaching. I don’t always agree with the way EF teaches grammar rules, since we rarely follow those grammar rules in real life, but it’s nice to actually understand why I’m teaching my kids this. Plus, the subject stays the same for the whole unit, which is a big difference from the way it used to be. Overall, I’m a big fan.
- Today, I made my way into Beijing center and returned to Bookworm. Actually, that’s where I’m sitting right now, typing this up. It’s so nice to sit in a cafe and get stuff done. I forgot how much I enjoyed just sitting in a calm place and enjoying time with my thoughts. I need to remember to return here more often. The only thing I’m not a fan of when coming here is the number of foreigners. I know that sounds really weird, but it’s kinda true. See, I’ve spent so long in China surrounded by Chinese people that it’s now weird to see people who aren’t Chinese. When Brian sees a foreigner, he always says, “Ew,” because it’s so unusual. Now he’s got me saying it at times. It’s like they’re encroaching on our territory by being here. Of course, if I come into Sanlitun (where Bookworm is) I have to expect to see a lot of foreigners. But it’s so unfamiliar to me. It’s like I took a trip back across the ocean, but I’m still not home. Some might like it, a taste of home, but right now, it’s making me a bit homesick. Like I’m standing at the window of a bakery and I can see and smell the rich, warm bread, but I can only look, not taste. The teasing is almost too much to bear.
- Lastly, I’ve been marathoning Star Wars, and I mean the whole thing! All the movies–including Rogue One–and all of the TV shows. It’s the first time I’ve ever watched Clone Wars or Rebels. I will say, I like Anakin a lot more after watching the TV show. It makes his fate even more saddening.
Two posts in a row with lists. Oops. Hope you guys don’t mind too much.
Also, quick update. I’ve spent the day updating my pictures on the “pictures” page. They have all of the pictures I’ve taken since coming to China (actually, as I write this, I’m finishing up December 2016). I’ll keep trying to update that page more. Hopefully you guys will enjoy seeing a little bit more of what I find fun here in China. Enjoy them!
I’m thinking about writing a second blog tonight, so you may get two in one day.
Talk Soon,
Kristen
