Vendors in China, or, Things we've learned while shopping...

     During the recent October holiday, we spent a lot of time out and about, exploring the city, sightseeing, and shopping.  The Chinese are very innovative.  

You can sell just about anything from a bicycle, or the back of a van.

Including cooked yams.  Notice the contrast between this guy's rickety wagon and the sleek cars parked behind.  This contrast is seen everywhere--one person driving a Mercedes next to a person on a rusty bike.  I have seen more Rolls Royce's, Lamborghini's, Mercedes, Bentley's, Porsche's, and even a few Hummers, in the past two months than I have seen in my lifetime.  And I have seen people living in little huts in alleys with the two worlds are only a block or so apart.  China's communist capitalism is bringing their country out of poverty and into modernity, but it isn't working for everyone.  There are 400 million "wealthy" people here (middle class & higher), and 1 billion poor.  

I can say that I would not want to be one of the 1 billion!

This vendor has calligraphy brushes, for writing (Chinese characters).  

Most shop keepers and vendors work 365 days a year.

And these guys had a food booth.  I loved how the guy in red was enjoying whatever sauce he was cooking with.  We didn't buy anything from them.

But we did buy some cotton candy--made on the back of a bicycle!  

It was good, if you can call pure sugar "good".

But here was the biggest surprise of all.  

Each display area (8-foot-square) was watched over by a different clerk (or maybe one clerk for a few areas).  When we first came to this shopping area, we were amazed with how big it was, with so many shoes on display.  As we walked through, we began to realize we were seeing mostly the same things, over and over again.  If we picked up a shoe or boot to look at it, instantly a young woman would appear at our side to tell us the price and try to entice us with a more expensive product.

In a store like this, I'm not sure if they own their own area or just get a commission on what they sell.

It is that same way in all the department stores we've been in, including Walmart and Home Depot.  

As soon as we show interest in any product, someone appears.   Often they say that this one is not good

and we should look at that one (which happens to be much more money).

At first we thought they were looking out for our best interests.

We're not so naive now.

In Honor of My Mom's 92nd Birthday...

With five of our six children, their spouses and children, three of my siblings with 

a niece and nephew thrown in,

we gathered this summer on the lawn for a commemorative photo

with Grandma Beth.  Four generations!

From October 13, 1919, to 2011 is a very long span!

From horse-and-buggy days to being able to speak by phone to any place in the world and sound

like you are in the house next door.

It is amazing to think of all the world's changes and happenings in the past 92 years.

And Grandma Beth was there--through a World War, a Great Depression,

a Cold war, a space race, increasing terrorism, and advances in technology:

from the old Victrola to 78 rpm records, to 33 LPs, to 8-tracks, then cassettes,

then CD's and now iPods.

From movies at the theatre on Saturday afternoon to movies on TV, then VHS tapes to DVD's, to

movies on demand on the internet. 

What a life!

May there be many more years.

On Getting a New Car...

Before we came to China, we knew the company would be purchasing a new car for us.

Knowing we had two daughters, they suggested we have a minivan instead

of a Toyota Camry.  We were given a choice, a Honda Odyssey or a Buick.

We opted for the Odyssey, since we liked ours so well.

The company decided a Buick would be better for our needs.

We didn't know if that meant that since Buicks are made here in China

it was better for the company to buy locally--so they could build "guanxi"

which means "good relations".

Then we saw a Honda Odyssey.

I think the wheels are the same, and so are the bumpers,

but the rest of the car is unrecognizable.  Much smaller than our Odyssey

stored back in Idaho!

About 2 weeks ago, our Buick was delivered.

 It too is much shorter than an American minivan--

maybe because most Chinese are shorter.

 And there's Kevin's spot--on the passenger side.  

 And our license. I had to memorize it so I could recognize

our car when coming out from the grocery store.

Leather heated seats.  (I'm looking forward to that

come winter!)  And built-in entertainment center--but the DVD player isn't working

and we have no idea why or if it will get fixed.

Add to our list of discoveries about Chinese drivers:  

they don't read owner's manuals

and don't know how to do minor car repairs (like change a tire).

They just drive.

A month ago, Kevin was on his way to work and saw that one

of the tires was low as he got in the car.  He mentioned it

to the driver who said it wasn't a problem.

Ten minutes later, they were at the side of the road with a flat. 

 (Well, they weren't actually at the side of the road. 

When a car stalls or has a flat they just stay in the lane they were

in and traffic flows around them.)

It took the driver 40 minutes to figure out how to

operate the jack (first the car went up, then down, then up again...);

and Kevin was wondering if he should get out and help the driver, or 

if that would cause him (the driver) to lose face.

(And it was safer inside the car!)

So, the new car is nice.  New smell.    In-dash navigational unit (that the driver

won't follow).  But when he's backing up, a display shows what is behind

 the car (from a camera).  Pretty cool! 

I was hoping for an input

for a MP3 player or iPod, or at least a memory stick.

Nope.  Only a CD player.  Drats!

All in all, not too bad.  

What do you do on a Saturday in China?

Answer:  We clean the chapel.  Our building is a rented home, and we share it with

the Chinese National Branch.  Due to the rules of the government, the

foreigners (us) cannot intermingle with the locals (them). 

So we trade off cleaning--we do one Saturday a month and they do another.

And we turn it into an event--bringing a pot luck luncheon and cleaning from

top to bottom (there are 3 floors).  We even clean the patio and

pull some weeds.  As we were working outside, Ellie mentioned that the

cement work on a post was just like a jigsaw puzzle.  

It won't be long before something falls off and the good looks will be ruined.

 But if you don't look too closely, every thing is beautiful.

As we were finishing up, the branch president asked me if I'd been to the big

flower market--he was going to buy some plants for his wife and

we could follow his car.  I'm ALWAYS up for seeing a new plant market!

As we pulled up, I was dubious. 

This is a big plant & flower market?

But then we walked through one of the doors.

The building was huge inside, and with every kind of flower (in season).

We ended up buying a couple of these orchids (Y20 each, or about $3).

 We just oohed and aahed over the selection.  

 We also ended up buying a small lemon tree.  The vendor wanted Y150, which wasn't a

bad price, but we decided we didn't really need one, and so walked away.

The vendor ran after us, asking only Y100 ($18).  So we got it.  It has a few

blossoms on it still (which smell heavenly), and 10 green lemons that should be

ripe in a month or so.

 We stopped at a grocery on the way home.  We've been seeing these

little fruits for the past month or so in the markets and wondered what they were.

I had tried one, and it was crisp and sweet like an apple, but had a pit in the middle.

So it isn't a crab apple, which would have been my first choice.

Well, I finally found out!  

They are red dates that are ripening.

Red dates are a big deal here.  If you are looking for raisins, you'll find several

types of dates, and maybe one package of interesting-looking raisins.

They sell a lot of yogurts, and you can find the flavors of

strawberry, peach, and red date, which is actually quite good.

In France, hazelnut was THE French flavor.

It looks like red date is going to be THE Chinese flavor.

A Day Trip to Beidaihe..

For the past two months, I've been wanting to see the sea.

We live about 5 miles from the shore, so you'd think it wouldn't be a problem to just

drive on over and take a peek.  Either the driver wasn't available, or the weather was foggy, 

or some other reason.  Apparently the shoreline in our city isn't 

very beautiful.  Lots of ships, docks, cranes, etc., 

and even if you get to the water, it's pretty dirty.  

However, two hours north of us is a nice little resort town.  

Apparently it was a favorite vacation spot for Chairman Mao,

along with the Russian diplomats. 

\

This is on the Bohai sea portion of the Yellow Sea.  

The temperatures were coolish--in the 60's--so it wasn't crowded.

There were still at least 3 different wedding photographers at work.

(Don't you love the tux jacket and jeans?)

 During the summer months, the beaches are packed with Russians--down from eastern Russia.

Everywhere else in China, signs are in Chinese with English sub-signage.

Here, the sub-signage was in Russian.

 And when I asked how much a conch shell cost, I didn't recognize the answer--

until I realized the Chinese lady was probably speaking Russian to me.

And then I still didn't understand what she said, but when I asked again in Chinese,

she responded in Chinese.  At least I know the money system now.

 The town was just fun!  Like being in Jackson Hole, WY, or Estes Park, CO,

there is just a fun atmosphere in a resort area.

I especially loved the pinion pines and their smell.

And we kept commenting on how clear the air was

and how blue the sky.  What a change from smoggy Tianjin!

 Lunch (pizza!) on the balcony of a restaurant.

 (Without the flash shows the background, and with the flash you get to see faces!)

Ellie bought her hoodie for less than $5, and we still aren't sure

if they wanted to spell "simile" or "smile" with two eyes.

 Everywhere you go in China at this time of year, there are street vendors with cooked corn on the cob.

Oh, how we miss our American sweet corn!  But we'd been forewarned. 

THIS corn isn't anything like sweet corn and we'd avoided it.

But our driver thought he'd treat us, and bought some for us.

We tried eating it.  Alice did the best, getting half of her ear gone.

I slowly nibbled at one end, praying for the pizza to

come quickly so I had an excuse to lay it aside.

What was it like?  Gelatinous globs of starch.

And yet I see Chinese walking down the street, devouring an ear of this stuff.

They just don't know what GOOD corn tastes like!

I have to tell you about the miracle that occurred.  After we had decided to go

to Beidaihe, Ellie informed us that some of her friends from school

and their families were staying there for a few days.  So we were hoping to meet up with

them, not realizing how hard that might be. We roamed around one big beach, and didn't see anyone. 

So while A & E played some soccer,

Kevin and I walked down to see a pagoda at the end of the beach.

We saw one Caucasian at a street vendor, purchasing rice on a stick.  

You never know here in China if the Caucasians will be Europeans, Americans,

Australians, or now, Russians.  So we said a tentative "hello". Turns out he was part of the

group we were looking for! We arranged to meet them on their hotel's private beach

and had a great afternoon.  Kevin and the girls played volleyball, 

we walked along the beach front,

 bought a beautiful conch shell for Alice at the store with the Russian-looking roof,

 and we actually got in the water and swam.  "Oh, this isn't as cold as the

Burgess Canal, or Red Fish Lake!"  Funny how that is the benchmark for what

is endurable.  After 20 or 25 minutes in the water though, my fingers started feeling like I

WAS in the canal, i.e., they were getting numb and hard to move,

and I knew it was time to go get dressed.

With dry clothes on, and even a jacket, the cool breeze was no longer such an enemy.

We left about 4 pm, expecting to be home around 6 pm.

Boy, were we surprised (and hungry!) when it was almost 8 pm before we walked in the door!

We've found out a couple of problems.

Chinese drivers do not read road maps.  They prefer going by instinct--

and they aren't used to going outside their small home area.

 (And we even have an in-dash navigational system, and On-Star!)  

We somehow got on a different return expressway--

 there was a lot more traffic with a few slow-downs, and 

about the time the sun goes down, all the big trucks get on the road,

and they are slow, numerous, and dangerous!

(We'd been warned about that too).

It took 20 minutes to get through a toll gate that normally takes

a minute or two.  It got increasingly frustrating as the driver took wrong

turn after wrong turn, then would have to go back--and WE could tell

from the GPS what was the right way to go. 

 It was one of those times when even though Kevin could

say the right words, the communication was still not getting through.

But we made it!  

It was just too bad the day ended on a slightly-sour note after it had been so wonderful.

Requiem for a Parakeet

A week ago today, Ellie's parakeet suddenly began acting funny, and within a few hours, 

it passed into the next world.  We really have no clue as to what happened.

Did it hurt itself while out and flying around that morning?

Did we feed them too many pear peelings (which they really liked)?

RIP, Bespin.  (I am guessing at how to spell it.)  We had her for only two weeks.

But!  With vacation this week, 

we made another trip to the flower, fish and bird market.

Welcome, Camino.

She has taken a few days to get adjusted--she no longer pecks at the other

bird whenever he comes close--but I'd have to say 

there's still a ways to go before they are buddies.

She has an exceedingly sharp beak and seems pretty crabby.  

We've all found out that her pecks really hurt.  

She doesn't break the skin but it's red and stings.

Nobody wants to teach her to sit on their hand.
 Hopefully she'll get nicer.  Or maybe we'll start feeding her
a bunch of pear peelings!

At the end of a week of vacation...

Sunday.  Day of rest.  Day of reflection, as in, what did we do this past week?

First off, I am SO grateful our internet has been fixed!!!  All week long it was off and on--interrupting

phone calls, causing the VPN to stop working so we were left open on a forbidden

site like Facebook or Blogger, or just making it impossible to even do email.  It was SO frustrating.

But on Saturday, it got fixed.  YEAH!

So, there was no school or work all week, because it was National Day holiday--technically, that's on October 1st, but somehow it transforms into a whole week of vacation.  But not really.

The Chinese had to go back to work on Saturday, (that's how our internet got fixed!) 

and many weren't at church today because they

had work or school in order to make up 2 of the days of "vacation".  

At first I thought it was a weird system, then I realized it allows people a group of days to do things

they otherwise wouldn't have enough time off for. 

 And our ayi came to work on Saturday so she finally got to meet Kevin and the girls.  

(We said she didn't have to come today).

It has been kind of odd for the girls--their beds got made and their clothes washed, folded, and set on their dressers without ever seeing the person who was doing it all.

I joked that we have a house-elf and they liked that concept.  And now they have met Dong Mei. 

    

I know we enjoyed our time off!

Our last big activity of the week was on Friday afternoon when the youth and young single 

adults from the branch came out to TEDA by train.

Since we have a nice green space by our apartments,

they played ultimate frisbee, then soccer,

and finished with flying a cool Chinese kite.

 (And that's the hotel we used to stay in--the curvy building.  7th floor).

Then food of course! 

We now know we live in expat ville--

Kevin called Papa John's to order pizza,

and they took the order in English!

(By the way, he has been working diligently on his Chinese and is

getting quite good at it.  He could have done the order in Chinese.)

 Three young people came who were unfamiliar to us, and we found out they are

from the Chinese branch.  (Was this illegal?  Holding a youth activity with them? 

They are all students at one of the universities here.)

The young man (below) to the left of Ellie is from way up north.  When we asked how he

found the Church, since he's from a remote area, he said his sister went to Singapore and was contacted

by missionaries on the street.  She ended up taking the discussions and getting

baptized.  When she went home to her family, one by one they were converted

and baptized.  Jason served a mission in New York City, Mandarin-speaking.  He was so excited to see the picture we have of Kevin and me in front of the Manhattan Temple.

So even in a far-flung part of China, there is a nucleus of Saints. I get chills going down

my back as I think of how the Lord is gathering His people.

 Another of the students is hoping to go to BYU-Hawaii and study opera. 

He got talked into singing a song, and his tenor voice is so clear and pleasing.

The pizza was great, but it's also a good thing I pretended I was Grandma Bailey 

(THE Grandma Bailey) and made some breadsticks.  

I had two panfuls--those are all the pans I had--and every one of those breadsticks disappeared.  

Of course, there was honey butter or jam to go with them.

I sometimes am surprised at how much food a group of young people can put away.

And as with like groups around the world, there was a lot of laughter and energy.

We were glad they were all able to come!

A John Deere Expat Picnic

This past Saturday, the 30-some expat families that work at John Deere

got together here at Warner Garden for a picnic and get-to-know-you.  

The employees already know each other, 

so this was the opportunity for the spouses to connect.  Some have been here

for a couple of years, and some arrived just a week or so ago.

We are beginning to feel like seasoned expats since we have been here 2 months.

 It was a potluck, so the Mexican families brought great food, and

the Chinese families brought great food,

and the American families brought great food AND desserts.

Chocolate chip cookies!  Brownies!

(I finally bought a package of chocolate chips this week--$8, and they look all chalky.
They get hot during shipping and lose a lot of their quality.
Guess that will be something we bring back in our suitcases when we visit the U.S.)

I made chicken enchiladas with homemade tortillas.  I found sour cream

at an import store along with a can of green chilies and a can of cream of chicken soup.  

Alice has been begging for this dish, and I finally found all the right ingredients.  

And they were very good.  The pan was totally cleaned out!

 One thing EVERYONE appreciated was the pizza from Papa Johns.

There is one here in TEDA, about 15 minutes away.  Have I mentioned

that there is also KFC, McDonald's, Subway, and Starbucks?

The menus are more than slightly different from the U.S. though;

some familiar menu items, some not.  A pastry at Starbucks probably
isn't a bear claw--more likely it's fish with squid ink.
And I'm sure you'll taste the difference.

And, speaking of unfamiliar food, there are at least 5 varieties of pears that I have never

seen before.  One Chinese sister at church gave each family a bag of these

pears last Sunday, and we ate some on the ride home.
(And there is always the dilemma--do I dare eat this without washing it?
Don't worry.  We washed them.)

They are dense and crisp, almost like an apple, 

and not as sweet as the pears at home

but definitely refreshing and delicious!

Flying the Coop

Possessing birds in a cage doesn't satisfy the need for a pet.

Sure, you can talk to them, and listen to them chatter,

but the personal touch is missing.

So we let them out the the cage this week.

 

 The green one is definitely young.  It kept hitting into the windows and the walls as it

really didn't know where, or even how to land.

We were afraid it would be mortally wounded, and thought it was a failed attempt.

But the next time we let them both out at the same time,

they flew together (running into each other sometimes)

and the young one learned.

They now are let out regularly, 

(after we make sure all windows and doors to the outside are securely closed.)

If we are holding one of the birds, 

the other one flies over and lands next to it.  

They are buddies!

And we have real pets--

and a couple of happy daughters.

What a surprise...

Some of the furniture in our furnished apartment is obviously second hand;

some pieces don't match each other.  The microwave is a small one with a simple

dial for a timer.  (I really miss my own microwave!)

The landlord didn't put out a lot of money in providing the necessities,

except in one instance.

The toilet in the family bathroom.

It's electric!

Notice the remote control on the wall.

Sure, during the winter the heated seat will be nice.

 For some reason, this toilet thinks you want to have a light shining on the contents.

However, if you ever need to use the WC in the middle of the night,

you are guided by the soft, bluish glow emanating from the cracks (if the lid is closed).

 I just want to know WHO or WHAT is going to be air dried!

And if you have someone in the family who forgets to flush,

this is the model for you.

 My last question:  Do they mean the toilet is intelligent

or does it mean I am intelligent for using it?

We saw some of these toilets for sale at a local hardware store, and 

I about dropped my drawers!  

$1000!

Living in the City

Moving to the city has been an adjustment for us--probably a bigger adjustment than moving to a new culture.  We now have to use an elevator, and  

the security of the building is such that we have a special elevator key.

To go up to our apartment, we have to hold the key pad up to a sensor, which transmits which floor we live on, and the elevator takes us to the 3rd floor.

If we have visitors, they have to call on the intercom system,

we unlock the front door, and they go get on the elevator.

We have to guess when they are ON the elevator, then call it up to our floor.

Secure.  Makes me feel safe, even if a bit cumbersome.

It was just this week that we realized that we cannot 

just pop over to see someone else in the 

building--we have to go through that same ridiculous process.  

No leaving goodies on the doorstep here! 

  

One afternoon this past week, our intercom rang--a British-sounding gentleman was

asking to come up.  Kevin was home, so we called up the elevator.

The gentleman (who is the principal of a just-getting-started international school)

profusely apologized as he handed us some felt pads for the legs of our dining room chairs.

Seems he could hear the chairs scootching in and out during our breakfast time,

which is a couple of hours before he wanted to be awake.

The funny thing was, that very morning, Alice had been imitating the chairs we could hear in the apartment above US, and scootched her chair back and forth.  

Maybe we should take the extra felt pads and pass them on upstairs.

The view from our front door--quite a bit different from our Cedar Falls' view of a magnolia tree!

See that skinny white door?  That's the garbage closet. There is a small trash can (about the size of my old kitchen trash can) where the three apts on our floor put our trash.

Fortunately, it is emptied a few times each day. And they use a black plastic liner,

so it doesn't usually smell. It's kind of nice not having to walk out to a big dumpster. 

 And we visited Home Depot last weekend.  After the Wal-Mart fiasco (they wouldn't take a credit card),

we took lots of cash, and sure enough, they wouldn't take VISA either.

But with the area rugs we were able to purchase, and at least one picture to hang on the wall

it's beginning to feel like home around here!

Command Central...

With three phones, a couple of internet boxes, and a Vonage box, 

this is now command central.

I guess it would be more accurate to include the computer with its video chat

and Skype, but you already know what that looks like.

The gray phone is our home phone.

Feel free to call it if you want international calling charges.

The black phone is our Vonage-connected phone.  With a Cedar Falls, Iowa, phone number,

you can talk to me right here in our apartment in China like it was a local call.  

But please, only call during American evening hours.  

(Email me for the phone number--and be patient when I'm answering.  All the buttons are in Chinese characters and kind of weird--I haven't yet memorized which is the call back button, which is the speaker phone, etc.).  And it takes a moment to recognize which phone is ringing.

Then there is the little black iPhone.

We knew we needed cell phones here, but negotiating the Chinese system was daunting, at best.

First you buy your phone.  Anywhere.  Kiosks, stores, etc., but beware of buying a cheap knock-off.  

You don't want to buy an iBone or an iFone.

Then you decide which phone carrier.  Good coverage but no support for data?  Why would I buy a smart phone and choose that carrier??  (But that one is the major Chinese phone company.  Good thing we found out before signing up.)
Then you buy a SIM card.  (Allows the phone to work with the carrier.)

And you buy a phone number.  There were several to choose from.  I was lucky and got one with an 8

in it, and it wasn't even more expensive than the others.  ("8" is a lucky number, 4 is an unlucky number).
If you decide later that you want to change carriers, you have to buy a new phone number.  No transferring numbers here!

Then you choose a plan.  All the phones here are prepaid.  How many MB do you want to download each month?  How much talk time?  Any texts?  Then if you pay the monthly fee, your phone works.  And it's easy to tell when it's time to pay again--there's no ring tone.

And did I mention that all this is in Chinese?

So I'm not actually sure what our contract says--who knows? We might have sold our first-born.  (Sorry, Catherine!)   Every once in awhile I get a text in Chinese characters, and I have figured out the part that says 96 (RMB).  So I know it is time to pay up again.
 By the way, that translates to about $18 dollars a month.

That kind of makes up for the fact that the phone cost 4999 RMB to begin with.  (roughly $900).

Which brings me to the rest of the story.

I now feel like a "ten cow wife".

When we saw how expensive these phones were, I just figured I would go with a cheap one.

But a couple of the other wives had iPhones, so Kevin bought it for me.
He didn't want me to feel like a "Samsung wife" or an "AnyCall wife".

Such a sweet guy!