You know you're in Asia when....

...you get stared at.  A lot.

So this isn't something that is new to us.  I mean, it shouldn't be by now.  Living in any Asian country gets you over the 'issue' of being stared at by the first week.

And just in case you were wondering, yes sometimes it is still a novelty.

Take today for example.

We were on Gulangyu getting some X-mas gifts for the niece and nephews.  We had to wait for them to be finished, so we decided to get an ice-cream and sit on a bench to people watch.

After a few minutes, a man hence known as City Worker (aka: job is a cleaner) comes up to us and stops right in front of us.  Thinking he wanted our ice-cream cups, we motioned to put them into his bag.  He stopped us and pointed to the trash bin not 5 feet away.  That was okay; that's what a trash bin is for. But we were left confused as to what he wanted. So we looked at him some more, said hello in Chinese, smiled, then went back to our conversation at the lack of his response.

City Worker decided that our attempts of interaction were not what he wanted, so he sat down on the bench directly in front of us.  And stared.   And stared some more.  He sat and looked for about 5 minutes.  Then he got up and walked away.  No good byes.  No thanks for letting me watch you talk and lick your ice-cream cups.  No you are beautiful.  No taking our cups when we were done licking them.  City Worker just left.

Both Ed and I were disappointed, not only because now we really had to throw away our own trash, but we didn't get any thing out of the 'exchange'.  Just endless curiosity, then slow realization that he just wanted to look at our beauty (and yes, that is still the reason why I think EVERYONE stares at me.  Angelina Jolie and I have it sooo hard; you have no idea).  But you know what.  It was okay.  We got a giggle out of it.  I'm obviously telling you about it now, so it didn't bother me or make me mad.  Its stuff like that that makes us realize that we are that much different here, despite the large number of foreigners.  Yeah, sure sometimes it is awkward.  Most of the time is funny. 

So the moral of this story:  Take a picture.  Which they do.  Secretly.  Which I hate.  So now I'm charging 5 RMB for every secret picture.  I think that's okay because I have this rule: if you ask to take my picture, it's free.  If you sneak it, it's going to cost you.  But that's another post.

And the winner is....

Dad!

Even though he guessed pleasant goat/happy goat...he's close enough.  Plus I can tell that this contest wasn't really for everyone!

I was Mei Yang Yang.  Pleasant goat (Shi Yang Yang) is the brother of Mei Yang Yang.

I was a big hit with the kindergarten class!

Costume Guesses

I would like to start off by saying a huge thank you to my parents and my aunt Dana for guessing.

Unfortuantely they are not correct, but my mom is the closest so far with "lamb".

My dad might win for orginality.  He said, "You are a goat at the tiger santuary waiting to get fed to the tigers".

See Dad, you should come to China so you and Ed can go to the tiger farm and feed real goats to the lions. I think you'll like it.

I'll give you guys some hints:
China
Not Hello Kitty, but close to her.
Cartoon

The contest is still open!! Keep guessing!

Howdy There!

Yes.  I know its been a while.

Yes. We are still alive.

Yes. It is the same excuse as always as to why I haven't written.

But I'm writing now!! 

A lot has been going on here, but nothing fun and exciting.  It has all been work related stuff--so I won't bore you with the details.

Hopefully, we will be able to get out and do some more exploring in Xiamen in the next weekend or so. 
Here is a list of things we want to do:

1. Have clothes made. (and yes I will share that process with you, hopefully).
2. Eat lunch or breakfast with monks (a friend wants to take us, so why not!).
3. Ride a chair lift (just when you thought Xiamen couldn't offer you any more excitement, it does.  We found a chair lift and we are going to ride it!  No there is no skiing involved).
4. Hang out at our new favorite place, 18 bar.

For those of you who actually want to know what we've been up to, I've added some pictures to the right of the page.  It will take you to our online photo storage.  You can click on the slideshow option to get a quicker view.  I tried to upload a slideshow directly to the site, but as you may have guessed, I couldn't get it to work and gave up.  So you are stuck with going to the site.

I have some more photos to add/edit (including Halloween).  No promises on when I'll get those to you.  But I will leave you with a Halloween photo:

And for a fun contest to see if anyone actually reads this thing:  The first person who can correctly guess who I am, I'll send you a 'fun' but good package!  No prize for guessing Ed's costume.  His costume is too easy.

And on a final note, I'd like to leave a message for my brother.  I've updated, so call.

Typhoon Megi

We are getting another Typhoon, and I guess this one is going to be a doosy!

Typhoon Megi (Catfish in Korean if you really wanted to know), is supposed to hit Xiamen with in 12 hours; perfect timing for the weekend.

We've prepared, so do not fret about us!  Plenty of cup Ramyeon and wine to last us two days. 



See there is the storm.  Yup and its heading right towards us.

If you are lucky, I'll be really board and edit photos for you.

Lack of Posts

So it seems that I have once again fallen into the pattern that began to plague me at the end of our stay in Korea. 

The lack of motivation to visit this website, upload photos and tell you about our fun (and often funny) stories.

I know I should be better at this blogging stuff, but here is a list of reasons why I'm not:

1. Twelve hour work days.
2. Online teaching course.
3. I'd rather watch a movie.
4. I have to sleep some time.
5. In order to write about fun stuff, I actually have to go out and do fun stuff.  Which unfortunately means that I am not home to write about the fun stuff we are doing.
6. I hate editing photos.

So you see there are many reasons why I haven't blogged. 

However, this does not signal the end of the Lemery Adventure 2010. 
I am thinking about blogging.  I'm just not actually doing it.

Sorry.

Ordering Food

Sooooo you may have imagined that one of the difficulties of living abroad is the language.

It is one of ours, especially when we want to order food.

We've become big fans of restaurants that have picture menus.  Or that are super busy so we can walk around with the waitress and point to what looks good. In fact, our conversations when we talk about new restaurants with friends usually go like this:

     US: "We found a great new restaurant!"
     FRIEND:  "Really?!  Did the menu have pictures?"

So you see, we are not the only ones who use this method of determining what is a good restaurant vs a bad one.

Anyways, there is a great little hole in the wall that I like to go to.  The Ayi (Auntie in Chinese--used similar to Ajuma or Emo to my Korean friends), is super nice and patient.  Today Ed and I went to there to eat.  Usually there are other people in the restaurant, so we can point to what they are eating and we can eat it.  That wasn't the case today.  No one was there.  Just us.

Today we ordered our food by going into the kitchen and hand picking our food.  Yup, I pointed to the meat I wanted.  Pointed to the veggies I wanted.  And they made it. And it was really good. Sometimes, if they are really patient and not super busy, they'll just bring us food that they think we will like.  We don't have to do anything but sit there and smile (and of course make the universal gesture for "I don't know").

And the Ayi always is super happy to see us!  That's the amazing part.  I don't think she ever mutters (in Chinese of course) "Damn, those stupid white people are here again.  I don't know what the hell they want to eat.  I'd wish they go away!"

To me she is always saying "Hi! Welcome gorgeous white people who don't speak Chinese.  Wow you have pretty smiles.  I like your noses.  Do you want to eat meat today?  How about some nice tomatoes and eggs?  You know what, I'll give you some eggplant and potatoes covered in delicious gravy. And rice.  You'll love it.  Sit right down.  I'll be back with your food soon.  Keep smiling and don't worry."

And that is reason enough to love Asia.  People will feed you.  They want to give you food that you will like.  They want to make you happy. They do it with a smile.  Before coming to Asia, I was worried about eating.  "How would we order food if we don't speak the language?" I wondered.  Now I know.  Pictures help.  Pointing is the best.  But a smile, a shrug and a good attitude goes a lot further.

I love my Maid

We've hired a maid.  She's cleaning our apartment right now.  She's scrubbing things that haven't been scrubbed in years!  Its amazing.  The house smells clean.  The house looks clean.  And I didn't have to do a damn thing.

Now this is the unfortunate part.  She's been in here scrubbing away for at least 2 hours.  She'll be here for at least another hour.  We are paying her 60 RMB (which equates to $10). Not fair; but hell.  She can always charge us more and we wouldn't argue one bit.  But she doesn't.  And she won't.  So 60 RMB it is.

PS: Did I mention she cooks and does our laundry too?
PSS: Aren't you jealous??

Harvest Moon Festival, Typhoon Fanpai, Gulangyu and Food

So I know you have been itchin to see some pictures of China, and finally, we've got them uploaded.  Now of course, I'm not taking any credit for these pictures; they are all Ed's work.  But it should give you a pretty good idea of what we are living like and in (and of course eating!).



Our Apartment Building



The Typhoon Bay where the fishing ships are supposed to go if/when we have a typhoon.

Gulangyu

Right outside our apartment building and across the water is a small island named Gulangyu.  Its known for its 'Western' architecture, and seeing that it once housed the embassies of a couple countries its a pretty big deal here.  Its a neat little island and we want to go back to it, when there aren't so many tourists there.

The General

Our lunch for the day.  It wasn't bad until we noticed this in Ed's soup

Yup thats a bug--ewwwww (and no we didn't get sick from that)

Nanputo Temple: Another Xiamen tourist highlight.

Trying to get money to stick on the rock surface.  If you can get it to stick, your wish is granted

Ed "I'm going to be famous; even if it just one picture at a time."

 Typhoon Fanpai:
So last week Fanpai came and visited Xiamen.  Fortunately, we got a day off from school.  Unfortunately a ton of trees fell and a few people lost their lives (not in Xiamen though).

 It was kind of cool to watch the storm from our window and to see the people out and about in 110mph winds.  We realized why so many people end up dying in these storms.  It has to be because they are out and about, riding their bikes, walking to God knows where, when in reality they should be at home.

Food:  Yeah, we may have had a few problems 'adjusting' to the food.  So our stomachs end up not being entirely happy with what we've put in them more than once.  But it has been a delicious ride.

Best Mango Chicken in Xiamen

Really good soup and 'sandwich'.  Total cost: $3

Fresh Pigs. 

 I'm not going to add the photo showing people picking up their fresh pigs.  They load them right onto their bikes.  Half a pig hanging off the back is quite a site.  But it might be a bit too graphic for some of you.  If you really want to see it, email me.

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Wet Market

Harvest Moon Festival:

Our landlord is a really nice guy.  He's the same age, knows very little English, lives with his in-laws and randomly invites foreigners over to his house (yes that means us).  He invited us over to "celebrate the cultural event of Harvest Moon Festival" with his family.  This is what we were fed (and yes it was really, really good).  That's his daughter.  She couldn't figure us out and almost refused to look at us most of the night.

 To celebrate (besides eating really good food) they play a dice game to win these things called Moon Cakes.  I wish I could fully describe to you what a Moon Cake is, but just imagine a biscuit like cookie on the outside, boiled egg on the inside.  Not the greatest thing out there...but the Chinese love them.  We had a good cultural experience. 

Tsing Tao: deadly

I love Chinese Food...but does it love me??

Ahemmmm not so much.

Last week Ed had a bout of the good ol' food poisoning.  Now it seems like it is my turn.

I would like to clarify however, that I may have gotten sick off a ham sandwich (made by me), and not by some Chinese food.  So Joey, you can still come and not be scared.  Plus it is an experience.  Food poisoning that is.  Chinese food is an experience too...but waaaayyyy less painful!

In reality, all the food I've eaten here has been delicious.  Except for that ham sandwich.

I will spare you the gory details (although I'm sure you can figure them out) but lets just say that it hasn't been pretty.  Fortunately for me, I have an amazing TA (Vickie) who works with me in the afternoon.  With out her, it would have been much, much messier.  And I lucked out (ironically enough) in another way as well.  I had a very capable student teacher (Kathrine) in the room observing me today.  Needless to say she got a more hands on experience than she probably was expecting.

But you know what sucks the most about food poisoning.  You can't eat.  Well you can, but....

I was really looking forward to some awesome food tonight.

The Positive Side of all this fun:  I now know in my infinite experience never to call out with "food poisoning" one day and show up to work the next day chipper and happy.  So. Not. Reality. 

FYI: Food poisoning is definitely a three day call out.

Daily Happenings: The Positive

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Status Report

Nihao!

First week back to school. Third week in China. Status report: Things are going well.

Despite the frustrations that I felt over the past two weeks, I can honestly say that things are going well here.

Yeah, moving to another country is not easy. Dealing with things that are seemingly out of my control is even harder.

But despite the frustrations. Things are good.

I had amazing Mexican food last week, with even better margaritas. And the restaurant is right here in Xiamen. I had a pedicure. I'm going to have a massage in a little bit. I went for a pretty awesome hike right behind my house. I'm finding western food and chinese food that I like to eat. I've even become an expert bug killer!

I've been very busy keeping up with school work and keeping up with a social life. I haven't been able to devote as much time to exploring the city as I would have liked or even setting up the apartment, but I'm getting there.

Now if I could just figure out how to handle the weather!

Little Earthquakes

Thursday:
Problem: Computer broken. It wouldn't charge and I didn't know if it was because I didn't have an adapter or if the computer was really broken. Lucky for Lucky. Yeah there is a computer wiz named Lucky who just traded out my computer charger cord and asked me to pay $16 bucks for a 'new to me' computer cord. Done. Computer not broken anymore.

Thursday Night:
Problem: The toilet. The toilet had been taking a long time to fill up after I flushed; so naturally I was turning off the water to it so it didn't run all night. Of course, when I turned off the water valve, it snaps off. Fortunately, the water had already turned off, but still the valve control was in my hand and not on the toilet pipe where it should have been. Which meant I couldn't turn the toilet back on to flush. Lucky for the landlord. He came Friday night. Stayed two hours. Fixed my toilet. We shared a coke. It was special.

Sunday Morning:
Problem: No water in the kitchen. Why? The landlord had turned off the water valve to the Kitchen, but didn't turn it back on. I of course didn't know where the water valve was for the Kitchen (I had learned where the bathroom was however). Result: One 'administrator' from the apartment building. One random Chinese man. One landlord. 30 minutes. Valve turned back on. Water in the Kitchen back on. Dishes could be washed.

Everyday:
Problem: Some sort of bug.
Solution: Massive amounts of Raid sprayed, which has resulted in quick departure of apartment.
Solution number 2: Massive amounts of cock roach motels strategically placed around the apartment.
Result: Not available yet. Will know tomorrow when I turn on the lights and see how many little buggers run for their lives.

Oh and thats not including:
1. Random bus rides that last an hour and a half (which actually wasn't that bad because now I've rode all of Bus 501 and know the complete bus route--and where Walmart is).
2. Daily food challenge. Which includes: What meat is that? What vegetable is that? Should that be that chewy? Do I dare to eat that? And the ever so popular next day question: Why does my stomach hurt?
3. School.

Welcome to China.

Number 1: The arrival

Nihao!

So perhaps some of you know our lives. Perhaps some of you don't. So I'll give a little background.

We are Ed and Jen. We used to live in Korea. And now we live in China.

Xiamen China to be exact. That's in the Fujian Provience.

And we are here as teachers at a local international school.

As of this current posting date, I (Jen) have been 'living' in China for less than a week. It took me five plane rides, over 36 hours of traveling (with layovers), sitting next to a man who farted (and smelly ones to boot) for 10 out of those 36 hours, finally arriving in Xiamen, meeting and greeting a whole bunch of new people, apartment hunting for 3 days, cleaning (ahem scrubbing the apartment with in an inch of its life) for half a day, all while waking up at 4am. Everyday.

Needless to say I'm tired.

However, with that said, I think I'm adjusting well. The people I've met (locals and non-locals alike) have been helpful and generous. Language learning is slow (how can a tone deafish person learn a language based on tones!??), but I've managed a half a word a day. Yup half a word. I can now say "stop" with confidence. It only took me two days. Food is good. Sooooo good in fact. And today I get to experience a real live Chinese hospital! Let the fun times begin!

So pictures of the apartment and the area are to come (God willing I can get them up on here). More insightful ramblings will be soon to follow.

I would sign off with the Chinese word for good bye, but I haven't learned it yet. Give me a few months.