Hiking and Dining

What a great day! Well, it started last night when we went out to dinner with some friends and then to our first house party in China. Being that you can't really "own" property in a Communist nation, people in China do not place much importance in their home, decorating it, or inviting people over. It's not like the "American Dream" where your house is your pride and joy. So it was a treat to be invited over for a housewarming party. (Well, they are foreigners after all and believe in these sorts of things.) So we got to bed late and getting up this morning was pretty tough.

We booked a trip with the Beijing Hikers Club and made it to the meeting point by 8am. Chase had to use the bathroom at the last moment and so we were late getting on the bus and there were no more seats available. So we were given spots in a private car and enjoyed the space and pleasure of looking at trees, roadside villages, and taking a nap to catch up on sleep.

We got to the village and I don't remember the name but it was far out of Beijing city limits and we started our hike right away. We stopped at an old couple's home and here's the old man fixing his corn huller (husker? I'm not sure).



Inside the home, the walls were pitch black because of the coal they burn to keep themselves warm. It was startling to me that people still live in conditions where they are inhaling carcinogens while they sleep. But they don't have another choice. Or maybe they still don't know the implications of it all. Very sad.



A sweet donkey was on their property and I had a great time petting him. Part of the reason to get out of the city was to see wildlife, insects, and flora of China. But I forgot that it's still the dead of winter. Apart from a few buds and leaves of grass that are starting to poke through, everything's dead. I think I saw one insect- a red tick. There was so many dead twigs, sticks, and grass. Infact, about half of our hike was through fallen snow that had yet to melt.



Here we are at the top of the first mountain we climbed. We climbed down this one and then up another one and down again. I am not sure how many kilometers we went but I was so tired! I realize now how much I have let my health slip these last few months in Beijing. I am so overworked and always making excuses not to work out or do yoga (it's boring just by myself without support and enthusiasm like I had in Austin). But with the wedding less than six months away I am more determined to take time for myself. I am taking modern dance on Wednesdays and going to Chinese class on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Part of what I have also let slip is keeping up with my Chinese (which is one of the main reasons we came to China) and so these classes will help me with that. I love learning the language. It's exciting.



At the end of the trail we came upon a house where chickens were roaming and there pet cat. See I told you I wanted to see the wildlife! The owner had come up and spread the feed on the ground and the cat felt entitled to it all and was clawing at the chickens who dared grab her food. Gotta love the feline species....



Several dogs were tied up on this property and there was one that had obviously given birth as her teats were still full of milk. So immediately my maternal radar went into alert mode and I found these pups. The owner had moved them away stating that they were being weaned from their mother. The mother was heartbroken as she could see her pups and wanted so much to be with them. She was circling, howling, barking, jumping in anxiety knowing her babies were so far away from her. My heart hurts just writing that. It was painful to watch her reaction but I enjoyed petting the pups and hopefully that made them feel loved.

I have also been made aware recently that having a pet and loving one changes hormones in the body. And I feel that being away from Lola these few months. Having a pet certainly makes me feel more wholesome. More connected. More loved. And all those feelings have not been experienced in the recent few months. I know that not bringing her to China was a good decision. But something has to be done about the emptiness I feel without her. Maybe therapy is what I need. But having a dog is therapy. So who knows what I should do....

After the hike they provided snacks, tea, coffee, and beer and we were back on the bus. Almost everyone was asleep, mouths wide open, necks angled to one side or the other. An hour and a half later, we made it back. Chase got some ice cream from Baskin Robbins. We bought groceries and ate at a restaurant called Pure Lotus. It's a vegetarian restaurant owned and run by monks, so I have been told. The decor was beautiful. Each dish tasted excellent. Except that I have decided I do not like lotus flower. I mean, I love lotus root. I could eat that every night cooked differently, but the flower petals, yuck. They taste powdery. But anyways, the food was great besides the lotus flower dish. What Chase and I enjoyed the most was the presentation. So artful! Here are some pictures from our meal.




Here are the interesting serving dishes for the lotus flower dish and for the steamed dumplings.




I'm looking weird in this picture but notice that our second order of dumplings (fried ones this time) were served on (we asked and they said it was geniune) a jade sculpture. Also check out the hearty brown rice in the foreground.



Dessert was a bowl full of mandarin oranges. They served them with dry ice!

So now we are back home. I'm beat. I'm soaking my feet in lavender oil and epsom salts. It will be time for bed in a few minutes and I know I'm going to sleep well tonight.



This is how they wrapped our to go bag. How cute!

This weekend

I've been sick for the entire weekend. I have no voice, drainage is running down the back of my throat, and I have no energy. But I'm not "laying in bed sick" so I want to get up and go about my day. It's hard for me to make myself relax and let my body heal itself. I've been using the netipot, salt water gargling, and drinking hot liquids to soothe my throat. I am going to practice yoga in a bit because I have to get up and do something. But I will take it slow.

Today Chase and I went to brunch with some friends at the Vineyard Cafe which is located in a renovated hutong. They have great brunch options (even for vegetarians) all for under $10. Then we walked around the block to the Yong He Gong Lama Temple. Yong means "happiness". He means "and." And Gong means "peace." So the peace and happiness temple. It was beautiful and the smell of incense was great. I prayed for a bit which was nice. I wish there was a Hindu temple in China, but at least a Buddhist temple will work. This temple has a great 8 meter tall statue of Buddha standing that is made from one single piece of white sandalwood. Amazing that trees used to be that big a few hundred years ago. Nowadays, our trees are no longer the giants they used to be.

Then we went to the foreign language bookstore in WanfuJing and Chase got a new book and I bought a calendar for my classroom. We talked about how its hard to find time to read books anymore and so have made a date on Friday night to go to a bookstore or coffee shop just to get some reading in. Our schedules are busier than ever so it's necessary to make time for what makes us happy.

I've been resting on the couch and tonight we are out to dinner with a friend of Chase's from his new language school.

I hope I can make it to work tomorrow morning and don't have to call in sick.

The Last Few Days

We woke up yesterday morning and this is what we could see out the window. Fresh snow! The government's efforts to eleviate drought in northern China by cloud seeding the last couple of weeks is causing precipitation in the form of snow in the surrounding areas of Beijing. So we have been enjoying the winter's first snowfall. Yesterday it was pretty light and most of it had melted but this morning we awoke to more snow and this time it was more actually more than just a couple of inches and was powdery. So I took my children out of the classroom and instead of working we built a snowman. It was good fun.



Here's Chase in our apartment complex's courtyard. He's on this new schedule if you don't already know. He switched language schools and is legitimately trying to learning Chinese. What I mean by that is: 2 hours group conversation class followed by 2 hours character and grammar and then 2 hours with a private tutor later in the afternoon, five days a week! Go Chase. We decided that at the very least this effort would allow him to have Chinese language party tricks while in Austin this summer. Anyways, he wakes up at the same time as me each morning and we commute to our respective schools together! It's definitely fun for me because I always wished I had someone up with me in the mornings and that hasn't been the case necessarily with Chase and I for the last couple of years. I mean in Austin, most days he wasn't even awake until 10am. It's been an adjustment for me in some ways though because I've also gotten used to the quite mornings I've always had and now there's someone trying to get in the bathroom or turning up the TV too loud in the morning. Haha... the grass is greener, right? No, really, it's great to have more time with him since we are so busy these days in China.



The crazy labor force of China had the snow shoveled, pushed away, and sidwalks cleared in Jianwai SOHO by the time I walked to work! Incredible, but what was really interesting and I was trying to be discreet while taking the picture so you may not see it but the brooms which they used to clear away the snow. I mean, they probably reduced efficiency in sweeping away the snow and therefore caused the need for the 20 people it took to clear the plaza around school.



So, switching subjects, I took the dance class I have been talking about now for months. It's been over six years since I even stepped inside a dance studio. I went to the Beijing LTDX Modern Dance Company's studio which is one of only two professional modern companies in the city. The studio was old, maybe pre-Cultural Revolution era but I love those old grungy dance spaces. It makes you feel more artistic. (Think FAME, the movie). So I took the Advanced Modern Technique class and today my calves are screaming. But I had a blast. I missed having that artistic outlet in my life. And luckily the studio is within walking distance so I will be going to class at least once a week now. Oh and the class is all in Chinese so that's good for my language progress as well.

So the Ayi just brought out dinner and Chase is waiting on me. So that's all for today.

Update on my Classroom

Well, the month of February has been particularly hard on my classroom. As I knew it would be. The children were gone for nearly two weeks so they forget a lot and their concentration levels certainly decreased more than I am accustomed to in America. I think it's because when they are at home in China and away from school they are so much less independent and are taken care of by their caregivers so much that they forget to do anything for themselves. And also, we've had five new children join us along with four that left to be a part of the new Primary classroom. So you can do the math and figure out what an adjustment it has been for them and for me.

But things are looking up. The new ones are somewhat settled in... read, they are not crying when they arrive each and every day. And they are getting used to the routine. They all happen to be girls which I think have an easier time assimilating to the new environment. Not saying that I don't like three year old boys but right now I don't have the most normalized classroom and boys are easily swayed into playing around and goofing off and they would definitely change the tone of my already unstable classroom. I know it's not the best stereotype, but I'm making it. So the girls... they are all sweet in their own way. And today I was giving a lesson where the child learns to match color tablets of the primary colors. It was the first lesson. She enjoyed the lesson and was excited that she could do it and came over to show me. It had also snowed for the first time this winter in Beijing and the snow was on the ground. We stared at the snow for a second and then she looked at a picture I had displayed of fresh snowfall on the trees and on a hill and she said, "It matches!"

DING DING DING! The child was abstracting to the real world! Success. I did my job. She was able to take the previous lesson of matching colors and the vocabulary of it and use it in a real world situation. As other Montessorians out there will know that one of our main goals in the environment is to get the children to experience the world sensorially and then to use that knowledge as keys to the outside world. So that was a great story from today.

I am going to a dance class tonight for the first time in over six years. It's been on my goals list for about a year now and especially because I didn't have my ice skates with me this winter I really need an outlet for self expression. I'll fill you in on it in my next post.

Anusara in China

I knew it would be here soon enough!

I just checked the Anusara website and found that there's going to be two Intensives in March and an Immersion in Shenzhen the first week of June! How rad. I am so excited. I am going to take time off work for a whole week. I am determined not to get sick during the Spring so that I will have my sick days all saved up. And even then, if I don't have enough sick days I'm going to not get paid. It's worth it for me to go.

The blurb says that there is a lot of enthusiasm for Anusara in China and I was just talking with Chase last night about how the Tantric philosophy that Anusara has its foundations in are the EXACT opposite of what is the nature of this society. "Bliss is here now" is not something that people identify with in China. That goes against their very being. I also mentioned to him that my other current interest, the Montessori philosophy, also goes against the grains of society. So it's interesting to me that the two passions I have in my life have brought me to a place that makes me stand up for what I believe in so strongly each and every day. And lately with this Montessori stuff, I have been so resolute. I think it's making me a stronger person in my ideals.
But I guess the interest that the Immersion is going to be so close to Hong Kong where people are much more international (well, Beijing is international in a sense just not open-minded). So it will be interesting to see how they take to this philosophy. And I think that's the reason they chose the course to be in Shenzhen. It's only a 45 minute train ride into China from Hong Kong. Anyways, I don't know if the uplifting nature of it might be so foreign that it will take a while for them to be comfortable. But who cares! I'm ready! I'm so excited!

The format they have chosen is also different. They are making the three-part format into a two part format of 50 or so hours each. I was hoping that when I did take the Immersion it would be in the three-part format over a period of time. But at least I will have time from June until October to let what I have studied sink in a bit.

OOOOHhhh.... I am going to go do a little dance around my living room right now....

Flowers, Chocolates, and Teddy Bears, Oh My!

Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day. And usually on Saturdays I go into work for a couple of hours. Not because anyone makes me but just because it helps me get focused for the next week. And because of my current situation with new children and a new assistant, I really need to go in and get things organized. But because of the special holiday, I'm working today (Sunday) and yesterday Chase and I spent hanging out and catching up on being in the city. I heard more about his India trip which I will post some pictures of soon and chatted with my family on the phone for about an hour. We went out for lunch at our neighborhood Thai restaurant. It is really owned by Thai people so the food tastes authentic and not some Chinese version of Thai food. The curries are thick and the soups are the perfect blend of spices.

Next we made a trek out to DongCheng District. Yes, we left ChaoYang District. So it was a big adventure for us to be in another part of Beijing. One thing I noticed was that everything seemed so much more colorful and varied. There were more Mom 'n Pop stores and little eateries compared to tall skyscrapers and modern storefronts we are used to. There's a bit more character and Beijing can really be a charming city when the sun comes out. We went to the Three Kites Shop. It's a kite store that's been in the same family since the Qing Dynasty (which really means about four generations) and they hand-make and hand-paint every kite they sell. Getting a kite was my Valentine's gift from Chase. And if you don't know, I am obsessed with kite flying. I'm not very good at it but it is a past time for me that really calms me down and I just love watching the movement of kites. It's one of my favorite ways to pass time on a windy and sunny day. So it's even more poignant because the origin of kite flying is, depending on who you ask, in China or in the South Pacific. Kite flying is extremely popular in India too so I think it has something to do with my genetic make-up that draws me towards kite flying. Hehe. The store had various kinds of silk and nylon kites. I first picked a silk kite that was in the shape of an owl with its wings spread. He was majestic and the colors were vividly painted. But as we were getting it wrapped up, we noticed a small tear so we had to give up that option. I ended up choosing a very brightly painted blue butterfly made from nylon. It was bigger and easier to fly said the shopkeeper and her family. Yesterday was not a very windy day so we have plans sometime in March to go fly the kite in Tiannanmen (because March tends to be a very windy month). Then we went to HouHai which is a lake really close to Tiannanmen surrounded by shops and small shops. So made a big loop around the lake and walked and enjoyed the relatively warmer temperatures (still around 35, though). During the winter the whole area is frozen and it's a great place to skate but the weather has been warm the last few weeks and the ice is not dependable anymore. Oh well, there's always next winter. Then we went over to the bike store and bought Chase his Valentine's present, a bike pump. You might be laughing but he refused to let me buy him anything else. That's all he wanted he said and it made him very happy. He's so difficult to buy gifts for and rarely wants or uses the gifts I buy for him. So I'm glad he will at least make use of this gift.

Chase took a nap in the afternoon as I tried to confirm a reservation for dinner. However, I was too late in calling and there were no reservations left. And I literally made calls for an hour to all the restaurants we have been eager to try and they were booked. I had no idea so many people celebrated Valentine's in Beijing! We decided to cook at home and Chase went out to get a bottle of wine and he mentioned that everyone was out and all the restaurants in our area were filled with fancy cars parked out front, etc. I guess we still think that America is the only place that has money and celebrates these overly commercialized holidays. But Beijing continues to surprise us with the amount of people that have money and are willing to spend it on holidays that are adopted. In fact, this is a depressing aspect of the current Chinese generation. Because of the cultural revolution, they lack a sense of belonging to a culture or identity. They don't have religion or spirituality to guide them and so they take in western practices so readily and just absorp and cling on to any sense of culture they can. We were also talking the other day at dinner about how Chinese people are not affectionate in public but there's a large devotion to chivalry and the romantic cause. So Valentine's seems to be a holiday they identify with easily. I on the other hand became somewhat saddened that we couldn't get a reservation "to be romantic" last night and that there's so much pressure but on "being romantic" that day that it makes the meaning of the whole day worthless to me. I am a romantic though but am a lot more practical so I will be going out to buy a bouquet today instead of yesterday because I can expect some good discounts.

Ew, Weather

After the fireworks fiasco of the last two weeks, the skies have been extremely polluted. I mean, you should have seen the streets the next day after the Lantern Day Festival. They were littered with the reminants of exploded fireworks. But the very next day they were magically cleaned up by the labor force that keeps things clean in China. Sometimes, I feel like we live in Singapore.

So the weather has been pretty drab. No sunshine is what I mean. Chase says I'm lying and that he saw the sun every day this week. I shouldn't say it's been bad because the highs have been in the 50s even! So that's been great to not wear long underwear for two days.

Today the rain came though. The clouds got heavier and slowly the drizzle came and it's been raining steadily for the last couple of hours. There hasn't been any thunder or lightning which makes me believe the rain is Man-Made. The government shoots pellets of some sort of silver or metal compound and it causes rain. And with the recent news of the drought in China that is evidence enough.

It feels weird to walk around in it. I think our bodies are sensitive enough to realize it's not right and not natural. I almost don't want to get rain on my body for fear that it's acidic or laced with some chemical.

So that's the weather. Isn't it great that my blog is about Beijing weather? I know you've been dying to find out what life is like around here.