Things that make you go...eeewwww!!

I shop for fruits and vegetables at a place known by the expats as (and it is aptly named) the "stinky market". The produce is lovely, the smell, not so much. It is a place where people spit in the very place you walk...a place where sometimes you might have to wake the vendor as they take a power nap on top of the lettuce...a place where just one aisle over you could purchase delicacies ranging from the head of a goat, cow spine, or unlucky mutt...it is a place where I have "a fruit lady" - this means I buy all my fruit from her and she usually throws in something extra for me like overripe bananas or something exotic that I have no name for, nor do I know how to eat it. Occasionally my "fruit lady" doesn't have what I am looking for or the seller next to her has better looking apples. This is a dilemma...I, white-skinned, round-eyed, brown-haired and wearing an orange winter coat can hardly blend in! So it is that I have to be sly and cautious so as not to offend the one that previously let me pick the untouched oranges in the box behind her stand or who threw some lychees in my bag for free. In the stinky market (and in any produce market of this type), you must carry small, often "moist" bills, and be ready to understand when they tell you in lightening-speed Chinese how much you owe (I have gotten good at this!). Fortunately, what you owe is remarkably cheap and the produce is fresh - you might call this "the silver lining" in a damp and smelly cloud.

I AM actually getting to what will end up being a short story but first I wanted to paint an accurate picture of shopping in a local produce market. Have I been successful? Are you with me? Do you get that it is not just shopping...it's an experience??!

The topic of my story is the one thing I did leave out of this picture: it has to do with the shopper's inevitable encounter with something moving, wriggling, squirming amongst the produce. There are entire boxes of these moving, wriggling, squirmers...they are silkworms. Oh, the first few sightings will be benign because you are overwhelmed by the sights, the smells, the piles and piles of fresh fruits and vegetables. Then there will be the day when you happen by them and say, "What the @*##?? They're MOVING!" The ones in the picture below look innocent enough skewered as they are but trust me...they are...well...eeeewww!!

A recent shopping experience led me to the only stand in the stinky market where I can get 'normal' mushrooms. Unfortunately I have to reach over the squirming silk worms to get to them. So there I was reaching, holding my bag up as high as I could so as not to accidentally touch the worms - I was carefully placing mushrooms in the bag when I dropped a mushroom in among the living. Now, I know how melodramatic this sounds but before I could get my "I'm an adult" bearings, I let out a little yelp and physically gagged at the prospect of having to fetch my mushroom (which I did not). I swiftly handed the seller my bag and paid her the money. All the while she was smirking at me like I was ridiculous...this is likely a reasonable, understandable assessment of which I am not proud. It is what it is...I am what I am...

Next time you're in your local supermarket, give that produce manager a pat on the back, an 'atta boy/girl', a "Gosh I appreciate the clean surroundings and that the only wriggling and squirming comes from the child strapped in the shopping cart."

Chinese New Year - Part One

Valentine's Day in and of itself is pretty much non-existent here but this year February 14th is monumental here in China - it's Chinese New Year. If you combined Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's you might be on the verge of approaching the magnitude of Chinese New Year. For the last month, the stores and streets have been decked out in red and gold and shopping has been even more of a exercise of patience and...well, more patience due to the throngs of people stocking up before things shut down for the coming week of celebrations. The kids have the week off from school and even Intel is shut down until Thursday.

Last night we experienced two important pieces of the holiday - eating jiaozi (dumplings) which families make together and eat for dinner on New Year's Eve and then again at midnight. Our ayi brought us about 3 or 4 dozen - hao chi! (delicious!) And then there are the FIREWORKS...truly, we hear them nearly every day of the year at random times during the day and/or night and/or crack of dawn - the Chinese love their fireworks! But the new year celebrations take it to a whole new and unbelievable level - everyone, everywhere has fireworks.

The video below shows what some of the dads around here call "kid fireworks". I am of the opinion that there is no such thing...(Emma is in the blue jacket, Erin is in pink - with a bow-adorned headband on top of her hat)

Our community had a little display last night after we enjoyed a potluck dinner. From about 10:00 on, and especially at midnight, the sky in every direction was booming with lights and noise. Mike and some friends went downtown to really experience it all and words can't really describe the sheer volume - both noise and amount - of the celebration. Everywhere he turned, he saw fireworks. It's worth noting that anyone can buy them, anyone can set them off, anywhere they want.

Here is a little snippet of the festivities from New Years Eve- the sound cuts out towards the end but you get the idea. Pay attention to a few things - the men running around lighting the boxes, traffic cruising by, and the distance from the buildings. ONLY in China:

We are heading downtown tomorrow to Xing Hai Square, one of the huge parks that will put on a show to end all shows. We have booked a room at a hotel in the park and have been warned that sleep is unlikely because there will be explosions all night. It's cold out there so we wanted somewhere to go for intermittent thawing. I will definitely blog with pictures next time!

Mrs. Fendrick was back! If only for a moment...

Yep, I came out of my "temporary retirement" to substitute in a first grade class all last week. There was a definite feeling of belonging...but not really; normal...but strange at the same time. I had never subbed before and never taught any grade lower than third so it was all new to me. There were only 14 students and I loved that they were so diverse. They spoke an incredible variety of languages other than English - French, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and German - but at that age, their ability to learn languages is remarkable. Kids who started school in August with no English appear as if they've been learning it for years. How I envy that sponge-like brain of theirs! On Friday afternoon we celebrated Valentine's Day with homemade cards and homemade (gasp!) cupcakes. All in all, it was a great week although I was exhausted and left to wonder how I ever "did it all" before...teach full-time, picking up kids, laundry, shopping, cleaning (who am I kidding - I had my mom...if not, my house was a mess and laundry piled up all week!) It was definitely wonderful knowing that my sink full of dishes and my dirty laundry would be all taken care of by the time we got home from school.