Where is Elizabeth?

1. The noise, noise, noise, noise. New York has nothing on China’s decibels.  It is so loud here (the car horns, bus horns, motorbike horns, the yelling, the screeching brakes, the fireworks, the people screaming into their cell phones, the megaphones hawking deals outside of stores, the construction) that I will probably never have a problem with the noise in New York.
2. The sidewalks. When in New York I am not usually down by and honked at by a motorbike on the sidewalk.  There is relative law and order.  I’ve heard people complain about the crowded sidewalks, but please.  At least the sidewalk is for walking, not parking bikes and cars, going around traffic, or just as unusable filler around newstands, planters, trees and power poles.
3. The crowds. With the exception of like, Times Square on New Year’s, the crowds will not be a problem.  I scarce can call them crowds.  I was once on a pretty crowded subway car in New York, but again, relative order.  People get off the car to let people off instead of rudely blocking the door.  Stores, sidewalks and transportation do not seem crowded to me.
4. The filth. Most parts of New York seem clean compared to most parts of Nanjing.  We are unfortunate enough to live near the garbage collection center for the supermarket in our building.  I don’t even want to conjure the experience for you.  The only exception is the subway.  New York’s subway is over 100 years old, while Nanjing’s opened in 2005.  The difference is obvious.
5. The pollution. No contest.
6. Living in a small space. We currently live in a 559 square foot studio.  I’ve seen smaller places, but this is pretty small.  The dining table is the desk, the washer is in the bathroom, the fridge is in the living room, our suitcases reside behind our bed.  My formerly modest organizing skills are now well-honed.
7. Saving money. Though we are not as adept as the Chinese at saving money, their thriftiness has rubbed off on us.  For about a year and a half, with modest success, we have been living on 1,000 yuan ($146) per week.  We could live on a lot less without indulging in foreign foods, but it would not be pleasant.  Foreign groceries, not eating out.  I cook a lot, which leads me to…
8. Cooking skills. With extra time and income and apathy towards the local food, I found it necessary to up my game in the kitchen.  With only a microwave and gas burners, I have also had to be creative.  With varied availability of ingredients, I have had to become flexible.  I see some produce out of season, but for the most part, it is still a seasonal market here.  So I may go to the wet market to by zucchini, only to find undesirable specimens and have change my menu.  I am looking forward to more varied ingredients and cooking methods.
9. Different cultures. Besides Chinese, I have worked with South Africans, Japanese, British, Canadians and Australians and have met people from many other countries.  New York’s demographic can be broken down as follows:

1. White Non-Hispanic (35.0%)
2. Hispanic (27.0%)
3. Black (26.6%)
4. Other race (13.4%)
5. Two or more races (4.9%)
6. Chinese (4.5%)
7. Asian Indian (2.1%)
8. American Indian (1.1%)
9. Korean (1.1%)
10. Other Asian (1.0%)
11. Filipino (0.7%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Ni hao, Ms. Wu and The Charming Cheetahs Class at The Spence School in New York!  I hope you are enjoying learning about this new and different culture.  These are very good questions about China and I’m so happy to answer them for you:

1. Why did you choose to move to and work in China?

I chose to go to China to experience a different culture and do interesting things.  I studied to be a teacher in college, so teaching English in China was a good job for me.

2. Where in China do you live?

I live in Nanjing, which is in Jiangsu province.  It is in the east of China.  The name Nanjing means “south capital” because it used to be the capital of China before Beijing (which means “north capital”).

3. Is it hard living in a different country?

Yes, it is.  When I first moved to China, everything was new and interesting.  After I became used to living here, I noticed all the differences more.  The food, language, people and culture are very different from America.  I also miss my friends and family a lot.

4. Can you speak Chinese? If not, how do you talk to people?!?

When I first came to China, I could not speak any Chinese!  It was very difficult to go places, but Chinese friends helped me a lot.  Then I began to learn more words and could do things on my own.  My Chinese is still not very good, but I can easily do things like go shopping, order food at a restaurant, take a taxi or bus, and travel.  Reading is more difficult than speaking.  But even if you do not know any Chinese, the Chinese people are very helpful.

5. What is your favorite food? What is it like?

My favorite Chinese dish is Gong Bao Ji Ding (called “Kung Pow Chicken” in America).  It is small pieces of chicken with peanuts and hot chili peppers.  It is very spicy!

There is some very strange food in China.  I have eaten snake, pigeon, pig ears, and goose foot!

6. What’s been your most favorite thing about living in China?

I have really enjoyed traveling around China meeting different people and seeing interesting things.  I have been to many cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.  I usually travel by train.  You can stay in a room with beds and travel overnight on the train!

7. Your least favorite?

The worst thing is being away from family and friends.

8. What kinds of things did you teach your elementary students?

I taught them the English words for things like colors, feelings, animals, clothing, actions, rooms in a house, places and transportation.  We played lots of games.

9. Have you seen a panda bear? What other animals have you seen?

Yes, I have seen several panda bears. They are in most zoos, including the Nanjing zoo.  I have also seen red pandas, giraffes, elephants, camels, sun bears, monkeys, ligers, and reptiles at zoos.  I often see live chickens, snakes, frogs, turtles, crayfish, fish, and eels for sale to eat.  And I have seen goats, monkeys, ducks, and water buffalo in the wild.

I had fun answering your questions.  I hope my answers and pictures help you learn more about China.  Let me know if you want to know more!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Two weekends ago we had a Friday off work for Tomb Sweeping Day and Lily and I went to Hangzhou.  We didn’t sweep any tombs, but we did go to West Lake and the Longjing Tea Village and ate great Mexican food.  We had quite a few technical difficulties with our hotel and bus tickets, but still managed to have a pretty tea-rific time.

I was looking at these photographs which put me in the mood to share.  So here is the first set of some of my favorite China photos.

Anne, Lily and I went to Suzhou (wedding dress capital of China) to find a dress for Anne’s upcoming nuptials.  Anne’s mother very kindly put us up at the Suzhou Sheraton.  It was an incredible hotel with an excellent breakfast buffet, indoor and outdoor pools, a jacuzzi, a sauna and a health club all in a beautiful and serene atmosphere.  Our room had comfy beds, foreign television channels and a bathtub.  The first night, we ordered room service and got a lovely cheese plate.  The next day, we ate a huge breakfast and then fed the koi in the pond outside.  We then headed to Tiger Hill Street where all the wedding dress shops are located.  They lined both sides of the street and went back into most of the alleyways; it was pretty overwhelming.  There were wedding dresses and tuxes and bizarre ensembles that I’m hoping against hope were costumes.  We soldiered through hundreds of cupcake dresses and over-the-top frothy creations and finally found a simple and elegant option.  It only took a few hours and we marveled at the ease of it all.  We wandered around to an accessories shop where I got a tiara and a barrette with a veil and feathers attached to it.  That night, we went to the Rainbow Walk to a Mexican restaurant called Zapata’s and to Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream.  We saw people setting off sky lanterns and Anne wanted to try, so with some help from other people she sent it up into the night sky.  It was marvelous trip and a much-needed getaway.

We went to Shanghai for a few days.  Our timing was poor as it coincided with the peak holiday travel days.  We walked around, went shopping on Huai Hai Road and eventually found the new American Apparel only to find that its contents were more than twice the price they would be in America.  It was located in an inconvenient area in the most pretentious building I have ever seen in China.  It was a maze of concrete stairwells and art galleries, unheated and had a clear glass floor at the top. As a conclusion, we failed to get seats on our return train but valiantly fought for and won seats in the dining car.  It was an experience and we were glad to get back to Nanjing.