A walk in Wuhan

Wuhan has a lot of fall flowers.  In fact, there are so many different flowering plants here that it almost looks like springtime.   I snapped some (**horrible**) shots of some flowers as I was out walking the other day.  I would name them all for you, but I don't know anything about flowers other than they are pretty. 

tea ceremony

There is a lot of tea in China.  As far as I can tell people drink tea all day every day, almost wherever they are.  And as I am discovering there are many many different kinds of tea in China.  Ever heard the saying "I would/wouldn't do/not do that for all the tea in China"  Well that's a lot of tea.  In Chengdu I started drinking tea almost every day to combat the effects of the perpetual gloom that hung over the city.  I think the gloom hurt my eyes and gave me an eyestrain headache, as well as dampening my mood with the whole Seasonal Affective Disorder (which I thought was made up until we went to Chengdu), so I had a cup of tea almost every day.  Which got me thinking, I'm in Chengdu the city of tea drinking, I should learn more about Chinese tea.... Well, that didn't happen.

However, I finally attended a Chinese tea ceremony (it's sort of an elaborate demonstration that they will do at most tea shops) with a lady who knows TONS about Chinese tea.  I still don't know that much about the teas here, but I'm learning a little bit all the time... 

Walking in Wuhan

This past weekend we walked through Jiefang park on our way to lunch.  It was still before 1 so the park wasn't as busy as it gets later in the day, but there were still plenty of couples taking their pre/post wedding pictures.  I also think people just like to take pictures too, because there were lots of couples, or even just girls out in the park taking shots.  I only took one picture on the fly as we were going through, but maybe next weekend I'll take the big camera out and get better shots of the people taking pictures.  (on a side note, it's too bad there's not an Ikea that was always great for getting pictures of people taking pictures)

Apparently Jiefang park is also a place to find your potential mate.  As we were passing through we also happened to find a matchmaking market.

 These sheets of paper have the particulars of the people looking for matches and you can come browse through and pick the ones that have the most interest for you.  My Chinese isn't good enough to tell you if I'm right or not, but it sounded like these are the equivalent of SBF ISO fun loving SJM for drinking pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. 

First day of school, foreign service Xmas, and a mini moving rant

Due to our move, the holidays and a business trip, yesterday was Babes' first day of Kindergarten.  On a whole, it was not as traumatic for any of us as I thought it might be.  She has to wear a uniform, which she initially objected to ("I don't know about this school thing, how am I to go everyday to school all day not wearing pretty dresses or skirts"), but she seems to have accepted her fate.  I have promised to get her a bunch of pretty hair things and crazy socks.  We went with her on the first day, but she really didn't need us, after the first couple of kids arrived she was busy playing and having fun (as I had hoped).  I however, now have all this free time.... I need a job.

Last week we received the our first shipment of our stuff from Chengdu (for those of you in the know it was our airfreight).  While it was just essentials, dishes, clothes, toys it went a long way towards making this big empty place feel more like home.  FS people often say that receiving a shipment is a lot like Christmas.  Especially because by the time your stuff arrives you have already forgotten what you packed in the boxes, so for every box they unpack you think to yourself "HEY it's THAT!"  Exciting times my friends.

Do you want to know one of the things that irks me about moving every two years?  It's a little thing, you probably don't even think about it, but maybe you don't move every two years...  You know how when you cook on the stove, you reach down and turn on the eye you want without even looking, or how when you walk into a room your hand automatically reaches for the right spot on the wall to flip on the switch?  Well when you move every two years, you can't do that.  Right now I'm in the process of learning a new set of switches, flips, dials, and squeaks.  I walk out of the restroom and keep trying to turn off the bathroom lights from the outside.  I have to flip every living room light switch (for some reason there are EIGHT) to get the right lights to come on.  There are all these random sounds in the house that I don't know where they come from, and we don't have Honeydog yet so I don't know if I have to worry about them, so I'm constantly chasing down noises.  *sigh*  moving pains.  I'll get used to them, but for now I'm still fumbling in the dark.   

Trip to Metro...

Today it finally stopped raining and Babes and I took the *gasp* bus to Metro.  I know what you are thinking, what's the big deal, she took a bus.  But if you knew me, you would know that I don't like buses.  Maybe it's some left over Orange County prejudice against public transportation, but I'm not a fan of buses.  Subways and trains, love em?  Buses... eh not so much.  Maybe it's because there are almost never good bus maps, so I always feel like I could end up just about anywhere.  Especially in China, the buses are usually crowded and the maps are in Chinese (I might speak Chinese, but I don't read it well). Who knows where the bus will leave me. 

BUT!  Today I gathered myself together, searched google maps and came up with a plan.  (Did you know Google maps will give you public transit too?  I discovered this in Taiwan, but just discovered that it works on the mainland now too) 

Metro is in Wuchang which is across the Yangtze river from us.  We actually got on the bus and got there without any problems at all. 

The inside of Metro is very similar to the one in Chengdu, except that they have a HUGE dairy department (I didn't take any pictures of the inside, I always feel silly taking pictures inside stores, I know I should do it, but.....) Unlike any of the rest of the stores here I was actually able to find Cheese in Metro! 

In Hankou so far I've only been able to find the plastic wrapped cheese food slices (far left), which are fine-sometimes, but I prefer actual cheese, and while this cheese isn't super it's better than nothing (2 years without cheese would have been hardship indeed). 
After the bus ride home, Babes and I stopped for bing (think Chinese burrito) at this place around the corner from us. 

I also didn't get any pictures of the bing being made, mostly because my hands were full and I was too hungry.  I will stop by there again and I promise I will get pictures. 

rainy day plot failure

So today I had epic plans to take a BUS to the Metro (think Costco or Sam's club--sort of).  Babes and I got all dressed up to go out (we took off our yoga pants and put on jeans), but while we were at lunch, IT STARTED RAINING!  So instead of going out for some Wuhan Bing (think Chinese burrito) and a bus ride, we had KFC and watched a movie.  What that means for you, dear reader, is that you get pictures of knitting instead.  OH and a picture of some creative yarn balling from the airport. 

This was my travel solution to turning a bunch of loops of yarn into a ball.  I got some pretty weird looks from people at the airport McDonalds... I mean what, you've never seen a black woman ball yarn, using a carry on suitcase, and a Madame Alexander doll? 
But once the yarn was balled, I started working on a shawl for me.  I'm using the Unique Sheep pima petite that was part of my Xmas gift last year.  I didn't like the pattern that came with it, so I cobbled together a pattern of my own using two different patterns.  I'm only about halfway, so here's some work in progress pics. 

I love the lace leaf edge. Which I got from Janine Le Cras' Lace leaf wrap (you have to be on ravelry to see the link). 

A walk in Wuhan

Some of the things that Babes and I saw while we were walking in Wuhan. 

 These are the new bike share bikes that are all over the city.  I think this is awesome for use in conjunction with the bus lines.  You just pick up a bike when you get somewhere and then turn it back in when your done and hop back on the bus. 

 City chickens!

 I know this last picture is kind of boring, but they have these tents on the corners of most major intersections.  I wonder if they are permanent, or if they are only for the summer?  They definitely did not have these in Chengdu.  

Scenes from Jianghan during the October Holidays

Aside from spending our time looking for cheese (I don't know about you, but my diet is not complete without cheese), we have also looked around in Wuhan for places to hang out and stroll about.  One of the many places to go here is the Jianghan pedestrian street.  It was pretty crowded since we didn't get out until after lunch time AND it is a holiday, but it provided for pretty cool people watching. 

The October Holidays

Our first week in Wuhan has coincided with the October holidays in China.  The holidays are officially considered to be the National Holiday, and this year they also happened to coincide with the Mid-Autumn festival.  The upshot being that right after our arrival all official functions have been shut down for the past week.  But it has given us an excellent opportunity to explore our new city as a family, instead of just me, or me and Babes trying to figure things out on our own.  Normally we arrive in country and the Mister is whisked off to work at 8 am the following morning. 
I digress,  the Mid Autumn festival is actually a pretty fun one, businesses give out mooncakes to all of their contacts, and I think families and friends give them out too.

 (I wonder if they will eventually go the way of the fruit cake and those Hickory farms gift boxes that we used to get around Christmastime when I was a kid? )  Mooncakes can be savory or sweet, elaborate, or simple.  I have seen them filled with fruit, eggs, some sort of fish paste, nuts, chocolate, meat, etc...

The ones we got from Starbucks last year were the best ones that I've ever had, but probably the least traditional.  I also find that the boxes that mooncakes come in are pretty useful.  They usually involve drawers, and lids, and make excellent storage for doll clothes and other tiny doll accessories.

Aside from eating mooncakes, you are also supposed to view the moon, light lanterns, and eat pomelos.  It is also a traditional time for matchmaking, and we have seen tons of wedding processions to mark the occasion. 

WUHAN!!!!!

Today is our second full day in Wuhan.  Surprisingly, yesterday was a pretty full day despite the fact that we got off a plane approximately 12 hours before our day began.  Although perhaps that fact is the reason that my first impressions of Wuhan are not entirely favorable. 
At first glance Wuhan is almost familiar.  We were awakened by the yellow/gray dawn and the distant song of horns, brakes, and motors almost like waking up with an old friend. The view out the window is at once strange but naggingly familiar.  The shape of the buildings are familiar, the color of the roofs, the size of the windows, but the arrangement of the skyline is completely wrong.  There are no familiar landmarks, nothing to draw the eye and say, 'ah you are here'.  I imagine that this must be what it is like to visit the US as a visitor.  Moving around from place to place, so many things are the same, yet at the same time, so much is different.... Actually I know this is what it is like because Babes' remarked on it during our last trip to the US.  To me the difference between Richmond, VA, and Philadelphia, PA is stark, drastic even.  But at first she was confused and said the two places looked alike.  Once she said it, I could see the similarities, but I would never have confused the two places in my mind. 
But, I digress...  What else can I tell you about Wuhan in my brief two days of experience?  Not much.  Without knowing what part of town I'm in Wuhan looks to be older than Chengdu.  Or maybe Wuhan has not yet put a lot of money into updating it's look.  There is a lot of construction going on here, but at the same time, there are a lot of the older buildings that we didn't see in Chengdu (once again, I'm not sure if it's where we are, or if this is actually the case).   Anyway, next week is the beginning of the national day holidays so I expect to get out a lot to see the sights and will report back on Monday. 

Good Housekeeping

How do you compress 70 years of homemaking into one room?  That is the question that I've been asking myself all week.  My 90 year old grandmother (please don't tell her that I told you her age--she'd kill me) has decided that she can no longer live alone and wants to move into my mom's house.  My mom, aunt and I are here now trying to help her get her house ready for selling and moving, but it's tough.  I can see why people wait for relatives to die, before going through this process.  For one, everything in this house has a memory.  The blankets, the books, the clothes, the knick knacks, the plates, even the scraps of paper and mass market pamphlets--everything.  The other problem arises from the fact that my grandmother is of the generation that saved, reused, recycled--hoarded-- everything.  If it still had some life in it, it got used.  To you or I it might look like trash, but to her, someone can get some use out of it.  Add to that someone who is very thoughtful, but forgetful, so she buys cards to send, or picks up a toy to give, but then forgets where she put it, and so buys something else.... On top of that there is the mail... OH THE MAIL...  I think I might be in some circle of hell.  There are endless piles of mail that need to be open, sorted, and anything with personal information in it needs to be shredded.  I have been opening mail for two days and there is still mail.  Did you know that the VFWW, the Diabetes council, and many of the feed the hungry programs send money in their mailers?  Today alone I have made over $5 in money just from mailers.   And I don't mean to suggest she's a hoarder, but she's been housekeeping for at least 60 years, living in the same house for 12, and there was a long stretch of time when she was the sole caregiver for my grandfather who suffered from Alzheimers. 
My grandmother is a trooper.  My mother is relentlessly trashing things and my grandmother has tried her hardest to stay out of the way.  I know it is hard on her.  We are throwing away, and boxing up her life.   It's hard on me and it's not my stuff.  I know we are doing the right thing, but every so often I think that there has to be an easier way.  But I don't think there is.  We only have a week to spend here, I have to go back to my family (and then China), and my mom and aunt can't take any more time off work to come back.  It has to be done this way.  But I know it hurts.  I can tell by my grandmother's sad eyes as she watches the bags fill up.  It hurts, but I don't know of any other way. 

End of Radio Silence

I know I've been absent now for over a month, but I've had good reason.  First, there was the horrible, awful, no good, very bad plane ride with Honeydog and United-- I'm not going to go into it, other than to say the new pet policy is NOT helpful AT ALL.  But then right after we arrived in the US DH called with some shocking news and a decision to be made.  Basically, someone whispered an amazing opportunity into my husband's ear and suggested he apply for it.  BUT what that meant was that he would have to break his upcoming DC assignment to do it.  The opportunity was of the once in a career kind that could not be passed up so DH took the leap.  But that meant that for the last month we have been living in a kind of limbo where every waking thought was "are we moving?  We're not moving.  We are moving!  We're not moving.  Are we moving?  My parents are going to be so disappointed.  Are we moving?" 
And I'm happy/sad/still in shock/excited/disappointed to say that we are indeed moving to Wuhan China.  I'm happy and excited because this will be a fantastic opportunity for DH and our family will again have the opportunities only available to us while we are overseas.  On the other hand, I was looking forward to being in the US and being closer to my family and getting to know my niece and brand new nephew.  I also had begun to paint our house in fabulous colors and doing the work made the whole US experience feel much more real and possible. 
But alas, we are moving to Wuhan for good or ill.  I guess it's good for you, since I can continue to regale you with stories of China and pictures of the crazy experiences we will have.  My stories of the US would have been a lot more mundane with a lot of pictures of me in Wal Mart, Target, or sitting around in my house (probably not but I'm feeling pessimistic and tired right now) 
As of yet we still don't have an estimated departure time, but I'm sure it will come all too soon. 

Tips for pack out and moving --- PANIC!!!!!

Actually, no, don't panic. I've been missing in action for the last week because I have officially started to panic.  I don't know why, I've been trying to slowly organize myself for this move for the last three months.... But still.  *sigh* I don't think there's a way to do this moving thing without it. (I think it's all mixed up with leaving your home, looking forward to the new home, and all the uncertainty and lack of control that you have with the whole process) I actually had planned to do a post in narrative form about preparing for the movers, but I'm way too freaked out to think about it coherently.
So here are a few notes: 

1.  group stuff according to categories.  Put all your pictures together, lamps together, extension cords, cables, etc... You might use them all in different rooms, but every house is laid out in a slightly different way and what you have going on now might not be what you've got in the future. 

2.  Save your original boxes (for tvs, dishes, anything really breakable) if you can, pack your stuff in it.

3.  Breathe

4.  Empty all your trash (yes, some packers will pack the trash)

5.  Label things that don't go with you.  Put suitcases and small things you don't want packed in another room where the packers won't go. 

6.  If you can, arrange for kids and dogs to be somewhere else, or give them a space of their own away from the packers.

7.  Breathe

8.  Prepare a dinner ahead of time, or know the number of good take out.  You will not want to make dinner, or leave dinner plans until the last minute (same goes for lunch).

9.  Try to write specific notes on each box, if you can (I know that I usually can't, there are too many packers and not enough of me).

10.  Breathe

When all else fails, remember they will pack everything and most everything will arrive at your next place, if you are not organized, they will still pack, and you will be able to organize when you get there.  So long as you have your suitcases, pets, and as many children as you started with you will be fine. 

China cleans....

In the new luxury mall we saw this ingenious way of cleaning floors.

Do we have these in the West?  I actually don't think I've ever seen anyone cleaning floors during business hours, maybe we do have them....
But just to remind you that man is still better than a machine in China, there is this:

Yes, it's a guy with a bucket and a rag cleaning the construction barricades on one of the busiest streets in town. No, there is usually not anything to warn you that you are about to run over someone, but then he is wearing a bright orange vest, so I guess that's progress-right?

The Panda Base

When visitors come to town one of the first things we ask is "Do you want to see the pandas?"  because that is what Szechuan (spell check won't accept Sichuan as a spelling, which is how it is actually spelled) is know for.  I have tried many different ways of explaining where we are to people who don't know China, and none of them work as well as Sichuan-it's where the pandas are.  Once I say that I get the ooohhhh accompanied by the nod of the head which means "I still don't know what you are talking about but I'm going to pretend that I do because I've heard of pandas--they're in China right?". 
I've been to the Panda base 4 or 5 times now (we don't get that many visitors) and I still mostly like it.  Pandas are cute, but they aren't the most entertaining animal out there. 

When you go see them, you are basically either going to see pandas eating, sleeping, or walking someplace else to eat or sleep.

That being said, the panda base is huge!  There are a bunch of different panda enclosures, and each one is nicely landscaped with lots of flowering trees, shrubs and bamboo.  It's not the Taipei Zoom which has to be one of my favorite places, but it's a nice morning out.  And you get to see the cute cuddly-looking pandas in something which resembles a natural habitat.

If you are curious, there is apparently a video there that goes into great detail about panda breeding in captivity--but I'm not curious about that at all.

 

Zucchini Zucchini

So I know I haven't posted any pictures from our vegetable deliveries, I've been a little busy preparing to move, but also our deliveries have been pretty standard.  Regular old cabbage (the kind you would see at Kroger's) tiny potatoes, and zucchini, a couple of greens here and there but all things I've seen before.  BUT I thought I'd stop in and post about what I did with some of the vegetables, after all I got cabbage three weeks in a row (I don't like cooked cabbage THAT much) and at some point we had 4 giant Zucchinis in our fridge. 

With the cabbage I discovered that I can actually make coleslaw.  I thought it was something really difficult and hard to make (I've had a lot of really bad coleslaw) but actually it's pretty simple.  I just used the standard Southern Living cookbook's barbecue slaw (I really love that cookbook).  It's not the best coleslaw in the world but it's much better than any coleslaw I've had in a long time... AND what's even better it only used ingredients that I had in my cupboard and need to get rid of (less than a month left at post!), I even took it to one of those potluck events that the consulate community is so fond of. 

The zucchini was tougher.  I roasted it, grilled it, stir fried it--but still I was getting a lukewarm reception from the discerning duo.  Finally, over everyone's objections I went searching for a zucchini bread recipe (strangely enough none of my cookbooks have that recipe, I thought it was an American staple).  When the Smitten Kitchen turned up in my search results I went no further (her food is AMAZING!) So I made her zucchini bread, and she did not disappoint.  The muffins (because why make a big huge loaf when you can have muffins?) I made using her recipe were great, flavorful moist, delicious. 

Unfortunately, I STILL have zucchini.  I think next will be zucchini pancakes for dinner.