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. 

Back of the Bike--mobile store edition

People not only use their bikes for hauling stuff, but they will sometimes operate a store off the back.

Balloons!

 Hats!

 Shoes!

I've seen many more things being sold off the backs of bikes, I will try to get more of them on camera for your viewing pleasure. 

Modern Ballet

Thursday night I attended a modern ballet performance by the Trey McIntyre project.  Truly amazing performance.  It was another one of those cultural exchange events that is sponsored by the Public Affairs department of the US Embassy.  In case you didn't know, one of the things that the US Embassy does is to promote US culture and arts overseas.  At some point last year I discovered these events (they were there all along but one of my friends made me go) and started going to as many as I could attend.  They are awesome!  It makes me wonder how I can get onto one of these lists in DC, because I'm sure the US government is not the only government that likes to promote its culture and artists. 
Normally I do not really appreciate modern ballet, they tend to use modern classical music, and there is way too much symbolism for me.  Another thing about me, I suck at symbolism, if someone writes about a tree, I see a tree not family or love or growth or any of those things.  It's unfortunate, because I really want to like poetry, but I can't figure it out.  But back to TMP, the performance that I saw was very accessible because they choreographed their dances to popular music, like Simon and Garfunkel. So not only did I get to appreciate the beauty and athleticism of the dancers, but I also was able to appreciate the quirkiness of the music. 
At intermission, as a surprise, we were treated to several live Chinese musical performances.  At first I was annoyed, I wanted to use this time to get up, stretch my legs, look around the theater with the lights on, etc.  But after a few minutes I was able to appreciate these unexpected surprises too.  After intermission, I was surprised to hear kids music as the soundtrack to the dancers performance.  Who would ever think a modern ballet could be danced to "I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor?"  Not me, that's for sure. All in all, the evening was great, I liked it so much that I'm going to look for the Trey McIntyre Project in the future. 
For your viewing pleasure here is one of their promotional videos.  

Baby Booties and a hat

Sorry for all the knitting posts, but I haven't seen anything too crazy outside and I've been knitting a lot trying to finish some baby booties for a friend who is leaving post on a maternity evacuation.  I started last week, but with moving coming up I did not have the set finished (of course) for her party.  I finished up last night.  The booties were easy enough, but didn't come with a gauge, so the first pair I made might have been to small, so I made a second pair. OMG these booties are cute and SO easy!  3 hrs a shoe!  Seriously!  And I think you could make them faster, I just usually get distracted by something so it takes longer.  Anyway, here is a picture of the tiny shoes and the octopus looking hat.

And then all wrapped up and ready to gift.

Another Shawl

For Christmas I asked Hubby for a yarn of the month subscription.  He obliged and signed me up for the Smell the Roses club from the Unique Sheep.  It has been fun so far, the first shawl kit that they sent was for a Damask Rose Shawl.  There was some grumbling amongst those who signed up because there wasn't quite enough yarn to finish the whole pattern as written, but it is a beautiful shawl.  I used smaller needles and ended up with quite a bit of yarn leftover.  Unfortunately, neither the first, nor the second shipment were in colors that I would normally wear so I'm going to have to give them away.... Which is ok, because I had already decided that I would send the first shawl to my grandmother.  I finished it on her birthday, but she's not going to get it yet because I'm going to try to make her matching fingerless gloves to go with it (just to use up the yarn I have left).

These are a few really creepy things....

Ok, so those words don't really fit into the song made famous by Julie Andrews, but I wanted to warn you before you looked too closely.  This is another post that I've been meaning to do for awhile now, and I keep forgetting to take the pictures.  There was actually a whole abandoned amusement park that I meant to take pictures of but never got around to it (it's probably gone now, so I haven't bothered to go back).  
The kiddie rides here are SOOOO creepy looking.  You know the ones that they usually have outside the grocery store.  I don't know why but the ones here are terrifying.  I don't know why Babes wants to ride on them.  Don't believe me?

Then there are the dolls....  I wonder if this is what they think Western children look like.  And also why are there no Chinese dolls? 

Yikes! What's that on the back of the Bike!

I've been collecting pictures of the things people carry on the back of their bikes.  In other countries people would need trucks, or vans to haul crap, but here, they just strap it onto their bike with bungee cords.  No trucks needed. I was just going to do one post, but I realized I have WAY too many pictures so I think it's going to have to be a series.  (missing from this series is the picture of the family on a scooter with a slaughtered pig on the back of their bike because I did not have my camera with me that day *Sigh* the things I miss because I don't have a camera or my camera is too slow)

I think this guy recycles cardboard, and has a pretty typical load.

I don't know if you can see it, but the guy in the middle of the picture (behind the traffic light) is carrying another scooter on the back of his scooter.  I have seen this more than once, so maybe this is some sort of towing service?

These guys are my favorite. The delivery guys, they often have boxes stacked super high on their bikes, all precariously balanced. 

They do it differently here

So in the US when you come upon a construction site you are expecting it.  There are signs, there are traffic cones, there are guys in orange vests standing around... you know warnings.  In Chengdu, you're driving along and-- Hey! There's a guy in the middle of the street spreading asphalt with a shovel! 

... and yes, that is regular traffic trying to figure out a way to get around the man with the shovel and the machinery. 

Chengdu's Burning

I woke up this morning and thought something was burning.  I sniffed around the apartment trying to figure out if something was malfunctioning or maybe we'd left something running too long, but no.  When I stepped out our apartment door I realized that it was Chengdu that was burning.  The sky is a yellowish brown color and the air is solid.  I walked Babe to school and back and my eyes, nose, and chest are on fire.  Luckily there aren't that many days like this, but I'm staying inside as much as possible today. Yuck.
Oh in case you don't believe me, here's a picture.  This isn't night time, it's 8 in the morning. 

Two meals of fava beans

So I did get myself together to make a fava bean puree.  It was good, but boy are fava beans a lot of work!  To be able to eat them you have to shell them twice! 

 Luckily Babes proved able to handle this part of the task and we had a lot of *fun* shelling beans and watching a movie!

Then they need to be blanched.

 and peeled again (Babes was adept at this too)

Then they are ready to be simmered with oil, garlic, and herbs

Next comes the smashing (or in my case blending--I love my stick blender!)

FINALLY we can eat!

I served my Fava puree on some oatmeal sourdough that I pulled out of the freezer, some boiled potatoes tossed with butter, stir fried greens (the purple ones) and a little feta cheese.  I actually really liked the puree with the feta and next time I might puree them together. 
The very next day I used the second half of the batch of fava beans (prepared up to the second shelling so I didn't have to go through all that AGAIN) in a pasta stir fry.  I basically sauteed the fava beans with red bell peppers, garlic, a few greens, and cherry tomatoes and tossed it over angel hair pasta.  YUM!   And we did two vegetarian meals in a row, how about that?

2 weeks of veggies

So I forgot to post pictures of our veggies last week, and I already have this weeks veggies.  I was sick last week so we still have more than half of our veggies from last week to eat up.  I foresee a couple of vegetarian meals in our future.  Which is good because that means I don't have to order meat until next week. 

 

Last week we got, yup you guessed it, more greens.

  

These were interesting, mild in flavor, very tiny and pretty good stir fried with the grass.  

  

I had no idea what these were, they look like oversized peas, but when you open them
 

 They are fuzzy inside and look a little like lima beans.  It turns out they are fava beans.  I'm pretty excited to cook them, they are supposed to be great spring beans to eat.  

  

This week there were still greens, but less of them.   Look at that purple green!  

 And some more fava beans and potatoes.  I think maybe tonight I'll try them pureed, I don't think Babes will eat it, but I've been wrong before. 

It feels like fall

 The trees here are weird.  I don't know what kind of tree they are, but they shed their leave in the spring.  Yes, in the spring.  Last Friday was rainy, a little chilly, and the leaves on the tree were yellow and littering the ground.  If I didn't know any better I would have sworn it was October, but no it's May.  Don't believe me? 
Here are some pics I took on Friday.  Excuse the crappiness of the pics, I was taking them through the window of my car with the crappy little camera. 

Construction sites

I have noticed that in China, nobody looks out for your safety.  You are completely responsible for your own well being.  Other drivers aren't looking out for you, other walkers aren't looking out for you, the government is certainly not looking out for you, and companies are down right out to get you.  So it should not have been any surprise to me that construction sites, in their final stages, are open to the public. 
When serious construction is going on, construction sites are boarded up.  I guess it's too annoying to have to shut down anytime they drop something on a pedestrians' head (or maybe this way they don't have pesky witnesses to the injuries to the construction workers?).  But once the main part of the building was done the blue barriers went away.  I was thrilled, now I could walk on the sidewalk and not have to risk death on the side of the road...  until I saw that construction was still going on.