Well, the Saturday after Thanksgiving John and I rode the van into the city. We got off at Traders Hotel and walked next door for a hard-to-find-in-China treat, a Subway sandwich. My Subway melt was not to be melted because I was told the ovens weren't turned on until 10:00. It was 10:27 but whose counting! After our treat of a lunch we headed to Metro, a store that carries many Western brands and a store that had...Christmas decorations!!
We bought a tree for 229 RMB. (This is another word for yuan)and decorations. I did notice that the decorations run a little to the cheesy/gaudy/WOW it sure is Christmas huh?? style, so I have been sparing with their application.
The Christmas lights don't link together as they do in the states. Each strand is separate. Apparently the idea that someone would waste electricity on more than one starnd of lights is a bit foreign. I have four strands on my tree. Every time I turn it on I have to spend five miniutes synchronising their settings so one isnt flashing, one strobing, one cycling and one randomly turning on and off. Also, of the five identical boxes I purchased, four werw hite lights and one was a colored strand that played music! That one...did not go on the tree. :)
So now, Christmas is alive and well in the home, and we did it all in one five hour shopping trip to the city. Not bad!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving in China!
Well the first holiday in China for us has come and gone. It was quite an interesting event. I will never again take a Thanksgiving holiday from work for granted, as we had classes both Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week. One of our staff members on the social committee worked very hard to find us a place to have some semblence of Thanksgiving dinner, and she did a good job, but it was quite the work.
Firstly, there are almost no Turkeys cooked in China. There are also rarely any pies, or any stuffing, or any green bean casserole, or even yeast rolls or sweet potato with marshmallows on top because...the Chinese rarely if ever use ovens! Who knew, the key to all that is tasty and scrumptious about Thanksgiving comes from the wonder of all kitchen wonders, the humble oven!
We actually just recently bought an oven. Our apartment did not come with one at all. Just a two-burner propane cooktop that we werent allowed to use fo rthe first month. The oven is the size of a large microwave and sits atop a small wooden Ikea shelving unit in our kitchen. It does work, though! It has a setting for heat from only the top, only the bottom, or both, but the entire thing is only as deep and wide as a 13x9 inch pan. It is also in centigrade but, luckily for me the US Congress passed a law many years ago that we would shift to the metric system so it is not a prob...oh wait!! It IS A PROBLEM because I have to get online for a converter everytime I want to either not eat raw chicken or not burn the apartment down!Anywho...
So, we did have Turkey at the event, and stuffing, which was actually shaped into little round medallions and placed around the Turkey. The cranberry sauce was there, but the consistancy of strawberry ice cream syrup. Tasty, though. We had mashed potatoes, and they tried to make macaroni and cheese for us (not a signature Thanksgiving dish for my family but for some.) It was actually large penne pasta covered with a lite parmesan-esque sauce, but it was sweet. The pumpkin pie was more of a squash"ee"/gourd"ee" type of thing cut into teeny tiny little squares, but the apple pie was tasty!
Besides the food, however, it was a great time to sit and eat with almost all of our staff, their significant others, and even our two students (that's right...two) and enjoy each others company. I am so thankful to be meeting new people, remembering those that have been in my life before China and are always in my heart. I am trying to keep positive thoughts with me this holiday season and not let my separation from my family and friends overwhelm me. It will be hard, but the experience of a lifetime!
And now... I am off in search of the ever mysterious Chinese christmas tree!
Firstly, there are almost no Turkeys cooked in China. There are also rarely any pies, or any stuffing, or any green bean casserole, or even yeast rolls or sweet potato with marshmallows on top because...the Chinese rarely if ever use ovens! Who knew, the key to all that is tasty and scrumptious about Thanksgiving comes from the wonder of all kitchen wonders, the humble oven!
We actually just recently bought an oven. Our apartment did not come with one at all. Just a two-burner propane cooktop that we werent allowed to use fo rthe first month. The oven is the size of a large microwave and sits atop a small wooden Ikea shelving unit in our kitchen. It does work, though! It has a setting for heat from only the top, only the bottom, or both, but the entire thing is only as deep and wide as a 13x9 inch pan. It is also in centigrade but, luckily for me the US Congress passed a law many years ago that we would shift to the metric system so it is not a prob...oh wait!! It IS A PROBLEM because I have to get online for a converter everytime I want to either not eat raw chicken or not burn the apartment down!Anywho...
So, we did have Turkey at the event, and stuffing, which was actually shaped into little round medallions and placed around the Turkey. The cranberry sauce was there, but the consistancy of strawberry ice cream syrup. Tasty, though. We had mashed potatoes, and they tried to make macaroni and cheese for us (not a signature Thanksgiving dish for my family but for some.) It was actually large penne pasta covered with a lite parmesan-esque sauce, but it was sweet. The pumpkin pie was more of a squash"ee"/gourd"ee" type of thing cut into teeny tiny little squares, but the apple pie was tasty!
Besides the food, however, it was a great time to sit and eat with almost all of our staff, their significant others, and even our two students (that's right...two) and enjoy each others company. I am so thankful to be meeting new people, remembering those that have been in my life before China and are always in my heart. I am trying to keep positive thoughts with me this holiday season and not let my separation from my family and friends overwhelm me. It will be hard, but the experience of a lifetime!
And now... I am off in search of the ever mysterious Chinese christmas tree!
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