Thursday, November 28, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Must Love Dogs
Barney, Winnie, Hazel,
Chance, Gus, Chip, Blackie, Nayla, Bo, Kenai, Lady ...…. these are just a few of the special dogs
that are no longer with us but have touched my life either directly or
indirectly.
One of my favorite dog quotes is “ There is only one great dog in the world, and that is every child’s dog”. That of course means the child in all of us… young and old, American or Chinese.
One of my favorite dog quotes is “ There is only one great dog in the world, and that is every child’s dog”. That of course means the child in all of us… young and old, American or Chinese.
As I start my travels around the world not knowing what to
expect Greg always tells me “ People are People” and that continues to hold true. In every country I continue to see families
and children having fun, arguing, and just getting through everyday life. One thing I have noticed in China is their
love of dogs, so here I adapt the saying to “Dog People are Dog People” .
( OK—this is the opportunity for someone to tell a bad joke about what is eaten here, but I will
tell you we are in North China and dog and cat are not served for meals
here. That is in the South. They say the Northern Chinese like their
noodles, buns and dumplings and the Southern Chinese like their “weird food”
. )
Most of the dogs I
see are the tiny “ mop type dogs” but
that fits with the Chinese city life. Small
spaces work for small dogs, and I have
only seen a few “big” American type dogs
here. One mutt Barneyesque type dog was
always waiting behind a gated courtyard near our previous hotel location … .....I walked by that
gate all the time just to get a look at that face, hear the deep bark and it would make me smile. I saw a Golden Retriever being walked down
the street and another time a Husky ran
past us on his own as we left a restaurant; but 99% of the dogs are the under
15 pound type. The locals here love
their dogs; they are carried, transported in bicycle baskets, dressed in silly
sweaters, pampered and loved as they
share a meal of street food. The
Chinese love dogs as much as I do … as a companion and someone to enjoy a good
walk or a heart to heart talk with.
On my daily walks when I see dogs and owners out and about I greet them and ask permission to pet their
dog. They don’t understand English and I
don’t understand Chinese but as I tell them what a beautiful dog they have the
language is universal and they smile.
This is dedicated to Hazel and all the special dogs out
there that have touched our hearts and have gone to Dog Heaven.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Chickens or Hookers?
No this is not an Irish bar joke, or a country song but a
reference to just how hard it is to learn the Chinese language. There are 4 tones in the language so you can
have one word but say it with 4
different tones and each tone will make that one word mean something completely
different. The tones derive from the four phonemic tones of Middle
Chinese, and are named even AKA
level (平 píng), rising (上 shǎng), going AKA departing (去 qù),
and entering AKA checked
(入 rù).
So by learning the subtle tone rules you can understand what word
is meant to be said, but all rules are
meant to be broken upon occasion and that brings us to chickens and hookers. At a Korean bbq dinner the other night one
of our translator friends was teaching us different words and we focused the
lesson on the food we were eating. He
was teaching me how to say chicken “ ji “
, but then explained that means live chicken .
If you are going to talk about chicken you are going to eat you say
“ jirou
“ which means chicken flesh. But in the next breath he informs me the exact
same word and tone for chicken also means hooker……… at that point I gave up and
just ordered another “pijiu” (beer).
Cheers, and next time you are ordering your next Chinese take -out
make sure you order chicken …. or you never know what will show up at your door.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Moon cakes and fireworks
During our stay in Tianjin there have been two different holidays
celebrated with a “bang” …. fireworks that is.
Fireworks are used to celebrate about everything it seems and are set
off at any time of the day. There are
many weddings outside our hotel and all weekend long fireworks are set off in
celebration.
The Festival of the Moon and National Day were both
celebrated this fall and enjoyed by everyone just like we enjoy holidays in the US ; time off work, great food and
celebration with family. During the
Festival of the Moon one tradition is to give moon cakes as gifts to family and
friends. There are many different kinds
of fillings from traditional red bean to the more exotic tiramisu. They are sold everywhere with hotels and
bakeries taking orders months ahead of time and are sold by the thousands. Making and sharing
moon cakes is one of the hallmark traditions of this festival as in the Chinese culture the round shape
symbolizes completeness and unity.
I never did get to eat a moon cake during the festival however
one of the translators that Greg is
working with recently brought us homemade moon cakes made by her mother and they are wonderful. They are rich, dense, have a fig like filling and are extremely addicting. I have been nibbling on them constantly for two weeks.
The Moon festival seems to have several different stories behind it. My favorite story is an ancient
fable from the Zhuang people saying the
sun and moon are a couple and the stars are their children. When the moon
is pregnant it becomes round and then becomes crescent after giving birth to
a child.
Next time you are staring at a
full moon know that she is pregnant and about to give the world one more star.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Sushi at 7-11? Don't knock it until you have tried it
After
spending a month visiting my parents back in the states I am back to the loud,
smoggy, fast paced city of Tianjin which we currently call home and I am loving
every minute of it. With the thirteen
hour time difference the first days are a haze of jet lag as I adjust to the change.
We decided
to change locations in Tianjin so moved to the Westin in the heart of
the city. Centrally located and surrounded by
restaurants, malls , parks, mom & pop spots and the
huge bonus is the 7-11 across from the entrance of the hotel. Big deal you say? Trust me it’s a bonus ….. it has a variety of
cold beer, wine, sushi and onigiri wraps and a variety of hot items. Do you think of eating sushi from a 7-11 and cringe? Don’t forget we are in China and this isn’t
sashimi/raw fish sushi…. They are a variety of small rolls or onigiri triangles
with a center of shrimp, ell, pickled vegetables or crab wrapped around rice
and nori. Along with the variety of
sushi they have about 6 different hot lunch options and the mystery bin. The mystery bin is Tianjin’s version of
the NYC hot dog cart. You don’t want to
know how long the food has been floating around in the liquid and you aren’t
really sure what it’s made of… but it
tastes so good so you don’t really care.
There are about 12 different items to choose from and I have no idea
what any of them are, so I randomly choose a different item each time. I think I have had tofu, sausage, ground something
or other and some kind of shell fish on a stick. A quick lunch with one sushi roll and a
couple of items from the mystery bin costs about 11 yuan or $1.65 and it’s just
as good as a NY dog with double onions, relish, kraut and mustard.
Cheers and
Good Travel!
and picture of my 7-11 mystery bin.......
and picture of my 7-11 mystery bin.......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)