Coming to America!
Well, even the proxy server has been verrrrrrrry slow lately. Hence my lack of updates. Time has flown by and I will leave on Sunday evening for a 36 hour train ride across China (from Kunming to Beijing). Then, after about 7 hours in Beijing where hopefully I can find a place to take a shower, I will fly out on Air Canada from Beijing to Toronto and Toronto to DC. Loooong trip all together. It's been a busy couple of weeks not working and hanging out with friends and now I'm trying to stuff as much as possible in my suitcases (as I keep receiving more gifts and buying more things I don't have room for!). Fun times. I have made nearly $300 selling my stuff, so that's nice. All I have left to do is eat dog (planned for Saturday night dinner) and then I'll be officially finished with life in China. Haha. Good riddance facebook-blocking China!On the other hand, though, China is a great place. I will certainly miss the food and the friends. One of my coworkers took me to her house to learn how to cook Chinese food last weekend, so maybe I'll try to buy a wok and hone my skills when I return. Also, here's another story to illustrate the kindness of Chinese people. Today I went to the tea market to buy a certain kind of pu-erh tea that I really like. As is typical in China, we did not just go in and buy the tea, even though I knew what it tasted like and had tasted it before. We still sat around chatting and drinking the tea. Then they gave me a really cool kind of cup to make the tea in that I was already planning on buying myself. They just gave it to me for no reason. I had not bought the tea yet and they ddin't even know how much I would buy. They just wanted to give it to me so it would be easy and convenient for me to make and drink tea in the US. How nice!
Of course, although I will miss China, there are many things I'm looking forward to in the US. As part of my reintegration into American culture, I decided that I would look at the billboard top 10 and download (legally!) some of these new popular songs so I wouldn't feel totally out of it upon my return. Well, instead of enjoying some new music, I'm repeatedly listening to Pokerface and Boom Boom Pow trying to figure out which of the two is the most stupid. They are both quite annoying. And Lady Gaga wears no pants. What on earth is up with that? So I leave you with that thought, America. Can anyone explain Lady Gaga?
brought to you by Rachelle
1 cents from the peanut gallery
Monday, June 22, 2009News...
Well, dear old China has been on an internet censorship kick again recently (and darn it, they're getting better and better). Before they only ever blocked blogspot.com, so I could post to my blog, just not see it. Now they figured out that they should block blogger.com too, it seems. Well, poo on them. I finally got around to installing another proxy server, so now I can post again.
There are several posts that should be written about recent travels to Yangshuo/Guilin and Jinghong, taking the Foreign Service Officer Test in Chengdu, etc. However, the biggest update is that I have turned in my resignation at my job (my last day will be June 30) and I will be heading back to the US on July 14 (time is going so quickly!). Many have asked if I am back "for good," but I find that question a little hard to answer. Life is long. Who knows? As far as the near future, though, I'm thinking I will be in the US, although I guess you never know. I'll go anywhere someone gives me a job!This picture is from my last meeting with some of our group leaders in the countryside. We went out to lunch halfway between their village and Kunming and I told them I was leaving. They were a little bummed that I was leaving and said they'd miss me. Then Wang Pin Feng, the big group leader (second from the left) said, "Thanks for helping us." Well, I have tried...though I wish I could do more.
brought to you by Rachelle
0 cents from the peanut gallery
Wednesday, May 13, 2009Crunchwrap Supreme???
Yes, it's true, KFC (肯德基 ken de ji) in China now has something that is suspiciously similar to a crunchwrap supreme from Taco Bell. After all, KFC and Taco Bell are owned by the same company (Yum! Brands, who also own Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's, A&W, etc.). The 嫩牛五方 (nen niu wu fang-soft beef pentagons??) are pretty tasty. Just add some sour cream, cheese and taco sauce to the spicy Sichuan one and it would almost be Mexican! Don't they look pretty much exactly the same? There's also another "French-style" one (not pictured) that has beef and mushrooms--not bad either, but they always add too much black pepper in China...
According to the Yum! Brands China site (yes, they are so big in China, they have a section for international and a section for China), a new KFC is opened every day in Mainland China. That is totally ridiculous, but not surprising. Even smaller cities (more than 550 total) that no one outside of China has heard of have one (or more!) KFCs. There are also Pizza Huts in 100 different Chinese cities (Kunming has 3 now).
There are about 2,600 KFCs in China and about 2,000 McDonalds.
I just wish they would go ahead and open up Taco Bells in China!!!
Anyway, there you have your Chinese fast food facts of the day...
Labels: Food
brought to you by Rachelle
0 cents from the peanut gallery
Monday, May 11, 2009What is Fair Trade? 什么叫公平贸易？
I recently created a Facebook page for Threads of Yunnan, the fair trade company that I am working for. This is an intro to fair trade that I wrote for that page. Just thought I'd share it. You can check out the Threads of Yunnan page and become a fan here. Oh, and no, I did not write the Chinese part. That was translated by my good friend Xiong. :)Fair Trade is a different way of doing business - partnering with disadvantaged producers to bring benefits to the company and the community. It strives to make international trade beneficial to everyone.
Fair Trade contributes to sustainable development by giving disadvantaged producers the chance to learn new skills and bring change to their communities.
Profits are reinvested in the communities of the producers. It gives the people the chance to decide how to better their villages – through new roads, access to clean water, community centers, etc.
公平贸易是一种不一样的做生意的方式 – 通过与弱势生产者的合作，为公司和所在的社区带来利益。最终让所有参与到国际贸易的人能从中获益。
公平贸易为弱势生产者提供学习新技能的机会，提供改善他
从贸易中获得的部分利润将会投入到生产者所在社区的发展
10 Principles of Fair Trade
公平贸易的10项原则
- Creating Opportunities for Economically and Socially Marginalized Producers
为经济和社会地位上处于弱势的生产者创造机会 - Developing Transparent and Accountable Relationships
构建透明和可靠的合作关系 - Building Capacity
能力建设 - Promoting Fair Trade
推广公平贸易理念 - Paying Promptly and Fairly
及时、公平地支付报酬 - Assuring Gender Equity
确保两性平等 - Supporting Safe and Empowering Working Conditions
提供安全和健康的工作条件 - Ensuring the Rights of Children
保障儿童合法权利 - Cultivating Environmental Stewardship
树立环保意识 - Building Trade Relationships Based on Solidarity, Trust and Mutual Respect
在团结、信任和互相尊重的基础上建立贸易关系
For more information about Fair Trade, check out the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT) website!
Labels: fair trade, my job
brought to you by Rachelle
0 cents from the peanut gallery
Friday, May 01, 2009Not quite the Panda Express...
So, I'm always trying to think of things in China that I take for granted, but you, faithful reader of my blog, would find interesting, shocking, or totally disgusting.Today I bring you the "menu" of a local restaurant. I posted the room service menu a couple of weeks ago, but this is a very different type of menu. At many restaurants here, there is no real menu...just veggies, meats, and whatever they have that day sitting out (or in a refrigerated cooler, if you're lucky) for you to choose. It actually works quite well for those who don't speak Chinese. We all love the "point and
hope for the best" method. This restaurant had a pretty big selection. I couldn't even get it all in the picture. I'm also including a picture of the kitchen at the same restaurant, which is in Wuding, a small town where we usually eat on the way back from our trips to the countryside (we rotate between a couple of different restaurants there). I love that you go into the kitchen to order.
Would this restaurant pass health inspection in the US? Probably not...but the food still tastes pretty good! :)
brought to you by Rachelle
1 cents from the peanut gallery
Saturday, April 25, 2009Success!
When eating dinner at a Muslim restaurant the other day, there was a sign on the wall. I got really excited when I realized that I could read and understand the whole thing. Yay.It said:
油少一点 (you shao yi dian)
盐少一点 (yan shao yi dian)
健康多一点 (jian kang duo yi dian)
A little less oil
A little less salt
A little more healthy
So yes, apparently I can understand Chinese health propaganda. Woohoo! There are also several billboards about protecting the environment that use similar grammar. This "less of one thing and more of another" pattern seems to be used a lot in advertising and public service announcements.
Labels: Hanyu
brought to you by Rachelle
0 cents from the peanut gallery
Monday, April 20, 2009Free music downloads!
Yes, this is why I have studied Chinese for such a long time....to be able to legally download music from Google China. As has been in the news this weekend, google.cn is now offering free and legal music downloads in both English and Chinese (and in fact Japanese and Korean). They seem to have quite a decent collection of new American music. The artists that have been most popular so far have a little red 热! (re), which means hot, next to them. It's a very funny cultural exercise to see which musicians are "re" in the Chinese market.Here is a partial list (disclaimer: of course, for your amusement, I have chosen the most embarrassing and strange "hot" artists):
- Backstreet Boys
- Barry Manilow
- Celine Dion
- Enya
- Hanson
- Kenny G
- Kenny Rogers
- Michael Bolton
- Wham!
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Yanni
Labels: Oh China
brought to you by Rachelle
2 cents from the peanut gallery
Monday, April 06, 2009Room Service
Yummy yummy Chinese room service. Don't you want a spiced chicken claw or some meat conjee with preserved duck eggs? Or better yet, spiced duck gizzards?! Mmmm. Man, I'm hungry now.
Where's the nearest McDonalds?! Pizza delivery?!
brought to you by Rachelle
