Daily Discovery

November 30: My English classes for this week focused on a useful skill for anybody, particularly when you're in a foreign country, or even unknown location: giving (and understanding) directions. While it is a useful skill, I also wanted to make it a fun skill, so I broke my weekly lesson plan up such that the first day was a full in-class opportunity to learn and practice using the language skills, while the second day was a review and practice inside for the first half, with the second half outside! I spent many hours prepping for this lesson by walking around campus writing directions between places (from the number cafeteria to the water building, or the north gate to the ponds..). I then had students follow a few directions I had written to find a place, then write their own directions between two places I supplied, and then finally follow the directions to find me! I know what it must feel like to be Phil Keoghan from the Amazing Race, as students were running around campus trying to be the first to 'check in.'

November 28: Lately, I have been in a bit of a baking mood, so I decided that I should capitalize on this interest in baking, experimenting and the resulting cleaning of the kitchen before it suddenly disappeared. So, I made a nice bread dough that I hoped would satisfy my cravings for a nice gluten-y which a nice chewy texture. After making the dough and letting it rise for a few hours, I realized that I don't have a bread pan ... well, luckily improvisation allowed me to turn this stainless steel bowl into my stainless-steel-round-loaf-pan.

November 26: This is a discovery that I have been wanting to share with you all for awhile - at most of the parking ramps I have been to in China, there are these lights above the parking spots and slightly jutting into the aisle that change color when the weight of a car is present in the spot - perfect for easily finding an open parking space in a crowded lot.

November 24: Today for a little bit of a break from my normal fare - and as another adventure into trying to recreate the treats and memories from my baking in the United States - I decided to make cinnamon rolls. These were surprisingly delicious, and I am glad that I didn't make them too sweet, or I wouldn't have been able to handle them after so long without sweet desserts. I didn't have powdered sugar to make a frosting, but it didn't matter! They were still delicious... but next time, I'll add another dose of cinnamon.

November 22: Last night I had an urgent text from a few students, "Teacher, are you home?" "Where are you?" "Can you help us, please??" I was a bit surprised, because I wasn't expecting to hear from these students, but I was thrilled! Of course, I replied. What do you need? I was asked to come meet them outside to explain the situation.

Here in Wuwei, at the least, use of technology is very limited - most students have smartphones, but the classes and classrooms are all basically set up for chalkwork and pen and paper style homework. Less than half the classrooms have projectors, and those that do might decide to not work on a random day, particularly if it a day where suddenly the campus has no power from 8am to 8pm; lesson: plan to just use a chalkboard. Furthermore, students do not have personal computers, as there really isn't a need or time for them to use them, and I think that they are likely too expensive for many of my students.

Each class, though, has a a single key to their classroom and on the keychain they have a flash drive, which they use very rarely. Anyways, these students needed to download a song from their phone to the flash drive, and lacking a computer to do so, they remembered that I had a computer (I brought into class one day to help set up grading spreadsheets and collect names for each student in my classes), so they devised a plan wherein they would send me to song on the social messaging app, I would download it, then transfer to their flash drive. It was smart, and successful, and they were able to use the song for their dance practice that evening.

The next day, to express their thanks for me, even though I assured them it wasn't an inconvenience for me, they bought be a huge bag of cookies from one of the student supermarkets on campus - what can I say? They know me pretty well, and I love sweet things like desserts and cookies, and now I have a large selection of Chinese ones to explore.

November 20: Another day, another market story - or so this blog could be. I am almost positive that I could post daily for two years about some interesting experience, exciting find, or meaningful interaction that was precipitated by my venturing to the market. I find this one particularly fascinating, despite the fact that I don't eat meat (fish). Though if you ate fish, you cannot buy fish fresher than this!

At the market, a woman pulled up in a truck, parked it in a little stall, and pulled out a bucket. The back of the truck is fitted to be a tank that is filled with water and fish. A few nettings later, and the small bucket is filled with fish flailing in the colder winter air. Passersby examine the fish and point out the one that they would like, as it flops to get away. The vendor picks it up, drops it on the tarp, smacks its head a few times with the knife to kill it (at least I hope it dies, and isn't just stunned), then slices it open along the bottom to remove the innards quickly, drops it in a bag and exchanges it for cash, repeating the half-minute process with each new customer.

November 18: There was a lecture tonight for the English club put on by one of the nursing teachers, who also happens to be my host mother here in Wuwei. Her English is very good, and she loves English and practicing English and sharing the story of "English and [her]" with the students, so she decided to give a presentation to the English club this evening. It was awesome to hear her speak about English and what it means to her, and to have her encourage the students to continue learning. It was also incredible to just sit there, among all the students, listening to the presentation and realizing that I am in a foreign country, thousands of miles from home, in a pretty rural area of China where there are no native English speaking foreigners besides myself, and there is a group of students brought together by their interest in English. It was a powerful moment for me.

November 16: My sister back home in the US recently got a super cute new dog, a labradoodle, goldendoodle, something of that sort. I'm not quite sure what kind of dog it is, besides cute and jealousy-inducing-in-PCVs-on-the-other-side-of-the-world.

Yet, while I might long for a dog of my own here in China, it isn't feasible - beyond being prohibited by Peace Corps Policy, it wouldn't be convenient of feasible given the lack of pets and pet care resources here; I've not yet seen a veterinarian in Wuwei, nor have I seen dog food or anything else required for proper care of a pet, not matter how cute they might be. Now, that doesn't mean that dogs don't exist here in Wuwei - in fact, I can hardly walk a block without seeing at least two stray dogs running around, picking through garbage and otherwise scurrying about. I will adopt one of them in my mind. I'll call him Timmy.

November 15: On my Wednesday trip to the market today, I didn't find any new or special foods, but I did run across a new tent that I had never visited before hanging out on the far side of the market. On the inside, it appears to be a type of flea market and 'dollar' store combination - an incredible variety of items from towels to plates to cotton swabs to clothes hangers to children's books... it probably has something you are looking for at a price that would allow you to buy multiple of their dozens of sets.

I was interested to run across some laundry detergent that looks like a Chinese version of "Tide;" at least, I think that is what they were going for, but... is it a typo? or a knock-off? Your guess is as good as mine.

Above: A close up look at the variety of cardboard boxes containing just about anything you could be looking for... next time I need to outfit my kitchen, or buy a few more plates for guests, I'll be stopping here!

Left: A knock-off? Or a typo? I'm not sure, but I know what they are implying...

November 13: Another Monday, another new topic to begin teaching my students. Actually, since I teach each class twice a week, usually I teach each class two different lessons a week, but sometimes for important topics (example: food, of course) we might spend a few classes on that lesson.

Today's topic is on shopping, a topic that I hope will be both interesting and useful for my students if they ever need to use their English, or at least so that they are engaged in class! My last activity of the day went really well - I called it, "My Store," and while some students HATE drawing anything in class, others really love it, so it's great to have a variety of learning styles in the lesson. Anyways, the students had to draw (or write) a storefront with eight items they wanted to sell, including prices for the items, then try and sell the items to their neighbors after everyone completed their own store. The students loved trying to sell me items, "Teacher, do you want to buy my dress?" Of course! and some students took the initiative to try and sell snacks they had smuggled into the class (it's an 8am class so I can't really blame them for bringing a little bit of food...), though in the end they gave me a few for free!

November 11: I'm sure that if you're living in the US and reading this, you probably know about Valentine's Day in February. You likely know about Black Friday. You might even know about Amazon Prime Day. Today is the Chinese equivalent of Black Friday and anti-Valentine's day, or perhaps, Valentine's Day for single people. It's actually called Single's Day, and is celebrating single people, with the date of 11.11 (all single 1's) auspiciously chosen each year.

Today billions of dollars will be spent online in China on ridiculous deals meant to draw attention to brands (such as thirty-three 'lucky' buyers spending 11,111 RMB, or the equivalent of around $1600 for a lifetime supple of baijiu, Chinese hard liquor), and to generally buy items at very discounted prices, dwarfing spending on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Additionally, in Shanghai there was a sort of concert/celebration event to kick off the extravaganza. This morning in China, in the first TWO MINUTES of shopping there was greater than $1 BILLION of sales, and $10 Billion in the first hour. For comparison, Amazon Prime Day sold $1 billion dollars in 30 hours.

To help me celebrate my singleness this year, my Chengdu host mom sent me a 红包 (red packet) of money, the Chinese version of a card and wishes to celebrate for 11.11 RMB. For more information about Singles Day, feel free to read this NY Times article.

And also today, thank you to all the veterans!

November 9: As part of my drive to eat a little bit healthier, to take advantage of the incredible convenience of having a daily market near the school with a wide variety of inexpensive, fresh produce, and to cut back on the inevitably large quantities of oil and rice I consume at the dining hall, I've decided to try and make some soups.

Here was my first attempt at a soup! It was pretty good, I think, though I have to experiment a bit more to get a more flavorful broth. I went to the market and bought as many vegetables and ingredients as I could carry home: carrots, potatoes, 豆腐皮 (tofu skin, thin fofu sheets to cut up), cabbage, three types of mushrooms, garlic, onion, leeks, tomato, chili peppers and cauliflower. I'll definitely be making soup again!

November 7: I believe that one of the most commonly held view of China on the part of foreigners, perhaps particularly Americans, is that everyone eats rice every day. This may or may not be true, especially when considering Gansu natives love noodles, but in training I definitely ate rice about every day, so I invested time and a bit of my settling-in allowance to making sure my rice cooker was cleaned and functional.

Therefore, as things always work out, I started eating less rice and cooking even less myself, but I've found other uses for that rice cooker, which as it turns out is a very versatile tool (thanks Hannah for the links of anything-and-everything you could possibly make in a rice cooker: pancakes, soups, stews, grilled cheese...). I haven't made too many different dishes, though I've found myself more often using my rice cooker to make applesauce instead of rice. I've perfected the recipe: thinly sliced and diced apples, peeled, with a dash of cinnamon and a splash of water, a full cycle of steaming in the cooker followed by diligent tending for a few hours... it sounds like a lot of work, but it's a great treat and stress reliever that reminds me of home, which I hope you will read more about in my latest blog post, "Two homes, one world, and a bridge."

November 5: Did I ever mention that online purchasing and delivery is a huge thing in China? If not, I have been remiss, for it is a huge industry and while Amazon doesn't exist in China, there is a thing called Taobao （淘宝）where anything and everything can be purchased and shipped to you within days, if not hours. In cities of tens of millions of people, delivering those packages is truly an impressive task. Today, I happened across a huge truck that literally dumped its contents on the street for sorting into smaller vehicles and carts that would then buzz around the city, sidewalks included, to make the final delivery.

November 3: I arrived in Chengdu today for a weekend of VSV (Volunteers Supporting Volunteers) training. However, I was more excited to go back to Chengdu in order to see my host family, who have become close friends (a real host family) over the six weeks I lived with them and in the months since I left for site. I realized after arriving in Chengdu how much I had missed them, and how much of my Chengdu experience and perspective is shaped by my relationship with them.

My host mother believes that I, too, am part of their family - though, we might have different descriptors of my role in the family. For her, I think I will always be the 宝宝 （baby）and today when we met up at the train station, she made sure to reinforce that belief with her surprise gift for me. Take a look! She was excited that it had 'my picture' on the front.

November 1: The first day of November has arrived! And with it, so has the daily shipment of fresh produce and ingredients for the cafeteria. Now, I like eating at the cafeteria, while some of my students (and other teachers) claim it is just 'so-so,’ but I think I find it to be really great because they use a lot of fresh food and it is all prepared after you order - two large differences from my own dining experience in college.

Almost every day I see farmers driving right up to the front of the cafeteria to make produce deliveries. Today, I saw a huge truck pull up loaded with bags of potatoes on the bag. The bags are taken off, weighed to determine the price and then hauled inside - as you can see, the cafeteria goes through a lot of potatoes every day. There was also a delivery of fresh eggs today: many eggs in the back of a vehicle, dropped off and weighed before being cooked up for lunch!