Thanks, Tom Haverfoods

Go to http://tomhaverfoods.com/ and go nuts. NOW. :)

Salon Habit

I'm writing on my blog that from today forward, I endeavor to get my hair washed at the salon, once a week, every week.

What does this mean in China?

It means, I go into a salon with my head super greasy and disgusting. Let's not lie, I haven't washed my hair in over 3 days.

Then, I sit down in a chair. A woman brings me water. I take a sip and two towels are placed on my shoulders. A little squeegee bottle is squeezing water on my head, and shampoo is being massaged into my scalp. They start the back of the head, and start accumulating more and more hair with a circular motion. 15 mins pass. Pressure points are being pressed. My eye close in bliss. 5 more mins pass.

She asks me to lie down on the bed attached to the sink, more pressure points massage. 10 more mins. Conditioner is applied, rinsed out and I'm taken a massage bed.

Head, face and pressure points massage. Right arm massage. Right hand massage. Left arm, left hand. Shoulders. Then, I turn on my tum and my back is rubbed down. An hour passes. I chat idly with the seventeen year old who compliments me on my skin, my Chinese, my white friends.

I sit back in the chair that I started in, I ask for my hair to be blown straight - 10 mins. Ringlets - add 20 more mins.

My hair looks amazing, my shoulders are loose and overall, I feel more relaxed than a nap would have been in the same time.

Time spent at the salon : 100 ~ 120 mins.

Money paid: 10 rmb  = $1.53 USD (according to Google today)

A Glee Treat

My kids haven't been absolute monsters lately and you know what that means? REWARD! Actually, I've been working on an art project which is coming into fruition and I needed an hour of time where I could set up individual meetings with each of my kids, so I decided to play the Valentine's Day episode of Glee for my kids. PYT, Katy Perry's Firework... what could go wrong?

Here are my kids comment the second the show ends: 太多kiss了!! If you don't know what that means.... they thought there was too much kissing! I liked that they used the English word, kiss, which I didn't even teach them! :)

They thought that the American high schools looked really open and happy - they asked me if I had a boyfriend in high school - and finally one of my favorite girls, Eve:

said that Katy Perry's Firework sounded like a calf crying. Hilarious. Too much kiss and Katy Perry sounds like a calf crying. Everyone in my class also agrees that Mike Chang is a delicious dancing treat. Takeaway: Chinese kids love Glee.

Cat Attack!

Another perpetual motion Hello Kitty, this time, three of them. Too much? Too old? Perhaps. China has done this to me. I'm not ashamed. They are solar powered little movers and I love them. They sit next to my bed now, next to my two Anthropologie candles, my Meltykiss strawberry chocolates, and my Wasabi and Soy sauce almonds. Sweet.

Excessively gorgeous spring flowers in Shaojie

These mysteriously luscious thangs are hanging out in our garden in Shaojie. Gorgeous, aren't they? I passed them this morning on the way to class and made a note to take more pictures this spring. Ten points to who can tell me what these things are.  I should just ask but who doesn't like the challenge?

NO MONEY NO HONEY

How honey is strained in rural China. Nothing beats Georgia honey, but this is kind of cool! I asked where the honey comes from - and the landowner's daughter simply said the mountain. Oh, hm. The mountain. Behold. Mountain honey!

To be young again

When Lucas was playing basketball with the teachers at the Blue Cat middle school, I kept busy by loving on the exploratory nature of small boys. Even if I was young again, I doubt that I would be doing this... but it's amazing how free spirited and ignorant of the hard hard pavement that they face if their little hands were to slip. Oh, pessimistic me.


Boys will be boys and little boys - even more so. Enjoy their cuteness!

Maolan steam cakes

In celebration of Easter which isn't until April 24 this year apparently, not like I would know by the candy sales at Target here. I mean, there isn't Target here, I don't actually mean that sarcastically... anyway - in pre-celebration of Easter, and actually mostly just in celebration of the weekend, I decided that I would head over to Maolan and conduct a small baking experiment! When I returned to the States in February, I made sure that I brought back the Wilton silicon baking cups that I bought from Sur La Table last year. Baking is a passion of mine and I wanted to make sure that I made it possible in China. With the cute cups, I also bought matching Easter egg with chicks cupcake papers. See:

Ah! But I'm getting ahead of myself, letting you see the finished product before I even show you my equipment. Surely you're wondering how I plan on baking muffins in China with no oven... I contemplated it for a while before my eyes fell upon this.

Ta da! The rice cooker, prominent in almost every Chinese household, Lucas, Casey and Chenyuan's house was no different. Sitting in the corner of the kitchen would be my oven for the day. I came prepared, not only with cups, papers, but a mix. A just add milk mix that I would never have touched in America.. but feel so blessed that I have in China!

After a quick pour of milk, I whipped the mix gently before I  dolloped tiny portions into the cups. 

 

 Would this turn out to be delicious or a hot mess? With fingers crossed, I tossed three experimental ones into the rice cooker.

 

Sssss! The steaming of the rice cooker sizzled as I lifted up the top. I couldn't resist! I had to seeeeee! Success.  Behold! Nommy blueberry American muffins. Just in time for Easter colors. 

The Biggie

I steamed with 1/3 of a cup of water at the bottom of the pan - I wasn't sure how the heat would travel through the rice cooker without the help of a little bit of moisture. Ten minutes later - another batch came out! I made a total of four batches of tiny mini steam cakes. Nothing tastes better than success on the first try. Except, perhaps repeated success... I have chocolate chip muffins - to which I will add some bananas, next time. For those of you coming to China with hopes of eating delicious baked goodies, there's hope for you yet!

The minis

*These muffins have received the Alex Casey Jones stamp of approval!

China's trashcan

When in doubt, throw it out the window.

Bus Station STRIKE!

Unlike it's big brothers and sisters, Beijing and Shanghai, Yunxian, a low low level city apparently has no problem allowing its bus drivers to go on strike. Strike? I don't know the process here but, there weren't any police batons out or people crowding around in dissent.

People can strike in rural China. It's true. Bus drivers sat in plastic chairs in the bus station depot, smoking, eating and pointing pointedly to the signs they had made to post on the buses. Regular civilians like yours truly milled around the bus station, taking, strangely, the only two routes still in operation. I think it's because my town is so rural that if there were no buses, people would go crazy. Thanks, Terror (my favorite bus driver, photo to come soon) for still operating bus lines!

Interesting signs right? Unfortunately, I can't... quite make it all out.

Sorry. Illiterate. BUT, I did take photos so that you can see what I see, and perhaps even translate? I figure, you know it must be shady if even the Chinese people are protesting.

THESE are not my kids

I wish my kids had it together like these kids in Japan. If they can do this:



Imagine what their performance is like in the classroom!

Hpnotiq: turning heads and breaking necks?

I don't know if you're old enough to remember Hyp and Hen - a classic gangsta drink mentioned in the early 2000s. That was my first introduction to Hpnotiq. My second came in the form of my mother. She had just been off traveling somewhere, stopped into Duty Free and was hypnotized into buying this beautiful blue bottle. Imagine her chagrin when I revealed to her the social context by which Hpnotiq in its beautiful opaque smokey bottle was being consumed. She removed the bottle of Hypnotiq from atop my upright piano and stored it away for ever. I haven't thought of Hpnotiq since, until this weekend.

Thanks, Greg for being so socially aware as to bring Hpnotiq BACK into my consciousness. Ya'll. It's a girl's drink now. No more mixing it with Hennessy. It's LADIES' NIGHT.

I find this hilarious. Somewhere, an advertising team is hoping that we don't remember Hpnotiq from 2004.

stood up

How does one explain to a room full of seventh graders the concept of being stood up? quite easily actually

How does one actually get stood up by a room full of seventh graders? ahh!!! today my kids in class invited me to go and honor the dead with them, they promised to get me, but instead - I waited, waited, all afternoon for them to come get me. What has life come to that 51 kids can't remember to come get their teacher for a dead honoring ceremony?