China Life

What are the things that make up a life? Home, friends, work and food are pretty standard. So these are things I want to write about today.
Home. A couple weeks ago me and my roommate were babysitting for two families, which equaled 6 kids in total, ranging in ages 6 months to 6 years. It was a fun night, but you can imagine a little crazy. Well I was in the kitchen (of one of the families homes) making some popcorn for the kids on the stove and my roommate was in the living room. All of a sudden we hear this loud noise that at first instinct sounded like an explosion. My roommate comes running to the kitchen and we are both in the kitchen, trying to figure out what is happening. Well, as you might know when something crazy is happening it takes a second for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I was cooking on a gas stove, so my first instinct is "Gas explosion! Take kids and RUN!" But I was smart enough to look around before I acted because as my brain eventually caught up to my eyes I realized that two of the cabinets had fallen off the wall. Now it might not seem like too big of a deal, except there was no forewarning, only BOOM! And usually there are kids in the kitchen, but they had been watching a movie, so if one of the cabinets had hit them, I don't even want to think of what could have happened. Cuz if i had been standing just a foot or two closer to the sink I could have been seriously injured. But thank all above, no one was hurt and it wasn't too bad a mess to clean up. But it sure got everyone's adrenaline rushing.
Friends. This is one of the reasons I love China, friends. Friends are probably one of the biggest differences between America and China. In America you know someone for a year and then maybe they invite you over for dinner, or vise versa (obviously it depends on the situation). China is so different, I meet someone once and they are inviting me to their hometown for a week. Yes this is true, it has now happened to me twice. haha. So the other night I was waiting at the bus stop and a girl starts talking to me. She lived in the states for a year and half and so we exchanged numbers. She calls me and invites me over for dinner and to spend the night. Did I go? Of course.
Work. This is probably the area where I'm experiencing the most culture shock. In the States we expect to have around two weeks notice for work, sometimes more, sometimes less. But two weeks seems to be average. In China, one day notice is not a problem. Which has created some issues between my culture and theirs. Thankfully we have seemed to reach a pretty happy medium of about three days. Which is still a bit short, but at least its giving me time to prepare, and maybe for them its a bit of a hassle to decide "so early", but its our middle ground. Interviews are also very different. In China its all about relationship. So when I interview, they don't ask me about my experience, or what I would do while teaching English or really anything relevant. They ask me about my life. How do I like China, what do I like to eat, am I learning Chinese, etc. Then if they like me I'm pretty much hired. Twice I've gone in for an interview and after they talk to me they say "Ok how about you teach this class now" And that's where they decide if they like my teaching style. Seems to be the norm. First they decide if they like you, then they decide if you are actually able to teach.
Food. I've tried to include different foods that I've tried in China that we don't have in the states and now I would like to share about Hot Pot. Nicole mentioned it, she didn't seem to care for it, but I love it. It's prolly 50/50 you like or you don't among foreigners. Hot Pot is considered a nicer meal, so it's a little bit more expensive for Chinese food. I've gone to it twice now. What happens is they sit you at a table and bring you a pot of water, soup stuff. The pot is usually split in two, half spicy, half non spicy. Then they turn on the heat and the water begins to boil. As the water boils you put in different things like vegetables, meat, noodles, tofu, etc. Then as the items become cooked you can pull it out with your chopsticks and eat it. Unfortunately I don't have pictures, but when I get some I will be sure to post them.

Trip to Weinan

This last week was the National Day for China, it's basically the equivalent of our 4th of July, so most of the university student and many other people got the week off. One of my friends invited me to her hometown to visit for the holiday and I decided to go.
It was an interesting experience, it really reminded me of the culture differences between America and China. My friend would not let me pay for anything because she was my host and it was her hometown (this is very cultural, if you invite a friend to go do something you are expected to foot the bill). Another was my friend constantly wanted to hook arms. In China it is very cultural to hook arms or even hold hands between the same sex (sometimes even the guys do it, although this is mostly among the older generation). While I don't mind hooking arms, the constancy of it did get a little irritating for me (considering touch is not my love language, but it was most def hers). One other thing I realized while I was there was how every Chinese city seems to have some "Claim to fame". And Weinan was no different, I felt every other second was a mention of what Weinan was famous for. While in the US we have "Claims to fame" I feel like Chinese cities take it to a whole other extreme.
My friend took me to try something called "Yogou" which is essentially deep fried bread with sugar in the middle. Absolutely delicious with no nutritional value. There are two kinds, one is oval and the other is round like a ball. The round one is a little different (has some beans and other stuff mixed in). So the first day we went we ate the oval ones and I loved them, so my friend said we should bring some back with us. When we went back they had the round ones out as well. So my friend had me try one. And while it wasn't that bad, I preferred the oval ones a lot more and I told me friend so. And she said, "Oh well the round one is more popular." So I responded, "That's interesting because I like the oval one A LOT more"(hint hint, wink, wink.) Well the hints and winks didn't work cuz guess which one she bought me? Yup, your right the more "popular" one.
I had a really good time in Weinan seeing another side to china (the town aspect). We got to hike the small Hua mountain, and by the end of it my legs were killing me. Her family was really nice even though we couldn't communicate. Her dad tried to talk to me the first night, but when he realized I just didn't know enough he became satisfied with me just repeating after him.
On the day we were going hiking I put on some ripped jeans (knowing they are falling apart and I would rather get them dirty and stained). Well my friend saw that and took me to a shopping area and bought me some pants. It was interesting on multiple levels. One because most ppl assume I am a rich American and this friend of mine, must of assumed I couldn't afford new pants! (Which happens to be true, but most Chinese cant believe that because I am American and all Americans are rich, right?). It took awhile for us to find pants because not only am I bigger then most Chinese, but my body shape is very different. So we did end up finding some pants that fit, but it looks like my butt and thighs are going to bust through the seams. haha
Overall it was a fun experience and I'm happy I went, I tried a lot of new foods, some of which I enjoyed, others I didn't.