So is it true???????????

I can't tell you the first time I heard rumor of the McDonald's in Germany selling beer. I think it was sometime during my time learning German in middle & high school. I assumed it wasn't true. I've traveled to many countries and I've never found a McDonald's that sold beer. Not that I seek out McDonald's food, it's just that they always have clean bathrooms!

As I made my way to the Bier und Oktoberfest Museum I passed a McDonald's. It crossed my mind that it might sell beer but I was on my way to the museum. I arrived at the museum about 40 minutes before it was scheduled to open. Looking for something to kill time I decided to wander back to the McDonald's.

To my surprise I found beer on the menu for 2 euro 10 cent. I decided to make it lunch and got myself a burger as well.

My lunch: beer & a big mac

Proof! My receipt.

You can't quite tell it's beer, but I assure you it is.

Zum Deutschland! (To Germany)

September 24th, a regular day, a Tuesday, the day I went to Germany. Excitement doesn't begin to cover it. For years I had been trying to get to Germany and once it was here, I didn't know how to process it. I'm the type of person who likes to think up Facebook statuses for various life events in advance. However instead of a long insightful anecdote, I just posted about how excited I was to post it.

Here I am! Leaving for Germany! Packed much lighter than I ever had and already I'm wishing I had packed even lighter.

My time in Norway was brief and spent mostly trying to acquire some coins for my brother. By the time I attempted to use the internet it was a few minutes before boarding. BOARDING A PLANE TO DEUTSCHLAND! (Excitement level hasn't gone down much).

I've flown through Germany once before as a layover traveling from France to the United States however I couldn't leave the airport. The professor of the course I was traveling with told me numerous times that if I left the airport, thus missing my flight, I would fail the course. Being the good student I was, I didn't leave the airport. But this time was different....

 

I LEFT MUNICH AIRPORT!!!!!!!

After successfully speaking in German to the man at the train ticket desk I sought out the S bahn.

Following the directions I was told in German, I easily located the platform and waited for my train.

I made it to the hostel within 3 hours of my plane landing. I think that's pretty good considering I had to wait for my checked bag & had a 45 minute train ride.

Chinese Food At Home!

During my time at my summer job I was constantly yearning for Chinese food. Not the Chinese food cooked up in local "Chinese" restaurants, but the real deal. Particularly I was yearning for Chinese street food, and my favorite was baozi. Since I figured I'd be unable to get real Chinese food for a while (being in Germany) and since my parents had never tried any; I decided to make a Chinese feast.

In order to make this Chinese feast, I had to go out in search of ingredients, since things like Shanxi vinegar and dark soy sauce aren't available at my local grocery store. My Mom and I ventured to the closest Asian market, about an hour north of my parents' home.

We came back with quite the load. I had the ingredients for Egg & Chive Baozi, Pork & Scallion Baozi, Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Doufu, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Spicy Fried Green Beans. The guy working at the store who helped me find the ingredients I had trouble locating got a kick out of me and my Mom. I was asking for ingredients in Chinese and my Mom was perplexed by something called bananas in syrup that comes in a can.

It took me forever to chop up all the ingredients. I had given myself two hours of prep. In retrospect I should have given myself four hours of prep. Chinese food has a lot of prep time but very little cooking time, very different from the food I'm used to cooking. Thankfully my family was very eager to try the Chinese food and gave me a hand. Unfortunately I don't have any other pictures of the cooking process, I started to get overwhelmed and then my family started helping, and then we were done. Oops.

 

The above picture that I drew is a testament to my love of Baozi.

We were also too hungry to take pictures of all the food. By the time I was ready to take pictures most the plates were empty. So sad as I am that I don't have pictures, I'm glad that my family enjoyed the food. This is the only picture I have it has some of the food and some of my family. My parents are sitting with Sweet & Sour Pork, Spicy Fried Green Beans, and China Inspired Asparagus (my own creation).

The food came out very good! The only thing I have to work on really is my Baozi the dough was a little tough, but I suppose there are worse things I could have to work on.

It's Been Awesome

I love the word awesome. I like to describe things as awesome and I strive to make sure that everything I do is awesome. Life is short, something I've been reminded of a few to many times. Especially this summer. However despite some truly trying times, I must admit this summer was awesome.

Last March I spent the whole month applying to summer jobs in the United States. I had many phone interviews and it came down to two jobs. My first choice job and the job that all my friends thought I should take. It took me a few weeks to figure out what to do, but I followed my favorite saying:

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, your heart will not lead you astray."

I found myself working at Visions VCB or VCB as we commonly referred to it, a residential program for people who are blind or visually impaired. Here I worked through all the sessions ranging from small children to active adults. During my time in China I hadn't realized how much I missed helping people and at VCB I was constantly helping. More than that I was impacting someone's life. I know that teaching is impacting someone's life in a positive way as well, but somehow it's just not the same. It seems that no matter how long I postpone this post looking for the perfect words to describe it, I never seem to find them.

Growing up I always knew I wanted to help people, but I didn't know how I wanted to help people. In college I found Social Work, and I loved it. But somehow it wasn't enough. I wanted passion. And despite how much I loved my Social Work classes and internships, I didn't have passion for it. The only thing I found passion for was traveling. Working my summer job introduced me to the field of Visual Rehabilitation Therapy, something I think I've found a passion for and want to continue pursuing in the future. So as the title says it's been awesome!

So I'm Back

Coming back to the United States what so much more difficult than I expected it to be. For a long time I had heard of something called "reverse culture shock" I was really worried about it and all of my friends told me I'd be fine. I suppose I was fine, however it was more of an experience than I expected it to be.

I know that a lot of time has passed since my last post but I finally feel that I'm ready to tell my story of coming back to America. Ironically getting out of China was the easiest part of the entire journey. I was only charged for one heavy bag saving me $200 plus I was upgarded to United Economy plus because I had a short layover in Chicago giving me free wine and beer for the whole flight.

The issues began with my layover in Chicago, having flown through here before I figured it would be easy. NOT. Chicago does international flights differently making me get in line with the general population entering the airport instead of having a seperate line for people entering the United States via international flights. So as I rushed desperately through the airport searching for Terminal C, I found myself in insanely long lines for TSA checks. Had I bothered to check the flight boards I would have known that my flight was in the process of being delayed nearly inevitably.

This is where the wonderful people working at the Terminal C United Desk helped me more than I ever could have imagined. Having arrived in the United States without a cell phone I was at the mercy of their kindness for getting in touch with my parents to tell them that my flight to Albany was delayed.

With the help of the wonderful woman at the desk I was able to avoid spending the night at Chicago O'Hare International airport. They were able to switch me to a flight to Newark that would arrive only slightly later than my flight to Albany was scheduled to arrive and they waived the fee for changing destination. The woman even allowed me to use the United desk phone to call my parents and update them of the change.

Speaking so much English was actually a bit of a tongue twister, I found myself automatically using Chinese phrases instead of answering in English. Thus we get to the first reverse culture shock moment, I had to remember to reply in English. Even in China I would use various Chinese phrases when speaking to my Western English speaking friends.

Once I touched down in Newark I ran into the funniest reverse culture shock issue of all, the amount of water in the toilets. As I walked into the women's room I found the first toilet had a ton of water in it, figuring that meant an overflow was inevitable I went to the next, and the next, and the next. At somepoint I began to get frustrated, why were all the toilets about to overflow? It took me at least two minutes to figure out that they actually weren't broken, there is just more water in US toilets then there are in Chinese toilets (if you can find one).

I think however most of the "reverse culture shock" is most noticeable when it comes to the things I missed. When I turned on my favorite radio station for the first time I didn't recognize any of the songs. People talk about new movies and TV shows, most I've never heard of. At first it bothered me how much I missed, but now I like it. In a way it makes me feel more mature, being ok with not knowing all the movies and all the TV shows. China changed me, the country, the people, the food, the experience. All of it together has re-created me into a new person. And I like it.

Time to Move On

This past week has felt like an emotional roller-coaster as I've said goodbye to all the people who have made this year amazing. As I feel myself get misty eyed thinking about when I will see them again, I know that this may be the end of China, but this is the beginning of a new adventure.

I've always dreamed of going to Germany. I remember being a very young child walking along my house with my grandfather. I stopped and picked up a poppy flower, I told my grandfather that I thought poppies were the coolest flowers ever. My grandfather pointed across the street to a house on a large hill, and told me to look at it. He said that when he was in Germany (during WWII) it was full of rolling hills covered in poppy plants. That was when I first wanted to see Germany.

Fast forward eight-ish years.

It was the end of sixth grade and I had to chose what foreign language I would study. My choices were Spanish, French, and German, we were given a 5 page packet with the Spanish, French, and German translations for various English words and phrases. I was very disappointed that the school had decided to phase out Latin, I had always planned on taking Latin. I knew I didn't want to take Spanish because there was one first year Spanish teacher known for being notoriously mean. I thought about French but whenever I hear French it sounds like boomalajdalalamafouxpaxjammapelle, so French was out. As I looked through the packet at the German words and translations that I remembered that conversation with my Grandfather.

For the next five years I was immersed (as immersed as you can be in a small city in Ulster County NY) in German culture and the study of Germany. I began making lists of places I just had to see, by the time my German education was done the list covered just about every place in Germany.

Like many people college became a time to explore traveling I took numerous travel courses where we would study a country as a group and then travel there with a professor for a week. However being a double major with a minor I never found time to do a semester abroad and unfortunately my college never offered a travel course to Germany. After graduating I figured that traveling to Germany would just have to be something I did later. It became part of a rough five year plan.

This changed in January when I found an opportunity to become a certified English as a Second Language teacher in Germany. I signed up as fast as I could. So as my time in China is coming to a close, I look forward to the future where I will accomplish my dream of getting to Germany!

Yet these happy thoughts only go so far, so I tried to fill these past days with friends, Chinese food, and reflection; and tried not to think about all the goodbyes. I think I'll have plenty of time for reflection during my 30ish hour journey back to my parents house.

Back to Back Overnight Trains, Xian in 7 hours

These past few weeks have been a series of difficult decisions as I have to constantly decide how I want to fill the last of my time in China. I had a professor in college who was a fan of prioritizing. When I took his travel course to Ireland he attempted to teach me the importance of prioritizing.  However waking up early and literally running through Dublin prevented me from actually learning it's importance.

This past week however I was forced to prioritize, I was running out of time and had to chose between going to Xian (my original plan) or going to Beijing (on an impromptu trip with my friends). I just did not have enough time to do both. As I toiled with the decision I chose to email the person who first suggested I live abroad, my professor who tried to teach me about prioritizing. With his advice and many hours of contemplation in mind, I walked to the train ticket office and bought a round trip ticket to Xian.

Train to Xian!

As I set off on my solo trip to Xian I was excited for my last adventure before going home. However with my schedule this semester I would be taking two back to back overnight trains. As I set off to catch my Monday night train I was worried most about my seat, when purchasing hard sleeper seats on Chinese trains I prefer the bottom berth because I can sit up. Unfortunately the bottoms were sold out and I found myself in a middle berth. The train ride however ended up being awesome! As I made my way on to the train I met a couple of Czech guys who were also going to Xian. We killed sometime in the dinning car, drinking American beer.

Definitely didn't expect to find PBR dedicated to the US military in China

My train rolled into Xian two hours late, I should have expected that, as although Baoding is only it's second stop the train was 15 minutes late picking me up! I took a quick look at the wall before heading off to get the bus to the Terracotta Warriors.

Xian's City Wall

The bus to the warriors only took about an hour, then you have to navigate the was to the ticket office and entrance. Which are two DIFFERENT things. Don't walk all the way to the entrance as the ticket office is about half a kilometer from there.

Signs I should have been following.

Signs I was actually following

A Mural of the Great Wall

Walking to the entrance both times (once before I bought a ticket, and once after) was a very pleasant walk if you could tune out the shouts of shop owners to come look at their merchandise. However the beautiful blue sky (a rare sight in Northeast China) made it quite easy for me to tune them out.

The Entrance!

Checkout That Blue Sky!

UNESCO World Heritage Site

My first stop was an information center where I learned about the site and how the warriors have been put back together. The Terracotta Warrior site is set up very differently from other important sites in China, it felt very Western. The information center was very clean and modern, English signs everywhere. It was such an easy place to travel to in China.

Following the advice of many guide books as well as friends who have traveled to the Terracotta Warriors, I decided to do the pits backwards. My first stop was the third pit, this pit showcases the military elite.

These guys didn't fare too well

The repairs of this pit are still ongoing. 

Pit two begins to show just how massive the site is, however few warriors have been restored to their former glory. The real draw of this pit comes from the few restored warriors that are encased in glass where you can see the detail of the warriors.

Look how big this pit is!

See how his hand looks like it would be holding something?
The arrow he was holding has rotted away.

Standing Warrior

Terracotta Horses!

Pit one was my last stop and I'm really glad I saved it for last, walking into the pit, the size of it really took my breath away.

View From The Front

View of Soldiers Being Put Back Together

With such a limited amount of time in Xian I found myself unable to do anything else. By the time I got back to the city it was only an hour til my train. Despite having to take back to back overnight trains, I truly enjoyed my trip to Xian. Seeing the Terracotta Warriors was something on my "Must Do/See" list, it was actually the last thing on my list. Walking back to the train station after seeing the Warriors I felt such a sense of accomplishment, having checked off the last item from my list.

My Train Back to Baoding

Went to the Cinema!

On Thursday I was invited to see the new Star Trek movie with some co-workers. As the last movie I saw at a Cinema was Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter almost a year ago, I figured hey why not?! 

So many things are different in China, even the cinema! I'm not sure why I thought it would be the same as the United States, it's not like I've been to a cinema in any other country. However for some reason I thought it would be the same. I was pleasantly surprised. For one the seats are tiered so that unless the person sitting in front of you is 2 feet tall you won't have to worry about them blocking you view. At a height of 5'3 3/4" I notice things like this. 

The cinema also has assigned seating, at first I thought this was really different, but then I remembered the difficulty of getting a large section of "good" seats if you are going with friends. Here it doesn't matter if you walk in a minute before the movie starts you don't have to worry about finding a seat. Why don't we do this in America?

 

Loved the movie! Also I love Chinese cinemas, maybe I'll catch another film before I leave.

Hello, Hallo, Heller, Helllluurrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hello! Hallo! Hellarr! Helllllllllluuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! The many pronunciations of Hello in China.

As any foreigner can tell you, when you live in China you will be constantly bombarded with the word hello. You might see this and think, wow many people speak English here. Don't be fooled. This is just one of the ways that Chinese people who don't speak English will try to interact with you.

I haven't been able to figure out a better way to explain it so I'll give you the same explanation an English teaching alumna gave me. "People will feel the need to talk to you, it's kinda the way people feel the need to mooo at cows. We know that mooing means something to cows but we don't know what it means, we only know that they say it. So when you see a cow you moo at it. People know that "hello" is what we say, some know what it means, most don't; but they say it to you the same way you would moo at a cow, because you can." Definitely not a direct quote but it's the wisdom that has kept me sane on bad China days, as I call them. 

I had a very bad day the other day. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and forget about all 1.3 billion people in this country. However I find that when I have bad days in China as much as I want to crawl into a ball and lay in bed this is the worst possible thing I can do. So I reluctantly dragged myself out of my bed and went to meet a friend at our favorite coffee shop. Along the way I heard five hellos. I know the people saying them weren't trying to make me feel bad but it just reminded me how bad I am at speaking Chinese, because past a few basic questions I can't have a conversation with them.

As my friend and I were shopping for a flash drive something awesome happened. A random act of kindness reminded me why I love this country, why I'll always miss it. As we were looking through a store I found something I thought my parents would love. Using my Chinese translator, my broken Chinese, and his broken English the store owner helped we figure out what exactly I was holding. After I decided not to purchase it he showed me some of the art he made on his computer and I told him it was very good (in Chinese!). As my friend purchased what she wanted the man took the art he showed me and gave it to me and then put it in her bag without accepting any money for it.

These random acts of kindness remind me how lucky I am to be living and working here. I'll always treasure this gift. 

He made it by drawing on his computer and then printing it out on to canvas.

The Rockstar Feeling

Living in China is a constant adventure, its hard to describe, I've spent many hours staring at my computer screen trying to figure out how to accurately describe the most amazing experience of my life. How do I explain this land that frustrates me, embraces me, amazes me, but most of all, that I love. Baoding has become my home this year, yes, home, it worked it's way into my heart and now a part of me will always long for it the same way I long for breeze off the Hudson river at my favorite park in my hometown.

The Hudson River from my hometown.

The people of Baoding are of the most friendly and accepting people I've ever met, and although I sometimes get frustrated by their stares, I'll never forget the kindness they have shared with me.

Before coming to China I had no idea what to expect. About a year ago I sat down with a program alumna and asked her "what should I expect?" I laugh at the question now, because she must have thought the same thing that I think when people ask me to sum up my experience. Bewilderment is how my body reacts to that question. How do you sum up a year of your life living in your own country? Why would anyone think it would be easier when living in a different one? Yet I was one of those people too. And I'm so thankful for the words of encouragement this amazing woman imparted upon me.

Sitting in a little coffee shop my friend and I (we came to China together) looked at her for guidance, and on some level confirmation that we weren't throwing away a year of our lives. I remember the confusion when she told us we would be treated like rockstars in Baoding. She went on to explain that sometimes we would love it and sometimes we would hate it, but in the end it would be something we could never escape.

Although I have now lived it and totally understand the feeling, I don't know how to explain it any better. It's a feeling, it's knowing that you will get extra special treatment because of who you are. I learned quickly to drop the "I'm a foreign English teacher" line when trying to buying things as I was always quickly offered a discount.

The best I can offer as an example of the rockstar feeling comes from an experience I had with a group of friends a few weeks ago. In order to show this moment's true glory I have to give a little back story. When you try to get on a city bus leaving the Eastern train station in Baoding: run at it as fast as you can, as soon as the doors open start elbowing people, pushing them aside, until you can claw your way on to the bus. Seriously its always a stampede.

Upon getting back to Baoding my friends and I were attempting to take a bus of this nature, the first one was too packed so we waited for the second. One of my friends speaks very good Mandarin Chinese so he asked a bus attendent when the last bus was as, we were told they run every 10 minutes for the next 2 hours, he also complemented my friend on his Chinese. As the second bus approached the throng of people began madly dashing for the bus. As we begrudgingly began to follow the friendly bus attendant who had told us the bus schedule called out to us Laowai (foreigner)! Laowai! And motioned for us to follow. We began running after him as he led us to the back door of the bus, he pried open the doors with his hands and yelled in Chinese something to the driver, I only could make out laowai. The doors opened and he single handedly held back the throng of people as my friends and I got on to the bus and got seats. I'll never forget the image of this man holding back more than 100 fighting Chinese people so we could safely get seats.

Had it been a zombie apocalypse he would have sacrificed his life for us.

I think there are moments in life that are just so awesome you need to take a second and truly appreciate them, cause nothing like it will ever happen again. My experience at the bus station was one of those moments. Like the insightful alumna explained we can never escape the rockstar status, but in that moment I loved it.

Chinese Glasses!

I've heard from many American expats that I should purchase glasses in China because they are so much cheaper than what we are used to. I never realized how much cheaper. In America with insurance my glasses often cost about $150 and I'm lucky that growing up my parents always had really good eye insurance. Many of my friends have spent hundreds of dollars each time they purchased glasses.

With this thought in mind, a few friends and I wandered into a Chinese version of Lens Crafters the other day. We spent a while combing through the frames before we each found the perfect pair. Once we found our frames we went into a backroom, this is when I started to get a little nervous. I did not want my eyes examined, I just wanted the same prescription as my American glasses. I was frantically searching the Mandarin vocabulary in my head for a way to convey this.

In the meantime my very brave friend Katelyn sat down to get her eyes checked.

She is brave.

The eye exam was relatively uneventful (at least from my perspective), despite not speaking Chinese Katelyn didn't seem to have any trouble getting through it. Under different circumstances I would have gotten my eyes tested, however I wasn't sure how to explain "I don't care what you find, I want the same prescription." 

This picture was taken during the funniest part of the exam to watch (in my opinion). Katelyn is looking at an eye chart, but instead of using all the letters like we do in America, it uses a capital E and you point your fingers in the direction the E is pointing. However the eye chart isn't in front of her, it's behind her, she is looking at the reflection in the mirror. The guy performing the eye exam always seemed to be looking at chart behind her and not at her....

I know you've all been hanging on the edge of your seats trying to figure out if I was successful in communicating. I WAS. This was definitely a success moment when it comes to my spoken Mandarin. Here the eye glasses man is measuring my American glasses. Success!

My glasses are the middle ones on the right.

My other friend Katie already had her prescription so she just handed over her card. Katelyn's glasses are on the left, Katies are on the bottom right, mine are in the middle on the right, and a mystery person's are on the top right.

Part of what surprises me the most about China is the kindness of the Chinese people when I think about how happy and excited they were to help I wish I could say the same thing happens in America. The woman who helps you pick out frames even gave us plums as we waited for our receipts. 

It turns out the expats who told me to buy glasses were absolutely correct. My frames were slightly more expansive and I chose the best quality lenses. I spent $34.88 without insurance. 

My Glasses :-)

Baozi

Street Food Pork & Scallion Baozi

 Baozi = Steamed Bun = Best food on Earth

The above statement might be a slight exaggeration. However it is my favorite street food by far, and honestly it might be my favorite type of Chinese food. My love affair with Baozi started shortly after I got to China during my first trip to Globe Square. A friend took me there to introduce me to Chinese street food, I've been buying them at least twice a week ever since.

Whenever I travel to a new city I make it a point to try their baozi, here is a list of my favorite all time baozi: 1st Baozi Lady - Globe Square Baoding, 2nd John's grandparents Tongling, 3rd Baozi shop near the Forbidden City Beijing. The thought of moving away from delicious baozi prompted me to take a cooking class so I can introduce baozi to my friends and family back home.

After much research I found a baozi cooking class in Beijing at Black Sesame Kitchen - I highly recommend it if your in Beijing. This was my second cooking class the first I took in Yangshuo during my backpacking trip.

The school (which is really a restaurant) is located in one of Beijing's Hutongs,  it helped make the experience feel so much more authentic.

I love walking through the hutongs.

The school provided me with excellent directions and I found it no problem. I know I should have taken a picture of the place, but I was too excited to remember, sorry.

Instead here is a picture of my station

Everyone is given their very own apron, pen, and spice bag filled with sichuan mouth numbers. The class included a part about common Chinese ingredients and their uses. Despite living in China for for nearly a year, I still found this section particularly enlightening. Finally I started to understand how the unique flavors of Chinese cooking are created.

Baozi is made in two basic steps, the dough and the filling. The dough is similar to Western bread dough but much less dense. It was tricky getting the correct feel, our teachers kept coming around and helping us find the perfect consistency.

Here the chef & teacher is showing us how to roll the dough.

Anything can serve as baozi filling with the most traditional fillings (the type we made in class) being pork & scallion and egg & chive. I have plans to try and make western breakfast baozi with egg & cheese as a filling :-)

Baozi ready to be steamed

The actual process of making baozi sounds really easy; make dough, make filling, fill baozi, steam. Easy right? NOPE!!!!!!! Filling baozi is an art a difficult art at that, finding the perfect way to cup your hand while you rotate and pinch the top. Not easy. However once you power through the difficult prospect of filling all the baozi, cooking them is really easy.

Put them into a steamer and steam for 15ish minutes.

Then take out and let sit for a few minutes.

Don't they look delicious?

As my year in China begins to wind to a close, I'm looking forward to taking another cooking class. I want to be able to cook my favorite foods for all my friends and family back home.