Camilla's Kitchen

Camilla has started a cooking blog called Camilla's Kitchen.

I'm enjoying it, because I'm the recipient of many great foods!

She is really enjoying cooking and baking and making great use of our tiny kitchen. I wish I could take a picture of how small our kitchen is, but even with the wide-angle lens on, I can't back up enough to get much of a picture!

Here is a picture of one of the latest dishes she made, which you can read about on her blog...Bon Appetit!

China!

China is such an interesting place. I love that the culture is so different, but sometimes it's difficult. My students are incredibly homogeneous in their views.
I think the idea of a national culture is difficult for Americans to grasp. When I first went to University I was amazed at how differently people from my own state could think and act. We had people from the central valley who grew up in places where agriculture was the big industry. These people have a totally different out-look on things.
Interestingly, when Camilla and I met, we were very surprised by how similar our cultures were even through we were from opposite sides of the continent. Everything in between our homes is very different, though.
America doesn't really have one culture (I know that we have some similar values, we also have American pride, but we are not one in culture). In my class I try to talk about "Western Culture", but what does that mean? To ask "what is the culture like in America?" is like asking "what is the weather like in China?" (extremely varied). But, I think in many ways you could ask the question "what is Chinese culture like?" and get as reasonable of an answer as a question like "whats the weather like in Southern California?" (generally mild!).

So, in my years in China I have been forming opinions and having them broken down, but in general I know more about Chinese culture than I ever did before I came to China. There are so many differences between Western and Chinese culture that I don't know where to begin, but here goes...

My Chinese Essay

Okay I'm pretty proud of this so I thought I'd post it just for fun. My tutor has me writing an essay every week to practice using new words, and although I usually have some mistakes, it's pretty cool to be able to write something in Chinese, using my own ideas.

借债是不是好事？

在21世纪，很多中国人开始向银行贷款买车，买房子，等等。。。 这样做，他们可以用明天的钱来实现今天的梦。以前，“信用”这个观念还没发现，很多人没办法买车，房子，等等。 现在就可以。信用对经济，对个人都有好处。
不过，借债过日子不一定是一个好事。有的人工作不稳定，没有工作的时候，就不能按时还钱。那他们得借越来越多钱来生活。他们的信用会越来越差，银行不再借钱给他们。那他们怎么办？没办法还钱，他们不但丢人，而且连生命也可能没有！
看看美国的情况。 在西方，很多人借债过日子。买房子的时候，只要付百分之五的房款。可是国家有困难的时候，经济差一点儿，收入就不稳定，有的人不能按时地还在银行借的钱。他们的房子就没了。
借债享受生活要多小心。信用有好处，可是如果经济的情况不好，这个好处可以变成不利条件。

I know there are some mistakes, but the gist of it is this:

Borrowing money - good or bad?

In the 21st century, many Chinese people are starting to take out loans at the bank to buy cars, apartments, etc... This way, they can use tomorrow's money to realize their dreams today. In the past, "credit" was an undiscovered concept; many people had no way to buy cars, houses, etc. Now they can. Credit has many benefits both for the economy and for the individual.
However, using credit for your daily needs isn't necessarily a good thing. Some people's jobs are not stable, and when they're out of a job, they can't make their payments promptly. Then they must borrow more and more money just to live. Their credit rating will get worse and worse, and the bank will no longer lend money to them. Then what will they do? Without any way to pay back the money, they will not only lose face, but perhaps even their lives (note: I know I'm being dramatic here but I wanted to use that word)!
Look at the US situation. In the west, many people borrow money for their daily needs. When you go to buy a house, you only have to pay 5% of the total cost. But when the nation is going through difficulties and the economy isn't good, their income isn't stable and they're unable to make their payments. Then they may lose their house.
You must be very careful when borrowing money to enjoy life. There are many benefits to using credit, but when the economical situation isn't good, the benefit may become a disadvantage.

Hikes, BBQs, and Tea tasting

A few days ago it was our 6 month wedding anniversary (hard to believe, but true), and we celebrated by going to a Brazilian BBQ place in Xiamen. The service was pretty good, but I don't know if it truly deserved the title of "Brazilian" BBQ...unless fishballs, cuttlefish, and pineapple are common things to bbq in Brazil =). Nevertheless, there was some good meat...some pork and lamb, though the beef was tough and stringy, unfortunately. I don't know what it is with Xiamen, but they just don't tend to have very good beef. Maybe because it's an island? I haven't seen any cows around...

Anyway, although we did enjoy the Brazilian restaurant, our appetite for beef was not yet sated, so we decided to have a BBQ on our own to celebrate Easter Sunday. We set up our little bbq on our friend's balcony (we wanted to do it on the roof but it was too windy and dark). After a couple hours of trying to light the smoky Chinese charcoal (it seriously seemed to have fire-retardant properties), we finally got it going, and were able to roast a nice piece of steak and some chicken kabobs. Some experimenting on my part turned up some homemade honey-garlic bbq sauce, and we had quite a nice dinner with a few of our coworkers!

So that was our Easter Sunday...we also went to the morning service on the beach at the international fellowship, and enjoyed chatting with some of the young people there over brunch. I really think every service should be on the beach if the weather permits...it was so much nicer.

In other news, we have taken advantage of the nice weather to hike a few of the trails in the hills around our apartment. On one such occasion, we hiked up a nicely maintained trail and inadvertently snuck into the Botanical Gardens through a back path without paying the 40RMB entrance fee. The Xiamen Botanical Gardens are HUGE, and quite nicely maintained...they have lovely garbage cans in the shape of cartoon characters, just to match the natural scenery. Apparently some of our friends have been caught before while trying to sneak in, but I suppose since it was a Thursday, security was a bit lax.

On another so-called "mountain" we hiked up, we found a great spot where you can view pretty much the whole island from the top of a small pagoda. It would be a great place to bring visitors (hint hint come visit us) to show them what Xiamen looks like as a whole.

Last bit of news...we went again to Gulangyu island (a cute island just off Xiamen where motor vehicles are banned...except for electric people movers which play annoying Disneyland music...it is China after all), and had fun observing "bride beach". Literally dozens of brides and grooms go there on any given day to take their wedding pictures. I'll get Chris to post a pic of it. We also did a tea tasting and bought a Minnan tea set. "Minnan" is the term for the local people here, who speak Minnan dialect, and they all love to spend their afternoons imbibing tea from these miniature little tea sets. There is a whole ritual involved: you have to rinse the tea once, warm the tea cups by pouring hot water over them, then add more hot water to the tea pot. Once steeped, you use the lid to remove any bubbles, and pour the tea into a small jug, where you can observe the consistency of the tea as your pour it out into the tiny cups. Each cup is scarcely larger than a thimble, but the emphasis is on enjoying the fragrance and taste of the tea. You really can taste a huge difference between different grades of tea. And as impractical as the little tea sets are, EVERYONE here has them. Even the little street side restaurants have a little folding table out for the staff to enjoy their mini cups of tea in the afternoon.

Oh finally, one more thing! This is kind of weird! Chris and I were invited to a free lunch at a 5-star hotel. Yeah I know, no such thing as a free lunch right? Turns out, they were filming a promotional video and wanted some white people to be in it! Hmm...guess I didn't really qualify, but I got to go anyway and have a free buffet lunch. It was a little strange to be having lunch while a cameraman is filming over your shoulder, but it was certainly interesting. Apparently the fact of being foreign entitles you to 5-star treatment in China. Of course, being Chinese-Canadian, I get kind of in a huff when people treat Chris like a star, and me like a nobody. Sometimes I bring Chris to do stuff with me (go shopping, order a coffee, get photocopies done) simply because we get such better service when he is with me. *Shrug* I tell myself I am privileged to get the "insider" treatment (on my good days at least...on my bad days I'm complainin' with the best of 'em!). Okay that was long, but that's it for now!