Goin' Solo

So I survived the weekend. And if you’re reading this, looks like you did too. Congratulations. The world had two chances to explode on 11/11/11 during 11:11 AM and 11:11 PM. Sorry to disappoint. That Friday just so happened to also be Single Day in China. I guess it’s kind of like the arch nemesis holiday of Valentine’s Day.

I woke up Saturday morning at around 10:30, I guess. I had been debating on whether or not I should go to Xiang Shan. (It’s a mountain.) Normally, I’d want to get an earlier start. I just wasn’t feeling the whole idea of getting up early, but I was still into the idea of taking a trip out to Xiang Shan. It’s west of Beijing. In order for me to get there, I have to go down my subway line all the way to the other end. I’m already at the last stop on the east, so it takes more than an hour just to get to that subway stop. From there, you need to take a bus or two to get to the mountain/park.  All in all, it’s quite a venture out there. If you remember correctly, I did it once back in the early spring months ago. I was with somebody then, so didn’t have to worry about directions or anything of that nature. That’s probably the way to go. Too late for such things. I decided I was going. I looked up which bus to take after arrival at the subway stop and packed a few things. I cut off a small portion of a piece of paper I had drawn on, originally intending to use it for a tutoring lesson. The crazy part about the back of that portion I took was that it was the part of this drawing that had a mountain on it. I drew this quick picture that I was planning on using for tutoring to ask questions about the picture. I’ve done it on the spot during lessons for fun because the girls that I tutor like to draw. One of the things on the back was a mountain with the word mountain written underneath and there was a sun in the top corner. The full word and sun was included in the part that I cut. How weird is that? Anyways, I meant to leave earlier, but didn’t even set out from my place until 12 or a little after.

While waiting for the bus near my apartment, I ran into little Tiger from one of my baby classes. He was funny, making noises and hiding behind a pole and his mother. I snapped a picture of him. He’s just so tiny, even his mother said so. I think Tiger was just learning about his abilities and the little high pitched noises soon emerged into something else. Later during the week, I hung around the class that he’s in for a bit. Had nothing to do for 30 minute since it was raining and the kids weren’t going outside to dance. Just before leaving, Tiger let out a ferocious roar, releasing the true nature of the beast. Now for a creature of his stature, his roar was not quite as fierce. From his lips he released a menacing shriek, deafening to the ears. I gazed down at him in awe of what I had heard, half laughing at the little guy. The teacher nearby was also shocked. It was hilarious. Immediately after, he resumed drinking water thinking nothing further of the matter. One day, Tiger. One day. 

 I got on the bus and after the first stop, an elder man got on. I attempted to get up and offered him my seat, but with a stern hand he pushed on my shoulder and forced me to sit saying that it was ok. I had to try another 2 times and force my way past his hand and insist that yes, it was ok. He finally sat down and thanked me. In Chinese, I asked him if he could speak English. He claimed that he could only speak a little. I soon learned that his English was quite good. We spoke for almost my entire subway trip to the end of the line. We exchanged phone numbers and he even invited me to a poetry reading. He told me that it was somewhat of an ancient form of poetry where the poetry is sung and that this art was being revived. He knew by my face that I was not going to attend this time and told me to proceed to Xiang Shan. It sounded interesting and I did think about joining him, but the mountain was on my mind so I had to continue to my destination. I text him shortly after and told him that perhaps I could join him the next day (Sunday) because he had said that he was going then as well. Unfortunately, he later told me that he could not make it. That’s ok, though. I met a friend and he was a very interesting and perceptive man. Somehow, we were discussing injuries and things of that nature. I think some of the best advice I got from him was when he told me to think of your body as a structure, like a building, and that you should carry yourself accordingly. I was already working on correcting my posture, so this advice helps in that regard even more. I hope to see him again someday.

When I finally arrived at the last subway stop on my line, I exited and purchased some street vendor food. Delicious. I’ve had this particular one many times. It comes on bread that resembles an English muffin. Stuffed inside is some kind of meat, most likely pork, a fried egg, and lettuce. Prior to those contents being added, a reddish brown sauce is applied and you have the option of adding spice or not. I always do. Come on. I’m a man. After acquiring that savory snack, I looked at the bus stops on my side of the street for the bus number(s) I had written down. I could not find either. A man had inquired about where I was going. After telling him, he instructed me to cross the street. Again I searched for the bus I needed, but to no avail. I asked a few people how to get there in Chinese while pointing to the bus signs. My meaning was understood and after a few tries, a younger guy wrote down the buses that I needed and which stop to get off at. He gave me directions for 2 buses and had looked them up on his phone. While traveling on the first bus, I saw a sign for the bus I had originally been looking for. 318. It was a gamble. I made the decision to get off at the next stop, which was nearby, and then take that bus to Xiang Shan. I asked an elder woman if I could take this bus, and she informed me that indeed I could. Afterwards, I noticed the last stop on the sign said Xiang Shan. I pointed to this and laughed with the older woman. So from there, it took about another 30 minutes or so to get to Xiang Shan. I wasted some time looking for the right bus and standing around, so I didn’t arrive until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Upon arrival, I didn’t know exactly how to get to the entrance, but I had a vague memory from my last visit months ago. I simply followed the general flow of people that were heading in an upward direction. It was a good plan. I soon made it to the entrance and began my ascent. Most people were coming down at this time, but there was still plenty of people going up and lots still at the peak. It is China, after all. I hiked at a rather fast pace and made it up in a mere 40-45 minutes.  Up until this point, I just had a light track jack on.  Once I reached the peak, it was a little colder. It was later in the day, so the temperature was dropping and at the top, you’re a little more vulnerable to wind. It only makes sense. I scoped out the area, and found the peak I was looking for. This is the same peak that I ventured out to

.

That’s where I was headed and proceeded to eat some snacks and sit down for a while when I reached that point. Luckily, I brought this ‘puffy’ vest I purchased. It’s really warm and light weight. It can be scrunched down to virtually take up no space at all and weighs practically nothing. Good choice by me. It was still cold, though. I thought about staying for the sunset because it was about 4:30 in the afternoon at this point, but the sun seemed to be hanging at a certain level and wasn’t dropping real fast. I guess it just gets to a certain time and then drops instantly from view. Anyways, the sky was grey, so I saw no reason to stick around. I thought about taking the cable car down if it fit the price I had in mind (I found out from someone later that it did), but there was just too many people for me to bother. The line was huge. No thanks. Besides, I made it down in 30-45 minutes. I’m a fast walker, so if there’s no one to slow me down, I tend to make good time.

I took a different route down, but somehow ended up on the same route I was on, and then managed to divert off that route onto another. I found myself in the same location I had been when I descended on my first visit here months ago. I headed in the direction I thought I should, and my instincts proved me right. I guess my directional sense has been increasing due to my situation. Either pay attention and learn or be forever lost. I bought some chuan(r)s (kebabs) and picked up these little snacks that looked like pancakes with red bean in them. Hao chi! (Delicious!) Besides, that’s the closest thing I’ve had to pancakes in over 9 months. Talking about them now really makes me miss pancakes. (Due to a lack of sugar in my family’s house on many occasions, there were times when I would just go grab a bottle of syrup and drink a little bit of that to get my fix.) I may have to go on a quest to find the ingredients to make some pancakes. I know just the place, so we’ll see. Pancakes aside, I found the bus I needed and asked an employee if it went all the way to the subway station I was trying to get to. She told me it could. (Remember, I transferred buses on the way there. This was the bus I was initially looking for, but just could not find the stop.) I rode the bus until an area that looked familiar and the stop contained the name of the subway station, but wasn’t in fact what I wanted. Luckily I just had to walk straight. In Chinese, I asked a couple people for directions, and they all said walk straight. Simple enough, but it was a bit of a hike and I was pretty tired at that point. Finally made it home and enjoyed myself a bottle of wine.

Sunday was a pretty low key day. I went and did some food shopping in the early afternoon. Here’s what I walked out of there with. Quite an array of different items, I know. There’s a ceral box of ‘Berry Bunch O’Krunch’ (ya, I know…thieves.), a bag of cookies (I decided to try some for the first time, they were delicious. Yes, I dipped them in milk.), a new bottle of wine (Relax, I’m saving it), a pack of juicy fruit and a little bag of sour skittles (I didn’t really want them, but I just had to purchase them since it’s not often I see Juicy Fruit and skittles are normally more expensive), and hamburger meat for the first time (I never actively looked for it, but it’s always been in my mind and is usually more expensive), and a decent sized duck leg. Almost forgot, there's a can of coconut milk too! I buy it from time to time.

I cooked the duck that night. It was probably one of the worse cooking experiences I’ve had. It’s definitely up there. The meal itself wasn’t actually terrible upon completion, but not worth my trouble. Without an oven, I was forced to cook the leg on the stove top. I had thought about making gravy, so that was part of the plan. I took a gander at some recipes on how to do so online, and I made a sauce of my own once before. It just wasn’t that great, so I haven’t done it since then. I thought about cutting the meat off the leg prior to cooking it in a pan, but after a few attempts I gave up. So, I started frying it. The idea of cutting the meat off for faster and easier cooking creeped back into my head, so I removed it from the pan after a few minutes and attempted to do that. What a joke. What a fricken joke. Half the thing seemed like it was just skin, and I had a hell of a time trying to cut it off. Fatty oil was everywhere. I got so annoyed at one point, I figured I had the majority and just tossed the rest. Then after the duck was finished cooking, I attempted to make a gravy or sauce. I wanted to use the natural sauces from the duck, so I threw in a starch and water mixture. Well if it wasn’t bad enough, this just took all the fat that was in the pan and solidified it into a big mass of orange blob. There was so much of it and it was disgusting. I’ll leave it at that. No, I did not try it. My potatoes were under boiled, so they were still crunchy, but I just didn’t care at that point. I tossed in my corn and peas, mixed everything up with some butter and salt, and that was that. It wasn’t terrible, just wasn’t at all what I imagined. I openly stated that I should not be allowed to cook.

Luckily, I made up for that meal on Monday night. I purchased a plain spaghetti sauce and common spaghetti noodles weeks ago. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to do it. The ground beef I purchased was specifically for this cause, so it was time. I looked up some directions real quick online just to make sure I was doing things right. I knew exactly what I was doing, but I needed this meal to be just what I wanted. I added minced garlic, onions, tomatoes, and even red peppers to the sauce. That spaghetti was amazing. I loaded on the parmesan cheese. Now, I know I said I was saving that wine for later, but I just had to have a glass with my Italian meal. It just didn’t’ seem right without. I even had spaghetti left over, so I cooked up a chicken breast the next night and just threw that in what was left. Delicious!

As for this week, hasn’t been that bad. I was forced to take Wednesday off because the school was having an inspection. (My visa situation isn’t exactly legal.) I made use of the day and went to visit 2 out of the 3 schools I was looking at. The first one really had me mad prior to arrival, despite the fact that I was more interested in this school. Once I got there though, everything was fine. The receptionist was really nice and answered all my questions and I was able to think of more things to discuss.I got a good vibe from the place. They seem much more focused on the individual needs of students and try to match you with a group of students at the same level as you looking to accomplish the same thing you are. Much different from larger schools with set curriculums that are not too concerned about the individual. This was the case with the other school I visited that day. I figured it would be. Besides that, the price different between having accommodation and not having accommodation with the second school was absolutely ridiculous. That in itself turned me off. Easy enough to get my own place, but they’re crooks. For what they wanted as a monthly rent with accommodation, I could get my own fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment and live by myself with money left over. If I went with them, I’d have to deal with roommates and they’re crazy rates. Later gators! To them I say, NEXT. Also, when I was ‘interviewing’ them, it was a typical question and answer setting. Not a very comfortable situation. You feel like you’re on the spot and need questions, instead of them just being able to tell you lots of things. When you ask, they give you the straight forward answer without much breathing room, so it’s over and done with pretty quick. I hate that. I’ll look at a few more, but I’m fairly certain I’m going with that first school. I had a good feeling about it from the start, even prior to visiting. We’ll see.

It’s Friday night. After going to the gym, I came home and showered. Shortly after that, I started to do the preparation for cooking. It was another poor excuse for a meal. All in all, still not bad. But again, completely different from what I envisioned. I guess I need to start setting my standards lower.

On the bright side, since I stopped boiling the undrinkable sink water and using that in my oatmeal, my throat has been pretty solid. (Knock on wood. Hey, it can’t hurt.) Coincidence? I think not. When I was doing that, I was sucking down tea all the time because my throat was constantly bothering me. Since I made the switch, I haven’t had an issue for 2 weeks.

I also thought to myself earlier, that I kind of miss car rides home from working and things like that back in the states. Driving in a car was my music devotion time. It was time just for me where I could sing and devote the time to actually listening. Here, I’m always listening a little on the side and talking with people. More of a closet singer too, so I can’t sing either. ‘Double bugger.’ – Seinfeld reference. Kramer first decides to widen the lanes on his adopted highway, mile 114. He’s then afraid of losing it, so manages to acquire 40 gallons of paint thinner, which he spills on the highway. This causes the first bugger. After noticing that it was flammable, the double bugger came out.

I finally read a book on the computer despite objections. It was a short one. It’s called ‘Eaters of the Dead.’ You may know it as ‘The 13^th Warrior’, which is the movie based on the book. The book is alright. It’s based on true events as seen by the observer. Possibly slightly exaggerated, but there’s no real answer.

Oh, and they finally turned the heating on two weeks ago so I’m no longer an icicle in my home. I even get hot at times. That’s more like it. And the weather is so crazy. It was much warmer here today, and the sun was out. Most of the leaves are still on the trees. It’s just so odd. Explain it to me! EXPLAIN IT!

Bring on the weekend.

Live long and prosper. - Jeff