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Published: October 20th 2006
I don't have any pictures at this moment.
We have moved into our apartment. After 3 months of living in a hotel it is nice to be able to watch TV on a couch and cook a meal myself. Washing dishes is not fun...the dishwasher is me. I hope to take some time and take pictures of the apartment. It is much nicer than I ever expected.
A couple of funny things have happened in the last couple days that I would like to share.
On Monday, I went to Beijing with a friend to go grocery shopping. (Melissa, this is the only place to shop in China.) My friend Melissa Vacek and Becky Miller's daughter will understand this, you learn to appreciate the basic things in life. Like, Jif peanut butter, limes, avocados, good cheese, and lunchmeat that does not look like it has been processed to death. I have made guacamole and now have fresh lime juice in my freezer for future use. In general, I could survive on the goods we can get in Tianjin, but it is nice to be spoiled with those things we usually take for granted. It is amazing how excited you can get over something as simple as your favorite comfort food.
For those things I can find in Tianjin, I went to the "wet market" yesterday with my neighbors. This market sells meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit and baked goods. Normally a wet market sells seafood and fish most of which are alive when you buy it...hence the name, wet.
This market is okay. Cleanliness is an after thought in most cases, but the meat vendors here keep their meat refrigerated. It is better than most. I went to the lady that sells pork. When you buy pork chops or loin, it does come with the skin and fat still on. Its a little too real to by pork with the pig skin still on, but okay. They also had some pork ribs that looked really good. I thought, wow, ribs for dinner. Haven't done that in a while. They asked if I wanted them cut. I thought, okay, save some time and energy. What I forgot is that ribs here are not sliced along the bone making one long ribs...they are hacked to pieces so they can be stewed, bone and all, in a sauce and then served communal style out of hot pot. The lady took the biggest butcher knife I have seen and started hacking away. It dawned on me what she was doing, when she held up a piece to see if it was the right size. by then it was too late to have them cut length wise. Oh well, I will learn how to use my wok.
This evening, there is a restaurant on the ground level of our apartment building that was renovated and is reopening. Whenever a building is finished, a business opens, or a couple gets married, or anyspecial occasion there are fireworks. Traditionally, this is designed to scare off the evil spirits and bring good fortune. Well this evening, when the fireworks went off, every car alarm within 100 yards was set off. Across the street is a shopping center. It was funny to see all these cars with their lights flashing and alarms going off. And yes, they were going off over a six lane road full of cars.
We watched the show from our 7th floor window. They were close, but closer to the next apt building over. It was like having our own personal fireworks show.
Well, this was my interesting look at life in China. Next time, pictures of the apartment.
Take Care.
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Melissa V.
non-member comment
Diane, Thanks for the shout-out. I feel really special. :) You're so right about it being hard to find deli meat.... I remember being very excited over Taco Bell jarred salsa and I'm pretty sure I could get Nestle Toll House morsels, too. As for the salsa, ingredients were easily available to make my own. I think I tried it once, and good fresh salsa is so yummy. It's the little things that bring a lot of comfort, that's for sure! I look forward to hearing more of your adventures.