Pam and Marie-Eve arrived around 7:30 pm on Monday and I met them at the Brickyard where they had some soup before checking in. I knew that that evening was going to be my only time off while they were there so I rushed to show them around Beigou village. They got to see inside 3 of our homes (Mumanyu, Stone Forest and Big Rock House) as well as get an idea of the village. I let them go to bed and headed back to my room to pack before heading to sleep myself.
I got up early to have a proper breakfast (the best meal we serve) with them before work and saw them periodically throughout the day. As it was raining they decided to wait to go up the wall, but had a nice walk between Mutianyu and Beigou on the way home. I worked night duty and thus got to spend lots more time with them at night even though I was constrained to the Brickyard. Once most of the guests went to bed we curled up on the comfy chairs and did some travel planning.
On Wednesday Marie-Eve, my mom and I headed to the Schoolhouse after I finished the morning shift of night duty, where they stayed until the early afternoon as it was still raining. They did make it up to the wall -- but not the toboggan. I finish work at 6 so we aimed to take a bus to Huairou and then another to Beijing. However, guests were late checking in and it was about 6:30 by the time I was done. The last bus to leave Huairou was at 7 so we were in a crazy rush. Alice was amazing and organized a car to take us to the bus and we just made it there on time. Ma Hombin came with us and we got stuck with our backpacks and suitcases in the seats because the driver didn't want to open the bottom of the bus. It was quite squished, but we eventually made it there. We checked into our hostel, had a so-so dinner in a hole in the wall and went to bed.
We got up quite early on Thursday since my mom and Marie-Eve were still fairly jet lagged and had a lovely free breakfast at the hostel before heading out to Tian'men Square. We decided that Marie-Eve didn't really need to see the Forbidden City, so we just showed her the front gate before heading to a nearby park from where she got an aerial view of it. We walked all around and even took a paddleboat on the large lake in the middle.
Then we headed off to Nanloguxiang, a trinket shopping street where we bought lots of scarves and some other cool stuff. Instead of heading back near the hostel for dinner, we took a cab to the red lantern street (I don't know what it's actually called, but it has a gazillion red lanterns) to try to go to a restaurant where my mom and I had our best meal last year. However, there was a 40 minute wait so we went next door instead and had a fairly decent, though perhaps not particularily memorable, meal.
On Friday we went to a couple of markets for more shopping and some more good hole in the wall food. We ended up at Quianmen -- a restored famous old Hutong (Alley) street -- at night since the markets all close early and got even more shopping in before what was perhaps the best Beijing duck I have ever had.
Yesterday we decided to be a bit more cultural and went to the Capital Museum. We all decided it was a very poorly arranged museum, but Marie-Eve and my mom enjoyed a number of pieces they saw. It was supposed to show the history of Beijing but was sadly lacking in text and cohesion. On the other hand, I'm really not a museum person so I may be too quick to judge. We were all very hungry by the time we finished so we decided to try the reasonably priced buffet at the museum. It was by far the worst meal we have had. We didn't realise it was closing soon and assumed they would be refilling the mostly empty trays. The pasta tasted like it had ketchup on it and the Chinese food was very North American. We headed back to the hostel for a nap and bought some buns and pastries on the way, which were much tastier.
After the nap we headed out for an acrobatics show. It was perhaps not as good as some of the ones I have seen here, but the highlight was a motorcycle act. There was a giant metal ball and a man on a motorcycle rode in and all around -- including upside down -- in it. That might have been very impressive for someone who knew little about physics, but when they added a second motorcycle, nobody could deny the skill and fearlessness they must have had. We hardly dared watch when they added a 3rd, 4th and 5th rider, all crisscrossing paths and going at crazy speeds.
Apparently we were also part of the show because we had half the audience trying to talk to us -- especially my mom -- before the show started. They fed us chips and dried meat, played peek-a-boo and exchanged e-mails with my mom. One of them even asked me if all Canadians talk as much as my mom does. That made Marie-Eve and I laugh for a good long time. We had dinner with a guy who had come with us from our hostel and he is studying Chinese so he was explaining some of the characters to me. It was quite fun!
Today was a bit more of a lazy day. We switched hostels this morning and then headed to Yashow market to buy some fake LeSportSacs -- of which my mom bought many. We had a wonderful lunch of dumplings and buns at a hole in the wall place my mom and I discovered last year and headed back to the red lantern street for an early dinner at the same place we tried to go to the other night. They told us again that it would be a 40 minute wait, but we decided to stay. They were used to the large crowds so they had had bowls of sunflower seeds, water and even popsicles they were giving out for free. 40 minutes turned into 2 hours, but eventually we got in. We were very disappointed to find out that they no longer makeour favourite dish from last year, but ordered a number of others that mostly turned out to be far too spicy. It wasn't exactly what we had hoped for given how long we had had to wait, but we got some kebabs on the way home so it was all good.
It has been crazy hot and humid here, but somehow my mom seems to have a cold. We're planning on visiting the 798 art district tomorrow and then going for a cooking class on Tuesday.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
48 E-mails in 48 Hours
Today was pretty crazy. We had a lot more people than usual on the Schoolbus -- which I have to confirm on Friday mornings -- and nobody seemed sure of what they were doing. I finally figured it all out, but now I have to hope nobody cancels at the last minute. I don’t think I stopped running around all day and I had night duty for a large dinner party tonight. On the plus side, they had a BBQ, which meant nice leftovers. I wrote 48 e-mails in the last 2 days. Being the only intern on duty sucks!
I got 2 awesome pieces of mail that totally made my day (Thanks Lee-Ann and Grandma)! I really need to find myself a post office soon so I can return the favour!
My new Chinese words of the day are rain and tired. Hopefully tomorrow I will have to use neither.
I got 2 awesome pieces of mail that totally made my day (Thanks Lee-Ann and Grandma)! I really need to find myself a post office soon so I can return the favour!
My new Chinese words of the day are rain and tired. Hopefully tomorrow I will have to use neither.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Pasta Sauce
The office was pretty empty today since Mona and Giula both had their days off. I got to host and do phone duty, though I escaped night duty by switching for Sunday with Gina. It was less hot than it normally is because it was raining (again), but it was just as humid as ever.
We had potatoes and meat for lunch, but once I got my food I looked beside me and noticed the cashier (Zhang Xian Lin) wasn’t eating. I asked her why not and she said she couldn’t eat it without rice...I guess the stereotype is true...Maybe it would be a bit like us eating meat sauce without pasta--just food for thought (no pun intended :p)
I haven’t walked home from work in a while so I did that today and it felt great! I was walking along singing to my ipod when I ran into a boy with a broom sweeping the path. He walked in front of me for a good 5 minutes, looking back ever 30 seconds as though he had never seen anyone Caucasian before. I guess I’m still not quite used to it.
We had potatoes and meat for lunch, but once I got my food I looked beside me and noticed the cashier (Zhang Xian Lin) wasn’t eating. I asked her why not and she said she couldn’t eat it without rice...I guess the stereotype is true...Maybe it would be a bit like us eating meat sauce without pasta--just food for thought (no pun intended :p)
I haven’t walked home from work in a while so I did that today and it felt great! I was walking along singing to my ipod when I ran into a boy with a broom sweeping the path. He walked in front of me for a good 5 minutes, looking back ever 30 seconds as though he had never seen anyone Caucasian before. I guess I’m still not quite used to it.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Day off
I decided not to go into Beijing on my days off this week (today and tomorrow) because it is way too hot here and thus would be even hotter in Beijing. I slept in this morning and headed to the local store to buy some vegetables with Tana when I got up. We cooked lunch together (a pepper and onion dish made by me and eggs and tomatoes made by Tana) and ate that and some flatbread we ordered from the local restaurant.
After lunch I enjoyed relaxing, working on my Chinese and watching ted talks in my wonderfully air conditioned room. Eventually it was time for dinner and Tana and I cooked together again (cauliflower and pork made by her and eggplant and zucchini by me). She’s a much better cook. After dinner we played a couple of games of chess and both lost in about 5 minutes each to Simon.
I’m looking forward to relaxing again tomorrow and hopefully the internet will continue to work.
On a different note, Tana and I are talking about maybe going to Inner Mongolia -- where she is from -- together at some point which would be seriously awesome!
After lunch I enjoyed relaxing, working on my Chinese and watching ted talks in my wonderfully air conditioned room. Eventually it was time for dinner and Tana and I cooked together again (cauliflower and pork made by her and eggplant and zucchini by me). She’s a much better cook. After dinner we played a couple of games of chess and both lost in about 5 minutes each to Simon.
I’m looking forward to relaxing again tomorrow and hopefully the internet will continue to work.
On a different note, Tana and I are talking about maybe going to Inner Mongolia -- where she is from -- together at some point which would be seriously awesome!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
I’m not Dead, the Internet Just Sucks Part II
Happy Birthday to my Mom today! I wish I could be at home with her!
I haven’t posted on my blog in a long time because we have been having serious internet troubles. First we lost access in the residence and then the Chinese government started attacking our VPN and we lost access to non-Chinese internet everywhere (the restaurant, the residence, the Beijing office...). It was a serious problem because all of our reservation information is on Google documents, which we need VPN to access. All this to say that blogging has become very difficult.
I did eventually get my visa documentation sorted out and I should be able to pick up my passport with an extended visa in 5 days or so. I think they purposely put the entry-exit section of the public security office in the middle of nowhere so people won’t try to stay longer, but perhaps I am just directionally challenged. I went into Beijing just for the day to give in my passport but because we had no internet, I had no googlemaps. All I had was the name of the building and a street. Now if you’re from Montreal, just picture knowing you were looking for an office building on Sherbrooke. You might think it a daunting task! Now I did the only logical thing I could think of and started at the subway station named after the street (Sherbrooke metro in your imaginary tale). When I got outside I didn’t magically see a large office building appear, so I walked into a store, pointed to the address Mona had thankfully written in characters on a piece of paper for me and said: “is where?”
How the women in the clothes shop knew what direction to point me in, I have no idea, but I began walking, asking the same question along the way and eventually made it there. I even ran into another girl asking the same questions along my path and we searched together. I went through an agency, so there wasn’t much to do other than give them the paperwork I had already filled out and some money. I had to follow them into the main building where you would go if you were alone to have my picture taken and I think the extra money was worth it not to have to go through the fuss and lines. I will have to renew it one more time before I leave, so hopefully it will be even more painless.
Today was our first day of sun in about two weeks and boy had I forgotten quite how hot it gets! It was great to be able to walk home again tonight though :)
Jake and Alex had their last work day on Thursday so there was a goodbye party at Jim and Tang Liang’s last night. Lots of good food and good people and apparently good alcohol...Mona and Giulia have their last day on July 13th and 12th respectively, so everyone will be gone soon :(
I will try to blog again tomorrow, but a lot depends on the internet situation.
I haven’t posted on my blog in a long time because we have been having serious internet troubles. First we lost access in the residence and then the Chinese government started attacking our VPN and we lost access to non-Chinese internet everywhere (the restaurant, the residence, the Beijing office...). It was a serious problem because all of our reservation information is on Google documents, which we need VPN to access. All this to say that blogging has become very difficult.
I did eventually get my visa documentation sorted out and I should be able to pick up my passport with an extended visa in 5 days or so. I think they purposely put the entry-exit section of the public security office in the middle of nowhere so people won’t try to stay longer, but perhaps I am just directionally challenged. I went into Beijing just for the day to give in my passport but because we had no internet, I had no googlemaps. All I had was the name of the building and a street. Now if you’re from Montreal, just picture knowing you were looking for an office building on Sherbrooke. You might think it a daunting task! Now I did the only logical thing I could think of and started at the subway station named after the street (Sherbrooke metro in your imaginary tale). When I got outside I didn’t magically see a large office building appear, so I walked into a store, pointed to the address Mona had thankfully written in characters on a piece of paper for me and said: “is where?”
How the women in the clothes shop knew what direction to point me in, I have no idea, but I began walking, asking the same question along the way and eventually made it there. I even ran into another girl asking the same questions along my path and we searched together. I went through an agency, so there wasn’t much to do other than give them the paperwork I had already filled out and some money. I had to follow them into the main building where you would go if you were alone to have my picture taken and I think the extra money was worth it not to have to go through the fuss and lines. I will have to renew it one more time before I leave, so hopefully it will be even more painless.
Today was our first day of sun in about two weeks and boy had I forgotten quite how hot it gets! It was great to be able to walk home again tonight though :)
Jake and Alex had their last work day on Thursday so there was a goodbye party at Jim and Tang Liang’s last night. Lots of good food and good people and apparently good alcohol...Mona and Giulia have their last day on July 13th and 12th respectively, so everyone will be gone soon :(
I will try to blog again tomorrow, but a lot depends on the internet situation.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Week 10 Begins with French
I always enjoy confusing French guests. There are just sitting there, talking and having their meal thinking that nobody can understand them when I suddenly pop up and ask them how they are doing in French. I actually had someone say, “we will have to be careful with what we say now” today. We get a huge number of guests from France (probably one of our three most common countries along with Germany and the US) so it is actually quite useful to be able to speak with them in French. On the other hand, I never know if when I hear their accent I should switch to French or if that might insult them.
Jim tried to kill my calculator project this morning saying that it has become too complicated to use. I agree to a certain extent, but there are so many different situations he wants it to be usable in that it is hard for it not to be complex. I’m working on figuring out how to use different date functions in excel so hopefully that will help. I have at least managed to save it for the time being. I think it either needs to be complicated to understand (for guests), to use (for staff) or to program (for me). Unfortunately Jim wants none of the above because he wants everything to be clear for guests, for there not to be too much training needed and for it to be simple to update. I still hate excel!
I had night duty at the brickyard tonight but it is still raining so there weren’t many guests. I started reading a new book that my sweet mom sent me as an unbirthday gift (the joys of ebooks) this morning and sent some e-mails.
I have 2 days off starting tomorrow so I get to sleep in. On Wednesday I am going to go into Beijing to try to get my visa extension paperwork submitted. So far, getting our company stamp onto the forms seems to be the most complicated step. Apparently there is a long chain of command. I’m glad I started early!
Jim tried to kill my calculator project this morning saying that it has become too complicated to use. I agree to a certain extent, but there are so many different situations he wants it to be usable in that it is hard for it not to be complex. I’m working on figuring out how to use different date functions in excel so hopefully that will help. I have at least managed to save it for the time being. I think it either needs to be complicated to understand (for guests), to use (for staff) or to program (for me). Unfortunately Jim wants none of the above because he wants everything to be clear for guests, for there not to be too much training needed and for it to be simple to update. I still hate excel!
I had night duty at the brickyard tonight but it is still raining so there weren’t many guests. I started reading a new book that my sweet mom sent me as an unbirthday gift (the joys of ebooks) this morning and sent some e-mails.
I have 2 days off starting tomorrow so I get to sleep in. On Wednesday I am going to go into Beijing to try to get my visa extension paperwork submitted. So far, getting our company stamp onto the forms seems to be the most complicated step. Apparently there is a long chain of command. I’m glad I started early!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Gortex Sneakers
I felt like I was back at camp today. It rained...all day...I don’t think I have ever been so happy to have Gortex sneakers as when Mona complained that it felt like she was walking on watermelon--her flats weren’t really meant for wading through puddles. I actually told some people about the fireplace in their house and had them nod approvingly instead of looking at me like I am crazy as they typically do. Apparently it’s the rainy season :(
Needless to say, today wasn’t particularly busy at the Schoolhouse. On the other hand, some VIP group came by for lunch and complained that there was a large puddle outside the doorway. So, Mona and I spent quite a while trying to sweep it away (which didn’t work since the sidewalk is slanted and it was still pouring) and eventually filling dustpans with the water and pouring it elsewhere. We must have looked pretty funny!
I ordered today’s special (as described in yesterday’s post) for lunch and the chicken was even better with the plum sauce! However, this meant that I got caught without dinner tonight because I was checking people in during the staff meal. By the time I got back there was no food left anywhere. So, I cooked some more eggplant, mushrooms and noodles. Tana, who didn’t have dinner either, came and joined me and we shared my food and a patty melt that she ordered from the Brickyard as well as some amazing grapefruit tea. Some of the kitchen staff asked to borrow my chess set so Tana and I watched them play five games or so. They are so fast! Maybe someday I can play against one of them...
On a different note, the one-sided conversation I got to listen to Mona having on the phone had me in stitches today, so I thought I might share it:
- Schoolhouse, hello
- You’d like to confirm your reservation for 8 people?
- Hum...I don’t see you on our calendar. What was your name again?
- Oh well...we aren’t too busy tomorrow, I can put you down. What time would you like it for?
- You’d like the table near what?
- The bedroom?
- Oh, you wanted a house!
Apparently it’s a bit confusing that our phone number for the restaurant and lodging is the same...
Needless to say, today wasn’t particularly busy at the Schoolhouse. On the other hand, some VIP group came by for lunch and complained that there was a large puddle outside the doorway. So, Mona and I spent quite a while trying to sweep it away (which didn’t work since the sidewalk is slanted and it was still pouring) and eventually filling dustpans with the water and pouring it elsewhere. We must have looked pretty funny!
I ordered today’s special (as described in yesterday’s post) for lunch and the chicken was even better with the plum sauce! However, this meant that I got caught without dinner tonight because I was checking people in during the staff meal. By the time I got back there was no food left anywhere. So, I cooked some more eggplant, mushrooms and noodles. Tana, who didn’t have dinner either, came and joined me and we shared my food and a patty melt that she ordered from the Brickyard as well as some amazing grapefruit tea. Some of the kitchen staff asked to borrow my chess set so Tana and I watched them play five games or so. They are so fast! Maybe someday I can play against one of them...
On a different note, the one-sided conversation I got to listen to Mona having on the phone had me in stitches today, so I thought I might share it:
- Schoolhouse, hello
- You’d like to confirm your reservation for 8 people?
- Hum...I don’t see you on our calendar. What was your name again?
- Oh well...we aren’t too busy tomorrow, I can put you down. What time would you like it for?
- You’d like the table near what?
- The bedroom?
- Oh, you wanted a house!
Apparently it’s a bit confusing that our phone number for the restaurant and lodging is the same...
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
It was insanely humid today and so even though it wasn’t that hot, it felt gross outside. It was the Dragon Boat Festival today (a big holiday in China apparently) and even though the restaurant itself didn’t do much for it, we spent an inordinate amount of time perfecting the signs we had up on blackboards to make sure they sounded patriotic enough.
It was a busy day for hosting and there were a great number of French groups that came by. I think that they, or Germans, must be the most highly represented nationality to visit us. I always get excited because I can speak French with them, but they rarely seem to appreciate it--must have something to do with being a Quebecer.
Sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (Zongzi) is a Chinese tradition on the Dragon Boat Festival, so I had one of those along with dinner. The chefs also had Giulia and me testing out tomorrow’s special--really nice chicken with plum sauce. I’m not sure I have ever tasted better plums!
On the way back home, we stopped off for a few minutes to see the old Mayor in his home in order to prepare Sean for a home visit he will have to interpret soon and another (nearly empty) residence I never knew we had that is nowhere near as nice as the one I’m in.
Giulia invited me out to the local restaurant with Jake, Alex, Gina, Emily and a friend of Emily’s and although I had already eaten dinner, I went and drank tea with them. When I came back, I went to see Mona who was on night duty to ask her if she wanted to play chess. She declined so instead I taught Tana. She’s really good! It’s exciting to have a new playing partner!
It was a busy day for hosting and there were a great number of French groups that came by. I think that they, or Germans, must be the most highly represented nationality to visit us. I always get excited because I can speak French with them, but they rarely seem to appreciate it--must have something to do with being a Quebecer.
Sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (Zongzi) is a Chinese tradition on the Dragon Boat Festival, so I had one of those along with dinner. The chefs also had Giulia and me testing out tomorrow’s special--really nice chicken with plum sauce. I’m not sure I have ever tasted better plums!
On the way back home, we stopped off for a few minutes to see the old Mayor in his home in order to prepare Sean for a home visit he will have to interpret soon and another (nearly empty) residence I never knew we had that is nowhere near as nice as the one I’m in.
Giulia invited me out to the local restaurant with Jake, Alex, Gina, Emily and a friend of Emily’s and although I had already eaten dinner, I went and drank tea with them. When I came back, I went to see Mona who was on night duty to ask her if she wanted to play chess. She declined so instead I taught Tana. She’s really good! It’s exciting to have a new playing partner!
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