Haircuts

So I have had two haircuts in Beijing now.  I found this small place near our house, and decided to give it a try.  So I pulled up "haircut" on my phone (jian tou fa) and walked on in.  Making scissors with my hands and saying "jian tou fa" I was able to get my point across.  He sat me down in the chair, and I thought all was good.  The next thing I know, this dude is rubbing shampoo into my hair and adding water. 

I know enough Chinese to ask him "what are you doing", he said "I'm washing your hair".  My completely appropriate response was, "I know that, why are you washing my hair".  He then said something in Chinese I couldn't understand, and I reiterated "JIAN TOU FA".  At that point the manager came over and started explaining in Chinese why he had to wash my hair.  I still didn't understand, but at this point, most of the barber shop was staring at me, so I had the heck with it, and let this guy wash my hair.  It then got worse.  It turns out it's not just a shampoo, but it is also a head massage.  So this guy, who is definitely on the effeminate side, starts rubbing my temples and the back of my head and so on.  I am feeling extremely uncomfortable.  Then we have to go to the back room, where he washes the soap out.  After that, a different guy sits you down for your plain old traditional haircut experience.  The haircut was very good.  They scissor cut most of my hair instead of just using the clippers, which is pretty cool.  So, the next day, when I go to work, I'm telling my coworker about it, and he tells me this is totally normal.  He even says, it's the best $6 you will ever spend.  Since then, I have had to go back for a second haircut.  I begged Kamala to come along with me, just to make sure the guy knew, no amount of head-rubbing was going to impress me. 

-JASON

Rocking Armani

So Kamala and I went to the silk market.  It's an indoor market filled with traditional Chinese vendors.  The market is very convenient, and even has it's own subway stop.  The market has about 6 floors, each crammed with different vendors selling polo shirts, silk robes, tennis shoes, watches, luggage, sun glasses, to tailored suits.  We walked every floor, checking out every shop before deciding to buy anything.  When we got to the top floor, and had seen everything, I decided I wanted a pair of sunglasses.  We walk into a place filled with Oakley Rayban and dozens of other name-brands.  None of which are real of course.   I found a pair of Foakley's and began haggling.  She started at 1,000 RMB ($150) and I countered with 100 RMB ($15).  We went back and forth for about 20 minutes.  She kept telling me they were very good quality, and that she was making me a special deal.  I kept telling her no, and pulling the price low.  We finally settled on 150RMB.  The second stop was a store selling polo shirts.  I wanted a couple of button down long-sleeves and ended up getting three shirts, a Polo, an Armani, and a Paul Smith.  Of course none of these were real.  Haggling for these was a little more interesting.  The trick is to walk away.  If you start to walk away, they will drastically lower the price.  This lady had found a way around this though.  She literally hung on my arm.  Like a young teenage girl on her boyfriend.  Kamala was not a big fan of this.  I would try and walk away, and she would grab my arm, and pull me  back in.  We did end up getting a pretty good price on the shirts though.  By the third haggle, I decided to try a different approach.  We had found a suitcase that I wanted for travelling back and forth to Shanghai.  We found a small carry-on size that would hold laptops.  Instead of asking "how much", like the other instances.  This time, in Chinese I told her I would give her 100 RMB.  She was not very happy with this, but the method worked.  I ended up getting a great deal on the suit-case.  Lessons well-learned.  The moral of this story, is that all of my family will be rocking Polo and Armani for Christmas.  Just a heads up...

-JASON

Silver Bells

I had more training this past week in Shanghai.  The hotel we stayed in was very nice, and very accustomed to Westerners.  Almost everyone spoke English, but was glad to hear some Chinese if I would use it.  Unlike the last place, there was no "welcome to Mexican" experience.  However, while waiting for the elevator one morning, I noticed the lobby  music was a saxaphone piece.  The saxaphonist was playing silver bells, the Christmas song.  Obviously, someone in the hotel staff had found a western saxaphone CD, and was playing it on repeat.  I heard "silver bells", "white Christmas", and a few others.  I told this to my Chinese colleagues, hoping to get a good laugh, and they just looked at me like I was crazy.  Oh well, the only problem with the whole thing is that I still have "silver bells" stuck in my head…

-JASON

Why is it you can never find a good spot?

These cars are on the sidewalk, the cross walk, and in the middle of the road.  We have even seen people park in the middle of the street, because they know there is room to get around their car.

The car spa

This was just funny…

Chinese Dance Party

Came across a group of people dancing in unison on the side of the street this morning.  Not sure if you can tell from the picture, and I have no idea what they were doing… but definitely worth posting…

Views from our Apt

Small Group

Jason and I joined a small group, and we meet once a week. In the group we have people from Texas, Hawaii, Rwanda, and Kenya. We come from different areas in the world, but are grounded in our faith. It is pretty cool how Christians are similar all over the world. We're reading Phillipians if anyone wants to join us...

-KAMALA

Getting from A to B

Most of the time I take the bus. There are several buses that stop right by my compex, and they go all over Beijing.



The back of three heads on the bus.  Taking the bus can go two ways... nice and easy...busy and crammed...



Random man looking at bus list.  This shows all the buses that will stop at this particular stop.



If I need to travel far, I take the subway.



Subway during rush hour.  If you look closely you can see a few people. 



The subway is very convenient.  It covers most of the city, and you can even go to the airport.  Just don't get on going the wrong direction...



If all else fails I'll take a taxi.



You can also jump the bridge onto the back of a moving truck or bus.  This is a mid-air photo of my third jump of the week..  The passengers on the bus to the right were very impressed.


Fortunately I never have to get anywhere fast. I don't miss driving, but I do miss being in control.
I plan to get a bike or a moped soon.

-KAMALA (with Jason's influence on the captions)



An Average Day

I say to Jason, "What do you want to do today?"
Jason replies "I want to check out this area and buy an American video game."
That was a horrible idea to me. I agreed to go with him as long as we didn't waste the whole day there.
I wanted to see the lake, a park, a cultural site, anything else.
I grumble and complain the whole way, then we stumble upon ....



Our view at lunch.


Neither one of us expected this, but it was exactly what I wanted.
So we walked around, ate a nice meal lakeside, whatched baby ducks, and got gelato.
Beijing is is just cray like that!

-KAMALA 

Ninjee-Chop

In case you are in the need of any Ninjee supplies…This is a great store to pick up your Ninjee stars, or your Judy-Chucks...

Wheels on the bus…

So my work day starts every morning with about a mile walk to the shuttle stop.  The walk is where I see some of my most interesting people (backwards walking guy).  Everyday I make this walk.  Then, wait for 10 minutes or so for our company shuttle bus.  It's very convenient, and is usually a 40 minute ride to work from there.  Work is only 10 miles or so away, but the traffic is stop and go the whole way.  Sometimes the driver is kind enough to play some Chinese movies while we ride.  I can't tell what they are saying, but can usually get the gist.  The first movie was about some guy cheating on his wife.  The second movie was about a man whose friend died, and he was carrying his dead friend across China for the funeral.   The third movie was about some guy who was angry because his girlfriend had been kidnapped and was going around beating on all of Beijinge until he found her.  And the last movie was a spoof comedy about some movie star… (If anyone knows the names of these movies, please let me know, I never get to the see the ending…) Whenever possible on the bus ride, I like to sit in the front seat.  This gives me the best view of the driver and his traffic maneuvers.  I love it, I could watch this guy drive all day long.  He comes within inches of hitting other buses, fence posts, cars, and bicycle riders.  He usually rides their tails the whole time, then yells at them when he almost hits them when stopping.  It is hilarious because everyone on the bus is sitting quietly while he goes through his road rage.  He actually hit a bicycle driver one morning, rear-ended the guy.  He got out of the bus, yelled at the guy on the bike, and the bike rider just rode off…  He is pretty amazing though, he weaves the  bus in and out of traffic like a surgeon.  The thing about buses here is that they know they are bigger, so they just merge, and you better get out of their way. 

-JASON

Dogs, they're not just for breakfast anymore

There are dogs everywhere in Beijing.  We see them being walked by owners on busy highways, and down the smallest back-alleys (hutongs).  Mostly the dogs are small (30lbs or less).  But, occasionally we see some larger dogs (mostly Chows and Huskies).  These dogs are amazing, most of them are walked without leashes.  In the back-alleys, they seem to be very well-adjusted and part of the community.  The dogs can manage around the little shops and market vendors and avoid all of the people walking through.  These dogs are usually walking around with no apparent owner nearby.  On the big highways, you usually see the master pretty close to the dog, but again, no leashes.  These dogs stay close to the sidewalks, and seem to know to stay off the street.  However, we have also seen dogs cross the busy highways without a leash next to their owner.  These are streets that Kamala and I are nervous of crossing, and the dogs handle it with ease.  It is absolutely incredible how well-adjusted these dogs are.  And for the record, though I'm sure there are parts of China that do occasionally eat them.  I have never seen a restaurant, or a menu item, or anything in the stores about dog meat.  I have seen lots of other things (turtles, eels, frogs, sea-cucumbers, squid, and some other animals I couldn't name) in the stores (some alive and some on ice).  But never a dog (or cat for that matter).  I would say dogs are becoming very popular in most of Beijing.

-JASON

Cruches

The first week we were here, we went to the forbidden-city.  I forgot to mention this in early posts, but while we were waiting in line to get in, a police van pulled up next to this lady on cruches.  A couple of cops jumped out, and pulled this lady into the van.  She definitely did not want to go.  It was crazy to watch, it was like something out of a movie.  I'm not sure what this lady did, but she definitely upset the wrong person…

-JASON

C.O.P.S

On the ride home from work (on the shuttle bus), I saw a cop car on the other side of the highway.  The cop car caught my attention because it was a black Audi Q7 (nice... right) with it's lights on.  When we got closer, I noticed a white VW behind it.  The VW had a dent in the hood, and there was a guy standing next to the car talking on his cell-phone.  From what I can tell, this guy had rear ended the police officer.  Nothing bad, but he definitely hit the car.  The guy was probably 40 and slightly over-weight.  Out of nowhere, this younger guy (maybe 30) came from behind the cop car and started yelling at the VW owner.  This guy seemed to have come out of the cop car, but was wearing blue-jeans and a black t-shirt.  As he was yelling, the VW owner kept trying to talk on his cell phone.  The guy in the black shirt (who I think is a cop) threw the guys phone down, and started pushing him.  Then the "cop" hit the VW guy in the head a couple of times, and pushed him and kicked him.  I felt so bad for the guy, the whole time, he was getting hit, he just kept trying to get to his phone, he wasn't even trying to fight back.  I can't  be sure if the attacking guy was a cop or not, but I can tell you he definitely did not know kung-fu.  Either way, I felt guilty that I couldn't help the guy as we drove by on the bus...

-JASON

Techno Tai-Chi Warrior's Wife

I went running Tuesday morning before work.  I happened to pass a lady who was walking backwards, and every 4 steps or so would yell "AYE".  Since I was running up on her, at first, I thought she was yelling at me.  Then, I realized that this was more Tai-Chi exercise.  Today, Kamala and I were walking, and came across another guy walking backwards.  Maybe there is a backwards day we are not aware of?  Or... maybe some kind of strange Benjamin Button disease where they live life in reverse???

-JASON

Jiaotong University

It took me 1 bus, 2 subway lines, and a taxi to find my way to Jiaotong University. More importantly, it took me 2 tries. The first try was cut short by missing a bus, and not finding a taxi. Rush hour(s) is crazy!
I loved visiting the campus becuase it was so much like USC. Classrooms, teachers, and students everywhere.
Lunch was family style and delicious. Most of the Chinese food I eat is ok or good, but this food was great!
Some of the items were sea cucumber, duck, fish, Chinese sandwhich, fire dragon fruit, and a bunch of stuff I don't know.

Then I attended a seminar lecture held by a Chinese PhD candidate. The lecture was in English just for me (yay!). I plan to give a few talks at Jiaotong, and network with people in a related field.

-KAMALA

Happy Birthday Jason!

The Saturday before Jason's birthday, we went back to the hostel and visited our friends. They made a delicious Chinese dinner and gave Jason a small gift. We had so much fun that we almost missed the last subway home.

On Jason's birthday I got him a vanilla cake with white frosting.

Happy Birthday Jason, I love you!

-KAMALA

Window Washers

Check out these window washers ... Enough said.

Crack in Grocery Stores

Kamala had sent me on a mission to do some shopping by myself at the local grocery store.  She had given me a real specific list, and I hadn't really been there before so I was looking at the signs above the isles to see what was where.  Luckily, all of the signs were in Chinese with English subtitles…  In China, direct translations to English don't always have the same meaning in both languages.  There are multiple examples of this throughout China.  For example, on the bus and subways, there are signs that say "Mind your hands".  They mean don't get your fingers pinched, but it sounds more grope resistant when you are crammed in with hundreds of people.  Another sign that should have read "keep off the grass", instead read, "no frolicking".  I was particularly pleased with this, as Kamala loves to frolick…  In the grocery store however, I found the  best one.  To the right you could find "nourished foods", to the left "crack".  I laughed out loud in the supermarket.  Which by itself is funny considering I'm already "that guy" in the store full of hundreds of Chinese.  I had to take a picture.  Sure it's convenient, but you just can't guarantee quality like you can with the local vendors...

-JASON

Kamala's Ridiculously Small Bagels

While shopping in the grocery store, Kamala was looking for some breakfast food.  I had found "Fruity Pebbles" at the Western store, and was all-set, but Kamala had yet to find a good breakfast food.  While in the Chinese Supermarket we came across this box of what appeared to be cinnamon covered bagels.  They looked really good, and perfect for what she was looking for.  When we got home, later that night, Kamala opened the box.  What was inside were small little bagel shaped bites.  They were about the size of  a quarter.  They were about 10 times smaller than what the box had led us to believe.  It was hilarious, Kamala was so excited about these bagel things, and when she opened the box… NOPE.  It would be like buying a box of Krispy Kremes, and getting Cheerios. 

-JASON

Tai-Chi Techno Break out

I was running through a small park one morning.  I was about a mile in, and came to a split on the path.  I went to the left and ended up on a go-kart track.  The track opens at 7:30, so they were closed, and I got to run laps on a go-kart race track.  When I got to the back corner of the track, I started hearing some intense rave music.  When I got closer, I realized there was an old man (maybe 60) doing Tai-Chi.  He had brought his beat box and was jamming out to techno music while doing his Tai-Chi…. Take a moment and visualize this.  There is no one around, it's a secluded, wooded, corner of a go-kart track, and there is an old man doing Tai-Chi while blasting Techno on his cassette boom box.  Tai Chi is very popular in China.  Sometimes we see people doing it with swords as well.  There are other aspects I don't understand yet.  One is clapping, you see people walking through the park clapping all the time.  Another is yelling.  That same day while running, there was a man standing off to the side yelling "AYE" in all four directions.  He would yell, turn, yell, turn, yell….  I kept my distance.

-JASON

55 year old skateboarders

What ever it is, the food, the constant walking, or the Tai Chi… Chinese people keep their youth.  I have seen them run, ride bikes, and play games at all ages.  One day Kamala and I came across an older lady (I'd say 55ish) riding a skateboard.  But not just any skateboard.  It was one of those two wheeled ones, where you have to rock back and forth constantly to move forward.  She was just cruising along.  No kids or anything egging her on, it was completely of her own volition.  I was impressed. 
-JASON

4 Pigs on a Bike

If you are not aware, Chinese traffic is very interesting.  People drive in all sorts of directions, and try to squeeze the nose of their car in anywhere they can.  Most times, when merging, you pull in, and the other people have to stop.  The rule is, if you can get your nose in, you have the right of way (I really don't think there is a true right of way).  To compound this, bicycles, electric bicycles and mopeds are everywhere.  There are probably 2 or 3 for every car.  They seem to have even less rules.  They can go both ways on the street, can ride on sidewalks, and are allowed to ride between lanes, or off the road, or anywhere.  This makes crossing the street on foot, very interesting.  Kamala and I always joke, that when crossing the street, it's not the car that will get you, it's the moped.  You never know where they are coming from, and they don't have a blinker to use either.. . On my way to work one morning, I saw a three-wheeled electric bicycle cruise by.  This was on the forth ring road, which is one of the busiest roads in Beijing.  On the back of this bicycle were 4 full grown pig carcasses.  It was very impressive.  He had them stacked three across long ways, and one on top running across the other three.  I realize that the pigs have to get to the market somehow, but this was by far the best way I had ever seen.  People sometimes cram onto bikes and mopeds as well.  I have seen an entire family, (mother, father, child) riding on one moped several times.  Honestly, given all the forms of transit (including taxi/bus/and subway) I think that bicycle or moped are probably the most efficient and economical.  I don't blame families for traveling this way.

-JASON

Kites

Lots of kite flying in China.  They are amazing, in tons of styles and shapes.  They fly extremely high, and sometimes even across interstates.  We have a particularly good view of the kites flying in the park each day.  We have even seen people fly them from the tops of sky scrapers.  There are also some really unique ones covered in LEDs that fly at night.  Honestly, the first time I saw them, I thought it was some "War of the World's" stuff happening.  Luckily, they were just kites...
-JASON

Dinsey Planet

There is an amusement park within 20 minutes of our apartment.  The name of the park is Shi Jing Shan, and they have been sued several times by Disney for their characters too closely resembling Disney characters.  I have seen several pictures in co-workers offices of their children with characters that look very similar to winnie or tigger, but not quite the same.  Their slogan is "Disney Land is too far away, please come to Shi Jing Shan Amusement Park".  They even have a giant castle that looks very much like the one in Disney.  Some of their other mascots include unauthorized use of Hello Kitty, Shrek, and Bugs Bunny.  We have noticed several examples of this in China.  You can buy Wu products instead of Wii, or "Polo" instead of Ralph Lauren.  I have even seen counterfeit cars.  I just thought that an entire amusement park takes the cake.

-JASON

The Apartment

Apartment hunting was an adventure. Each apartment in a complex is unique, and the landlord's involvement vary from place to place. We loved one apartment. The rent was cheap, the area was nice, and it had a large balcony ... BUT ... the landord was crazy.  He was a local Chinese man and wanted us to show the apartment to hopefull buyers on weekends, and wanted the dogs to wear socks in the house so they wouldn't damage the floors or couch. Jason didn't mind becuase it was such a great place and price, but I couldn't handle it.
We finally found a wonderful apartment with and awesome view and park for the dogs. The best part is that the landlord is in Korea and doesn't bother us. We love it here!

-KAMALA

Things Jason Has Eaten

On the first night in SuZhou, we had Chinese Dinner, Family style.  This means, you all sit around a table with a giant lazy susan.  Everyone just uses their chopsticks to pick food off of the multiple plates.  I took a little something of everything and decided not to ask what any of it was.  The next day at lunch, some of the same foods came up, so I then asked, "hey, what is that" to the one of dishes I ate the night before... It was jellyfish.  Jelly fish is not good...  Other foods I have eaten...Bull Frog organs (not sure which organs), eel's skin, pork's skin (which is actually pretty good), and duck's tongue.  Duck's tongue is pretty interesting, it taste's exactly like you would imagine a tongue would taste like.  The texture is the worse part.  And it kind of squirts when you bite down on it.  Things I have not had the guts to eat yet include chicken's feet and duck's feet.  These are all normal dishes.  They are served with almost every family style meal I have eaten.

-JASON

Three Screams

I have not seen or eaten this yet, but I was told about a dish in deep south china called three screams.  Three screams is baby rats with some toppings on their backs.  The rats are alive, and have not yet opened their eyes yet.  It's called three screams, because when you first pick up the rat with chopsticks, it screams.  Then, when you put it in your mouth, it screams. Finally, when you bite down on it, it screams.

-JASON

3 Legged-Monkeys

When I first got to SuZhou, I saw a guy walking a monkey.  When I got closer, I realized it had three legs.  The guy with the monkey was pan-handling for money.  The monkey was for sympathy change... he cut the monkey's leg off.  I couldn't believe it.  The other thing that really struck me is, besides the monkey man, all of the other people begging are elderly ladies.  It is impossible to say no to an elderly lady begging for food.  I was carrying a half finished Pepsi one time, and one lady asked me if she could have my Pepsi.  Of course I gave it to her. This isn't funny, just worth sharing.
-JASON

Welcome to Mexican

So on Wednesday for lunch, they had lunch in the hotel restaurant.  We went down to the 6th floor where the restaurant was and when I walked in, I saw a big sign that said "Welcome to Mexican".  Turns out, they were having Mexican food.  I cannot tell you how excited I was.  I practically ran to the food.  When I got there though, it was a buffet with probably 15 dishes. Not one of them was Mexican.  No tortillas, no tacos, no cheese, not even any beef.  It was just Chinese food, that this hotel thinks is like Mexican food.  They had no idea what Mexican food is.  One of my Chinese coworkers overheard me talking about the lack of Mexican food with a French coworker, and he asked the French guy if he was from Mexico... The French guy is blonde with blue eyes... Then tonight, there was a big sign in the lobby that said "Welcome to Mexican Week".  I was complaining again that what they were serving was not Mexican food.  I said "you have no tacos, or tortillas".  And one of my Chinese coworkers said, "What's a taco?".   WHAT'S A TACO!!!!!  Notice that the rider on the horse in the picture is carrying automatic weapons.  Must be Juarez.


-JASON