Wanted: Strong Girls for Carrying Boxes

I consider myself lucky to be raised in a way that never made me feel inferior to the male species. I was given the same opportunities and expected to do the same work my brother did. No one in family ever said, "Hey, go get your brother to help me carry these bales of hay to the cows." Nope. Everyone carried bales, everyone fed feed, everyone was expected to clean their rooms, and everyone tried to get out of the same jobs equally: cleaning calf pens, washing walls in the barn, and emptying the dishwasher.

Being in Asia has been challenging. Here, being a woman can at times actually mean you are worth less-figuratively or literally. Anwer has always proudly claimed that his parents sent his sister to the same school as him and his brother. At first, I was like big deal? Now, I see. It is common for Indian parents to pay for better schooling for boys or not allow young girls to even attend school.

I always hated when people would ask, "Can I get some strong boys to help me....?" Why do they have to be boys? Girls can carry boxes. Girls can push things. Girls are people too. The first time I remember being outwardly angry about this was on a mission trip to Guatemala. They were always looking for boys to do this or do that. I knew that I was strong. I knew that I was capable, and I knew others around me were as well.

It happened in my school recently on a mission of the sorts: the Giving Tree. Our school arranged for over 800 bags of gifts, clothing, and school supplies to be given to a local migrant school. I kept hearing adults asking for "strong boys" to help carry boxes or move bags from one location to another. What is this teaching the girls? Sorry, you're not strong enough or able to carry these things. We don't need you? It got even worse when I found out that they did not have enough people for the trip and had to seek out some "strong boys" who were actually not involved with the charity project at all to come along to deliver the bags.

The way sport teams are often treated is a whole different bag of worms that I'll save for another time, but until then, let's start asking for "strong girls" to carry our boxes. 

What do you eat?

I eat a lot of cereal. In college, I would usually have at least three kinds of cereal at a time. Cereal for breakfast. Cereal for lunch. Cereal for dinner. Cereal for snacks. I love cereal. I loved cereal in India where I drank whole milk that came from a carton that didn't require chilling until opening. I love cereal in China where the milk is closer to 2% and is chilled and is about double the price of milk in India and about the same price as milk in America. The cost of cereal here is outrageous. I pay about $4 for a standard size box of cornflakes. Chinese people do not like cereal. If I want to buy a box of imported Honeycomb or Honey Bunches of Oats, I'll be paying closer to $7. If I want to afford cereal, I go to Sam's Club, but they have for some strange reason stopped stocking corn flakes. 

Here is what about $17.50 will buy you in China:

I went to the supermarket Auchan (the one you can see out my apartment window) first and bought the homemade noodles you see in the bag on the lower left for about a dollar, that bag of dish soap, which I will put in our old bottle, for about $0.25, milk for $2, and cereal for $5--best I could do for that chain of stores. Then I stopped by my favorite fruit shack (about one long Chinese block from my house the other direction) where they cut my pineapples for me when I buy them and bought the bananas, apples, and oranges. They work in 500 gram units here (1.1 pounds), which is confusing because India sold by the Kilogram, and it took me awhile to realize that it's half that here and way more expensive. I paid for my fruit in change and brought my own bags-fruit guy was pleased! Then I walked about 20 meters around the corner to the veg shop and bought the carrots and cucumbers. Veg guy likes me also because I bring my own bags when I remember, and he always takes out the better carrots when I come. He tried to sell me fish a few times also, but I'm just not ready for that. AND, I carried it all in my 31 bag from Grandma! It can hold a lot of weight!

This is my favorite pumpkin dessert at my favorite Sushi spot.

We've also been eating a lot of pastries!

The taste of Pollution

As it is cooling off in Suzhou, it's currently 49 degrees with a high of 57 tomorrow--rough, I know, the pollution is also on the rise. Today, the air quality index reached a high of 237, which is purple, or very unhealthy. Read more about the AQI here.

The first time I was fully aware and conscious of the pollution was about a month ago. We had cross country practice, and the AQI was around 180. I could taste it. It was like walking into a construction site where every material ever required was being cut, painted, and glued. The air gets hazy, and the buildings you normally look at out the window are difficult to see.

To mask or not to mask? Lots of research both ways. Some masks are better than others. This mask was free! I wear it when I bike to school. It gets weird when you smile at strangers.

Here's also a great story and photos of what happens in Beijing when important people visit and the pollution disappears. 

It's a great day to run. It's a great day for the Amazing Race. It's never a great day for touch rugby.

We participated in the Amazing Race Suzhou last weekend. Anwer and I paired up with another new staff couple Bonnie and Kevin to take on the challenge. Bravely, we entered the race with no Chinese speaking members, but we were unafraid. The day started pretty easily with a mushroom challenge and ended with eating stink tofu. Ick. Our newness to Suzhou definitely slowed us down, but we managed with a fourth place finish, which impressed most. I think it's fair to say we'll be gunning for first next year!

This past weekend I got convinced to go to a touch rugby tournament in Shanghai. Earlier in the year, they requested female staff to join because it was a mixed division. I was like, sure, I'll try this out. So I managed to get to two practices and concluded that touch rugby was not very fun. I didn't know what I was doing, and no one was teaching me effectively what to do. My HOD was the person organizing the trip, and I tried to get out of it. I said I didn't want to go unless it was absolutely required. 

Next thing you know, it's 5:45 AM on a Saturday, and I'm waiting on a corner for a bus. We show up to the tournament, and I'm a bit shocked by how much better the other teams appear to be. When our first match rolls around, we realize that we are in fact playing an all male team in a mostly all male division. My face goes from annoyed to pissed in 0.2 seconds. Yay! Our team proceeds to get our butts kicked for the next five matches of the day. I managed to score once in a game, but the rest of the day was a miserable experience of just waiting for the bus to leave. 

Shanghai Burbs

Borrowed some shoes from a kid so I'd look more legit. 

oh hello pollution, so nice to see you!

The highlight of my week was probably my amazing Halloween costume. This is how it started:

And this is how it ended:

Cruising around on our e-bike! Enjoying the final warm fall days!

Sunny Suzhou Sunday

Xiangmen Gate

Chinese ladies doing Dance Aerobics. Yes, I joined for a few songs.

Sunny Sunday! I am so happy to be surrounded by water.

This is how excited Anwer was to be in the wedding dress market of Suzhou-this is where they make all the knock off wedding gowns! It's been my dream to visit this magical place!

Our attempt at keeping plants. 

Ew.

Bulleting to Beijing

We left our apartment at 11:00 AM on Thursday morning headed to Beijing. We walked a short block to the bus depot. We rode the bus for about 15 minutes to a metro stop. We rode the metro, changed lines, and stopped at the furthest North metro station in Suzhou. It only took 90 minutes. This meant we arrived at the station approximately three hours before our train was scheduled to depart for Beijing. Whoops.

I like to be early. I like to have my ducks in rows. I had never been to the Suzhou North Train station, nor had I ever rode on the bullet train. I wasn’t sure on the situation. Needless to say, we had plenty of time to get our tickets and find our platform. We also had plenty of time to realize there was limited snacks and only one restaurant that had no Halal or vegetarian food to feed us. I knew the train would have limited food, expensive food, and crappy food. So far our trip was off to a pleasant three hour wait in the Suzhou North Train station.

We boarded the train like giddy school girls. I was so excited to ride the bullet train. I adore the Indian Railway, and this was sure to be a step up! The comfort of space, ability to walk around, affordability, and get a great view of the countryside are perks to trains that America lacks. We found our seats quickly. I took some snaps and sent SnapChats to all my friends telling them how fast we were going. I tried to take a picture of something once and missed it. Then we started watching movies as it was getting dark and the view was limited in my seat because I didn’t have a proper window to look out.

Hunger began to settle on us. We ventured to the “dining car”. In the movies you see these dining cars and have views of a first class dining experienced followed with High Tea. Instead we found TV dinners of the sort that were covered in plastic and literally warmed in the microwave. After a long discussion, an exchange of money, and a return of money, we went back to our seats with no food. Anwer later gave in and spent $5 on six plums. They were the best plums I’ve ever eaten… or most expensive.

We arrived in Beijing right on schedule. It took us five hours and fifteen minutes to travel 740 miles (or driving from Minneapolis to Lexington, KY). Hana and Lorena met us at the train station, and we began another public transport journey to their home in the central part of Beijing. We took three different metro lines and walked about 20 minutes to reach our hotel and dinner spot. What a relief it was to see a decent meal and know sleep in a bed was in my near future. We had spent about 11 hours to get to that place (granted three of those hours were spent sitting idly due to my over preparedness).

feels like Mussoorie, looks like Mussoorie

It was a strange but familiar situation seeing Hana and Lorena in Beijing after spending the last year as neighbors in India. They had not planned to return to Beijing where they had spent 12 years living before coming to India, but it was a feeling of warmth when we reunited with them in their Chinese city.

crop pants make for great travel! and I am still in LOVE with my Minnetonka Moccasins 

Menus come on iPads

#ourcityiscoolerthanyours

#beijingfashion

Due to the National Holiday, Beijing was even more overpopulated than usual. Most tourist sites were closed, and getting around the city was a logistical nightmare. The sidewalks moved as huddled masses, never allowing you to stop, speed up, or slow down without a near collision with  a person, bike, car, or food cart. The area that we stayed in and that Hana and Lorena live in is a very hipster-esque, tourist loving area, but they assure me it was nothing like this when they first moved to the area twelve years ago. As China is in love with building, constructing, renovating, and progressing, it’s no surprise that their neighborhood is slowing being destroyed.

Things that I enjoyed about Beijing in no particular order:

1.     Toilets everywhere! In India, you go out of your way to find a clean restaurant where you can use a toilet. In Beijing, they have toilets on every block and sometimes every 50 meters. It was brought to my attention that many homes do not have their own toilets and plumbing. They use the public toilets! Imagine! Another thing I did not enjoy about the toilets was the lack of doors. There are sectioned off areas, but everyone and anyone can still see your business. Lorena assured me it used to be worse, and there was just a big hole and no dividers. Ick.

2.     Tourist groups everywhere following flags and wearing matching baseball caps. Obviously, I don’t live in Beijing, and I can enjoy this as an outsider.

3.     Cute shops and cafes that sell all of those useless things that you would never need but would love to buy. Weird household objects in shapes of vegetables. The kind of shops that I love to wander through on State Street in Madison with Lisa in the summer.

4.     Being with Hana and Lorena. Our experience living at Oakland Getters was magical, and being with them again was refreshing. Also, being in Beijing with locals was a much better experience than being tourists. They speak Chinese and know all the best shops and restaurants. I can’t wait to go back and explore more!

5.     The character and style of the homes there. The alleys and streets are romantic and magical. Nothing like living in manufactured Suzhou.

Could I live in Beijing? I don’t know. The lack of blue skies and constant pollution would be difficult. And the -20 degree Celsius  weather in the winter are concerns. I know. I’m from Minnesota. Reminder: in Minnesota we have central heat and properly insulated homes. Although the citiness of the city and character are inviting, I’m happy in Suzhou for now!

Where's my cake batter?

China has many things. It has 1.375 billion people. Obviously, it needs options.

You can get KFC, Papa John's*, McDonalds, Subway*, Cold Stone Creamery*, Dairy Queen, and Starbucks to name a few. (*indicates places I have eaten at) This at first glance might seem amazing. When we lived in Mussoorie, KFC became our escape from the mountain and quality controlled french fry indulgence. It also eventually became the enemy.

When India got Starbucks, I was thrilled! The Indian comparison was Cafe Coffee Day, and it was disappointing on multiple levels: food, seating, drink quality, and service. When Starbucks showed up, the game changed. You could not find a cozy place to sit, a frappuccino, and some New York style Cheesecake. The Chinese Starbucks is sooo expensive, I have not justified a visit yet. It's about $6 for a drink. I'll pass. And there's no pumpkin anything there? What's the point?!

Imagine my delight when I discovered Cold Stone in a mall here. I was like, come on Anwer, this will change your life! Prices were a bit high, but I was convinced. Then disappoint came. No cake batter ice cream? Ok, we'll try something else. Then they served it up with half the energy and force that I expect from a Cold Stone employee. Our mix was hardly blended at all! And then I got this shovel for my ice cream.

Another lesson learned. It's not the same. You can't recreate your feelings and emotions that you have when you stop at Cold Stone on State Street during the sunny warm days in Madison where you hope that the worker will accidentally take too much ice cream, and they will have to give you the next size up. Dream over.

Another thing: China loves to copy stuff. There are probably over 100 "Apple" stores in the city that claim to be authorized. False. A couple days ago, Grace and I decided to make an adventure and go find the fake IKEA. The real IKEA is about 1 hour away and requires either a train or a taxi that has to drop you at the territory border, and you have to get in a new taxi, or something crazy like that. My first visit to the real one was arranged by the school, and I rode a coach bus to get there and got dropped to my front door. The fake IKEA was just a $2 taxi ride.

The fake IKEA was everything I dreamed and more. I regret not taking more photos of the inside, but I can assure you that Grace repeatedly said, "Oh my god. This is the same as the IKEA store. I've seen this pattern." Yes, it's all the same. Except, there were only about 4 other shoppers in whole store. Have you ever been to an IKEA where there wasn't an enormous migrant herd shuffling through with carts colliding? I haven't. There were a few things where fake IKEA slipped. Some of the signs had a totally different font or products were of a lower quality. The options were a bit more limited, but it was so nice and easy. Until we tried to leave and get a taxi. Not a big deal. We only had to stand on the corner of a busy intersection with big blue bags for about 20 minutes before we found a taxi to take us home.

We're headed to Beijing tomorrow. Remember it's a Chinese National Holiday, and there are going to be approximately 1 billion people traveling. Yes, this is a terrible idea. It will be our first bullet train experience, and we're going to see our dear neighbors from Mussoorie! Stay posted for a blog about Beijing: city of 19 million gets 100 million visitors!