Monday, October 25, 2010

The S Series

Sihui, Street Vendors, Siestas, Salitun, Supermarkets, Shrimp Pasta, and Sub-Zero Temperatures. Celcius, that is.

There are way too many things to put in one blog post, so I'm going to break it into a few entries. We'll tackle the first three this time around...

SIHUI
Two weeks ago Brian and I moved to a new apartment here in Beijing. Through a series of events the company is changing their corporate apartment (a very wise move for them), but honestly, i was pretty upset. I felt that I had worked so hard to achieve a tenuous sort of existence in our new neighborhood of Dawanglu: we had the apartment "home-ified", I had dealt with the dry cleaners, found the nearest grocery store, we had frequented the downstairs DVD shop, and I knew the best place to catch a cab during rush hour. To think of starting over in another location... I was so frustrated, and I shed some serious tears. I know that in writing it, it doesn't sound like that big of deal. Honestly, it's not. But it was intimidating in that moment.

Like many other times in my life, I have to step back and say, wow, God, I really like to fight you on things. We are now settled into our apartment in Sihui, and it's awesome. This place is better than anywhere we've lived in the US, with more amenities than I can recount. Alright, God, You knew best. Again.

STREET VENDORS
My first night in Sihui, Brian was on a business trip and I decided to push myself to explore. Right outside our apartment is a fairly large park and as I strolled outside into the night air I made the split second decision to simply follow the crowd. Which was rather odd, since everyone seemed to be finding their way to a series of dark back alleys, through a break in a broken wall, and over some railroad tracks to.......the subway! The best part of the adventure was that I found what I had been hoping to see for a while now: real China. Street vendors! Carts full of fruit, steaming meat on sticks, doughy buns, boots, coats, children's dolls, and even suction cup wall hooks demonstrated on the side of a neighborhing car. I think I grinned the entire time. I couldn't help it. It was so engaging, so unexpected, and so foreign. I loved it.

SIESTAS
Afternoon naps are the best thing ever. Whether it's a brief eye-close in the afternoon at work or curling up on the couch as the weather gets cold. This past weekend Brian and I both developed colds, so we are taking many naps....and loving it.

Since this is the first installment, I'm only going to do a top three. To be continued in a following episode.

Top 10 (part 1 of 3)
1. Paulaner Brauhaus. This past saturday was the last saturday of Oktoberfest at the Beijing Brauhaus. So Brian, Derick, Brandon, Greg, and I headed out for some sauerkraut, sausages, and beer at picnic tables while listening to some hilarious German entertainment. Trivia question: Where was the first German brewhouse outside of Germany in 1993?

2. Nyquil and Dayquil = awesome.

3. We had our first Chuar! Don't ask me how to spell that. Either in traditional chinese or in pinyin. But it's delicious meat on sticks cooked by a guy on the street...over his own personal trough charcoal grill. Complete with sides of peanuts, cucumbers, and beer. Delicious.

Alright, that's it for now!
Adios, amigos....
~leah

1 comment:

  1. Loving the new CFD banner! Also, I hate to say it twice in one day but think back to Paris. Our move was fairly traumatic but the second apartment was infinitely better than the first. I don't attribute it to any grand design from above but more that good things happen to good people and you my dear are one of the best (and your hubby isn't too bad either).

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