happy (belated) 64th birthday, China!

this is my 5th year in China celebrating their national holiday (almost like our 4th of July but no picnics or anything) and it's one of my favorite holidays because it's a week long and perhaps the only week long holiday we get here. it's generally a good time to rest, travel, hang out with friends, and shop... but so far i've only done the first. this holiday hasn't been so exciting because i got sick (again) 5 days ago and i'm still fighting fevers, chills, earaches, and the whole she bang. i guess the father had other plans for us this holiday other than going to Samson's old city, even if we don't know what it is! thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! :)

in a more historical and modern note, here's an excellent excerpt from someone who has a wealth of knowledge about China and Chinese culture since she's lived in and studied it over the past 20+ years!

China may be an ancient civilization, but today (October 1), it celebrated its 64th birthday. It was on this day in 1949 that Chairman Mao stood atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) and declared the founding of The People’s Republic of China.
 
The holiday is called National Day, and it marks the beginning of what has come to be  known as “Golden Week.” Basically, the entire nation has a 7 day holiday. The logic behind the holiday is not so everyone can spend a week basking in the glories of Communism, but so they can spend money.

LONG LIVE CHAIRMAN MAO; NOW GET OUT THERE AND SHOP!!
DOWN WITH CAPITALIST ROADERS….NO, WAIT…GET OUT THERE AND TRAVEL!!
SERVE THE PEOPLE WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL….WHICH REMINDS US…DON’T FORGET TO PACK OUT THE RESTAURANTS!!

At the end of the week, the government will announce how much money was pumped into the economy. No doubt it will be a glorious amount.

i love reading her blog and learning more about China, her stories, experiences, and knowledges :) check it out if you ever want a good China blog read: http://joannpittman.com

A recipe, sorta.

Chinese people don't really do recipes and i think that's a part of me that is very "Chinese". I never really liked recipes, following them, measuring stuff, etc... so I generally like cooking more than baking because you can experiment a little more with your ingredients and portions. The problem is when someone asks you to send them a recipe of how to make something that you don't have a "real recipe" for!

Here's a recent vague Chinese-ish recipe that I gave a new friend on how to make "Chicken alfredo/white cream sauce" (and feel free to use this recipe if you'd like ambiguity hehe)

ingredients:
for the base sauce you need
-butter (1/4 cup-ish,  depends on how much you want to make)
-milk (1 quart or so of a container thing of milk or a bunch of milk bags...)
-flour
(extra stuff to add to the sauce)
-chicken cut up and brined if possible and sauteed separately
-1 onion chopped and sauteed separately
-a big thing of spinach washed and chopped (it shrinks up a LOT)
-1-2 diced tomatoes (or whatever you like)
-parmesan cheese, american cheese, whatever cheese you like
-seasonings: salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, italian.. whatever you like!

so this isnt a normal recipe (obviously!) because you have to make the sauce according to how it looks.. first you melt the butter in the pan then add the flour to it slowly and whisk it with a fork or something until it becomes like a play dough substance

then you add milk until it's the right consistency of a creamy sauce and bring it to a boil.. then let it simmer for a 5-10 minutes and you can add it whatever kind of cheese you have if you want that flavor and some seasoning too and then add all the other goodness to it depending on what you like! then you have your creamy alfredo chicken sauce! :D

Chinese "quotes"

Okay, so these aren't "real" Chinese quotes, they are more like things that we heard my tutor "YR" and her family (her mom, sister, cousin, and aunt) say over dinner at their house the other night that were pretty funny/interesting and had to be recorded. Hope you enjoy the random conversations we had (most of it was in Chinese and this is my attempt of translating it)! :)

The massive awesomely delicious meal they cooked for us and much of where good hearty hilarious conversation occured... we stuffed our faces because there was so much and it was so good!

A good group picture with my tutor's family... Props to my man for being the only guy there :) (from top left clockwise: YR's aunt, YR's cousin, YR, Samson, Me, YR's mom, and YR's twin)

"You have beautiful teeth!"-YR's mom... she said this about 3 times that night to me. haha

"My aunt told me if I want a boyfriend I need to put pictures of handsome boys in my room..." -YR in response to us commenting about her boy posters on her wall.

"When the other foreign teacher came over to our house, my cousin hid in the room the whole time.. it was her first time to have a foreigner in the house!" -YR

"They took all my teeth out..." -YR's twin sister explaining what happened during her oral surgery last year and proceeded to show us the gum scars in her mouth where they took out ALL her teeth, and then put it back in...!!

"They don't understand you, speak slowly" -Auntie said to YR's 10 yr. old bubbly cousin
YR's cousin said, "I am speaking slowly!"

"How many kinds of people are their in the world?" -YR's cousin in response to a discussion about the diversity of America. "Well there's white people, black people, red people, yellow people..." said the Aunt and sister. "Oh, and don't forget about the green and blue people!" shouted YR's cousin, which she later claimed her textbook talked about... I'm not sure what kind of textbook that is!!

Words don't do justice to actually being there that night. They are one of the sweetest, most hospitable, warm, and fun Chinese families to be around... and it's not everyday you meet a young Chinese friend who you click so well with and reminds you of yourself 7 years ago :) Please remember us as we hope to continue the relationship with YR and her family even after this month of tutoring together (we switch tutors every month) and share true joy and purpose with them!

characteristics of our chinese home...

you might have seen a picture or video of what our "apartment" looks like with it's new homey touches...

it looks pretty nice, comfortable, and "American" from what you see... and don't get me wrong, it IS very nice and we are so blessed. however, you might not see or notice the Chinese aspects of our apartment that make it quite different from an American one. it's what most Chinese apartments that I've been to or lived in have in common- characteristics that make it uniquely Chinese (and interesting) :)

this is our "tiny" washing machine (compared to American ones, and there's no drying machine) and plays jingle bells tunes when it's done... my friend Ruthy has the same one at her apartment too!

this is our front door keyhole... it's confusing and has no handle. you have to put your interesting looking key in it and push it in and then the door opens, in case you wanted to know.

this is the BIGGEST toaster oven i've ever had in China! thanks to a dear friend who gave us her extra one :) since we have no ovens here, we make everything in a toaster oven- toast, cookies, meatloaf, casseroles, veggies, and more!

this is our "tiny" fridge (according to American standards), but we are thankful- it holds just what we need for the week and a little extra in the freezer!

this is our drying machine, i mean, rack. :) it dries just the amount the machine can hold- which means we do laundry often here, about every other day (boys wear a lot of clothes!)

this is our bathroom sink.. it is quite stinky sometimes because the plumbing is not up to par here.. so we tend to keep the drain closed when we don't use it.

this is our guestroom and bedroom light... kinda ghetto but it does the job. it has more of a garage lighting feel to it so that's why we want to get more standing lamps with natural lighting.

this is tissue AND napkins for the table. napkins are hard to find and expensive, so most Chinese people use tissues for napkins at the table- it's resourceful!

when we run low on our 5 gallon water dispensing machine.. this hot water boiler comes in very handy! we boil water then put it in the fridge so we have cold, clean boiled water to drink! :)

"tuo xie" means house slippers- a necessity for every Chinese household. you don't want to bring your normal shoes into the house and get it all dirty but then you don't want to walk barefoot because it's always dusty anyways.. so we and guests wear house slippers :)

this is special. most Chinese apartments have "shoilets" (showers and toilets in the same room with nothing dividing) but we are blessed and fortunate to have a shower!! it's definitely meant for Chinese people like us because we fit perfectly.. but if you're taller than 6 foot- there's no way you would fit. When I stand in it, my head is pass the top shelf.

this light switch is not for the bedroom, livingroom, or hall... but it's the bathroom light switch! i'm not sure why, but most Chinese apartments have the bathroom light switch outside the bathroom... it's always weird when you find one IN the bathroom.

last but not least, HOOKS! what's a Chinese apartment without a plethora of hooks to hang everything and anything... i love hooks and find them quite convenient and useful... and they are cheap here!

hope you enjoyed a more intimate, detailed, and random view of our apartment and what makes it Chinese. we love it here, despite the smells, dust, and 6 flights of stairs. it's a place we can call "home" for now and open it up to our friends and community here.. come and visit!!

thinking the best...

thinking the best of others is unnatural for me.. i tend to be a realist, pessimist, and think the worst of situations. this morning at 6:23am, samson and i woke up to the sound of "pound pound pound!" it was a consistent, loud, and obnoxious pound that sounded like it was coming from upstairs.

the first thing that came to mind was... "are these people nuts!?" it's our last weekday to "sleep in" a little before we start at 8am tomorrow and forevermore.. is another hour of sleep too much to ask for? i was about to go upstairs and say in my broken chinese, "what are you doing? do you know it's 6:23am??"

samson, who also wasn't feeling well, also started to get irritated and frustrated by the sound.. then the spirit inside me gently reminded me- it'll be okay and they probably have no control over the situation. surely enough, the noise was coming from somewhere else that echoed from above. we're still not sure what was going on or why at 6:23am it occurred but some things are out of our control and comfort BUT we need to be patient, gracious, loving, and think the best or else it will eat up our joy and cause us to be bitter the rest of the day!

on the positive side, we got up earlier, i made dumplings, had a quiet time, worked on a newsletter, and wrote a blog! :) now off to class we go...

i don't get out much.

last week we hosted a good friend from "the great country of Texas" and got to hang out with a Chinese friend too! it's amazing how you can grow up and live in a place your whole life but never go to the top tourist locations. haha i call it being lazy, cheap, and a typical homebody.. that's me when it comes to living in LA! haha we took a 1 day trip to the Getty museum and what i couldn't believe was the FREE admission (everything is always better when it's free hehe except the $15 parking fee.. but at least we split it!), gorgeous day/scenery/architecture, cool/real/authentic paintings scupltures, and fun company too! :) there's nothing quite like feeling like a tourist in your own hometown! here's some of my favorite pics from the day...

one thing of the many random things that i realized from this trip was that i am out of shape...!! living in America this past year made me spoiled with elevators and cars... the walking and stairs were quite a challenge and that is nothing compared to what we'll be doing in just a matter of weeks when we return to China! yikes!!

one year ago...

-i was an engaged woman
-i was balling my eyes out with all the goodbyes in China
-i was once again hit with culture shock with life in America
-i had no idea what selfie, foodie, totes, hashtag, etc meant
-i was planning a wedding
-i was pretty white and pasty
-i was jet lagged
-i was jodi poon
-i took pictures on a camera
-i never won a game at boggle
-i hated settlers of catan
-i had no idea i would be an auntie again so soon
and...
-i was skinnier

July 3, 2012 Samson and I (and our dear friend Ruthy) arrived back onto America soil and today marks our 1 year of being away from China after living there for a few years. It's crazy to think about all the changes that could happen in one year- settle or not- but He never changes. Change is hard, change is good, change is necessary... I'm not the same person I was a year ago for sure though I may look the same (minus the weight gain haha) and I hope that it's because He is growing me to be more like the person He wants me to be each day. Cheers to change and growing in Him!

 Our flight back to America one year ago!

Samson and I with our fun China couple shirts

 July 3, 2013- with our nephew and serious about life ;)

Fries on the floor

Only in America would I be driving a car, going thru a drive thru at McDonalds, putting the french fries in the front passenger seat so I can eat them on the road, wanting to make a U-turn at a light but it's illegal and I obey, trying to speed up when I see a yellow light, hear blasting sirens from a police car going for the car before me, slamming on my breaks from instinct of hearing sirens, french fries flying forward and spilling out all over, sighing in relief that I didn't get a ticket, super depressed that that I lost half of my fries, eating a couple fries from the floor still, and then taking a picture of the aftermath. This situation would probably never happen in China and only in America. Lesson learned- secure french fries better in the car and don't try to run a yellow light... unless you want fries on the floor :)

free avocados!

yesterday we went to an old college friends house and heard about his avocado tree in his backyard... that he never eats!! he welcomed us to pick and take as much as we wanted... not only did he have an avocado tree but also a lemon and peach tree too...that he also never eats!!- amazing!

i was expecting a small avocado tree with a few growing.. but NO! it was huge tree with tons of avocados high above that you had to use a special stick to get them down! my love for avocados grew when i decided right before i went to China 5 years ago that not all weird green mushy things were bad. i first tried it in a california roll, then guacamole, and then loved it. but the sad thing was, i could only enjoy things like that in America since avocados are imported fruits and super expensive... about 3-4 US dollars for 1!!! needless to say, i take advantage of avocados in the states.. especially when they are free! :D

lesson learned: don't judge a fruit by it's color/texture... because it might just become your next favorite thing and enjoy it while you can because others don't always get the same opportunity! :)

guy texting vs. girl texting

there's LOTS of things that i've learned since being married.. such as the completely opposite ways that God has created us. haha.. here's one example that has come up more than once in our marriage: texting.

when samson texts a friend to eat it might look something like this:

friend: lunch at in and out?
samson: ya, when?
friend: 12?
samson: cool

but i, on the other hand, tend to be a little more friendly and wordy and it might look something like this:

jodi: hey girl! long time no talk to! how are you? busy today? want to get lunch somewhere?
friend: doing good, a little busy, but i'm free today! yes, let's get lunch... what are you feeling?
jodi: hmm.. maybe not mexican since i just ate that yesterday, how about thai food?
friend: perfect! i'll be free after i run some errands around 12:30 or so..
jodi: okay sounds good! can't wait to see you then and catch up more, love you!
friend: love you too!

3 observations: 1. girls talk more 2. girls are more detail oriented 3. girls talk more :)

this is just one of the many differences that we have and it's pretty amazing that 2 totally different people in every way can LEARN to communicate with one another and love each other... sometimes when i text for samson, i think about how he would respond and try to limit myself to 2 or 3 words at the most :)

no mum in the middle

one of the uncles that i met and his 13 year old daughter told us a funny true story that i can't help but share because it's so good :)

they went to basket robbins in malaysia to get a cake for the daughters birthday. as they were looking through all the designs they found the perfect cake, however, it was a mother's day cake that said "we love you, mum" in the middle of the cake. so they explained to the worker that they wanted this cake but instead no mum in the middle so that they could put her name instead.

the next day when they went to pick up the cake they couldn't open the box for the way it was packaged. so they took it home and opened it up. they were surprised to see written on the cake "no mum in the middle"!!

hahaha what a great story and hilarious cake.

My Big Fat Malaysian Wedding, sorta :)

Samson and I just got back from Malaysia yesterday and now that we're back I have a moment to reflect upon our trip and share some experiences with y'all! Since most of his family lives in Malaysia they were unable to attend our wedding in California last year... so I finally got to meet the rest of the extended family during this trip. I was mentally preparing myself for lots of people I don't know, lots of food I've never seen, and a totally new culture to experience!

One of the purposes of our trip was for the family to meet me, the newest addition to their family, and by doing so- celebrating our wedding/marriage 5 months later :) It was pretty opposite from the celebration we had in California in which I planned every detail and hair... in Malaysia I had NO idea what would happen, what to do, what to wear, etc. it was strange but fun!

Here's a brief rendition of "My Big Fat Malaysian" wedding experience!

one of our auntie's bought us a pig... samson had to carry it and said it weighed at least 70 lbs!

cutting the cake, i mean, pig! :)

eating the pig and hanging out with family in my the house that my father-in-law grew up in!

serving tea to members of the family in exchange for lucky red envelopes

what's a chinese malaysian wedding without a banquet of course! we didn't know 78% of the people but it gave our relatives honor and "face" to host and invite their friends and neighbors to come.

after all the food, we thanked our guests for coming.. yep, i don't know this guy :)

don't know her either but it's nice that she came :)

a group picture with family that i DO know and did get to meet :)

It was quite a new experience and hard to not have control over anything at times but somehow it all worked out- even without me doing anything!! After introductions, shaking hands, eating, eating, and more eating and a few pictures in between- we concluded our last wedding celebration!
(p.s. sorry for the lack of blogs recently, it's been a wild month of traveling and with visitors.. thanks for understanding!!)

threading and tattoos

i have a student from india. she's an older lady, 63 years old to be exact but as a lot of personality and will. she told me the other day while giving me her business card, that she does threading, make up, and hair.. she told me that i should come to her home and get my eyebrows threaded for free. sounds fun, but painful at the same time :)

i have another student from mexico. he's a big guy with a cute small wife that comes to class and they always sit together, it's cute. :) his english is one of the best in my intro to english class... anyways, the other day in class i noticed all the tattoos on his arm of creepy skulls and eyes popping out of something.. and then he said he had one of his wife on his other arm of his sleeve and his mother on his chest. "really??" i said. yes. he did.. haha he lifted up his sleeve and pulled down her shirt to show me his wife and mother...

never thought i would have students like these before. :)

only in texas...

-will you find texas shape cookie cutters, “don't mess with texas” oven mitts and dish cloths in your local neighborhood walmart
-will you find neighborhood walmarts everywhere
-will you find BBQ restaurants, fried chicken places, and buffets on every street
-will you find lots of wide open spaces
-does it take 10-15 minutes to drive to the closest freeway (or maybe i was just spoiled in southern california hehe)
-will you see horses and barns on your way to church and work
-is there crazy, changeable weather
-where it's unusual to see people drive with their windows down
-are there lots and lots of trucks
-will you find barely any smart cars or hybrid cars haha
-where mexican food is texmex food
-where 90% of buildings are made from brick
-where some houses are HUGE and mansion like and backyards are a lot bigger!

my pink and purple house slippers.

samson and i got in a small argument over a miscommunication and hurt feeling this morning on our 40 minute commute to work to teach ESL classes. after sitting a few minutes in the car talking it out, i was getting ready to get out of the car when i looked down and noticed i forgot my shoes!!! teaching shoes, that is! i still had on my pink and purple house slippers and there was no turning back! talk about embarrassing.. i decided to make the most of it in class by explaining the word "funny" and the story of how i forgot my shoes.. they got a good laugh.. and samson and i definitely got a good laugh- He knows when we need humorous moments to lighten things up :)

i don't have a picture with my teaching clothes in class with the shoes on but here's another picture of me in the house (where they belong haha) with them on :) enjoy!

flat tires are...

(*disclaimer* this is an old blog from a couple weeks ago that i realized never made it to the final publishing! woops!!) 

inconvenient, expensive, a hassle, hard work, common, surprising, a change of plans, and dirty... kind of like marriage! haha

so last week was a tough week for samson and i and i think the Father wanted to teach us a lesson of trusting in him.. especially when times are hard, weary, and you get 3 flat tires in 24 hours! we had a flat tire and barely made it home, then the next day samson drove our 2nd car and that had a flat tire and so did the spare! thankfully, it could have been worse, more expensive to fix, or dangerous but in the end He gave us all that we need and we are humbled and thankful that he can take care of anything- even 3 flat tires!

the last of the 3 flat tires... the spare tire! haha

married moments

i realized the other day i don't use my pink cannon camera as much as i use to since being married.. somethings are just more convenient and fun to take on a phone and then share it on instagram! hehe so though i feel like i don't have much (or too much) to blog about, here's samson's smart phone pictures (that i took mostly haha) to tell about some married moment highlights the past month :)

Shopping for all kinds of things with my best friend.. and he's good at learning to fix stuff too :)

Babysitting with my best friend and spending time with China friends!

We play games ALL the time.. one of our favorite things to do together and Samson is now hooked on this game "ticket to ride"- we've even gotten in pretty heated fights over it but we still love each other and games.. haha

Finding cool houses in the neighborhood together on our short 10 minute walks :) I want to make friends with whoever lives here! so cute!

Cooking and dishes are made easier when you do it with someone and share the load! like my china protective arm sleeves? :)

my secret obsession

for christmas and new years we went to visit samson's parents in brooklyn, NY! we had a great time and it was a very different feel/side of NY from my last touristy experience. they live near Chinatown and heavy Jewish population. once we were driving and i saw men with black coats, tall black hats, and long luscious curls hanging down their side burn area!! it was amazing.. they were popping out all around the streets and i couldn't help but stare because they were so different and unlike anything i've ever seen before! (my excuse for such marvel is that i've been in china for too long haha) anyways.. it became my secret obsession to take a picture of them but it's very difficult to do so when you're driving and they are walking! after a lot of tries and sneakiness i finally got my favorite picture of these "hasidic" jews :) i think they are twins too!

anyways. this might be my favorite picture ever and the best shot i got too :) creepy? yes. cool? you bet!

now i'm back in texas and no longer see such interesting people on the streets.. now i'll have to look for new things to take pictures of :)