Mao meow

This little guy comes to check in on us once and a while. We have been told his name is Cocoa and he was fed by the woman who lived in this apartment last year. There are a lot of skinny cats like Cocoa that stalk around and make hideous noises in the night.
On Thursday night, Josh and I went to a restaurant that we really enjoy near the north gate of campus. It specializes in baozi (up until now, I had been spelling that 'joudza'--how it sounds, and how I thought you spelled it in pinyin) and something else that we call potstickers. They are larger dumplings that have been pan fried, so they are crunchy on the bottom. You dip baozi and potstickers (must learn Chinese name for those) into a sauce of minced garlic, vinegar and soy sauce. Delicious. We came home and watched The Polar Express. I couldn't fall asleep right away that night because I was convinced it was Christmas eve and I was so excited for morning to come. I kept telling myself the sooner I could fall asleep, the sooner Christmas would be here. That movie sure put me in the holiday spirit.
Friday's weather was stunning. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and refreshing (like Pepsi). Josh took me to Baotuquan Springs to walk around for the morning. It was enchanting! Afterward, we went to a Korean restaurant for lunch. They gave us a picture menu, so we pointed at a picture of sushi and at a picture of something that was a reddish brown pile of shredded meat/seafood. (?) It turned out to be shredded pork with veggies in an Indian curry sauce. An outstanding choice. The risk paid off.
We got home in time for a lesson with Sharon. Rumor had it that a foriegn teacher who just moved back to the USA left a great new bike in the shed. Sharon translated for Josh in order to explain to Ms. Liu that he wanted to trade his heavy old bike for the new one. He now floats through traffic and hops up onto curbs gracefully. At the moment, he can't get enough of riding that bike. Oh, and since the last time I wrote, we have mastered "couple riding" (not just for couples)--its not easy with tall people. As my brother would say, our CG is too high. Am I right, Jake? We also found out that its illegal to have two people on one bike. Hmm, you sure wouldn't know it looking around here. After Sharon left, we decorated our cabinets, doors and walls in the apartment with flashcards. Each one has a useful word or phrase that we are commited to learning. The idea is that before you can open the fridge/go to the bathroom/turn off the light/turn on the computer you have to practice the phrases taped to the door/wall/switch/monitor.
Friday night, we dined at the same restaurant again as part of an initiative to become regulars. This time, we went with Philip, the Australian, and Sean, Josh's friend from Michigan.
On Saturday, I paid an early visit to a nearby vegetable market while Josh was at work. We now have a fridge full of mung beans, soy beans, fresh tofu, slimey mushrooms, egg plant and cabbage.
We joined most of the other foriegn teachers for lunch at a 5 star hotel downtown. I think it may be a French chain called Sofitel or Accor. I have seen them in New Zealand and Europe. The setting was lavish, and the food was familiar. There were multiple salad, hot food and desert buffets with food from all around the world creatively displayed on serving platters. There was also Brazilian BBQ circulating and fresh squeezed juice to order. Naturally we ate four times as much as we needed to; it was all too irresistable----and outrageously expensive... by yuan earners' standards! I have been in China for one month and a $7 meal (58 yuan) raises my eyebrows. We walked home in order to downgrade from blimp-like to stuffed. The whole way
we groaned "Wo chi baole" (I am full) multiple times, amused that it was one of the 6 phrases we now know in Chinese.
Many of my students have requested that I spend some time talking about the life of an average American, so thats what I'll do for part of class this week. Mostly baseball, BBQ's, freedom of speech, and apple pie, right?