Miscelleaneous updates

I know we have been off the blog for a while...

Since Michael's Mom left on Thursday, life has been pretty quiet. Of course we were really living it up while she and Mary were here -- eating out a lot, foregoing studying for shopping trips and the like. Now were are all catching up a bit. We spoke to Michael's Mom this morning and she had a fine trip back with no problems, and my sister's luggage has also been found. So no one came to any harm from visiting us, thankfully!

I have a midterm exam on Thursday, and Friday we leave for Japan and our long awaited reunion with my host family, whom I have known since I was 16 years old, and spent the summer there on a Youth for Understanding trip. We are very excited about our visit, although since the Chinese government changed the legal holidays this year, I will be missing a number of days of class. Thomas's school is keeping the original "Golden Week" schedule so at least he will only miss a day on either side. Its notable how strongly dislike the Japanese are here -- still the legacy of WWII, long after the US and Japan have put our differences aside. Of course Japan never occupied the US mainland...even my classmates from other parts of Asia -- Philippines, etc. have nothing good to say about the Japanese. They all are fixated on their belief that the Japanese government doesn't teach school children the truth about the war. I am curious about this....

Other miscellaneous replies to your questions:

Gas prices..I haven't done the math, but on a listserv I frequent they discussed that gas prices are similar to costs in the US. People with cars would not tend to use them to travel long distances -- more often short trips in town or nearby cities. For a long journey anyone affluent enough to have a car would fly or go by train/bus.

I do think that the automobile is changing China -- and not necessarily for the better. Parking is a problem, even in our medium sized city -- especially near campus. We have just learned that the university, who own the land in the adjacent neighborhood where we shop, will begin leveling the block next month to make way for more parking. I am so upset - because the produce market will disappear forever and the vendors told me they have nowhere to go. Some restaurants we like are moving nearby, but other shops are just closing down, and no matter what, the character of the neighborhood will change forever in the name of progress. Xiamen is already a very modern place, with only a few pockets of traditional structures and lifestyle, so its a shame to lose any of them. I will make an effort before we leave to document life along this street before it disappears -- I wish they'd wait until we were gone!

A reader named Jack asked about the food...there is really an incredible variety here, and almost none of it tastes like typical Chinese takeout in America. There are strong regional differences -- Chinese food in the US tends to be more Cantonese style (southern China), so if someone goes to Beijing and Shanghai -- they will be exposed to a lot of different cooking, more breads and noodles vs. rice, for example. I do think that tour groups tend to eat in the worst places --if I compare how we ate on our adoption trip compared to the food available in my neighborhood -- the local stuff is fresh and flavorful and delicious..and there are lots of "ethnic" restaurants offering food from other regions and minority groups. Another major difference is that a Chinese dish in the US tends to mix meat and vegetables in the same dish -- which is just not done here, you order these dishes separately, typically along with a noodle dish or white/fried rice and a soup to "drink". Beverages are not always served. We love the food, and have tried to recreate some at home, with only limited success. The girls are addicted to jiaozi (dumplings) and eat them at least 3 times a week. Thomas favors the meat and fish dishes, but he has started eating a much wider variety of vegetables here -- since he says they taste better.

All right, so much for my ramblings for today. Michael has some photos from his latest trip to Korea that he has promised to post soon.