Baby spoons

So my new apartment came "fully furnished" with two whole Chinese spoons, one metal spatula, a wok, and a gigantic butcher knife. I mean, what more does a girl need right? So after trying to use the spoons a few times I realized that my huge American mouth was too large for the spoons. The spoons here are about half the size you would receive at any Chinese restaurant in the States. Now you know just how small they are!

I went to a few different stores looking for a more suitable spoon so I could actually enjoy my oatmeal or whatever else I want to eat with spoon. There were a lot of small metal spoons to choose form but no tablespoons, which is what i prefer. I finally settled on the baby spoons. I now posses a Mickey and a Minnie spoon. They are plastic and shaped like more like a classic Chinese spoon but they are larger than the adult spoons, which is in complete contrast to the American baby spoons. Like I was telling the students today, all countries do the same things like eat and read but the way in which we do things is often the exact opposite.

In China, babies have enormous spoons. In America babies have tiny spoons, but in both countries these spoons are plastic, brightly coloured, and have ridiculous cartoon characters on them. And in both countries I own baby spoons.

Pets for lunch!

Day two in my new apartment I was invited to my overseer’s (Christa) home for lunch along with all the English teachers from grade seven. We had a very delicious meal with lots of meat. That was a pleasant surprise because I hadn’t had any in a few days. It was at this meal that my Christa showed me the turtle she had purchased in the supermarket and intended to kill it for supper.

The next day I was invited to have breakfast with her and her husband. I went into the kitchen to learn how to “make” rice balls which consisted of boiling some water, taking the bag of balls out of the freezer, and plopping them into the water. I think I can handle this on my own. It is then that I asked if the turtle was still around. She decided that she couldn’t kill it and asked her husband. He decided he didn’t want to do it either. There he was sitting in a basin with a little water. He was a very weird green color and did not poses a solid shell but a thinner shell that wasn’t distinct from his neck. I explained that in America many people have turtles as pets and it’s not a meal we really eat. (Isn’t it illegal???)

The next day I was again invited over for lunch with two other of the grade seven teachers. It took HOURS of preparation. When lunch was finally ready it was after 4pm. I asked what took so long. She informed me she had finally killed and cooked the turtle and this is what we were having. Oh god, here we go! I requested that when the dish was brought out that no one tells me which one was the turtle. Of course I’ll try it but its better mentally if my meat is unidentifiable. The Chinese eat in waves. They only have one pan, so everything is cooked in a sequence and brought out when the single dish is done. The turtle stew was the third dish that came out. To my dismay it was easily identifiable.

Strange triangles of thin “meat” floating in a clear-ish broth with small cream colored balls connected by some kind of dark membrane also drifted about. I guess it was a female. Christa’s husband began dishing chunks of meat and potatoes into my bowl. I tried not think as this would only creep me out. The meat was rather flavorless and the texture was slimy, chewy, but manageable. I did not like this turtle. However, it is “good for my health” and therefore I have to eat it. Three more pieces were flopped into by bowl by others and then came the moment when a strand of turtles eggs slithered into my bowl. I tried to imagine what they were like and if I was supposed to eat the membrane or pick the egg off the sack or what! I plucked off one egg and popped that sucker into my mouth. It was not what I was expecting! It was almost chalky but still pasty. I don’t think I have ever eaten something with the same consistency. Again, I did not like this turtle. The husband then tried to give me what I imagine was the neck. It looked like and internal organ and was black and slimy. Thank god Christa came to the rescue. There was no way I was ready to choke down a turtle neck for lunch. He tried several times to give the neck to me when Christa would leave the room but I kept covering my bowl with my hand. Geesh! I’m a human, and my stomach has feelings!

The Gator got me!

I sit typing, my noise dripping because it is quite cold and I have adopted the Chinese way of not turning on your heater no matter how cold it gets. I have not yet been brave enough to open my windows for "clean air and for health" quite yet. Although, my kitchen does have a gap between the plastic "window" and the wall and also contains a gaping hole. Then there was the matter of the kitchen door that led to the great outdoors. The door was permantly lodged open about four inches because it held up the large bamboo pole, from which I am to hang my quilts and laundry. I had someone held pull it inside and now the door closes. All in all, things are good.


My cousin and I went on a whirlwind trek through China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia in just 2 and a half weeks. What a fabulous time we had!! We were scammed on the Cambodian border, my backpack was run over by a tuk-tuk and then stolen in the next country, many people asked us to be in their holiday pictures, and our bus drove off without us. We had a blast!! Neither of us got sick (which is more than we can say for any other traveller we met) until we were back in China. My third meal back consisted of a normal broth with noodles but an unidentifiable black and white meat connected to some bones wrapped in what appeared to be a black scaly skin, much like that of a gator. Thus, the gator got me. I am still recovering three days later. We are now back in Hubei province which is known for its spicy foods and now so is my bung hole!






The highlights of the trip would have to be the Petranos Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Angkor temples in Cambodia. The people in both of those countries also brought us much light and entertainment. I know completely why Angelina Jolie adopted a Cambodian child and fell in love with the country. However, my great love lies in Kuala Lumpur. I have never visited a country and/or city and immediately loved it and wanted to live their. It is beyond words for me. The city is SO eclectic and just gorgeous. The landscape and skyscrapers are the perfect backdrop to the most diverse group of people you will ever see. Not to mention, they eat with a fork and spoon simultaneously! This is stark contrast to the Chinese who use chopsticks and insist on chopping everything into tiny little bits. This only allow for minuscule bites of everything, and because eating is one of my favourite things on this planet, I prefer to shove in as much flavour in one bite as possible!


Regardless, I am back in China and have moved into my apartment which is quite dingy at the moment, but I hope to spruce it up a bit and call it comfy soon. This morning I was whisked away to a meeting of all the teachers in my school who had to address in Chinese. That gator tried to get me again I tell you! The rest of the day was full of lesson plans, meeting and greeting students, more meetings entirely in Chinese, gorging myself on duck, pork and beef, cleaning and trying to catch up with all the folks back home to reassure them that I am still alive and back from the SE Asia. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival so I hope to get some good pic of the festivities but above all I hope to relax before diving into teaching my 17 classes a week!


Perhaps after reading this you are feeling a tiny twinge of empathy? Perhaps not! Either way, the stretching has begun, both of my waistline and of my spirit!