achinalife - Tumblr blog

[achinalife]

Though I did not grow up with Asian Parents; living with a pair now this is completely relatable.

[achinalife]

Aviators Are Cool

During the Chinese New Year I visit a very small and rural town about 40 minutes outside of Huai’an. 

Well this year was warm and very sunny so I decided to rock the aviator glasses. I rocked them two days and received a lot of stares (which is not unusual) and no one else rocking aviator glasses.

But then on the 3rd day I caught 6 other adults started rocking the aviator glasses.

I’ve never been so proud of starting a movement. An aviator movement.

[achinalife]

The Case of the Mysterious Pink Eye

There are a lot of things that confuse me; but I’ll have to say that this was not only confusing but also very comical to me. And Please Remember----I tell this story out of love.

My sick significant other unfortunately had the bad luck to come down with double pink eye. Like it was bad.

So we were sitting in the living room watching TV when his mother walks in and holy moly does she flip out.

So first she starts yelling and tapping me away from looking at him. Then, very over dramatically rolls a scarf around her head so only her eyes and the tip of her nose is exposed and is motioning me to do the same. She is also making a very dramatic effort of not looking at him. She looks everywhere in the room except at him.

I am very confused at this point so I ask him what she means. To which he replies this:

“She says that you should will get this from looking at me. So you should not look at me at all and protect your eyes.”

Ummmmmm...........WHAT?!

“Is this real?”

“Yes, she says it’s real. Also she says I got it because you look at me too much.”

“Oh my god.”

Which then prompted a very lengthy conversation with pictures, facts, and discussions about medicine about why this is indeed are false statements.

[achinalife]

The Case of the Disposable Underwear

One day I'm working from home and my better half had gone out to work leaving me alone with his mother. Which can be a constant fun game of charades since I am nowhere close to mastering the Chinese language and she has not a clue about the English language. So this particular day I'm working and take a break to go put clothes away in the dresser when she appears with a gift in which she gives me. It's paper and wrapped tightly. Upon unrolling it I discover it it nothing other than disposable underwear. In my confusion I thank her and act appreciative; hopefully covering my surprise and desire to laugh hysterically. Later that night when my other half gets home and it's just us I ask him what could have provoked such a gift and much to my help, he was utterly as surprised as me. So what does he do? He runs out to ask her why she did it. No playing it cool here. And she said because she thought I needed it.... Which confused us both even more. So the next day after he leaves for work and I stay behind to work from home again his mother unleashes a fury of charades and yelling. She tried to the best of her ability to charade it out what I do---put it on, wear it, take it off, and throw it away. Which had me nearly in tears from the actions. So I accepted and thanked her again. To this day I don't know why she gave it to me; I know it's not a lack of underwear because she knows that's not a problem. Maybe the lack of coverage in some? One will never know.

[achinalife]

胖 pàng and 大 dà. Fat and big.

My loving significant other’s sister me pajamas which was very sweet! They are beautiful, soft, and girly-in China fashion. The hang up came when she was trying to figure out the size. I am not tiny. I would put me at average and graced with a larger butt. Chinese women typically, are very tiny in general; his sisters are no exception. 
So I’m guessing it was a big family debate about what size to get me before they sent them to me. Which also keep in mind; because Chinese women are typically much smaller the sizes run vastly smaller. So the pajamas come in the mail and there are two sizes: XL and L. So the L fits; thankfully the XL was a little to big. However, the fun begins when his family (mom, dad, and sisters) arrive two days later. Then the big discussion starts. His whole family sitting around and discussing the pajamas and me.
Now I don’t claim to understand Chinese, but I know the words 胖 pàng and 大 dà. Fat and big. So the whole family is sitting around discussing which size fit me and throwing around those words. Also motioning to my large legs and ass. Repeatedly. And I say, in Chinese, ok! I understand I am bigger, but it’s not bad! To which they reply (the ones who speak English) oh! You understand!? Yes. I do. Oh good! Then the discussion continues about my fat and large but and legs. The best part was his dad standing up to demonstrate how big my butt and legs were to everyone. Cheers! To a fun family night.

[achinalife]

Don't smile

There are a lot of cultural differences that I've learned in my time here. A lot. American and Chinese styles and ways of life are different. Which isn't a bad thing! One thing that is very different is smiling. In America you smile at a stranger or someone passing you and most times the smile is returned. Not in China. Nope. Which I learned very quickly. However is still throws me off guard sometimes. Like tonight at dinner; a nice family dinner! Everyone's happy and having a good time. So I catch his uncle look at me and we just cheers-ed so you know what, hey! I'll throw you a smile! WRONG!!!!! It was returned with a glare which turned to a quizzical "what the hell are you doing?" Kind of look. Won't make that mistake again!

[achinalife]

I bought a 3 pack of small notebooks at a store because the top one has a motivational quote, so I assumed the others did too. They were plastic wrapped together so I could only see the top. 1. Make the best of what happens 2. Amazing things will happen 3. Be thankful for everything because soon there will be nothing .........well that escalated quickly.

[achinalife]

Love this find!

And only 10 RMB per plant (about $1.50 USD).

Beautiful flowers and plants that were being sold on the streets of Huai'an.

[achinalife]

Tonight’s difference

Usually-about once a day-there’s something that happens in which my boyfriend says “why do you do that?” or I’ll ask him “why you do that?”/”why is your mom doing that?”

So today’s difference comes over dinner. Over a spoon. In which I’m still getting the silent treatment from both him and his mom. OVER A SPOON. And more importantly...a plastic spoon.

His mom makes some sort of corn porridge that is very basic but it is very delicious. But porridge is like a soup so it has to be hot, duh.

Well tonight the porridge was being served with a plastic spoon....in a boiling hot porridge. So I freaked out, because who wants the chemicals from a melted plastic spoon or pieces of a plastic spoon in your soup? The answer- not me. So I put the spoon on the side out of the pot.

Which you would have thought the world was ending; which I realized when I heard his mom start yelling and waving at me. Whatever. It happens.

So later in the meal I go back to get more porridge only to find the plastic spoon roasting in the soup and so I can explain what happens when plastic is left in a hot temperature...

And get rejected very quickly with “that’s foolish. There’s no such thing.” 

So tomorrow I’ll be very sneakily throwing away all plastic spoons in the household.

Adios plastic.

[achinalife]

Cleaning Standards

Cleaning Standards are a bit different from what I’m used to.  Cleaning products like lysol, clorox, bleach, aren’t used too much; especially around the house.

Which whatever, I understand, you’ve survived all your life without why use it now. 

However I did teach everyone in the house how to use it. And although nobody uses it. I still feel better. And I use quite religiously...

The one thing I did absolutely loose my mind about was soap. SOAP!!!!!!!!! THERE WAS NO SOAP BEING USED TO WASH THE DISHES. OR HOT WATER.

And I understand that’s the way it’s been for years, centuries, whatever. But not for me. My picky, American body needs soap and I need soap now.

So I am proud to say I have successfully implemented the use of soap while washing dishes.

Baby steps y’all.

[achinalife]

Strange Fix (when you’re sick)

Learning to live in a traditional Chinese family has been a very different experience from my American family. And with it comes understanding and things that I see as strange and things that they see about me that are strange.

So the family has been sick in stages, 1 after the other after the other. And I thought I survived, but nope. I went down.

Now something I noticed (and looking back I don’t know why I was so surprised) but no one really “went down for the day” to rest. Maybe their pain tolerance is higher than mine (probable)? Maybe I am a big baby when I get sick (YES)? Maybe it’s different in America? I don’t know.

But I slept a lot and rested a lot. And by 2:00 in the afternoon that was no longer acceptable to the members of the house. Mama 妈妈 was spouting in Chinese a lot of things while yelling and pointing at me. I assumed it was good.  

And before long I was roused from me bed and done with resting. Not on choice.

I guess rest is for the weak or when your dead.

And I can’t say which way works better, rest or no rest. 

[achinalife]

Valentine’s Day! And he did pretty good...

77 Rosebuds that say “1314″ which in  Chinese is “Yī sān yī sì” or ”一三一四。“

Which is a good and romantic number because it sounds like “yī shēng yī shì”  “一生一世。“  Which translates to “All My Life” or “Always and Forever.”

[achinalife]

Lantern Festival Day

The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration...WHICH I AM SO THANKFUL FOR!

The Chinese like to celebrate the Chinese New Year and surrounding days with fireworks; loud fireworks; bright fireworks; LOUD fireworks. And surprise, there are no rules or regulations for where they are set off. So day and night fireworks are going off in the streets, by the house, by the car, on the road; everywhere.

And the sound of it. The only thing i can relate it to (although I’ve never had the experience) is a war zone. It’s explosions and booms right and left.

This morning was the worst. Like the worst. 

I’ve built up a pretty good tolerance of not jumping and being scared every time an explosion goes off, especially waking up at all hours to it.

However, I guess they have slowed down lately and I took advantage of the  peace and quiet and not being startled by an explosion noise every 8 minutes.

So this morning because it is the Celebration of the Lantern Festival and it’s one last HOORAH, I was jolted from bed at precisely 5:00 AM when the firecrackers and fireworks started going off.

And because (I think, this is my own personal theory) it’s the last celebration of CNY and everything goes back to normal tomorrow these people went all out.

It was ridiculous. 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM. NO SLEEP. Just “Boom. Boom. Boom. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!!! BOOOOOOOOOOM.”

So I’m a little cranky and sleep deprived today.

Cheers !

[achinalife]

Tangyuan, tāngyuán, 湯圓

This is a really delicious food I enjoy and luckily for me today is the Lantern Festival in  which people eat it.

It is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. The ones above (the kind I like) are filled with a sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) which is the most common filling.

Delicious!

[achinalife]

LEARN CHINESE!

So a year ago I knew absolutely zero Chinese. This year I can’t claim that I know a lot of Chinese but I know enough to carry on the basic of basic conversations. I can tell you if I like something or not, numbers, colors, most foods, sports, clothing items…you get the picture. It’s like enough to talk with a preschooler.

However, I’ve had problems when I speak it of nobody listening to me because even though I am speaking in Chinese (WITH CORRECT TONES!) nobody believes I can so tunes me out.

So living in my new town I see my boyfriend’s family quite a lot, which is fine however, no one speaks English. Which means that in order to communicate I have to speak in Chinese.

I don’t boast to be a quick learner and neither am I being modest when I say I’m not learning fast. Chinese is very hard for me to pick up and learn. Which can lead to feeling very frustrated a lot.

So my least favorite part of the day is always dinnertime when I’ve exhausted the bare minimum Chinese that I know (which happens in all of 3-5 minutes). Then it starts…

“Learn Chinese! Learn Chinese! You must Learn Chinese! Lear More!”

and again

“Learn Chinese! Learn Chinese! You must Learn Chinese! Lear More!”

and again

“Learn Chinese! Learn Chinese! You must Learn Chinese! Lear More!”

and again

“Learn Chinese! Learn Chinese! You must Learn Chinese! Lear More!”

…everyday.

It used to frustrate me. But then I realized they only say that because they do actually want to talk with me. Which is nice....But it also makes me wonder if they think I can pick up Chinese rather instantaneously. Maybe because I’m a 外国人,  Wàiguó rén, (foreigner) I can learn it faster? 

I guess I’ll never know... 

[achinalife]

CCTV: 

“The Lantern Festival is the most important festival that takes place after the Spring Festival.

There are many legends concerning the origins of the ‪Lantern Festival‬. One of the origins says the festival is meant to commemorate Emperor Han Wendi's conquest of the Lv’s family. On this day, people enjoy the beautiful lanterns and guess at lantern riddles. The occasion provides unmarried people an opportunity to meet and socialize with one another. For this reason, the Lantern Festival is also known as the traditional Chinese Valentine’s Day.”

[achinalife]

It’s real. It’s life. 

My lovely friend’s blog about our Chinese New Year 2016 experience.

Cheers to the Year of the Monkey!