I'm A Resident of the People's Republic of China!

Wow. I cannot believe I am a resident of China! How weird does that sound? Let me tell you how I got here... First, I got a VISA in the US for multiple entries into China valid for 1 year. When I came to China I went to the police station to register and went to the doctor to get an extensive physical checkup, which then got me a little booklet that said I was healthy and wouldn't cause harm to the Chinese citizens (that's what I'm assuming at least, hehehe). After I had the health certificate my company had to go to the government and get a work permit for me, stamped and sealed by the Chinese government. Before I could do any of this though, I had to get my picture taken and with my picture, I received a certificate of validation for the photos (valid for 14 days). I'm not sure if I could change my whole look in 14 days, but they seem to think so which is why the certificate has an expiration date. Anyway, after I had the work permit and the police certificate, I could go to Hong Kong and apply for a working visa! The reason Kelly (and the company) advised me to go to Hong Kong is because it is easier to get a working visa there, versus in Guangzhou. In Hong Kong, I had to go to the embassy and request a visa to be made for the next day (this meant that I had to be in the embassy before 12pm!) That was a close call, they ALMOST didn't let me in because I was there exactly at 11:59am or something (but I had just taken a ferry to HK, plus the metro, and then had to find the office) Nevertheless, I turned in all my paperwork and got my VISA the next day! To my surprise (and shock) it was valid for 30 days and for a single entry! ALL that money for this? Turns out that after I came back to the Mainland, I would have to go to the government close to where I live and apply for residency. So I went in, turned in copies of ALL that information, paid some more money, got a booklet that says I am a legal worker in China AND then would have to wait a week to get my residency permit, which would let me come in and out of China as many times as I want...for a year! Well it turns out that my photo certificate (the one which was valid for 14 days) expired (yea it was taken 3 months ago), so I would need to get another certificate before I got my residency permit...which is why I couldn't go to Macau last weekend (I didn't have my passport yet and no multiple entry visa to re-enter China). Kelly took care of the photo certificate for me (I didn't have to re-take another picture, which totally defeats the purpose of the expiration date, I THINK!) So today I went to Daliang and got my new RESIDENCY PERMIT! And therefore I am a resident of China. Wow...and all this just to be a resident...

Now on to what I was originally going to write about...

Zhuhai

Medical practices

I'm a Chinese cook now

珠海 (Zhuhai)

This weekend I went to Zhuhai with Lily, to stay with one of my new student's (her supplier of copper in Midea) and his family! His name is Figo and him and his wife have two kids...twins, so they're not breaking the law! Zhuhai was amazing and these people are amazing. First let me say Figo is so nice! He takes Lily and I out to dinner and also helped me pick out my glasses. This is the genuineness that you don't really find in the US. Anyway, I was originally suposed to go to Macau for a day and Zhuhai for a day (Macau is right next to Zhuhai), but as I mentioned above, no visa, so no macau. We decided we would still visit Zhuhai and go to Macau next month (I might go for 2 days, while Lily can only go there once because Chinese people also need a permit, and it is a single entry one!) The family welcomed us with open arms, and the mom (I don't even know her name because it's a Chinese name...UGH so pathetic of me...I just called her AUNT, it's the polite thing to do) cooked us dinner the first night! She made so many things I liked... Asian Mussels with noodles and rice, cucumber salad, Pok Choy, and amazing flavored shrimp! For desert we had Bīngqílín and it was delicious (New word everyone! My new favorite Chinese word which means ice cream) After dinner we listened to Susan (the daughter who actually has a very similar name as her brother... I will write this in after I ask Lily what the kids' Chinese names are again!) play the 古箏 which is a Chinese instrument that is somewhat like a guitar, somewhat like a piano and you play it with pick-like contraptions taped to your fingers (it's a string instrument). I attempted to play myself...

The next day we went to the hot springs (I got to choose: hot springs or amusement park) and I must say I made a great decision. We had an amazing time (these hot springs were much better than the ones we went to in Shenzhen)! First we went into the different mini pools-- salt pool, hot water pool, flower pool, different scented pools and then I attempted to teach Susan how to swim (I used my swim teacher skills as well as my life guarding skills from high school hhaha) Around lunch time we ate lunch in the resort which was too good! It wasn't fattening and definitely something you would expect in a hot spring resort! We ate soft white bread with mango jam melted inside (the bread was SO soft and so delicious and so warm). We also had apples, guava, watermelon and tomatoes. They provided coffee (wow coffee for once) and tea...and EVEN milk tea (I ate and drank as much coffee as much as I could because it was soooo good). Later I swam some laps and played with the kids in the pool. I'm proud of myself because I swam the whole length of the pool underwater without going up for breath once! And the pool was NOT short! Go me! What a great time! After the hot springs we went to a lychee farm and picked lychees. Yes, a lychee darm with delicious and sweet lychees growing on trees...I know, be jealous! Then we went to the sea food market which smelled pretty bad (pictures coming up) and I saw some crazy things...for example a child about 3 years old helping his dad clean out the fish tanks (sad). Well that was pretty much the only thing that kind of got to me, everything else seemed "normal for China". We then took the seafood to a restaurant nearby and they cooked it for us! We had oysters, fish, huge shrimp-like food (I'm not sure the exact name of it), snails, mussels... It was delicious except for the snails...the mini snails were fine but the big snails tasted way too fishy for me. After the restaurant we went to the beach (no sand, just a side walk and the water) to see Macau at night. One word: beautiful... I got to take some great pictures which turned out beautifully. The next day we went to the border of Zhuhai and Macau and went shopping. I bought some things, but the prices were higher here than in Guangzhou. We also ate at a pretty popular Chinese restaurant (there were a ton of people) which made CHINESE HAMBURGERS (shredded pork inside of something like a thick tortilla)-- not bad. Then Lily and I took the bus to Daliang and then another bus home. I forgot to mention, the company Figo works for is in Zhuhai where he lives, but he does a lot of business where I live so he is there during most of the week (crazy right? Family is in one city and he works in another city two hours away most of the time). The weekend was great and the family was so nice. They invited me to come again and they gave me a present for Joanna and I (Chinese people are too nice)... so maybe Joanna and I will visit them when she comes to China! We came as strangers and left as family (the kids called me "sister").

Medical Practices

I wanted to write a little more about this because I noticed this in Zhuhai and in my classroom as well. In Zhuhai, Figo's wife pinched his shoulders because he was getting sick. Lily told me this was similar to cupping (like I did a month ago). So of course I had to try it out and now I have hicky-like marks down my shoulders! It did hurt, but not as much as the cupping since she only used her hands! In my class yesterday, two of my students were massaging their heads during break, and also knocking on them. I asked what it does and they couldn't really tell me... I think they wanted to say it circulates the blood and stimulates blood flow and brain cells? I don't know! Chinese people do some crazy things that they think are healthy! For example, if you are on your period you don't eat ice cream because it makes the blood cold and clots it, and you should not exercise either. I never knew these things! I'm learning a lot while I'm here.

Chinese Cook

I decided to really concentrate on my Chinese cooking. I also decided that I will cook a lot more when I come back to the US. It's a useful and great skill! Two days ago I made tofu with vegetables that turned out great (I got the recipe from a blogger from Shanghai) so I'm very motivated now. I will also try to cook everything Lily has taught me so that I can cook it by myself when I come back! This will make my friends and family and Ayman VERY HAPPY! :) Tonight I am going to cook at Serena's with Kianie and our new Chinese friend Allen. Last time we cooked together I made Fish Eggplant (eggplant that ended up looking like fish) and it also turned out pretty good! I'm also going to learn how to cook Chinese cabbage (I love it at restaurants and it seems super easy). Occasionally I will put recipes and pictures of my cooking and food adventures onto this blog! Can't wait!