Living with Monkey

Weather: freezing

Temperature: -6 - 1

Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,40

The culprit: Monkey and the vase she knocked over...

Sometimes living with our cat Monkey is a test of patience. She is full of beans, loves chasing her sister NuNu around, loves pushing NuNu away from the food bowls and general leaving mayhem and thousands of white cat hair in her wake. This morning, shortly after the alarm went off, there was an ominous crash in the lounge. And then it all went quiet. Yes, a sure sign that somebody did something naughty. I think my favourite godson Jackson knew what he was talking about when he kept on saying "Naughty Monkey" after our little terror lived with Rebecca and Jackson for a month. 

Usually the damage isn't too extensive, but this morning "somebody" knocked over a tall vase filled with water and reeds... onto my laptop. Needless to say there was water dripping out of said laptop. Accidents happen, so I'm not too fussed about the laptop, but what I am very fussed about are all the photos and information on there. I've taken it apart as best I could and blow dried what I could. Let's hope it works when I start it up tomorrow... 

All merry and bright

Weather: cold
Temp: -7 - 4
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,43
Grassy rooftop: Dry winters grass growing in a roof gutter of a hutong.

Hey, Merry Belated Christmas everybody. Hope you had fun, ate too much, and had a jolly good time with your family.

We had a great Christmas. We opened our presents in bed on Christmas day. Demi our Mandarin tutor gave us scarves from Italy and Stan, my student gave me a Peking Opera wall hanging. After presents we phoned home. Speaking to our family in South Africa made me a little teary, but such is life and we got on with it by going for brunch to Grandma's Kitchen near the Bei Xin Qiao Subway. It was all very jolly with everybody who arrived wishing complete strangers a merry Christmas. I guess that's what happens - goodwill to all men.

As a treat we then headed off to Garden Books. I got Kabul Beauty School and Frikkie got the latest John Connolly. Then it was back home for some gluwein, cheese and crackers.

We had dinner at the Westin Hotel in Choayang, with complete strangers and it was great! We were suppose to join my fellow teacher Richard and his mates for dinner. So, we arrived not knowing anybody but Richard, and he didn't even show up, but we met a cool bunch of people, some of them as new to Beijing as we are and others who have been here form ages. And quite a diverse group - from Taiwan to London... Finally it looks like we've met a group of people we could be friends with - the best Christmas present we could have asked for.

It's a freezing Sunday

Weather: ABSOLUTELY BLOODING FREEZING
Temp: -12 - -5. That's well below zero all day long
Exchange rate:
RMB1 = R1,43
Late Lunch: Our first home-made joazi at home.

It is absolutely freezing outside. No really, I mean it. I know I'm always saying that it's cold, but today is the coldest day in Beijing since we got here. It was suppose to be very cold yesterday so we vegged at home.
This morning the wind was howling. Really howling. Poor Frikkie went to the shop to get some milk. The poor man nearly had frost bite when he got back.

I also made my first batch of joazi at home. Not quite as nice as the ones I made in class, but still very edible. Frikkie says this picture looks like a '70s beer ad... Mmm, maybe.

End of year cheer

Weather: clear and cold
Temp: -5 - 5
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,44
Famous family: Kyk Irma, jy's famous. Ikea has weird and wonderful naming conventions. Frikkie's cousin, who's name isn't weird at all, somehow made it into the Ikea catalogue.

I didn't teach yesterday, so it was a long day of playing mahjong online, watching rubbish on HBO, ironing and general lazing about. I'm thinking that I should enjoy it while it lasts, cause it won't last forever.

Frikkie and I were saying how it doesn't feel like Christmas time for us. Although there are Christmas trees everywhere, and most shop assistants wear little Santa hats, it's just not the same and we're just not feeling it. Also neither one of us can face Christmas shopping so there are no presents under our tree. But that's ok - we're ridiculously happy together, so what more could we ask for.

Cooking class

Weather: clear and cold
Temp: -5 - 6
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,47
Almost a pro: The fruits of my labours in jiaozi making class.

Yesterday I went to jiaozi making-class at the Hutong. The Hutong is a centre where they host all kind of classes, based in, surprise, a hutong. And jiaozi is of course, dumplings - my favourite food in Beijing. I learnt to to make the pastry from scratch, the filling and then roll the pastry, which is sort of difficult, and then of course the cooking. And the best part, eating all of them. It was just me and Erin, a Canadian visiting Beijing for a week or so who attended, but we really hit it off. It was probably the most fun I've had in a cooking class. Now I just need to get a little rolling pin and we'll be having jiaozi every week and twice on Sundays.

Skiing in Nanshan

Weather: mild mid-winters day
Temp: -4 - 4
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,47
Hey ma, look at me: We didn't fall, all that often.

We finally hit this slopes for the first time yesterday. We headed out to Nanshan with the Local Noodle Snow Team. We stayed all day and really had some fun.

Nanshan is just outside of Beijing, so the snow isn't real, but since we're rank amateurs it didn't matter too much. It was the first weekend the resort opened for the season so everything was clean and well organised, sort of. We started out on the baby slope for beginners. An instructor took pity on me, showed me the basics and then showed Frikkie how to turn and off we went. Frikkie is a natural. I'm a little more cautious, but in the end I got it. I fell off the ski lift more than I did skiing. But in the end I could stay on the ski lift and go down the slope without falling.

I hope we're ready for the sloped in Harbin, where apparently the slopes are steep and the snow powdery. Can't wait.

All kitties present and accounted for

The kitties are home. They've settled in. They're ok, if a little skinny. I gave them a bath pretty much as soon as they got here - they smelt of disinfectant. I don't know who was wetter, me or them. My popularity rating took an instant dive.

NuNu has found herself a little hiding spot and Monkey is trying to sleep between Frikkie and I. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We're really happy to have our little family back together again.

The kittes will be home TOMORROW

Weather: almost zero visibility
Temp: -4 - 3
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,47
Days left in kitty prison: 1
All wrapped up: I wore only 3 layers today and I nearly died. I may never be able to feel my ears again.

I think I've probably always known this, but the trick to staying warm in the cold is to keep your head and hands warm. I forgot my gloves at home today, wore a hat that does not cover my ears and did not have the best time walking to the subway.

This time tomorrow the kitties will be home. We can't wait. I just hope that they're healthy and not too traumatised. I got them a new bed and some tuna to celebrate their arrival.

I'm watching a very strange Chinese movie right now. Jacky Chan like you've never seen him before. He's actually acting - no kung fu what so ever. I'm trying to watch some local telly to improve my pronunciation and intonation. The cool thing is that I've started recognising words. Not that many, but it's a start.

Let it snow

Weather: still cold
Temp: -5 - 3
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,48
Days left in kitty prison: 3
Going up: Christmas is now officially in the air at the Els-Labuschagne house hold.

According to iGoogle it's currently snowing in Beijing. This is very sadly not true. It's cold and smoggy, and it drizzled this morning, but alas, no snow. I want it to snow!

I finally put up our Christmas tree. First of course I had to go buy the tree. There were real pine trees in small wooden barrels and I was really tempted to get one of those, but in the end got a beaut of a fake tree. It's a massive and it took me forever to set it up last night. I also cut my thumb on the cheap metal trunk, but lucky I had a tetanus shot last Christmas, so I won't die from blood poisoning. I went to a market to get everything and by the time I left I had censory overload - there are Xmas decor in any form, shape, size and colour you could possibly think of. It all got a bit much.

Great news! The kitties are getting out early - must be for good behaviour! They will be home by lunch time on Friday. We both super excited.

HBO, hot water and face jobs

Weather: smoggy, chilly
Temp: -3 - 7
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,48
Days left in kitty prison: 7
All the pretty lights: Red lanterns are all the rage in China this season...

There's no doubt that China is a very interesting place. We're still busy settling into our new abode - we now have cable TV again (rubbish HBO included), but spent the weekend without hot water. Yes, that's the whole weekend. And why did we not have any hot water? In China, or perhaps just in our complex, you have to charge your apartment's hot water card with credits, insert the into the hot water card slot in some obscure pipe outside your apartment and voila, you have hot water. Small detail that nobody remembered to mention: the water heating company is only open on Mondays, between 8 to 12 and 1 and 3:30. And if you run out before then, it's just tough cookie. I tried shouting at the complex management company on Saturday morning. No luck. So it was pots of hot water on the stove for bath water all weekend.

We had a busy day on Saturday. After vouching that we'd not go back there again, we spent about 3 hours in Ikea. The thing with Ikea is that once you're in, it's hard to get out without a trolley full of stuff you didn't know you needed or wanted. Plus Frikkie's colleague Leong is coming round for dinner and we thought that perhaps we'd upgrade from the paper plates.

I finally found a wool shop in Beijing. It's miles from where we live, but they have great wool and I stocked up and got some more knitting needles. I'm now working on three projects. One, is, surprise, surprise, a scarf. We then went to Yashow Market to try and find me a coat. It didn't quite work out for me. I still don't have a coat. I'm going to try the Silk Street market - I've been told it's the place to look for long, down winter coats.

After being all vuur en vlam we didn't go skiing on Sunday - we were pooped from missioning about on Saturday and vegged out all Sunday. We will try again this weekend.

Frikkie is in Shanghai tonight, and having dinner with Rachael and Pete as we speak. Lucky bugger.

Congratulations

My dear, dear friend Ncumisa is getting married today. Nick and Ncum, I wish you much joy love and happiness together. I'm so sad that I cannot be there with you today, but such is life and I can't wait to see you as Mr and Mrs in May. hxxx

The turning tide

Weather: too cold to venture outside
Temp: -11 - -3 (yes, sub-zero all day long)
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,48
Days left in kitty prison: 10
Permanent gloves: It gets so cold here you can buy "permanent" mits to attach to your bike or scooter for winter. Keeps your hands from freezing and breaking off your arms.

Last week and most of this week was not much fun for me. My regular teaching classes came to an end and it looked like I would not teach again for a while. My frantic and persistent efforts to find a "real" job were not paying off. I felt very glum and was starting to despair. A while ago my friend Alex told me to "enjoy being a kept woman", but quite frankly the whole idea just didn't appeal to me. Being a part-time teacher and house wife did not fit with my idea of who I am.

But this week I'm starting to see things a little bit differently. How many people you know have the opportunity to take a couple of months off and simply do nothing? I bet not that many. So instead of seeing this time as a burden, I've starting looking at it as an opportunity to recharge, do some stuff I usually don't get round to doing (like knitting and sewing - once I find sewing machine) and to enjoy it while it lasts. I did go an see an employment agency yesterday and Tina Wu who interviewed me was quite blunt. The chances of me finding a job, in my field, and in the financial services industry in China are slim to none. The world financial crisis has impacted financial services in particular coupled with a digital marketer who cannot speak Chinese and have no local experience and I'm left with very limited choices. Also, this time of year is the worst time to apply as everything is winding down towards the Chinese New Year at the end of January. So for now, I'm going to be thankful for this time and enjoy every second of it. My teaching schedule has also filled up and I will probably start learning Mandarin full time next year.

Creatures of habit

Weather: sub-zero and tomorrow is going to be worse
Temp: -7 - 2
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,47
Days left in kitty prison: 11
Bright lights: Christmas is in the air.

I know I said I was going to blog every day for December, but yesterday was a bit busy. Four hours of teaching, then our own Mandarin class and then we popped out for dinner to check out a new Italian restaurant, Alla Osteria.

Frikkie and I are creatures of habit. If we find something we like we tend to go back to it time and time again. I know we're not unique in this, but you'd think that we would explore more since we're living in a new city. Last night we broke with our usual routine, and tried Alla Osteria in Soho Shangdu. I think the biggest draw card was the word "unpretentious" in the review and Frikkie has been craving pizza for ages. And not just any pizza, it has to be proper pizza, so we certainly weren't heading over to Pizza Hut, which have are loads of outlets of here.

I got as close to butternut soup as I'm ever going to in China, and Frikkie got his thin crust pizza. I suspect we'll be going back there soon, as it now our new favourite Italian restaurant in Beijing. Like I said, we're creatures of habit.

I am taking photos with Frikkie's Nikon Coolpix - it's ok during the day, but it takes rubbish night time shots...

Going to the market

Weather: mild
Temp: 0-10
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,50
Days left in kitty prison: 13
Dreaming of a white Christmas: Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes at the Liangma Flower Market.

One of the best things about living in China is the fresh produce markets. There is great market about 10 minutes by bike from our complex. It would be 5 minutes, but you have to cross the Sanyuang bridge and that sometimes takes a while since the bridge leads to two major highways, so there are lots of on and off ramps. But I digress. The market has three distinct sections: fruit, veg and wet. I'm great with the fruit and veg. There still some stuff I have no idea what to do with, but mostly it's the stuff you get back home, sans butternut, which I miss. The fruit is on the one side and the veg is on the other side and in between there's the wet stuff - that means it's still breathing or was breathing a short while ago. The smell is a little off putting, but it smell of raw meat, which isn't the best smell in the world. I found the massive big ears quite unusual, but the sheep's head put me off completely. There is no part of the animal which is not eaten, which I guess is a good thing. The still breathing part would be the seafood. There are water tanks filled with live fish and the crabs, although tided up like a little parcel with string, are also still alive. We have, by the way, also stopped eating seafood at home. The goal is to stop eating seafood altogether. So I like two parts of the market very much, but the wet bit(s) you can keep.

Moving on up

Weather: windy and smoggy
Temp: 0-13
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,48
Days left in kitty prison: 14
Room with a view: the view from our new lounge. It may not look like much at day, but in the evenings it's magical.

Yesterday we moved into the apartment we will call home for the next 12 months. Hoorah! We were like two bag ladies moving our stuff in two shopping trolleys. Ok, I was like a bag lady, Frikkie looked all manly and strong and carried the heavy stuff. Our new apartment is still in the Phoenix complex where we've been living since September, but we moved to a different apartment block. We've also moved up in the world: from the 25th floor to the 29th floor. The views are pretty awesome. And the biggest plus is that we have two balconies. Our immediate shopping list includes a small table and two chair so we can have our morning tea outside. We also have two bedrooms now, so come on over and visit - there's plenty of space.

Speaking of space, the beds in the apartment are gi-normous. I "went looking" for Frikkie several times during the night cause I thought he wasn't sleeping next to me anymore... Our queen size duvet looks like it shrunk in the wash and I'm not even sure a king size will be big enough. And true to the Chinese standard the mattress is just slightly softer than a slab of concrete. The term "firm mattress" has a whole new level of firmness in China. I'm sure tonight we'll sleep like babies. Frikkie also nearly had an apoplectic fit after looking at the peach-coloured curtains for too long. Yes, architects live in a very special world... Needless to say they have to go, the debate is now just what is going to replace them.

Today in two weeks I will go to fetch the kitties. It feels like it's taking forever.

I will be spring cleaning a bit and then tonight I'm going to a cooking glass to learn how to make dumplings. I'm super excited about it - dumplings is one of my favourite things to eat in Beijing and I can't wait to start making them at home.

Also on the horizon this week is an interview with an employment agency on Wednesday. Hold thumbs that they have positions available that I qualify for.