Tea with Mr. Z

Mr. Z and me.

I admit, I have been terrible about blogging lately.  I take photos daily at both the hospital and in my "everyday" life, but I somehow  cannot seem to translate that to the "computer screen".

There is a very nice man here (Mr. Z) who knows my friends/bosses in Oklahoma. We were introduced via email before I arrived in China. He is the retired as a the head of the department of International Exchange of Health Services. As I understand it, he was basically a liaison between foreign countries and China for promoting healthcare exchange. Subsequently, he has traveled all over the world. 

He reached out to me via email and invited me to join he and his wife for lunch and tea this afternoon. Unfortunately his wife couldn't make it at the last moment (her sister fell ill), but we had a really nice time. His English is absolutely great, and he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Chinese history, culture, and custom. He was very open, and I felt like I could ask him anything, so I received answers to a lot of my "burning questions" today. He talked all about Chengdu when he was a child (it was only a city of 1 million, not the14+ million that it is today), about Chengdu during the time of the rule of Chairman Mao (Mao Tse-tung), and Chengdu today. It was really interesting!

We had a wonderful lunch, walked around the park, and then we enjoyed talking/Chinese  tea. He and his wife even brought me a little "care package" with fresh fruit and traditional  Chinese snacks. It is so fun, wonderful, and refreshing to meet such an open, kind, and generous person.

I hope to see him again and meet his wife before I leave!

A perfect day for a walk in the park!

A child and his mother feeding the fish in the Park. The fish are fed via food in a baby bottle attached to a stick. The fish will suckle on the bottle to get the food out. The kid has to be sure to hold tightly onto the stick...those hungry fish were feisty!

So I will add this to my list of  "interesting cultural practices" in China. While Mr. Z and I were having tea, these people came around multiple times and asked us if we would like to have our ears cleaned (I, of course, couldn't understand). Both of us politely declined. But, this man, took her up on it. It is not unusual to be walking through the park and see someone getting his/her ears cleaned out. She even has a heavy duty headlamp on :)

Not your typical Q-tip :-)

Homemade dumplings and dinner on the boss!

Leo and Cookie live very close to my hotel, so it is easy to spend time with them. They had also graciously offered to let me do laundry in their apartment. Last Sunday, Cookie's mom was in town and was planning to make homemade dumplings for dinner, so Cookie told me to bring over my laundry for washing and then stay for dinner! The dumplings were absolutely delicious. It was so kind of Cookie and Leo to help me do laundry. The simple things! (I love the smell of clean laundry!) I carried it back to my hotel and then proceeded to get very creative and hang the wet laundry all around my room (they do not use clothes dryers here).

The dumplings ready to be steamed

Homemade dumplings...a work of art!

Dinner is served!

Today (Friday), after clinic, Dr. Lucy gave Jim (who was in clinic with us) some money to buy a very nice dinner. She treats me to dinner EVERY week (she never joins because she lives far away and wants to spend time with her husband), but always wants to treat me. (They are incredibly generous here in China and it is RARE that someone will let me pay...even when I try to "fight" them on the bill...). It was just me and Jim and she had given us WAY too much money for just the two of us, so I quickly called Cookie and Leo to see if they wanted to join. They hadn't eaten dinner yet, and they happily joined us at a nearby restaurant (Chenmapo Beancurd), which I had read online was delicious. We had so much fun, all thanks to the very generous Dr. Lucy!

"Thanks, Dr. Lucy!"

Afterwards, we took a nice long (several miles!) walk around the "wetlands" park. Apparently Chengdu is known as the "City in the Countryside" because there are so many parks, etc. It was a beautiful evening and there were many cultural activities going on in the park. Another fun evening in Chengdu!

 

Saturday in the center of the city

Jim, me, and Cookie in Tianfu Square in front of the statue of Chairman Mao.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before or not, but on Wednesday afternoons I give ophthalmology lessons in English to the Residents. We always have a lot of fun, and I try to get them to participate (most do!)

Well, weekends can be kind of isolating here, so this week I told my English class that I was going to go to Tianfu Square (THE center of the city) on Saturday. I invited all of them to come along. I told them if no one wanted to go, I would go by my lonesome!

Luckily Cookie, her husband Leo, and Jim wanted to spend Saturday out and about. We met up in Tianfu Square at 11a.m. and, per my request, we headed to Starbucks. I treated them all to coffee. (Other than the pizza last night and Starbucks today, I have avoided all things American).

Starbucks!
Me, Jim, Leo, and Cookie

We walked around Tianfu Square and took photos with the giant statue of Mao Tse-tung ("Chairman Mao").

Chairman Mao. The Chinese have differing opinions about him.

Next, we walked through People's Park, had a delicious lunch of dumplings (so delicious!!!), and then we walked down two "famous" streets translated as Wide Alley and Narrow Alley. I got to see lots of interesting things...

Spiced duck necks...

Chicken feet in the foreground and duck heads in the background (yes, look closely, you can see the duck bills...)

Chicken or duck hearts on a stick...

Live frogs for purchase. Frog is a common food in Chengdu.

Eeels for sale. I have not tried eel here (but ate it often in Japan when we would have sushi or sashimi).

I call this photo "The Innards".  Stomach, intestine, etc.

Roast duck. My favorite part is the worker taking a rest while waiting for customers.

We ducked into McDonald's because I wanted to compare the menu with the American McDonald's (honestly not too different). I was surprised to see the Tibetan Monks (left side) eating at the local Mickey D's!

Walking along Narrow Alley

I had forewarned my friends that I was slated to read in church at 4pm. I had to be there by 3:30. They wanted to walk me to church, and on the way they asked if they could sit in and listen. I said sure! So they came to English Mass and then we had dinner at a spicy noodle restaurant.

By this time it was about 6:30 pm, and I was pretty tired. But Cookie and Leo wanted to have me and Jim over for tea (they drink tea CONSTANTLY here). We headed over to their apartment and lo and behold, we discovered that one of their two new puppies was ill. So, Jim and I helped them get the puppies to the veterinarian, and then we waited, and waited, and waited... Cookie was appreciative that we stuck around while the vet treated the puppies. I finally got home at 10:30pm! We walked almost ten miles today! Never a dull moment in China...

Consulting with the vet late on a Saturday evening.

A fun Friday night!

Hannah, Cassie, and me at the gate to Huaxi University.

I had expressed interest in seeing a local university campus, so my friends (Tom and his wife Hannah and Cassie and her boyfriend Steven) took me to Huaxi University here in Chengdu. The campus is in the "old Chinese style", which was neat!

We then went and had Pizza Hut. It was quite comical because we walked to the first Pizza Hut, and it was in complete disrepair and closed. So we walked to a second Pizza Hut, and this one had a sign outside that said "Coming soon!". I suggested  we just eat Chinese food, but they were persistent. So we walked to a third Pizza Hut and it was open... hooray! We had a great dinner and then walked around the center of the city "Chunxi Road", which is the shopping/restaurant district of Chengdu.

A very afternoon/evening with fun friends!

A building on the Huaxi University campus.

My comrades

The university library.

A bird sitting in the lotus pond. All of the green plants are lotus. The lotus root is a common food here (and I love it!)

I had them take my photo at the West China School of Medicine.

A tree outside the largest hospital in Chengdu. These "prayer ribbons" have been tied to the tree by Tibetans in prayer that that a friend/family member recover from illness.

Pizza Hut!

Chunxi Road at night.

Just a tad overwhelming...

I thought this was a perfect example of just how illiterate I am here in China. Do YOU understand this bus schedule?!

Recycle or "unrecycle"?

You choose: do you love or hate the environment?

Rosie and Tony's wedding!

Friends with Rosie on her wedding day!

Rosie and Tony got married this past Saturday, May 2. It was a beautiful, wonderful day, and we all had a great time.

I met Lily, another resident friend, at the main entrance to the hospital. She and I walked to the nearest Metro stop and then caught up with two other friends. We took the Metro as far out as we were able, to the outskirts of Chengdu. Then we took a taxi to the hotel where the wedding was being held. I use a lot of mass transit here in the city!

On the Metro with Lily and Jenny (and a friend of Jenny's).

Jenny and Lily with cards from friends. It is customary to purchase a red envelope and put cash inside for the couple (as a gift). Of course, you have to give an even number of bills--giving an odd number of bills is taboo.

Rosie and Tony were there to greet us. Rosie looked phenomenal! And they both appeared incredibly happy. They were happy to see us :)  I noticed that the Best Man was standing off to the side with a beautiful platter of...cigarettes. Yet another difference from the U.S. (where smoking indoors is banned in most locations. I was very spoiled in Iowa!). It seems that everyone here in China smokes... I digress.

Rosie and Tony with their Best Man, who was in charge of providing guests with cigarettes.

We then headed up to the fourth floor to mingle with other guests and drink hot tea. We found a dinner table near the stage on which they were to be married. The wedding ceremony was to take place during dinner, almost like a dinner theater (at least that is my analogy). The ceremony started at noon, and it was pretty short and sweet. I, of course, couldn't understand it, but during the exchange of rings, both Rosie and Tony both had tears in their eyes.

Rosie with her father. Tony had to get down on one knee and present her with her bouquet.

Exchanging vows. The lady in the fancy blue dress serves as a "hostess" (hired by them) and she talks them through the ceremony. She also sang a few songs at the end!

At the end of the ceremony, the couple had their parents come up on the stage and take a seat. The couple then presented each parent with a cup of tea, which they drank.

Maid of honor holding the platter of tea cups, while Tony presents a tea cup to his new father-in-law (drinking the tea on the left).

The lunch feast!
 

Immediately after the ceremony, the bride throws her bouquet (as in the U.S.). The groom throws these small red envelopes...

And inside is money! (This is 1 yuan, or about $ 0.15). Some envelopes were filled with much greater amounts :)

Afterwards, Rosie switched into a cute red dress and we all had fun and enjoyed our lunch. I was planning to leave after lunch with my other friends, but Rosie came over and told me she wanted me to stay "very late". I wasn't sure what this meant...



Liz and Rosie

We all sat down and had tea and talked. We watched others play poker and Mahjong, which is a very common post-wedding practice. The other guests just sat around and talked and drank tea. This all went on for several hours. The friends that I accompanied the wedding decided to leave, but Rosie wanted met to stay...



Guests playing Mahjong after the wedding.

Tony (far left) playing poker with his buddies.

Finally at about 6pm, they served us a delicious dinner. I have never seen so much food!  After dinner, Rosie asked me to go to the karaoke bar with the other wedding guests and her high school and college friends.

The dinner spread. It was delicious!



Hitching a ride to the karaoke bar.
 

Post-wedding karaoke fun!

The Chinese sure love their karaoke!

I ended up staying out until about 10:30, until some of her other friends were going to catch the Metro back into the center of Chengdu. I went with them (but the karaoke was still going on in full force). I was back to the hotel by 11:30 pm and was so tired! It was quite a day.