Settling in, The Daily Adventure, Candy Mountain........ I Finally Have My Own Bed!

 I GOT MY OWN BED.

This moment is momentous! I have been living out of a suitcase since June 26th and even though I pinned that one quote on Pinterest that said, "I would gladly live out of suitcase if it meant I got to travel the world" I got to gloriously unpack that suitcase Friday! IT FELT SO GOOD. Getting settled in China is not easy at all. Everything is a process. Everything happens so fast. Everything is organized chaos. Or just chaos.

Now, on to the good stuff:

My apartment is quirky and I love it. My roomies and I picked a place that is distinctly Chinese. Up four flights of stairs, no elevator, and cheap Chinese restaurants pepper the area.  We have one shower, but it is a shower head in the wall with a drain on the floor. There is no section in the bathroom partitioned for showering. You just shower over the drain. I am missing my bathtub quite a bit to be honest. My bed is a rock, as are most beds in China,  I will definitely be splurging on a mattress pad the moment I get my first paycheck. Our kitchen is big, and as soon as we settle in more I am going to start putting it to work. There isn't a stove, but we have gas heat, so I am going to see what I can do with it. I am SO excited to explore Chinese cuisine and ingredients so I can learn how to make dishes from China to bring home to my family. My inner domestic goddess is squee-ing! 

Working on giving my room a bit more character, but I love it!

The garden outside of my window. Happiness!

My favorite part of where I moved is the location. We are within (mostly within at least) walking distance of everything that I personally find important. There is a brewery here called Great Leap that has one of the best hamburgers I've ever tasted and I can get there in 20 minutes. I can walk outside my door, go around a corner, and there is a giant market here that sells many western items for decent non-imported prices. There are many GOOD ethnic restaurants in the area. I've had some of the best Middle Eastern food in my entire life since I got to Beijing. You can truly find nearly anything here if you just look hard enough. Except for dill pickles. Still haven't been able to track those down yet.   

My babe/ love bug/ Roomie/ burger splitter

I've settled in to my new job and I love it. I am teaching mostly 6-10 year olds and they are so much fun! I have kids who are the age that they still say hilarious things and may not know a ton, but they are like little sponges and suck up all the new knowledge I share with them. To top off the job, my coworkers are hilarious. I work in a center with 98% guys and many of them are from California. It's nice to be able to talk about home occasionally!

Break time!

My little guys! I love them!

"It's an elephant, teacher!"

The best part about Beijing? I'm happy. I'm genuinely happy and I haven't been happy like this for a long time. I find a lot of joy in wandering around and just taking in the sights, sounds and smells (even when they are gross). I love the daily adventure that is finding food and I have become quite fond of just walking into a restaurant and pointing at a photo for meals. It's exciting and a little scary because it is such a shot in the dark.  

Looks like a dinosaur. 

I went to dinner with a friend and we were discussing how day to day life here is never the same. Sure, most of the days we go to work and then we come home, but all of the events in between these to points of our day are never there same. Different street food stands pop up daily. Different street performers appear in the subway stations. Our kids have on and off days. Everything is in constant motion in this city. Beijing makes sure that I am always on an adventure.

Two-ish Weeks in Beijing!!!

I finally started at my new school! 

Since I last posted, life has been a crazy, fun, and stressful whirlwind, which is why It has been so long! I guess I will just start from the top:

I started my new job on Monday, August 4th. I trained for a week and reported to my new school Saturday, August 9th. By the way, I love the children here. They are the absolute cutest humans on the planet. ABSOLUTE CUTEST! I will definitely be sharing photos of them in the near future. Basically I spent my day sitting in class with five year olds, some who kept touching my hair and telling me I was beautiful, then we would sing and dance. My favorite was getting to scream Let It Go during break. I am basically a 5' 8" child and I still love that song. The kids have so much energy. I love it.........

At least for now.

  

They see me rollin', they hatin', patrollin' and tryna catch me ridin' dirty. 

I found two awesome roommates who are both into the types of shenanigans I am..... Which may be simultaneously the greatest and worst thing ever. Either way, I adore these two. Team Unicorn, unite!
I don't have any photos of our new place yet, but it is quirky. We found a place near bar street (also, may be the best and worst thing ever) that is in the middle of residential area. The apartment is..... different. I'll just say that. Staying there is going to be an adventure in itself. 

I've figured out a few interesting things about Beijing in the last two weeks that I've been here. Just a few little tidbits from me to you, if you ever plan on visiting:

Tidbit #1:
IT IS EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES ON THE SUBWAY. YOU SEE AN OPEN SEAT, YOU TAKE IT, YOU DON'T GIVE IT UP UNTIL YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO (unless there is a super cute child, elderly individual, or pregnant woman... because that's just what you do) . YOU FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR THAT SEAT AND YOU ENJOY EVERY DAMN MINUTE OF IT! But seriously, I love the subway here. So fast, mostly air conditioned, but incredibly crowded. I have spent upwards of forty minutes standing up trying to get from point A to point B. Thank goodness for my kindle and Game of Thrones. At 32 cents a ride I can't really say no.

Metro App saves my life every day.

Tidbit #2: 
Be willing to step out of your comfort zone in Beijing. No one really believes in personal space. Prepare to be touched, have photos taken at any moment, and stared at every where you go. Two weeks in and I have already had people touch my hair (kids especially), people touch my hands, and many photo requests. It isn't very bothersome, but some thing we don't really deal with back home. Some times it can be really hilarious and you roll with the punches.

The usual.

This tidbit doesn't stop at personal space; be willing to try any new food too. I can't read or understand Mandarin at all. I can say beer, thank you, cold, and hello. I can recognize the Chinese characters for people, mouth, exit...... Andddddddd that's basically where Jessie's Mandarin stops.

Ordering food is an adventure. I'm still doing a lot of pointing and nodding (and praying that nodding doesn't actually mean something different/offensive to those who live in Beijing). This means that my taste buds are currently on an adventure as well. Grocery shopping is a scavenger hunt.

Mmmmmm. Chicken Essence!

This doesn't mean that Beijing doesn't have Western food- it does. You just have to find it (see above reference about grocery shopping being a bit of scavenger hunt). I must say though, I had the best burger of my life at a brewery here called Great Leap. I mean, we are talking incredible by U.S. standards. And I don't even like burgers usually.

Tidbit #3:

Beijing is basically a cheaper Las Vegas. You can get roadies for less than $1 and just roll from one place to the next. I have found it common place to see people drinking beers in the streets as early as 9 am and it's totally cool. My first night going out I was afraid to just drink openly, it was then explained to me that it isn't illegal here to have an open container in the streets. As my friend put it, "Jessie, it's Beijing. It's the land of freedom". I'll take it.

Tidbit #4:
Explore!!!This city is incredible. Beijing is vibrant. The people are beautiful. At night after I leave work there are hundreds of people dancing or rollerblading or jump roping in the large open space next to my center. This happens every night and every night it makes me smile.

 I move into my new place on the 22nd. Photos to come!

Miss List.

I have been in Asia since June 27th. 

Stuck in Narita Airport overnight. Things got silly.

39 days without a burrito in my belly.

Seeing this photo actually hurts my feelings a little bit. I have been taking Mexican food for granted.  

Or Pickles......

39 days without being able to understand EXACTLY what I am ordering for dinner.....

Perhaps I can interest in you some Fried Lizard? Snake Pinwheels? Beetle? Scorpion???

On the bright side, I've enjoyed almost everything I've eaten

39 DAYS WITHOUT A GLASS OF GOOD CABERNET

I MISS YOUR TASTE

But I am trying a variety of great Chinese beers. 

Most importantly, these 39 days I've been away from my family have made me realizing how lucky I am to have such an incredible and loving support network back home. I miss these things especially:

Having mom and dad simply a phone call away.

Cuddling with Mozzie 

I miss that face. 

Hanging out this this guy.

My spoiled little guy, Gouda.

And this guy. I miss this guy a ton.

I am slowly teaching myself Mandarin with a great app I discovered my second day here. The app is from Mind Snacks and you can find it here. The app is generally built for little kids, but I learn best if I get to play games so it works well for me! Up to this point I've mastered Numbers, Dates, Months and Seasons. It has more languages, so try it out!

Beijing has been really good to me the last few days. The skies are clear and the sunsets are beautiful. I am happy with where I am. I already feel comfortable with guessing at what I am eating (because I haven't royally messed that up.... yet).

 The people I have met so far have been amazing and lots of fun. 

Team Unicorn. 

Even though I miss many things, and especially Tucker, Mozz and the Boys, Beijing is treating me pretty alright. 

Having a beer underneath the 2008 Olympics Bird's Nest after my first day of work. Amazing.

My Love, Chinese Food.

I love Chinese food.

I really love Chinese food. An absolute ridiculous amount. If I could write music, I would probably write ballads to Chinese food.

I know I posted some of these photos already, but I need to post them again for emphasis. 

 I knew when I decided to move out here that eating would be of little problem when the time came to settle in. Up to this point I have been mostly eating ramen noodles, which are my own personal version of heaven. Please feel free to judge me. I don't care. Chinese instant noodles are damn delicious. I literally have no idea what flavor I am eating 90% of the time. I just buy the noodles based on pictures and pray. 

The noodles range from 2.8 yuan-8.5 yuan and you can check the yuan-dollar conversion rate here. Salty, cheap, noodly, delicious heaven. My favorite are the noodles in the left of this photo, egg and tomato. I make a soup back home that has chicken broth, egg, tomato and cucumbers based on a dish I ate last time I visited Beijing. I tried the green one on the right last night.... not my favorite, but I was drunk enough that it tasted just fine. 

Just re-living Undergrad in Beijing.

These things. Ok, I say 'these things' because I haven't exactly figured out what they are yet, but they are one of my favorites. I shall now refer to them as Nommy Twists, at least until I figure out what they actually are.. Nommy twists are cracker/cookie-esque. They are not exactly sweet, but they aren't savory either. They are in cracker purgatory and they are addictive.

I like you Nommy Twisties.

My absolute favorite thing to eat here are these build-your-own-spicy bowls. They are delicious, but they can pack a punch. Not only a spicy punch, but a tummy aching punch simply because they use a lot of oil in their cuisine. Basically you take a bowl, fill it to your heart's content, they weigh it then spice it up with ridiculous peppers/peanuts/ cilantro and BAM! You are eating one of the best make-your-own-lunch- that-some-one-else-then-cooks you've ever had.

My favorite bowl is potatoes, tofu, mushrooms, lotssssssss of bean sprouts, bok choy, lotus root, bamboo tofu, some green squash thing whose name I haven't quite figured out yet, peanuts and cilantro. There is a photo of it at the top of this post. If I am feeling fancy I add a few Quail eggs, which are very yummy I might add, maybe some seaweed, whatever floats my boat. The bowls make you really full and the most expensive bowl I have made was 18 yuan (which is $2.90) which is probably why I have eaten three of them in the last four days.

The vegetables, so many!

There is a HUGE selection of meats. I haven't tried any because they cost more when weighed, but my coworkers seem to enjoy them!

I did not take any photos, but last night Melissa, Max, and I went to this fabulous Yunnan (a Province in the south of China) restaurant. We ate pineapple rice, beef wrapped around mint leaves, the most incredible spicy tofu I've ever tasted and this deep friend cheese-esque dish that was spectacular.

I have quite a bit of time to explore the foods of China, which is really exciting to me because I know there is quite an abundance of new flavors to try! I will let you know more as I explore more of the city!

I didn't eat these, but they are SO cute. 

Expat Parties, $2 Cab Rides, 4 AM Bed time.

Expats can party.

Last night we got invited to a party. A random party invite from people we didn't know in a place we had never been. Well, I guess we kinda knew them. Max had been messaging them about an open room in their apartment. At the beginning I was a little leery of the idea of riding the subway for an hour to some random individual's home to partake in merrymaking with a group of humans I had never met.... 

And once again, Beijing did not disappoint.

 We (Melissa, Max, and I) wandered around looking for this place for nearly an hour and a half with our .50 cent half liter beers in our hands like clubs. We rolled into this random apartment at probably 9:45, beers still in tow, and it was beautiful. There were people from England, Czech Republic, USA, Canada, Belgium, China. There is something ridiculously fun when you get that many nationalities in one room. Everyone is so different and it is amazing. Everyone revels in their cultural differences, everyone is teaching each other curse words and crude gestures. It is my favorite.

I feel like I am back in college; drinking 50 cent beers, staying out until three in the morning and subsisting on Ramen Noodles. 

I think I'm going to like this place. 

Teaching Will (he's from England) the art of beer Pong. 

This girl. <3

Beijing Randoms.

Random things about China so far:

• The pollution is really bad. Like really, really bad.  I saw the sky last night (haven't seen it during the day) and got so excited that I grabbed the other foreign teacher I've been exploring with and began pointing. Even though it is bad, and I am developing a nice smoker's hack, it doesn't really take away from the beauty of the city. I am still completely enamored with everything Beijing. 

• Street food is bomb. This morning Max (foreign teacher) and I went out to find some breakfast and we walked by this little stall that a bunch of locals were stopping at. We didn't know what they were selling, but we did know it was roughly $1 USD for whatever it was. What we bought was seriously one of the best things I've ever tasted. Still don't know the name, probably going to eat one tomorrow for breakfast too, already excited to eat it again. The pancake was full of potatoe-y carrot-y goodness. 

WHATEVER YOU ARE, YOU ARE LIKE POTATO HEAVEN.

• Went on my first shopping trip last night after we ate at KFC. By the way, KFC's mashed potato portions in China are really depressing, in case you were curious. I came across some rather inventive flavors of potato chips. These flavors include: Italian Red Meat, Fermented Soy Bean Prawn, Fun Wasabi Shrimp, Cucumber, Sweetie BBQ Pork, Mexican Tomato Chicken, annnnnnd Spicy Green Peppercorn Fish. Naturally, I bought the Cucumber because I was curious. My taste buds were confused, yet pleasantly surprised. 

I'm not even going to ask questions.

Chinese Wal-Mart is overwhelming.

• I don't exactly feel like posting a photo, but last night I got about eight Prostitute trading cards slid under my door. I still laugh whenever I get any of these no matter what country I'm in. 

• Annnnnnnnd this guy: