Things I Love About Living in China

Hi all! I'm so glad to have you here. 

It's been awhile since I've written a blog post. I figured that in my free time today, I could make a blog post about my favorite things about living in China. 

Our recent Saturday out exploring Bagua-tian (a replica of the Song dynasty octagonal field farmed by the emperor himself.)
I like this picture of Lu a lot. 

Family-

This is definitely one of the most important factors of my Chinese expat life. I have a unique perspective to offer on the Chinese family culture as I'm married into one! Although it's still difficult for me to fully communicate with my in-laws since I don't speak much Chinese-much less Hangzhou dialect-we still get along well with our limited conversation. My husband, Lu, is our only real hope of making sure we understand each other. 

We almost always get together on the weekend, usually on Sunday night, for dinner at my in-laws' house. This way, we can keep up on what's going on each other's lives (and I can enjoy my mother-in-law's delicious cooking!) By now, she knows all my personal favorites of hers, and she makes sure to prepare them when we come over for dinner. Even more, she makes sure that my favorite dish is placed right in front of me on the table for easy access with my chopsticks! 

Life with a Chinese family has really taught me about respect for one another especially in the unspoken things we do for each other. American culture is much more about direct communication of our love. We hug each other, kiss each other, and say "I love you." In most East Asian cultures--read Japanese, Korean,Chinese--symbols of our love are much more implicit. For example, my in-laws always insist on setting and clearing the dinner table by themselves. I always manage to grab a few empty dishes and take them to the kitchen, but I always get reprimanded for trying to help out. They insist on me sitting down on the couch and relaxing. "Eat some fruit!"-they say. Talk about true hospitality. Even though I'm family! 

Moreover, I always return to our apartment downtown to find it stocked with enough milk, yogurt, bread, and fruit to last us through the weekend (or longer!) So much for adult responsibilities and shopping for ourselves. In fact, I had to tell my mother-in-law that she was giving us more oranges than we could possibly ever eat. "Please, tell your mother, no more oranges!" I said to Lu two weeks in a row. Even more, when she comes for an apartment re-stocking, she'll often fold our clothes still left out on the clothesline, and lay them in a neat stack on the bed. 

My father-in-law is also great. Despite the facts his father is in hospice (so he's commuting almost every day to take care of him) & he often has overtime at his job, he always welcomes me with a smiling face. He helps out my mother-in-law in the kitchen and hardly ever sits down inside the house. Last summer, before the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, he learned a sentence in English every day. Although I'm sure he's forgotten most of them by now, I appreciate his gusto and warm-heartedness.

Although in the past Lu's parents' beliefs have collided with mine, we all get along pretty well. Near the beginning of my expat life in China, Lu related his mother's advice after a night out: that I shouldn't wear such bright eyeshadow to family gatherings (even though I had specifically gotten compliments on it from his family members). As I believe in makeup as an important part of self-expression, that piece of "advice" didn't go over well. In fact, I bluntly told Lu that I would continue to wear the makeup I liked, if not make it even  bolder to spite his mother. From that point on, I've never heard a complaint again! 

Recently, Lu's father lectured that I shouldn't be playing with the street dogs outside their apartment. Really the only reason that this became an issue was because one of those cute dogs followed us up the stairwell to their apartment door and sat there waiting for me come out. I thought it was a funny situation when Lu's dad opened the door to find a ruffled little mutt sitting on the doorstep, but he was not impressed and yelled at the dog to leave. After scaring the poor little dog away, he started to lecture me about the "dangers" of dogs. I know he had my best interests at heart and this was his act of "tough love" but telling me that I couldn't pet dogs rubbed me the wrong way. I pretended to not understand his Chinese. Now I know that I just have to pet all those cute doggies when he's not watching! (And I have to keep them out of the apartment stairwell, haha!) 

My Chinese family

My darling-the reason I'm here to begin with

 The Scenery-

The famous pavilion at the Bamboo-lined Path at Yunqi 

It probably goes without saying that Hangzhou is of the prettiest cities in China. It has a long history of being "heaven on Earth" and the Hangzhou people are rightfully proud of their city's rich history with scenic West Lake and the surrounding hills filled with tea fields and mountaintop temples hidden within bamboo groves. Hangzhou has also made the dream of a "flower for every season" a reality. Plums, peaches, and cherry trees are planted in apartment complexes and alongside roads. Camellias, sweet osmanthus, and various annuals dot the landscape with color and fragrance. The people who designed the city really knew what they were doing! 

Plum blossoms

The famous stone Buddha at Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou

Liu-he-ta (Pagoda of Six Harmonies)

Plum Blossoms at Bagua-tian

Fall foliage is beautiful

 Even though I do detest big-city life and I would never choose it over living in the peaceful countryside, Hangzhou is filled with plants, even in the heart of downtown. For this very reason, I'm very grateful that my husband is from Hangzhou and not some other metropolis like Shanghai (which is the opposite of green) or Hong Kong. Also, unlike expats living in Shanghai or Beijing, a mountain hike or walk alongside the lake is just  minutes away by public bicycle or bus. Which leads me to my next point...

Public bicycle stand, image by City of Hangzhou

The Public Bicycle System- 

Hangzhou is said to have the largest public bicycle system in the world, and for that, I'm very glad. Forget about having to worry about hauling your own bicycle around and worrying about fixing your flats! This system is used by 280,000 passengers daily and helps those in Hangzhou lessen traffic on the road all while giving us much-needed excuse to stretch our legs. The first hour of use is free and past that is 20-30 cents an hour. This system is an absolute life-saver for me as a bicycle is often the fastest (and obviously cheapest) way to get around town. I would say that I use the public bicycles at least 3x a week. The initial capital for this system was paid for by the government and the ads on the bicycles and bicycle stands plus the slight fee charged after the first hour of use fund the company in charge of maintaining the system. On a sunny day, you will often see a group of bike mechanics, surrounded by a smattering of metal pieces, replacing old parts on the bicycles. 

The Food-

All the delicious foods of Chinese New Year-egg rolls, crabs, and hotpot!

 I don't even know where to start when talking about Chinese food. It's so varied based on personal taste and where in China you're from. I personally love the southeastern Chinese cuisine, as well as northwestern beef noodles and northeastern boiled dumplings. The cuisine of Zhejiang Province tends to be a little sour, a little sweet, and more refined than other cuisines of China. Since Zhejiang is an ocean-bordering province, there is an emphasis on seafood. However, there is plenty of poultry, pork, and freshwater fish as well. Bamboo shoots are said to be included in half the dishes of Hangzhou, whether it be soup or stir-fry. I know for a fact that lotus roots are also especially tasty here in Hangzhou. They are one of my favorite Chinese foods.

Sweet lotus root

Perhaps my favorite Chinese food-Shanghai soup dumplings!

Next, I want impress on you about how affordable it is to feed yourself here. Unlike many parts of the Western world, eating out is almost the same price as doing the cooking yourself. I am now extremely spoiled about going out to eat quite often. If Lu or I don't feel like cooking, we just need to decide what restaurant we want to sponsor! Since we live downtown, there are tons around, and since living here, we've found out which ones are the best and they've become our usual haunts. We are really close with the waitress at the sushi restaurant near our place and we've brought their bustling little izakaya even more business by bringing our friends and coworkers there on the weekends to dine with us.

Fruit is so cheap

Bubble tea is also very cheap and great for quenching that mid-afternoon hunger

 Our favorite local only-in-Hangzhou restaurant is Xin-bai-lu (aka New White Deer). It is known for its Mabo Tofu which is a mere $2 per order. It is a great value restaurant, with everything tasting delicious and a surprising quantity of food for the price. For a typical dinner with our bellies full to the brim with food and drink, we pay about $10 per person. On the downside, because of its affordability and delicious local food, every chain store of Xin-bai-lu experiences incredible popularity, to the point where you need to arrive before the dinner rush at 5:30, or risk waiting an hour to get seated. Waipo-jia (Grandma's Home) and Lü-cha (Green Tea) are some of our other local favorite restaurant chains. All serve authentic Hangzhou staples like Dongpo pork, sweet and sticky braised lotus-root stuffed with rice, West Lake sweet and sour carp, and freshwater shrimp stir-fried with green tea leaves. Ooh, I'm getting hungry just typing this up!

The famous West Lake sweet and sour carp and  green tea shrimp

Lu and I enjoyed his 31st birthday dinner at Xin-bai-lu

 Last but not least, I love street food here in China. When I first came here, I was doubtful about the cleanliness of buying food on the street, but since living here, I have found out that all street vendors have a carefully thought-out plan and art behind what they're peddling. A very typical street food in Hangzhou is cong-bao-hui, a type of flattened crepe with a deep-fried breadstick (youtiao), lots of green onions, and a sweet or spicy (your choice) sauce inside. As things are made to order, the food doesn't sit around getting old. In fact, whenever I'm handed street food (most often I'm buying shao-bing or a sweet potato) I'm often juggling it in my hands because it's so piping hot! My recent visit to Taiwan, with all its glorious night market foods, only fueled street food's credibility.

Two cong-bao-hui coming up!

 Differences with the U.S.-

Have you ever seen duvet covers, someone's knickers, or even fish drying out under the sun under a lampost? Neither had I, until I came to China. I have seen so many things that made me say, "Only in China." I've also noticed differences that are pertinent to Asia, like using your umbrella while riding your bicycle. Although it's technically illegal in both Japan and China, everyone does it (including me.)

No lack of interesting things to see out in public!

Something guaranteed to make me happy while eating out with my husband is the fact that he will refill my (and any other guest who happens to be with us) glasses whenever needed. Whether it's tea or beer, the Chinese have a saying, "fill your guest's teacup 70% full and their wine glass until it's overflowing." Sound advice to me.

Lu also tends to "take care of me" meaning that when we're eating at a big table and the dishes tend to be a long reach away with my chopsticks, he'll grab whatever's new or extra delicious on the table and put some in my bowl for me. At first, I didn't really like this because I felt like he was treating me like a baby or something, but now I realize it's just one of the many unspoken ways he shows me love. In fact, I've come to reciprocate the action over time. 

Hanging out under a bridge? You're perfectly safe here and enjoy the artwork!

Is it raining out? Just ride your bike with an umbrella in hand!

All in all, there are many things I love about living in China. Of course, there are many downsides (in my opinion) to living here ie. pollution, lack of personal space, noisiness, blahblahblah, but China's got some good things going for it. Although those downsides can sometimes get overwhelming, I always have to remind myself of how grateful I should be to be living here in China with caring people all around me and many new experiences to be had. 

Hope this post could give you some new information about China that you didn't already know! If you have any questions or concerns, please leave them in the comment section below. 

Thanks so much for reading and have a fantastic day~<3

Josie

Culture Shock in China: Food, Noise Level,Traffic & on Being an Outsider

      When you first move to a foreign country, there are inevitable surprises. Things you think of as common sense are not always congruous between cultures. Hello, culture shock! 

     I wrote this blog to help lesson some of those surprises for those who plan on coming to China or are just plain interested in Chinese culture. My Chinese acquaintances are always asking me, "what's different between the U.S. and China?" It's such a challenging question because there are so many facets of life that are different! Usually, I can't give them a straightforward answer. Of course, lots of things are the same as well, but there are enough differences that I think I could come up with an endless list if I had the time. So, let's dive in~

 FOOD-

    Let's start with one of the hardest cultural hurdles when moving to a new country: eating. For me, I love most Chinese foods whether it's cooked by the school cafeteria, my Chinese mom, my husband, or a restaurant. However, there are a few that I just can't handle the sight, thought, taste, or smell of. Let's take a little tour of He Fang Jie (河坊街)-a traditional marketplace in Hangzhou selling many local goods and foods on the street. 

Probably my least favorite Chinese food to look at: chicken feet. P.c. to my best friend Cristina, who when visiting China, had the guts to go around and intimately photograph all these unusual foods.

 I don't know, but my husband can't get over the fact that I refuse to eat chicken feet. I have clear reasons why I don't want to try it. For one, I don't want to eat something that was once walking all over. Two, I've watched way too many Chinese people struggle to hold it with chopsticks while they're eating the feet, and if they're having trouble with chopsticks, I definitely will. Three, what's the point? There's so little meat on a foot.

Heads are no problem, in fact, they're sometimes more expensive than the other parts of the animal!

    Interesting fact: the fish's head is the most expensive part of the fish to order at a restaurant, so if you want to show off your wealth, you order fish head(s) for your guests.

Anyone care for some coagulated blood?

I think it goes without saying that eating blood just sounds weird. Especially in the solid form as shown above.

Probably the stinkiest of all Chinese foods-stinky tofu, a fermented tofu that is then deep fried. This one I've had, and while I wouldn't eat it again, I can say that the smell is much worse than the actual taste.

Yum, who doesn't enjoy smelling the equivalent of a sewer while they eat? Eating stinky tofu once wasn't the end of the world but when there are so many other BETTER things to eat, I can't justify eating it again.

Chinese have weird ideas about Western food. For one, this spaghetti is missing any cheese. Secondly, why is plated with whipped cream and chocolate?

Not enough space for all the plates on your table? The waiter/waitress will start stacking them.

    This is not usually a problem at mealtime unless you're at a wedding, (in which the amount of food is usually way too extravagant.) 

Used to having dessert? The Chinese aren't, especially after dinner. This sweet treat was from when we went to Hong Kong where Eastern and Western mentalities collide and sweet shops flourish!

   When I'm at home with my husband, our dessert is usually a small aloe-flavored yogurt each. No ice cream, no pie, no cake. Occasionally we eat some imported chocolate wafers because Lu loves them. When we're out and about, I'm always prone to stopping to get ice cream or coffee because usually my throat gets sore from shopping in the dry mall air or outside in the (often) stifling heat.  

NOISE LEVEL-

    Even if you've never stepped a foot into China, you're likely to know that Chinese have a reputation for being loud. Why? Because Chinese tourists make it to every corner of the globe and bring their customary high noise-level with them. I can't tell you how many times I've overheard people talking in very loud voices and I was afraid they were having a huge argument and then I see them laugh and pat their partner heartily on the back. It wasn't a fight at all, it's just passionate conversation. Maybe it's my American heritage, but when I hear people raise their voices, I assume sh*t's about to go down. 

Three of the elementary school kids I teach English to. They have more energy than I can handle most days! 

I tutor four elementary school students in English once a week. They're very bright kids but I also can't vouch for their listening skills. They all prefer my attention individually, pulling me in four different directions at a time and demanding spelling or grammar help in loud, persistent voices. When I first started teaching them, I shhh'd and shhh'd trying to get them to lower their voices to a "classroom level" but I soon realized that this must not exist in Chinese schools as their voices would soon return to normal "Chinese" levels! As you might guess, I now allow them to use their normal voices in class, but if it gets too loud, I will quiet everyone down.

TRAFFIC-

Traffic jams go with Hangzhou like white on rice.

     If you're anything like me, traffic is something you don't pay huge attention to in your home country, but once you venture out, you realize how different driving styles are in different countries. The first time I came to China and got into a cab with Lu I thought my life was going to end right there in that cab. The driver peeled out into traffic without a single glance over his shoulder to check his blind spot. We swerved in and out of traffic at an alarming speed and the driver wouldn't let off his horn, honking at other motorists and even pedestrians. I was horrified. 

     Since then, I've become scarily accustomed to taxi-drivers' insane methods of getting from point A to point B in the fastest time possible. Uber is illegal in China, but many young people still use it as it's cheaper than taxi service. One memorable Uber ride I took with some friends, less than ten minutes into our journey, we ran into a one-lane road with a taxi parked halfway in the middle. It seems that people were trying to enter the taxi and put their luggage in, but it was not a good place to do this all. Our Uber driver, after waiting for ten seconds or so, started honking furiously, gave up, and just laid on his horn for at least thirty seconds. Just as I thought I was about to go deaf, he swore, unbuckled his seat belt, swung open his door, and stomped over to the taxi driver and rapped on his window. He proceeded to tell him off for at least a minute for blocking traffic. By that time, there was a huge, honking line-up behind our car, and our driver angrily slammed the door shut as the taxi finally pulled away. I was afraid to be in a car with an angry driver, but luckily after some apparent complaining (I can't understand enough Chinese to know what he was saying), he got it out of his system.

   The other HUGE gap between America and China is how they treat pedestrians. In WA state, where I'm from, we have very strict laws regarding pedestrian safety. It seems that China is completely backwards. Motorists love to honk at people on the street all the time. This may be my biggest pet peeve about living in China. It's already damn loud in this country. The noise level of a honk while you're riding in a car is loud enough (heck, we use it in the States to use it almost solely to prevent an impending crash with another car, so it has to be loud enough to be heard inside another car.) Stop honking at me!! You're not only scaring me but causing me to go prematurely deaf. The worst of all though must be when you're walking/riding a bike in the designated pedestrian lane and a car comes up behind you, honking at you to move. Ugh. 

   Furthermore, when you're crossing at a crosswalk, don't expect anyone (except a public bus) to stop for you, even if it's the law. As I have, you'll learn to dash across the road when there's a small gap in traffic. For this reason, people jaywalk everywhere. There's really no difference for the pedestrian. Both ways of crossing are a gamble with your life. Even at an intersection when the pedestrian light is green, people turning right or making a u-turn have no chill. You need to play real-life Frogger (people younger than me might no understand this reference, I realize) and march across fearlessly. I have learned within my time here that because I'm a foreigner I literally have the ability to "stop traffic" with my looks. I guess people tend to stop and let me cross either because they are surprised, want a better look, or they don't want to pay the repercussions of hitting a foreigner! Still haven't figured out which reason it is, but it makes my life a tiny bit easier.

The case of no one wanting to sit next to you-on public transportation, in the cafeteria, anywhere. Well, at least I've got leg room!

   YOU'RE EITHER AN ATTRACTION OR NOBODY- 
     In every other part of daily life in China, you're surrounded by people, often standing very close to and touching you while you wait in line. There is NO such thing as a personal bubble in China, especially in a big city. The space you occupy rightfully belongs to everyone else as well. After all, the Chinese justify this intimacy as result of their overcrowded and overpopulated country. After people kept cutting me in line the first few months, I got pushy myself. Although I don't breathe down anyone's back or check out out people's groceries like some people do to me, I have learned that standing close is key. If you don't keep this close distance, people will assume that you're not standing in line (which is ridiculous in theory, but that's what my husband assured me.)

   In addition, when I'm out and about in the city, I attract a lot of unwanted attention. At stoplights, I have people from all directions staring at me. Sometimes people twist their entire torso around on their bicycles/motorbikes so they can stare at me. Chinese have no shame in blatantly staring. If something interests them, it's fair game. Coming from a society where our parents teach us "it's rude to stare, honey," it feels very rude to be stared at. Little kids riding with their parents will tug on their clothes and say, "look, there's a foreigner!!" or sometimes their parents will point me out to their kids, like I'm some exotic animal at a zoo and say "Look at the foreigner!" Sometimes kids say "hello!" to me as they pass by and I usually respond with a "Nǐ hǎo" because I want them to have a positive experience with foreigners. Sometimes older men say hello to me, but I think it's a less genuine salutation, and them trying to get a rise out of me or show off to their friends, so I never respond back or give them the attention they want.

    When going to famous places in Hangzhou, I've definitely had people taking pictures of ME instead of the sights. Usually people don't ask, they just snap away. I've had people sitting next me on buses and trains quite unabashedly take a picture of me. Every once in a while, if someone wants to take a picture with me, I'll oblige, but if they just want me solo, I'll tell them no. It's just embarrassing. I'm not a model, I'm not here for your entertainment. I'm just here to live my life. When you're pale-skinned with blonde and pink hair, it's hard to blend in. Most of the time, I just want to disappear from everyone's prodding eyes.

   In stark contrast, when I'm sitting in a public place, strangers will actively try to avoid me. If I'm sitting on the bus next to the window and the aisle seat's open, strangers will go out of their way to ask someone seated in the aisle to let them into the window seat, climbing over them in an awkward scurry. Likewise, if I'm seated alone in the university cafeteria at a table for four people, couples will walk right past me trying to search for two seats together somewhere. Obviously there are three open seats at my table, but they look right past me like I'm something ugly brought up from the deep-sea. To be quite honest, instead of giving me personal space, I feel isolated and sad sitting and eating completely alone.

RACISM-
   As a white person, I have not run into any racism myself in China. If you're familiar with the term "microagressions," this is how I would classify my experiences. To be honest, these aren't things to get worked up about. The prefix "micro" should be emphasized. Most of the inconveniences I experience are not due to racism, but just pure ignorance. The difference is that ignorance does not represent bad intention.

   For example, when I first when out with my labmates to lunch, some people would exclaim when I started to eat, "How can you use chopsticks so well?!" Really, how I wanted to reply to them was, "If you were in a country with only forks and knives, would you starve or learn how to use a fork and knife correctly?" But, being a polite person, I'd never say such a thing. Honestly, I tend to find chopsticks even easier to use than a fork for many foods. There's actually a lot of dexterity when using chopsticks. So, I would explain to them, "When we eat Asian foods in the U.S., we also use chopsticks. Also, I lived in Japan for a year and now I'm living in China. That's why."

    In the theoretical case that I weren't light-skinned, I think it is entirely possible that I would face flat-out racism. Chinese people seem to hold tight to stereotypes about people from African countries as "strong physically, but not good at academics," and that they "are lazy" and "don't apply themselves in school." It's not just one, but multiple peers that I've heard this from. It makes me sad that people of our generation in the twenty-first century still hold onto these ignorant beliefs. When they say these kind of remarks, I don't even know how to respond. I want to angrily refute them. Without justice, how will their thinking change? But there's a time and place for everything and I don't think my lecturing will change their severely misguided beliefs. That change needs to happen within Chinese culture, and I just don't think China is there yet. With a ever-widening and international world, and international marriages like mine, I hope we can dispel racism.

   One day, talking with my close Chinese friend, I found myself talking about the future. She asked me, "How many kids did you want?" "Two, we both want two," I replied. "A girl and a boy would be perfect." She said, "I know your kids will be so cute. Asian-American babies always are." I agreed, yes, I also thought mixed race babies had so much undeniable charm. The best of both worlds, as I like to think.
    She then proceeded on, "Your babies will have such pale skin instead of yellow and will probably have dark hair and eyes, so they'll be very pretty." I then explained to her, "I don't care what color their skin is. I know Chinese society places very high standards on 'beautiful' white skin, but I come from America where people are used to every shade, shape, and size of person." She then went on, "Yes, but if you had black skin, I really don't think your babies would be as cute. You know?" I reassured her, that no, I think they would be just as stunning as any mixed-Asian. "Skin is just skin, you know?" I rebutted. "We're all human. Except for the amount of melanin in there, there's nothing different." And then she proceeded to say the most ridiculous misconception I've ever heard: "Black skin is tougher than white skin." I clarified, "You mean, because it doesn't sunburn as easily?" "No," she said, "it's actually tougher and feels rough." "It's not smooth like yours or mine."

   In the end, I reassured her that black skin is no rougher or tougher than anyone else's. After all, she admitted to never having felt a black person's skin herself, so how would she know? I grew up on the East coast of the U.S. and many of my classmates were African-American. I know I must have touched their skin while playing. There's obviously no difference. But this is the kind of ridiculous notion that persists here. It's a sad reality. If I weren't white, would I have even become friends with her? Who knows... I guess I shouldn't dwell on "what-ifs" but it's hard not to.

   Sorry to end on such a remorseful note, but hey, it feels good to vent. If you're reading this from any country of the world, I wouldn't let these differences discourage you from coming to China, no matter what your background or skin color. I truly believe anything can be overcome with a positive attitude and a large dose of patience. Except chicken feet. Don't go there.

Hope to publish a part two to this post soon. Thanks for all your support, I love you all!
Let me know your experiences with culture shock in the comments below.

Josie

It's Been 10 Months in China: Where I'm At

 

West Lake, Hangzhou

 Wowzas. It's been a loooooong time since I've written a blog post. Like, since I lived in Japan-long. Now I'm in China and I've almost been here for 10 months. I started out my Chinese life with vlogging to keep track of my life, let me condense my feelings, and show others who haven't been to China before what life is like here in this huge, Communist country. However, my willingness to sit down in front of my camera and to later edit my video together has unfortunately fizzled out recently. Part of it's just laziness, the other part is that it's just embarrassing to record yourself and have to watch it later. (It's not just me, right?)

Check out my YouTube channel, JosieInChina, if you haven't already!

     However, I thought, why don't I just sit down and write down my thoughts? It's been a while since I could utilize this kind of stream-of-consciousness. I'm not exactly a concise writer and I'm definitely not good at keeping a logical sequence going (even in English!) but let's have a little conversation about China, shall we? I might be doing a fair-share of the talking though, hope that's ok with you. Hear me out...

    First things first, and it's going to sound all sappy and romantic, but to boil down my reason for being in China, it's this: I'm here because of love. Because I went to Japan and fell in love with a Chinese man. And I continue to fall more and more in love with him every day.

    Don't get me wrong, we have our moments of miscommunication and stubbornness, but we're both willing to make things right sooner rather than later. Also, we both have a foreigner for a spouse. You've gotta meet in the middle. Your foreign spouse is never going to connect-the-dots in the same way as you. Things you know to be common sense have to be laid out in terms clearer-than-crystal. You have to show and teach on a constant basis, whether it be language, cooking, or your own country's customs. Thankfully, this is a life the two of us enjoy. I feel like it's such an adventure to live with and love someone who's first language is not your own.

One of our Chinese wedding photos

    All in all, I'm very lucky that I got into the botany department of Zhejiang University, otherwise I probably wouldn't be here. Zhejiang University is one of the best universities in China. At the time I applied, I was afraid with my less-than-perfect college GPA, lack of Chinese-language skills, and the fact that I almost failing my physics course, that I'd never have a chance. Whether it was fate or just the fact that the university was hungering for more American students, I got in. I can still remember screaming when I finally got my acceptance email. My mom also started yelling and my dog, Mika, started scrambling around my feet trying to find out what the hell happened.

The front gate of Zhejiang University (浙江大学) on a snowy, December day

    For Americans coming to China, you'll need a visa of one type or the other. After a little research, I found out that being a Chinese national's fiance really doesn't help out your visa situation. Even if you're married, for a marriage visa to be considered valid, you can't be studying or working in the country. So, what are you supposed to do? Be a housekeeper? NO thanks.

This is the symbol of Hangzhou (杭州)-can you see the characters in the shadow? Hint:they're reversed.

    So, let's start off with the basics! I live in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province which is considered to be sub-tropical Southeastern China in geological terms. To put it in simple terms, Hangzhou definitely has four solid seasons and they are hot, mildly hot, cold, and mildly hot again. Maybe you can tell that I don't do well with heat. Nope, not at all. There's a reason why Hangzhou is labeled as "one of the three furnaces of China." If it's possible, I think summer in Hangzhou is even hotter and more humid than summer in Kyushu, Japan and much colder in the winter. In the summertime, while my husband, Lu, slept soundly under a comforter I pushed that hot blanket and his body heat as far away as I could on our bed and slept with the fan pointed at me whilst I sweated like a marathoner on a 100 degree-day. Once rainy season (occurring now) is over, it'll be back to that unbearable heat. For once, I'm not minding these cold, rainy days. At least it's not hot yet~

Photo of Shnaghai's Hongqiao Railway Station- Shutterstock

For some distance perspective, we're about a 50 minute bullet-train ride from Shanghai's biggest train hub: Shanghai Hongqiao Station. The Hangzhou East Railway Station (杭州东点) is only two subway stops from our Datieguan (打铁关) station, making it very convenient to travel out of town. Speaking of convenience, is there anything more convenient and pleasant than shrinking a normally 3- hour journey into 50 minutes on a clean and efficient train? Furthermore, the ticket only costs $16 USD. Covering the same distance by train in the U.S. is about 10x more expensive. 

    My husband (like all other Chinese people) refer to Hangzhou as a "small" town. Ahahah. Small my a**. If a city has 9 million people and growing, I'd consider that a BIG city. Considering that 9 million people is more of a population than my entire home state of Washington, I consider it with a little bit different outlook than a Chinese person. So, for future reference, if a Chinese person tells you that they come from a "small city," take their words with a grain of salt. Or ten. 

My panorama of downtown from the Hangzhou Sports Center where we sometimes go to play badminton together.

    But you can't blame them as China has a total population of over 1 billion. In fact, some Googling tells me that China had a population of 1.3 billion in 2013. 

    Even with the Hangzhou municipal government limiting the amount of cars that can be on the roads (depending on your license plates you can't drive on certain days of the week, in certain, usually congested places like West Lake, or at certain times of the day) it's still always possible to get in a thick traffic jam, no matter where or what time of day. It drives Lu crazy. Honestly, it's been such a constant inconvenience the whole time I've been here, I'm expecting to encounter bad traffic any time I go out. If we have the choice, we go by bicycle. It's always faster and it's good exercise. 

We often cycle to and around West Lake

    So, I can hear the question you have lingering in the forefront of your mind: how's your Chinese? If I was here to study purely Chinese, I think I'd be much better. But I'm not. I'm here to study ecology. Honestly, it's just enough to get by on my own. I can't hold much of a conversation besides asking someone's name, where they're from, what they study/do for work. I can read most short sentences. I do know and recognize a lot of random foods, especially fruits and vegetables, so that helps when I go shopping or go out to eat. I took an intro-level Chinese class as it's required for international postgrad students (and, of course, I wanted to) but the pace was too slow and I would have rather just taught myself. I pulled an A. I tried to take the Intermediate course the next semester and it was waaaay too advanced for me and the class was full, so I gave up on hoping to learn from a university class. Zhejiang University really dropped the ball with that. How do they expect us to learn Chinese? 

In the meantime, I continue to do self-study with a textbook and listen from Lu. I also practice Chinese characters in a primary-colored practice book meant for little Chinese kids. I have no shame. As much as my Chinese friend says it's not an effective way to learn, I'll prove her wrong. It's basically how I learned Japanese, and Japanese characters are nine times out of ten more complicated than Chinese characters, 汉字. 

On the last day of Chinese New Year out in the festively-decorated square of our apartment complex

      In this post, I hope I was able to give you a little idea of what my life in China is like. Of course, this is just a introduction, so I wasn't able to delve into too many specific details. I'd like to in the future. I really want to go into detail about culture differences because boy, there are a lot!! I really appreciate hearing first-hand accounts from other people in foreign countries. I often check books out of the library based on people's stories of living abroad because I find it so fascinating.

   Hope to talk more soon!
      Josie