What's for Dinner?

The Changsha Wet Market

Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken us so long to update our blog! Our training ended on August 20 and we moved out of our hotel in Changsha (where we'd gotten quite comfortable) and into our placement school in Zhuzhou, Hunan. Needless to say, we've been fairly busy adjusting to this new city and trying to make our new "dormitory-style" apartment feel more like home. We're still alive and (for the most part) well. We just wanted to share some of the more interesting things we've seen and done the past couple of weeks!

LAST WEEK IN CHANGSHA & END OF TRAINING:

Our teaching practicum made the last week of our training fairly busy. However, we did manage to do a bit more "sightseeing" around the city of Changsha. Without a doubt, the most unique experience we had during the last week -- and maybe our entire stay in Changsha -- was a trip to the Wet Market (a.k.a. The Live Meat Market). In Changsha, the market was basically a couple of long, narrow, secluded city streets lined with individually owned kiosks & shops. We've read in guidebooks that the Chinese will eat pretty much anything with 4 legs except a table. While the Changsha meat market didn't quite show us that extreme, there were definitely some big differences from what you'd find at your local supermarket in the US. There were vendors selling live snakes, turtles, rabbits, goats, ducks, chickens, and yes, even puppy dogs. Watching a middle-aged Chinese woman nonchalantly reach her bare hand into a cage full of 5-foot long snakes, pull one out, slam it to the ground (to kill it), and skin it in a matter of seconds was a sight we will surely never forget. While I wouldn't say we necessarily "enjoyed" the market (in fact David left very grossed out), it was definitely an interesting cultural observation. It also gave us greater perspective into what our food is and where it is coming from. In a US supermarket, buying a perfect cut of meat really disconnects us from what we are in fact eating.

Cages full of Snakes at the Meat Market

Yum! Pig Feet for Sale!

A refugee! (His owner noticed him shortly after this picture was taken and put him back in the cage)

There were veggies at the market as well

We also tried out China's national pastime, karaoke, affectionately called KTV over here. We were expecting a dark bar with a lame microphone and scrolling words on an old TV. But no, this is serious business in China. This was the biggest building we've been in thus far, designated for KTV alone. You rent a private room complete with neon lights, flat screen tv's, and multiple microphones. Our group of about 50 got a double-decker suite with mirrored ceilings and glass floors. We danced, drank, and attempted to sing Chinese songs (yes, the lyrics were in characters - so Dave and I were out of luck). We had a fun time! However, peeking into the other rooms rented by the locals, things appeared to be much, much more serious. People sat on cushy black leather couches taking turns singing (or wailing) into the mic as if they were a pop-star singing to a throng of adoring fans. I couldn't tell you how many rooms there were, but ours was number 721....And of course every other building on the street was yet another KTV venue. Sheesh! All this practice did prove to pay off, because our Chinese friends were really great singers!

If only I could read Chinese lyrics. . . .

When you think of China, particularly Chinese film/bad tv, you probably think of Kung Fu. Well, we had our own private Kung Fu lessons too (organized by our Chinese teachers)!! Maybe my yoga practice helped me out, but somehow, I won an award for being the best student - rather funny really, because I still don't get it. It was pretty hilarious to see just how strict our teacher was with his practice.

Tiffany Joe, Kung Fu Master

We've officially been here long enough to branch out a bit more and try our hand, or should I say stomachs, to Chinese street food. I'm happy to tell you we haven't gotten sick yet and it tasted amazing! MSG is highly undervalued in the states. ;-) Actually, this is the only food we've had that wasn't deep fried and served in a liter of grease. They use charcoal grills!!! Of course it wouldn't be very Chinese without strange animal parts - you can grill feet, tails, claws, strange cuts of questionable meat products, seafood, and then the good stuff: mushrooms, green onions, whole eggplant, red bell peppers.... I won't ever be brave enough to try eating the meat sitting outside for who knows how long. But the locals do it and it smells quite good. I do recommend the eggplant!

As for the remainder of our teaching training: Teaching practicum was great and I'm glad it was included as part of our training. The experience of making lesson plans and delivering them to a room full of actual Chinese middle & high school students was definitely a great "warm up" for what the coming year will be like.

Tiffany in Teaching Practicum

Training concluded with a traditional Chinese dinner banquet at a restaurant near our school. Representatives from the Hunan Department of Education were on hand to wish us luck on our upcoming year and thank us for our service to the Chinese educational system. This was our first experience with the never-ending cheers and traditions at a formal banquet:

1) Don't eat until the host eats (that's pretty typical even for home)
2) Don't point the teapot spout at anyone
3) Turn the lazy susan slowly to allow people to pick the food as it goes by
4) Whatever you do, do not pick up food off the table that you accidentally dropped from you chopsticks.
5) But, you are more than welcome to spit bones out onto the table.

It was a fun time and a final opportunity for all of the foreign English teachers with our group to hang out before spreading across Hunan to go to each of our placement schools for the year. The morning after the banquet, representatives from each of our schools came to Changsha to meet us. With that, we were whisked to our new homes which we knew little-to-nothing about . . .

We had a great time in Changsha but left excited to experience a new part of China in our new roles as English Teachers!