Friday was "Duck Day" and we made two dishes featuring duck. Both of them are really easy, but use a special preparation of duck. Doing the preparation, called "tea smoked duck" is the hard part. Of course, they had already bought the prepared duck at the store and just described to us how to make it. It takes along time to make, at least 12 hours, so that was understandable, but sometimes I feel like they don't take us seriously as cooking students. It's like they don't expect us to actually learn it, or at least some of our teachers are that way. It's a little frustrating. Compounded by the fact that Simon, our translator is the single most confusing, unintelligible person I have met in China. He doesn't speak English all that well and even when he seems to understand the question will never, EVER give a straight-forward answer. Sometimes it seems like he is making it up and then asking the chef after if he is right, which I can tell because I can understand what he says. This would be more aggravating if it wasn't so funny. He will have the hardest time with "what kind of meat is this? Can you use other kinds?" and then I will give up and ask the chef and he will give me a normal simple answer. Even if I use Chinese, it doesn't seem to help. I have to ask him over and over again for the names of new ingredients in Chinese and he will just answer "you can buy it in the market." Then I will say I know, but when I go to the market what do I ask for? what is the name?" and he will just look confused. Then Simon will say something else that doesn't make any sense. I've taken to asking the chef whenever possible and telling my other classmates the things I can understand that the chef says that Simon doesn't translate for some reason. 
We keep wondering whether it is the language barrier or if he is this weird in Chinese too. I have to think so because he doesn't understand my questions in Chinese either and the chefs always do. He is just an odd duck. Makes life more interesting. So anyways, we made one style of duck that you just fry the tea smoked duck and cut it up and eat it (the first picture). The next you take the meat off the bone and fry it with red peppers in a soy-based sauce. Both were very good, but I don't like duck that much, it's too greasy. 
After class Ben and I went to the outside sharpening stones they have to sharpen our knives because they were getting a little dull. This is Ben sharpening his knife.Saturday I had another engagement with my
swimming friends. I met them at the sports stadium parking lot at 9:30am and we all got in a van and left. We drove pretty much back to my house. Behind my house there is a little river called Si (pronounced suh) River and a bunch of tea houses that line it with confusing little streets winding around between them. After being lost for about 15 minutes and asking about 20 different people for directions, we arrived at the "bamboo tea house". 
It was beautiful. It was set in a beautiful garden with all different kinds of trees growing in different plots on about an acre of land with little sidewalks going between plots. They explained to me that this was a research garden and a green house where you could buy plants. The tea house was less beautiful. It 
set in stands of bamboo and there were kids outside playing ping pong on an outdoor table made was out of concrete, which was a nice setting. But, the tea house itself was just a bunch of lawn furniture under a big green plastic roof. We sat around and talked for awhile and drank tea. They taught me special Chengdu dialect words and helped me read the paper (I was really surprised by how much I could get by myself!). Then we took a walk around the garden, which was amazing. 
They showed me the different kinds of plants that they know like a big fan shaped one that they sell as a fan in the summer and sang some traditional Chinese songs. When we got back it was pretty much time for lunch. We walked into another, more enclosed but equally as temporary-looking, room where there were a bunch of tables set up with food already waiting for us. That is something about China. I don't know if the other people ordered before hand or we just eat what they have, but there is no concept of looking at the menu. Even when I go out to eat by myself at the little restaurants near campus that have menus, once you sit down the server just stands there and waits until you order, they don't give you anytime to look at the menu or think about it. I suppose it's because every restaurant serves close approximations of the same thing and most people probably already know what they want so they don't need a menu.Lunch was very yummy. Aside from normal Sichuan fare, like Chicken soup, spicy sauteed spinach, fish with a special sweet and sour sauce, and about 4 or 5 others, we had a special "winter swimming" dish that I had never had before. It seemed like a sweet, black, sesame bean paste pocketed between two layers of a meaty sort of fish (i think) served with sugar on rice. I had to eat it first, since I was the special guest, but it actually wasn't that bad. Not that I'll be ordering it on my own. After lunch we sat down in the tea house again and I played mahjong with 3 of my swimming friends. One is a lady named Chen Laoshi who is in her 40's and is probably the next fastest swimmer after me. She lives and teaches at Chuan Da, although I don't know what. Another is an older woman who's name I can't remember who is 57 (she told me) and is so funny and animated, I just love hanging out with her. The other guy is older as well, maybe 60's or even 70 and he always wears a blue baseball cap with a foam front, like the John Deere one's, that is too big for him and smiles all the time. There was also a younger lady who usually swims at another pool who helped me play because I'm not that good yet. At 3:30 we had to have the picture taking ceremony where we took pictures in a group and then different smaller groups and then people took turns taking pictures with me individually or in pairs before we drove back to Chuan Da. Then we all went to the pool to go swimming, because it opens at 4pm.
I swam 1500 meters, which is more than usual when it is so cold outside and then went home to warm up. On the way home I took pictures of the route 
I take so you guys
can see it. After I leave campus out of the East gate, I go on the road along the Funan River. After about 
100m I pass a park/tea house/temple place with beautiful carved stone walls. I haven't been inside the park yet, but I
plan on going soon. Then I come to a arched bridge going over the river. 
There are always vendors outside the gates of the park and at the bridge selling sugar cane, sweet potatoes, fried dough things, flowers, and sometimes kettle corn on the weekends. 
After I cross the bridge take a left and follow the river on the other side for another 100m until I come to another flat bridge. This bridge is at a fork in the river and is by where the tea house I like to go to is. After I cross the bridge I pass a line of lamb soup restaurants that are supposedly very good. My swimming friends said they are going to take me next, next Monday (the 18th)
to eat dinner 
there after swimming. At night when I ride by they are always very busy and there are always boys out in front yelling at all the cars that come by to come and eat and pointing wildly. 
When I run by in the morning I always see either a truck or a bicycle delivering the day's lamb and they hang the carcases outside all day until they are ready to use them. 
After that I ride 2 blocks past some bakeries, our fruit stand, some other stores, my sweet potato lady, and a big gas station where all the buses and taxis come to refuel to a big intersection called "chen ren lu kou". After I go through the intersection the driveway into my complex comes up on the left off the next side street. I ride this same route to and from school everyday. So there you go, another window into my life in China. 
Now I should really go and study. I have another test tomorrow in my Chinese class. This is a picture of my activities for the day; Chinese books, computer, Industrial Ecology notebook because I am working on a Green Chemistry and LEED powerpoint, Christmas cards that I have to write, and my book on top for when I want to take a break.
1 comment:
There is a lot here but I have to say that I really like the bike route story and pictures. I feel like we are there with you. THANKS and you stay warm too!
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