Kitty Nap

 

Job: Foreigner

Although I've taken on some regular work, I am still keeping an eye open for odd jobs for both some extra money as well as for something interesting to do.

Today, that job was simply being a foreigner. Here in Beijing, that job description can apply for various different situations, from being a doorman with that laowai smile, to advertising to playing in a band and so on and so forth.

What I did today was simply to spend time with a big group of Shandong schoolkids, who were visiting Beijing for a few days with their language school. Part of their tour programme was "hang out with the foreign teacher", which of course was me.

So, I basically went sightseeing with them for a few hours, signing almost 200 autographs on t-shirts and caps and in notebooks, and posing for countless photos. Other than that, I got to play tourist as well, visiting places I've never been before.

I wouldn't mind making a career out of this.

EDIT: Just after having posted this, I read this article on the Chinese news agency website: Peking University: No to your groups --- Funny as this is exactly where we were today with the kids. In the through the west gate and all!

Plus One

Yesterday our family grew by one little creature, already filling a big place in my heart. I was walking in the hutongs with a friend, when this little guy came over to me, purring and playing with no fear. And as it happened, the house in front was the home to his mother and the family who lived there told me I would be welcome to take the kitten home with me, that they were hoping to find a good home for him.

And so, after years of longing to have a cat, he really is here :)

Push

In an effort to cut down pollution caused by increasing traffic, Beijing city council is promoting more environmentally friendly energy sources for public transportation.

Hutong Heat Stroke

To take advantage of it being sunday, this morning we headed out with a Frommer's guide to Beijing and an intention to follow one of the book's suggested walks that was claimed to show us the 'real' life of Beijingers.

As we emerged from the subway, we plunged straight into the little hutong lanes, almost like the ones around where we live --- the only difference is that where we live the alleys are straight, but in this area, it looked like the design was based on a cobweb!

And yes, just a few steps in, we already felt it was one of those places that make you love this city. Imagine being in the middle of this concentration of 15 million (or more!!) people, and having am athmosphere of a small village. No other sound than the wind and the birds, old men sitting on little stools in front of their houses....

(Unfortunately, most of these amazing hutong areas are being torn down all over the city to make way for hidious apartment buildings and other modern monstrosities. It supposedly s a sign of the prosperity and development of the city and the country. Who will tell the people in power that most of us would appreciate the protection of the local culture as a sign of wisdom much more? This picture was taken not far from where we live.)


Having walked for quite a while, and visited some of the marked sites along the way, by around lunchtime we ended up at a Buddhist temple, which according to the guidebook is the 'closest thing you get to a real Buddhist temple in Beijing' ----whatever that is supposed to mean.

But it was real enough for me, another oasis of cool, calm and green in the middle of the city. But in fact, the reason of our going in was not really a spiritual one, on the contrary both me and Fabio were starting to let our stomachs do the thinking. The book said something vague about a vegetarian restaurant, but as there was no such thing to be seen, I asked a passing monk if there was one nearby. After talking for a while and trying to figure out where the nearest one was, the monk simply invited us to have lunch at the temple cantine, together with the monks and the staff of the temple.

And what a beautiful meal of simple veg and rice it was, eating at the long wooden tables with the temple's inhabitants. :) Sitting there, I could feel the kindness in the simple act of inviting us to eat, not to mention the continuous invitations for us to take more, if we wanted.

Although refreshed after the lunch, the walk was soon to get quite uncomfortable. The burning midday sun was at its worst when we emerged from the cool dining hall, and after another 20 minutes of walk, the two of us were starting to feel desperate. Only a drink and sitting down in the cool would help.

But of course, in a city with possibly millions of bars and cafes, when you really need one all you can find are music shops or hardware stores. Step by step the sun was getting hotter and my vision was going blurry. "Let's try just around that corner, there'll surely be something there. No? Just one more corner!"

In the end, it was a taxi home, where the airconditioners and cold drinks from the fridge did the trick. We'll save the rest of the walk for the autumn!! 

Take a Peek

Home Sweet Home

House hunting can feel like a job. Appointments all day long, up and down the stairs....until it all turns into a blur, all the living rooms look the same and all the furniture looks just as horrid.

But then, if you are lucky, after all those tacky puppy curtains, fake Greek colons, dark, heavy monster furniture, beds that look like they will swallow you up in the middle of the night, there might come a time when you open a door to an apartment and fall in love.

We have now moved into our new home, a place that feels like a home, and a place that still makes me smile every time I step in.

After many apartments, which were obviously decorated and furnished just to fulfill a purpose ("let's put A bed here, A sofa here, and a couple of chairs there"), this place stood out. The family who have decorated this place, have put a lot of thought into each detail and shade of colour. and a miracle of sorts was that there is nothing tacky in the flat. Otherwise, 'tacky' seems to be an alternative word for 'stylish' around here. So although we gave up the idea of a little garden of our own and said no to some much more spacious flats, this little place makes up for it with its soul.

You are welcome to come over for a coffee :)

Houhai lake in the evening: Photos

The New Beijingers

And here I am, in my new home city --- one that already feels like home. I have been so looking forward to moving here, and it's all going just the way it should be. We are staying in a hostel inside an area of the old alleys (hutongs), some of which still have been preserved even with the demolition boom going strong, and looking for a place to call home. We have decided on looking only in the area around here, my very favourite part of Beijing. There are lots and lots of these little alleys, with traditional Chinese courtyard houses and little cute cafes and bars, one of which I am sitting in right now ---->


Just a few minutes walk from where I am now, there's a beautiful lake, surrounded by old houses, now turned into reataurants and little shops. At night, when all the lights are lit and reflect on the water, it's one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.

Jobwise, things are getting started, too. I have taken on a part-time English teaching job at the language academy of the Beijing International School, which will start next week. So I have to find back my teaching voice (anyone who has ever taught knows you somehow develop this special teaching voice just for the classroom...) and try to get yet new groups of Chinese to speak English. Will write more about this as soon as I start.

But, it's all pretty, it's Beijing, it's just how China should be. Ahhhhhhhh :D

And YES, Italy is in the final!!!