For those of you who are curious, we are eating ostrich.
Then, yesterday morning, we headed once more up Purple Mountain to explore the area of the Linggu Temple. Here are some of the better pictures.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Night Market & Linggu Temple
There's a night market in town, and it's from Taiwan. Hearing this, Friday night Kiersten and I made our way over to check it out, and this is what we saw.
For those of you who are curious, we are eating ostrich.
Then, yesterday morning, we headed once more up Purple Mountain to explore the area of the Linggu Temple. Here are some of the better pictures.
For those of you who are curious, we are eating ostrich.Then, yesterday morning, we headed once more up Purple Mountain to explore the area of the Linggu Temple. Here are some of the better pictures.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Hey, It Can Happen!
Clean
..
..
..
High-class
..
..
..
Sit-down toilets (still no public-use toilet paper, though)
..
..
..
Where are we describing?
None other than KFC and McDonalds, as found in China.
While certainly not the nicest food you can get in China, KFC and McDonalds have a quite different reputation here than they do in America. Ask any missionary in Taiwan, and they'll quickly tell you that these two restaurants are among the best places to meet with investigators. They are both clean and comparatively quiet. With that background, it is no surprise that Kiersten's interview for a teaching job at Nanda (what we affectionately call Nanjing University) was in a KFC. The job was gotten, and both parties were happy. To be brief in description, this job is an improvement from the previous kindergarten one. It is only one day a week for two hours, on campus (close to home), still pays well, and geared toward college students preparing to go to the U.S., New Zealand and the Netherlands for study abroad.
First class, lesson 1: Where not to go on a first date in America.
(P.S., as a complete side note, you should check out the Pumpkin Black Bean Burritos recipe Kiersten posted on the Hinckley Sisters' Recipe blog. As she quoted me as saying, they are literally, "Amazing. Wow. Delicious." Make sure you do the last step.)
..
..
..
High-class
..
..
..
Sit-down toilets (still no public-use toilet paper, though)
..
..
..
Where are we describing?
None other than KFC and McDonalds, as found in China.
While certainly not the nicest food you can get in China, KFC and McDonalds have a quite different reputation here than they do in America. Ask any missionary in Taiwan, and they'll quickly tell you that these two restaurants are among the best places to meet with investigators. They are both clean and comparatively quiet. With that background, it is no surprise that Kiersten's interview for a teaching job at Nanda (what we affectionately call Nanjing University) was in a KFC. The job was gotten, and both parties were happy. To be brief in description, this job is an improvement from the previous kindergarten one. It is only one day a week for two hours, on campus (close to home), still pays well, and geared toward college students preparing to go to the U.S., New Zealand and the Netherlands for study abroad. First class, lesson 1: Where not to go on a first date in America.
(P.S., as a complete side note, you should check out the Pumpkin Black Bean Burritos recipe Kiersten posted on the Hinckley Sisters' Recipe blog. As she quoted me as saying, they are literally, "Amazing. Wow. Delicious." Make sure you do the last step.)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Chess Time
Our of our favorite things here is to be walking down the street and see a group of older men huddled close together ahead of us. These groups can be found in the parks, in neighborhoods, or even on busy street corners. The onlookers may consist of a businessman on his way home from work, a man out walking his dog, or simply a passerby. One thing draws them all- Chess.
It is Eric's goal to be one of the guys in the middle, playing, with everyone crowded around him. I guess we'd better start looking for a good chess set...
It is Eric's goal to be one of the guys in the middle, playing, with everyone crowded around him. I guess we'd better start looking for a good chess set...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Our Week in Words and Pictures
Here's a recap of the rest of our break.
Monday - A Walk to the River
Being so close to the Yangtze River and not yet having made a trip to see it, we decided to make the hour-long walk. However, about 30 minutes into our walk, we saw this
and decided that we could take a detour.
We soon discovered that what we had seen was the Yuejiang Tower, a structure with both ancient and modern historical value. It was built by the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but also later used by Sun Yat-Sen as an overlook to the Yangtze River. Needless to say, the view is spectacular from the top.
After spending a few hours at Yuejiang Tower, we decided to venture next door to the Jinghai Temple that we had seen from atop the tower.
Once again, we were impressed, but I'll let you do your own reading on this amazing complex.
Finally, after a five hour delay, we arrived at the Yangtze River.
It was worth the walk, but our tired feet only let us stay there a few minutes before we searched the map for a bus that would take us back home.
Tuesday - the Zoo and Library Revisited
We left early in the morning to make our way to the zoo, excited to see what animals China had to offer. To be modest in expression, though, our excitement very quickly turned to sadness as we saw the conditions of the zoo. Perhaps it's the culture gap, but the only fitting word that I can come up with to describe that zoo is "prison camp." The zoo itself was beautiful, but the cages the animals kept in could hardly have been more dismal.
After the zoo, we took the subway to the Nanjing Library, this time with our passports. The English literature selection was pretty scarce, but we did come home with two books: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot and A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman by Ida Pruitt. This one, however, was quite tempting.
For dinner, we went to a dinner party that Kiersten's kindergarten principal was having at a large, nice restaurant. It turned out being a lot of fun, even though we were surrounded by more than one drunk person. We drank orange juice, and this is what we ate (not a complete list):
We stayed home and relaxed.
Thursday - Return to Purple Mountain
For less than 50 cents in the U.S., Kiersten and I spent Thursday morning and afternoon exploring the unexplored on Purple Mountain. This began with a stop at the botanical gardens. To our surprise, we discovered perhaps Nanjing's best kept secret. They called it "Bridge World," but we call it fun.
That was followed by a trip to Cherry Blossom Hill, which we will certainly have to revisit come cherry blossom season.
We then took a stroll down the 600-year old stone animal path, which leads up to the first Ming emperor's tomb. 
Our day ended with a tour through the Soong Meiling Palace. 
Now, it is back to school for both Kiersten and I, but we are very much looking forward to spending many more weekends exploring the yet unexplored of Nanjing.
Monday - A Walk to the River
Being so close to the Yangtze River and not yet having made a trip to see it, we decided to make the hour-long walk. However, about 30 minutes into our walk, we saw this
and decided that we could take a detour.We soon discovered that what we had seen was the Yuejiang Tower, a structure with both ancient and modern historical value. It was built by the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but also later used by Sun Yat-Sen as an overlook to the Yangtze River. Needless to say, the view is spectacular from the top.
After spending a few hours at Yuejiang Tower, we decided to venture next door to the Jinghai Temple that we had seen from atop the tower.
Once again, we were impressed, but I'll let you do your own reading on this amazing complex.Finally, after a five hour delay, we arrived at the Yangtze River.
It was worth the walk, but our tired feet only let us stay there a few minutes before we searched the map for a bus that would take us back home.Tuesday - the Zoo and Library Revisited
We left early in the morning to make our way to the zoo, excited to see what animals China had to offer. To be modest in expression, though, our excitement very quickly turned to sadness as we saw the conditions of the zoo. Perhaps it's the culture gap, but the only fitting word that I can come up with to describe that zoo is "prison camp." The zoo itself was beautiful, but the cages the animals kept in could hardly have been more dismal.
After the zoo, we took the subway to the Nanjing Library, this time with our passports. The English literature selection was pretty scarce, but we did come home with two books: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot and A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman by Ida Pruitt. This one, however, was quite tempting.
For dinner, we went to a dinner party that Kiersten's kindergarten principal was having at a large, nice restaurant. It turned out being a lot of fun, even though we were surrounded by more than one drunk person. We drank orange juice, and this is what we ate (not a complete list):
- eight cold dishes, including intestine and jellyfish
- marinated shrimp with chopped pepper and mushroom
- black pepper "cowboy" bone (beef)
- ginger and onion fried crab
- goose feet in abalone sauce
- shrimp skin wraps
- streaked pork with pointed pepper and smoked bean curd
- "treasure" fish in bean sauce
- stir-fried seasonal vegetables
- some very good dessert
- assorted fresh fruit
We stayed home and relaxed.
Thursday - Return to Purple Mountain
For less than 50 cents in the U.S., Kiersten and I spent Thursday morning and afternoon exploring the unexplored on Purple Mountain. This began with a stop at the botanical gardens. To our surprise, we discovered perhaps Nanjing's best kept secret. They called it "Bridge World," but we call it fun.
That was followed by a trip to Cherry Blossom Hill, which we will certainly have to revisit come cherry blossom season.
We then took a stroll down the 600-year old stone animal path, which leads up to the first Ming emperor's tomb. 
Our day ended with a tour through the Soong Meiling Palace. 
Now, it is back to school for both Kiersten and I, but we are very much looking forward to spending many more weekends exploring the yet unexplored of Nanjing.
Monday, October 5, 2009
It's Doughnut Time!
This past weekend was General Conference, which has always been a special time for our family. It is a time where we get to hear from our prophets and leaders all at once. In my family growing up, October Conference also meant one more thing- making doughnuts. What correlation is there between a very special, spiritual weekend and doughnuts? None really, but we always looked forward to it as children. When I told Eric about this tradition, he was quite willing to help me with it. Who can say no to doughnuts- especially home-made doughnuts? When I found out that he had actually never tasted home-made doughnuts before, it was decided--we had to make them.
Here is the recipe that my family usually uses. They are really good! Especially hot out of the oil with a big mug of apple cider!
Donuts:
2 Tbsp yeast
2 cups milk scalded, then cooled down
5-6 cups flour
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
oil for frying
Dissolve yeast in cooled milk. Add 2 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and beat. Let stand 1/2 hour. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a separate bowl. Add oil and egg mixture to the yeast mixture. Add 3-4 cups flour. Beat well. Cover and let rise 1/2 to one hour. Place dough on a well floured board and roll out to 1/2 thick. Using a round cookie cutter or the mouth of a cup, cut out circle shapes. Cut out smaller circles in the middle of each larger circle for the donut holes. (We used the mouth of a clean water bottle for this part and it worked great). Place donuts and donut holes so they don't touch and let rise- about 15 minutes. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Flip donut halfway through frying to fry evenly on both sides. Place on plate covered with paper towels after frying to absorb some of the oil. Roll in sugar and enjoy!
**This recipe makes a ton of donuts so you may want to half or third the recipe depending on your family size. Eric and I only made 1/3 of the recipe and we still had plenty!
This tradition of eating doughnuts always seemed to mark the beginning of Fall. So, Happy Fall to everyone! I am so excited for the leaves to change and for all the pumpkin recipes we will be able to make!
Here is the recipe that my family usually uses. They are really good! Especially hot out of the oil with a big mug of apple cider!
Donuts:2 Tbsp yeast
2 cups milk scalded, then cooled down
5-6 cups flour
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
oil for frying
Dissolve yeast in cooled milk. Add 2 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and beat. Let stand 1/2 hour. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a separate bowl. Add oil and egg mixture to the yeast mixture. Add 3-4 cups flour. Beat well. Cover and let rise 1/2 to one hour. Place dough on a well floured board and roll out to 1/2 thick. Using a round cookie cutter or the mouth of a cup, cut out circle shapes. Cut out smaller circles in the middle of each larger circle for the donut holes. (We used the mouth of a clean water bottle for this part and it worked great). Place donuts and donut holes so they don't touch and let rise- about 15 minutes. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Flip donut halfway through frying to fry evenly on both sides. Place on plate covered with paper towels after frying to absorb some of the oil. Roll in sugar and enjoy!
**This recipe makes a ton of donuts so you may want to half or third the recipe depending on your family size. Eric and I only made 1/3 of the recipe and we still had plenty!
This tradition of eating doughnuts always seemed to mark the beginning of Fall. So, Happy Fall to everyone! I am so excited for the leaves to change and for all the pumpkin recipes we will be able to make!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Mid-Autumn Festival 2009
If you look up and see a full moon, it's a good idea to think to yourself: "What Chinese holiday is it today?" Most of the time you'll find an answer, and if you asked yourself that question last night, you would discover that it was Mid-Autumn Festival （中秋节）. Here is how we celebrated it.
Around 10am, we set out on an hour-long walk to find the library. To our delight, we passed this cool looking building, but to our disappointment, we could not figure out what it was. (I had to convince Eric not to sneak through the side door.) We walked on.
After a long, but enjoyable walk, we reached one of our destinations: the Nanjing Library. This has been on our to-do list for a few days now, especially considering the rumored trove of tens of thousands of English books there (but only one of which can be checked out at a time). But, to our disappointment (again), we forgot our passports an hour-walk away, so we were unable to even get past the front desk. If you are confused, stay in tune, and maybe one day we will post on the differences between a library in the U.S. and a library in China.
Luckily, our next destination was only a ten-second walk away. Kiersten has been wanting to find a Carrefour ever since we came to Nanjing, so we were very excited to find out there was one right next to the library. Unfortunately, we were expecting something more like the Metro we found in Shanghai. So, Kiersten is still on the search for China-unfindable cooking products (i.e. vanilla, powdered sugar, etc.).
The one good thing about Carrefour, though, is that we finally caved in and bought a good bag-full of mooncakes.
The last part of our day included looking up at the moon, a must-do on Mid-Autumn Festival. Unfortunately, due to a relapse of both Kiersten and Eric's headaches, sore throats, coughs, temperatures, etc., we opted to take our viewing by leaning out of our balcony window and looking up. Not the ideal spot to view the best moon of the year, but the most enjoyable sounding option at the time.
So, what did you do to celebrate?
Around 10am, we set out on an hour-long walk to find the library. To our delight, we passed this cool looking building, but to our disappointment, we could not figure out what it was. (I had to convince Eric not to sneak through the side door.) We walked on.
After a long, but enjoyable walk, we reached one of our destinations: the Nanjing Library. This has been on our to-do list for a few days now, especially considering the rumored trove of tens of thousands of English books there (but only one of which can be checked out at a time). But, to our disappointment (again), we forgot our passports an hour-walk away, so we were unable to even get past the front desk. If you are confused, stay in tune, and maybe one day we will post on the differences between a library in the U.S. and a library in China.
Luckily, our next destination was only a ten-second walk away. Kiersten has been wanting to find a Carrefour ever since we came to Nanjing, so we were very excited to find out there was one right next to the library. Unfortunately, we were expecting something more like the Metro we found in Shanghai. So, Kiersten is still on the search for China-unfindable cooking products (i.e. vanilla, powdered sugar, etc.).
The one good thing about Carrefour, though, is that we finally caved in and bought a good bag-full of mooncakes. 
The last part of our day included looking up at the moon, a must-do on Mid-Autumn Festival. Unfortunately, due to a relapse of both Kiersten and Eric's headaches, sore throats, coughs, temperatures, etc., we opted to take our viewing by leaning out of our balcony window and looking up. Not the ideal spot to view the best moon of the year, but the most enjoyable sounding option at the time. So, what did you do to celebrate?
Friday, October 2, 2009
Happy Birthday China!
I had every intent to post this yesterday, but it's a long story. Here it is, though, in commemoration of a day well spent celebrating the 60th birthday of China.
Think 4th of July, communist (“socialism with Chinese characteristics”) style. As I write this, I am watching live on TV the military parade commemorating 60 years since the establishment of China. For me, it is mostly what I expected, but I am still amazed by what I see.
The celebrations began with Hu Jintao, chairman of the China Communist Party (along with a few other titles) reviewing the troops. If you watched the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, imagine something to a similar scale, except with representations of all of China’s armed forces regiments. Not a step was missed and not a gun misplaced as thousands of troops goose-step marched the streets of Beijing surrounding Tiananmen Square. Hu Jintao rode standing up in an open-top Chinese-made red flag limousine with four large microphones attached in front of him. With each new regiment passed, Chairman Hu stoically shouted, “同志们好！”，“同志们辛苦！””Greetings, Comrades,” “Comrades, hard working!” The reply, in tradition, was always the same: “Serve the people!”
Following the review of the troops, Hu Jintao presented a five-minute speech, celebrating the accomplishments of China over the past 60 years. It’s a speech I’d recommend anyone interested in Chinese way of thinking (if any of you exist) to go back and read. “The past 60 years have proven that only socialism could save China, and the past 30 years have proven that only economic reform could develop China, develop socialism, develop Marxism.”
To save your finger from scrolling past too much to finally get to the point, the rest of the parade I’ll just show in pictures with captions.
Hu Jintao riding past tanks as he reviews the troops.
People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers marching goose-step across Tiananmen Square.
An impressive display of China's air force.
An endless line of floats marking China's developments over the past 60 years.
Thousands of balloons released into the air at the end of the parade.
A colorful Tiananmen Square.
In the afternoon we ventured out to RT Mart (from what I’ve been able to find, this is a Taiwanese started Wal-Mart type store). We are sad to report that the U.S. is not the only place where holidays are big shopping days. National Day, combined with Mid-Autumn Festival, which is on October 3 this year, seemed to have drawn countless scores of people to the store. We did, however, enjoy the flowers and decorations adorning the main gate of Nanjing University in commemoration of the day.
To close off our evening of celebrations, we arranged with our friends Patrick and Maren to brave the crowds once more to view some fireworks. Besides being smashed like sardines between the thousands of other people who decided to turn up at the train station to watch the fireworks over Xuanwu Lake, the firework show was undoubtedly the best that any of us had ever seen. From 8:00pm to 8:45pm, a non-stop stream of fireworks blasted their way into the sky. Just imagine the grand finale of the last firework show you went to lasting forty-five minutes. We were quite impressed.
Unfortunately, due to the mass amounts of people who showed up, the usually convenient subway home turned out to be not so convenient, and we opted for the hour long walk home. To say the least, our feet were happy to be home at about 10:30pm last night.
Think 4th of July, communist (“socialism with Chinese characteristics”) style. As I write this, I am watching live on TV the military parade commemorating 60 years since the establishment of China. For me, it is mostly what I expected, but I am still amazed by what I see.The celebrations began with Hu Jintao, chairman of the China Communist Party (along with a few other titles) reviewing the troops. If you watched the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, imagine something to a similar scale, except with representations of all of China’s armed forces regiments. Not a step was missed and not a gun misplaced as thousands of troops goose-step marched the streets of Beijing surrounding Tiananmen Square. Hu Jintao rode standing up in an open-top Chinese-made red flag limousine with four large microphones attached in front of him. With each new regiment passed, Chairman Hu stoically shouted, “同志们好！”，“同志们辛苦！””Greetings, Comrades,” “Comrades, hard working!” The reply, in tradition, was always the same: “Serve the people!”
Following the review of the troops, Hu Jintao presented a five-minute speech, celebrating the accomplishments of China over the past 60 years. It’s a speech I’d recommend anyone interested in Chinese way of thinking (if any of you exist) to go back and read. “The past 60 years have proven that only socialism could save China, and the past 30 years have proven that only economic reform could develop China, develop socialism, develop Marxism.”
To save your finger from scrolling past too much to finally get to the point, the rest of the parade I’ll just show in pictures with captions.
Hu Jintao riding past tanks as he reviews the troops.
People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers marching goose-step across Tiananmen Square.
An impressive display of China's air force.
An endless line of floats marking China's developments over the past 60 years.
Thousands of balloons released into the air at the end of the parade.
A colorful Tiananmen Square.In the afternoon we ventured out to RT Mart (from what I’ve been able to find, this is a Taiwanese started Wal-Mart type store). We are sad to report that the U.S. is not the only place where holidays are big shopping days. National Day, combined with Mid-Autumn Festival, which is on October 3 this year, seemed to have drawn countless scores of people to the store. We did, however, enjoy the flowers and decorations adorning the main gate of Nanjing University in commemoration of the day.
To close off our evening of celebrations, we arranged with our friends Patrick and Maren to brave the crowds once more to view some fireworks. Besides being smashed like sardines between the thousands of other people who decided to turn up at the train station to watch the fireworks over Xuanwu Lake, the firework show was undoubtedly the best that any of us had ever seen. From 8:00pm to 8:45pm, a non-stop stream of fireworks blasted their way into the sky. Just imagine the grand finale of the last firework show you went to lasting forty-five minutes. We were quite impressed.
Unfortunately, due to the mass amounts of people who showed up, the usually convenient subway home turned out to be not so convenient, and we opted for the hour long walk home. To say the least, our feet were happy to be home at about 10:30pm last night.
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