I haven't been feeling like writing much lately, haven't really felt like doing much of anything. Early Saturday morning (Friday evening in Minnesota), I was woken up by a phone call. My grandpa had passed away after a stroke. My family was with him and he's in a better place now, probably tagging along on my great big adventure, but it's difficult without him.
He made me promise to come back safe and sound with lots of pictures so I could show him everything.
I'm taking it as well as to be expected. It was very hard the first day. My host family was unaware of the situation. It wasn't that they were insensitive. It's just some things got lost in translation. I tried to explain to my host sister after I broke down crying again. We had been looking at pictures, hers and mine. I was stealing glimpses of Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Shangri-La, but I couldn't get my mind off what was happening back home.
Apparently, stroke is not a common word here. She didn't seem to think it was a big deal. She even asked later if he had a cold. How do you explain a blood clot in the brain to someone in another language, when the only word you know that might help is brain? I didn't even know how to say death in Chinese. I knew it sounded like four because you aren't supposed to give anything in multiples of four because it means your wishing death on them. It just wasn't a word I expected to need to know.
(And I'm sure that a lot of the people reading this already know this information. Most of you are family. But this is a sudden change in all our lives Grandpa was always such an active lively person, I can't carry on the blog without mentioning this. Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages. They're much appreciated even if I haven't responded. I just can't force myself to respond right now.)
Anyway, I made lunch Saturday. It wasn't anything fancy. I cut up and sautéed an onion using some of my limited butter supply and added a bit of sketchy marinara sauce to some pasta (okay not sketchy but it was in this pouch like thing and I only picked it because it was the only brand I recognized). I also added some extra cheese because that's how Sarah likes it. They ate every last bit of it. I'm pretty sure if someone set up a restaurant here where they actually made American food the way it's supposed to taste like (pizza is not microwaved soggy cardboard), it would be a huge hit.
Afterwards, the family took the customary after lunch nap. I couldn't really do that so I sat down with my computer and looked at pictures while playing my American music as loudly as I dared without headphones (so the music was basically nonexistent but still comforting). I'm not sure how I feel about the midday naps. I mean I haven't actually slept during one yet.
My family decided to makeup for the fact I was sick on Excursion Day. Basically every Friday, our class visits a touristy site in the city. One of our teachers also forces us to present a fifteen-minute presentation in Chinese on one of the places, in pairs thankfully. (And although ours might have been close, she doesn't really expect them to be fifteen minutes either. She also let us explain some things in English so our classmates actually knew the significance of the new places.) But anyway, Fridays are kind of a big deal and I was sick for the first one. My classmates visited the City Wall, the Drum and Bell Tower and the Forest of Steeles (Bei Lin, the museum that holds the most ancient Chinese tablets in the entire world, over 3000. Can you tell which one my presentation was on?)
I wasn't really expecting much. I mean I was excited but I wasn't nearly prepared for the visit I got. I forgot one little detail. My family is definitely fairly well off. They arranged a private tour on the city wall. We got to go into normally closed off areas to view the drainage system that doubled as protection against intruders. We had a guide rapidly talking and answering questions all the time. She even made an effort to speak English some of the time so I could understand.
The coolest part of my visit to the city wall was definitely the entry gate. I mean the entire wall is massive and pretty awesome (the starting point of the Silk Road began in the western markets right inside the wall). There are these little tram buses, most of them stuffed to capacity, but ours held only my host family, the guide and me, that can drive side by side on top of the wall and there are bikers everywhere.
Still, the coolest part is one of the many gates. It's called the Peace Gate and many famous people walk the same steps I did. Michelle Obama was here only a few months ago and President Bill Clinton too just a while before that. The spot is one of the prominent places the Chinese government meets foreign delegates. It was unbelievable to walk those steps and then be given a private tour as if I was one of those famous people too.
The Drum and Bell Towers were used in ancient times to tell the time. One was sounded at 6 AM. The other at 6 PM. I would hate to be the person to wake up and have to sound the alarm.
I only went up in the Drum Tower but it was very interesting. I have some really awesome pictures that I'll post when I'm back. It's the largest drum in the world and the view is also incredible.
Dinner was actually the different varieties of street food. Sweet sticky rice is very good. The vendors compress it using these cone shaped things and you get this flat little rice patty on a stick with sesame seeds and some seasoning on it. I also tried this stuff that I'm not actually sure what it was. It was spicy, but the texture was almost like someone had fried up chunks of fat. Needless to say I wasn't too impressed.
I did try quite possibly my new favorite drink in all the world. It's orange-colored soda and its English name is Ice Peak. It was orange flavored, but it also had a tangerine and possibly a mango taste to it. It's one of those things I would gladly pack bottles of into my checked bag, so I could bring home and have everyone try it. Or more likely they would be hidden somewhere in my room for my enjoyment only. Both situations are unfortunately not going to happen as Ice Peak comes in old-fashioned glass bottles. As brilliant as it is, I'm not willing to have glass all over my suitcase, and orange soda all over my gifts.
I know this post doesn't nearly cover everything. I had yang rou pao mu for the first time Sunday. I need to find a proper recipe so I can eat this in the U.S. It's definitely my favorite food in Xi'an. And I can drink tea now to my heart's content. My host family has finally figured out that I love it and are more than willing to make it, although we never have it to drink at meals. I watched the Belgium-Argentina soccer game, because at least I can understand soccer, even if I have no idea what anyone is saying. There are no English channels here or even an option to have English subtitles. I also went swimming in an absolutely marvelous 50-meter pool that was inside a hotel. All these experiences deserve their own post, but I felt it was necessary to post something now, just so everyone knows I'm coping and your kind thoughts are appreciated.
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