Steve's China Blog

Monday, January 14, 2008

Getting back to (ab)normal

I've been back in ChengDu for a little more than a week, and have been getting back into the groove of things. The weather is colder than where I went on vacation, but not freezing. This morning it was cold enough that my breath was misting when I walked outside. Not too cold, but it feels very cold to me today.

Most of last week was spent catching up on my work. In the middle of the week I was suppose to be interviewed, along with some other foreigners at IBM, by a local TV station about ChengDu but I did not feel well enough. I got a small case of food poisoning. Ugh. Another chance at stardom dashed!

Anyways, I was feeling better by the end of the week and went out dancing with Lisa on Friday night, but ended up not getting to sleep until 3:00am. I had a lot to do on Saturday too! I went downtown for lunch and to buy groceries. Reese came over in the afternoon and helped me with my Chinese... Trying to learn how to read and pronounce items on Sichuan menus.

We then went to visit a gym where IBM employees could get a discount. It was nice, but I already have a tiny gym at the apartment, so no real reason to go. The only thing that would make it worth it was that they had Kendo classes. Hmm... I might join just for that.

That evening I cooked dinner for Reese, and the dish I cooked was Skillet Penne and Sausage Supper. I had to change some of the ingredients, since it is hard to find Italian turkey sausage and spinach is not in season here now. I replaced those with ground pork and some leafy green vegetable (which I do not have an English name for) that would wilt when cooked. I had cooked this dish before in Dalian for Kaoruko. I know Kaoruko liked it since she had seconds, but Reese had thirds so I'm sure it's good now! I do not know how Reese (who is so slim) can eat so much food!

We had some good food, some good wine, and watched Ratatouille (with Chinese subtitles). Reese got to have a new dish and see a good movie she had never seen before so it was a nice way to spend the evening. Sunday was my lazy day, so I just stayed at home, did laundry, and read a book I picked up while on vacation.

One of the other things that seemed strange to me in ChengDu when I returned from vacation was the traffic. I got a little use to the places I had visited during my vacation where they drove on the wrong (left) side of the road. Mix switching back to being on the right side of the road, along with the crazy traffic here, and it did take a little getting use to again.

This morning a lot of the traffic lights downtown were out, so traffic was worst then normal. At one intersection two buses decided to try and cut each other off while making turns and ended up gridlocking both lanes. When we eventually made it out of the city and came upon a traffic light that worked there was a taxi that decided it was ok to run the red light and took out a motorcyclist. Ouch!

2 Comments:

  • Hey Steve, I found your blog searching "Kendo in Chengdu". If you want to come join us for practice, we would love to have you! We have classes every weekday night and a couple of different times on the weekends. If you are interested contact us or come by to visit. Our address is:
    Changshun Middle Street #98 Shaocheng Mansions, 3rd Floor.
    长顺中街98号 少城府邸3楼
    Tel: 028-66307175
    email: chengdukendoclub@gmail.com

    Okay, hope to see you soon!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:46 PM  

  • Thanks for the info! I will have to check the place out when I get a chance.

    By Blogger Steve Harms, at 3:44 PM  

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