holidays – Page 2 – HurricaneMaine

Home for the holidays

As I was preparing to leave for the US, a number of celebrations were enjoyed with friends. Home is any place where you have family, friends, and a sense of belonging. Sometimes it is more than one place.

Dinner at a sauerkraut fish place with Jack. Of course I saw the menu and noticed pig brain.

Not having tried it before, we ordered it too. It really had no specific taste but was quite good.

I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner with friends and the food was delicious. Some favorites of the holidays and others a mixed bag of other international dishes

I am blessed to have so many beautiful people in my life.

My ugly Christmas sweater I made for the staff holiday party. LED lights make the fire glow

Friends at the school held a cookie exchange.

The school wide holiday Bazaar was also fun with great games for students and all things Christmas.

It is difficult to say goodbye to friends leaving the country you are in but we know it is not goodbye but until I see you again. My friend Trisha is going back to the UK.

And of course dragon boat which is my weekend hobby, exercise, and time with more friends.

This year I went out of my comfort zone and played the bass clarinet in a teacher ensemble for the students. I also performed a pantomime with other teachers for the whole school.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the US. I left lessons for when I am gone in January, made sure there was plenty of food for the kitties and people to take care of them, and planned my packing. A COVID test less than 24 hours old was required to get on the plane. At the airport, I ate in the China southern lounge.

After an uneventful flight to LA, the rest was a travel nightmare. Spirit airlines cancelled 8 flights and waited until boarding time to announce. Without a US sim card, I had no cell phone off of wifi. With the help of another kind person, I found a flight from John Wayne airport fire the next morning and she dropped me off at a hotel across from the airport.

I arrived 12 hours after I was originally to land in Pittsburgh where I went to my son Ryan’s apartment. He cooked a yummy falafel meal and it was great to finally be near him. Talking on the phone for three last 2.5 years was difficult.

The next morning I planned to renew my driver’s license, get a COVID vaccine, and walk around Pittsburgh to where Ryan works. It had been some time since I have been in a smaller city and could see beyond huge skyscrapers. It was an enjoyable walk through the different areas of Pittsburgh.

The hot metal bridge area in the Southside is where trains and barges brought coal to make steel. Along the river were many historical relics from that time.

For lunch I stopped at double wide grille. Here they have all kinds of food including vegan and vegetarian. It is located in an old gas station and the food is so good here.

Afterwards we drove to my brothers house in the country. I planned on staying here for the rest of the week before going back to Ryan’s. I drove to see my old friends at punxsutawney high school and just relax and watch movies. I also need time to get new credit cards and take care of the mail I received the last 2 years. On a run that week, it started to snow and the wind was brisk. A big weather change from Guangzhou.

I will also be traveling to Wisconsin to see Becca. I am sure it will be cold there.

Chinese new year

Warning. A bit of rambling about the last two weeks leading up to Chinese new Year!

This year for Chinese New Year we were advised not to go anywhere. We can’t leave China and there are a few imported cases and always a concern that all it takes is one to start another outbreak (though China’s policy about testing and quarantining to be sure means that areas are downgraded quickly in 3 to 4 weeks.) I am glad I went to Harbin at Christmas as it was shut down due to a few cases.

Last Chinese New Year I went to New Zealand and did not come back for 9 weeks. It was epic in terms of seeing sights but a bit nerve wracking not being sure where the world is headed. Fast forward to this year and I am glad to have been able to travel China last year, but not going anywhere right now was a bit unsettling. I looked at it as a time to spend with friends and relax a bit (except for chiropractor appointments).

Chinese New Year is hallmarked with families deep cleaning their houses and removing excess. This allows for the old to leave and allow the new in. I used some of the time to clean and organize my belongings as well. The cats did not like their deep clean, but that was necessary too! I came across a 2020 ornament I was given on the 1st of last year when I entered Greece. I thought maybe it should be destroyed given the year that we had, but would make a good ornament to remember that year.

This year is the year of the OX: The Ox is the second of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. The Ox was about to be the first to arrive, but Rat tricked Ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived, Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox. Thus, Ox became the second animal. (The pig is the last animal as it had to stop and eat along the way!) Ox are know to be hardworking and honest.

In the weeks before Chinese New Year, many decorations could be seen going up around the city.

Okay, not a decoration, but where else do you see a chicken in a box sitting at a bus stop? I am certain it was someones dinner that night!

Chinese lanterns in the tree near the train station.

Over Chinese New Year, my Google phone stopped working correctly. That made it impossible to do anything as getting rides, ordering food, paying for groceries use the phone. Compounded to that is the code used to track whether you have been to a place with covid cases. Without the phone it is inaccessible. During Chinese New Year, many places close as it is like our Christmas to new Years. Jack was able to take me to a Xiaomi store to get a Mi 10. It has taken awhile to get my apps loaded and things working (let alone recovering everything from my old phone (without a Google phone and all the great apps and backups that would be impossible).

In the mall, a Tim Horton’s opened up, so we stopped for some coffee.

Over Chinese New Year was Valentine’s Day. Jack gave me some Moutai, which is a kind of baijiu (a grain alcohol that is pretty strong). Each type os different and Moutai is aged longer and the most expensive that you can buy here.

I also was able to get together with my friend Lily and her son Edward. (and Killian). I haven’t seen her in 6 months as our schedule always conflicted. It was great to meet for Dim Sum and share some banana bread I made for a party a few days before.

This is a new statue from a famous sculptor in Guangzhou of robust ladies in a variety of athletic pursuits. It shows beauty in everyday life and freedom and enchantment in their figures. It flies in the face of portrayal of chubby women and that is the purpose.

A sculpture of an ox.

At the start of Chinese New Year, I went to Haizhu park to meet people for some live music. It was part of a cultural event where they carved olive pits, learned other crafts, then stayed overnight in a hostel that focused on books and coming together. i did not get to participate in the other events due to an appointment and work the next day. It was good to visit this amazing place and hear music with friends. The rooms are tucked in among the books.

The decorations in Haizhu park where beautiful. I had been there during the day, but not at night.

I also was able to visit the pig cafe. A cafe full of potbelly pigs! What heaven. Instead of buying a drink and food for me to enter, your purchase food for the pigs. Each bowl of food after is much cheaper and it was fun to feed all the piggies!

At school we usually have a lion dance and other festivities, but many of these have been cancelled to stop large public gatherings. Our Chinese department worked with students to put on a fascinating show for the school. All students wore masks during the assembly and it was great to see the singing and dancing. The students who performed the fan dance were wonderful as well as those who were acting out scenes from Mulan.

At the end of the last day before vacation, our school held a get together on the rooftop of the new building. Wine, beer, snacks, subs, smores, and karaoke made for a very fun night! I work at an unbelievable and supportive school!

Celebrating New years

After arriving back from Shanghai I spent more time with Jack. He had been so sweet and lovely. He gave me a great silk floral arrangement and organic perfume oil for my birthday.

I went to lunches with my friend Elaine. She always finds great food to try. This was a black tea with whipped cream and pecans. It was delicious.

Jack surprised me with plans to go to a village north of the city called Xitou. We had already made plans to go to my friends Tricia and Dan’s for new years eve get together in Huadu so went on a road trip a night early.

Ww ate at a place in Xitou village. They had rice wine that has bees soaking in it. It is to help with certain medical conditions. I didn’t try it but very curious….

The food was amazing. The soup (tang) was made with many different kinds of mushrooms. It was very tasty soup. The sweet potatoes had the best sauce ever.

The mountains in Xitou were beautiful.

The village was also beautiful. Some old buildings are original. Many new places have been erected for others to come from the city to stay and is growing as a tourist destination.

We also had congee and rice roll with egg the next morning in the village.

Then we took a hike to the next village.

We took a wrong road and saw this bird. It is a wild bird that stays there and is hand fed. He was fascinating. The owner of the property brought it a cooked potato to feed the bird.

There is actually a place to charge your phone and make a call in the middle of the bamboo forest. This is solar powered.

In the other village they grow Camellia flowers for tea. It is also being developed for tourism.

After the hike we walked in the village to look at what they are selling.

Tofu dessert and sesame seed dessert. Warm and delicious.

Lunch was amazing at another village. The sour cabbage dish was delightful.

We arrived at my friend’s. There we played games, ate pizza and dips, and watched movies and shows until the new year. With the pandemic, there are no formal ball drop celebrations and in China there are some parties. Getting together as a small group was still better.

I’m the morning, Jack and I ran 5k, had breakfast with everyone and took a stroll around their area. It was a great end of one year and start of the next.

Shanghai Disney town

In the morning I ran with Ollie the golden retriever. Fun! He finds all the cat hiding places!

We then went to Disney town. Not Shanghai Disney. Even though it was warmer that day, it was still nippy to be on fast rides. Disney town is within sight of actual Disney but with shops and restaurants.

It was nice to outside peruse the Disney store.

I hadn’t been paying attention to the intricate Lego sets and they were impressive. There were a few large Lego decorations.

We strolled some more. Lastly we went to eat at the cheesecake factory.

We don’t have a cheesecake factory in Guangzhou and no telling when I will be somewhere where there is one. I had the guacamole salad and we shared sweet potato fries. I took key lime cheesecake to have later.

Harbin riverfront and central market

Harbin is the largest city in China that is the closest to Siberia.

The last day on Harbin! I’m actually excited to get back to Guangzhou and warmer temperatures. It is pretty here but the temperatures range from -15 C to – 20 C. At that temperature the air is very dry. Using lip balm and moisturizing often is a must. You also need several layers under a really good coat and insulating snowpants and boots.

We packed everything and put our luggage on the bus. We headed to the riverfront and walked to the flood control monument which intersects the riverfront and the road to the central market.

We first walked down the central market street to west 12th to see St. Sophia’s church. The architecture here is but Chinese but like any eastern european country.

St. Sophia’s is a Russian Orthodox church which is beautiful. Unfortunately they were renovating the inside so we could not enter.

From there we went in and out of shops in order to warm up a bit. Taking gloves off to take a picture left fingers numb!

Musicians took turns playing music or singing from this balcony. It was beautiful. This guy played beautiful old music on the saxophone.

One of the things people do here is buy ice cream to eat on the street. It is just ordinary ice cream, but something people do. It actually didn’t make me any colder.

We went in and out shops mostly to look for caviar. There was none to be found. I think it is banned due to covid-19. The virus had been found on fish products earlier in the year. I was disappointed in that.

I did find this bread flavored soda. I did try it. It tastes like that yummy taste you have in your mouth after you eat really good bread. It is a lingering bread taste and actually quite tasty. It is a favorite in Russia.

We found a Russian restaurant that had good food though I did not find the potato latkes I was looking for. I had a beetroot salad and potato mushroom soup.

Next we took the cable car across the river. The number of things you can do on this completely frozen river is amazing. Skating, sledding, pulled by dog teams, and other fun activities. If you love winter and outdoor activities, you will not be bored! The spaces they have created here is amazing. The ice is 1 meter thick.

A walk along the river back to the bus to look at smaller snow sculptures.

We also saw construction of the sculptures in this temperature. It was amazing.

A street food market for stinky tofu. It is just fermented tofu. Yummy but had to eat fast before it became cold.

Now back to Shanghai and then on to Guangzhou!

Sun Island, Siberian Tiger Park, and Volga Manor

Sun Island

It was cold. We started the tour at -20C and finished at -16C. There are a few coffee shops around to get out of the cold. Of course if you keep moving and don’t take your hands out of gloves to take pictures it is easier.

These sculptures are made by making artificial snow as that snow is wetter and sticker than the snows that falls on Harbin. They place the snow in big wooden boxes to pack then use the block to make these incredible sculptures that are the largest in the world. All of this is made from packed snow.

It started out at -20C and when the sun was shining warned up a bit.

You could ride this vehicle and soon around on the river ice.

This one is still under construction and looks like a little mushroom house village.

Siberian Tiger Park

The siberian tiger park was pretty cool. People move through the various paddocks in caged vehicles. Some tigers are in cages if they are not acclimated to weather, weak, pregnant, or young. They can get enough nutrition that way. There are over 1300 tigers and the park is very large.

You can pay to feed them by holding meat through the bars or even feed them a live chicken which is dropped through a chute.

Some of the buses also will be used to feed the tigers. You can always tell which bus.

They are such beautiful animals.

Volga Manor

This was a Russian village created by a wealthy entrepreneur in the turn of the century. It prospered until the cultural revolution when it was destroyed. Since then it has been rebuilt on the actual style of the original buildings.

We took a bus to the castle at the end where you took a freight lift to the 5th floor. There you could lay on an inner tube and hold on to each others legs to sled ride down this impressive ice chute. It was so fun we did it twice.

We looked at the Russian church.

There were many other buildings that were not open.

Of course there was a vodka chateau. We learned about vodka.

Sampling the vodka was fun. It was poured in ice cups. I sampled an amber colored vodka that had a definite spicy kick at the end. I also tried a dark colored vodka that had a really full flavor. You could buy your favorite vodka in the gift shop. I purchased the two I tried!

Walking back to the bus was beautiful to see the lit houses.

Afterwards some pedestrian street shopping and food at a Japanese restaurant. On the way back to the hotel we saw this sign which is so very covid-19. It is a little blurry as the bus started moving.

Harbin ice festival

Merry Christmas! An early morning start to catch the plane and I had some of the stollen bread that my dear friend Tricia and Dan bought me for my birthday! It was delicious. Not like the recipe I grew up with which is a yeast soft bread with candied fruits and nuts inside. This was somewhere between that and a fruitcake. It was yummy and will be good when I’m hungry on the trip.

The flight to Harbin was diverted due to weather and did not arrive on time. I still had enough time to change into multiple layers to visit the Ice Festival. On the way there you could see people on large snow mounds making it into something for the festival. Harbin is close to the Russian border with China.

We arrived at the festival around 3 in the afternoon. The sun sets just after 4 here. So far the weather is not bad. It is cold but tolerable with layers. If course when the sun goes down….

It is negative 16 Celsius. That is around negative 5 F.

It was great to see my friends Amber and Michael on this trip. I haven’t seen them in awhile. A core group of us met and took trips together this summer. Covid-19 wreaked havoc but did give us that.

Some of the ice houses were already starting to light up when we arrived.

We went ice bicycling. It was pretty fun around this frozen track that wound through a building and under a bridge. Hard to move legs in the bulky clothes but once you find a rhythm…

There were some restaurants to stop in and get warm. While we were there the sun went down and the ice buildings were lit up.

This snow sculpture of the Buddha is my favorite of the day. It is enormous.

As the festival officially opened in February, some buildings were still being constructed. Ice from the river is brought in and cut into smaller blocks. It is 1 meter deep there. Lights are put in on the top blocks. It takes a lot of orbison to hand cut all of these blocks.

The shows they usually have are with Russian acrobats. They unfortunately could not come back to China due to covid-19 restrictions. They had finishing and dancing which the audience participated in and warmed us up.

More nighttime pictures. Eventually my phone powered down from the cold but taking my hands out to take pictures left my fingers numb!

Afterwards we removed layers at the hotel and went to a nearby neighborhood for hotpot. Yummy and just what was needed after being in the cold. Finally I drank the Harbin beer manufactured here in the actual city.

Xinchang ancient town, Christmas Eve

In the morning of the 24th we strolled the lanes, carved stone-arch bridges and old wooden buildings. They have the conserved courtyard-style architecture reminiscent of the Ming and Qing dynasties. This is a glimpse of a time when Pudong was actually a string of individual villages similar to this one.

We sampled foods including glutinous rice balls, bean cakes, warm chestnuts, and others.

We stopped at a great coffee house and had dirty coffee which was more steamed milk and dusted with chocolate. The cutest dog played fetch the whole time we were there.

We also did a lot of shopping. Beautiful antiques, jade, stone, and antiques were everywhere. Afterwards we cooked vegetarian chili, rice pudding, and snacks. My friends Tricia and Dan came to Cat’s for dinner and they brought me a stollen bread they found in Shanghai. It is a Christmas tradition and so happy to have it this year. I have some really great friends.

Shanghai flower market

Before leaving Guangzhou I had breakfast with Elaine and Killian. Our routine Monday night dinner would not happen due to travel so was nice to see them before I left. From there I walked with them too the metro to go to the airport.

After arriving in Shanghai, a driver picked me up to take me to my friend Cat and her son Rowan. They are fabulous people, so warm and welcoming. Rowan and I have hiked together and I have to say he is the coolest 14 year old I’ve encountered in a long time. A testament to his mom and his personality. They also have two dogs. This will be a fun few days!!!!!!

We went to the flower market where I could get my fill of Christmas decorations. It was nice window shopping and having fun with the two of them.

In China you are always on the lookout for mislabeled products. This one that Rowan found led to serious laughter. If the stickers were on that theme I would have bought it!

Lunch was amazing. Portobello mushroom soup, super food salad, and a trio of desserts we shared because we couldn’t decide. Date sticky pudding, chocolate pecan pie, and run raisin cheesecake. All delicious.

Mall shopping. We saw this cake store where the cakes are 1000 rmb. That is about 150 USD.

Outside the mall.

It is cute the reindeer bring each other decorations, but Christmas balls hanging from the butt….

This was outside the entrance to a store that has novelties from a movie called Spirited away.

We didn’t go into this building, but it looks like my kind of place….

Later I had to go to the travel office to get my covid test to travel to Harbin. They made it so easy. 5 minutes and I was on my way. We registered in advance and they take care of everything. Afterwards we walked around the neighborhood as Cat had never been there yet.

The next morning I took their golden retriever Ollie in a jog around. It is colder in Shanghai much like Virginia weather. Of course my nose is running constantly and another reason I don’t want to be in colder weather. I have not seen frost in over three years.

Friends and the week before Christmas

I am grateful to have a variety of friends and activities to keep me occupied during this holiday season. Even though it really does not feel like Christmas and just another week in this crazy ridiculous year that was 2020, it helps to keep my mind off the fact that I had planned to be home in the US this holiday season. Of course now, no one really should be getting together in the US as the virus cases are out of control.

I am equally blessed that my family is healthy even if my brother was potentially exposed at work. So grateful that his covid-19 test came back negative.

The combined Christmas concert at school featured choir, band, and orchestra. As usual it did not disappoint.

My legs were better midweek after the marathon to play in the girl’s teacher-student basketball game. It was called the Christmas chocolate classic. Teachers wore ridiculous clothes. To make it fair, teachers had no rules. We could do anything. We still lost. It was a blast though. Even though my legs didn’t hurt, they didn’t want to run back and forth across the court either! But honestly, those girls can sprint.

The coach is so fun and everyone was great as a team!!

Book club was held where I used to live in Clifford mansion. Tatz made a carrot cake for my birthday, we swapped books for Christmas gifts, and we were surprised by carolers!

We closed out the end of school for the holidays at a 90’s themed holiday party. It was fun despite losing my voice voting (screaming) for my friend Trisha and Dan to win best couples contest! They won and I did win the trivia contest as well.

The first weekend of break I decided to relax. I was originally supposed to travel to Chengdu to go hiking with my friend Morgana before traveling to Shanghai. Unfortunately, Chengdu went red with a covid-19 case that infected multiple places (a young person going from bar to bar…). I cancelled that part of the trip. Money was refunded easily.

Instead I stayed in Guangzhou and ate food and other things. Brunch at a Christmas market and movie on Saturday and dim sum on Sunday with Jack.

At the lobby of the grand international hotel where we ate dim sum.

After dim sum we took a walk around Tianhe park.

Artist who is famous for depicting the mood of the times.

Soldier who led the battle against the Japanese and is buried in the park.

Jack had never tried stinky tofu. It is fermented and has an off smell but tastes like regular tofu. Very spicy sauce.

Great start to my two week vacation. Next on the agenda is Shanghai to visit a friend and then off to Harbin. I really have no plan and am just winging it for this vacation.