"Oh That's Different" No. 8

It's been a busy month, with work trips, visits from Scott's sister and my aunt and uncle, and we're looking to possibly move homes. But here's the latest on Beijing's surprises.

Poor little Nia doesn't seem too happy sporting the sprout trend.

Both men and women like the beansprout craze. 

1. Putting fake sprouts on your head is all the rage right now.

A few weeks ago, we started noticing street vendors selling little sprouts that you could pin on your head. They're all the rage in the city, selling for less than a $1 to pin one -- or multiple ones -- on your head. My aunt heard that the sprout was initially designed for a company, or that it came from cartoon, which my colleague Laurie wrote about earlier this month.

To join the fad, Laurie was kind enough to share one of her numerous sprouts -- picked up along the way for reporting purposes, of course -- with me, so long as I promised to photograph our cats with the trendy hairpiece. Sorry, little Nia.

A Rural Chinese Wedding

Earlier this summer, Scott and I went to our Mandarin teacher's wedding. It was a totally cool experience, with new traditions and cultures -- along with a few things that looked the same.

Us with Hou Laoshi, or "Teacher Hou," inside the home she grew up in.

"Oh That's Different" No. 7

It's summer time in China and there's no better time to observe some new customs:

Office shorts. 

1. Shorts are totally acceptable as office wear in the summer.

Seriously. Silky, cotton, even borderline athletic shorts are seen in my office building. And you don't even have to wear heels with them to dress up the look!

Tea and Tulous in Fujian Province

Bike selfie.

Last month, Scott and I decided to take a weekend trip to see China like we've never seen it before: on the seat of a bike.

Published Pieces

Two items I thought I'd cross post here on my blog. Hope you'll take a gander!

InterNations, a network of guides for expats, interviewed me regarding life in Beijing as an expat and why I started this blog.

Floating down a manmade river at Longqingxia. 

Q&A with InterNations

The Wall Street Journal has a great blog called WSJ Expat, which I write for on occasion. A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece about Hou Jinxia, my Mandarin teacher who has made frequent appearances on this blog. I'll be writing soon about her wedding, which Scott and I are going to this weekend!

My Beijing savior: Hou Jinxia

When Your Language Teacher Becomes Your Therapist

Happy reading!

We Get Visitors!

The famous Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an! 

This spring has been really busy for Scott and me, with many work trips and the visit of Scott's mom and stepdad!

Nancy and Greg hadn't traveled internationally much, but they were great troopers about trying new things and open to a lot of walking in the mid-April heat, which really felt more like July temperatures at times.

"Oh That's Different" No. 6

It's been awhile since I had one of these posts ...

Even if it's busted. 

1. No discount; fix it yourself. Zara was having a ridiculous sale a few weeks ago and I found a lovely top for more than half off. One problem: there was a small tear on the cuff of one arm. Naturally, I asked for a discount, as I would in the U.S. and most likely would've gotten on. Not here. The saleswoman's response: I can't give you a discount -- and you can sew it yourself!

Branching Out

My radio silence is inexcusable, but here are my excuses for not blogging lately: a work trip to India and my newfound love, binge watching The Americans. Yes, feel free to judge. But I've also been on some new excursions.

Found at a pop-up food fair in Beijing. An old-school boom box. 

Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest

Atop Silver Mountain. 

For a Spring Festival outing, Scott and I went with our friends Te-Ping and Ben to see the pagodas about an hour outside of Beijing. This is one of the few ruin sites that hasn't been destroyed in China and used to be a sacred Buddhist shrine/scene spot during the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are a handful of pagodas/stupas still standing, which are gorgeous.

Happy Year of the SheepGoat!

Today officially marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the week-long celebration where basically all of China shuts down and the greatest human migration happens, as everyone who moved from the countryside to the cities returns home for the Spring Festival. On Monday alone, 850,000 people left Beijing. That's a lot of people.

View from our bedroom window on the eve of Lunar New Year. BOOM! 

Pucks on Ponds in Beijing

A couple weekends ago, Scott played in a pond hockey tournament at Houhai, which is a huge lake in the middle of Beijing. In the winter, the lake becomes an outdoor playground, with speed skaters mingling with teenagers zipping by on ice sleds and children playing in bouncy castles put up on the ice.

Pond hockey + cold weather = Wings hat all day.

Thanksgiving in Thailand (I know, it's belated)

As an early birthday present for Scott, and a much-needed vacation, we went to Thailand for six days at the end of November. We started out in Bangkok and then made our way to the island of Koh Lanta.

The beaches of Thailand. Can it be any prettier? I think not.

The Three-Week Tour

I'm taking advantage of my jet lag to catch up on blogging. Scott and I just returned from a three-week tour of the U.S., going from Chicago to Detroit to Denver to New York. It was the longest stint we've had back in America since moving abroad.

It's things like this -- iPads for ordering and browsing the web, leading to no socialization whatsoever at meal time and waiters wanting tips for not doing anything -- that make me disillusioned with America.

The Land Down Under

The past four weeks have been nuts with travel to Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand, plus a slew of assignments, so I've been a VERY tardy blogger. I'm trying to play catch up now.

Hiking in Australia. 

When Leaders Come to Town, Beijing Puts on a Good Face

This week Beijing is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a big meeting of CEOs and world leaders. Obama is coming to town, Putin is on his way and John Kerry already has been here.

Beijing makes the skies turn blue for APEC. 

Losing face is a huge no-no in Chinese tradition and many individuals will do anything to save face. And that's just what the Beijing government has done leading up to APEC.

Scott bought (a new) moped

About a month after we moved here last year, Scott bought a used moped from a French expat for pretty cheap. He convinced me that it was safe, with helmets, and that it would pay for itself in a matter of months because he'd use it every day to go to work and sometimes on the weekends.

On our new purchase (don't worry, the helmets just aren't pictured). 

The First Year

A year ago today, Scott and I landed in Beijing on a sunny, polluted afternoon. I remember driving through the city, the drab buildings and Chinese billboards seeming completely alien. I feared I never would feel at home here and that all I'd be doing was missing New York for three, long years.

My very first pollution mask, circa Oct. 2013.

Rosh Hashanah in Beijing

Wednesday marked the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and I figured I needed to find a place to celebrate the Jewish New Year because I had skipped the past two years: last year we were in the frenzy of getting ready to move to China, and the year before I was days away from getting married. My Jewish guilt was officially sinking in.

The Expat (Work) Hours

It's a Friday night here in Beijing. In New York, I would've been relaxing at home on the couch or out grabbing drinks with some friends. Right now, I'm working and Scott is conducting an interview. Did I mention it's almost 9 pm?

It's not uncommon for Scott and me to work until midnight most weekday nights. That's because right as we're about to wind down, the U.S. is ramping up its day, meaning phone calls with editors or changes to stories start coming in around 9:30 pm our time and usually don't stop until 12 am -- and often later.

A Jaunt to Taipei

Last week, I flew to Taiwan to do a story for The Wall Street Journal. I had some extra time and spent a day in Taipei, the bustling, beautiful capital of Taiwan.

The must-see National Palace Museum in Taipei. 

Taiwan is so diverse, a narrow island with mountains in the middle and coastal cities around it. A friend told us it's one of the rare places where you can be on the beach and in Alp-like mountains in the same day.