New Digs, and the Aussie Invasion

It’s been a very busy week for us all over here, with Maddy completing her first full week of school and me starting my weekly Mandarin lessons. In addition to this, on Thursday we were able to move into our new apartment, just up the road from the temporary one we have been living in. The new digs are great, as not only is it a lot larger than the previous one but it also provides a more secure environment for Maddy to run around in and is also closer to her school. In addition to this we have formally started with our Ayi, who we have not only found to be lovely but also so efficient in running around after us (she puts away anything that isn’t nailed down, so you best not look the other way even for a moment). We discovered this very early on when we decided to drop off a bag of clothes late on Wed night, and by the time we got to the apartment on Thursday morning Ayi had already ironed all of the shirts and rolled up and put away our underpants in order of colour. I actually had to tell her not to iron the underpants else they also would have come with a nice middle crease.

Matt, Maddy, Amy and I getting into the wine and beer. Photo by Dave (who's behind the camera)

On Thursday morning I began a Chinese lesson series called Meandering Mandarin, which combines both theoretical classroom time with practical application in a real life scenario to ensure you get to practice what you have learnt. This week’s lesson was focussed on buying presents, so after an hour and a half in the classroom they piled us into taxis and off we headed to the other side of Beijing to a VERY local market (read: No tourists – ALL Chinese and no English spoken). We were all given 10 kuai and the name of an object we had to purchase with our $$. Any additional cost over the 10 kuai we had to cover ourselves, and anything we managed to save we got to pocket. I thought I had got myself an easy task of sourcing a small Mickey Mouse alarm clock for under 10 kuai, especially when the first price offered was 20 yuan, which dropped to 15 at my first request to “make it cheaper” (“Pian Yi Dian’r”, pronounced pian-yi-di-aarrrr in the local Beijing dialect). I soon found out though that the prices offered at this market were not as inflated as the prices at the westerner markets that I have been frequenting up until now (where you can usually get them down to a 3rd of the initial asking price). So after alot of pushing through the crowds and haggling with my newly acquired but still very poorly toned lines I managed to get one for 13 kuai. All up it was a good morning, and I have since had the opportunity to practice the couple of lines that I learnt. As a consequence, while I don’t necessarily have the tones right I am getting a bit better at listening and picking up on the responses from the shop keepers. The only downside was the fact that the course cost did not cover the return cost for a taxi back to the East side of the city, but luckily I had made the acquaintance of a Scottish resident of Beijing who had also decided he needed some serious survival language (which, given he is an actor doing Chinese movies, is probably worthwhile). He was kind enough to pick up the cab tab for the trip back, and also opened the doorway for a game of darts over a drink or three with a group of expats who make it a habit of touring the Beijing bars.

Me preparing to battle the balmy weather.

Thursday also heralded the arrival of a mate from Australia, who was in Shanghai for Uni and decided to take a detour up to Beijing to say hello when he found out we were here. It was great to catch up with Matty Clark and his mate Dave, who was in town to check out some final product in Tianjin for his new business line. During their visit we were able to get out for a few dinners at some of our local restaurants, where we came across what is a common occurrence in Chinese culture – that being an all out argument after the dinner to see who pays the bill. And by this we don’t mean that people argue AGAINST paying the bill, but rather argue with their dinner colleagues for the right TO pay the bill. It has actually gotten physical on a few occasions, making me wonder if I really will see the all out Chinese Restaurant Kung Fu battle that I am so desperately seeking. I was almost going to give them my dinner bill, on the logic that “now you both have one, so stop arguing”.

Maddy with her Chinese New Year Ox and mask. 2009 is the Chinese Year of the Ox, and the mascots are EVERYWHERE.

On Sunday morning we decided to head around to the Diplomatic Cultural Centre one block from our apartment, where the centre was running a small festival/fete to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Alongside some great dancing and amazing moves involving a troupe of Chinese women and tennis rackets w/balls was a couple of small art and craft stands all targeting the ex-pats. While much of it was over priced there was still a few things that took our fancy, and Madeline used her saved up Xmas money to buy a hand painted mask. After this we managed to find the dumpling making area, where Maddy and I proceeded to have a lot of fun making the dumplings (“Jiaozi”) before handing them over to the cook for boiling and then back to us for the important part – the taste test. The instructor there was impressed that I already had the dumpling making technique almost down pat, a skill which I attributed to Gracey’s great dumpling teachings way back when we were still stomping the floor boards of a uni group house. Thanks Sifu Gracey, your teachings have done me well. Maddy though continued to attract the attention of the cameras, and it was a bit of a media scrum around the dumpling table as we were asked to smile by the official photographer “like we enjoyed making dumplings.” It did feel a bit staged, so luckily just as I was starting to get over it the camera crew disappeared out the door to check out the next demonstration.

Maddy and I on the job at the Jiaozi making table - with all the media there was alot of pressure to perform.

On Sunday evening we headed out again with Matt and his mate Dave to a local Chinese restaurant, only for Matt to find out that he had been slipped a fake 100 kuai note from the ATM in Shanghai. At least he has a great souvenir from his trip  We were all surprised how quickly the restaurant waitress identified the note as a fake, and passed it right back to Matt requesting another one. We also nearly got done ourselves that morning at the festival, having been passed what appeared to be a very different 5 kuai note in a pile of change (we also passed it back and asked for another).

On the velocipede front, while our bikes haven’t turned up yet I am looking to help Amy’s work colleague select a mountain bike before he leaves in June, so hopefully that means a maiden trip to one of the local bike shops the week after next.

Maddy's hamster Blossom - ain't he as cute as a button?

This week I’ll be continuing my Mandarin lessons which I am looking forward to (this one focussing on eating out - a topic close to my own stomach). Maddy is starting after school activities and will be using the bus from this week onwards. Next weekend we are off to see some caves and a snow festival. It is the start of the Spring Festival this weekend, with fireworks allowed to be let off from 12am on Monday morning – we have been told to expect them to not let up for at least the remainder of the week. When we heard about it brought back two of our own hilarious cracker night memories – Jonny’s Badgery Street Birthday Firecracker Extravaganza (which brought on the neighbourhood possie), and the “Massive Attack” which brought on a burn on Amy’s leg. Good times. On a more positive note Maddy has a week off school and Amy has a few days off work, so we are looking forward to exploring more of Beijing during this time.

Maddy - big day.

Our local neighbourhood.