The cooks who run the noodle restaurant at the schools cafeteria that I affectionately call The Noodle Folk Restaurant, invited their student workers and me to dinner on New Years Eve. By the way these two people are some of the nicest people I have met anywhere and they treat their student workers like family.
For some strange reason I thought the restaurant would be a nice little out of the way restaurant with a simple menu, but I guess I forgot I am in China. The restaurant was huge and we had a private room where we had barbecued sheep and tons of vegetables that I don't know the names of; serve in a hot pot that was heated with coal. Then because this is China "Uncle", as the students call him, and I had bei jou (a strong whiskey like drink) while his wife and Noodle Folk co-owner "Auntie" heaped serving after serving on to my plate.
Well two to three hours later I bid everyone good bye and headed off to Finnegan's Wake to meet Dave one of the other teachers at JIETT, listen and sing to some music and usher in the New Year. This seemed like a good idea, since the solar New Year is more of a Western celebration and celebrating it in an Irish pub seemed appropriate.
I don't know what I was thinking. When I go there Dave gave me a Guinness and we kept ordering shots of who knows what; finally washing it all down with champagne. I left at 1:30am way too early for some but way too late for me and today I feel a bit sick.
Happy New Years!
Here are some New Years photos.
By the way I couldn't stop taking Christmas photos. Check out the photos in Christmas in Nanjing slide show and vote for your favorite holiday image, in the comment link.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Christmas in Nanjing
Many of my students have asked me if I am going home for Christmas. I tell them it would be a little expensive to fly to the US for one day, plus I have to teach for eight hours on Christmas. Then they ask if I will be home sick during Christmas. My thoughts usually turn to endless traffic jams, hearing Alvin and the Chipmunks singing Christmas carols or of having my mail box being stuffed with Xmas sale fliers and I just tell them not really. But I think to myself; Christmas is where you find. It is in the sharing, the peace and the joy. Here are some examples of Christmas in China.
I will keep adding photos until the day or so after Christmas. So Check back for more.
This is not a Christmas meal or anything like that. But this bowl of tomato, egg and noodle soup looked so warm and festive that I decided to include with this Christmas entry.
I will keep adding photos until the day or so after Christmas. So Check back for more.
This is not a Christmas meal or anything like that. But this bowl of tomato, egg and noodle soup looked so warm and festive that I decided to include with this Christmas entry.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
China Green
When most people think of China the colors that come to mind are red and yellow. I think green should come to mind also. In many ways China is far ahead of the US in conservation and sustainable practices. Energy use per person, how people travel, laws cities have put in place, how buildings are designed, and where people live are a few areas where American's have a lot of catching up to do.
At look at the roofs of houses in China illustrates this. The use of solar hot water heaters is very popular. Clothes can be seen drying the in breeze in every part of every city. Gas and electric clothes dryers seems like a strange idea here, since the sun and breeze does the job just as well and it is cheaper.
Buses and subways come frequently and actually go places people want to go. Unlike the US where siting some form of public transportation is like finding a rare bird in a forest. Laws restrict certain gasoline power vehicles in major Chinese cities. For examples only electric scooters and bikes are allowed in Nanjings city limits, and Beijing restricts the use of older, more polluting cars.
Building are built to make use of the sun in the winter and have design features that shade windows somewhat in the summer. In Beijing and Shanghai is fashionable to grow grass and trees on top of buildings to increase green space. During construction high rise buildings are wrapped in green wind screens; so cement dust in the air is reduced. Major streets have sidewalks, bike lanes with physical barriers between them and the street, plus rotaries to help control traffic but still keep it movin. The bottom floor of most residential high rise building are used for small shops like restaurants, and small shops; so people don't have to travel far to shop.
This does not mean that China does not have problems with the environment. There really is not anywhere, in the world, that does not have some problem with the environment. But China is doing something about it, both individually and collectively. Granted they are not doing these things out a concern for the environment. They are motivated by necessity. They have 1.6 billion reasons to work towards sustainability.
What these actions do though, is they give China an advantage over the other economies, because they are gaining experience and knowledge on how to work towards an economy that is sustainable. This knowledge will be important as the global competition for resources intensifies.
At look at the roofs of houses in China illustrates this. The use of solar hot water heaters is very popular. Clothes can be seen drying the in breeze in every part of every city. Gas and electric clothes dryers seems like a strange idea here, since the sun and breeze does the job just as well and it is cheaper.
Buses and subways come frequently and actually go places people want to go. Unlike the US where siting some form of public transportation is like finding a rare bird in a forest. Laws restrict certain gasoline power vehicles in major Chinese cities. For examples only electric scooters and bikes are allowed in Nanjings city limits, and Beijing restricts the use of older, more polluting cars.
Building are built to make use of the sun in the winter and have design features that shade windows somewhat in the summer. In Beijing and Shanghai is fashionable to grow grass and trees on top of buildings to increase green space. During construction high rise buildings are wrapped in green wind screens; so cement dust in the air is reduced. Major streets have sidewalks, bike lanes with physical barriers between them and the street, plus rotaries to help control traffic but still keep it movin. The bottom floor of most residential high rise building are used for small shops like restaurants, and small shops; so people don't have to travel far to shop.
This does not mean that China does not have problems with the environment. There really is not anywhere, in the world, that does not have some problem with the environment. But China is doing something about it, both individually and collectively. Granted they are not doing these things out a concern for the environment. They are motivated by necessity. They have 1.6 billion reasons to work towards sustainability.
What these actions do though, is they give China an advantage over the other economies, because they are gaining experience and knowledge on how to work towards an economy that is sustainable. This knowledge will be important as the global competition for resources intensifies.
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