The Hot List

It's averaging 100F here, barely dipping into the 80s at night. The humidity feels like it's at 99% (really more like 60-75%). Heat index 115F and up. My friend told me it's the hottest summer here since the 1930s. Last Wednesday reached a record high, and last Friday had the hottest average temperature in 140 years. In summary, it is HOT!

I know there's a heat wave globally right now, so we're not the only ones experiencing this special kind of summer. Still, when coming from Colorado with it's comparably gorgeous weather, the oven that is Shanghai becomes particularly hard to handle. In an effort to make some ice cold lemonade from these sweltering lemons, here is my Top 10 list of the benefits to this ridiculous weather:

10. EVERYONE is sweaty, so for once it's not just me with the dripping forehead

9. Don't need to go to the gym to enjoy the sauna

8. Even the stingiest taxi drivers are cranking up the kongtiao (air con)

7. The humidity haze gives everything a nice dream-like sheen

6. No fear of cramping, as muscles stay nice and warm

5. Chance to see a wide variety of Chinese men's undergarments

4. Can practice Bikram (Hot) Yoga anytime, anywhere

3. Shower water is instantly hot without even needing to use our water heater

2. A glass of ice water tastes absolutely heavenly

1. Instant badass cred for surviving the heat

Pei Pa Koa

Delivering a baby in China is kind of a crazy experience. And that’s as much as I’m going to say about that on this blog.

But I will tell you about the coolest thing I brought home from the hospital, besides the baby of course.

It just so happened that I was coming down with a cold right before going into labor, and so by the time Avery was born I had a constant tickle in my throat and the strong desire to cough. This isn’t the most pleasant experience in recovery from a c-section. And between my other meds and breastfeeding, my treatment options were limited.

Luckily, Traditional Chinese Medicine includes hands-down the best cough syrup I’ve ever used. This stuff is legendary; I’ve heard of expats returning to their home country with stashes, or desperately visiting their local “Chinatown” in search of that amazing remedy they remember from their days abroad.

the box

It’s called Pei Pa Koa and it’s magical. It tastes, well, like typical cough syrup actually. It has the appearance and consistency of molasses, and contains a bunch of Chinese herbs and extracts mixed with honey. One tablespoon of this incredible elixir and I didn’t have the urge to cough all night long.

the syrup

I guess I'm joining the ranks of the crazy repatriates who are hooked on their TCM remedies.

May Mei

Today we welcomed our newest member of the family, baby Avery Mei. It seems fitting that she should be born on International Labor Day, since Val was doing plenty of laboring. The other holiday – May Day – is fitting too, since that’s how her middle name is pronounced.

But the name really has more to do with her birthplace (Shanghai, China) than her birthday.

In Chinese, the word we would write as mei has many different meanings, depending on what tone you say it with or what character you write. 

We had several in mind when naming Avery, including:

妹妹 (mèimei) means “little sister”, which is what Tyler was calling her from the time she was still in my belly.

美 (měi) is the basic single character for “beautiful”, and is often used in combination with other characters to become another positive adjective (like “wonderful”, “splendid”, “glorious”, etc).

It also just so happens that it’s the character for the United States, as in

美国 (měiguó) where guo means “country”, and if you add the character for “person” to the end, you get

美国人 (měiguórén) or “American”.

So all of those are pretty fitting I’d say. She’s a little sister, certainly beautiful and wonderful, and also American.

But if I was going to pick one hanzi (Chinese character) for Avery’s name, I’d probably pick this one:

梅 (méi)  which literally translates as “plum (blossom)”, but is a common second character in Chinese girls’ names. For example, Pat’s friend’s name is DongMei (“winter plum”), and our obstetrician who helped bring Avery into this world is HongMei (“red plum”).

Plus, I like that it’s just a radical (first part of character) away from the character

海 (hăi), as in 上海 or SHANGHAI!

So there you have it. Short name, long meaning. And hopefully a unique story she can carry with her for the rest of her life about her rather eventful start to life in this crazy place we currently call home.

Sidewalk Butcher Shop

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My father-in-law, who has now lived in Shanghai for four and a half months, recently told me that China might convert him to vegetarianism.  I just can’t understand his position, seeing as how meat is advertised so appetizingly here.  Take, for example, these delectable offerings along a local market street.  Tyler and I enjoyed these sights (and accompanying smells!) as we walked to music class one morning.

street-side fish & fowl

cut to order, as the duck looks on (I believe those are eels curled up in the back)

future Peking Duck?

getch'er sausage 'ere!

gutted fish provide shade for the butcher's block

ducks in a row

Are you hungry yet?

The China Cough

The air quality here has been so poor recently that it’s headline news around the world.  Beijing’s pollution over the weekend was literally off the scales.  Shanghai has been suffering from some nasty air too; I woke up on Saturday morning barely able to see the skyscrapers just a few blocks away from us through the hazy smog.  When we went out, even inside a grocery store deep within a mall, I could feel my nose burning.  Needless to say, our apartment’s air filters have been cranked to full capacity 24 hours a day for the past week.  I shudder to think about our electric bill, but it seems like the least serious of the potential consequences.

This morning I awoke to a very dry nose and scratchy throat.  A friend on the phone asked if I had a cold, because I sounded congested and gravelly.  My Chinese tutor also apparently noticed my symptoms during our lesson.  At the end, he told me he was going to teach me a buzzword.  He wrote out:

中国咳

Pronounced “zhongguo ke”, these characters translate as “China cough”.  The phrase started as the “Beijing cough”, and was used almost exclusively regarding foreigners who developed sore throats while living there.  But now, as pollution is rampant throughout the country and even born-and-raised urban Chinese are developing uncomfortable symptoms, the phrase has become ubiquitous.  

Today I won't get into the politics of censorship, and how the government has always tightly controlled air quality monitoring.  How they issued stern warnings to the United States, whose local consulates began their own testing and publishing of air quality metrics last year.  How I've noticed some recent signs of admittance of a problem, including the local government issuing notices to schools to halt outdoor exercises during heavy pollution periods.  How I'm hopeful that we will witness a shift in policy during our time as residents of China.  How I believe the conversion from coverup to cleanup is inevitable, if not imminent.

No, for today, I'll just enjoy another afternoon indoors…

Flavor Confusion

You know that popular flavor often denoted with a little leaf or green letters/packaging?  It is delicious when paired with chocolate, makes a yummy ice cream flavor, and is typically used to freshen breath in products like gum, lozenges, and mouthwash.

If you grew up in a culture like mine, you’re probably thinking mint.

But in the culture where I’m now living, this means green tea.

I have lived in China for almost a year and a half now, and still at least once every few weeks I will buy something “mint” flavored that makes it all the way into my mouth before I realize my mistake. 

Don’t get me wrong, I actually really like green tea as a drink (in fact, I’m enjoying a cup as I sit here typing).  I even enjoy the matcha green tea flavor used in desserts like ice cream and chocolate truffles and Starbucks lattes.  I’ve been known to purposefully buy that flavor many a time. 

Yet I cannot shake my association with certain products, certain labeling, and a certain flavor: mint.  And when I want – then expect – something mint-flavored, the green tea taste becomes rather repulsive.  I wonder how many more times I will repeat this mistake before I learn.  Probably just in time to move back to the US and shudder when my chocolate-covered matcha ice cream bar tastes surprisingly minty…

Santa Visits Shanghai

Although this was Tyler’s second Christmas, it was really her first experience understanding and participating in the holiday: dancing to carols, watching the twinkling lights on our tree, and eagerly unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning.

our little tree with stockings filled by Santa

Santa visited us, bringing Tyler a tricycle and some blocks, and bringing Matt a remote control car (hey, if you still believe…)

Santa's gifts for TJ & Matt

Matt’s dad joined us on Christmas eve for Mexican food and a movie (introduced us to The Big Chill – excellent film with excellent soundtrack!), then he spent the night so as not to miss TJ’s early start the next day.  We spent a lovely Christmas morning opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls.   

 

 

admiring herself in her new hat from cousin

Then we headed over to some dear friends’ home for a New Zealand Christmas dinner.  It’s summer there for the holiday, so ham sandwiches and salad are typical fare, and it was delicious.  We even got to group skype with friends that had moved back to Portugal.  It’s nice having a Shanghai “family” network of friends since all of us are so far from home for the holidays.

We hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season wherever you are, and here’s to a fantastic 2013!