tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31122410890476429332024-02-21T08:34:26.747+08:00life across the puddlestories and thoughts from my life in IndiaLyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-88914127876653051392009-10-27T23:34:00.015+08:002009-10-28T01:26:38.569+08:00Durga Puja PhotosI didn't get too many shots of Durga Puja this year but here are a few.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHZaZk9lcCYkTP8N2Y7epD0eJMwXI4wVh4YcKaCW8neX03ASD4arNeB4dwqoNk4Mw0s-m9WK0asA8oKaRtLHmrSBz4YprOxmC_o0pF5U_49tQf19q8EGu5ZvIoPCTI5EQefFGsMcfE_w/s1600-h/Durga+Puja+09+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHZaZk9lcCYkTP8N2Y7epD0eJMwXI4wVh4YcKaCW8neX03ASD4arNeB4dwqoNk4Mw0s-m9WK0asA8oKaRtLHmrSBz4YprOxmC_o0pF5U_49tQf19q8EGu5ZvIoPCTI5EQefFGsMcfE_w/s320/Durga+Puja+09+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397304817751464034" border="0" /></a><br />The fist two pictures are of the Bagh Bazaar Puja pandal, one of the larger pandals in North Kolkata. On the final day of the Puja the idols are taken from there places in the pandals and thrown into a body of water. Most idols are dropped into the Hooghly River, a distributary of the Ganges. In my community, the closest body of water was the local pond so that's where Durga and her consort were left with the fishes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzzYl1TVar6sT92eznnyVmOq4z4U0EY2JQVP8S5P7mRVmVnQk-wW11jvYSXSrDcCMEkROFz8KuYQfyismLn6l0UBoLDl5xHMJH4_4F7FAhr3butAXnX30_ShB-k2XbAkNjGYsfY3NDx4/s1600-h/Durga+Puja+09+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzzYl1TVar6sT92eznnyVmOq4z4U0EY2JQVP8S5P7mRVmVnQk-wW11jvYSXSrDcCMEkROFz8KuYQfyismLn6l0UBoLDl5xHMJH4_4F7FAhr3butAXnX30_ShB-k2XbAkNjGYsfY3NDx4/s320/Durga+Puja+09+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397308191976886562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Kumatuli Park, also in Northern Kolkata, is the area that all the idols for the Puja are crafted. Needless to say, Kumatuli went all out with their pandal. It was packed and people pushed and elbowed to get inside. The exit of the pandal led to a carnival with food, games, and rides. Rajdeep and I were feeling brave so we took a ride on the fastest spinning Ferris Wheel I have ever been on! I was expecting a nice slow ride but the operator put it into high gear and, well, it was scary!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbVfaZ_B_wzPGXxPM6m8DBl3eLQIIP6-twCtdvGQcDVKjyucBvjPbXbTgoJYZWDu927gVMsesWq9wEwDAb7LDAf-Z5G4v9lGTkqRQD7M3oI2syXrFqeV3eDv9WOnwcShybxdYZQ7OyX4/s1600-h/Durga+Puja+09+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbVfaZ_B_wzPGXxPM6m8DBl3eLQIIP6-twCtdvGQcDVKjyucBvjPbXbTgoJYZWDu927gVMsesWq9wEwDAb7LDAf-Z5G4v9lGTkqRQD7M3oI2syXrFqeV3eDv9WOnwcShybxdYZQ7OyX4/s320/Durga+Puja+09+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397328658781329490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />These last two pics are from the Kumatuli Park Puja. A view from the scary Ferris Wheel shows the park's gigantic pandal in the distance. Also, one of myself, looking like I'm about to be thrown from the ride!<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTBW4pQAqwdJgPiF4doFuwAq1EpfyYmg9Tq8dxvn5j8a7SqwSRXiF0QqIF9u8RXer03x6wJc7P8GFpE3YgfxFsxGv_Iu5pbeUp0Y2smxCqZW9JzbkY3x7nXkDp060Etm9nb-sBhrp3uQ/s1600-h/Durga+Puja+09+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTBW4pQAqwdJgPiF4doFuwAq1EpfyYmg9Tq8dxvn5j8a7SqwSRXiF0QqIF9u8RXer03x6wJc7P8GFpE3YgfxFsxGv_Iu5pbeUp0Y2smxCqZW9JzbkY3x7nXkDp060Etm9nb-sBhrp3uQ/s320/Durga+Puja+09+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397328664782254850" border="0" /></a></div>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-7944464103626218602009-10-27T22:54:00.003+08:002009-10-27T23:09:07.099+08:00A dollar goes a long wayHello friends and family! (the recipes I promised are coming up soon)<br /><br />I just stepped out to get some things at the local grocer's store. It's a small corner shop with windows in the walls that you communicate with the grocer through. He collects everything you want inside and you wait outside. That's how most of the grocery shops are here in Kolkata. Sure, big Western-style supermarkets exist but they tend to have slightly higher prices, plus you miss out on the shopkeeper-customer chitchat that you get at these little street-side grocery stores.<br /><br />Anyway, I just got home and while I was unpacking everything that I bought I got to thinking "I can get a ridiculous amount of stuff for $1!" Of course this only holds true for a person with dollars in their bank account but, boy, my money sure goes a long way in this country!<br /><br />Here is what I bought for $1:<br /><ul><li>a loaf of bread</li><li>a pack of cumin powder<br /></li><li>a pack of turmeric powder</li><li>instant noodles</li><li>half kg of potatoes</li><li>a bag of chips</li><li>half kg of onions</li></ul>Doesn't a single loaf of bread in the States cost more than a buck? Well you'd think I would save money since I get so much more bang for the buck here but, no. I find I'm eating even more just knowing that I can afford to buy more!Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-58863792732413939702009-10-24T18:34:00.003+08:002009-10-24T19:45:42.189+08:00For Foodies<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:862742740; mso-list-template-ids:-725050072;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Symbol;} @list l1 {mso-list-id:1013999450; mso-list-template-ids:1396184906;} @list l1:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Symbol;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">One of my greatest passions is sampling various kinds of international cuisine. Ranking as my personal favorites are Indian and Chinese (authentic Chinese that is, not the "egg roll" and "chow mein" you find in the West). Especially since I've had the opportunity to live in both India and China for extended periods of time, I've realized that as exotic as these foods seem the first time you try them, that feeling of eating something that really excites the taste buds doesn't have to disappear when you eat that same food a second, tenth, or hundredth time.
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<br />I suppose my love for eating Indian food (and let's not forget the fact that my better half, Rajdeep, is an Indian Chef) has really motivated me to try my hand at learning to cook. He has taught me the basics and it seems that knowing just a few simple steps is enough to create a variety of dishes. It gives me such a great feeling of satisfaction and pride when I cook an Indian meal and Rajdeep says he likes it. If the chef approves, I must be doing it right!
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<br />I know a bunch of you would love to learn to cook Indian food and this is where my cooking lessons come in. I want to share with you, every now and then, some of the recipes I've been learning. They are, for the most part, quite easy to master but you'll need to first stalk your kitchen with a few key ingredients. Without these, it just won't taste right.
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<br /><i>Key Ingredients for Indian Cooking:</i><o:p></o:p></p> <ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="">coriander powder<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">cumin powder<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">cumin seed<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">red chili powder<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">turmeric<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">whole green cardamom seeds<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">whole dried red chilies</li></ul>
<br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Ingredients you probably already have, but if you don't you should have some handy:</i><o:p></o:p></p> <ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="">bay leaves<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">cinnamon sticks<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">salt<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">oil (I use vegetable oil, you can also use soybean oil or mustard oil)<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">most dishes will require tomato, onion, and green chili (if you like a little zing)<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">potato (optional, but I use it in most of my dishes)</li></ul>
<br /> <p class="MsoNormal">I'll leave you with that basic list of ingredients for now. Get to the store and get prepared! Next time we'll start with our first recipe: a simple, yet, delicious aloo (potato) curry.<o:p></o:p></p> Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-10542907419504274252009-10-19T13:32:00.007+08:002009-10-19T14:03:53.646+08:00Kali Puja and DiwaliThis past weekend was Kali Puja and Diwali. Kali is a fearsome goddess but in Bengal especially she is view<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnphxOnb1w2IUgR4AiBDJ4wHki-d-rzR1XpRCcOOcLN7QHnPWAjO8KwED5kZDkWNV6EFiQxeOlzlGGRObmhuJsfZUlG5t1YZzImDl-TWsXE3o8aWWZuTlI2v8AZJqOkK86lQkt2o0FYvk/s1600-h/hindu-gods-kali.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnphxOnb1w2IUgR4AiBDJ4wHki-d-rzR1XpRCcOOcLN7QHnPWAjO8KwED5kZDkWNV6EFiQxeOlzlGGRObmhuJsfZUlG5t1YZzImDl-TWsXE3o8aWWZuTlI2v8AZJqOkK86lQkt2o0FYvk/s200/hindu-gods-kali.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394187282283396546" border="0" /></a>ed as a Mother goddess and protector. The term <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span> means prayer or religious ceremony.<br /><br />Diwali is the festival of light. At dusk families place small candles called <span style="font-style: italic;">pro</span><span style="font-style: italic;">dip</span> in the windows and doorways. The lights are a symbol or good over evil, knowledge over ignorace. Every home and building is decorated with lights and it really is a beautiful sight. It reminds me of Chris<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Pny8D1IfwuJ4fYLgoTMO144TLJqOug0cTc_ksg7gesk7MS2lztRVoXZncMv85TEf0JDczAs0fGrE0o6NOyyJ05YSknLaj3XbFcwbod3AdeOJM7qJsJV338Y0wlPJyuKlAVV7vRTqxO4/s1600-h/kolkata+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 117px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Pny8D1IfwuJ4fYLgoTMO144TLJqOug0cTc_ksg7gesk7MS2lztRVoXZncMv85TEf0JDczAs0fGrE0o6NOyyJ05YSknLaj3XbFcwbod3AdeOJM7qJsJV338Y0wlPJyuKlAVV7vRTqxO4/s200/kolkata+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394185845014460434" border="0" /></a>tmas time in the West. Along with lighting the prodip, many set off firecrackers. My neighbors have been setting them off for a few days just behind my apartment. These sound like bombs and I have to say, my heart cannot handle too many more deafening blasts.<br /><br />Both of these holidays fall at the same time and in many other parts of India I think Diwali is the one that gets more attentions. But here in West Bengal, Kali Puja takes the limelight. There are <span style="font-style: italic;">pandals</span> set up all over the city. These are temporary shrines for the goddess Kali. Some communities spends thousands of dollars to build these and Indians have a tendency to go all out. So, you can imagine, these pandals are huge and beautiful.<br /><br />Since Rajdeep is away visiting family, I celebrated the Puja by myself. Mostly I just lit some <span style="font-style: italic;">prodip</span> in the evenings and stayed indoors to avoid getting blasted by these annoying firecrackers.<br /><br />I wish I had some photos of the pandals to show you. I'll try to get out and take some so you can have a better idea of what I'm talking about.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-38966210967497199622009-10-16T14:07:00.006+08:002009-10-16T14:41:19.019+08:00the long overdue updateohhhh I was going to start off by apologizing about how long it's been since I gave any sort of update on this blog but, let's face it, if you've followed the blog in the past you should already know that I'm not the most consistent poster. After months with no or very very slow internet connection, I am finally reconnected to the world and will try my best to blog more often.<br /><br />There really are so many interesting things that I see or that happen to me here everyday and it is a shame that I'm not sharing these stories. ... maybe I should back up and first explain my situation.<br /><br />I had been studying Bengali (the language of some parts of Northeast India and Bangladesh) from last September 08 until June 09. I completed my course at my school, Ramakrishna Mission in Kolkata and at the end of June I went back to the states for my brother's wedding in July and a good friend's wedding in August.<br /><br />I finally made my way back to Kolkata September 3. So yes, I'm back in Kolkata again. Rajdeep had been working in China and staying with his family in his hometown until June so I spent the greater part of last year surviving Kolkata by myself. But this time Rajdeep is here in Kolkata with me!<br /><br />I had a job teaching English lined up before I returned here but, unfortunately, it has not worked out. ..something about not enough students lined up for the courses. Anyways, that was a big disappointment but I'm trying to find some other sort of opportunity to volunteer and make use of my time.<br /><br />Rajdeep is visiting his family in Assam for two weeks. That means I will have infinitely more free time and I plan to use at least some of that time to write a few updates here. Don't hold me to it, but I will try.<br /><br />Coming up next.... photos from Durga Puja, are real stories of my everyday experiences here in the wonderful, yet at times daunting, city of Kolkata.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-26394921729315006622009-04-30T16:38:00.002+08:002009-04-30T16:43:53.104+08:00My speech at Ramakrishna Mission went alright. I was pretty nervous but apparantely everyone could understand my Bengali which was the most important thing. Not much else to tell though besides that the weather is quickly killing me. It has been + 41C lately (I think that's around 105F) and the humidity is above 90%. I've been using the AC and I'm a little afraid to see my electricity bill when it comes. But I suppose I'd rather shell out a little more cash than be uncomfortable all summer.<div><br /></div><div>In other news, Rajdeep was supposed to come to Calcutta to visit in April but he won't be coming til the end of May now. His sister's wedding was scheduled for May 10 so he's had a lot of preparations to take care of. His family wants to meet me too and that should happen around the end of May/early June.</div>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-22660562399429748172009-03-25T00:16:00.002+08:002009-03-25T00:19:13.562+08:00Speech DateWell the date has been set to April 11 for my big speech. The icing on the cake is that it will be broadcast not on the local news channel as I originally assumed, no, its on the national channel all over the country. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ughhh</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">embarrassment</span>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-1102345845041604422009-03-10T23:34:00.002+08:002009-03-10T23:42:38.494+08:00Hi everyone! Long time, no post. I'm fine and well except the climbing temperatures in Calcutta are begining to get to me. Tomorrow is Holi, the festival of color. Vendors are selling colored powders on the streets now and tomorrow all of India will be out on the streets attacking friends and even strangers with these colors. People also fill waterballoons and water guns with colored water. <div><br /></div><div>My tutor arranged for me to have class tomorrow afternoon and she assured me nobody will attack me. I plan to wear old clothing and we'll just see if I can get to class without getting attacked!<div><br /></div><div>Rajdeep has finished his job in China and he returned to his hometown in India a few days ago. Hopefully, I will soon be able to go to Assam, where his family is from, and meet them.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other new, Ramakrishna Mission, the language school where I study, has asked me to give a short speech in Bengali for their end of the year ceremony. The ceremony will most likely be some weekend in March or early April and I will have to talk in front of 1500 people and on TV! I'm terrified. Plus there are to be dignitaries there too. Great, no pressure. </div></div>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-18673098190532655562009-01-23T17:17:00.004+08:002009-01-23T17:27:52.764+08:00A few photos<span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 51); font-family: lucida grande;">I'm adding a few photos for you. I took these when I was visiting in China last month.</span><br /><a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 51); font-family: lucida grande;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp7zhILFQytv-iE87OchIHdNr2jJt8kDFoS16IoD6wUW_lTD_pEQtiN5CBrBrCj9Wn2LRVg-eTjFuH7YTkjeAmnKgKzwMusm5kkZ_wqRNJKWj5ZrOVRNoZr3aQe9HHJE6QToVIqrACXY/s1600-h/IMG_1612.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp7zhILFQytv-iE87OchIHdNr2jJt8kDFoS16IoD6wUW_lTD_pEQtiN5CBrBrCj9Wn2LRVg-eTjFuH7YTkjeAmnKgKzwMusm5kkZ_wqRNJKWj5ZrOVRNoZr3aQe9HHJE6QToVIqrACXY/s400/IMG_1612.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294416763918497266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 51); font-family: lucida grande;">These are a bunch of our Indian friends in China. The guy on the left and the girl sitting beside me are Chinese friends. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih__XRbpob4wspsmCFjm2HCuJcyAoCTWK2kBI8Ie8e6iPh_uzxp-JU8dyOyuGfB7I3STQ5EX3xhmRAgUthCPXaThi7hHry03iv_UokziCzjAfvl7xpuWSJZyQecblN0TDgABFGGhbSr1A/s1600-h/IMG_1523.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih__XRbpob4wspsmCFjm2HCuJcyAoCTWK2kBI8Ie8e6iPh_uzxp-JU8dyOyuGfB7I3STQ5EX3xhmRAgUthCPXaThi7hHry03iv_UokziCzjAfvl7xpuWSJZyQecblN0TDgABFGGhbSr1A/s400/IMG_1523.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294417911949503394" border="0" /></a>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-56940682227871033552009-01-22T00:15:00.002+08:002009-01-22T00:18:05.974+08:00My apologies for not posting in ages. I finally got internet in my apartment. I also went to China to visit Rajdeep and friends from December 10 to January9. Thank you so much to all of you family and friends who sent me letters and Christmas cards there! It was so great to get mail.<br /><br />I will write more shortly, but just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive, back in Kolkata and doing great!Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-24688185075921842462008-10-02T21:03:00.002+08:002008-10-02T21:11:59.996+08:00Getting settled in CalcuttaI was only home to visit in the US for about a month. I came to Calcutta on September 16th and I'm slowly adjusting to a new city and a new way of life. After a few days in a bad housing situation (I was living as a paying guest in a family's home) I now a nice little studio apartment in a good location. My apartment was literally a studio. The owner is a photographer and there's still some photography equipment in the corner and the backgrounds are rolled up and hung at the ceiling.<br /><br />I'm taking Bengali classes twice a week at a cultural institute called Ramakrishna Mission. Classes are good but I need to find a tutor and another job or volunteer op in my free time. I've got way to much free time now.<br /><br />The best part about being in Calcutta is Bengali food. It's supposedly the best food in India. And I loved Indian food to begin with. I'm hoping to learn to cook some Indian dishes myself but I haven't had a chance to go to the market yet or find a good teacher.<br /><br />I will update more as I get a chance and once I get internet access in my apartment I plan to write much more. In the meantime know that I'm safe and sound here and slowly getting settled into life in Calcutta.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-39292719935960506902008-09-07T23:19:00.002+08:002008-09-07T23:25:25.033+08:00Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've updated. I'm back in the US now. I've been here for the past few weeks and it is really nice to see family and friends again. Plus, I got here just in time to experience the famous Grange Fair. It was the height of my excitement as a child but now its just a place to run into people I used to know and eat lots of fried foods.<br /><br />In one week a new era for my little blog is about to begin. I'm moving to Calcutta, India to study Bengali! It will be quite an experience I' sure and I'll try my best to update this blog with stories about what I'm up to and what I've seen and experienced.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-8938690790109576812008-07-30T11:03:00.003+08:002008-08-02T17:38:37.431+08:00Return to PAMy job finished July 16 so I will be returning to PA August 19. I just wanted to update all of you.<br /><br />I'll be home at least a month before I head off to Calcutta, India to study Bengali. That's the language my boyfriend and his family speak.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing you soon!Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-60705893493646186412008-07-01T20:26:00.002+08:002008-07-01T20:31:18.813+08:00Did you know you MAKE it rain?Well, apparently in China the gov. can make it rain! Or at least that's what everybody's been saying. Apparently they've been spraying some sort of chemicals into the air above the city to make it rain on appointed days. Creepy huh?<br /><br />Looking at the weather forecast for Tianjin you'll see that it is to be 0% chance of rain all week then 100% chance on some random day. That's the chosen day!<br /><br />I guess the purpose is to clear the dust out of the city and help with pollution before the Olympics. And the closer we get to the start of the Olympics, the more often it rains. I sure don't remember it raining this much last year.... I hope these crazy rain stories are just some big conspiracy theory but who knows. In this country, anything could happen.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-86933274646853706982008-05-23T20:22:00.004+08:002008-12-09T09:06:58.272+08:00Gymnastics World CupI went to see the gymnastics World Cup last week. Tianjin hosted it and I've wanted to see a big gymnastics meet like this since I was little. The even ran into the director of the whole thing at Rajdeep's restaurant during the 3 hour break between finals. He said the US wasn't there because they were too busy preparing for the Olympics. China cleaned up on most of the events. Especially Chang Fei. I bet she'll win a few medals at the Olympics this August. The North Korean gymnasts were especially small. I wonder if that is because of hard living conditions or genetics.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I made signs to cheer on China. The other side says 加油!(go!)</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ko2nTA2uLuRMFInKhJK5VGfqKNaB9RyTFAFXi0T-zOLj4KpEqOkN6VvpXuKJJ-ywj7qgPijSLzhQWGnrPYpfhaFeWks-v1HDv_kEa_41ndPWwjOY1fXsc0gvGph7WVjvmkb6NAbBIHI/s1600-h/IMG_0678.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ko2nTA2uLuRMFInKhJK5VGfqKNaB9RyTFAFXi0T-zOLj4KpEqOkN6VvpXuKJJ-ywj7qgPijSLzhQWGnrPYpfhaFeWks-v1HDv_kEa_41ndPWwjOY1fXsc0gvGph7WVjvmkb6NAbBIHI/s400/IMG_0678.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203550423369181410" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cheng Fei on beam. She looks 10 years old but she's probably 20.</span></span><br /></div> </div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqOzgAaBNnNmq0pHEZv16w_B0FfXGwY21ks0DWDkusClh7ZOgmylnn7hrgf-INy1nA6BHW2CHSY1uvzzW-3VQi25lFZfKwO6K6dVo2NMJOcm3H4N2974YoTy4nWu_G08FKqQwmrEkdjY/s1600-h/IMG_0708.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqOzgAaBNnNmq0pHEZv16w_B0FfXGwY21ks0DWDkusClh7ZOgmylnn7hrgf-INy1nA6BHW2CHSY1uvzzW-3VQi25lFZfKwO6K6dVo2NMJOcm3H4N2974YoTy4nWu_G08FKqQwmrEkdjY/s400/IMG_0708.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203550427664148722" border="0" /></a>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-77862747375476375642008-05-12T21:39:00.003+08:002008-05-12T21:40:57.188+08:00EarthquakeHi everyone. Just to let you know, the big earthquake that hit southcentral China did not really affect where I am. I'm hearing that thousands are dead and the shocks of the earthquake were felt all over the country and bordering countries. But there was no damage. I didn't even realize anything happened until I saw it on the news.<br /><br />So no worries, all is fine!Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-43345771294861089622008-05-06T17:55:00.000+08:002008-12-09T09:06:58.893+08:00My Grade 3 Students<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;" >I took my camera to school to get a few pics of my classes. I actually forgot to take it to all my classes but I did take it along to my grade 3 class. These are my cutest kids too and they are by no means camera-shy!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ptfu4heI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/qLA4TxPDNVI/s1600-h/IMG_0609.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 307px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ptfu4heI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/qLA4TxPDNVI/s400/IMG_0609.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196847987853657570" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;">This is my grade 3 class. Can you guess which group are the little angels and which ones are the trouble makers?<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ptvu4hfI/AAAAAAAAAEY/Ibeq0jaFY24/s1600-h/IMG_0607.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 403px; height: 302px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ptvu4hfI/AAAAAAAAAEY/Ibeq0jaFY24/s400/IMG_0607.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196847992148624882" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;">Well, Jimmy was camera shy.</span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7tiPu4hgI/AAAAAAAAAEg/TvoI4Yn0qgQ/s1600-h/IMG_0614.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7tiPu4hgI/AAAAAAAAAEg/TvoI4Yn0qgQ/s400/IMG_0614.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196852192626640386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">A few of the girls. Babara (no, not Barbara) the one in pink, wears those pearls every day. She's so cute but oh so temperamental.</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7tivu4hhI/AAAAAAAAAEo/9e8wSD-jmgE/s1600-h/IMG_0617.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7tivu4hhI/AAAAAAAAAEo/9e8wSD-jmgE/s400/IMG_0617.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196852201216574994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Jerry is my favorite! I love his rosy cheeks.</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ti_u4hiI/AAAAAAAAAEw/OIvmyxC7VPQ/s1600-h/IMG_0618.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_okg_6JFTJhM/SB7ti_u4hiI/AAAAAAAAAEw/OIvmyxC7VPQ/s400/IMG_0618.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196852205511542306" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">And these three are the biggest mischiefs in the class.</span></span></div>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-71005297174169207512008-04-15T21:51:00.008+08:002008-12-09T09:06:59.274+08:00If you crash, they will comeChinese people are the most curious people I have ever encountered. That's not <span style="font-style: italic;">curious</span> in the sense of interesting (although they surely are), I mean they are snoopy. They like to have their noses in everything, especially if it doesn't concern them. Let's take a car crash as an example.<br /><br />I've had the opportunity many times to witness how passersby react at the scene of a car crash. They flock towards the action. You could have a crash in the middle of nowhere and within an instant you'd have a herd of spectators crowding around to assess the damage for themselves. I just happened to be walking by this quiet intersection in Tianjin the other day and I saw a car bump into a motorcart. There are three rules in China when you have an accident:<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do not move your vehicles from the crime scene. Not even a foot to let other traffic by.</span> - I once saw a bus knock a bicycle over. The bus had been crossing 3 lanes of traffic at a diagonal and would not move, therefore blocking 3 lanes of rush hour traffic. genius<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shout loudly and insist that the accident was the other driver's fault (even if it was yours)<br /><br /></span>3<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Always call the police. (you're supposed to) unless it is clearly your fault then haggle with the other driver about compensation, shell out some cash, and rush off.</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span><br />So this car/motorcart accident I saw amounted to no more than a small scratch on the van and it could have been dealt with in a few minutes but...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8UATMWtirJimlYmykfRCcUYJyA-i0MjLmg_uPynxw19dAMoxQoG_gZA4DbqvAZNiuUtfYW9PtrvpiP8MYJq2FVhBcM7jubpR284JViesHDO49yjCZmHXjmvN6JhpIKtyTaYfX6O9Tew/s1600-h/IMG_0538.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8UATMWtirJimlYmykfRCcUYJyA-i0MjLmg_uPynxw19dAMoxQoG_gZA4DbqvAZNiuUtfYW9PtrvpiP8MYJq2FVhBcM7jubpR284JViesHDO49yjCZmHXjmvN6JhpIKtyTaYfX6O9Tew/s400/IMG_0538.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191161576110002562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The police and some curious onlookers arrive.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbZMDJoRgwEPODoIi8Djo1g-xZG1wrPcdXUrb5ymNTk3NLwBakW4QStZeFRFpCv7_3ATkh_SHezwQ7bwfNJ_-buFtmbs6yAMQQfy2lx8P-meqkSBzubMaqOecYqLhwdxbE8Cr6D41V40/s1600-h/IMG_0541.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbZMDJoRgwEPODoIi8Djo1g-xZG1wrPcdXUrb5ymNTk3NLwBakW4QStZeFRFpCv7_3ATkh_SHezwQ7bwfNJ_-buFtmbs6yAMQQfy2lx8P-meqkSBzubMaqOecYqLhwdxbE8Cr6D41V40/s400/IMG_0541.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191163903982277010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Then there were more. I don't even know where the guy with the hard hat came from.</span><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Anyway, I think its interesting that so many people are interested in other people's affairs. In the end, I'm just like them though. After all, I was standing there watching and taking photos too!</span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div><br /></div>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-38004200522118087862008-03-16T22:33:00.013+08:002008-12-09T09:06:59.842+08:00Sunday OutHi everyone. Keep commenting, I really enjoy hearing from all of you. Problem is I (yet again) can't access the page where I can reply to your comments. That doesn't mean I'm not seeing what you write though!<br />...............................<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aYnPp7qP9-bcp8cUj3pVZ1cmQOJ-w8HmzbheN53lAZhBPkhjlnn55YJtRSGUTv8w4ysrdrzeUy1FWH6f8Iq-OLRop66Od3tS6w_sNNie4SSNM9bSYnkv0YKhe28CkwDnxSu5Hl5W-cU/s1600-h/IMG_0489.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aYnPp7qP9-bcp8cUj3pVZ1cmQOJ-w8HmzbheN53lAZhBPkhjlnn55YJtRSGUTv8w4ysrdrzeUy1FWH6f8Iq-OLRop66Od3tS6w_sNNie4SSNM9bSYnkv0YKhe28CkwDnxSu5Hl5W-cU/s400/IMG_0489.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178348788406191874" border="0" /></a><br />Today was a beautiful Sunday in Tianjin so I got off my lazy butt and took the bus to a coffee shop where I studied Bengali for a while and then met up with a few friends and walked to a big book store. It's really big - 6 floors. But only 1/4 of one floor has English books. Anyway, here are a few photos from my day.<br /><br />The first one here is my apartment area. Lovely little yu shui yuan (jade water garden). Lots of Koreans and some Japanese live here. Still, I feel like the only foreigner.<br /><br /><br />Below here is the canal that separates my housing area from downtown Tianjin. The air is noticeably cleaner where I live. Don't judge by the picture - I changed the colors on the photo. This city does have a little color :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAI5UsvpLCVXChUx79phj95Pl9cy6WnIDko16OQykUB4Cmk0DOTUelZk2RY5mNBplDy_YZcOo98RXyoQ-n2BB913YBZ_kMUD5sfPtCGZ-O-KuvSzFyxyCvFK-onhRmNdqgN0XzretKf54/s1600-h/IMG_0491.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAI5UsvpLCVXChUx79phj95Pl9cy6WnIDko16OQykUB4Cmk0DOTUelZk2RY5mNBplDy_YZcOo98RXyoQ-n2BB913YBZ_kMUD5sfPtCGZ-O-KuvSzFyxyCvFK-onhRmNdqgN0XzretKf54/s400/IMG_0491.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178349617334880018" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUy5AWiaTuD82o89wDwUs60LtV69VnBdYUi7GVTJ2xzNNL1sM_2-3iBgVUIZrwzL8amdcL74Fm1KrAmeYB-U-xF1O1wOyj14AabGoTlkMyYlOGAHfKMx5eIwbgPEMTmrtQjq18BNLUVmQ/s1600-h/IMG_0490.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUy5AWiaTuD82o89wDwUs60LtV69VnBdYUi7GVTJ2xzNNL1sM_2-3iBgVUIZrwzL8amdcL74Fm1KrAmeYB-U-xF1O1wOyj14AabGoTlkMyYlOGAHfKMx5eIwbgPEMTmrtQjq18BNLUVmQ/s400/IMG_0490.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178350781271017250" border="0" /></a>The third photo here is quite random really. As I was walking to the bus stop I passed a group of workers who were digging up trees and replanting them along the sidewalk. I don't know what was wrong with the original trees but I guess it gives these guys work. They're probably getting paid about 600yuan a month (around $90 a month).<br /><br />Last is the cover of a Chinese textbook my friend and I were checking out. I think a better title would be "Upper Intermediate" but we found their translation of "Quasi Advanced" a little more amusing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EjMjDWtgYFu5VuqBIEbecaCCZaSJb7XCz0rkK0_5Y5xjzPGHUb_e-VDaZ8uUQmTpeOgcrn955LQJt6zyiECmV-5xtHgsVCiewkSYGa7Oy0xc28376lhreOWWgilb3mwuBdLcqF5UGGM/s1600-h/IMG_0495.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EjMjDWtgYFu5VuqBIEbecaCCZaSJb7XCz0rkK0_5Y5xjzPGHUb_e-VDaZ8uUQmTpeOgcrn955LQJt6zyiECmV-5xtHgsVCiewkSYGa7Oy0xc28376lhreOWWgilb3mwuBdLcqF5UGGM/s400/IMG_0495.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178357034743400242" border="0" /></a>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-3340139648736108412008-02-28T11:40:00.017+08:002008-12-09T09:07:00.723+08:00End of winter vacationWell sadly my long winter vacation is about to come to an end. I've had over a month and a half off and it was wonderful. After traveling with my sister and brother-in-law, I still had a month of idleness. I made use of my time by going to the gym and studying Bengali like there's no tomorrow. Here are just a few photos from my break.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWMkc64u3zfji-NaDHCBezddG4hd0KZEAo9GnLRHPSp4jQepOVL8xtYBU1LDFUozoW4qoWCYRka7SGbEhAqbyJ0JnpRYw43aY2PFETEFHJKoxoU-vG5uXFKR7NLz29tftAprnsaRo5lA/s1600-h/IMG_0374.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWMkc64u3zfji-NaDHCBezddG4hd0KZEAo9GnLRHPSp4jQepOVL8xtYBU1LDFUozoW4qoWCYRka7SGbEhAqbyJ0JnpRYw43aY2PFETEFHJKoxoU-vG5uXFKR7NLz29tftAprnsaRo5lA/s320/IMG_0374.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171873174684862914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />To the right is a photo on the ice at the Tianjin TV tower, Tianjin's one and only landmark. Left to right: my friends Robin, Sudev, and Sumanta. You could rent skates or these little sleds on runners that you sit on and push yourself around with long picks. We just walked around since the ice seemed too bumpy and skate rental seemed a little pricy (20 yuan per person! - $2.50)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EYwHcO_-7ur2s0VrcJf0D78Ijkvcdh-OrPRGBkIWtOekmYDvzhLaG-mj91RFBzAurRWllADsUGFQ8bP83Moryg_5mRozw0HSypPmHEn1m-h3T8gIFo1WH9QZnKHq_d_6OcUpD1bNH4c/s1600-h/IMG_0375.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EYwHcO_-7ur2s0VrcJf0D78Ijkvcdh-OrPRGBkIWtOekmYDvzhLaG-mj91RFBzAurRWllADsUGFQ8bP83Moryg_5mRozw0HSypPmHEn1m-h3T8gIFo1WH9QZnKHq_d_6OcUpD1bNH4c/s320/IMG_0375.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171874789592566226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Left is Rajdeep checking out the skates.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The two photos below are from Valentine's Day. I had never actually celebrated it before, and doing so in China was something special in itself.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYqbSEeRhyphenhyphen8AmGr1zVQh-5Zl177Ebj5iOMuGV8PA7dTUqMhaYsTTX4UTfBFq-Od5587Xh1MGPFDZpkSgHRbw4-AsGBgmmz6hY-H5TIyo4eMg0e4b_KOK7eojht88xcjC8n8ZhjYnAKs4/s1600-h/IMG_0410.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYqbSEeRhyphenhyphen8AmGr1zVQh-5Zl177Ebj5iOMuGV8PA7dTUqMhaYsTTX4UTfBFq-Od5587Xh1MGPFDZpkSgHRbw4-AsGBgmmz6hY-H5TIyo4eMg0e4b_KOK7eojht88xcjC8n8ZhjYnAKs4/s320/IMG_0410.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171878676537969154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSsKpp5r695bHfrVkvAiAJ6Dej-ArtkD7axlKPKUV52-G0coHHiK1DAHzoDPuAiuJ4cMVYadlq8uxCajb5wkXN_wtr7Gpx9ITOClRQyY_hnyhAqNiwLxwokhDWVWc170ZdpRKBt6b9Wk/s1600-h/IMG_0413.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSsKpp5r695bHfrVkvAiAJ6Dej-ArtkD7axlKPKUV52-G0coHHiK1DAHzoDPuAiuJ4cMVYadlq8uxCajb5wkXN_wtr7Gpx9ITOClRQyY_hnyhAqNiwLxwokhDWVWc170ZdpRKBt6b9Wk/s320/IMG_0413.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171877516896799218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Last but not least, Chef Lyndsey. Like the apron? It's the year of the rat folks.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKkpz302hsrhOqzx-EfQ1Yw9rpiEP732kV5FMBZg4ygjzhs3iVdZT-uo9pzGtFXSeHG7v_cZbmD2PYVvVlk8GmuxAkIsgQ-I3Jxwa3coG17yvttc3rMPla2VGioaATprueBbdUiGzwdM/s1600-h/IMG_0427.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKkpz302hsrhOqzx-EfQ1Yw9rpiEP732kV5FMBZg4ygjzhs3iVdZT-uo9pzGtFXSeHG7v_cZbmD2PYVvVlk8GmuxAkIsgQ-I3Jxwa3coG17yvttc3rMPla2VGioaATprueBbdUiGzwdM/s400/IMG_0427.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171881433906973218" border="0" /></a>Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-16922955608380420752008-02-11T11:04:00.000+08:002008-02-11T12:20:55.159+08:00Spring FestivalHappy Chinese New Year everybody!<br /><br />The New Year was on February 7. On the eve of the new year everybody, including small children who should be nowhere near explosives, goes out to a fireworks stand to load up for the big night. You can get anything from sparklers to industrial sized stadium show fireworks. At midnight on the eve of the new year everyone goes out in front of their apartment gate to set them off. I guess the idea is that on the eve of the new year the evil spirits come to earth and the firecrackers help to scare them away.<br /><br />So this New Years Eve I loaded my bicycle basket up with a long chain of firecrackers, rockets, and the like and road to Rajdeep's apartment. We set them off outside his apartment gate (not that I really believe evil spirits were going to get us but, better to be safe right?) then we road to our friends' place on the 21st floor of an apartment building - a great place to look down over Tianjin and watch the fireworks madness. We got to their apartment just around midnight and I swear every Chinese person was out in the streets with firecrackers in hand.<br /><br />There wasn't a second of silence - fireworks filled the sky and the deafening sound of thousands of simultaneous firecrackers being set off was almost unbearable. They were setting these things off in the middle of the street even as cars drove by. ... the view of all this from my friends' flat was really wonderful. It was like a very colorful doomsday.<br /><br />Well, 5 days later and the fireworks are still going off every second. My crazy neighbors seem to find if necessary to set off long chains of firecrackers outside my apartment building all night long, every hour on the hour. They begin at 4am and continue until about 9am. EVERY NIGHT!! I'm going insane. I can't hear myself think. I can't even hear my TV with the volume on high! I thought of calling the police last night but then, what's the point? This is a national holiday. Everyone is setting off firecrackers. Heck, it's probably the police who are setting those things off outside my window!<br /><br />The lesson here folks is that, Chinese New Year may sound like an exciting holiday but do yourself a favor and never, NEVER come to China at this time of year! I'll try to get some photos of the fireworks salesmen but I haven't had a chance yet.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-17684106727115447982008-02-02T15:32:00.000+08:002008-12-09T09:07:01.988+08:00Winter VacationSorry folks. I know it has been awhile since my last entry, so here's a long overdue post...<br /><br />I'm now halfway through my contract working at the Korean International School here in Tianjin. The first semester went pretty well. This was my first teaching job where I didn't rotate schools. That made it nice because I got to teach and get to know the same students, unlike my old teaching jobs where it was hard for me to remember my students' names because I taught over 600 at 4 different schools. Plus it's nice to have my own office space. It's nice to be permanent.<br /><br />I'm also halfway through my winter vacation which started in the beginning of January. One of the perks of teaching at an international school is that you get 2 months vacation in Jan. and Feb. Sounds nice right? Well the first few weeks were great. I got to relax, my sister and brother-in-law came to visit, and then I got to relax some more, and more, and more. Well I'm quite frankly tired of relaxing. I don't want to do the whole 'tour around southeast asia tour' that a lot of other westerners do here. I don't want to spend so much money. So, I'm stuck here in Tianjin doing nothing all day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzgR7zg8nG2im0ClwUmNEckzXmMu8ND5YQ994RKRvGYFo7YNUZlIpBfDo-TEBYkiQO0L0eRCrp_m7wArLOb5tryd32LzohaqrbHHlqeWLllZKvFaji36EFeFaai-nRcWGJ2gfvKvd_Tk/s1600-h/IMG_0083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzgR7zg8nG2im0ClwUmNEckzXmMu8ND5YQ994RKRvGYFo7YNUZlIpBfDo-TEBYkiQO0L0eRCrp_m7wArLOb5tryd32LzohaqrbHHlqeWLllZKvFaji36EFeFaai-nRcWGJ2gfvKvd_Tk/s320/IMG_0083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162285334090383618" border="0" /></a>I've been trying my best to keep myself busy by studying Bengali (my boyfriend, Rajdeep, is from Assam in northeast India) and going to the gym. I admit though that all this time off has forced me to develop an addiction to dvds.<br /><br />Here's a photo of Rajdeep and I. He's executive chef at an Indian restaurant here in Tianjin.<br /><br />Erin, my sister, and her husband Curt came to visit from January 15 - 24. It was a pretty short trip so we packed a lot in. Here are a few photos of the places we visited. First off, I met them at the Beijing airport and we took the bus (2.5 hours) back to <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Tianjin</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpjKbUIKjK4bFmb_L2ryyOjzQm0REwhOQFKRESh3Hqs2YUJgyV2FjDr441dtShoRcBdmYJP_3tDI7bg9oBGmCBdCAQpxwnb67eSEsDDpxltcI09vwYH0Yx-WldJVXr_j67u2f7D1U9iU/s1600-h/IMG_0071.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpjKbUIKjK4bFmb_L2ryyOjzQm0REwhOQFKRESh3Hqs2YUJgyV2FjDr441dtShoRcBdmYJP_3tDI7bg9oBGmCBdCAQpxwnb67eSEsDDpxltcI09vwYH0Yx-WldJVXr_j67u2f7D1U9iU/s320/IMG_0071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162288847373631778" border="0" /></a>First we took a trip to Ancient Culture Street in Tianjin. You can find any kind of traditional Chinese arts, crafts, snacks, etc here. The red lanterns and red paper cuts you see are being sold in fullforce for the Chinese New Year which is coming up on Feb. 7.<br /><br />The next day we (Erin, Curt, Rajdeep, and I) hired a car that drove us to the Tianjin section of the <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Great wall at Huangyaguan</span> (yellow cliff pass). It was a long drive and the outskirts of Tianjin which we drove past were pretty much a barren wasteland. But the wall was awesome and a nice break from the city.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iqehv6okSzRrmsDUd9RHwS3etNfMhWFgrSWHVL05y87m9o0s8HA2ic4JIMxP7AKoGSL0Pwqjh2-TrYT7CUJ41v2t7M8r9WzpO3tLM_ZXnlYCJDb8lUEgKklvcT_GrPU9XRm7QOFc-OA/s1600-h/IMG_0152.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iqehv6okSzRrmsDUd9RHwS3etNfMhWFgrSWHVL05y87m9o0s8HA2ic4JIMxP7AKoGSL0Pwqjh2-TrYT7CUJ41v2t7M8r9WzpO3tLM_ZXnlYCJDb8lUEgKklvcT_GrPU9XRm7QOFc-OA/s320/IMG_0152.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162291342749630770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This section of the wall is in good condition and supposedly hasn't been reconstructed like the sections around Beijing that most tourists go to. We were literally the only people there. It was all up and down, with lots of steps and steep hills.<br /><br />The next morning the three of us, as well as two friends from my work, went to Tianjin airport for our flight to Harbin, a city in the far northeast of China that's famous for its snow and ice festival. The airline we flew on was called Okay Airline (just OK?). Why couldn't they have called it something like Excellent Air, or Great Air, or something more reassuring...? Well we got onto the plane and just before takeoff smoke started coming out of the vents and all the passengers started freaking out and jumping out of their seats. Turns out they just forgot to close the vents while de-icing the plane. Nothing for us to worry about, but they sure didn't do a good job calming Erin down. She was freaked out and thank God she didn't jump ship.<br /><br />Harbin was FREEZING COLD! It was around -30c everyday. Here are a few photos of the snow and ice festival in <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Harbin</span>. It was really amazing. Although I got frostbite every time I stepped outside, I really enjoyed it!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVU8aq0ip6SpTyF9uKklPrkWUceAS2WsWRLjYYDR4J-JRbYsD-0jZLiTdXRba-a5TCD65Gj_cazMN5CSOrSxCBkHGEtapmNwnJj1dkmOxVMdGSXuUqhmZ9SLd5hRbiS1_sm28GnZwb3Q/s1600-h/IMG_0262.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVU8aq0ip6SpTyF9uKklPrkWUceAS2WsWRLjYYDR4J-JRbYsD-0jZLiTdXRba-a5TCD65Gj_cazMN5CSOrSxCBkHGEtapmNwnJj1dkmOxVMdGSXuUqhmZ9SLd5hRbiS1_sm28GnZwb3Q/s320/IMG_0262.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162295491688038722" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Sr6-Ne89UppcZWw81ihLZHEHHKNjspuwmYtf8riN-xPJ9pJ3j0BfuOA3VxP3LJox7HMIriBs9K9sbLa4f9EgvtedzTMeCrhn-p-gmPd34I8XNqC2_I9L74UAZWOcFYgY7MJhy4cOEcs/s1600-h/IMG_0256.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Sr6-Ne89UppcZWw81ihLZHEHHKNjspuwmYtf8riN-xPJ9pJ3j0BfuOA3VxP3LJox7HMIriBs9K9sbLa4f9EgvtedzTMeCrhn-p-gmPd34I8XNqC2_I9L74UAZWOcFYgY7MJhy4cOEcs/s320/IMG_0256.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162295500277973330" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4zHUxqHK3OgadpCFSF_seky3f7OQoLD800I69slqEIijdijc45_3rK2kV7edt6zgRe_uJoQIxK6aOnBDLxoTjuWjC-inf7AKyb0LTfrXxR9e81H5WataGQVVLMBYZEA2szqbsx4akVg/s1600-h/IMG_0276.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4zHUxqHK3OgadpCFSF_seky3f7OQoLD800I69slqEIijdijc45_3rK2kV7edt6zgRe_uJoQIxK6aOnBDLxoTjuWjC-inf7AKyb0LTfrXxR9e81H5WataGQVVLMBYZEA2szqbsx4akVg/s320/IMG_0276.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162295508867907938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8rMkawtlo-gd_ciP8UowcuK6LwdzazXtoufmNO2kVNebsF9OXO-NEz4oW3YfDWjJquZ-mv10npYjfQojEJCAZmnbX_wY4UaUXpyKXeWQbWs2bHfcxpU3imkjQTSBeKtbUxZdT5nT0OQ/s1600-h/IMG_0291.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8rMkawtlo-gd_ciP8UowcuK6LwdzazXtoufmNO2kVNebsF9OXO-NEz4oW3YfDWjJquZ-mv10npYjfQojEJCAZmnbX_wY4UaUXpyKXeWQbWs2bHfcxpU3imkjQTSBeKtbUxZdT5nT0OQ/s320/IMG_0291.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162295517457842546" border="0" /></a><br />More stories and photos from the rest of the trip to follow!Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-76974527834320591112007-12-02T21:49:00.000+08:002007-12-02T21:56:51.324+08:003 big accomplishments today:1. got my first haircut by a Chinese person that wasn't a complete disaster<br />2. bought my first pair of boots (not snowboots or moonboots, just cute girly winter boots)<br />3. found petit ecolier cookies (biscuits with dark chocolate on top, I used to eat them all the time when I lived in France), bought them, and ate the whole pack in one sitting<br /><br />.... well maybe eating all the cookies isn't an accomplishment but I feel good, so that's all that matters.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-9390461975868783802007-11-04T17:26:00.000+08:002007-11-04T17:26:19.020+08:00Road RageI ride my bicycle EVERYWHERE in Tianjin. Granted you can take the bus anywhere for just 1.5rmb ($.25) but riding bike here is good exercise, it's often faster than the local traffic (Tianjin has bad traffic flow problems), and riding bike, I'm convinced, greatly develops a persons motor skills.<br /><br />My ride to work in the morning at 8am:<br />1. unlock my bike and get it out of the door of my building without touching my bike or the door with anything but my hands. Dirty dust settles instantaneously here. If I clean my bike seat the night before and bump against it the next morning before re-cleaning it I'll get a nice black smudge on my clothes.<br /><br />2. swerve around a few buildings, cars that are parked in the middle of my housing area's driveway, and other early-morning bikers and pedestrians.<br /><br />3. Once out of the gate of my housing area: Avoid cars coming in the wrong direction, potholes, and people walking in the middle of the road.<br /><br />4. After riding beside a quaint but sometimes smelly little stream full of lotus flowers I arrive at the train tracks. Here it gets interesting. Hundreds of bikes and cars pile up and push push push their way through. Cars drive in the bike lane, completely cutting off the flow of bicycles, but that doesn't stop the bikes. We all just swerve right up onto the sidewalk.<br /><br />5. Next I reach the traffic light which always has traffic police "directing" traffic in the morning because of the morning rush. Nobody obeys the traffic police or the lights. The rule in China is "Do what you need to do to get there faster". As traffic comes from the left (when traffic from my direction should be stopped) the bikes just skoot in through the oncoming traffic and as soon as they create a little traffic block, the cars from my direction follow. Horns honk, there are lots of fender-benders, and I've even been in a few crashes on occasion.<br /><br />This is all the excitement I experience everyday on my way to work. I guess it's a little dangerous, but riding a bike in Tianjin (or about any place in China) is exhilarating. It's like an obstacle course or a video game that you win by arriving at your destination without having been hit and having caused as much destruction and chaos along the way as possible.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112241089047642933.post-45575335445132145812007-10-28T11:09:00.000+08:002007-10-28T11:22:15.899+08:00I made two young girls cry yesterday. This past week we gave mid-term exams at school and two, usually good students, didn't do so well on the exam. I showed my classes their exam scores and final class grades and they were not happy. Now I have the reputation as the mean teacher who gives difficult exams. ... That might not necessarily be a bad reputation to have though.Lyndseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243670409477010037noreply@blogger.com0