Matching Clothes

We noticed here that couples often like to wear matching clothes. Sometimes, they even wear identical outfits, as if daily life was a Sadie Hawkins dance.

Saw this couple from behind just the other day. Crept up closer just to get a picture. This is perhaps the most innovative of the outfits that I've seen. Their outfit only works if the guy is on the left and the girl is on the right. And it works better if they're the same height, and not holding an umbrella.

According to Plan

In my mind, I immediately had a plan laid out. I counted forward by a number of weeks to determine when I would write this post. It would have been posted at right around this time, the latter half of June. The plan was to see the doctor, get a printout of the ultrasound, and then post it here, with the simple blog title "News". No post content. Just the title and a picture.

And then, on June 1st, we had a miscarriage. This was not how we had planned it. The blog entry I had planned to write was the least of our disappointments. There was so much more in my heart and mind that I had already begun planning in the weeks prior. Name. Which room would be hers (or his). Whether she (or he) would play the piano or the erhu. Whether she (or he) should train to play setter or libero. There were a million more little details in this plan.

I'm thankful that all the details and plans of our lives are in the control of His wise and loving hands... not in mine. And in His plan, we happened to be in the big city and down the street from a good, English-speaking international hospital. And in His plan, Bethany's pain was only emotional, not physical; the doctors said she was healthy; this miscarriage was nothing out of the ordinary for many first pregnancies. And in His plan, this never-before-experienced sense of loss would draw us closer to each other and make us even more thankful to celebrate 6 years of marriage together. And it would draw us closer to Him.

We've been back in our city now for about 2 weeks. We've been on a little bit of a blog sabbatical, as we settle back in and process. As more thoughts come to us, we'll do our best to post them here, so that you can track with our heart journey along the way.

I spent some time thinking on this one last week...

As you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in the mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Eccl 11:5)

I believe that is true. There are things that I do not understand about his plan, perhaps just like my child would not have understood why I trained her (or him) to be a libero instead of a setter. But I'm glad when things go according to His plan, because He really does know what He's doing, and He really does love us just as a father loves his children.

Salt

Alvin and I took a trip to Beijing for a couple of reasons, but one of them was to celebrate our wedding anniversary as well as our anniversary of being in East Asia for one year.

Before the trip, I scouted out a couple places to eat near our house. One of them was called "Salt." It is contemporary cuisine where you can choose to get a two or three course menu. We went for lunch where the prices were significantly cheaper, and we had the two course meal.


Alvin first ordered a drink: the Tremendous. He thought it was only ok for restaurant coffee.








For the first course, Alvin had the cucumber gazpacho with tuna tartar. On top are two potato chips. He thought this was excellent, and at the end of this course, he was already full. They also served us delicious breads with finishing salts. That was the yummiest part of the meal.



I had the avocado salad with artichoke hearts. I thought it was a pretty tasty and fresh salad, but not extraordinary of any sort. Just good.










For the second course, Alvin had the beef tenderloin on top of polenta. He thought the beef tenderloin was pretty good, and cooked well. He didn't seem so thrilled by the polenta.





I had the sea bass with curry sauce. I thought the fish was very tender and well cooked but without the curry sauce, the fish didn't have much flavor. Alvin said he liked his beef tenderloin better than my fish. We were very full by the end and didn't finish either dish completely.








Overall, I say Salt was a pleasant experience. If you go for lunch, the prices are moderate for US prices, the service was good, food was yummy, and the atmosphere was nice.

SALT
Jiang Tai Xi Lu, Lido Area, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区蒋台西路珀丽酒店西侧
Telephone: 010-64378457

Tree Planting

The international school took all the students on another field trip, back to the area where they took us apple picking in the fall. This time, the plan was to help the environment and plant a tree.

So to start off, we all painted our names on signs:


Then we, ok, I mean mostly Alvin, dug up a hole and we planted in the "tree." We then tied our signs to the tree.





One good thing is that I didn't do the Jeep ride like last time. Some friends, begged the principal to ride the Jeep, so one Jeep went out for the adventure. I decided to pass this time.

Breakup Walkway

This is a picture of the walkway outside our kitchen window, right next to the heart-shaped sandbox, shot at about 9pm.

We get a lot of noise in the evenings because of the string of booths/restaurants set up just to the right of where this picture is shot. On most nights, you'll hear men doing some weird back-and-forth yelling game, which it turns out is some sort of drinking game involving the counting of numbers. Anyways, we're thankful that our bedroom is on the other side, of our unit, away from this noise.

Aside from the people eating and laughing and yelling and playing drinking games... once in awhile, you will hear the sound of a couple in the middle of a breakup. Ok, I don't know for sure that it's a breakup - it might just be a fight, or the confession or some terrible wrongdoing, or some other thing - but whatever it is, it is dramatic. What clues me in? It's the yelling, which is not, "Hey, we're having a good time on a weekend hanging out" kind of yelling. It's more like (even though it's in Chinese) "I can't believe you're telling me this today, how could you do this to me?" kind of yelling. Followed, often times, by loud wailing from the girl. Really... loud... wailing.

I have seen at least a handful of breakups happen on this walkway. Most at night, sometime between 9pm and 1am. Sometimes in the middle of the day. And I learn things about cultural differences as I watch. Usually, the setup of people looks pretty similar to the picture above:

You have the girl standing off to the side in shock, wondering and crying. You have the guy who just broke up with her - he's the one in the stripes down center - and a friend who is trying to talk to him, maybe asking him to change his mind or to go about it differently. This friend is crucial, because he often goes back and forth as the intermediary between the guy and the girl. And then (no joke), you have the other friend who is sitting off to the distance smoking. He's not so involved; he's just wondering when things will settle down and they can get back to their lamb skewers and beer.

I've noticed that these scenarios usually involve lots of guys but only one girl. My guess is that the guy invited his girlfriend to come and hang out with him and his buddies, but then he took her aside to lay down the difficult news.

I saw a similar scenario a few months ago, late at night, on the street outside our window. Guy and girl in breakup. Girl walking down the street. Guy chasing after her. Girl hitting him and wailing, then continuing to walk. Guy continues to chase. Eventually the friend comes and talks to the girl as an intermediary. Lots of other guy friends standing off to the side, looking at their cell phones or smoking.

It is interesting to me how often these scenarios happen outside in public. And - now, I don't mean to downplay the emotional stress that people in breakup may be under - I also notice that I don't feel like I see people sit down and talk these things out in a healthy way... in a way that makes people feel listened to and understood. I think that the Western approach to conflict resolution is very different from what I often see here.

Well, the wailing has stopped. I can only guess that the guy and girl have gone their separate ways and a few of the friends remained just to finish up the remainders of the food that they ordered. I'm hearing the yelling from the drinking games start up again...

Come On Now, Let's All Be Civilized

In the years leading up to the Beijing Olympics, the bigger cities saw a movement towards being more 文明 (wén míng), which is roughly translated as "civilized" or "cultured."

So, if somebody spits out the window of a bus onto the street (or onto a person walking down the street)... or disregards the line at the bank... or is seen urinating onto the side of a building... you might hear somebody say, "哎呀，真不文明啊。" (āi yā, zhēnbùwénmíng ā), which means, "Aiya... so uncivilized."

But, while I have heard about this movement in Beijing or Shanghai, I haven't felt like we've encountered this 文明 movement so much here in our city. Until I came across this sign today while heading to the post office in the middle of downtown. There is a big and busy intersection, and trying to cross this road is not for the uninitiated. And even though they have had this four-way underpass all along, people still like to play Human Frogger to get from the shopping center to the post office.

What was funny to me was that, right after I shot this picture, crossed the underpass and was about to turn the corner to head back upstairs, I heard someone yelling, "Woooooooooo!" Just as I turned the corner, I saw a grown-man sliding down the side of the stair path (it's flat, for bikes and luggage) in his slippery shoes, having the time of his life. And if I hadn't reacted quickly enough and dodged him, he would have slid right into me and knocked me over. At least he took the underpass, unlike those uncivilized people up on street level.

Homemade Pasta w/ Cheese and Mushrooms

Since Top Chef Masters is back on tv again, it has reignited my passion for cooking fancy foods.

Here is the recipe I used from the Top Chef Masters website:
Homemade Pasta

Below is the recipe, with my changes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find truffles, so I used oyster mushrooms instead. Although, even if I could find truffles in the states, it would be too expensive for me.

Serves two people:
* 1 cup of Flour
* 4 Egg Yolks
* 1/6 cup Water
* 1 ounce Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
* 3 cups of Oyster Mushrooms (large dice)
* Salt
* Pepper
* 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
* 2 tablespoons Butter
* 1 cup of water
* 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
* 2 cup spinach
* 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar


To make pasta:

1. Mix flour, egg yolks, water, and a pinch of salt. Let dough sit and roll out into 8 x 5 sheets.

2. Cook in boiling water for approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove and place in ice water.

3. Once pasta is cooked, lay it out flat on a towel.

4. Sprinkle cheese and some of the mushrooms onto the pasta and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Fold the pasta around the mixture.

5. Place the little packages of pasta seam side down in a oiled (olive oil) baking dish .

6. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.


For Mushrooms:

1. Sauté mushrooms in the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook until brown.

2. Deglaze mushrooms with 1 cup of water and reduce by 1/2.

Spinach Salad (for Garnish):

1. Dress spinach with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Plating:

1. Distribute mushrooms evenly over cooked pasta.

2. Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated Parmesan on top of pasta and garnish with spinach salad.

Here's a picture of my dish at the end:
(It tasted good, but I think it is because it was packed with cheese inside.)