Jian Bing

In China, food is everywhere.  A big reason for that is street food.  People park themselves at busy street corners every day, making meals for anyone who wants a quick, cheap, and delicious meal.

I love Chinese street food.  Many of the things you can buy are very very greasy (i.e. tasty), but stop by one of the many street fruit vendors and you can balance out your diet just fine.

So far, my favorite street food is "jian bing," a wonderful combination of crepe-like batter, egg, green onion, pepper(?), some sort of chopped up meat(?), two different kinds of sauces that get spread on with a brush (no idea what the sauces are), and a weird crunchy wafer thing that gets all soggy when the crepe/egg part is folded around it.

Just in case you're lost (which you probably are) I took some video of a professional jian bing maker doing what he does best.....

Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Soooooooo good.

McDonalds breakfast?  No thanks.  I'll take my 3.5 kuai (55-cent) jian bing any day of the week (especially Saturdays because the guy from the video is right on the way to the CSI building).

      

Chinglish of the Week

I'm going to try and post some Chinglish at least once a week.  So without further ado.....

These peanut butter crackers were very good.  However, the description seems to be better suited for a certain kind of cleansing product.

Just sayin'.




     

Johnny B. Goode

This is the bike I bought on my 3^rd day in Beijing.  I have affectionately named him Johnny B. Goode.  I have no idea why I named him Johnny B. Goode…it just sort of hit me at the right moment.  I paid 330rmb for this trusty steed, which is about $51.

So, in China, bikes get stolen all the time.  If your zi xing che (bike) doesn’t have a chain or locking mechanism, you can bet that it won’t be there the next time you want to use it.  And if your bike is new or looks new…it’s a prime target.  

So that is why I spray-painted the crap out of this thing with black and silver spray paint.  I also added nice little accents like scratches in the paint and dirt-smeared splotches on the shiny spots.  

That’s just a LITTLE different than how we treat our new purchases in America.

(FYI: my bike used to be bright blue)

Johnny and I have been through a lot.  I’ve put thousands of miles under those crooked, fake-name-brand, yet steady tires.  Or at least it feels like I have because I’m still out of shape.

Here’s to you, Johnny.  May you never get stolen.

Moon Cakes

Last Monday, September 12th, was the Chinese "Mid-Autumn Festival," also known as the "Moon Cake Festival."

What are moon cakes, you ask?  Wellllllllllllll, I still really don't know.  I know what they look like.  I know that they can come in many flavors, such as red bean, egg (with an egg yoke in the middle....very salty), and coconut (so good...kinda sweet).  I know that they make for a nice, quick breakfast.  I know they come in other flavors that I dare not try to find out.  And yet I do not know what in the world they are ultimately made of or how they originated.

But who cares?  I liked them.  They were EVERYWHERE for about 2 weeks leading up to the festival and a few days after, being sold on the street and on display in grocery stores.  Chinese people were handing them out as gifts left and right, bringing them to almost every Bible Study I attended.   I was even given a home-made one by one of my students (by far the best one I've had).

But now they have been steadily disappearing, and that makes me kind of sad.

 Next to my little military Bible for size-comparison (and a plug for God).

mmmmmmmmmm

The veteran FoCers will probably laugh at the fact that it makes me sad because moon cakes are old hat for them, but I will fully embrace my rookie-ness....I miss you, moon cake.



 

Chinglish

Every so often I hope to post some nice "Chinglish"....the Chinese people's attempt at English.  ("Chinglish" used to sound like a bad term to me, but I keep hearing Chinese people use it, so I'm ok with it now).  I've got some good ones stored up after 2 1/2 weeks in Beijing, so I'll post a few more soon.

Chinese people LOVE drinking hot water….and they love drinking hot water way more than they love proper English....

Mmmmm.  Nothing tastes better than hot water carefully scalded to perfection.

Here are a couple of others....

Thanks to Chinglish, there's always a 95% chance of having a quick laugh wherever you are. 

So....something crazy awesome happened.

At the end of my first blog post I had said I was impatient but that something crazy awesome would happen.  God is good.  Something crazy awesome happened.

A week ago as I was hanging out in my school's "teachers' room" (a long and very skinny room with couches along the wall for naps in between classes...I'll post a pic later), another professor walked in, a Chinese man with very good English and with whom I had shared a quick smile and hello in the hallway the day before.  As he sat down on the couch next to me he noticed that I was reading my (fairly new and amazing) Hebrew and Greek Reader's Edition Bible.

He asked me, "Oh is that a KJV Bible?"  I answered, "No."

"Is that an NIV?"  "Nope."

"Well what is it then?"  "It's a Bible that has Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Old and New Testaments."

"What???" he asked as he quickly leaned in shoulder to shoulder with me, grabbing the Bible from my hands. "You can read this?!!!"

"Somewhat."

"Oh wow!  That is fantastic!  I have a KJV and an NIV at home, but nothing like this.  Wow, well hi, I'm David."

We talked for the next 10 minutes about the Bible.  He loves ancient literature, and Biblical literature fascinates him, especially the history of Biblical literature.  Throughout our conversation I could tell he particularly was interested in the names of people in the Bible.

"Does anyone in America name their child 'Cain'?"  "No, I don't think anyone would want to do that."

"Is it because of what the name 'Cain' means?"  "No, I think it has more to do with what Cain did to his brother."

"Oh, ok, because there are some great names in the Bible.  Like 'David'.  'David' is a great name.  And it seems like there are many others from the Bible that people in America use to name their children."

David and I continued to talk for another 5 minutes before we both had to leave.  Turns out he's a professor at a university next door and just likes to come and use the teachers' room at my school.  I invited him to a Bible study and we exchanged numbers.  Yesterday, I texted him that we were going to have a Bible study and he met me in the teachers' room again.  He said he couldn't make it, but that he'll be there next week.  Then he asked if he could invite his friend.  His friend is a professor who teaches the Bible at a nearby university.  That university just happens to be the 'MIT' of China.

Aaaaaaaaaand I said, "Yes."

So, we could have two people joining our study who seem to love the Bible and want to learn more.

Like I said....something crazy awesome happened.

God is good.



 

It's China...

There was one phrase we kept hearing throughout FOC training.  This phrase was supposed to sum up China in a nutshell.  And that phrase was, "It's China."  Whenever something crazy and hectic happened..."It's China."  Whenever something randomly happened with no normal explanation...."It's China."  Whenever something happened that would make an American chuckle or gasp or worry...."It's China."

Well, it's been 10 days or so in Beijing and it kind of feels like it's been 2 months...."It's China."  

I am man that doesn't handle gigantic changes very well.  I welcome change because it offers some excitement in life, but the transition period is usually when I feel like I'm losing my mind.  When I had to find a new apartment in Minneapolis and a new car at the same time, it was very stressful.  When I decided to change my whole career path and become a pastor, it was very stressful.  When I changed towns (to New Ulm) and knew exactly ZERO people, it was very stressful.  When I moved to Mequon and had to live in a dorm room again while starting a new part-time job, it was very stressful.

And now we get to Beijing, China--a place that seems surprisingly similar to a big city in the US.  Sure, there are differences (which I will blog about eventually), but for the most part it seems very much like going to another big US city.

That is, of course, not counting the LANGUAGE BARRIER!  If there is one thing that is driving me crazy it is the fact that I don't know Chinese.  That's why I've been doing Rosetta Stone and reading Chinese-character books like crazy.  I like talking to people, especially strangers....and I can't do that here.  I like trying to schmooze people I don't know....and I can't do that here.  And most of all, I like talking religion (especially Christ, obviously) with other people....and I can't do that here....yet.

We haven't started CSI classes yet or Bible studies, so I know it will change eventually, but I just want to talk Jesus with a Chinese person who needs Him.  Just once.  For now.  I just need something.  Something for motivation.  I feel bad for God because I am not a patient person and I keep praying for something to happen.  I know it will.  I know this culture shock will pass.  I know something crazy awesome will suddenly happen.  After all...."It's China."