I Stepped On My Host Mom's Mango, and Other Stories

Yes, this entry's title speaks the truth: while sitting on the couch and watching Chinese opera on TV, my host mom accidentally dropped the mango she was peeling. At her outburst of "Aiya!", I stood up to look for it, and my right foot came down on something soft and squishy. I had found the mango. A good chunk of it got smushed into the carpet. Luckily, it only took a few tissues to clean it up. My host mom thought it was hilarious. I, however, felt bad for the mango - the rest of it ended up in the trash, after only one bite. Oh well.

My host family is great. I think I am a constant source of amusement for them, especially when I try to have a conversation with them in Chinese. For instance, I was talking to my host mom and sister the other day, and I mentioned the phrase "I like sleeping in my bed." However, I mispronounced the word for "bed" and instead told them "I like sleeping on sheep." My host sister is constantly writing down new words for me, but there some words that no matter how often she repeats them, I can never remember them. My top 3 are "tomato" (xihongshi), "gym" (jianshenfang), and ironically enough, "to remember" (jide). My sister really gets a kick out of me trying to recall them, and has even gone so far as posting a note on the bulletin board in the living room with the word for "tomato," complete with illustration. Actually, there are quite a few post-its scattered around the apartment labeling common household features, such as xiyiji (washing machine), weibolu (microwave), yagao (toothpaste), etc.

In other news, my real mom came to visit last week. It was great to see her, and we had a good time touring around Beijing. I took her to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. We also hit up the Silk Market, where we made out like bandits, but only after some hard bargaining. On her last night here, we went to this awesome out-of-the-way restaurant called The Tree (voted "Best Pizza" in Beijing). They had dozens of Belgian beers to choose from - I opted for a wheat beer called Celis Witbier. Wow. A party for my tastebuds. Sweet and spicy, with a bitter citrus aroma. Coming from a college in Pennsylvania, I know it's blasphemy to say any beer other than Yuengling is the best, but I'd be lying if I said that beer wasn't the best beer of my life.

Well, I'm in the homestretch for the end of the semester: less than 3 weeks of classes and finals left, then I'm off to Tibet for 2 weeks. Although I'm ecstatic about going to the Roof of the World, I am particulary excited about whom I will be traveling with, specifically a certain someone who decided that he wanted to fly halfway around the world to explore Tibet with me. I couldn't think of a better travel partner.


(Mom and me at the Temple of Heaven)