From Grits to Chopsticks

Here are some more random snapshots of life in China.  Last week, we mentioned that it can get pretty cold in “The Spring City.”  Here we are eating a hotpot dinner in our local village on Sunday night:

It’s good to eat from a boiling pot of broth this time of year, especially since it allows you to have a gas burner on the table.  There are actually some restaurants with “heat,” like this one near our apartment:

Of course, you have to go outside to warm up.  Speaking of food, sweet potatoes are a favorite roadside snack in our city.  All over town, you will find vendors cooking them on oil drum grills:

We spend a lot of our time eating with students, so here’s one more food photo, taken with some prospective students on an “interview” for my class next year (an interactive English test):

Now that the weather has turned cold, all of the dogs are wearing the latest fashions:

The trees around town have also become more fashionable.  After we returned from Taiwan a few weeks ago, we noticed that they had all been painted white:

You might think that this is a trivial thing, but recognize that there are tens of thousands of trees in our city.  Almost all of them received the same white coat of paint in less than a week.  But as we’ve said before, the Chinese never shy away from large projects, as you can tell by these cranes alongside the 2nd ring road:

Just a few more random shots to finish out this week’s blog.  Here is one of our English corner students participating in an art contest, drawing a nativity scene in a difficult way:

Here’s one of me juggling before movie night (kind of a warm-up act while waiting for additional students to arrive):

Every Wednesday night, Susan tutors the son of a faculty member in English:

It’s nice to be able to serve the folks in our city.