Where is Roberg?

First, let me apologize for not writing more while I’ve been in China.  I’ve been thinking about you all very much and have wanted to write, but it is difficult to write without having access to the blog.  It is much easier to write to you all when I can see the blog myself and know how it looks and imagine my audience a bit more. 

 

For those of you who are wondering, the reason I can’t see my page is because the Chinese government has some web pages blocked, especially web pages that do not have some sort of central control.  For example, a blog is a form of website that can be updated by any individual at any time, without having to run it by anyone.  Opinions can be openly expressed, and facts do not have to be confirmed.  For the Chinese government, this is a problem because they want to control some of the information that their people have access to.  Unlike the United States, the Chinese government tries to control and limit opinions much more.

 

With that said, we should give an enormous ”thank you” to Mrs. R and Ms. Conrad who have been pain stakingly transposing my text and photos from e-mail to this blog.  Hopefully when I get home, I’ll be able to put a few more things up on my own, if Mr. Roberg doesn’t hog the computer as usual.  (Just because he has fingers and thumbs, typing is easier for him – I’m getting better, even though it’s quite a site to see my hopping around the keyboard to type! )

 

The food here has been interesting!  Before I came to China, I was wondering if the food would be similar to the food at the Chinese place in Coxsackie.  The answer is “sort of”.  When we have eaten at the hostels (which are hotels for young people and students – I usually have to talk to the staff to convince them to let the old guy stay because he’s with me), the food is fairly similar.  I think they put a western twist on the food to make their guests feel less homesick.

 

In the picture, you can see a typical place setting in a Chinese restaurant.  As you can tell, it comes in comes pre-wrapped in plastic.  I’m not sure why, but it probably is because they don’t want it to get dirty on the shelf, or they send out their dishes to be washed and they come back clean and wrapped so that they don’t get dirty during transportation.

 

 

When we’ve gone out to restaurants, we’ve found that the food is more unique.  One of the biggest things for me to adjust to has been the use of chopsticks.  Mr. Roberg was pretty good at them already because he was in Japan, but for me it took some getting used to.  I have to use two paws at once, and at times I just give up and lick it out of the bowl, which is OK here because Chinese do not find it rude if you bring the bowl up to your face and slurp some of the contents.  Noodles are very popular here and they always come in a type of soup or broth.  Sometimes the noodles are made from rice and are like really fat spaghetti.

 

 

The Chinese also seem to like any type of food on a stick, especially when it is street food.  In the last restaurant we went to in Qingdao, Mr. Roberg ordered pork kabobs and they came out on metal skewers.  He thought that the meat would come out in a pita like all of the other kabobs he’s ordered all over the world, but not in China.  That didn’t stop him from enjoying them though – he couldn’t stop raving about them, so I ordered some for myself and I had to agree:  they were delicious!

 

 

We have also seen what looks like hot dogs on a stick and we finally tried corn on a stick, which was simply grilled a little bit.  I’m not sure if they put anything on it, but it had a bit of a caramelized taste and it was very filling.  We are going to try to get some more pictures, but we have seen scorpions, squid, and other types of meat on a stick too.  Check back to see what we found.

 

 

One of the most fun things to do while we’ve been here in China is to find all of the funny signs that have unique translations from Chinese into English – something that visitors to China affectionately call Chi-nglish.

 

 

See if you can guess what this one sign is describing:

 

See the bottom to find the answer.

 

 

One thing I’ve also noticed is that the Chinese have a lot of pride in their country, especially with the Olympics coming up.  Here are a few advertisements that show their pride, and something about their culture.

 

In these two pictures, you can see images that are specifically Chinese and inspire pride in their country.  In the first one, a lion is rising out of a strong mail athlete.  The lion is a traditional symbol of males in China, and a symbol of strength.  In the second one, you see a phoenix, a legendary bird that rises out of its own ashes after it has burned brightly during life, rising out of a female gymnast.  The phoenix represents women in China, and it represents resilience (being able to endure) and rebirth. 

 

In these next two pictures, you can see the Chinese values in hard work being supported by the community.  Whereas individual achievement is the ultimate goal in the United States, China has always seen cooperation as a group or community as more important than an individual.  Here, you can see that they believe the athletes would not be able to achieve what they will this summer without the help of their country.

 

 

Those are just a few of my favorite things I’ve noticed so far.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to add more before Mr. Roberg and I come home in 4 days, but I’ll try.

 

I hope everyone is happy and healthy and I look forward to seeing you all when I get home.

 

 

Here’s the answer to the picture riddle above:  They wanted Mr. Roberg to “Step Forward for Civilization”… toward a urinal in the men’s room