Did I Fall Off the Face of the Earth?

Short answer - no. I'm still here. I have been having some issues in downloading pictures to the blog lately and also nothing too remarkable has happened in the last little while. I did not think anyone would want to read about how we get up in the morning and basically hang out, teach sometimes, sometimes go out for supper and then watch some Sex in the City. Not that life is boring. Not at all. Something as simple as going out to buy groceries is an event in Shenyang. Your choices are as follows:
There are several convenience stores on our street. They have the basics: beer, chips, juice, noodles, etc. Then there are the little roadside stands along the road. They are carts and trucks. The carts sell meat on sticks and sausage type foods, sometimes little savoury baked goods and some tofu dishes. The trucks sell all sorts of fresh fruit such as bananas, apples, pomegranites, grapes, melons, tomatoes, pineapples, dates, etc.

Down the road, and across a very dangerous street to cross (where the traffic lights only work sometimes) there is a small market. This is when it hits us most that we are in China. There are fruits and vegetables, many pickled things, and hot dumplings to buy. But the meat and fish are most interesting. There are eggs that just sit out in the sun, meat that also sits out, while the vendor swats away flies from it. There are whole chickens (complete with head and feet: they eat these parts). There are live fish, flipping and floppin in buckets. The smell in the market is just unbelievable - it smells like fish and rotting food. It is an odd smell, but it saves you from that feeling of buying too much food when you are hungry as it does not do much for your appetite!

There are also supermarkets. These are very busy and hot, but you can find most anything, with a few notable exceptions. There is no real cheese, only processed stuff, not really real milk - it is more like coffee creamer, no Miracle Whip, no Kraft Dinner, and NO GOOD WINE! I bought some Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon - it was about $5 and it tasted that way. At least it was not sweet, but the taste was definitely not good. I guess I could expect that from a country that considers Baijyo "white wine".

So, all in all we mostly buy junk, because we are afraid to buy anything else. I am addicted to these little sausages that have corn in them. And we are trying the interesting flavours of chips out. Yesterday, we had Chargrilled Ribs - not bad. The only kind of Western chocolate bar you can buy here is Snickers for some reason. Not a kind I would seek out in Canada, but I still buy it because it tastes like home.

Another thing on Western food. People cannot afford to eat at McDonald's. It is very expensive compared with delicious Chinese meals. It is actually a bit cheaper than in Canada. Our meal at Subway was by far the most luxurious meal we have eaten. It is so odd that the stuff we consider to be cheap and crap food in Canada is a luxury that only the well-off can afford. It really hits home that there are differences in earning power.

At any rate, we are alive and well and still really enjoying our time here. Karli was just saying today that she loves her classes and students. It is such a fun job. I will try and post some pictures soon if the darn thing will let me.