Canada FLASHBACK!: (Part 2 of 4: Edmonton)

Edmonton is my hometown.  Now that I live all far away, every visit becomes an insane mash-up of past, present, and future as I:

• dash around to all my old favourite places 
• to see the loved ones that I'm keeping in touch with 
• AND buy all the stuff I'll need during the coming year but can't buy in Shanghai for less than the price of my first-born child
  

At best, the situation looks like:

//
ME:  Oh hi, [dear friend/family member]!  ...A macaron?  At Duchess bakery?  Yes, let's meet there, and maybe after we've had a leisurely coffee, we can browse the racks at Value Village for vintage treasures.

ME & DF/FM:  [Companionably] Yay!
//

And at worst, something like:

//

ME:  Hi, [dear friend/family member]?  Just stopped at a red light - I'm on my way - just have to stop at London Drugs / Superstore / Zellers / Mountain Equipment Co-op for non-sketchy vitamins / wholesale cases of Cheerios / 100-percent cotton socks / BPA-free water bottles.  Augh!  I have to apply for my China visa!  Totally forgot!  Augh!  [Cars honking as I attempt U-turn] ... I might be late for dinner...

DF/FM:  *sigh*
//

But this time, I had FOUR WEEKS in Edmonton.  Embarrassing riches of time rained down upon my head!*  So it was relaxed, and I didn't do one single U-turn.  Hazzah!

Mom and Aunt Alison (2nd and 5th of six sisters) catch up at the Farmer's Market.

Grandma and I hit Jasper for some hiking.

... then we got wasted.  KID-ding!  (Those glasses of beer are smaller than they look.)

Carla, Nick, and I do a quality-check on the coffee at Transcend.  Yup.  It's perfect.

A Tarty Party: industrial design classmates Jeff and Sergio and I baked shells; guests brought fillings.  It was super-fun and we want to do another one next summer, but the working title ("Summer 2011: Let's Get Re-Tarted") is a little insensitive.  Suggestions welcomed.

*Quote shout-out to Uncle David, who always has the best one-liners.

Canada FLASHBACK!: (Part 1 of 4: Newfoundland)

Mmkay, so because I had such a transcendently terrific trip home this summer, I just had to post some photos.  I know, I know, I wasn't In Shanghai, as such, but, well, my heart was, most of the time, and, um - just give me a break this time.  The show begins!

I went to Newfoundland to visit university friend Laura, who, with lovely partner Travis, recently produced darling, darling baby Sylvia Jean.  Laura's town is so small they don't have house numbers, which, let me tell you, was a refreshing contrast to Shanghai.  It was ten days of baby cuddles, home improvement projects, baking, and the occasional glass of wine.  Perfect.  PER-fect.  I've loved Newfoundland since I spent Christmas there in 2007, and Newfoundland in the summer is all about the crisp breezes over a grey ocean, and boats hauling in capelin (wee silvery fish).  I can be all about that, too. 

Travis' dad Barry shows me how to pitch a live lobster into a giant pot of boiling seawater.  Thanks for the sacrifice, Lobster, you and your brothers were delicious.

Laura, Sylvia and I went puffin-viewing.  Sylvia: "Fresh Newfoundland air, mnyum, mnyum."

Did we make heart-shaped moose burgers?  Of COURSE we did.

Shirley's Haven is a seniors' residence, in case you had other ideas.

Sad face at the airport!  I'm Edmonton-bound.  Until next time, mon amie.

Road trip! 2: MIDI music festival

Wu Yi, or May 1, is a big deal here - a long weekend that gives everyone a chance to realize that it's pretty much summer, yay! I ended up having the entire three-day stretch off work (rare - I usually tutor straight through weekends), so I joined Poppy and Julia on an expertly organized two-night trip to the MIDI music festival. MIDI is a three-day event that's historically been held in Beijing but was moved this year to the conveniently close city of Zhenjiang, only three hours away. Well, six, if you're caught in traffic on the way there like we were. Not to worry, though; entertainment was provided by way of music and light refreshments like beer and candy, served by our gracious - if hairy-legged - in-bus hostess Anita.

We were all a little concerned about what kinds of accommodation we'd be facing for the trip fee of Y50/night (Y33 for J, P, and I, who were all bunking together), but when we arrived in Zhenjiang, we pulled up to none other than the Super 8 Motel. Man, Super 8 always impresses. Our giant-windowed room was decorated in a winsome turqoise palette, and the cleaning ladies were super-generous with the toilet paper and extra blankets. Not bad for $6, no?

And the festival? Awesome. It was so low-pressure: with only two stages - one for the main acts and one for dance music from an impressive line-up of DJs - I never had that panicky Folk Fest feeling when you're sure the best show is not the one in front of you, but the one on Stage Seven, a ten-minute jog away. The music wasn't always to our taste, but bands like Cold Fairyland (Chinese folky trancy alternativy awesomeness, http://www.myspace.com/coldfairyland) and socalled, Hollerado, and Jets Overhead (all Canadian) made up for the weird prevalence of death metal.


Day 1: Getting there

1. On the road through the Chinese countryside: farmers tending fields amidst random acts of highrises.
2. The lovely Anita makes her first round. The apron was reserved specifically for snacktime.
3. Dao le (we're here!): The Super 8 welcomes us.
4. The rustic but effective hand-wash station on the festival grounds.
5. The "rock out" finger-horn thing is totally popular here. Wicked!
6. Buying corn-on-the-cob from one of the many food vendors. Because most Chinese people don't drink much, there was only one tent for beer - and about thirty for food. The result was a snacking bonanza tempered by meditative line-up breaks for drinks. It was very balancing.

MIDI, Day Two: Nausea prevails over cuteness, fun muddiness

Photos:

1. Trying to get going over a breakfast of... fried noodles. I'm pretty sure they're what caused me to bail at 6 p.m. for Pepto and Vinyl Café at the hotel.
2. It rained overnight. You first, Poppy.
3. Drama! A hole in the wall yields a stream of sneaker-inners.
4. I always end up kissing some wall.
5. Adorable couple alert! Apparently we missed the BYOTiny Stool, Backpack, and Strawberries notice.
6. Most photographed individuals were not the band members. They were the foreigners. I shoot back and everyone feels famous.

MIDI, Day Three: funny vehicles, meat on a stick, and groupies

Photos:

1. The bus - specially coated in a giant sticker for this very trip - drops us off and we almost get smoked by THIS awesome contraption.
2. The Y120 (~$22) weekend pass was crazy cheap for us, but a lot of money to people here. Fortunately, the wall planners were short-sighted (ha! ha!) and people get the exact same view from the other side.
3. Our expertly-labelled tablecloth tarp protects our bums from the still-damp ground.
4. A Canadian contingent shows its pride as Jets Overhead plays.
5. Meat on a stick: our main source of protein throughout the weekend. Poppy bought so many they started giving her freebies.
6. MIDI spirit from the skaters of the crowd.
7. Socalled, from Montreal. http://www.myspace.com/socalled Superly awesome and definitely the crowd favourite. How to describe: klesmer hip-hop? We hung out with a couple of the guys from the band afterwards, which was fun, not least because they let us use the palatial (read: clean) VIP bathrooms. It's really hard to overstate that luxury. Did you know Port-A-Johns come in a "squat" version?

So, it's back to school and daily life again, at least for the next two months. We're in the last quarter of our studies now, and time's swiftness is starting to feel very real for me and the friends I've made here. Lots of good times left to be had, though; don't worry, I'll keep you posted!

P.S. Don't forget to join the contest below! I'll leave it up 'til this weekend, but don't miss the chance to incite jealousy in all the other readers when you wow them with your amazing caption.

Tiny apple crisp and the other highlights of my weekend (um, all food)

Here's the thing. There are some dishes that should really be available in individual portions, and apple crisp is one of them. Sometimes you just have a craving, but you don't feel like peeling five apples and baking a huge dish that you'll probably eat in its entirety in the middle of the night. It's not that I don't love the rogue thrill of standing over an empty Pyrex with a soup spoon at three a.m. as much as the next person - let's just say that there's a reason God invented miniature Le Creuset dishes, and it's so you can whip up a wee dessert to enjoy whilst reading your new book on a Friday night when it's been a long week and you don't really feel like doing anything particularly social.

Photo trilogy below. The book, which I highly recommend for weekend reading despite its slightly flaky title and worrisomely purple cover, is "This Charming Man" by Irish author Marian Keyes.

Then: Saturday night. Having satisfied my longing for a.c., I felt a hole in my diet - one that could only be filled by m.a.m.p.* BUT I barely ate any vegetables last week and needed greens. BUT I didn't feel like polluting my Comfort Meal with boring, boring spinach. What's a girl to do? MASH THE GREENS AND POTATOES TOGETHER! Le Creuset made a comeback. Some say adding foreign textures to m.p. is a heinous crime. Some say it's purely efficient. Discuss.

THEN: Easter! China doesn't do Easter at all, but we are used to making do; a laid-back early-afternoon brunch included pancakes, mango, donut bits, bacon (to celebrate the end of Poppy and Julia's long and sad meatless Lent), and menacing but delicious fruit skewers. Julia dyed beautiful eggs - the trick to getting them this glossy is to rub 'em with a bit of butter - and we all enjoyed the sunshine, especially Isa, who lounged on the terrace.

Happy spring, everyone! Hope the Easter Bunny brought lots of stickers and yummy chocolate, as he used to do for me.

*meat and mashed potatoes

More Easter pics

Gorgeous Polish eggs, courtesy of Julia; gorgeous Polish Isa, courtesy of sunshine and admirable personal style.

Newshangfoundhailand

Welcome to Shanghai, Laura! Air Canada's faulty equipment meant we had two extra hours of anticipation before our gleeful reunion at the arrivals gate. Laura had her first taste of Shanghai culture (ie. shoving/yelling/general chaos) as we fought our way onto the airport bus, but we arrived home safely and with just enough energy left to toast (slightly late) Christmas Number Four. On the menu: wine and goat cheese, as per tradition.

Today I conquered my cheap wine hangover while Laura worked through her jetlag (jetgo? She was ready to hit the town at seven a.m.); we finally made it out the door to Yuyuan, or Shanghai's Old Town - a little touristy but fabulous for shopping and getting a feel of what it might have felt like here before the population hit its current 16 million. Highlights: a giant Year of the Ox display thing, and a motorcycle taxi ride to Nanjing Donglu. Chalk that one up to irresponsible youth.

Tomorrow evening we're heading to Beijing on the overnight train to take in the Great Wall (bien sur), the Olympic Park, and whatever else tickles our fancy. Please enjoy our first round of pics:

1. CLEENK! The Fourth Annual Claire and Laura Christmas Reunion begins
2. All the essentials. Great Wall: the pride of China's red wine industry. Or something. Whatever, it sure packed a punch
3. Yuyuan, or the Old Town... pointy peaks and all
4. The motorcycle taxi driver driving on the correct side of the yellow line. For now
5. Yiiiiiii!

My Christmas posts are confusing. Let me explain

It's because I'm so excited. If you scroll all the way down, you can start from the beginning of my day and work your way up; I broke this into a bunch of pieces because I have so many pictures I want you to see. But first: a review of the peeps populating said photos, and their contributions to the breakfast potluck.

Representing...

Hungary:
Barbie (bacon)

Poland:
Julia (with Poppy, champagne & orange juice)

Germany:
Anja (maple syrup)
Jenny (with Conny & Linh, cocoa, milk, and extra cooking/eating equipment)
Conny
Linh

Scotland:
Poppy

Colombia:
Carolina (assortment of fruit, excellent coffee)

Christmas, Part III

Kelvin and Anlan picked me up this afternoon for afternoon tea at a local dim sum restaurant with my aunties, who presented me with a handknit sweater and a down jacket (the whole family is intent on keeping me warm - Kelvin and Anlan, remember, gave me a space heater shaped like a penguin). We lounged and chatted and they deposited me at home just in time for me to chat with Laura in Newfoundland, tidy up from the morning, and wait for it to be late enough to call everyone at home. So, while I'm waiting, I shall mix a cup of HC&B (though I do wish there was eggnog here to make last year's invention, Noggley's, a jubilantly calorie-unconscious holiday beverage innovated in Laura's kitchen in St. John's). Merry Christmas to you all, with lots of love.

Photos:

14. Me in my new sweater, knitted by Neu Neu in two days flat
15. Kelvin deciding what to order...
16. ...under pressure from Anlan, Na Na, and Neu Neu

Christmas, Part II (b)

More photos:

10. Barbie's beautiful smile
11. Julia, Anja, and Carolina savouring hot chocolate
12. Carolina getting her coffee fix

Christmas, Part II

Secret Santa was lovely and Conny and I had drawn each others' names out of the hat! I knitted her a neckwarmer, and she made me earrings and a mix CD of Christmas tunes, wrapped with an assortment of adorable little things you could only find in China. My favourite part of the morning, though, was Julia's introduction of a Polish Catholic tradition in which every person takes a small sheet of communion wafer-like cracker and exchanges bits of it with every person in the room, along with her wishes for the other person person in the coming year. The result was a series of small but earnest expressions of everyone's Christmas spirit, and it was really wonderful to realize how much we care about creating a meaningful Christmas with those we have known for such a short time. If we couldn't have our own regular holidays at home, we definitely made the most of our Christmas morning in Shanghai, and I feel headed into the new year knowing that I have made some dear friends here.

Photos:

6. Hanging in the living room/bedroom/dining room. From L to R: the back of Jenny's head; Linh; Julia; Poppy; Barbie; and Conny
7. Linh opening her Secret Santa gift from Anja: chocolates just for her
8. Julia demonstrating how to use the Polish wafers to spread Christmas cheer
9. Julia, Barbie, Conny, and Carolina being sweet