I'm a Horse, not a Sheep!

I have always thought that because I was born in 1979, it meant that I was a Sheep. I was shocked to learn today in class that I'm actually a Horse because I was born in January, prior to the Chinese New Year. All these years, I've been thinking that, according to Chinese zodiac horoscope, I was creative, intelligent, dependable and calm. Wrong! It turns out that we Horses are strong, energetic, outgoing and are extremely animated. The ironic thing is that I decided in Malawi this year that I hate horses. Cruel twist of fate! (Read previous blog for the background story on why I don't like horses anymore!)

There's a picture of my classmates, along with Dexter, outside of class one day. The countries represented in the picture are Australia, Germany, Sierra Leone, Yemen and two from Sudan. Dexter's the one in red with the cute little basket! There's also a picture to try and illustrate the amount of snow that recently fell in one night here! Anna-Lina, Chloe, Ashley and I had a lot of fun in the snow that afternoon, despite the fact that I couldn't feel my toes.

Anna-Lina and I traveled to Tianjin last weekend to escape the 'big city' life of Beijing. Turns out that going from a city with 16 million people to a city with 10 million isn't all that different! The trip to Tianjin took only 28 minutes by fast train...we got up to 330 km/h (205 mph)! I have never seen so many cranes and construction sites in my life. Tianjin will not look the same 12 months from now. There's some great architecture in Tianjin, influenced by French, Italian, Austrian, English, etc.

Tianjin also has their own local cuisine. We tried all of their specialties. Tianjin is famous for gouboli baozi (steamed dumplings) - they were fantastic. The tea soup, which the guy in the picture is making for us (the one with the dragon pot pouring the hot water) consists of rice flour, hot water, sugar, sesame seeds, peanuts and a whole bunch of other sprinkles (no idea what!). It had a consistency like pudding, although very hot and the color of dirty water. My description is not doing it justice because it was actually very tasty, and after shopping in crowded markets in the freezing weather, it warmed us up! Finally, we had mian tiao (noodles). The guy in the picture is hand making the noodles that I eventually ate!

Speaking of food, I'm not looking forward to eating rabbit tongue. Thanks to those of you who voted for the one thing I was looking forward to eating the least! ;) You have to crack the jaw open and pull the tongue out before you can eat it, so there is labor involved. I'm planning to go after I get through mid-term exams. I don't want to eat anything this week that would make me have to miss my exams due to violent stomach issues! I have 5 hours of exams this Friday, next Monday and Tuesday. I'll be tested on listening, speaking and grammar/writing. I've never failed a test before, so I look forward to this being my first F!

For those of you who are curious, no, Obama did not stop by to say hello while he was in Beijing. I didn't even get a phone call! I could have participated in a choir to sing for him at a 'Chinese' show that he and Michelle went to during their time here. However, I figured I would save myself and our country the embarrassment of hearing my voice outside of the shower! Back to the books....zai jian!