restaurant culture is vibrant and exotic anywhere you go, marketing strategies are endless fun
Places of worship are full of young people
Chinese parks and gardens are very pretty
The lion or the dog?
Getting your nails done after the hot pot experience, feeling great after eating, watching the noodle dance and Chinese opera ‘mask man’ perform.
tea after the whole prelude done for us, first tea ceremony that satisfied my curiosity about the real traditional performance preceding the tea drinking
breakfast at the fast food chain, spicy egg soup and gyoza dumplings
sichuan cuisine with my students after karaoke
Guardians at the museum
dragon on the roof fiercely looking forward
farewell concert on the last day
seafood restaurant I still have to try because they promise sour kraut as a bonus
lotus plant, symbol of spiritual enlightenment, beauty and prosperity.
we had some tea tonight at the Chinese gardens, such a romantic place it turned out to be. Lanterns were up for the new year celebration, the line was long but we waited patiently to get in. We didn’t regret signing up for the event, in the tea house they had a musician playing live. The tea was truly amazing, they served there different kinds with a few pastry options. We get lucky to find a table on the second floor, where tea tasting was in progress.
At the entranceIn the gardensFloating FirebirdShow of lightsWork in progressReflections
the gardens offered a great experience of tea drinking and lantern viewing in downtown Portland. Some visitors dressed up which was another entertainment we didn’t expect to see. The atmosphere was very friendly and nostalgic, I was so happy to be there. It felt like I have been there before but I know for a fact it’s not the case. Maybe in my dreams only…
Fall colors have been amazing this year, I am so glad we are having this gorgeous season in Oregon. Last year we missed it travelling like two crazy nuts, this year things are more or less stable if there is such a thing as stability. Nature is a gift we all enjoy, seasons are predictable most of the time, however, surprises happen. You see how green our fall is in the city, you have to go to the country for the colors.
Cooking this month was awesome as I tried new Thai recipes and generally experimented with traditional ones, today I made vegetarian borsht with mushrooms, I have to try it first before celebrating this small victory. My pizza project turned out great, I made two personal pizzas with potatoes and meatballs. They turned out delicious, now my next project is to make dessert pizza with apples and bananas, I will use apple butter instead of tomato sauce, and no cheese. As for eating out we discovered a great place in Sandy called Try my Thai, excellent food and great variety for completely spoiled foodies like ourselves.
Ballet. Here in Keller Auditorium in Portland was a great Swan Lake performance, I enjoyed it immensely, the props and costumes they used were outstanding. The music was predictably great and the dance was good too. As for the last one we are pretty spoiled yet, all in all, it was a great show, it’s highly recommended for any age. Next month we are going to see Giselle, it’s a ballet by Kyiv Opera and Ballet performers, who are here on a tour. I’m super stoked to go, I will let you know how it went.
As for Art making, I have tried a few small drawing projects, Marvel Spidey is the latest one. I am planning on more when I get a chance to take a tiny break from running around like crazy. In terms of knitting, my poncho is coming together, so I can’t complain really, I do have spare time. I need to buy more yarn to finish it the way I designed it initially. I wrote some poetry as well which always makes me fulfilled. I love hearing your feedback on it and I love reading your poetry as well. I am interested in trying my hand at fiber arts, so felting is one of the things I would like to indulge myself in.
Music-wise, we went to see a VNV Nation concert in a huge high school that was converted into a concert hall a few years ago. Don’t ask me how I feel about it. The concert started really well, and about half way through they cranked the volume up to the point that we couldn’t stay in any more, so we left early. Weird experience, not even sure how to feel about it. Other than that I have been listening to my old stuff and realized how terribly depressing it is. I never thought about it this way, now I tend to stop myself from spiraling down due to bad music choices.
Work – wise it was a busy month, busy means good. The moon messed up with us but we still survived, I don’t know if you felt the difference or not, I definitely did. Every time things don’t go as planned I try to learn a lesson. I need to get better to up my game, it’s life-long learning since I come back to school every day. Some days I ask myself why I am still there… Other days I just put up with it no questions asked. And go mushroom hunting near Mount Hood. Mount Hood is very picturesque yet quite chilly, so the question if I could hunt mushrooms for a living is already answered. Due to low temperatures I would like to consider the other trade.
Movies. I re-watched Jane Eyre recently, BBC version, weirdly enough it takes me back to my teen years in Donetsk, they were definitely the worst. I am not sure why I wanted to be reminded of the story, possibly because it’s a happy end kind of romance when the heroine finds family, love and her 20k pound inheritance which was A LOT of money back in the day. I highly recommend to read the book by Charlotte Bronte and/or watch the movie.
How was your month of October? Are you happy about it?
Have you ever tried mushroom hunting? If so what did you do with them?
After a month in China I wanted to write about the experience, looking back with nostalgia and relief. I have learned a lot about China and myself during this stay. Today is my last day teaching English as a second language at the Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunications. It’s bitter-sweet.
For the first couple of days I had 40 people in my classroom, it was overwhelming and intimidating especially when technology didn’t work, internet went out and my VPN got disconnected. I have learned to manage those things much better by the end of the course. I also learned how to use Alipay and not get kicked out of WeChat. These are all vital in China because otherwise you are left high and dry without knowing what’s going on or having an opportunity to pay for your lunch.
By the start of week two I only had 30 students in my class and knew how to play the system with the VPN and HDMI cord that never worked when you needed it the most. Students became more and more familiar with the way classes are taught, I also knew what to expect most of the time. The only real big issue was I got sick and was grumpy all the time, I still came to class and did my job since I didn’t know I was sick. But the kids were cool, we followed the original plan and after 10 days I bounced back to normal.
I learned to go with the flow when I had no clue where we were going… Just wait and see what happens next, communication is not the strongest side in this country I noticed. More so when you speak no Mandarin at all. In the store you just pick a thing or two and pray that they are what you think they are. Sometimes it’s easy, other times it’s hard to be chill about it. Sizes are a problem, you can’t expect consistency.
It feels like my ego died every day but it was never truly dead, because the next day it had to die again and again, I wanted to cry out loud, why? I thought we were done with it. It’s like technology here in China that works whenever it wants to, there is no rhyme or reason to it. Other than to kill my ego once again. Now after this tough exercise I want to assure you that I am the humblest person ever, it’s not actually the case, it’s just wishful thinking on my part.
Living abroad is a weird mix of too much and not enough, for example, your social life is super vibrant and yet there is not enough actual connection with others. You go out with all the beautiful and smart people that share your ideals more or less, still at the end of the day you might find yourself lonesome, not even sure why. It’s therapeutic to have all this time for yourself. Introspection is a thing that often times we can’t afford. It’s pretty amazing how much you notice about the way things are when you are not at home with your buddies. It’s definitely eye-opening and transformative.
A good thing I discovered about myself is my coping mechanisms work pretty well. Adapting in a new environment is very doable for me. I came here to teach but all I do is learning. Learning is an integral part of adult life, I am learning how to be cool, how to ask for help, how to laugh at my mistakes instead of crying. The weirdest thing so far is learning how to be a representative of American culture. I am from Ukraine yet here I represent the United States, it’s like a football player from another continent who represents a certain country. You would hope they know how to play football otherwise they wouldn’t have been hired, right? Often times here I didn’t feel like I know how to play because the grass was too wet or the ball was made of plastic.
So here I am in China about to show up at the closing ceremony to take part in square dancing, I have learned it today, kind of. It feels surreal and slightly off. Am I being myself or am I acting on behalf of another self? At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, I can say, we were just speaking English. My American self was doing its job and hopefully doing it well.
Why I quit my job 