Our rent negotiations took a twist when the landlord called out of the blue and said she wanted us out (Round 5). They took a second twist when our neighbours told us that she was probably just trying to get us to offer higher rent (Round 5.5). They took a third twist (Round 6) when my 大妹妹 in Canada set a wedding date and we bought plane tickets, thinking we’ll be in North America for about half a year. We phoned Aunty Wang asking if we could stay until our plane leaves. She said she’d think about it. Jessica and I decided if we had to, we’d paid an extra couple hundred kuai a month (100元=$15).

Aunty Wang showed up unannounced on a Monday evening. The conversation went like this:

• We sit down and review the situation. She says something about it being a really difficult situation, because it’s hard to find places to rent right now, and finding one for only three months (what we’d need if she didn’t extend our contract) is almost impossible. But her daughter really wants to renovate and move in here before Chinese New Year.
• “Oh what to do…” She leaves an awkward silence. We’re supposed to offer some money.
• We offer an extra 150/month. She counters with 200 in the blink of an eye ($30). We agree.
• She says she’ll go try to convince her daughter to take the extra 600 kuai ($90), emphasizing how bad her daughter wants to move in before Chinese New Year. We assume there’s a good chance she’ll try for a little more money when she phones back after talking with her daughter.

I have to admit, whether she really has a daughter who wants to move in or not, this woman knows how to haggle.

Pronounced: diǎ
Means: ditzy, coy, childish, cutesy. How our teachers describe the sickeningly cute whiny/pouty attitude and speaking style popular among young women from Taiwan and South Korea, and imitated by female celebrities on the Mainland.

With the neighbours for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s the same family that had us over during Chinese New Year. “Grandpa Song,” a regular with the Old Boys’ Club, just had a quadruple bypass.

We had dinner at their apartment with their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, and then when for a walk in the park to look at the moon, since that’s what you do during the Mid-Autumn Festival. We brought apples, peaches, and bananas, as that’s supposedly a good gift for someone who’s just had a major surgery.

Monday night was the foreigner moon cake party. Everyone brought their left over moon cakes (most people don’t actually want to eat the moon cakes… they’re mostly for giving and receiving) and we played má jiàng (麻将).

Last year’s Moon Festival was also in Tianjin, and the year before that was at a rooftop barbecue in Taipei.

Our neighbours greeted each other with “zhōng qiū kuài lè” (中秋快乐 / Happy Mid-Autumn).

…shùn kǒu liū (顺口溜) “or “slippery jingles” … are invariably satirical, and corruption is the most common target of their biting wit. The ditties are passed around by word of mouth (or, more recently, through text messages) and, like jokes in the West, are of unknown authorship. Uncensored and uncensorable, they are the freest and arguably the liveliest medium in China.” Includes some translated examples.

A Mr. Li sends the BBC an essay from a popular Chinese perspective critical of Western media and dares them to publish it. They have, and EastSouthWestNorth translates the essay and some of the reader comments.
“Like the majority of people around me, we support our government and we love our nation even though we know that there is still a long way to go before we attain the ideal society in our hearts … The reason why we no longer worship the western media is because they make inaccurate and unfair reports about China and damage our dignity … We firmly believe that China will join the ranks of the most developed nations in the world, and China will become the most important nation for world civilization!”

Last month after I posted about running the 5K, a number of people expressed interest in joining in on the 10K I’ve got planned for mid-November. Doing the 5k together with friends that live across the globe was a really fun experience, so I’m hoping that we can get even more people involved with the 10K!

So here’s the info:

Plan to walk, speed-walk, walk-run, run-walk, or run 10K anytime between Friday, November 14th and Sunday, November 16th. November 16th is the day of Ruth’s marathon, so I thought we could all join in on the same weekend! Feel free to do this wherever you usually run…outside in the forest for those of you that have that option, or indoors on the treadmill (like me) for those of you who fear the pollution.:D NO registration fee required…;)

If you’re interested in a training plan, check out these links:

Sporting Life Canada (has plans for walking, walk-running, run-walking, and running all for the 10K distance!)

About.com Running (Beginner Plan)

About.com Running (Advanced Beginner Plan) – This is the plan that I’m following, albeit slightly modified to allow me to have weekends completely off.

Runner’s World 10K plan

Hal Higdon’s 10K Training Plan

And now…MOST importantly…our race needs a NAME!!! I’ve had little success coming up with one on my own, so please help me brainstorm below in the comments section!

Here’s our post from last year on the Mid Autumn Festival (Sunday is 中秋节 / zhōng qiū jié): Happy Mooncake Day!

“The original [LA Times] title ran ‘China watches U.S. elections with bemusement.’ The Global Times version translates it as ‘American Media: Chinese people don’t understand US elections, think they are a waste of money.’ … points were excised from the reprint, leaving the ghost of a story in which Chinese disgust with the US elections seems warranted and logical.“

Pronounced: tōu tōu
Literally: “steal-steal”
Means: stealthily, covertly, “on the sly,” “under the table.” How one of my teachers described the common but officially illegal practice of slipping surgeons, anesthesiologists, and head nurses extra cash in order to encourage good service/avoid bad service.

“A few decades back, if you’d bet that Confucius would someday have a place on China’s Olympic team, you’d have gotten very long odds indeed. But on 08/08/08, there he was.“