Chilling in the Chong

hey there guys and gals!
sorry for the slow updates to the blog, we have been busy kicking it with Jin's family and were having a hard time signing on our restricted blog from the family computer. Thanks to the help of some crafty techies(Jin's cousin), we are now back online(to the whole internet) and able to post on here.... and of course watch silly youtube phish videos(youtube is blocked in china.) We got to Chongqing on saturday and have spent the past few days hanging around Jin's small town in the mountains and visiting with family members. the first two days we spent at different peoples birthday parties. they were pretty big events, and nothing too much different than back in the states. Both days we ate at restaurants with around 25 people spread over 3 large round tables. We started with lunch, then people hang out, drink, play games and talk until dinner time, when we ate again at the same restaurant.
The meals were awesome, and we got to try lots of great dishes. Most of the food was entirely unkosher! the closest thing to being kosher in china is being Muslim. If you say you dont eat pork, people immedietely think you are Muslim! There is a large Muslim population here, and we even got to stay in the "muslim quarter" of Xi'an, which is basically the center of town. At the birthday meals we ate thinly sliced cold beef with hot peppers and scallions served cold, pork in a bread tasting rice mush that is really good(kinda tastes like breaded chicken,) lots of different vegetables including an eggplant dish, lettuce root, steamed cauliflower, we also had a fish soup, and a tofu soup with green onions and little pork pieces. Lunches are the main attraction here in China, and dinners are usually much more simple. Chinese people say that the reason americans are so fat is because of their habit of eating small lunches and large dinners.
Jin's family lives in a small town at the edge of the Yangtze River about 30 minutes from the center of Chongqing. Chongqing is a crazy city! There is soo much traffic, people everywhere, almost no parks or green spaces, and tons of tall buildings everywhere. It resembles NYC from afar, but is a little more rough around the edges up close. There is tons of upscale shopping, but also way more smaller shops and industrial areas than we have seen in other cities. There are few major attractions here, so it seems like the best thing to do is just walk around and soak in the vibe. her parents have just finished the decorating of a newer and much fancier apartment closer to the city, where we will most likely be staying the next few days. The apartment is absolutely gorgeous and has great views of the River, bridges, a nice hill with a temple on top and some rough industrial areas as well! Her grandparents are most likely going to move in to this new place though as her mom and dad prefer to live in the small town(Wang Jiang) where Jin's Fathers factory is and where she grew up. We had a great lunch at her Grandparents apartment in center city and ate some more awesome home cooked food. The highlights for me were more of the breaded tasting pork with rice, a chicken with peanuts(kinda like Kung Pao), more tasty cauliflower, a chicken soup, and some roasted duck! I have eaten more duck this month than my entire life combined, and it is really good(sorry U of O!)
Jin's family is really nice, and more or less what I expected. Her dad is one of the hardest workers i have ever met. He wakes up around 7am and goes to work, then comes home around 1230 to eat lunch. Me and Jin(mostly Jin) have been making lunch for her folks but usually that task is up to Jin's mom, who comes home from her job teaching drawing at a school to make lunch. Jin's mom works from around 8 to 12, then has a 2 hour lunch break, then goes back to work, coming home around 5. Her dad does work on his computer while he waits for lunch to be finished, and only stops for around 15 minutes to quicly eat his bowl of rice and the vegetables or meat that were prepared as well. He is very thin and obviously works really hard, and usually does not want to eat more than a small amount, explaining that that is enough..... However, Jin's mom usually disagrees and pushes him to eat more and more! After lunch, Jin's dad heads back to work and only comes home for another dinner break for half an hour(just enough time to eat) and then heads back to work until somewhere between 8 and 11 at night! It reminds me of what life must have been like for my great grandfather, or Papa, working hard to get the hardware store to be successful or working late nights on an upcoming plumbing job or building project. His hard work and the risks he has taken(leaving the local factory job that insured steady(yet low) pay and benefits) has obviously paid off, as they seem to be living a very nice life, and have given Jin the ability to pursue the things that interest her. I am in awe of her fathers hard work and have a great deal of respect for what he has achieved.
life here certainly reminds of a vision of the 50s or 60s in the states. Jin's mother is a huge fan of Mah Jong and cards and continuously sits around card tables with her friends talking and playing games. People smoke EVERYwhere and simply throw their cigarettes on the floor of restaurants, busses, or anywhere else that wont catch on fire(or maybe even will!)
Last night they had a big family party for the people that came to town for Jin's Grandfathers Funeral. There was no eulogy or speeches, simply a bunch of people hanging out in a cheerful mood and watching silly game shows from Taiwan. Her Grandfather passed away a month ago, so people dont seem to upset about it at the moment(from what I have seen.) We ate a huge dinner with the family spread out over 2 tables in Jin's families living room. I was sitting next to Jin's Uncle who started telling me about his Ping Pong playing. Sensing my interest, probably because i wouldn't stop asking him about it(with the help of Jin's translation), he took us to the local community center/library where they have 3 tables set up in a little ping pong gym. He explained that when he was growing up in the 60s, that ping pong was the national craze and everyone played.... I immedietely thought of forrest gump! I got to play a few games with his 685yuen paddle(around 100 dollars and worth every penny) and he gave me some crucial pointers! with any luck i should be able to beat Jin soon(or after about 5 years of hard practice.) We went back to the community center today and got to watch the ping pong players practice! There was about ten players there spread over the three players. Everyone was sweating, and quite into it! I was very impressed by their skill, and obviously the worst player there! Watch for videos soon! Some of the players there looked to be around 70 years old as they have an older division in the local community games. I realized what a great sport it was and am very excited to get better. i also realized how good of a sport it is for older people as they can move around, sweat, and get great practice for their eye hand coordination. It is definitely impressive seeing someone that looks like papa playing ping pong on a level that would destroy anyone that any of us know in the US! So, Mom, Mordechai.... get practicing, watch some youtube videos on ping pong technique, and in a few years, you could definitely become some formidable opponents for Me and Jin!
Today Jin's mom just called us to tell us that she is going to be out until late playing games with her friends! So we are left alone to eat leftovers from last nights big dinner and try some of the awesome looking Ramen noodle type things we got at the local store!
ok, i'm off to eat! hope all is well out there!
peace
b