Hot springs, nutella, and more reasons to stay in Beijing

I don't have any major new or high quality reflections to share, but there are several small- and medium-sized things that I want to write about.

First, I got to see Sūn Zhǎn (孙展) for, I think, the first time since summer. She lives really close to a bunch of hot springs out on the east side of Beijing. She lives so far to the east, in fact, that she lives in Hebei Province (河北省). Her parents both work at university which is only a few kilometers on the Hebei side of the Hebei-Beijing border, and they have a very nice apartment on the campus. Since Sūn Zhǎn lives so far away I rarely see her, but over Spring Festival we decided that we should get together, so this past Sunday I got up early to meet her at the DaWangLu (大望路) Subway stop, from which there is a bus that goes right by the hot springs, and to right in front of the university her parents work at. How convenient. The bus takes about an hour, but Sūn Zhǎn and I got lucky because there was a guy driving out that way who was willing to take us for twenty yuan. From there we got an illegal cabbie (just a guy trying to use his car for some extra cash without being a part of a taxi company really; a 黑车) to go straight to the hot springs (The TongZhou Imperial Hot Springs Water Park, officially).

We paid out entrance fee plus a deposit, and went into out separate areas to change into out swimsuits. I have never had a swimsuit that fit so tightly, and it felt really weird at first, but I then saw that none of the Chinese guys was wearing the kind of loose-fitting trunks that I had always considered to be normal swimwear for men, so that made me feel more at ease. The hot springs had a large area that was more like a water park than what I would think of as a hot spring, with slides, and kiddy play area, and a large pool with artificial waves. There was another area that was more hot though, in which the water was (supposedly) kept at 40° (Celsius of course! What kind of anti-progress backwater country do you think I live in, Belize?). There were also some smaller hot pools to the side, with temperatures ranging from 36° to 38°, although some of them felt a lot hotter. These small pools were Chinese medicine pools, and they functioned just like a pot of tea: you put the leaves or medicine in a pouch and let it steep in the hot water. Different pools were good for different things, but unfortunately the medicine which is good for sex drives wasn't out today. Sūn Zhǎn and I spent some time steeping in other medicinal pools. The Chinese word for soaking in a hot spring (or in a Chinese medicinal pool, for that matter) is 泡/pào, which is roughly "to steep" or "to soak." This is, logically, the same word which is used to talk about making tea or to describe soap suds. We soaked in one that increases the body's energy and one that increases the body's resistance to cold. Since I detest the frigid temperatures in Beijing so much, I felt that the later pool would do be a lot of good. We also managed to eat ice cream, lay on a heated stone floor, and eat an expansive buffet lunch. What a place! It was quite an experience in total, and it felt really good to take a full day to relax and treat myself to something nice like that.

Shin Kong Place (新光天地) is one a pretty upper class shopping center

After we left the hot springs we went to Sūn Zhǎn's home briefly so that she could show me where she and her parents lived. Then her mom took us out for a nice Peking Duck dinner, which left me thoroughly stuffed and satisfied. They bid me farewell, and I took the a very comfortable bus ride back to DaWangLu. Before I arrived at DaWangLu I had fully intended to get on the subway and go directly home. As I neared DaWangLu, however, I remember how Sūn Zhǎn had told me that a market, 新光天地 (Shin Kong Place) near there had just started carrying Nutella. The prospect of not only tasting Nutella again, but of owning my own jar and being able to consume copious amounts proved to be too much of a temptation. After wandering around one of the highest class market place I have even seen in Beijing I finally found one of the fanciest grocery stores I have ever seen in Beijing. After I finally asked a worker where they had the peanut butter I found the lovely nutella. What an expensive treat!

Another item is my renewed curiosity about the HSK. While having dinner with Nadia over the weekend, she mentioned to me that anyone testing at a 4 or higher on the HSK could get a full scholarship for any Chinese college. That could be for a master's degree, or it could be for just language courses and special short-term study. That sounds awesome! I don't want to a masters or any more Chinese language classes right now, but I am fairly confident that it would be relatively easy for me to scare at a 4 or higher. It is nice to know that the option is available to me: if I decided someday that I want to pursue a masters in China, I can not only get it tuition-free, but I would even get a small stipend from the Chinese government each month. I am thinking about taking the HSK just to see what level I score as.

Life gets even better, though! (mejor que nunca, as some might say) Nassau is in Beijing. She arrived on Sunday, and after a week of crashing at my place and adjusting to Beijing time she has found her own apartment and begun to officially work full time at American House. Nassau also tells me that Rochelle LaMacchio, another close friend from Kalamazoo is planning on moving to Beijing sometime within the next six months. This is exciting enough in itself, but Jamie Sturm, my longtime language learning buddy, eternal almost-roommate, and good friend is going to move back to Beijing as well! Add this to the potential to work with Fede as a juggling performer and teacher and Beijing is starting to look like a really good option for my the next year. If only Beijing was in Spain!