My China Musings

This blog is my thoughts on many things and about my adventures of living and traveling in China.

May 30, 2007

Yesterday,  I went to class a little early because I  needed to set the classroom up for an activity.  And it was unbearably hot and humid.  I wanted to climb the 5 flights of stairs before the crush of students was there. I got to the top and was looking out over the vine covered walkway. Lots of red flowers are in bloom.  Red flowers mean butterflies...and I was not disappointed. Dancing across the scene were these black and yellow butterfiles. The yellow is a stripe across the bottom of the wings. These creatures are not as big as Monarch in the US. If you see one of these butterflies up close, their wings are iridescent.  I noticed that there were about five little critters that all seemed to be flying in formation.  As I watched, I realized that I was witnessing a butterfly mating dance. It was wonderful.  The little girl butterfly would hover over a flower. She would flutter her little wings, and then the boys would line up. She had a line of 5 or 6, (kinda hard to keep track. ) She would flutter and then fly, flutter and then fly....my first thought was those butterfly pheremones are working overtime.  But she kept it up. Then all of a sudden, she and one or two of the suitors would go straight up....I mean straight up, higher and higher. I was on the fifth floor...and they were higher...Then after they did what butterflies do, she floated down to the flowers again...literally floated...(tired, I guess). Then she started the flutter and fly routine again.  She must have been a very pretty girl, because she attracted many young men. I watched this dance complete with the straight up routine for about four risings. After that rising, she had competition. Another girl butterfly was doing the flutter and fly, flutter and fly. And she had the following. The first girl could only muster three suitors on the last observation. I had to go to class so I dont know if she got the boys back or not.  It was a treat to watch these beautiful creatures. They looked so delicate as they fluttered and flew. Especially, when they went skyward. These butterflies went up very quickly. And the girl floated down alone.  Mother Nature has the best shows, ever. Till next time.

 

posted by: CarolenChina at 10:38 | link | comments (1) |
china, butterflies, living in china

May 27, 2007

This is the rainy season in Guangzhou. And believe me, we are having rain. I want to tell you about thunderstorms.  Yesterday, it hissed boomed for more than 3 hours straight.  Just one hiss boom right after another. Finally, it quit storming early evening. I had stayed at the school...(I have a ton of marking to get caught up on and entered into the computer.) It stayed almost dark as late evening all day...Bordered on depressing it was so dark. I ventured back to Shiqiao about 8 oclock. Got up this morning and it wasnt raining so I headed to the stadium to do taiji...It was great!  Had a great lunch, and was getting ready to  head back to the city, when I realized it was dark as night, and sure enough here came the hiss boom. Some of these hiss booms were very close. I thought to my self that I would just wait until the worst passed then I would go back to the city. Well, it is now 10:03 pm... and I am still  in Shiqiao.  The worst of the storm has passed and the heavy rain has passed, too. However, once I get back to Guangzhou, I have a 20 minute walk to the school...and I was told the other day that the area the school is in is one of the more dangerous areas of Guangzhou. Made my day, I guess you know...not. It seems that a lot of Nigerians have moved into the area and brought their drug trade with them. If you read any of the Chinese online newspapers, you would be able to read a little about the Nigerian problem. China doesnt quite know what to do about the problem because China wants Nigerian oil. Interesting, to say the least. I dont venture far from the school after dark. There is a supermarket, very close...so if need anything I go there.  This is ironic, because I never felt any fear living in China until I was told about this. And the problem doesnt come from the Chinese but from outsiders choosing to live here. I was told about two lady teachers from another school got off a bus, and were standing waiting to cross a street when two men on motorcycles came by and grabbed their bags.  One of them had seven fingers cut with razor knife because she hung on to her bag.  Scary, uh? I think Xiangfan is a better place to live. Until next time.

 

posted by: CarolenChina at 15:14 | link | comments (1) |
china, living in china, guangzhou

Friday, May 25, 2007

Sometimes living in another culture than your own can test your ability to accept things the way they are and remain silent.  The Tao De Jing has a passage....#29 or #26....(I dont really remember the number) that basically says and I am loosely quoting .....the master see things as they really, he lets them go their own way without trying to change them......and remains in center of his circle..... (the master is the practioner).  I think that poem fit the situation yesterday when I was talking to a young man.... Many students want to talk to foreigners, both to practice their English and to learn about America or England...or just to be friendly. One such student (and he is an aquaintance)  wanted to talk to me. We started talking and I said something to the effect  ...why dont you tell me something amazing that has happened to you.... He did, and nearly broke my heart. He is 20ish...very young, very  handsome, full of life and usually not very serious. He has lots of friends, his personality I would say is sparkly...and not shy. In China, that is a biggie. He said I couldnt tell his classmates about this. I told I wouldnt. So he proceeded to tell me that a few weeks ago his girlfriend told him she was pregnant. He was filled with awe and very happy. A few days later, reality set in. They are very young, both students and not married. They knew they could not have a baby. Not only would they lose their chance to finish college and there would be ramifications for the parents, too. So they did the Chinese thing and she had a abortion.  This nearly did him in. He is having a hard time with the idea his child will never be. He recently saw the movie, I am Sam. The movie is about a man who is mentally challenged and has a daughter. The state came in to take the child away and have his rights as her father terminated. The movie shows Sam taking care of a new born up to about 7...how his mentally challenged friends helped him.  I am not  particularly a Sean Penn fan, but he did a good job as Sam and movie made me cry.  Mentally challenged or not, Sam went through major heartbreak at having his girl taken away. My young  friend told me how when he watched that movie, he felt the same way and he wanted to cry.  I nearly cried listening to him.  I told him I understood his feelings and I was very sorry that he couldnt keep his child. But, I said to him that he and his girlfriend are very young, so maybe it is best. Then I said to him that I hoped that he was practicing safe sex. He smiled, and said yes. He did not like condoms but he knew that he had to wait a few years to be a father, so he was using them. He, now, take his future very seriously.  He has buckled down in his classes, and some of his boyish exbuberance is gone. But I think he will be okay in the end.

Now, please, do not tell me that I should have counseled him on how wrong abortions are. That is not my place. No matter how I feel about this practice, it  is accepted here. In this country, the ramifications of having a baby out of wedlock are very serious. This is a different country, different culture, different traditions and way of life. I am proud that he recognized that this a serious thing...I would say that he grew up over night. This rite of passage has not been easy for him.

Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 23:14 | link | comments |
china, living in china

May 19, 2007

Here in Guangzhou, the weather has become very hot and very humid. Yesterday, we had thunderstorms and downpours. One would think that with downpours air would cool some.  Wrong! During the storms, it would cool off, but as soon as it passed it would be miserable again. The only relief is sitting in front of an air conditioner that takes moisture out of the air.  There is no air conditioning in classrooms, most times, just a ceiling fan. Now, I truly believe, that I am in the sub tropics. I, once upon a time, lived in the desert southwest of the U. S. We would try to get most things done before 10 a.m. because when the heat of the day set in, it was too hot to be outside. It was very easy to fall into afternoon nap routine. I used to watch the critters in the early morning. Tarantulas and lizards and the like, would all be out in force, doing what they do. Lizards would move slowly at first, as the air warmed the faster they moved. When I would go out to water the tomatoes and cukes or flowers, it was common to see field mice or toads scurrying around. As it got closer to noon, the less activity I would see...and then in afternoon, nothing would be moving, till evening when things cooled off as the sun went down. Here, there is no cooling off. It stays almost uncomfortably warm all night. It might drop by 10 degrees here. In the desert, it would be common for the temps in the day to be over 100' F and drop to the 60s at night. Here it is 95' F during the day and 90 at night. All this humidity brings out beautiful flowers and a bounty crop of mosquitoes. It is somewhat cooler in the early morning, so that is when most people go out and do their shopping.  In Xiangfan, the street markets are closed down by 9 am. Here, in Guangzhou, there are few street markets, but you still see people going out early as opposed to mid morning.

We are getting near the end of the school term. And the intensity of everything, school wise, has increased 10 fold or so it seems. It seems that the school year has just flown by. Another teacher and I visited Foshan last weekend. I got to see one of my old students that has graduated from the Xiangfan school where I taught. She has changed so much. From a very bright college student to a very bright young woman pursuing her nursing career. It was so good to see her. She definately reminded me why I love teaching in China. It seems, sometimes, that Chinese students are naive about life, and seem to be 10 years behind students in the west when it comes to dealing with life. Seeing my former student and how she has matured is a gift to me...I am confident that she could easily survive and do well in any country outside of China.

Another teacher here is from the Phillipines. He used to be in a former life, a director of a drug rehab center in the mountains in the Phillipines. Most of the clients are teenagers, there. He is trying to talk some of us into going and teaching english over the summer holiday...you should hear his spiel...free food, free house, quiet, in the forest, in the mountains......and so on. To be honest, I havent really considered it. If by chance, I go, it would be a chance to see another country.  I keep thinking I should go home and visit, or I should go to the Sichuan mountains and just have a view of the high mountains between Sichuan and Tibet. You know, just find a mountain meadow overlooking another higher line of peaks and just sit there. Just sit there and enjoy the mountain air, and sounds.......To say I am undecided would be very honest......

Till next time...............but I probably wont have made up my mind.

posted by: CarolenChina at 23:14 | link | comments (1) |
china, living in china, guangzhou

May 14, 2007

Today, it is already Sunday in China....Mother's Day. So Happy Mothers Day to all of you, mothers...and Happy Mothers Day to your mothers if you  are not a mother.

I was invited to join my friend's family celebration in honor of mothers, last night.  There must have been 30 to 40 people there.  You should have seen the food....piles of food. Really good, though.  The ninety year old lady that one upped me at Lunar New Year...was there. I wish I could speak Cantonese, just to talk to her. She has such a twinkle in her eyes, a mischievous smile on her face and ready laugh, that I can just imagine that she has always been a force to reckon with.

One of the foreign teachers at the college where I teach has had to have surgery for a cyst found on her breast. She will not be able to return to teach this term (and my word, the term is almost over.) The rest of us teachers have  had to double up to cover her classes. I have her best class to teach...so it should be a cakewalk. One extra class sure puts strain on the time...I feel like all I am doing is either teaching or getting information ready to teach. Not much spare time.  Her students are a lot of fun. I am really surprised at the difference in the English comprehension from my regular classes to her class. Like night and day.

One thing that grows to huge sizes in China is cockroaches. Yes, those disgusting insects....They can fly, too....I have killed at least a dozen in the past few days in the apartment... It is hot and humid, so windows are open and fans are on to cool the air a little. I guess that is where these despicable  creatures are coming from.  I think that one could use these bugs as pack horses. I swear to you, they are 4 to 6 inches long. Roach Hotels are a joke...they wouldn't even fit into one.  And their distant cousins, the mosquitoes are out in force. Alaska has mosquitoes like no other state. I have seen mosquitoes attack  tires on a car that just pulled into a driveway....they are attracted by heat. I think these Chinese brothers and sisters are just as bad and maybe worse. In this part of the world there are terrible things, like Dengue Fever, that mosquitoes bring. So I keep mosquito killer stuff on hand and use it regularly. To kill the roaches, one uses one's foot in a stomping motion.

Oh, I am so excited. I have been writing articles for a web publication called Journey Beyond Travel.  The main man at this publication has submitted my work to another publication because he thinks I did a good job. So if my article gets accepted by the new place. I will be published in more than one place. My friend, Joanne Rivers White, told me a long time ago, she had visions of me being a writer. You know, Joanne, you are right!  Till next time.

 

 

posted by: CarolenChina at 00:41 | link | comments (1) |
china, living in china

May 4th. 2007

I am back in Guangzhou.  I had a very good time in Xiangfan. Lots of friends are there, so makes sense that I enjoyed myself.  One of the things I observed while in Xiangfan, is the difference in the markets... There are many street markets that farmers sell their vegies early in the morning in Xiangfan. Many of the same vegetables show up on every farmer's table or cart, however, they all seem to have one of two that others dont have. Maybe, this farmer sells a lot of spinach and carrots. Sells a few cabbages, while another  farmer sells mostly cabbages...Lots of variety.  The Xiangfan street markets are full of people chatting and laughing, bargaining to get the prices down.  Mixed in the fruits and vegetables are people selling clothes, spices,  sewing needles, doing acupuncture, and other things. Fisherman bring their catches, and butchers sell their pork. Dofu...or tofu to you, is available. Steamed bread, cooked ducks, stalls to eat noodles, pancakes or whatever are found in Xiangfan street markets. Shopping for vegetable is just plain ol fun.  Markets in Guangzhou are big, and dead. Noone one laughing or chatting. Every vendor has exactly the same thing. And no bargaining. The fish comes from a wholesale fish market.  Not the fresh from the river caught variety.  You can find a place to eat noodles....but not right in the market.  I think Xiangfan's street markets are fun. I was told that in the villages near Guangzhou, there are street markets. But in Guangzhou, it is buy vegies in a supermarket.  Too bad...................

My friend, Brian, and I went to Wu Dang Shan. We went there a year or so ago. It cost 10 yuan to ride the bus and 10 yuan to enter.  Bus fares cost us, 50 each and the entry price went up to 90. Me thinks inflation has set in.  I looked on my old ticket to make sure I wasnt imagining the increase in price. My old ticket says 10. China is going to make money...the Olympics are coming. Tourists will pay the price....that is for sure. I wonder about the people who have been making pilgrimages there for many, many years.... How will this price increase affect them? 

Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 06:19 | link | comments |
travel, living in china, xiangfan

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