My China Musings

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

November 26, 2007

A couple of years ago when I was still a teacher in this city, another foreign teacher and I made a four hour one-way trip to Wuhan to get a turkey and all the trimmings we could find for a traditioanl Thanksgiving. I had at that time been in China four years. I had not had a traditional dinner in all that time. My friend, Brian, laughed as he related that in his wildest dreams, he never thought he would travel 8 hours just to buy a turkey. But we did… Turkey day rolled around and with the help of a lady who lived in the French compound who let us use her oven, we had our turkey dinner. With the use of a small counter top oven, we made pumpkin and apple pies. We fixed mashed potatoes. We had street vender sweet potatoes, topped with marshmallow candy. We fixed tomato and cucumber salad…and we made yeast rolls. In Wuhan we got butter and whiipping cream. All in all, we had just about everything. Even olives and stuffed celery. We invited our closest Chinese friends and had one big party. It was the best Thanksgiving ever. This year, I am back in Xiangfan, not as a teacher, but just a visitor. My best friend in all the world is a Chinese lady who is more like a sister. She and her husband wanted to take me to a restaurant to celebrate. But I declined. Instead, I made potato and corn chowder with beef sandwiches and Mc Donald’s peach pies. Not quite the same as the big feed, but the love and sharing and giving thanks for all we have to be grateful for was still there.

posted by: CarolenChina at 05:52 | link | comments |

If there was anything I would change about my time in China would be,  I would have made more of an effort to learn Putonghua or standard Chinese much sooner than I did. And maybe, I should caveat that by saying,  I am presently learning.  I think I cheated myself. I am sure that I missed out on knowing some really neat people because we could not communicate openly. I know for a fact that there has been some misunderstandings between me and people I call friends because of the language barrier. Traveling in China would have been easier, too. I am learning Putonghua from the Pimsleur system. While I am a rank beginner, I am surprised at how much more I can understand when I listen to people talk. I am happy to be able to communicate with the local people when trying to buy something or just trying to talk. I have a long way to go to say I am fluent....but just the start has made all the difference in the world. I would advise anyone traveling to a foreign place, learn some the language...It makes the whole experience much better.

A couple of postings ago, I wrote about my friend sending some very graphic pictures of  Chinese police handing out their brand of justice. Well, I watched a couple of instances of injustice, in my way of thinking. I watched Xiangfan's finest take away some poor farmer women's carts of vegies. We are talking about women in their 50s and 60s, maybe 40s, Their means to make a living was taken away from them for selling their vegies after 8 a. m. or on the wrong street. These poor ladies are up at 0 dark 30 to get to market, they are up until the very late night or early morning to get ready for the market. They dont make a whole lot of money. A whole bag such as a big paper bag one gets in the supermarket or big plastic bag that one gets in the supermarket stuffed full of  say, spinach, may get her or him 3-5 yuan. But Xiangfan police made the streets so much safer because the ladies arent selling their wares and I am quite sure the Xiangfan police and families ate very well for a few days. The really sickening part, is I watched as the wonderful servants of the people bust the carts up. Now isnt that fairplay and justice. Taking away a poor person's ability to make a few remenbi .... Makes me sick. Another one of those things I dislike about China's way of doing things, but cannot do anything about it. The other pictures were of man who had kidnapped a little boy and was holding him hostage. These are poor farmers, and let me tell you, farmers, for the most part, are not the richest people in China.  To me, this is real injustice. Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 07:43 | link | comments |
china, living in china, xiangfan

November 20, 2007

Weather in Xiangfan, definately, has that winter feeling. This morning there is a thick fog all around us. I dont think visiblity is more that a few feet....I cannot see the building across the courtyard at all, just a white wall. Yesterday it was nice... today, who knows.  I have been mulling over a couple of things to write about. I think, I will write a little about the changes I have seen in people's lives that I deal or have dealt with. Take for example the young man that cuts my hair. He is good... I think. I am a blonde...no comments, please, and my hair is fine... very fine. Not thin but fine. I have lots of hair, its just fine and wavy. I had trouble finding someone who could cut my hair so that it didnt look strangely like I should be Chinese. He, finally, after two or three times got it right. Even when I went off to Guangzhou and came back to Xiangfan for a visit, he cut my hair, just like the old days.  He is tall, well over 6 foot or 180 cm. I have watched his hair style go from spiked and colors not natural on any of Mother Nature's beings, 2 or 4 legged  to still very modern, and long.  When I first started having him cut my hair, he rode to his shop on a motorscooter. After about a year he came on a motorcycle. He, now, drives a small car. His shop has gone from 3 chairs and one wash basin, one permanent gizmo for curling hair and the room itself, not much wider than an big walkin closet. Today his shop is very big. He has taken over the space of another shop and has lots more room. His hair is a little more conservative now. He dresses very nice and always has. He used to dress some what punk style. Now his dress is still very stylish, just a bit more conservative. His wife is still working there and she hasnt changed...she is very beautiful and has a smile to stop traffic. Owning his own business has been good for him. He is still cutting my hair. Some of the people I have dealt with over the years are still doing exactly the same. My sweet potato lady is still on her corner and she is still smiling. She works very hard. I noticed that now she wears a kind of uniform apron over her clothes every day. She looks very, for lack of a better word, professional. She looks clean and successful, even though she sells sweet potatoes. Most vendors have on clothes that they wear every day. Sometimes not the cleanest looking. My sweet potato lady is always, always smiling. I would like to say it is because she likes what she does, but who would like being out in the cold of winter or heat of summer selling sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and the like? One of my friends in Xiangfan was always a good little worker. She did everything the leaders told her to do, even when it put a burden on her to do so. Leaders dont care. As long as one does what the leader says, and one makes the leader look good....the leader doesn't care if the person gets worked into the ground. That's the Chinese way.  Well, my friend is tired. And in her family, there is a member that is seriously ill, actually, a couple of family members.... Anyway,  the school leaders told her to do another project. She refused it. She told them she didnt want to be a group leader anymore. She said that her family and her health needed her attention. And she stuck to her guns. I am very proud of her. If you lived in China, you would understand how hard that was for her. Or for my traveling buddy to move to another province because of a girl he loves. Yes, people in China are changing their mind set, little by little. They are starting to realize that if dreams are going to come true there is a lot of work involved. Till next time...

posted by: CarolenChina at 01:55 | link | comments |

November 15, 2007

Yesterday was warmish and sunny. a bit hazy, but still sunny. This morning, the day is not sunny, even if you use your imagination. Plus it is raining.  It is suppose to get into the high fifties today, but I am not holding my breath.  Winter in Xiangfan is on the horizon. Winter in this part of China can be very cold and very beautiful. Or it can be raw, miserable, and dark. I am hoping for the first choice.  Winter, three years ago, was very cold. Skies, however, were very blue and the sun came out almost every day. We, also, got alot of snow. People who have lived here all their lives said they couldn't remember when there had been so much snow. But it was beautiful.  Getting so cold here was a big surprise to me...because if I decided to walk east  in a straight line across the Pacific I would cross Mexico, southern Texas, and Florida.  Weather, here, has been a little bit of an enigma.... We may have hot and humid in the summer...but we don't have the moderate winter of Florida, Mexico, and south Texas. In this part of China, very, very few places have central heat. Most floors are made of ceramic tiles. And buildings are made of brick without any insulation put on the walls...so inside is often as cold or colder than the outside. I am sitting here, writing, I have on long underwear, heavy pants, a fleecy material sweatshirt, and a quilted vest. I am not cold, but I am not what you would call  warm either. My home state is Alaska. I cannot ever remember when I was as cold in Alaska as I am in China in the winter. Alaska, however, has winters that last for a few months. This part of China has winters that last a few weeks. So there are tradeoffs. I was just thinking, it wont be long until spring... so, I hope what ever part of the globe you sit in, you are warm and happy.Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 02:36 | link | comments |
china, living in china, xiangfan

November 10, 2007

Today in my email, a longtime friend sent me some pictures of how China handles justice...or at least how it did in that case.  I dont know what to say, they were not  very nice pictures and the commentary at the end was not what I call worth reading. I am not sure if the writer of the article was slamming China or the United States. I am proud to be an American. I find nothing wrong in loving my home country. At the same I love living in China. While there are injustices here, I find that life still has a quality  that westerners have lost because of our rush forward to have the best of everything.  I like the differences in cultures. I find that life here is an adventure. And life is simple...Life at home, sometimes was just trying to make sure I had enough money to cover expenses. As a single woman, sometimes it wasnt the easiest. I am not saying that China is perfect. Not by a long shot. I have seen many injustices happen here. Sometimes I have cringed and have even cried. But this is China, I cannot do anything....except accept that is the way things are done here. However, before I judge China, I have to admit that the United States, and England, and France and any other country has its black marks and skeletons in the closets. I could find fault in how, say, Switzerland handles its crime or how Norway handles its police, but to what avail.  If I chose to live there, I would have to accept that is the way things are done.That is what I have to do in China. If I were to name the biggest injustice here is that people have little choice.  They have no say in their say in govenmental processes and  life decisions. Chinese live in a controlled world.  If  you take time to get to know the people, really get to know the people, you will find they are loving and caring as anyone else. They have had 5000 years of one kind of emperor or another. It will take more than one generation or two for them to overcome the mindset. And it may well be that another confrontation such as the one back about 20 years ago will happen. In the meantime, remember these people have lived with repression and poverty that most of us cannot imagine. So when you see the pictures in the news, realize that the people doing the wrong are but a few. Most of the Chinese people are just like you. Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 01:33 | link | comments (1) |
china, living in china

November 7, 2007

Over the past weekend, I went to visit some friends in Zaoyang. Zaoyang is a smaller city near Xiangfan. MY friend is from Zaoyang and I have met his family. So, of course, I went to see them. I had so much fun walking around. I had my camera in hand to take pictures in case something interesting would show itself. I did take pictures of the market. I think that market is still very rural in nature. There was a man there doing moxibustion...using jars to treat ailments on pressure points... a vacuum is made inside  the jar and that is about all I know about that treatment. Of course, there were the usual vegies, fish, chickens, noodles, clothes, kitchen ware, shoes and just about everything you can think of for sale. I loved the people, they would wave to get their pictures taken. Especially kids, they are great. I was very proud to have four high school kids walk up beside me and try to use their English. Usually, students are too shy to try. I told them I was proud of them. My favorites were the workers. There is a group who wait on the corner near my friend's house. They all go "laowei, laowei,  helllllo".  Near the market some construction workers stopped work to wave and to try to say something in English.  There is a river in Zaoyang that was nearly dead from pollution. China has started making factories clean up the rivers somewhat. I was very happy to see that the river in Zaoyang, actually looked like a river. The last time I had been there, the water was sluggish, and did not look alive.  When I saw it over the weekend, the water was actually flowing. It didnt seem to have all the algae and plant life in it that comes with bad water. It may not be the cleanest river in China, but it is much better than before. So maybe in another year, the factory will make it even cleaner. Step by step. My friend's sister and I went to White Bamboo Buddhist Temple. It is at least 600 years old...and still standing. Quite a wonderful place. One walks through a bamboo forest to the temple or drive if you have a car, but actually, I like the walk. It isnt all gussied up to be a tourist place...just a working temple out in the middle of rural China...very wonderful. All in all, it was a great weekend.  Till next time.

posted by: CarolenChina at 07:05 | link | comments |
china, living in china, temples

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