This blog is my thoughts on many things and about my adventures of living and traveling in China.
Name: Carole Morris
Living in China for more than 6 years, I have had the chance to travel far and see much. I love to share what I have seen and experienced as well as every day life in China as an expat, with all those who wish to read my blog.
InMyLife on June 26, 2008
InMyLife on June 26, 2008
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merserene on June 10th, 2008
InMyLife on June 10, 2008
Frewin on June 8, 2008
InMyLife on June 6, 2008
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I survived a speech competition last night. I like to go support my students if I know about these events. I was asked to be a judge. I dislike being a judge, big time. For me it is hard to mark the kids. I feel like I am between a rock and a hard place. This is not their mother tongue. So how do you judge someone who is trying very hard, but can barely speak the language? Is it fair to judge engineering students against English majors? And sometimes, these competitions can be very political. Certain students are expected to win. I don’t always agree with the choices. Most of the time, I go and just watch. Or I have been the person to ask the speaker questions. But rarely, have I been a judge. Most of the speakers last night were pretty decent. Some of the speakers are in my classes. In fact the winner is one my students. He is very good. And I was very proud of him. He is a reminder why most of foreigners find teaching in The topic the students spoke about was their life on campus. One day in class, I asked the students what they thought of their college life. I got the standard answers such as boring. Another answer is…”this is a third tier school”… (in
Right now, the weather in my part of China is pretty good. Getting very warm, but the humidity doesn't sem to be all high yet. It's coming though. Just as sure as taxes and death, it will arrive. My home state of Alaska just got buried in a record snowfall. And my friends in Oregon, tell me that its been cold there for the past week. Crazy weather...
Anyway, back to China...a good place to go visit if you are tired of being in Xiangfan but only have a day to escape before you have to be back, is Lumensi. Meng Haoran, famous Tang Dynasty, poet spent most of his life there. I would imagine it was a bit more rustic than now. Three Kingdom era, Pang De Gong was another famous historical resident. He, too, spent most of his adult life here. Famed Zhuge Liang, Three Kingdom hero, would come to Lumensi to see his friend, maybe even sought after his advice.
Today, it is a park. At the entrancei s an area where a thatched hut has been built. I think I read somewhere, it is suppose to be like the houses erected at the time of Meng Haoran's life..couple thousand years ago. There are a couple of buildings that examples of calligrahy and poetry are hung. A couple of pieces of furniture from that time are shown. I doubt they are antiques. Probably, copies, but great to see. And a statue of Mr. Meng greets you. A path up the hill or road takes to you to the main tourist area. There are various eating spots and the usual people selling incense and the like. A couple of working temples are the main focal places. When I was there, it cost 2 yuan to go into one the temples. It may cost more now. The other temple was closed. A huge dirt mound is on the hill behind this area, that is reported to be Meng Haoran's tomb.
Another resident that spent a lot of his adult life in this area was Pang de Gong. He was a scholar, teacher and scientist of his time. He was one of the explorers of plant medicine. He was also reportedly a good friend of Three Kingdom hero, Zhuge Liang. There is a building erected at where he had his home. While it is not like the buildings back then, it still has quite a view from the second story.
The best part of Lumensi are the trails up the hills. There are various hiking trails around the park. Once you get to the top of the hills surrounding this area, there are views of the Han River and its valley to die for. It is really very beautiful.
Getting there isnt all that hard even if you dont have your own wheels. You can take the city bus or taxi. Till next time.
Being in China, right now, is a bit interesting. It has been something to be here over the past few years and see China change...Recent events have been interesting, too. Now, you all have access to much more news than I have, thanks to the Great China Firewall. So you all probably know all about this. Last night, the FAO came to my door to tell me that, maybe, I should not go to Carrefour, the big French supermarket. It seems that the Chinese people have been making threats against Carrefour and are demonstrating against it. The FAO thinks I should stay away for safety sake. China is mad at France. So the people are going to boycott the French owned store and etc...Well, from the outside where you are this all sounds quite spontaneous... but there is no right to assembly here, the government is behind all of this. In fact, it is said that the government planted monks in a certain area to start something so the government would have a reason to crack down on the certain people. Sounds about par for the course. It has been shown that a lot of the bloggers on the net are government workers paid to incite and they are doing a good job. A foreign teachers forum, that I go to now and then, has its government plant. In fact, there are a couple on it. The one story that Beijing has allowed to be played here was about the person who protected the torch in a wheelchair. Beijing's reaction in the news is just plain ludicrous. To read the Chinese government reactions and etc, you would think that disabled people are venerated in China when exactly the opposite is true. There are no ramps in China for wheelchairs to get into buildings. Most buildings do not have elevators or lifts. According to one Chinese lady married to a westerner, it is against the law for disabled students to go to school. I am not 100% sure this is true. However, when I think about it, I have never seen a disabled person in any of the schools I have been to. I have seen people who used a crutch or crutches and they were able to get around on their own power. I have seen a blind student, but noone who could get around without help. I have never seen people around on the city streets in wheelchairs except for old people being pushed around by family or caretakers. In some cases, according to the lady, if a child is not born perfect, you can guess what happens.... Especially in the villages. Or the child is abandoned...in a ditch somewhere. (If allowed to grow up, the child is kept out of "society"...I have witnessed this... I know of a couple twin boys that have cerebral palsy, one of them sells drinks at a street stand, the other is kept in a room like a jail. His only contact with the outside world is through barred windows.) As the Olympics get closer, things might even get more interesting. Am I worried? Not really. Just remember to take things with a grain of salt. Till next time.
My computer got sick, and it is in the computer hospital getting a new operating system... I was installing a new anti virus program and somehow, I managed to get a very nasty virus that took out my browser. The technician said I may have had it on my extra drive and when I took out the old program it had it's chance to invade my main computer. I don't know that much about it, I just know my computer has a big problem.So as I write this, my computer is being worked on and I probably wont see it until next week. It's okay, I need to go to Xiangfan anyway.
Riding four hours on the train to Xiangfan can be an adventure in and of itself. If nothing else, it gives me four hours to take part in my favorite pastime, people watching. Trains provide a great stage of human drama.
Some of the riders are asleep almost as soon as the train starts moving. They are completely unaware of what the world is doing around them. In fact, sitting next to me is a young girl, quite pretty and snoring like a bull moose in full rutt...So pretty to sound so bad. At least three people have been up and down the aisles at least 12 times and the trip at this point is only 1 and 1/2 hours old. Maybe, they are getting their daily exercise. I have sort of been watching a lady standing at the end of the car. She has been feeding her face since the train left Wuchang station. First, some kind of cookies or crackers, then fruit, followed by a cucumber, back to some kind of fruit. Where she is putting all this fiber is beyond me.
A favorite pastime is card games. I would venture to say there are at least 3 games being played maybe more. "Cheat the Landlord" seems to be the games of choice. One group near me is quite boisterious. One man gets so excited I fully expected a heart attack to happen. One of his companions pats him on his head when his frustration level gets high. This seems to calm him right down. Evidently, they play cards together quite often.
Then there are those people who have to get something out of their bags every few minutes. The bag just happens to be on the luggage rack over their heads. Invariably, they are sitting next to the wall, so 2 other people must get up to accomodate the person getting to his or her bag. They just get settled and its time to get into the bag again.
One lady is traveling with a baby...she acts like she is royality. Even though the seat holds two people, and another lady has paid for one of the seats, the mommy seems to think the baby has precedence over the second lady. After all, mommy has to have room for 3 blankets , 2 bags of food and her purse. How dare Lady B want to sit down. Mommy was told to move her stuff by the car attendant so lady B could use her seat. But at last glance, Lady B was still standing.
This is just a normal ride from Wuhan to Xiangfan. The feasting lady quit feeding her face about 20 minutes out of XF. She needed to get her 8 bags ready to take off the train. Till next time....
Day before yesterday, it was cool and rainy...cold enough that everyone was wearing heavy sweaters or jackets. By late afternoon it was hot..so hot that the students were changed into shorts.. and no jackets. Yesterday, the morning was dark and the air had that feel about it just before it storms. If I were living in the midwest of the US, I would have taken a good book and headed for a storm cellar....it was that black. Sure enough, mid-morning, ssst boom started. For about an hour, thunderboomers could be heard from all parts of the sky. Rain came down with a vengence, would lessen and start all over again. Lightening must have been in the clouds because I saw very few flashes. Humidity was high the rest of the day. Today, it dawned on the cool side, almost very cool. We have had a wind blowing that at times was right down cold. Must be springtime in Central China. Wuhan is considered one of the five hottest places to be, come summer. I am not looking forward to that. Xiangfan may get on the hot side, but it is cooler than Wuhan. And definately, cooler and dryer than Guangzhou. Summer is coming...nothing can be done to slow it down...so, till next time.
I am sure some of you wonder why I do not comment on the things going on in some of the western provinces in the country in which I am living. I certainly have my own opinions and feelings about it... but I am in this country as a guest and do not feel it would appropriate to voice them. Just think about where you live... and be thankful. I have visited many of the places that are now in lockdown. I have been to Lh***. I went before the train started going there. And I am glad I did...because after the train started going there, things in Lh*** changed dramatically. The Lh***, I saw, was still mostly T*b*t*n. I have been to Kashgar... another place being affected. It makes me sad to see the beautiful places in Sichuan being closed off and people clashing. It makes me sad to see people dying for what they believe or living in such a way that it brings this kind of action. But in another word, I am from the USA. I am grateful everyday for that...as I am sure that most of you are grateful to be from wherever you are. We have the right to be Moslem, Christian, nothing at all or anything in between. Rome cannot support Catholic churches in China, Moslems are told who and who cannot go to the mosques, ...all churches must kowtow to the central government. Christian Churches exist, but they are governed by an agency of the government. There is no open press here, only what the government allows. So, maybe my words to you, is be grateful for what you have...and what you can do with out thinking about it. Till next time.
A friend and I were talking about Xiangfan. My friend is from Zaoyang, which is a part of Xiangfan district. He hasnt been home in a couple of years and maybe, he is a bit homesick. He made the comment that "one cannot go home again". I told him that I disagreed. No, one cannot go back to the same conditions one left. But I do think people can go home again. And it's better...because when you go back, you go under your own terms. One isnt tied to a job or a neighborhood. Some people have left and so the conditions are different. We are different as is the city. But to me it was fun being back in Xiangfan after a couple of years. I wasnt part of the school anymore. I didnt have to be nice to people I didnt like. I felt freer. Some of the people I cared about were still around so I got to know them again. I had more time to go to the places of the city I hadnt been to before because I was always busy. I found it was easier to just enjoy myself. When I finally, decide that China isnt fun anymore, I will go home to Alaska. It won't be the same as when I left, but I think that it will be familar yet new. Alaska will still be beautiful and the mountains will still be standing, but the slate will be erased and how I do will be my own doing. I think it will be the same for my friend. When he goes back to Xiangfan/Zaoyang, the Han River will still be flowing, the mountains will be standing, but the slate will be clean. There will enough of the people he cared about left to add spice. The best parts of Xiangfan will still be there...all he has to do is decide what to do with them and move on. Build a new life, not try to hang on to the old. He will be able to have Xiangfan on his terms.
Every now and again, we are given something something that isnt all that spectacular in the beginning. My friend, Mary, sent me a fleece blanket a couple years or longer ago. I am not saying that it wasnt a great gift, because it was. But as time goes on, I appreciate that red fleece blanket more and more. It is light and easy to pack...it goes everywhere with me....Because of the high humidity here, sometimes the beds feel damp, I just climb into my fleece blanket and everything feels dry.... that blanket has kept my feet warm in the winter more times than I care to remember. So if you are at a loss as to what to buy someone, may I advise a fleece blanket bag. Till next time.
Watching people is one of my favorite pastimes. As a teacher, I get to watch students alot. College students, here, seemed to be more like high school students in the USA. You see the girls with Garfield or Miss Kitty bags...among others. You see some pairing of boys and girls. You see alot of girls holding hands and boys hanging on each other, more like much younger kids in the West. During the middle and high school years, these kids are pushed to do well in school. Their day starts at 6:30 in the morning, and they go until 10:30 at night. Holidays are spent in study...doing homework and so forth. When these kids get to college, they have very few social skills, especially if they come from small villages. It's quite a treat to watch these young people blossom when they are out from under the watchful eye of the teachers and parents. Some of the students do very well, some not. Some dont quite know what to do with all the freedom that college gives them. Spending most of the free time in the dorm seems to be a way many spend their days. Alot go to the library and discover a whole new world of books and places. Playing sports is a favorite pastime and of course, computer games. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is a far more serious undertaking than in the West. It is almost the same as saying they are getting married. In class, the kids ask me to tell them about student life in the USA... when I tell them that boys and girls in my country may have lots of boy or girlfriends before they marry, the students, here, are always surprised. Most of these students wont even tell their parents they have a boy or girlfriend. They are suppose to do nothing but study. Students are encouraged to join college sponsered activities to help with social skills....many do. In my country, the first two years are usually taking the basics, like English, whatever math you need..and so on. Majors are decided by the students... Here, the kids take a test and end up in a major chosen for them. I am teaching freshmen and sophmores... in the English Major program. All their classes are English....no science, no math, no class outside of their major... and most of them are not happy with that. Some go to the library and learn about the subjects that interest them or use the internet. Like I said, some blossom, some dont.
I have been watching a group of four or five girls...they are trying their best to look like haute couture models. I see them every day. Dressing in primarily black and white, very severe looking hair cuts, dark red lipsticks that is almost black...very painted on eye makeup... and with that pouty frown that models are known for, they stand around together hoping to be noticed. I noticed that they had on very high, high-heeled shoes... One poor girl has feet that were not happy. Watching her walk was torture. You could tell that her feet were protesting every move. The other girls seemed to be handling the steeple high shoes much better. Bless their hearts, they are trying so hard to be so elegant and sophisticated. I will withhold judgement on their success. I must admit, they stood out in a crowd. Till next time.
If you do not have a meditative practice, may I suggest that you do. I practice Tai Chi Chuan...(Taiji Chuan, for those who speak Chinese.) I, also, use some Yoga stretches... Too be right down honest, I have not been very faithful in doing my morning exercise for the past few months. I went out, this morning and walked for 20 minutes to warm the muscles...then found a quiet corner and did taiji. I have practiced taiji so long, I do not have to think about the moves....So after standing meditation, I did the short form also known as the 24 Yang Style. I think I have been cheating myself. I noticed, just plain happy bubbles rising from my dan tian. I could liken it to the runner's high that one hears about from joggers. Now, I know what endomorphins feel like.... I felt so good doing taiji...that I am sure a smile was across my face. Yes, I have felt the same feelings before. Maybe, because I have had a very stressful year, I had forgot about how good taiji makes me feel. I will be out there in the morning.... you bet on that.
There are some great teachers to help you if you want to learn taiji. In China, simply go to the nearest park early in the morning and you will find many practicing taiji. I learned taiji from U S Wushu Center in Portland, Oregon. I had extremely good teachers. I can see that every time I watch others do taiji...I was very lucky to have found a good school. In Anchorage, the emphasis seems to be on how much money the instructors can make rather than teaching an ancient art. I was glad I already knew taiji. In Anchorage, I sure didnt find a teacher I would have been proud to study with. Look around, no matter where you are.... find a teacher that fits you. Till next time.
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