By that I mean that I am staying in a room by myself with a bathroom, eating western food and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Yep, I decided to spoil myself after 4 weeks of village life. Every night I find a cafe that attracts westerners and find people to speak English with. Overall, it is very fun. During the day I have been getting some things organised. I went and ordered business cards today with my contact details in English and Chinese, printed out my questionaire, bought stationery, sat in a cafe in the sun, etc. Just that kind of thing. It's a pleasant change. I've also had a haircut and spent too much time in the shower. Got to go back to Lugu lake on Wednesday so I am making the most of civilisation and luxury. It is particularly nice being independent.
Tonight I went to a cafe and ordered a steak with mushroom sauce. Big disappointment, It was tiny and the sauce didn't really taste like mushroom. It's not often you walk away from a steak dinner thinking "maybe I'll go somewhere else and order pizza or something". Especially with what you pay for western food here (It's actually equivalent to Australian prices! I'm not used to paying that much for food anymore). My pasta carbonara last night was nice though. Unfortunately my "American breakfast" yesterday was stone cold and served with salad.
I ate sizzling yak meat yesterday for lunch with rice. It wasn't bad. Stirfried with chillies and sesame seeds. But very salty. The rude shock came when I went to buy a map at the bookshop with a Y50 note that they gave me in change and they wouldn't accept it. I assumed this was because it was torn and took it to the bank where the teller explained to me that it was a fake. I was pretty annoyed (Y50 may be worth less than $10 AU but it can buy a lot over here). I marched back to the restaurant - I knew that was where I got it and told them that they'd given me a fake 50. I thought that they would at least be more careful in future, but they actually reimbursed me even though I couldn't actually show it to them (the bank didn't give it back to me). I walked away feeling pleased that just for once China hadn't screwed me over financially. Not that it's expensive here but you often walk around feeling like you're not getting local prices or buying items that are poor quality.
There is a nice little bookshop in Lijiang that has a bookshelf full of reasonably priced modern English novels. Because the selection is small I can't stick to the same authors I normally read so I have read some interesting books I picked up there that I probably wouldn't buy back home. The latest of these is "Life of Pi" which has been fantastic so far- I haven't quite finished it. If you come across it, it is well worth a read. A bizarre and interesting and hilarious book. Well I have to go meet rowdy backpackers and an archaeology PhD student at a noisy cafe in the French quarter. bye for now.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Hitch hiking
Yep, I'm a hitch hiker nowadays. It's actually the only way to get anywhere around here. After lunch today I had to go into Yongning to buy a phonecard. When you live in Zhudi there isn't exactly a taxi rank or bus stop. I walked to the main road and started walking. A taxi came along and I flagged it down and jumped in with everyone else. The other day when I had my backpack on I hailed a vegie truck just to get up a mountain. I know it's not really hitch hiking if you catch a taxi, but I think most of the taxis are private vehicles anyway with a sign stuck in the window. They're kind of taxis and kind of buses in that there's a set fare per person to go to a certain place and they wait until they get a few people and pick up more on the way. But they have no set times when they go and if you're the only person who wants to go to their destination they make you pick up the full expense, especially if they don't think they can pick up anyone for the return trip.
Yesterday I was walking to Lige and a passing four wheel drive stopped for me and I realised it was two guys I had met at a bar in Lige, the day before I was walking along and a taxi containing one of the families I stayed with picked me up. At least this means I usually only have to walk one way. It is a forty minute walk to Lige so the return walk takes quite a long time. You need to allow two hours. Especially as yesterday coming home I had to wait because a fork lift was busy scooping up the rocks left by the landslide into the backs of some trucks. I waited with a Chinese guy carrying a basket on his back. We caught the eye of the forklift driver and when a truck drove off we had a window of opportunity to dash over the rubble beside the forklift.
The weather is improving dramatically. I don't have to wear my thermals everyday anymore. Particularly in the late morning and afternoon it is mild and sunny with a light breeze most days. Washing gets dry, I don't have to wear my heavy jacket everywhere- I feel almost normal. It certainly makes climbing the mountain to go to the toilet more bearable. The family still tells me to eat all the time. I have taken a stand against everyone putting their chopsticks in my bowl in order to give me more to eat. But otherwise, I smile, or try to distract them by asking them questions and stuff. When I've really had enough to eat I quickly put my bowl and cup up on the bench so no one can feed me anymore.
Well, I'm going to Lijiang tomorrow. I have some stuff I need to work on quietly plus I want to go to the bank before spring festival kicks in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to having a pizza. I like the food here, but I get occasional cravings for cheese and coffee. And chocolate. The chocolate you can buy in yongning is crap. A shower probably wouldn't hurt either.
Yesterday I was walking to Lige and a passing four wheel drive stopped for me and I realised it was two guys I had met at a bar in Lige, the day before I was walking along and a taxi containing one of the families I stayed with picked me up. At least this means I usually only have to walk one way. It is a forty minute walk to Lige so the return walk takes quite a long time. You need to allow two hours. Especially as yesterday coming home I had to wait because a fork lift was busy scooping up the rocks left by the landslide into the backs of some trucks. I waited with a Chinese guy carrying a basket on his back. We caught the eye of the forklift driver and when a truck drove off we had a window of opportunity to dash over the rubble beside the forklift.
The weather is improving dramatically. I don't have to wear my thermals everyday anymore. Particularly in the late morning and afternoon it is mild and sunny with a light breeze most days. Washing gets dry, I don't have to wear my heavy jacket everywhere- I feel almost normal. It certainly makes climbing the mountain to go to the toilet more bearable. The family still tells me to eat all the time. I have taken a stand against everyone putting their chopsticks in my bowl in order to give me more to eat. But otherwise, I smile, or try to distract them by asking them questions and stuff. When I've really had enough to eat I quickly put my bowl and cup up on the bench so no one can feed me anymore.
Well, I'm going to Lijiang tomorrow. I have some stuff I need to work on quietly plus I want to go to the bank before spring festival kicks in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to having a pizza. I like the food here, but I get occasional cravings for cheese and coffee. And chocolate. The chocolate you can buy in yongning is crap. A shower probably wouldn't hurt either.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
village life
Yep, I'm really living out in the sticks now. Though at least I can walk across to Lige when I want to jump on the net or have a coffee (though the coffee here is too expensive). I think there was a very small earthquake here last night. I'm not completely sure because I've never experienced one, but for about a minute in the early hours this morning I woke up and the bed felt like it was vibrating. But so softly that I think I might not have noticed it if I had been up and walking around. Nothing was rattling or anything but I could here some dogs barking. When I woke I thought I might have dreamt it, but then I walked down to Lige and there had been a landslide overnight basically blocking the bottom section of road with dirt and broken rocks. There were still some pebbles rolling down. All the tourist buses that leave Lige every morning would have been stuck there except they kind of flattened out the rubble so they could drive up over it to get to the road. But they didn't seem to be letting any more cars in. They were making them park on the road. It could also have been partly caused by a lot of roadworks around this area at the moment. But the landslide wasn't directly where the trucks had been driving around and digging up the road.
Anyway, I might wait a few more days before I go back to Lijiang. In any case, I still have plenty of cash and the friend I was going to meet in Lijiang on the 28th won't be there after all, not till after spring festival (Chinese new year). I walked down to Lige this morning because the family was going to be doing a heap of cleaning and the girl wouldn't have time to work with me. It's a fine sunny morning so it was a nice walk down here and I might have a shower while I am here and wash a few dirty clothes that I left here. We have been getting a lot of work done- which I think is more exhausting for me than for her. I realised this morning, of course, that she is comfortable and fluent in Mosuo and Chinese, while I am comfortable and fluent in neither. She speaks no English, so we do everything through the medium of Chinese. We spend some time working with the recorded texts (stories recorded by her mum) trying to translate them into Chinese. I mean, she can easily just tell me in Chinese what they mean, but writing down each word in Mosuo and working out what it means is time consuming and not exactly riveting. Then we spend time with her teaching me to say things in Mosuo.
The work side of things has been fine but there have also been some cultural things that have been difficult for me to cope with. Somehow I can take on board the lack of hygiene, privacy, different food, discomfort, all the external stuff. The thing I'm finding difficult to cope with at the moment is quite different- it relates to their ideas of hospitality. These involve doing absolutely everything for me and telling me what to do a lot. I'm used to living out of home, being pretty independent, looking after myself. If I want to take my own plate to the sink I have to be quick. When I go to fill a basin with water to wash my face or my feet, they insist on filling it for me. When we're eating meat with bones on it, we just drop the bones on the floor and I'd noticed them picking them up to give to the dog or whatever, so after I finished eating my meal I picked up the bones I had dropped and put them in my bowl. I was sternly told off by the older sister who insisted on doing it myself.
The hardest time is during every meal, though. From the moment the bowl of rice is placed in front of me, at least 2 or 3 family members will look up every minute or two and say "Chi ba" meaning "Eat!" quite sternly. It makes absolutely no difference if I have my mouth full of food and have more food poised on my chopsticks, they will still encourage me to eat and even ask "Don't you like the food?" Then to further emphasise the point that I'm obviously starving to death, they will pick up more meat with their chopsticks and press it into my bowl. Even the six year old joins in. Then, if the rice in my bowl is hovering below the halfway mark, someone will be instantly standing there with a ladle full of rice, waiting to refill it. Anyone who knows me will know that I have a pretty hearty appetite and I've never in my life been accused of not eating enough before. Now I've watched and I think I eat about the same as everyone else. About 2 bowls of rice plus meat and vegetables. Or for breakfast a bowl of rice and a couple of chunks of a thick local pancake. Having someone harass me to eat every 30 seconds during every meal and press food into my bowl (which I am perfectly capable of getting myself) is driving me nuts. On the first day I nodded politely and smiled. By the second day I was saying "I'm eating, I'm eating!" By the third day I was saying "I'm eating a lot! I'm eating everything! Why do you say I'm not eating? I'm really full!- Please stop watching me eat. Let me eat by myself- I don't need help".
Since living there I've completely forgotten what it feels like to get an appetite. The next meal rolls around and I feel like I've barely finished the last one. I've started trying to eat more slowly, so that they try to refill my bowl less often, and sitting further back from the table, so it's harder for them to physically put food in my bowl (some of which I genuinely don't want to eat- like large lumps of pork fat). This attention is not directed to anyone else- who are all allowed to eat as much or as little as they please without scrutiny. I know all this sounds stupid- but I feel like every meal I receive severe criticism- I really don't look forward to meals at the moment though the food is generally fine. The odd thing is I think they're doing it to be hospitable.
Hopefully, I can get them to stop treating me like an invalid or a three year old otherwise it's going to be very difficult to continue living there, despite the fact that I'm getting a lot of work done.
Anyway, I might wait a few more days before I go back to Lijiang. In any case, I still have plenty of cash and the friend I was going to meet in Lijiang on the 28th won't be there after all, not till after spring festival (Chinese new year). I walked down to Lige this morning because the family was going to be doing a heap of cleaning and the girl wouldn't have time to work with me. It's a fine sunny morning so it was a nice walk down here and I might have a shower while I am here and wash a few dirty clothes that I left here. We have been getting a lot of work done- which I think is more exhausting for me than for her. I realised this morning, of course, that she is comfortable and fluent in Mosuo and Chinese, while I am comfortable and fluent in neither. She speaks no English, so we do everything through the medium of Chinese. We spend some time working with the recorded texts (stories recorded by her mum) trying to translate them into Chinese. I mean, she can easily just tell me in Chinese what they mean, but writing down each word in Mosuo and working out what it means is time consuming and not exactly riveting. Then we spend time with her teaching me to say things in Mosuo.
The work side of things has been fine but there have also been some cultural things that have been difficult for me to cope with. Somehow I can take on board the lack of hygiene, privacy, different food, discomfort, all the external stuff. The thing I'm finding difficult to cope with at the moment is quite different- it relates to their ideas of hospitality. These involve doing absolutely everything for me and telling me what to do a lot. I'm used to living out of home, being pretty independent, looking after myself. If I want to take my own plate to the sink I have to be quick. When I go to fill a basin with water to wash my face or my feet, they insist on filling it for me. When we're eating meat with bones on it, we just drop the bones on the floor and I'd noticed them picking them up to give to the dog or whatever, so after I finished eating my meal I picked up the bones I had dropped and put them in my bowl. I was sternly told off by the older sister who insisted on doing it myself.
The hardest time is during every meal, though. From the moment the bowl of rice is placed in front of me, at least 2 or 3 family members will look up every minute or two and say "Chi ba" meaning "Eat!" quite sternly. It makes absolutely no difference if I have my mouth full of food and have more food poised on my chopsticks, they will still encourage me to eat and even ask "Don't you like the food?" Then to further emphasise the point that I'm obviously starving to death, they will pick up more meat with their chopsticks and press it into my bowl. Even the six year old joins in. Then, if the rice in my bowl is hovering below the halfway mark, someone will be instantly standing there with a ladle full of rice, waiting to refill it. Anyone who knows me will know that I have a pretty hearty appetite and I've never in my life been accused of not eating enough before. Now I've watched and I think I eat about the same as everyone else. About 2 bowls of rice plus meat and vegetables. Or for breakfast a bowl of rice and a couple of chunks of a thick local pancake. Having someone harass me to eat every 30 seconds during every meal and press food into my bowl (which I am perfectly capable of getting myself) is driving me nuts. On the first day I nodded politely and smiled. By the second day I was saying "I'm eating, I'm eating!" By the third day I was saying "I'm eating a lot! I'm eating everything! Why do you say I'm not eating? I'm really full!- Please stop watching me eat. Let me eat by myself- I don't need help".
Since living there I've completely forgotten what it feels like to get an appetite. The next meal rolls around and I feel like I've barely finished the last one. I've started trying to eat more slowly, so that they try to refill my bowl less often, and sitting further back from the table, so it's harder for them to physically put food in my bowl (some of which I genuinely don't want to eat- like large lumps of pork fat). This attention is not directed to anyone else- who are all allowed to eat as much or as little as they please without scrutiny. I know all this sounds stupid- but I feel like every meal I receive severe criticism- I really don't look forward to meals at the moment though the food is generally fine. The odd thing is I think they're doing it to be hospitable.
Hopefully, I can get them to stop treating me like an invalid or a three year old otherwise it's going to be very difficult to continue living there, despite the fact that I'm getting a lot of work done.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Greetings from Zhudi and chicken amnesty
Well, I moved to Zhudi, the next village over, and despite increased primitiveness of facilities I think it was an excellent move. This family are born language teachers. They didn't wait for me to sit down with them with a tape recorder and notepad, but from the time I arrived yesterday afternoon they have been speaking to me in Mosuo language. They ask me a question, someone repeats the question in Chinese, then they repeat the question slowly in Mosuo until I say it correctly and then they offer me alternate answers in Mosuo. Even if the question is "would you like more tea?" they go to this effort. I'm not saying I remember how to say all these things yet, but the sounds are becoming more familiar as are some of the commoner words and sentence strucures. There are two adult daughters in the family, one is just a year younger then me and I have worked with her the most. She only attended primary school and has a one and a half year old baby girl, but she has worked in a bar in Lijiang for a while and speaks beautiful standard Chinese and fluent Mosuo. She also has incredible patience with me and speaks very clearly, initiating a lot of my language teaching, which has encouraged the rest of the family to do the same. Teaching me Mosuo became a bit of a game for the kids (there were several visiting children last night) and they came up with all kinds of questions for me in Mosuo and giggled at my replies a great deal. Except for when they were over in a corner pulling out one of the girl's teeth. I don't think they have a tooth fairy here, but they seemed to have fun with that just the same. Then they sang for me and then (ye Gods) demanded that I sing for them. If you have ever heard me sing you will understand my reluctance. Finally I favoured the room with a rendition of "kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" which I had decided would be suitable as it is short and has no high notes. I even got a round of applause. Next the kids will teach me to dance.
I shared a room with the girl and her baby last night and this morning we got stuck into translating the story her mother told- I left her the choice to talk about basically whatever she wanted (Mosuo story or own experience) and was a little surprised that the story was about class struggle with the cruel landlords followed by liberation by the communist party when she was 12 years old. Though there is a lovely print of Chairman Mao on the wall.
Around mid morning I wandered up to my bedroom to get something and was most surprised to discover a chicken nesting on the end of my bed. oops, must have left the bedroom door a little open. I shooed it from the room only to discover it had left me a present, a freshly laid egg on my doona. I can only assume, as a peace offering. Now I am down in Lige for some internet time and I will go back in an hour or so.
This morning the courtyard was a winter wonderland, large snowflakes were falling when I got up and there was about an inch of snow everywhere. Just when I move to a house with no toilet!! Typical- And no jokes about yellow snow- it was definitely cold outside though. By lunchtime most of it had melted and the sun was out- much better. I like sitting out in the courtyard in the sun, and though I think snow is pretty when it is falling, I don't really like tramping about in it.
I shared a room with the girl and her baby last night and this morning we got stuck into translating the story her mother told- I left her the choice to talk about basically whatever she wanted (Mosuo story or own experience) and was a little surprised that the story was about class struggle with the cruel landlords followed by liberation by the communist party when she was 12 years old. Though there is a lovely print of Chairman Mao on the wall.
Around mid morning I wandered up to my bedroom to get something and was most surprised to discover a chicken nesting on the end of my bed. oops, must have left the bedroom door a little open. I shooed it from the room only to discover it had left me a present, a freshly laid egg on my doona. I can only assume, as a peace offering. Now I am down in Lige for some internet time and I will go back in an hour or so.
This morning the courtyard was a winter wonderland, large snowflakes were falling when I got up and there was about an inch of snow everywhere. Just when I move to a house with no toilet!! Typical- And no jokes about yellow snow- it was definitely cold outside though. By lunchtime most of it had melted and the sun was out- much better. I like sitting out in the courtyard in the sun, and though I think snow is pretty when it is falling, I don't really like tramping about in it.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Moving house again
Sorry about my bad-tempered rant yesterday. I feel better today.
For a start I went out drinking with a French tourist called Stephanie last night, who was down to earth and fun and full of good advice and encouragement. She suggested going to a village she passed through a day or two ago, in walking distance of Lige, but without the tourists. I had been complaining that I couldn't get anyone to speak Mosuo to me, or spend time teaching me. She said they were super friendly down there and quite traditional.
I took her advice this morning, packed a bag with my recording equipment, a flask of tea and a dictionary and went out for a walk to the village. It was very fine lovely weather which improved my mood no end, and I even had to take off my jacket. I wandered out of Lige and down into this valley, right next to Gemu mountain but on the other side from Lige. I walked through one village which was not really a village but a large tourist complex with no tourists. On a bit further and I came across an Yi nationality village, I could tell because the woman working in the field wore a large flat head garment, covered in black cloth. She was excited to see me and led me into the village and brought a seat out into her yard for me to sit and gave me a pear to eat. Unlike Mosuo courtyards, which are usually neatly paved, this yard was full of mud, manure, chickens, pigs and little children. On one end was a straw mat where her husband lay inert, resting in the sun. He did not move or look up the whole time I was there, but occasionally mumbled a comment to his family. Their 18 year old daughter spoke some Chinese and we chatted a bit. She confirmed that the village was exclusively Yi people.
I moved on and walked through the paddocks to another village I had spotted from the road. After jumping over a few semi frozen streams I arrived in a very pretty Mosuo village. In Mosuo villages the architecture and women's dress are both distinctly different. Yet these villages were only a few hundred metres apart. Lots of women waved to me from the fields as I walked through the only street. I think it's all residential, I didn't spot any shops. Just as I was going past the last house a woman happened to step out through the gate. I said hi and she smiled and invited me in. It is a large family house. She and the other senior woman there didn't speak much Chinese- just a couple of words, their adult children were quite fluent in Chinese, as were the grandkids. A little girl was having a bath in the courtyard as I came in. We all sat down in the sun and I was fed sunflower seeds and apples.
Through the adult children I explained that I was interested in studying mosuo language. Then I pulled out a recording I got my Mosuo friend to make the other day, where he explained in Mosuo who I am and why I am here and how they can help me, etc. This went across well and they smiled and nodded and a few minutes later one of the women offered to let me record a story. This was initially a cause for great hilarity as she cracked up laughing as she held the little microphone. Then she told quite a long story- I have no idea what about. After that I explained to the daughter that I was looking for someone to help me translate the story and learn mosuo- I have a friend but that they don't have enough time. I asked if she knew someone appropriate. She said they could all help and after some consultation, offered that in the evenings she or someone else at the home would work with me, and that I could stay with them if I want. So it looks like I'm moving to Zhudi village tomorrow morning. They were very friendly and I stayed for lunch. More importantly, they speak lots of mosuo in the home probably partly due to the presence of monolingual mosuo speakers. The older women seemed to understand a fair bit of my Chinese (we discussed simple topics) though they spoke very little. Well, I don't know whether everyone is sick of hearing about the toilets here- I guess it's a topic I won't be covering for a few days, the house doesn't have any. The girl explained to me that you can pee in the backyard behind the house near the woodpile, any spot of your choosing really, but if you want to do anything more than that, you walk up the mountain behind the house and find a quiet spot to squat. Well, I guess it will be picturesque.
Also my friend from Lijiang phoned today- the one I met up with at Lige 10 days ago. We have agreed to meet up in Lijiang again at the end of this month. I will need to go back to do banking by then anyway. I am looking forward to ordering some pizza and cheap coffee- the coffee is expensive and generally very poor out here. I love the food out here, but I do miss eating dairy- cheese, creamy pasta, etc. I walked back to Lige mid- this afternoon feeling very pleased with myself at having accomplished so much.
For a start I went out drinking with a French tourist called Stephanie last night, who was down to earth and fun and full of good advice and encouragement. She suggested going to a village she passed through a day or two ago, in walking distance of Lige, but without the tourists. I had been complaining that I couldn't get anyone to speak Mosuo to me, or spend time teaching me. She said they were super friendly down there and quite traditional.
I took her advice this morning, packed a bag with my recording equipment, a flask of tea and a dictionary and went out for a walk to the village. It was very fine lovely weather which improved my mood no end, and I even had to take off my jacket. I wandered out of Lige and down into this valley, right next to Gemu mountain but on the other side from Lige. I walked through one village which was not really a village but a large tourist complex with no tourists. On a bit further and I came across an Yi nationality village, I could tell because the woman working in the field wore a large flat head garment, covered in black cloth. She was excited to see me and led me into the village and brought a seat out into her yard for me to sit and gave me a pear to eat. Unlike Mosuo courtyards, which are usually neatly paved, this yard was full of mud, manure, chickens, pigs and little children. On one end was a straw mat where her husband lay inert, resting in the sun. He did not move or look up the whole time I was there, but occasionally mumbled a comment to his family. Their 18 year old daughter spoke some Chinese and we chatted a bit. She confirmed that the village was exclusively Yi people.
I moved on and walked through the paddocks to another village I had spotted from the road. After jumping over a few semi frozen streams I arrived in a very pretty Mosuo village. In Mosuo villages the architecture and women's dress are both distinctly different. Yet these villages were only a few hundred metres apart. Lots of women waved to me from the fields as I walked through the only street. I think it's all residential, I didn't spot any shops. Just as I was going past the last house a woman happened to step out through the gate. I said hi and she smiled and invited me in. It is a large family house. She and the other senior woman there didn't speak much Chinese- just a couple of words, their adult children were quite fluent in Chinese, as were the grandkids. A little girl was having a bath in the courtyard as I came in. We all sat down in the sun and I was fed sunflower seeds and apples.
Through the adult children I explained that I was interested in studying mosuo language. Then I pulled out a recording I got my Mosuo friend to make the other day, where he explained in Mosuo who I am and why I am here and how they can help me, etc. This went across well and they smiled and nodded and a few minutes later one of the women offered to let me record a story. This was initially a cause for great hilarity as she cracked up laughing as she held the little microphone. Then she told quite a long story- I have no idea what about. After that I explained to the daughter that I was looking for someone to help me translate the story and learn mosuo- I have a friend but that they don't have enough time. I asked if she knew someone appropriate. She said they could all help and after some consultation, offered that in the evenings she or someone else at the home would work with me, and that I could stay with them if I want. So it looks like I'm moving to Zhudi village tomorrow morning. They were very friendly and I stayed for lunch. More importantly, they speak lots of mosuo in the home probably partly due to the presence of monolingual mosuo speakers. The older women seemed to understand a fair bit of my Chinese (we discussed simple topics) though they spoke very little. Well, I don't know whether everyone is sick of hearing about the toilets here- I guess it's a topic I won't be covering for a few days, the house doesn't have any. The girl explained to me that you can pee in the backyard behind the house near the woodpile, any spot of your choosing really, but if you want to do anything more than that, you walk up the mountain behind the house and find a quiet spot to squat. Well, I guess it will be picturesque.
Also my friend from Lijiang phoned today- the one I met up with at Lige 10 days ago. We have agreed to meet up in Lijiang again at the end of this month. I will need to go back to do banking by then anyway. I am looking forward to ordering some pizza and cheap coffee- the coffee is expensive and generally very poor out here. I love the food out here, but I do miss eating dairy- cheese, creamy pasta, etc. I walked back to Lige mid- this afternoon feeling very pleased with myself at having accomplished so much.
Life in Lige
I haven't posted in a while- we didn't have electricity in the village for two days this week, I guess a power line was down. I'm still living at the guesthouse. As I think I mentioned in the last blog (can't remember) I asked my friend here if they could suggest someone who could work with me regularly every day. They insisted they could help, but it hasn't been that successful. The person, though well-intentioned, does not find time every day and doesn't prioritise my work, so it is regularly interrupted or doesn't occur at all. Furthermore, he is quickly bored and don't have any interest himself, and there are clearly gaps in his knowledge of the language. He is often unclear and not very precise, which is not helpful when trying to learn a language. Now I just have to figure out how to seek someone else out or leave or whatever without offending him. The interpersonal aspect can be great but also very difficult. A girl I met in the last few days, suggested someone from a nearby village so I will be walking down there tomorrow.
I am currently feeling frustrated about the whole thing- hopefully I will be optimistic and motivated again by tomorrow. mmmm.
Not that much hilarious stuff happens down here. Life seems more orderly- or maybe I'm getting used to it. Oh! two days ago, my friends asked me to keep an eye on the guesthouse for a bit, they had to go out. I was working in the dining room of the restaurant anyway so I said "fine". Naturally, ten minutes later a buffalo wandered into the yard. I waited a minute, hoping it would go away, but instead it started munching on a tree in the courtyard and nearly kicking over the brick garden bed surrounding it. I had to act so I wandered over there and made a kind of "shoo" noise. To my great amazement, the buffalo mildly turned around and strolled obediently back out of the gate. Well, I guess if my fieldwork is a failure, I may have a future as a buffalo herder- can't say the same for my skill with chickens.
Yesterday I had organised to go into Yongning with my friend, ostensibly to pick up a few items at the shops. Then a whole heap of guests showed up and they wanted to go to Yongning too. We all ended up going straight through Yongning to the hot springs. This is not as attractive as it sounds- just a large, somewhat dirty indoor pool filled with warm water where locals go to bathe occasionally. I couldn't resist the thought of a bath though so in I went. There are separate sections for men and for women- the women wear underpants or nothing at all and sit there washing there hair and scrubbing each other's backs. Being the only foreigner though, meant that fifteen pairs of eyes were riveted on me as I undressed and got into the bath. I'm used to being stared at, just not when I'm undressed. It was a little unnerving realising I had the biggest bottom in the room. But the girl who was with me had strange cartoon characters on her underpants so that must have drawn some attention away from me! I'm certainly not losing any weight here though. The food is so fantastic! And they encourage me to eat so much of it! And it's cold so I'm hungry all the time. Well, I can't afford to go up a dress size- My legs are too long to find jeans here that fit anyway, so I have to stick with the things I brought with me.
Did more washing in the lake this morning. Apparently I'm Lugu Lake's newest tourist attraction. All the tourists stop to watch me washing my clothes. Actually, so do the locals. I'm going back to the guesthouse, now. I think I'll go straight to bed though. When I left, the lounge was full of buddhist monks watching tv.
I am currently feeling frustrated about the whole thing- hopefully I will be optimistic and motivated again by tomorrow. mmmm.
Not that much hilarious stuff happens down here. Life seems more orderly- or maybe I'm getting used to it. Oh! two days ago, my friends asked me to keep an eye on the guesthouse for a bit, they had to go out. I was working in the dining room of the restaurant anyway so I said "fine". Naturally, ten minutes later a buffalo wandered into the yard. I waited a minute, hoping it would go away, but instead it started munching on a tree in the courtyard and nearly kicking over the brick garden bed surrounding it. I had to act so I wandered over there and made a kind of "shoo" noise. To my great amazement, the buffalo mildly turned around and strolled obediently back out of the gate. Well, I guess if my fieldwork is a failure, I may have a future as a buffalo herder- can't say the same for my skill with chickens.
Yesterday I had organised to go into Yongning with my friend, ostensibly to pick up a few items at the shops. Then a whole heap of guests showed up and they wanted to go to Yongning too. We all ended up going straight through Yongning to the hot springs. This is not as attractive as it sounds- just a large, somewhat dirty indoor pool filled with warm water where locals go to bathe occasionally. I couldn't resist the thought of a bath though so in I went. There are separate sections for men and for women- the women wear underpants or nothing at all and sit there washing there hair and scrubbing each other's backs. Being the only foreigner though, meant that fifteen pairs of eyes were riveted on me as I undressed and got into the bath. I'm used to being stared at, just not when I'm undressed. It was a little unnerving realising I had the biggest bottom in the room. But the girl who was with me had strange cartoon characters on her underpants so that must have drawn some attention away from me! I'm certainly not losing any weight here though. The food is so fantastic! And they encourage me to eat so much of it! And it's cold so I'm hungry all the time. Well, I can't afford to go up a dress size- My legs are too long to find jeans here that fit anyway, so I have to stick with the things I brought with me.
Did more washing in the lake this morning. Apparently I'm Lugu Lake's newest tourist attraction. All the tourists stop to watch me washing my clothes. Actually, so do the locals. I'm going back to the guesthouse, now. I think I'll go straight to bed though. When I left, the lounge was full of buddhist monks watching tv.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Chilly Sunday
I was just about to post a funny blog about something or other and then I got an email saying an old workmate died on Wednesday. Don't really know what to write about now...
Ummm. Well I'm living at Lige Isle now for the time being and working with a Mosuo man learning Mosuo every afternoon for a couple of hours. So, some progress there. He is the father from the family where I lived first in Yongning and they have recently set up the motel and chat bar here. They got their first guests last night which was the cause for much excitement. The guests included a man from Norway, who spoke excellent English. At that point I reminded them that they didn't even have a menu yet, let alone one in English. He wrote out a list of items and then tried to explain to me what they had in them so that I could translate them into English. When we got to the Mosuo specials, four dishes in a row seemed to translate into English as "boiled pork". It turned out the pork came from different cuts from the pig's body, none of which appeared in my dictionary. So I had to write things like "boiled pork legs" "boiled pork- all different cuts" "boiled pork ribs" "boiled side of pork". I'm not really sure if these translations are accurate- they were conveyed by pointing at different parts of the body. Maybe "legs" should have been "trotters" and maybe "ribs" should have been "torso". Hmmm. Maybe they should all have said "stewed" instead of "boiled". Oh well, they should get the idea that there is pig meat and water involved.
I will help them put the menu on computer and print it out one of these days.
The day before yesterday I mostly did washing. With water from Lugu lake. I should just wash each set of clothes as soon as it's dirty, but that is hard when you're moving around as I was earlier this week. Then it suddenly builds up to four pairs of jeans plus heaps of thermals and skivvies and I have no more socks to wear and it all goes to hell and the washing takes a couple of hours- that is of actual washing, not just waiting for a machine to finish. That's once I work up the courage to dip my hands in the cold water.
I also go for random climbs up the side of mountains to keep warm. I have moved bedrooms so I am in an upstairs room now, which I think is nicer. Also it has a wood floor rather than concrete, which is warmer. Yesterday evening was nice, we sat around the fire and ate sunflower seeds and chatted for a few hours.
Ummm. Well I'm living at Lige Isle now for the time being and working with a Mosuo man learning Mosuo every afternoon for a couple of hours. So, some progress there. He is the father from the family where I lived first in Yongning and they have recently set up the motel and chat bar here. They got their first guests last night which was the cause for much excitement. The guests included a man from Norway, who spoke excellent English. At that point I reminded them that they didn't even have a menu yet, let alone one in English. He wrote out a list of items and then tried to explain to me what they had in them so that I could translate them into English. When we got to the Mosuo specials, four dishes in a row seemed to translate into English as "boiled pork". It turned out the pork came from different cuts from the pig's body, none of which appeared in my dictionary. So I had to write things like "boiled pork legs" "boiled pork- all different cuts" "boiled pork ribs" "boiled side of pork". I'm not really sure if these translations are accurate- they were conveyed by pointing at different parts of the body. Maybe "legs" should have been "trotters" and maybe "ribs" should have been "torso". Hmmm. Maybe they should all have said "stewed" instead of "boiled". Oh well, they should get the idea that there is pig meat and water involved.
I will help them put the menu on computer and print it out one of these days.
The day before yesterday I mostly did washing. With water from Lugu lake. I should just wash each set of clothes as soon as it's dirty, but that is hard when you're moving around as I was earlier this week. Then it suddenly builds up to four pairs of jeans plus heaps of thermals and skivvies and I have no more socks to wear and it all goes to hell and the washing takes a couple of hours- that is of actual washing, not just waiting for a machine to finish. That's once I work up the courage to dip my hands in the cold water.
I also go for random climbs up the side of mountains to keep warm. I have moved bedrooms so I am in an upstairs room now, which I think is nicer. Also it has a wood floor rather than concrete, which is warmer. Yesterday evening was nice, we sat around the fire and ate sunflower seeds and chatted for a few hours.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Snow II
The computer stuffed up yesterday as I was posting so only half my blog got up. I will try to recap.
I arrived in Lige and caught up with my friends from Lijiang, Gemma and Hunter. Gemma is Chinese and speaks excellent English. Hunter was born in China but grew up and lives in Canada. They are real characters so it was a lot of fun. I checked in to their motel and immediately had a hot shower. Bliss.
Hunter took off on a hike around one side of the lake with another guy, where he had organised for a rowboat to come and meet us. Gemma and I followed after my shower and soon found ourselves climbing the snowy lower slopes of the mountain. I had washed my good hiking boots two days ago and they still weren't dry so I had on normal leather shoes. Not really ideal for mountain climbing in the snow but the first stretch wasn't too bad and we didn't think he had gone that far. Then followed the death defying climb as I clung to rocks and tree roots and branches to stop my feet (and the rest of me) slipping on the melting snow and plummeting down the sheer slope below into the lake. I am not a great mountain climber at the best of times, but in gripless shoes and in the melting snow I was terrified. We kept thinking- Hunter will just be around the next bend, but in fact it took us over an hour to get there. The only thing that stopped me turning back was that I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to get back the way I came either. The last stretch was pleasant enough, as we were able to walk along the shore on the rocks. An overhanging tree meant that we would once again have to scale the loose dirt and rocks on the cliff. I had had enough and walked around the tree through the shallows. And subsequently had wet shoes for the rest of the day.
We sat on the rocks and ate custard cakes (disgusting Chinese confectionary) and then got a boat back to the motel. Changed socks and went out for lunch. After lunch went back to the motel and spent the afternoon with the others drying socks and shoes over the coal fire and chatting. I ordered a coffee but they didn't know how to make it (even though it was on the menu). So Hunter ended up teaching the girl how to make coffee! Noodles for tea and then we went to see some Mosuo dancing. It was cold so we joined in (along with everyone else) and danced very poorly. Back to the motel for a beer and to hover over the fire and chat again.
They had to go back to Lijiang this morning. I am pondering whether to stay another night here or not.
And now: I have some exciting news. Scott got a phone call yesterday morning telling him that his request to transfer into the Bachelor of International Relations was successful. He will be a BIR student instead of a BA student this year. He was very excited, walking on air, etc when I spoke to him. Though apparently the cat could sense something was up and was getting annoyed with him. For those of you who don't know, Scott initially applied to do the BIR last year but didn't get in. They have a very low intake of students due to the specialised nature of the program and a high Enter score is necessary. As a mature age student, Scott didn't even have an Enter score. So all this year he has been doing all the BIR subjects, sucking up to the program coordinator, etc and hoping he would get high enough marks to be able to transfer. So if you see him, give him a hug for me.
I believe my blogspot setup has changed so that if you missed my earlier blogs, you can now read them in the archives. till next time...
I arrived in Lige and caught up with my friends from Lijiang, Gemma and Hunter. Gemma is Chinese and speaks excellent English. Hunter was born in China but grew up and lives in Canada. They are real characters so it was a lot of fun. I checked in to their motel and immediately had a hot shower. Bliss.
Hunter took off on a hike around one side of the lake with another guy, where he had organised for a rowboat to come and meet us. Gemma and I followed after my shower and soon found ourselves climbing the snowy lower slopes of the mountain. I had washed my good hiking boots two days ago and they still weren't dry so I had on normal leather shoes. Not really ideal for mountain climbing in the snow but the first stretch wasn't too bad and we didn't think he had gone that far. Then followed the death defying climb as I clung to rocks and tree roots and branches to stop my feet (and the rest of me) slipping on the melting snow and plummeting down the sheer slope below into the lake. I am not a great mountain climber at the best of times, but in gripless shoes and in the melting snow I was terrified. We kept thinking- Hunter will just be around the next bend, but in fact it took us over an hour to get there. The only thing that stopped me turning back was that I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to get back the way I came either. The last stretch was pleasant enough, as we were able to walk along the shore on the rocks. An overhanging tree meant that we would once again have to scale the loose dirt and rocks on the cliff. I had had enough and walked around the tree through the shallows. And subsequently had wet shoes for the rest of the day.
We sat on the rocks and ate custard cakes (disgusting Chinese confectionary) and then got a boat back to the motel. Changed socks and went out for lunch. After lunch went back to the motel and spent the afternoon with the others drying socks and shoes over the coal fire and chatting. I ordered a coffee but they didn't know how to make it (even though it was on the menu). So Hunter ended up teaching the girl how to make coffee! Noodles for tea and then we went to see some Mosuo dancing. It was cold so we joined in (along with everyone else) and danced very poorly. Back to the motel for a beer and to hover over the fire and chat again.
They had to go back to Lijiang this morning. I am pondering whether to stay another night here or not.
And now: I have some exciting news. Scott got a phone call yesterday morning telling him that his request to transfer into the Bachelor of International Relations was successful. He will be a BIR student instead of a BA student this year. He was very excited, walking on air, etc when I spoke to him. Though apparently the cat could sense something was up and was getting annoyed with him. For those of you who don't know, Scott initially applied to do the BIR last year but didn't get in. They have a very low intake of students due to the specialised nature of the program and a high Enter score is necessary. As a mature age student, Scott didn't even have an Enter score. So all this year he has been doing all the BIR subjects, sucking up to the program coordinator, etc and hoping he would get high enough marks to be able to transfer. So if you see him, give him a hug for me.
I believe my blogspot setup has changed so that if you missed my earlier blogs, you can now read them in the archives. till next time...
Monday, January 10, 2005
Sunday, January 09, 2005
"snot" confusion
It just occurred to me that the comment posted by "snot" was probably from Brooke, not Em. Would you guys let me know which "snot" it is when you post. If you are not Emma or Brooke, please ignore this blog completely.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Chicken Wars II
You wouldn't believe it. Yesterday, the bloody red chook got out again! Witness my stunning defeat and subsequent humiliation.
I was so over the whole thing. I followed it around half heartedly for 10 minutes, making the occasional lunge. I was out of bread, so I tried to set up a cardboard box trap with sunflower seeds, which didn't particularly work. So I gave up and went and washed my hair in a basin in the courtyard. Quite difficult actually. Host Mum came home and I pointed and said "chicken, too fast". She walked over to the gate and opened it wide and the other chickens and the rooster started to wander across the threshold. She walked up to red chicken and shooed it towards the gate, and it and all the other chooks scurried back into their yard. She banged the door. Less than ten seconds and it was all over.
Oh and the other point I was wondering about- chickens definitely do eat number twos. In fact, I can report that the rooster seemed to particularly enjoy mine. Uggh. This begs the question: Should I be eating the eggs? Is it unhiegenic or just another part of the great circle of life? I eat what they lay and they eat what I .... Enough said. I have probably lost half my readership with this last paragraph. My apologies.
My host mum finally had a little free time yesterday and she took me across the road to her Mosuo mother in law's place again. They are still matrilineal over there, apart from the son who moved across the road when he married the Tibetan English teacher. Gran lives there with several sons, a daughter and I think a grandchild. The kitchen has no windows and is pitch black except for a roaring fire at the hearth which is used for cooking, boiling water and warming toes. Yesterday after lunch, it was me, teacher, gran, her daughter and another woman who lives nearby all sitting around the fire. They gossiped while I sat quietly and smiled and then we all drank cups of green tea with salt and ate Zamba. Zamba is a light brown powder, you scoop a large teaspoonful up and toss it into the back of your throat (not touching the spoon which goes back in the pot) generally (if you're me or grandma) sprinkling it all over yourself in the process. You follow it with a sip of salty tea. It looks a little like their tossing back shots of tequila rather than teaspoons of a certain type of wheat flour. If you want to get yourself right into my experience make a little black tea and add a teasp0on of salt, toss a heaped teaspoon of wholemeal flour down your throat, sip some tea to make a gluggy paste and try not to choke. I found I can manage it as long as I just eat a little Zamba at a time. Bit disappointing that it's just wheat flour though. I was expecting to get high, given the relish with which they ate it.
We went back home and Host mum taught me some Mosuo words and sentences. They have been very curious about my obvious liking of the cat, so made sure she taught me how to say "I like cat" (nya huali fe) and "cat likes me" (huali nya fe). At dinner (rice, pig stomach, stir fried potatoes, cabbage, toufu) I was given the privilege of giving the cat an English name, after I enquired what it was called. I called it Twiggy, as it is very skinny and refuses to eat rice like any normal cat but will only eat expensive things like fish and meat. So it is slowly starving to death. I wonder if it has worms. Does anyone know any home remedies for worms? I haven't exactly noticed yongning being overwhelmed with Vets.
I drew a picture of a person and of a face and mum and I set off back to mother in law's house after tea, where she identified body parts for me in Mosuo. The words for "breast" and "bottom" were the cause of great hilarity so we could only do this kind of activity when there were no men in the room. After a little more Zamba and tea, Gran's four strapping sons showed up for dinner. Gran wears traditional garments, kind of a turban and a long navy blouse and skirt which is twisted and hooked up into her belt so that it doesn't hang too low. One of her sons had a big fur hat, interestingly decorated, but another looked the modern businessman in a navy suit and with manicured hands. They taught me a few more words and laughed at me saying that I liked the cat. They invited me to have spring festival with them. They are a noisy jovial lot and soon the loud animated discussions reverberated off the beams. Then we went back across the road to the cold living room to sit in front of the boring tv (I hate the damn things). By 10 I was ready for bed just so I could get warm and got my hot water bottle and went to bed.
I've been waking up every morning at 8 when the light comes through my window, and it is getting colder. The taps and puddles in the garden are completely frozen in the morning now, though the blue sky and sunshine tricks you into thinking it's really quite warm. There is warm water in the flasks to wash your face, feet etc, which is nice, but the air is really cold. By late morning it thaws and then the afternoon sun is really pleasant and I sit outside and get a tan on my face.
Lulu: In answer to your question, I do write this blog basically for family and friends, but you're very welcome to read it and I'm glad you enjoy it.
Snot (Emma): good to hear from you- send me an email about how you're going. What is happening with your job? take care
I was so over the whole thing. I followed it around half heartedly for 10 minutes, making the occasional lunge. I was out of bread, so I tried to set up a cardboard box trap with sunflower seeds, which didn't particularly work. So I gave up and went and washed my hair in a basin in the courtyard. Quite difficult actually. Host Mum came home and I pointed and said "chicken, too fast". She walked over to the gate and opened it wide and the other chickens and the rooster started to wander across the threshold. She walked up to red chicken and shooed it towards the gate, and it and all the other chooks scurried back into their yard. She banged the door. Less than ten seconds and it was all over.
Oh and the other point I was wondering about- chickens definitely do eat number twos. In fact, I can report that the rooster seemed to particularly enjoy mine. Uggh. This begs the question: Should I be eating the eggs? Is it unhiegenic or just another part of the great circle of life? I eat what they lay and they eat what I .... Enough said. I have probably lost half my readership with this last paragraph. My apologies.
My host mum finally had a little free time yesterday and she took me across the road to her Mosuo mother in law's place again. They are still matrilineal over there, apart from the son who moved across the road when he married the Tibetan English teacher. Gran lives there with several sons, a daughter and I think a grandchild. The kitchen has no windows and is pitch black except for a roaring fire at the hearth which is used for cooking, boiling water and warming toes. Yesterday after lunch, it was me, teacher, gran, her daughter and another woman who lives nearby all sitting around the fire. They gossiped while I sat quietly and smiled and then we all drank cups of green tea with salt and ate Zamba. Zamba is a light brown powder, you scoop a large teaspoonful up and toss it into the back of your throat (not touching the spoon which goes back in the pot) generally (if you're me or grandma) sprinkling it all over yourself in the process. You follow it with a sip of salty tea. It looks a little like their tossing back shots of tequila rather than teaspoons of a certain type of wheat flour. If you want to get yourself right into my experience make a little black tea and add a teasp0on of salt, toss a heaped teaspoon of wholemeal flour down your throat, sip some tea to make a gluggy paste and try not to choke. I found I can manage it as long as I just eat a little Zamba at a time. Bit disappointing that it's just wheat flour though. I was expecting to get high, given the relish with which they ate it.
We went back home and Host mum taught me some Mosuo words and sentences. They have been very curious about my obvious liking of the cat, so made sure she taught me how to say "I like cat" (nya huali fe) and "cat likes me" (huali nya fe). At dinner (rice, pig stomach, stir fried potatoes, cabbage, toufu) I was given the privilege of giving the cat an English name, after I enquired what it was called. I called it Twiggy, as it is very skinny and refuses to eat rice like any normal cat but will only eat expensive things like fish and meat. So it is slowly starving to death. I wonder if it has worms. Does anyone know any home remedies for worms? I haven't exactly noticed yongning being overwhelmed with Vets.
I drew a picture of a person and of a face and mum and I set off back to mother in law's house after tea, where she identified body parts for me in Mosuo. The words for "breast" and "bottom" were the cause of great hilarity so we could only do this kind of activity when there were no men in the room. After a little more Zamba and tea, Gran's four strapping sons showed up for dinner. Gran wears traditional garments, kind of a turban and a long navy blouse and skirt which is twisted and hooked up into her belt so that it doesn't hang too low. One of her sons had a big fur hat, interestingly decorated, but another looked the modern businessman in a navy suit and with manicured hands. They taught me a few more words and laughed at me saying that I liked the cat. They invited me to have spring festival with them. They are a noisy jovial lot and soon the loud animated discussions reverberated off the beams. Then we went back across the road to the cold living room to sit in front of the boring tv (I hate the damn things). By 10 I was ready for bed just so I could get warm and got my hot water bottle and went to bed.
I've been waking up every morning at 8 when the light comes through my window, and it is getting colder. The taps and puddles in the garden are completely frozen in the morning now, though the blue sky and sunshine tricks you into thinking it's really quite warm. There is warm water in the flasks to wash your face, feet etc, which is nice, but the air is really cold. By late morning it thaws and then the afternoon sun is really pleasant and I sit outside and get a tan on my face.
Lulu: In answer to your question, I do write this blog basically for family and friends, but you're very welcome to read it and I'm glad you enjoy it.
Snot (Emma): good to hear from you- send me an email about how you're going. What is happening with your job? take care
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Chicken Wars
Now I thought I always got on pretty well with chickens, always had some in the garden etc. In this house this has been taken to a whole new level. I'm not sure how well I've explained the setup here. There is a courtyard, two sides are buildings, two sides are fences, you go through a gate in one of these fences to another fenced in outdoor area which has a chicken coop and the dunny. The dunny is a hole in the ground with no door,but three walls, the chickens wander freely around and watch you curiously while you are having a squat (Do chickens eat people shit?) Anyway I was dealing with being perved on by the chickens quite okay and was getting good at going quickly through the gate to the courtyard because the chickens always try to make a break for it.
This morning it all went sadly awry because as I escaped back into the courtyard, one fat red hen ran through the gate before I could stop it. The normal thing to do would be to open the gate and shoo the chook back through, but in this case that would release the half a dozen other chooks and the rooster on the other side. Due to the layout of garden beds and hedges in the courtyard, the chook had a perfect figure 8 to run around in making her quite difficult to corner. I tried sneaking up, I tried the snatch and grab but every time she squawked and flapped or ran under the hedge. She was having a great time pecking at everything in the vegie patch and around the courtyard.
Realising I was not going to be able to defeat her with either my strength or agility (and I might add, there was no one else home to call for help) I decided to outwit her. A plan formed in my head and I found a big cardboard box near the wood pile which I stood on one side with just one flap open near the gate. Ran up to my room and grabbed the last of a breadroll I had put and laid a trail of bread crumbs leading into the box. I'm glad no one was home, they would have killed themselves laughing. The chook took the bait and started pecking up the crumbs. The first time she started to enter the box, I tried to close the box too quickly and she got away. I patiently laid more crumbs and after following her around the garden another 8 or 10 times to head her in the direction of the gate, she finally pecked her way into the box and wham, I slammed the box shut behind her, picked it up and triumphantly carried it into the chook yard. Red hen joined her mates and I wiped her droppings off the courtyard floor. The whole thing took over half an hour. But my host family will never know!!! Ha ha ha. evil laugh.
This afternoon I taught another conversation class. The kids were pretty good, laughed a lot, bit noisier this group. That was fine. Nothing else has happened so that will be all for now,
see yas
This morning it all went sadly awry because as I escaped back into the courtyard, one fat red hen ran through the gate before I could stop it. The normal thing to do would be to open the gate and shoo the chook back through, but in this case that would release the half a dozen other chooks and the rooster on the other side. Due to the layout of garden beds and hedges in the courtyard, the chook had a perfect figure 8 to run around in making her quite difficult to corner. I tried sneaking up, I tried the snatch and grab but every time she squawked and flapped or ran under the hedge. She was having a great time pecking at everything in the vegie patch and around the courtyard.
Realising I was not going to be able to defeat her with either my strength or agility (and I might add, there was no one else home to call for help) I decided to outwit her. A plan formed in my head and I found a big cardboard box near the wood pile which I stood on one side with just one flap open near the gate. Ran up to my room and grabbed the last of a breadroll I had put and laid a trail of bread crumbs leading into the box. I'm glad no one was home, they would have killed themselves laughing. The chook took the bait and started pecking up the crumbs. The first time she started to enter the box, I tried to close the box too quickly and she got away. I patiently laid more crumbs and after following her around the garden another 8 or 10 times to head her in the direction of the gate, she finally pecked her way into the box and wham, I slammed the box shut behind her, picked it up and triumphantly carried it into the chook yard. Red hen joined her mates and I wiped her droppings off the courtyard floor. The whole thing took over half an hour. But my host family will never know!!! Ha ha ha. evil laugh.
This afternoon I taught another conversation class. The kids were pretty good, laughed a lot, bit noisier this group. That was fine. Nothing else has happened so that will be all for now,
see yas
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
School days
Settled in now at the new house. It is a bit different. I have a first floor bedroom with a beautiful view of Goddess Gemu, but it doesn't have any glass in the windows so can be a little windy. They feed me heaps and heaps here and seem surprised when I say I'm full after two bowls of rice.
Getting on better with the English teacher. I know she knows a lot about English grammar and can write in English well, but apparently my spoken Chinese is better than her spoken
English (which is scary) as she seems very reluctant to speak to me in English other than to say single words. She speaks Mosuo, and interpreted an interview with an elderly Mosuo lady for me yesterday (her mother in law) but interpreted from Mosuo into Chinese, staying well away from English. I have taught her some new English words. They include torch, mandarine and State family planning commission. Everything that we eat she wants to know if we have it in Australia. She also gave me a draft of the English exam she had prepared to check. I made lots of corrections and she didn't say much. Not sure if I am helping or offending sometimes, she is a difficult person to read. She said I could come along to some of her classes yesterday morning, but then sat me up the back and didn't let me do a thing to help. I sat there and cringed while she added a vowel to the end of every English word that should end in a consonant "challeng-ah" and pronounced every "th" as "z". She only asks for my help in pronounciation when we are in the teachers office.
Well, it is a challeng-ah.
The kids do Mosuo circle dancing three mornings a week in the oval. I took some photos this morning. They are pretty good. The English teacher says she will teach me dancing for new year.
The house is nice and has a sunny courtyard and a little black cat that is always on my lap.
Oom Cees, leuk van je te horen- alsjeblieft email me, Mum kan je de adres geven.
liefs, Laura
Getting on better with the English teacher. I know she knows a lot about English grammar and can write in English well, but apparently my spoken Chinese is better than her spoken
English (which is scary) as she seems very reluctant to speak to me in English other than to say single words. She speaks Mosuo, and interpreted an interview with an elderly Mosuo lady for me yesterday (her mother in law) but interpreted from Mosuo into Chinese, staying well away from English. I have taught her some new English words. They include torch, mandarine and State family planning commission. Everything that we eat she wants to know if we have it in Australia. She also gave me a draft of the English exam she had prepared to check. I made lots of corrections and she didn't say much. Not sure if I am helping or offending sometimes, she is a difficult person to read. She said I could come along to some of her classes yesterday morning, but then sat me up the back and didn't let me do a thing to help. I sat there and cringed while she added a vowel to the end of every English word that should end in a consonant "challeng-ah" and pronounced every "th" as "z". She only asks for my help in pronounciation when we are in the teachers office.
Well, it is a challeng-ah.
The kids do Mosuo circle dancing three mornings a week in the oval. I took some photos this morning. They are pretty good. The English teacher says she will teach me dancing for new year.
The house is nice and has a sunny courtyard and a little black cat that is always on my lap.
Oom Cees, leuk van je te horen- alsjeblieft email me, Mum kan je de adres geven.
liefs, Laura
Monday, January 03, 2005
English teacher extaordinaire
This morning, after getting up at 7am (before dawn) to help make baozi for breakfast, I wandered down to the school. Assembly was on and all the kids tittered as I walked past. The English teacher showed me some of the work they've been doing and then invited me to her home for lunch. I will be staying at her home for the next week or so I think. We had decided that I would sit in at her classes this afternoon, but as we approached the classroom she told me I could take this class and run it as a conversation class if I liked, pointed me to the doorway and walked off. I was a little nervous as I hadn't even been introduced to the students.
Anyway, I walked into the room of about forty 16year olds and they all cracked up laughing and yelled "hello". She told me she teaches the classes in Chinese, so they were a little unnerved when I spoke almost exclusively English, only switching to Chinese for a quick explanation. Right at the start students yelled out to me "What is your name?" and "Where are you from?" so I made that the format for the next part of the class, I asked them questions and got them to ask me questions. We talked about the relative sizes and populations of China and Australia. Then one student asked me to tell them about Australia.
By some inspiration I had chucked a heap of Aussie postcards into my handbag this morning, knowing I would probably be seeing the kids so I grabbed them out, taught them the words kangaroo, emu, koala, etc told them about the animals and did a demonstration of a kookaburra's laugh which completely cracked up the whole class. I passed out some flower and landscape postcards. Then I found some postcards of Aboriginal dot paintings and embarked on an explanation of Australian history, settlement, immigration and Australian Aboriginal people and their art, also mentioning that they traditionally ate all the pretty animals we'd just been looking at pictures of. At the end of the class one of the students asked me to sing an English song, but I explained that I am a particularly bad singer, but I would instead bring in some English music next time I come. Mmm, I wonder what I have that would be appropriate.
In a week or so it will be exam time anyway and then holidays, so teaching won't be taking over my schedule. I think they really enjoyed the class, though they were very shy about speaking English aloud. I don't think that happens much. Even the teacher prefers to speak to me in Chinese.
I got phone calls from my mum and Scott last night, which was lovely and had a quick chat to Jon and Zosh. It is good to hear from people back home- so bloody well email me and tell me what is going on!!!
Anyway, I walked into the room of about forty 16year olds and they all cracked up laughing and yelled "hello". She told me she teaches the classes in Chinese, so they were a little unnerved when I spoke almost exclusively English, only switching to Chinese for a quick explanation. Right at the start students yelled out to me "What is your name?" and "Where are you from?" so I made that the format for the next part of the class, I asked them questions and got them to ask me questions. We talked about the relative sizes and populations of China and Australia. Then one student asked me to tell them about Australia.
By some inspiration I had chucked a heap of Aussie postcards into my handbag this morning, knowing I would probably be seeing the kids so I grabbed them out, taught them the words kangaroo, emu, koala, etc told them about the animals and did a demonstration of a kookaburra's laugh which completely cracked up the whole class. I passed out some flower and landscape postcards. Then I found some postcards of Aboriginal dot paintings and embarked on an explanation of Australian history, settlement, immigration and Australian Aboriginal people and their art, also mentioning that they traditionally ate all the pretty animals we'd just been looking at pictures of. At the end of the class one of the students asked me to sing an English song, but I explained that I am a particularly bad singer, but I would instead bring in some English music next time I come. Mmm, I wonder what I have that would be appropriate.
In a week or so it will be exam time anyway and then holidays, so teaching won't be taking over my schedule. I think they really enjoyed the class, though they were very shy about speaking English aloud. I don't think that happens much. Even the teacher prefers to speak to me in Chinese.
I got phone calls from my mum and Scott last night, which was lovely and had a quick chat to Jon and Zosh. It is good to hear from people back home- so bloody well email me and tell me what is going on!!!
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Lige Dao
Well, I'm back in Lige, about to try to figure out how to get to Yongning. May not be back online for a few days. Update on my mobile number, if calling from Australia you need to put the country code in first- making it 0086 1357 837 5714. There is an internet site on Lugu lake too, it is in Chinese but has a map, weather forecasts, photos, etc http://www.luguhu.cn/web/
I am doing okay, the bus was a bit frustrating today- bus driver stopped for every photo opportunity. I bought some nice postcards in Lijiang, if you would like one you will have to send me your postal address, as I forgot to bring any addresses with me.
bye for now,
I am doing okay, the bus was a bit frustrating today- bus driver stopped for every photo opportunity. I bought some nice postcards in Lijiang, if you would like one you will have to send me your postal address, as I forgot to bring any addresses with me.
bye for now,
Saturday, January 01, 2005
And then there was one
Yesterday afternoon we decided to climb a hill following some China syndrome. The syndrome of which I speaking is one that involves being misled and made to jump through hoops in order to satisfy local bureacratic urges. When I bought my phone on Thursday they told me I had to go to "China Mobile" and have it enabled in order to make international calls. I checked whether that would involve any hassle or require further payment of money and was assured that it would not. Upon arriving at China mobile Iwas told I had to pay a 3000 yuan security deposit for the privilege of calling outside of China. I have been unable to discover why it's actually necessary because the phone is prepaid so there is no risk of me exceeding my income on international calls. Furthermore, I haven't been able to discover what could occur that could cause them to refuse to refund the 3000 once I leave China. If the phone is lost or stolen I apparently just call up the number and they will freeze the phone, not affecting said security deposit in the slightest. As far as I can tell it is just there so that China mobile can collect interest on the amount while I am here. At first I flatly refused to pay- I would expect to be informed in advance if a $500. AU security deposit was required, and wasn't sure I had it to spare. The guy who sold me the mobile phone helpfully suggested that I make calls using a public phone and use the mobile to receive calls, whereupon I explained to him for the fifth time that it isn't possible to make international calls from Yongning from a public phone and that was why I had bought the damn thing in the first place.
Anyway I caved in today and came up with the cash (could not be paid by credit card). Hopefully it will come back (as promised) when I go home to Aus.
Not a promising start to our day, yesterday, so we went and climbed Lijiang Hill and sat up there eating mandarins and snickers bars and enjoying the view.
We had bought a massive 1.5l bottle of Champagne from the supermarket so we tried to kick off New Years celebrations with that in the courtyard, late yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately it was disgustingly sweet (Scott compared to fruit juice that had gone off) so it ended up down the toilet.
Got dressed up and went out with a friend called March. Ate tea, walked around the shops and ended up in the French quarter playing drinking games with some of his mates. As they weren't very sociable and the games weren't particularly fun we made our escape and went down to the peasant cafe so Scott could have a last feed of his favourite mushrooms. Approaching midnight we were eating Mexican pizza on a sweet pizza base, and at midnight we kissed in the square and said 'xin nian kuai le'. Drank some cocktails, played cards and chatted quietly in the Budweiser Bar until 2am before going back and banging on the outer door of our inn to be let in.
Made our way to the airport uneventfully this morning, and watched Scott's plane fly away. I waved but you will have to ask him whether he saw me. Grandma back in Yongning will miss him, she liked the way he sawed wood in the backyard for her. Considering that the two of us have been joined at the hip ever since he got back from Wodonga over two years ago, being back in a long distance relationship is not going to be easy. For a start I am going to have to navigate the rabbit warren of Lijiang old town by myself instead of gazing into the shops and wandering aimlessly while Scott says 'go left here' etc. Feels a little strange at the moment wandering around by myself. Well, I am off to Lugu lake again tomorrow morning. Next blog likely to be posted from the Husi teahouse with a hot Yunnan coffee in hand.
bye for now
Anyway I caved in today and came up with the cash (could not be paid by credit card). Hopefully it will come back (as promised) when I go home to Aus.
Not a promising start to our day, yesterday, so we went and climbed Lijiang Hill and sat up there eating mandarins and snickers bars and enjoying the view.
We had bought a massive 1.5l bottle of Champagne from the supermarket so we tried to kick off New Years celebrations with that in the courtyard, late yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately it was disgustingly sweet (Scott compared to fruit juice that had gone off) so it ended up down the toilet.
Got dressed up and went out with a friend called March. Ate tea, walked around the shops and ended up in the French quarter playing drinking games with some of his mates. As they weren't very sociable and the games weren't particularly fun we made our escape and went down to the peasant cafe so Scott could have a last feed of his favourite mushrooms. Approaching midnight we were eating Mexican pizza on a sweet pizza base, and at midnight we kissed in the square and said 'xin nian kuai le'. Drank some cocktails, played cards and chatted quietly in the Budweiser Bar until 2am before going back and banging on the outer door of our inn to be let in.
Made our way to the airport uneventfully this morning, and watched Scott's plane fly away. I waved but you will have to ask him whether he saw me. Grandma back in Yongning will miss him, she liked the way he sawed wood in the backyard for her. Considering that the two of us have been joined at the hip ever since he got back from Wodonga over two years ago, being back in a long distance relationship is not going to be easy. For a start I am going to have to navigate the rabbit warren of Lijiang old town by myself instead of gazing into the shops and wandering aimlessly while Scott says 'go left here' etc. Feels a little strange at the moment wandering around by myself. Well, I am off to Lugu lake again tomorrow morning. Next blog likely to be posted from the Husi teahouse with a hot Yunnan coffee in hand.
bye for now
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