It feels very weird. It felt very weird to be finally going to China, and now it feels strange to be leaving again. Last night I didn't do much, my stomach was a little funny but not too bad so I stayed in and read a book I had bought for the plane trip. As I finished it, had to go and buy another today. Today I've been running around very busy sorting out last minute stuff and trying to get hold of some things. Very warm again today too. Not looking forward to a third winter in a row! Have managed to get a nice tan in the last weeks, which is certainly preferable to the look I was sporting before that- white with very tanned face and hands. All the Chinese women try to be as white as possible and wield umbrellas dangerously through the crowds to protect their complexions while trying to take my eye out.
This evening was having tea and a couple of Chinese guys wanted to get their photo taken with me (I'm such a celebrity!). A young English couple were laughing at me as he said slowly "one, two, three" and took the photo. I complemented him on his English (but in Chinese) and he looked like he was about to fall over. He said "you speak really good Chinese, we are talking and I can understand you!" Not the best complement i've ever received. I said '0h good'. I got talking to the English couple after that, which was difficult because the table of Chinese tourists next to us were singing at the tops of their voices.
Just remembered something quite important that I think I had forgotten to write earlier. The village Lige, where I have lived a lot, is about to be pushed back 80 metres. Yes that's right folks. The government has decided it is too close to the waterfront so all the houses / guesthouses / bars on the waterfront are going to be pulled down and the owners compensated and then they can choose to rebuild 80 metres back if they want. Estimates are that it will start next week and finish in September. The traditional Mosuo homes should be alright, they are built like log cabins. You can just unstack all the logs and then put them back together the same way. With modern buildings it will be more difficult. The buildings on the island (isle) itself will be unaffected- if they had to move back 80 metres they would fall off the other side of the island back into the lake (very small island). However the village will be a building site and it seems that the government might be banning all tourism to the village and island while it's going on. Island people obviously not happy that they will not have an income for four months, so they had a meeting and were going to meet with a government official. Not sure if they want to be able to try to attract tourists or also want compensation. Well, I guess I'll find out soon.
On the plane tomorrow. Home Wednesday. Will be seeing some of you very soon. xxx
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Last days
I've been so busy this last week, I haven't thought much about posting blogs. Realise now I have a bit to catch up on!
Lets see... I stayed in Sichuan until Thursday morning, working hard every evening with my friend there. The Norwegian girl had to leave Wednesday as she'd forgotten to bring her contact lenses and after stumbling around all day Tuesday had had enough! Thursday was very hot again, and in the afternoon, N.G. (Norwegian Girl) and I walked over to Zhudi for a farewell party with my family there. After dinner, quite a number of family and friends from the village came around, Dali beer was passed around and everyone started taking it in turns to sing. There was a mixture of Mosuo songs, Chinese pop songs, Tibetan songs and a very fine rendition of "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" by N.G. and myself which got everyone clapping along.
Finally everyone left and then my brother (in this family) and a Chinese guy (who is staying with them at the moment) and I went to the Zhudi disco. This is a large ugly hotel that has been built on the opposite side of the little lake in Zhudi, which has a room with disco lights, sound system and karaoke. And we were the only people there. They obligingly put on the flashing lights and my brother Erche got them to play the Mosuo dance music. Then he, I and the Mosuo girl who works there began to do the circle dancing. Normally there is a huge circle of people dancing in formation, so it looked a little odd with three of us. Still, was fun. Then we switched to disco music and the four of us danced in this enormous room for another hour or so. Then I sat back with (another) beer while they took it in turns to sing karaoke. Stumbled home across the paddocks at 3am (ouch my ankle) back to the house.
Friday morning I helped N.G. interview Erche, my translating skills are improving but I still get stuck on unusual vocabulary a lot. Then N.G. and I walked back to Lige through the heat (30 degrees plus- don't know exactly). At the guest house I changed into a bikini and she found some black underpants and a singlet top, and we walked to the far side of the island (little chance of being photographed by tourists) and went for a swim! Typically, for the half hour we were in the lake, the sun went behind a cloud and we shivered as we crouched in the seaweed. Then something moved next to N.G.'s foot and she screamed and kind of lunged towards me and I slipped too and then swam out to fetch one of her thongs which had come off her foot in all the excitement. We'd had enough by them and got out just as the sun came out.
Went back to the guesthouse where I washed some clothes in the lake and packed up all my stuff. The girl who works there in the kitchen must have thought it was christmas as I doled out a heap of clothes, cups, hot water bottles and other miscellaneous goods that I didn't want anymore. Then N.G. found a packet of tampons and was trying to explain to kitchen girl what they were for. Kitchen girl thought initially that they might be candy. I don't think the diagrams clarified it and N.G.'s level of Chinese is so poor that I had to explain it to kitchen girl. The situations people put me in! Actually, the other day we were talking to my friend in Sichuan about the one child policy. He started laughing and told us that when contraception was first introduced in the area, doctors would demonstrate the method for putting on a condom using their thumb. Apparently more than one angry man went back to the doctor saying he'd worn it on his thumb during intercourse and she still got pregnant!
Friday night N.G. and I went down to Lige village and went along to the dancing. Went to Zhaxi's bar afterwards and sat there chatting with Zhaxi, a few other locals and a French tourist. The 26 year old French guy had been in the village for about 3 days and clearly had a thorough understanding of Mosuo culture. In the space of half an hour he managed to say that "Mosuo people are like children, they have no idea of responsibility" "The Mosuo dialect is probably very simple and unsophisticated" "English is a language without character" and "buying marijuana is very cheap in Dali, I smoke every day". By this point N.G. was so angry she was squeezing my hand under the table in frustration as he arrogantly tried to explain Mosuo culture to her.
We said goodbye to our friends there and went to another little cafe and joined some of the local boys for shaokao (mini barbecue with slices of potato, zucchini and chicken stomach). They made us drink shots of the local Guangdang alcohol (lethal stuff) and we chatted and joked for a while. On our way home to the guesthouse we squatted by the side of the dirt road for a pee under the stars. The lake looks beautiful by moonlight.
Saturday I jumped on a bus to Lijiang with my many bags. I am going to post a heap of stuff tomorrow. As soon as we got there I found a guy with a three wheel bicycle with a tray that I heaped my bags onto and trundled to my hotel. It was very hot again - already missing the lake, so I had a nice shower, got dressed up and went to 'Lamu's house of Tibet' for dinner, where I ordered a lasagne. Got talking to a group of Germans and a Malaysian woman there. All spoke English except for one German guy, all spoke German except for the Malaysian woman and myself, though I could understand a fair bit of the German conversation, and myself and the Malaysian woman could speak Chinese, and a couple of the Germans knew a bit, but not really well enough to converse. Quite a confusing conversation!!
Then I caught up with a few people who had been on the bus with me that day, and they were catching up with Zhaxi (from Zhaxi's bar in Lige) who had apparently come down here today as well. So we all went to a Mosuo cafe in the Little Paris area and drank shots of Dali beer and played dice and chatted. One of the guys was trying to teach the girls a game where everyone flaps their arms and says 'yiqi fei' or 'fly together', etc. The idea is that if you flap at the wrong time you have to drink a shot. I said I'd seen this game being played before in a pub and thought they were insane. (Imagine group of Chinese people chanting and flapping their arms in manner of chicken dance).
The girls asked me what games people from my culture play when they are drinking. I thought for a minute and tried to describe some board games and others like charades. Then I said we play cards and told them about strip poker- at which point they declared that we were the crazy ones!
This morning I slept late. Got some stuff to do today and tomorrow, then getting on a plane on Tuesday. I know I've whinged about this place at times, but there are places and people that I'm also really going to miss. I'm never good at goodbyes.
Lets see... I stayed in Sichuan until Thursday morning, working hard every evening with my friend there. The Norwegian girl had to leave Wednesday as she'd forgotten to bring her contact lenses and after stumbling around all day Tuesday had had enough! Thursday was very hot again, and in the afternoon, N.G. (Norwegian Girl) and I walked over to Zhudi for a farewell party with my family there. After dinner, quite a number of family and friends from the village came around, Dali beer was passed around and everyone started taking it in turns to sing. There was a mixture of Mosuo songs, Chinese pop songs, Tibetan songs and a very fine rendition of "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" by N.G. and myself which got everyone clapping along.
Finally everyone left and then my brother (in this family) and a Chinese guy (who is staying with them at the moment) and I went to the Zhudi disco. This is a large ugly hotel that has been built on the opposite side of the little lake in Zhudi, which has a room with disco lights, sound system and karaoke. And we were the only people there. They obligingly put on the flashing lights and my brother Erche got them to play the Mosuo dance music. Then he, I and the Mosuo girl who works there began to do the circle dancing. Normally there is a huge circle of people dancing in formation, so it looked a little odd with three of us. Still, was fun. Then we switched to disco music and the four of us danced in this enormous room for another hour or so. Then I sat back with (another) beer while they took it in turns to sing karaoke. Stumbled home across the paddocks at 3am (ouch my ankle) back to the house.
Friday morning I helped N.G. interview Erche, my translating skills are improving but I still get stuck on unusual vocabulary a lot. Then N.G. and I walked back to Lige through the heat (30 degrees plus- don't know exactly). At the guest house I changed into a bikini and she found some black underpants and a singlet top, and we walked to the far side of the island (little chance of being photographed by tourists) and went for a swim! Typically, for the half hour we were in the lake, the sun went behind a cloud and we shivered as we crouched in the seaweed. Then something moved next to N.G.'s foot and she screamed and kind of lunged towards me and I slipped too and then swam out to fetch one of her thongs which had come off her foot in all the excitement. We'd had enough by them and got out just as the sun came out.
Went back to the guesthouse where I washed some clothes in the lake and packed up all my stuff. The girl who works there in the kitchen must have thought it was christmas as I doled out a heap of clothes, cups, hot water bottles and other miscellaneous goods that I didn't want anymore. Then N.G. found a packet of tampons and was trying to explain to kitchen girl what they were for. Kitchen girl thought initially that they might be candy. I don't think the diagrams clarified it and N.G.'s level of Chinese is so poor that I had to explain it to kitchen girl. The situations people put me in! Actually, the other day we were talking to my friend in Sichuan about the one child policy. He started laughing and told us that when contraception was first introduced in the area, doctors would demonstrate the method for putting on a condom using their thumb. Apparently more than one angry man went back to the doctor saying he'd worn it on his thumb during intercourse and she still got pregnant!
Friday night N.G. and I went down to Lige village and went along to the dancing. Went to Zhaxi's bar afterwards and sat there chatting with Zhaxi, a few other locals and a French tourist. The 26 year old French guy had been in the village for about 3 days and clearly had a thorough understanding of Mosuo culture. In the space of half an hour he managed to say that "Mosuo people are like children, they have no idea of responsibility" "The Mosuo dialect is probably very simple and unsophisticated" "English is a language without character" and "buying marijuana is very cheap in Dali, I smoke every day". By this point N.G. was so angry she was squeezing my hand under the table in frustration as he arrogantly tried to explain Mosuo culture to her.
We said goodbye to our friends there and went to another little cafe and joined some of the local boys for shaokao (mini barbecue with slices of potato, zucchini and chicken stomach). They made us drink shots of the local Guangdang alcohol (lethal stuff) and we chatted and joked for a while. On our way home to the guesthouse we squatted by the side of the dirt road for a pee under the stars. The lake looks beautiful by moonlight.
Saturday I jumped on a bus to Lijiang with my many bags. I am going to post a heap of stuff tomorrow. As soon as we got there I found a guy with a three wheel bicycle with a tray that I heaped my bags onto and trundled to my hotel. It was very hot again - already missing the lake, so I had a nice shower, got dressed up and went to 'Lamu's house of Tibet' for dinner, where I ordered a lasagne. Got talking to a group of Germans and a Malaysian woman there. All spoke English except for one German guy, all spoke German except for the Malaysian woman and myself, though I could understand a fair bit of the German conversation, and myself and the Malaysian woman could speak Chinese, and a couple of the Germans knew a bit, but not really well enough to converse. Quite a confusing conversation!!
Then I caught up with a few people who had been on the bus with me that day, and they were catching up with Zhaxi (from Zhaxi's bar in Lige) who had apparently come down here today as well. So we all went to a Mosuo cafe in the Little Paris area and drank shots of Dali beer and played dice and chatted. One of the guys was trying to teach the girls a game where everyone flaps their arms and says 'yiqi fei' or 'fly together', etc. The idea is that if you flap at the wrong time you have to drink a shot. I said I'd seen this game being played before in a pub and thought they were insane. (Imagine group of Chinese people chanting and flapping their arms in manner of chicken dance).
The girls asked me what games people from my culture play when they are drinking. I thought for a minute and tried to describe some board games and others like charades. Then I said we play cards and told them about strip poker- at which point they declared that we were the crazy ones!
This morning I slept late. Got some stuff to do today and tomorrow, then getting on a plane on Tuesday. I know I've whinged about this place at times, but there are places and people that I'm also really going to miss. I'm never good at goodbyes.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
A week left
Just came back to the Sichuan side of the lake Monday morning. My Norwegian friend has come with me this time, which is quite fun. Meet up with my friend here in the evenings and interview him. Lovely warm sunny weather, getting quite a tan on my face and arms. Hoping to bring some of it back with me to Aus. A swim in the lake is starting to look very tempting... Things are going pretty smoothly, but it's keeping me busy. Not much to report right now.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Back to Zhudi
Going back to Zhudi today to finish the last bit of translating with my friend there. Less than two weeks now till I'm home. It's going fast.
During the day yesterday I went into Yongning to try to post some stuff back to Australia. The postoffice there wasn't able to send things overseas. I mean, is it a post office or isn't it?
Last night was playing Darts in the courtyard with a Mosuo bloke. There is a dartboard affixed to a tree there. After a few practices I was getting better, and we decided to have kind of a competition to see who could get all 9 darts to hit the board. We kept getting 6, 7 or 8, and sometimes 3. He wanted to put some kind of bet on who would do it first. First it was to shout a drink, which I was willing enough to agree to. Then he decided to up the stakes to 'whoever wins has to do whatever the other one says'. After thinking briefly of daring him to jump in the lake, I declined. He kept saying "If I win, you have to obey me" to which I responded "no, I'm not obedient". He thought this was hilarious. Then decided to up the stakes further and say "if I win, you have to have walking marriage with me", which I didn't agree to either, but we kept on playing, and just before it got really dark, he managed to get all 9 darts to hit the dartboard. For the next half hour he kept going on "you have to have walking marriage with me, ha ha ha, where is your room". That got kind of boring. My female friend there (wife of Lance) thought it was quite funny though and said "I will call Sakata. I will tell him you having walking marriage!" (Sakata is how every one here refers to Scott) She said "he will be on the next plane" I said "yep, he probably will".
Got talking to a Dutch tourist later on last night. While we were chatting, a Chinese policeman kept coming up and drinking Guangdang alcohol (locally made spirits) with him and offering us yak meat and walnuts to eat. Every time he came up he'd tell us how happy he was to meet foreign friends, etc. He even offered the Dutch guy his police shirt to try on, but my Dutch friend politely declined.
So those were my funny experiences for the day. Hope you enjoyed.
During the day yesterday I went into Yongning to try to post some stuff back to Australia. The postoffice there wasn't able to send things overseas. I mean, is it a post office or isn't it?
Last night was playing Darts in the courtyard with a Mosuo bloke. There is a dartboard affixed to a tree there. After a few practices I was getting better, and we decided to have kind of a competition to see who could get all 9 darts to hit the board. We kept getting 6, 7 or 8, and sometimes 3. He wanted to put some kind of bet on who would do it first. First it was to shout a drink, which I was willing enough to agree to. Then he decided to up the stakes to 'whoever wins has to do whatever the other one says'. After thinking briefly of daring him to jump in the lake, I declined. He kept saying "If I win, you have to obey me" to which I responded "no, I'm not obedient". He thought this was hilarious. Then decided to up the stakes further and say "if I win, you have to have walking marriage with me", which I didn't agree to either, but we kept on playing, and just before it got really dark, he managed to get all 9 darts to hit the dartboard. For the next half hour he kept going on "you have to have walking marriage with me, ha ha ha, where is your room". That got kind of boring. My female friend there (wife of Lance) thought it was quite funny though and said "I will call Sakata. I will tell him you having walking marriage!" (Sakata is how every one here refers to Scott) She said "he will be on the next plane" I said "yep, he probably will".
Got talking to a Dutch tourist later on last night. While we were chatting, a Chinese policeman kept coming up and drinking Guangdang alcohol (locally made spirits) with him and offering us yak meat and walnuts to eat. Every time he came up he'd tell us how happy he was to meet foreign friends, etc. He even offered the Dutch guy his police shirt to try on, but my Dutch friend politely declined.
So those were my funny experiences for the day. Hope you enjoyed.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Stuff
Last night we worked for several more hours doing translating. Didn't actually get that much done, because we kept getting caught up in conversation. That was really interesting too, though, because he enjoys telling me all about Mosuo culture, as well as other things that are going on in the community and his ideas about things. I also record some of the stuff he says. Last night we covered everything from courtship to birth and funeral rituals, discussed language use by older vs younger generations, and upcoming changes in the education system. He teaches grade 2 so he knows all about this, whereas most people don't realise it is about to become compulsory to send children to middle school, and that people under 25 will soon be sent to evening classes if they've never been to school. The teachers will soon have to go out into the villages and survey each household to find out how many children are there, whether they are at school, etc.
During weekdays, I'm fairly free, as he doesn't come around till about 3.30pm- after school finishes. This morning I went around to the home of some people I had interviewed last time I was in town. They had asked for copies of some of the photos I took of the family. Brought them around. Only one woman was there. She looked at the photos, then sat me down in front of the tv while she brought out freshly toasted pumpkin seeds and tea. Haven't actually eaten pumpkin seeds before and find them a bit perplexing. They have little shells that are quite soft, so am not sure whether to shell them before eating in the manner of a sunflower seed or peanut, or whether shelling them is equivalent to peeling grapes- unnecessary, weird, time-consuming behaviour. I'll offer some to my friend this afternoon and watch how he eats them... I plan to offer him some anyway, because as I left she gave me a huge bag of them. I tried to refuse but was unsuccessful. Maybe I'll give them to him for his family. They're actually a bit boring to eat and I don't think I want to carry them back to the other side of the lake tomorrow.
Yes, my time in Sichuan is coming to a close. Though, had I realised this guy would be so good to work with, I might have come back here earlier. He is very patient and good at explaining things so I can understand. The only thing I hate is that he smokes a lot while we're working- in my motel room, so I leave the windows and doors open. Last night I told him that in Australia it is banned to smoke inside public places, because smoking is very bad for your health. He seemed quite surprised and said it was okay, he was used to it. So then I had to explain how he would feel fine now but that it would affect him when he was older. Looked up cancer in the dictionary, and remembered how to say heart disease. The anti-smoking message clearly hasn't even begun to penetrate here. I guess it's a revenue earner for the government.
As I was walking back from the lady's house this morning, I saw that a fire hydrant, which was set in a field, had been switched on and was pumping out water to irrigate the field. Just a little way in front of it, about four ducks were going completely nuts. Squawking and splashing in the water, like someone had created an amusement especially for them. It was sooo funny.
Two weeks to go now until I leave China. Can't believe six months is nearly up. It has gone pretty fast. Though slow at certain times- particularly when I was sick and weather was cold. At the moment the weather's gorgeous, sunny and mild. Mmm. Wonder if I will manage a swim in Lugu lake before I go. Then everyone can stare and point at the 'laowai' (foreigner) who is swimming in the lake. That will be fun for them.
During weekdays, I'm fairly free, as he doesn't come around till about 3.30pm- after school finishes. This morning I went around to the home of some people I had interviewed last time I was in town. They had asked for copies of some of the photos I took of the family. Brought them around. Only one woman was there. She looked at the photos, then sat me down in front of the tv while she brought out freshly toasted pumpkin seeds and tea. Haven't actually eaten pumpkin seeds before and find them a bit perplexing. They have little shells that are quite soft, so am not sure whether to shell them before eating in the manner of a sunflower seed or peanut, or whether shelling them is equivalent to peeling grapes- unnecessary, weird, time-consuming behaviour. I'll offer some to my friend this afternoon and watch how he eats them... I plan to offer him some anyway, because as I left she gave me a huge bag of them. I tried to refuse but was unsuccessful. Maybe I'll give them to him for his family. They're actually a bit boring to eat and I don't think I want to carry them back to the other side of the lake tomorrow.
Yes, my time in Sichuan is coming to a close. Though, had I realised this guy would be so good to work with, I might have come back here earlier. He is very patient and good at explaining things so I can understand. The only thing I hate is that he smokes a lot while we're working- in my motel room, so I leave the windows and doors open. Last night I told him that in Australia it is banned to smoke inside public places, because smoking is very bad for your health. He seemed quite surprised and said it was okay, he was used to it. So then I had to explain how he would feel fine now but that it would affect him when he was older. Looked up cancer in the dictionary, and remembered how to say heart disease. The anti-smoking message clearly hasn't even begun to penetrate here. I guess it's a revenue earner for the government.
As I was walking back from the lady's house this morning, I saw that a fire hydrant, which was set in a field, had been switched on and was pumping out water to irrigate the field. Just a little way in front of it, about four ducks were going completely nuts. Squawking and splashing in the water, like someone had created an amusement especially for them. It was sooo funny.
Two weeks to go now until I leave China. Can't believe six months is nearly up. It has gone pretty fast. Though slow at certain times- particularly when I was sick and weather was cold. At the moment the weather's gorgeous, sunny and mild. Mmm. Wonder if I will manage a swim in Lugu lake before I go. Then everyone can stare and point at the 'laowai' (foreigner) who is swimming in the lake. That will be fun for them.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Head spinning
We spent all weekend listening to recorded interviews and translating. Tiring.
Yesterday afternoon we went out and did the last few interviews that I'd missed the last time I was in Sichuan. I had to interview some kids so I left that to Sunday, when I could hopefully catch them out of school! Got all that done. Also interviewed an elderly lama. The lamas in Sichuan are different to the ones in Yunnan, I think they're red instead of yellow sect or something like that. The lamas here are allowed to have walking marriage and this one was telling me about his kids. I guess that explains why I received such vastly different answers to my curious questions about the role of the lamas in the community. The Yunnan lamas are supposed to be celibate and not drink or smoke I think, and the Sichuan ones don't have such strict rules. They still wear a pretty cool outfit though and do all the chanting, etc.
Still, am getting the work done! yay. Hope to be back in Yunnan tomorrow or day after, depending how tonight goes.
Slept in a bit, but still feel tired. Had all these vivid dreams about my Mum and Dad being in China and us all dying in a car crash, then another one with Mum and Dad coming here to visit, this time we were walking between different rural villages. Dad really liked it here because it reminded him of his childhood in Cornwall, eg. life was pretty simple, not many facilities, living in villages and farming little squares of land. It was weird cos I'd never pictured Dad being here. Not sure how he'd cope with chopsticks. Don't think he would have liked the Chinese cities either. Haven't dreamt about him in ages...
Yesterday afternoon we went out and did the last few interviews that I'd missed the last time I was in Sichuan. I had to interview some kids so I left that to Sunday, when I could hopefully catch them out of school! Got all that done. Also interviewed an elderly lama. The lamas in Sichuan are different to the ones in Yunnan, I think they're red instead of yellow sect or something like that. The lamas here are allowed to have walking marriage and this one was telling me about his kids. I guess that explains why I received such vastly different answers to my curious questions about the role of the lamas in the community. The Yunnan lamas are supposed to be celibate and not drink or smoke I think, and the Sichuan ones don't have such strict rules. They still wear a pretty cool outfit though and do all the chanting, etc.
Still, am getting the work done! yay. Hope to be back in Yunnan tomorrow or day after, depending how tonight goes.
Slept in a bit, but still feel tired. Had all these vivid dreams about my Mum and Dad being in China and us all dying in a car crash, then another one with Mum and Dad coming here to visit, this time we were walking between different rural villages. Dad really liked it here because it reminded him of his childhood in Cornwall, eg. life was pretty simple, not many facilities, living in villages and farming little squares of land. It was weird cos I'd never pictured Dad being here. Not sure how he'd cope with chopsticks. Don't think he would have liked the Chinese cities either. Haven't dreamt about him in ages...
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Sichuan feast
Last night, at 8pm I was pretty tired after 4 hours of translating and didn't really have any appetite, so just ran across the road to the cafe to pick up a light tea. Asked for three boiled eggs, with plans of peeling and eating them in front of the tv. So I said "Three boiled eggs please" A very easy phrase, which she didn't understand. Repeated several times. She showed me the meat in the fridge. Said "No, eggs" She understood eggs. Said boiled eggs. She looked confused. Said "cook in water, not soup" mimed peeling eggs. She nodded. I said "you understand" she said "yes." Waited for five minutes.
She came up with a large bowl. It had three eggs in it.. They had been fried, then boiled in water. Now they were floating in watery soup. Not really soup, just hot water. She offered me some sugar to sprinkle on them. Defeated, I sprinkled them with sugar and carried them back to my room. Picked them out of water with chopsticks, drip dried and ate. Then felt nauseous. Poured water / soup down sink. I have ordered and eaten boiled eggs heaps of times. What went wrong?????
She came up with a large bowl. It had three eggs in it.. They had been fried, then boiled in water. Now they were floating in watery soup. Not really soup, just hot water. She offered me some sugar to sprinkle on them. Defeated, I sprinkled them with sugar and carried them back to my room. Picked them out of water with chopsticks, drip dried and ate. Then felt nauseous. Poured water / soup down sink. I have ordered and eaten boiled eggs heaps of times. What went wrong?????
Friday, May 13, 2005
Translating and TV
Well, just staying in my motel in Zuosuo, and my friend comes over every afternoon and helps me translate interviews. It's an exciting existence!
I have got very into a tv series that comes on later in the evening though. It is Russian, about these army women in the second world war. Kind of a female band of brothers. The whole thing is dubbed in Chinese, so I understand most of whats going on, especially as the acting is good and there's lots going on. The women tease the male commander of their troop, go swimming in their underwear in ponds after marching through the swamp. And there's this whole sub story where the commander was falling in love with a local woman from the town when her husband who was supposed to have already died in the war, came home with one leg and found them together, (not doing anything, but talking, wearing their sleepwear). So he's obviously pretty pissed off with his wife. But now a couple of Germans (also speaking Chinese) have just been spotted in the area, so a group of five army women and their commander have gone to catch them. Unfortunately, I already know what is going to happen, because in the opening credits, you see all of these women being killed in various violent ways (some are shot, one blown up and another drowns when she is sucked into the swamp, while the commander looks horrified, desperate, miserable, etc.)
Hey, it's better than watching the Chinese karaoke performance programs.
I have got very into a tv series that comes on later in the evening though. It is Russian, about these army women in the second world war. Kind of a female band of brothers. The whole thing is dubbed in Chinese, so I understand most of whats going on, especially as the acting is good and there's lots going on. The women tease the male commander of their troop, go swimming in their underwear in ponds after marching through the swamp. And there's this whole sub story where the commander was falling in love with a local woman from the town when her husband who was supposed to have already died in the war, came home with one leg and found them together, (not doing anything, but talking, wearing their sleepwear). So he's obviously pretty pissed off with his wife. But now a couple of Germans (also speaking Chinese) have just been spotted in the area, so a group of five army women and their commander have gone to catch them. Unfortunately, I already know what is going to happen, because in the opening credits, you see all of these women being killed in various violent ways (some are shot, one blown up and another drowns when she is sucked into the swamp, while the commander looks horrified, desperate, miserable, etc.)
Hey, it's better than watching the Chinese karaoke performance programs.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Sichuan
Well have managed to borrow (or rather hire!) a phone for the next three weeks until I am home. Yay- home in three weeks from today.
Yesterday morning hitch hiked across to Sichuan and yesterday afternoon met up with my friend who is (fortunately) happy to help me with my translations for three hours a day.
Nothing much interesting has been happening the last few days. Boring for blogging. Just trying to get my research finished before I go home. Staying in a motel here in Zuosuo where I stayed last time. Though fortunately am not sick as I was last time! But am certainly feeling that I'm ready to go home.
Yesterday morning hitch hiked across to Sichuan and yesterday afternoon met up with my friend who is (fortunately) happy to help me with my translations for three hours a day.
Nothing much interesting has been happening the last few days. Boring for blogging. Just trying to get my research finished before I go home. Staying in a motel here in Zuosuo where I stayed last time. Though fortunately am not sick as I was last time! But am certainly feeling that I'm ready to go home.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
quick note
Having dropped my phone in a bucket of water yesterday, I am currently not contactable. Hoping to have loan of a phone tonight- at which point I can continue on my journey. Sim card still works at least so my number will be the same!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Catch up
Oops, it's been a while.
Well, we did get to Kunming. Spent the afternoon checking out Green Lake park, saw lots of people singing, doing tai chi and performing plays.
On Friday we went to the stone forest, just outside Kunming, which was really beautiful. Escaped from the scary tour groups (It was sunny so all the women were carrying umbrellas to protect their pale complexions and nearly taking out our eyes in the process). We sat in a glade and read our books for an hour.
On Saturday they went back to Australia and I went back to Lijiang, then on to Lugu Lake on Sunday. This week I've been staying in Zhudi and working my butt off with my translator there to get my interviews translated.
Mum seems to have adjusted well to the news of my impending nuptuals, and has taken to calling my fiance to talk about flowers and gift registries. So nice, having it all done for me! Commented on the phone to Scott tonight, that when he finishes this semester he will be a 29 year old singleton, by the time he starts next semester he will be 30 and married. He didn't sound too enthused... Told me to stop rubbing it in. But he must be excited cos he keeps calling me up to talk about guest lists and venues.
signing off. Laura
Well, we did get to Kunming. Spent the afternoon checking out Green Lake park, saw lots of people singing, doing tai chi and performing plays.
On Friday we went to the stone forest, just outside Kunming, which was really beautiful. Escaped from the scary tour groups (It was sunny so all the women were carrying umbrellas to protect their pale complexions and nearly taking out our eyes in the process). We sat in a glade and read our books for an hour.
On Saturday they went back to Australia and I went back to Lijiang, then on to Lugu Lake on Sunday. This week I've been staying in Zhudi and working my butt off with my translator there to get my interviews translated.
Mum seems to have adjusted well to the news of my impending nuptuals, and has taken to calling my fiance to talk about flowers and gift registries. So nice, having it all done for me! Commented on the phone to Scott tonight, that when he finishes this semester he will be a 29 year old singleton, by the time he starts next semester he will be 30 and married. He didn't sound too enthused... Told me to stop rubbing it in. But he must be excited cos he keeps calling me up to talk about guest lists and venues.
signing off. Laura
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