Joseph Rock

Yesterday afternoon I caught up with the other linguist here who is working on a grammar of Mosuo. It was really good to chat and we are going to meet up again to compare notes on Mosuo.

This morning I did a bit of washing and was just heading out of the motel to get breakfast when an elderly man called me over and wanted to chat. It turns out he is Mosuo, grew up in this house in Luoshui (which is now also the hotel I am staying in, but escaped to Lhasa and then to India, lived in the Netherlands for a year and finally to England before the cultural revolution. He lived in England for 25 years, primarily working helping new refugees who had just entered the country. He came back here in the 80's and has been living here since. He told me he hadn't spoken English in about 5 years, but he chatted to me fluently in English for an hour or so. He said he doesn't speak very much Chinese though he has studied Hindi. Now he has fairly severe diabetes and lives in Luoshui.

You may have heard me speak of Joseph Rock before. A botanist who traveled and lived around this area and Lijiang in the 1930's and 40's. There have always been rumours that he fathered several children in the area too. The gentleman I met this morning remembers him well, his father worked for him a bit. He remembers that food would be parachuted in for him and he always ate from cans, never eating local food or water. From what I could gather, this man's father had died when he was quite young and Joseph Rock became a close friend of his mother. He was only six when this was going on, and he will never be sure what went on, but his mother gave birth to his brother, whom many people believed was the son of Rock. Apparently some of his features were a little unusual and some people called him "meiguo" or "America". His brother has since died but he says his mother was very beautiful so it is quite possible. But at the time he was too young to be really aware and he never asked.

He was a bit tired after telling me that, sitting on an armchair with a drip in his arm, and said he wasn't feeling that well today, but that he'd love to talk again. I think I might come back to Luoshui and speak to him and some of his family again before I go back to Lijiang for a few days.

I must admit, I was quite blown away though. I have met very few Mosuo people who speak any English at all, let alone fluently. And he has such an amazing story.

Reply to comment from Alex: From what Scott has been telling me, you either bring him into work when there is nothing to be done or make him work double shifts when there are several functions on, with an early start the next morning. I can't be distracting him that much, he didn't call me the other morning because he'd been kept back at work till after midday. I think you are distracting him from me!

Fame

This morning I was a little slow getting going (Thanks for the phone call mum). I had also promised some people in Zhawuluo that I would drop in on my way to Shakua, even though it was a little out of the way. When I got there they had some other friends over, a tv crew from a Lijiang tv station doing a travel doco on Lugu Lake and Mosuo people. I sat down at the hearth and found myself being interviewed with lights and camera on me about my experiences studying the Mosuo language. I felt a bit embarrassed at my poor Chinese, but didn't really get the option of declining the interview. Apparently it will be on telly in Lijiang in late March.

Ended up having lunch with them, they were taking a boat across to Langfang, near Shakua, and invited me to join them. I did, but by the time we got to Langfang it was already 3.30 so I decided to go on with them to Luoshui, and leave Shakua until I go back to Sichuan in a month or so. I can do the last few interviews then.

From Langfang to Luoshui was quite a long walk. About two hours and I was carrying my backpack. ow. Dumped myself in the motel room, and went straight to my old hangout, the Husi Teahouse. And our friend there had gone back to Chongqing for Chinese new year!! Disappointing. But they had my care package which Scott had sent to that address. I sat in the Tea House with a fantastic cup of their Yunnan coffee, grinning my head off as I unpacked my chocolates, novels and letters from Scott, Jon and Zosia and looked at photos. Thank you so much honey, you made my day- and thanks for the CD, that was a big surprise.

Then I had a bowl of spaghetti (unusual but nice tasting sauce) and some yoghurt with banana in it that they make here- it's really nice. Feeling a little sore in the shoulders but very content. Will have to come back for eggs in the morning- with coffee of course. Mmm think it's time to test out one of the bounty bars from my package- or should I go with a cherry ripe??? Decisions, Decisions.... Bounty bar- Oh heaven. I must admit, when I asked for lip gloss, I didn't expect three tubs! Are you suggesting that I should prepare for a lot of kissing when I get home Scott? By the way, Scott, I love the photos, I left the one of you at Husi Tea House here for our friend when he gets back.

I think I might go back to my room and curl up with a novel. Get back to the research tomorrow. I spend too much money on coffee sitting in here. bye for now.

Last day in Zuosuo

Hi guys,

I'm going out to some villages next to the swampy bit of the lake today (the long pointy bit if you've looked at the map on the website I suggested earlier. Tomorrow I'm planning to move to the Eastern side of the lake for a day and doing the last few Sichuan interviews, after which I will continue around back to the Southern side to Luoshui to begin the Yunnan interviews. I'm expecting that it will be quicker to do the Yunnan ones because I already have so many contacts there. I can walk into a village and walk straight up to a friend's front door. A guy over here near Zuosuo who has helped me quite a bit and seems really interested has agreed to help me with translations. So I will probably come back to Sichuan in early April. There a some dialect differences between the two provinces so I would prefer that a local person helps me translate these interviews.

I also went to see his father, the daba, yesterday, who had agreed to tell me a story. He talked into the microphone for 20 minutes plus. Not sure about what. Something about being a daba I suppose. Did four interviews after that. It is a little harder to do them now as I have done the bulk of the Sichuan interviews and I am trying to fill in categories ie. looking for three more men over 40, etc.

Dan: Yes, me coming home early is what Scott's hoping for. It just depends how long it takes to translate all the interviews- most are in the Mosuo language so I'm not sure what's being said a lot of the time. Except for the yes's and no's, of course!

Interview mayhem

Yesterday, after posting my blog I walked down to Aliu to see a friend and to interview his family. There were only two people at home though and after I had interviewed them he asked how many more people I needed to interview. I told him I was aiming for another 30 or so in Sichuan. So he took it upon himself to find them for me. He led me out into a field where some of his Aunties and others were hoeing (or having a break from hoeing) and we sat down in the rows of dirt and did about 6 or 7 interviews. Then he dragged me off to lunch with another extended relative in Zhawoluo and after lunch I did a couple more interviews with the family. Then some visitors showed up from Gesa, and they wanted to be interviewed too. I did 15 interviews in total, had dinner with them at 5.30 and walked home exhausted. But very content. The dinner was very nice. There was stewed lamb and spicy chicken and bean sprouts, stirfried potato and mushroom and greens soup. I had a few beers and left them red-faced, happily consuming copious amounts of Guangdang spirits and Sulima alcohol (Don't like the taste personally).

One thing I've noticed about the Mosuo people in Yunnan and Sichuan. The ones in Yunnan like to eat a lot, but the ones in Sichuan like to drink a lot. Starting before lunch.

I am going to see a Daba today (a practitioner of the indigenous religion which is practiced alongside Tibetan Buddhism). I interviewed him the other day but he told me to come back and he would let me record some stories. Hope he's home. Most homes here don't have a phone. But they all have a tv.

Stayed up last night doing my paperwork and watching an American reality tv show that they can't be bothered to dub. It is all about cop chases and tv cameras at riots and kidnappings. Then curled up in bed and slept like a baby.

one more thing...

ps. Gone with the Wind was dubbed in Chinese. I must say, nothing compares to the sight of Mammy shaking her head and saying "Bu heshi" (It just aint fitting) or Scarlett saying "Wo ai ni Lett" (I love you Rhett). It had me in stitches.

A new person

Well, I guess I've gone native. Yesterday I was at a family home and we went to sit outside in the sun and have some lunch. They had some lamas visiting (the buddhist kind) as most homes do each year so I sat around with the lamas, who were dressed pretty spunkily in their fancy hats and long maroon robes. Someone mentioned to me that most people don't name their own children, they ask a lama to select an auspicious name. I said I didn't have a Mosuo name yet and could the lamas select one for me. They wanted to know my year and month of birth (Sep '79) and my Chinese star sign (goat) and also the direction the wind was blowing when I was born in the place where I was born. I must admit, I couldn't quite remember, but seeing as I was born in North East Queensland, I thought maybe there was a wind coming in off the sea so I told them it was a south westerly. They put there heads together and named me Zhaxi Zhouma, which they wrote out for me in Tibetan script. Zhaxi is my family name pronounced Jar-see, and Zhouma is my personal name pronounced Joe-ma.

I also did quite a lot of interviews yesterday. I have finished the antibiotics course and my cold is petering out. All of which makes me feel a lot bettter. Thanks to Susan from uni who sent me the ice-skating results! It's a nice touch.

I would also like to wish my Oma a very Happy 86th Birthday! I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and at your party on Sunday. I would have given you a call but my phone has run out of credits and I've been told I can't recharge it until I'm back in Yunnan province.

sick and tired

Congratulations to my cousin Simone who had a baby girl called Olivia Nell yesterday. I'm happy to report that the family grapevine is still in excellent working order.

I have a cold at the moment. Did a few interviews today and yesterday but I feel tired and have to work hard to feel motivated. blah.

Yesterday afternoon I was watching the figure skating on tv (Figure skating is good- no need to listen to the words!) and it was some international championship and the Japanese girl did a blindingly fast and difficult performance which put her in first place and then the Australian girl came on and she did a really creative performance and didn't mess up and I was waiting to see how she scored.... when the power went out. I stomped to the bathroom and may have been heard cursing "bloody China, what am I doing here?" down the hallway. In this case, the power came back on a few minutes later, but by then the ice skating had changed into snooker. Later that night I saw a news flash that said the Japanese girl won, but I don't know how the Aussie girl scored. Gone with the Wind is going to be on tv tomorrow night and I am trying not to get excited because it might well be dubbed in Chinese. I wonder how you say "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in Chinese. There are not many Western / English language movies on tv here. The other night I actually got excited because "the three bears" cartoon movie came on, but after the opening credits it turned out to have been dubbed in Chinese.

I don't even watch that much tv normally, but at the moment I am sick and in a motel room and have read all my novels twice except for the one that I'm reading now (only read once) and don't want to finish too quickly.