I just got back from a 5 day trip to Tibet and it was both beautiful and fascinating. The Tibetans still live a very simple and spiritual life and there were moments on the trip where I truly did feel like I‘d gone back in time. The Tibetans live in small towns (Lhasa, the capital city, only has 45,000 people) or in the countryside earning their living as farmers or nomad herders.
The first thing you notice (apart from the obvious mountains) are the prayer flags everywhere - you may have seen them in pictures from the top of Mt. Everest, those colorful squares of fabric strung together. The very next thing I noticed was the lack of oxygen. Lhasa sits at an elevation of 3,500 meters (11,500 feet). I had heard that altitude sickness can be a problem for some people, especially when you fly in directly and your body doesn’t have time to adjust. I didn’t worry too much about it, though, and didn’t even bother to get a prescription for the medication you can take to avoid it.
Well, on my first flight from Shanghai to Chengdu, I was sitting next to a Chinese university student and when she found out I was continuing on to Tibet, she asked me if I did any sports. I was a bit surprised by the question, but I said yes, I was a runner. She got a chagrined look on her face and said that athletes actually have a harder time with the altitude because of their lower heart rate. Fantastic. I was horribly ill the first night there - up half the night with a splitting headache and nausea. But after several doses of Advil (still my favorite product of all time!), I was feeling better by morning - though I did have to walk very slowly and was sucking wind every time I climbed any stairs.
We spent some time in Lhasa exploring the old town, Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and a local nunnery. We also spent a couple days exploring the surrounding countryside which was absolutely stunning. Snow-covered mountains, beautiful lakes, rivers, and yaks everywhere (which were delicious, by the way). You can see pictures and more descriptions on my website: www.porterfamilyinchina.com.
Never have I been to a place where religious devotion is so evident and so deeply ingrained in the culture. There are prayer flags draped everywhere, religious symbols on every house and building and painted on the mountainsides, people walking about with their spinning prayer wheels and prostrating themselves in front of the temples.
The prostrating was particularly interesting. Our first day in Lhasa, we saw groups of people in front of the temple performing this ritual. Our guide said they will continue for 2 or 3 hours at a time, which I thought was pretty impressive. Then I noticed that some people were doing it on their way to the temple - you are supposed to walk to the town square, walk clockwise around it, and then go to the temple. Most people just walked normally, sometimes with their prayer wheel, and some liked to chant quietly. But some people would do their prostrating on the way: they would take three steps then kneel, then lay down, then get up again, take three more steps, and so on.
I thought that was just amazing - what devotion! Then a couple days later when we were traveling several hours outside of Lhasa, I saw people doing this along the highway. I asked the guide what they were doing. “Those are pilgrims,” he said. Okay. Then I saw more of them. Still not getting it, I asked the guide, “How far do they go like that?’ He said very simply, “They are going to Lhasa.” I was stunned. He said maybe three or four times in a person’s life they will make the pilgrimage from their home to Lhasa in this fashion. It takes them about 2 or 3 months. You usually see about two or three pilgrims together and then behind them is another person pushing a cart loaded with supplies to make meals for the pilgrims along the way.
It really is incredible and after seeing these people and their way of life, I now have a better understanding of the conflict and the outrage over the Chinese take over of Tibet. Here is a people so religious, so peaceful, and so protective of its way of life and uncorrupted culture being stomped on by the Chinese. Since the communists took over China and built the railway to Tibet, the Chinese have been streaming in and now make up half the population of Lhasa.
There is a huge military presence here - more so than anywhere else I have been in China, and it is a constant reminder of who is in charge and that the people here are not free. When we were in the Potala Palace we saw the prayer room with the empty golden throne that was meant to be for the Dalai Lama. Maybe someday.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
There's no PETA in China
I’ve never been a huge animal lover. Yeah, I might lean over to pet a neighbor’s dog, but my kids still don’t have a pet and unless they get serious about really begging me for one, they probably never will. However, you don’t have to be a big animal lover to feel sorry for the animals here in China.
When I first got here, I did notice that there wasn’t any wildlife to be found. I know Shanghai is a very urban area, but even out here in the suburbs where there is still a little green left, you never see so much as field mouse (unless you count the one I saw in the grocery store scurrying under the table of bananas). I’ve come to realize that the reason you don’t see any is because they are afraid - the Chinese are not very kind to their four-footed friends.
I told the story in one of my previous blogs about the stray dog that followed me into our neighborhood which a security guard then whacked with a bamboo pole. I’ve also heard complaints from a neighbor about locals throwing rocks at her own pet dog.
One of the worst things I’ve seen was during one of my morning runs. I was running along a back path with lots of bike traffic when I heard a goose honking behind me. I almost ducked, thinking it was flying right at my head, but then a guy on a motor scooter passed by me and he had about a half dozen white, long-necked geese tied to the back of his seat. They were hanging upside down by their feet and they were straining to crane their necks upward so that their throats wouldn’t scrape on the ground. I noticed a couple birds whose feathers that were already blackened from the road. It was not a pleasant sight - if you are going to kill them for food, fine, but do you have to torture them first?
I’m guessing part of the insensitivity to animals’ suffering is that here people can still make the connection between a live animal and dinner. In much of the developed world, we are used to seeing our meat already plucked, butchered, sanitized, and sealed in plastic wrap ready to cook and we rarely think about how it got there.
A woman from my Chinese class last year told the story of how her ayi (an ayi is a Chinese housekeeper) came back from her Chinese New Year holiday with a live chicken as a gift to this woman’s family. The ayi brought this chicken all the way back on the bus from her hometown in the countryside. The woman (who is American, by the way) knew this was a very nice gesture and she should be appropriately grateful, but when she walked into the kitchen right at the moment when the ayi was about the wring the chicken’s neck, she couldn’t help but let out an involuntary scream. She then did her best not to insult her employee while impressing upon her that although she appreciated the gift, she couldn’t deal with anything being killed in her kitchen. So after traveling I don’t know how many hours on a bus with a live chicken, the ayi went home that evening with the thing still clucking.
In Shanghai, there are still plenty of places where you can buy your food while it’s still alive - even in the big chain stores like Wal-mart and Carrefour. I was in Carrefour the other day passing by the tanks of fish and frogs and I saw this one turtle who was making a break for it. He had both of his front fins hooked over the edge of the tank and his little neck was sticking waaaay out of his shell, just wiggling his head back and forth like “I’m free! I’m gonna make it!” A couple of the store workers were watching it for a minute, laughing to each other until one of them bashed him on the head with a stick and he sunk back to the bottom. Poor little guy - he didn’t stand a chance, but I was rooting for him anyway.
Unfortunately, even creatures that aren’t food don’t fare too well in China. We’ve avoided going to the Shanghai zoo because we’ve been told it’s really appalling - the cages are small and the animals are in sorry shape. I read just today that 11 Siberian tigers starved to death in a zoo in Shenyang. The really sad part is that no one seems terribly surprised.
And let’s not forget the crickets - yes, even insects! Cricket fighting is a big pastime, with the really serious participants breeding their own fighters. But to be fair, it’s not just for the thrill of watching two bugs try to kill each other - they bet money, too, so it’s big business.
There are some activists in China trying to promote animal rights by rescuing mistreated pets and strays. But the sad truth is, it’s hard to get people to care about animal rights in a country where the humans don’t have many rights themselves.
When I first got here, I did notice that there wasn’t any wildlife to be found. I know Shanghai is a very urban area, but even out here in the suburbs where there is still a little green left, you never see so much as field mouse (unless you count the one I saw in the grocery store scurrying under the table of bananas). I’ve come to realize that the reason you don’t see any is because they are afraid - the Chinese are not very kind to their four-footed friends.
I told the story in one of my previous blogs about the stray dog that followed me into our neighborhood which a security guard then whacked with a bamboo pole. I’ve also heard complaints from a neighbor about locals throwing rocks at her own pet dog.
One of the worst things I’ve seen was during one of my morning runs. I was running along a back path with lots of bike traffic when I heard a goose honking behind me. I almost ducked, thinking it was flying right at my head, but then a guy on a motor scooter passed by me and he had about a half dozen white, long-necked geese tied to the back of his seat. They were hanging upside down by their feet and they were straining to crane their necks upward so that their throats wouldn’t scrape on the ground. I noticed a couple birds whose feathers that were already blackened from the road. It was not a pleasant sight - if you are going to kill them for food, fine, but do you have to torture them first?
I’m guessing part of the insensitivity to animals’ suffering is that here people can still make the connection between a live animal and dinner. In much of the developed world, we are used to seeing our meat already plucked, butchered, sanitized, and sealed in plastic wrap ready to cook and we rarely think about how it got there.
A woman from my Chinese class last year told the story of how her ayi (an ayi is a Chinese housekeeper) came back from her Chinese New Year holiday with a live chicken as a gift to this woman’s family. The ayi brought this chicken all the way back on the bus from her hometown in the countryside. The woman (who is American, by the way) knew this was a very nice gesture and she should be appropriately grateful, but when she walked into the kitchen right at the moment when the ayi was about the wring the chicken’s neck, she couldn’t help but let out an involuntary scream. She then did her best not to insult her employee while impressing upon her that although she appreciated the gift, she couldn’t deal with anything being killed in her kitchen. So after traveling I don’t know how many hours on a bus with a live chicken, the ayi went home that evening with the thing still clucking.
In Shanghai, there are still plenty of places where you can buy your food while it’s still alive - even in the big chain stores like Wal-mart and Carrefour. I was in Carrefour the other day passing by the tanks of fish and frogs and I saw this one turtle who was making a break for it. He had both of his front fins hooked over the edge of the tank and his little neck was sticking waaaay out of his shell, just wiggling his head back and forth like “I’m free! I’m gonna make it!” A couple of the store workers were watching it for a minute, laughing to each other until one of them bashed him on the head with a stick and he sunk back to the bottom. Poor little guy - he didn’t stand a chance, but I was rooting for him anyway.
Unfortunately, even creatures that aren’t food don’t fare too well in China. We’ve avoided going to the Shanghai zoo because we’ve been told it’s really appalling - the cages are small and the animals are in sorry shape. I read just today that 11 Siberian tigers starved to death in a zoo in Shenyang. The really sad part is that no one seems terribly surprised.
And let’s not forget the crickets - yes, even insects! Cricket fighting is a big pastime, with the really serious participants breeding their own fighters. But to be fair, it’s not just for the thrill of watching two bugs try to kill each other - they bet money, too, so it’s big business.
There are some activists in China trying to promote animal rights by rescuing mistreated pets and strays. But the sad truth is, it’s hard to get people to care about animal rights in a country where the humans don’t have many rights themselves.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Don't bother changing the channel
You know, it can be tough living abroad sometimes. Don’t get me wrong - for the most part I love it. I believe that the whole point of traveling is for things to NOT be like home, to have new adventures and experience a different way of life. This expat concept is not new - people have been doing it for hundreds of years, for the very point of being somewhere different, somewhere exotic, to remake oneself into a new person by the benefit of living outside the country of one’s birth.
I get that, and I embrace it. But sometimes it hard and you just have those days where you long for something familiar from home. That’s why I’m willing to spend close to $10 on a box of Cheerios. Insane as that may sound, don’t judge me - all you other expats our there know what I’m talking about. It’s not just that you are desperately craving those Cheerios, but those Cheerios are a part of the culture that you are missing and are so nostalgic for.
And it doesn’t stop at groceries. You never appreciate home so much as when you realize you can’t just hop in the car or go on-line and pick up whatever you want: books, magazines, craft supplies, shoes in the right size, clothes that fit, good running gear. It takes a lot of time and effort just to try and find these items and I’m not always successful. So in the end, it’s a good lesson in needs vs. wants. Things you think you need, you can actually learn to live without. But it doesn’t mean you have to be happy about it.
A prime example is entertainment. The English language options on official Chinese TV are limited to CNN International, BBC News, Discovery Channel, and ESPN (I really don’t even count that last one - there are no hardcore sports fans in this household). For someone who grew up in a TV culture, this is a tough one. So what do you do?
One of the first things our new arrivals agent told me when we first moved here was where to get illegal DVD’s. In fact, on our orientation outing when she showed us around the local grocery store, the IT mall for mobile phones, and the American grocery store, she also took us to a DVD store which was down this rather scary-looking alley. At least, it looked scary to us as new arrivals, but it was more or less just local color.
Again, don’t judge me. You can’t buy a legal DVD in China even if you wanted to. It feels wrong at first until you realize that everybody’s doing it and you can get really good quality movies for a buck and a half! Not that the quality is always something you can count on. Sometimes there are pauses or blips, it may suddenly change to another language, or the sound may have kind of a tinny quality. We recently bought a copy of the animated movie “Up” which for some reason would only play the English soundtrack if we kept on the English subtitles at the same time. Now, this was a good movie in it’s own right, but the most entertaining aspect for us was reading the bizarre translations they came up with for the subtitles. They must have been done by a Chinese person who had taken one or two years of English in high school. It was beyond funny.
Option number two is, of course, illegal satellite TV. We were given the name of a guy who spoke just enough English who could hook us up to a system out of the Philippines. The problem was, after a few months the system would stop working and he would have to come over with a new card, box, or dish which cost more money. It was obvious we were being taken for a ride, especially when every time I tried to challenge him on something, his English suddenly got a lot worse.
We stopped calling him after a while and our channels gradually dwindled until we had to resort back to the Chinese TV offerings. So no more cartoons, no more dramatizations - just news and documentaries. I was getting a really bad case of news fatigue. It gets depressing when you’re constantly exposed to hard-hitting issues like terrorism, war, and natural disasters. I’m sure even the newscasters like to go home and watch The Office or Cash Cab.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so finally I contacted our realtor and she gave me two options: legal or illegal satellite. For an extra $150 I decided the legal hook-up was worth it this time. Though I’m not really sure in what sense it is “legal”. I think it just means we are paying the provider, because I still don’t think China allows it, with all that American indoctrination and free speech going on. I can tell these channels aren’t monitored because CNN can say anything they want about China without being blacked-out like they do on the local feed.
Speaking of blacking out, our internet access has been getting steadily worse over the last six months or so. In addition to not being able to access my blog (Russ is posting this entry for me from Singapore), we can’t get onto Facebook or YouTube, and many of Russ’s podcasts are being blocked.
But anyway, last Tuesday two guys came to the house and hooked up our “legal” satellite and the boys and I marveled at all the channels we now have - not just one, but two cartoon channels! And that night as we sat on the couch and watched a particularly annoying episode of Spongebob which they’ve seen at least a dozen times already, I thought, “Man, this sucks”. Do you think this is what they mean when they say “You can’t go home again?”
I get that, and I embrace it. But sometimes it hard and you just have those days where you long for something familiar from home. That’s why I’m willing to spend close to $10 on a box of Cheerios. Insane as that may sound, don’t judge me - all you other expats our there know what I’m talking about. It’s not just that you are desperately craving those Cheerios, but those Cheerios are a part of the culture that you are missing and are so nostalgic for.
And it doesn’t stop at groceries. You never appreciate home so much as when you realize you can’t just hop in the car or go on-line and pick up whatever you want: books, magazines, craft supplies, shoes in the right size, clothes that fit, good running gear. It takes a lot of time and effort just to try and find these items and I’m not always successful. So in the end, it’s a good lesson in needs vs. wants. Things you think you need, you can actually learn to live without. But it doesn’t mean you have to be happy about it.
A prime example is entertainment. The English language options on official Chinese TV are limited to CNN International, BBC News, Discovery Channel, and ESPN (I really don’t even count that last one - there are no hardcore sports fans in this household). For someone who grew up in a TV culture, this is a tough one. So what do you do?
One of the first things our new arrivals agent told me when we first moved here was where to get illegal DVD’s. In fact, on our orientation outing when she showed us around the local grocery store, the IT mall for mobile phones, and the American grocery store, she also took us to a DVD store which was down this rather scary-looking alley. At least, it looked scary to us as new arrivals, but it was more or less just local color.
Again, don’t judge me. You can’t buy a legal DVD in China even if you wanted to. It feels wrong at first until you realize that everybody’s doing it and you can get really good quality movies for a buck and a half! Not that the quality is always something you can count on. Sometimes there are pauses or blips, it may suddenly change to another language, or the sound may have kind of a tinny quality. We recently bought a copy of the animated movie “Up” which for some reason would only play the English soundtrack if we kept on the English subtitles at the same time. Now, this was a good movie in it’s own right, but the most entertaining aspect for us was reading the bizarre translations they came up with for the subtitles. They must have been done by a Chinese person who had taken one or two years of English in high school. It was beyond funny.
Option number two is, of course, illegal satellite TV. We were given the name of a guy who spoke just enough English who could hook us up to a system out of the Philippines. The problem was, after a few months the system would stop working and he would have to come over with a new card, box, or dish which cost more money. It was obvious we were being taken for a ride, especially when every time I tried to challenge him on something, his English suddenly got a lot worse.
We stopped calling him after a while and our channels gradually dwindled until we had to resort back to the Chinese TV offerings. So no more cartoons, no more dramatizations - just news and documentaries. I was getting a really bad case of news fatigue. It gets depressing when you’re constantly exposed to hard-hitting issues like terrorism, war, and natural disasters. I’m sure even the newscasters like to go home and watch The Office or Cash Cab.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so finally I contacted our realtor and she gave me two options: legal or illegal satellite. For an extra $150 I decided the legal hook-up was worth it this time. Though I’m not really sure in what sense it is “legal”. I think it just means we are paying the provider, because I still don’t think China allows it, with all that American indoctrination and free speech going on. I can tell these channels aren’t monitored because CNN can say anything they want about China without being blacked-out like they do on the local feed.
Speaking of blacking out, our internet access has been getting steadily worse over the last six months or so. In addition to not being able to access my blog (Russ is posting this entry for me from Singapore), we can’t get onto Facebook or YouTube, and many of Russ’s podcasts are being blocked.
But anyway, last Tuesday two guys came to the house and hooked up our “legal” satellite and the boys and I marveled at all the channels we now have - not just one, but two cartoon channels! And that night as we sat on the couch and watched a particularly annoying episode of Spongebob which they’ve seen at least a dozen times already, I thought, “Man, this sucks”. Do you think this is what they mean when they say “You can’t go home again?”
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Japan and Marathon
Hi everyone! I'm happy to be writing on my regular blog site today as I am still in Japan and outside the Great Firewall of China. Yesterday I ran the Lake Kawaguchi marathon in Japan right beneath Mt. Fuji. First off, I am very sad to say that I do not have a photo of the mountain. Our first morning there the sky was clear and sunny and we did get a look at the beautiful snow-covered peak for a few hours. But silly me, I was waiting for some better lighting later in the day to take a picture and by the time I got my camera out, the clouds rolled in and never lifted during the rest of our stay.
But actually, that's ok because overcast skies on race day is every runner's dream. Well, at least it's my dream because I don't like running with sunglasses and I do like cooler temperatures (it was about 40 degrees fahrenheit). Lake Kawaguchi is a very quaint little lakeside town and I was very surprised at the huge turnout for this race. As it turns out, it is the only marathon in Japan that does not require a qualifying time. There were 3 distance runs: the full marathon, a 27km run, and an 11km fun run. For all three races they had about 14,000 people, 800 non-Japanese coming from 18 different countries.
Russ and the boys came along and made an excellent support team. The marathon course did a little out-and-back jaunt through the town and then twice around the lake, so the guys hung out in a spot where I got to pass them two times during the run and then again at the finish. They were real troopers to hang out such a long time on a cold morning and cheer me on. The day before we had bought a few bags of mini candy bars for the boys to hand out to the runners, so that kept them busy and made it a little more fun for them.
My run went really well. That distance is always hard and my legs were completely exhausted by the end, but I feel I finished stronger than in my first two marathons. I only stopped once and that was to go to the bathroom in the eighth mile. I'm still kicking myself for wasting the time standing in line for the toilet instead of squatting in the bushes somewhere - I don't know what came over me. That wasted about 5 minutes so I tried to make up the time by picking up the pace for a while and I didn't stop (not even to walk) for the entire rest of the race. They haven't posted the official race results yet, but I finished somewhere around 3 hours, 45 minutes - a personal best! Very happy.
Despite the fact that Mt. Fuji was completely obliterated by the clouds, the scenery was beautiful. We were running on small country roads and lakeside paths lined with trees that were still holding onto their late autumn colors. It's been five years since I've seen any fall foliage and I found it very inspiring. And it's a good thing, because the spectators were not very inspiring, I'm sorry to say. I think the Japanese are just too polite and restrained to get you really pumped up, but they did try. Many of the locals set out their own little stations offering candy and snacks and shouts of "ganbatte!" ("Keep going! Do your best!"). My favorite cheering section was a big group of traditional Japanese drummers.
So with all the race logistics and travel (Kawaguchiko is a three hour train ride from the airport on three different trains), we haven't had much chance to be tourists. But I can tell that Japan is very different than China. The Japanese are so polite and smile so much more than the Chinese. They are also much more chatty. In China, once they realize you don't speak the language (in fact, they usually just assume that from the get-go), they just go into a point and grunt mode. Why bother trying to speak at all? But the Japanese, from cab drivers to cashiers, keep up a constant chatter, seeming undeterred by the fact that we can't understand a single word. So we just smile and bow and go on our way.
We are in Tokyo tonight and heading back to Shanghai tomorrow, so check in Wednesday for new pictures on my website.
But actually, that's ok because overcast skies on race day is every runner's dream. Well, at least it's my dream because I don't like running with sunglasses and I do like cooler temperatures (it was about 40 degrees fahrenheit). Lake Kawaguchi is a very quaint little lakeside town and I was very surprised at the huge turnout for this race. As it turns out, it is the only marathon in Japan that does not require a qualifying time. There were 3 distance runs: the full marathon, a 27km run, and an 11km fun run. For all three races they had about 14,000 people, 800 non-Japanese coming from 18 different countries.
Russ and the boys came along and made an excellent support team. The marathon course did a little out-and-back jaunt through the town and then twice around the lake, so the guys hung out in a spot where I got to pass them two times during the run and then again at the finish. They were real troopers to hang out such a long time on a cold morning and cheer me on. The day before we had bought a few bags of mini candy bars for the boys to hand out to the runners, so that kept them busy and made it a little more fun for them.
My run went really well. That distance is always hard and my legs were completely exhausted by the end, but I feel I finished stronger than in my first two marathons. I only stopped once and that was to go to the bathroom in the eighth mile. I'm still kicking myself for wasting the time standing in line for the toilet instead of squatting in the bushes somewhere - I don't know what came over me. That wasted about 5 minutes so I tried to make up the time by picking up the pace for a while and I didn't stop (not even to walk) for the entire rest of the race. They haven't posted the official race results yet, but I finished somewhere around 3 hours, 45 minutes - a personal best! Very happy.
Despite the fact that Mt. Fuji was completely obliterated by the clouds, the scenery was beautiful. We were running on small country roads and lakeside paths lined with trees that were still holding onto their late autumn colors. It's been five years since I've seen any fall foliage and I found it very inspiring. And it's a good thing, because the spectators were not very inspiring, I'm sorry to say. I think the Japanese are just too polite and restrained to get you really pumped up, but they did try. Many of the locals set out their own little stations offering candy and snacks and shouts of "ganbatte!" ("Keep going! Do your best!"). My favorite cheering section was a big group of traditional Japanese drummers.
So with all the race logistics and travel (Kawaguchiko is a three hour train ride from the airport on three different trains), we haven't had much chance to be tourists. But I can tell that Japan is very different than China. The Japanese are so polite and smile so much more than the Chinese. They are also much more chatty. In China, once they realize you don't speak the language (in fact, they usually just assume that from the get-go), they just go into a point and grunt mode. Why bother trying to speak at all? But the Japanese, from cab drivers to cashiers, keep up a constant chatter, seeming undeterred by the fact that we can't understand a single word. So we just smile and bow and go on our way.
We are in Tokyo tonight and heading back to Shanghai tomorrow, so check in Wednesday for new pictures on my website.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
One of those weeks...
So things are humming along pretty well for us here in Shanghai as we close in on the one year mark. We have gotten used to a lot of the things that are different here, but it is an ongoing process and there are always new issues cropping up.
This morning, Russ was out running along the canal near our house when he got hit from behind by a guy on a motor scooter. He's okay, but pretty scraped up. This is not the first time he's been clipped (I think once he got hit by a pig carcass that was slung along the back of a bicycle), but this time was much worse - lots of road rash and a big bruise on his ankle where his sock actually got caught in the guy's wheel. The Chinses do have a tendency to drive close, both in cars and on two-wheeled vehicles, and sometimes it seems like there are no discernible road rules (they think it is perfectly acceptable to run a red light as long as they blare their horn on the way through).
But to hit a pedestrian like that, you have to wonder: what the hell? Russ thinks the guy was asleep because he looked kind of out of it. I totally believe that could be the case. I've seen passengers on the back of a bicycle, perched on a little cargo rack and leaning on the person pedaling, completely zonked out. On more that one occasion I've caught my own driver nodding off at the wheel. I don't know why this sleeping and driving/riding seems to be such an epidemic here - I'll do some investigating and get back to you.
So anyway, Russ says the guy just scooped up his stuff that spilled during the accident and took off. I'm sure he wanted to avoid any police, but he didn't get away without Russ yelling at him and another witness chasing after him.
Poor Russ was also the victim in my next story. He has a subscription to The Economist news magazine and last week's issue arrived a couple days late and was sealed in a different envelope than usual. When he opened it up, he immediately noticed there was a page ripped out. He looked at the table of contents and discovered that the missing page an article on the anniversary of the Tianamen Square incident in 1989. It was one of those moments when all of a sudden, something that only happens far away to somebody else is now happening to you. A little eerie.
[Post script note: I wrote this blog on June 10th, but was unable to post it until now because China was also blocking my blogging website as part of this crackdown. As far as I know it is still blocked - I'm writing this from the US while I'm here for a home visit.]
This morning, Russ was out running along the canal near our house when he got hit from behind by a guy on a motor scooter. He's okay, but pretty scraped up. This is not the first time he's been clipped (I think once he got hit by a pig carcass that was slung along the back of a bicycle), but this time was much worse - lots of road rash and a big bruise on his ankle where his sock actually got caught in the guy's wheel. The Chinses do have a tendency to drive close, both in cars and on two-wheeled vehicles, and sometimes it seems like there are no discernible road rules (they think it is perfectly acceptable to run a red light as long as they blare their horn on the way through).
But to hit a pedestrian like that, you have to wonder: what the hell? Russ thinks the guy was asleep because he looked kind of out of it. I totally believe that could be the case. I've seen passengers on the back of a bicycle, perched on a little cargo rack and leaning on the person pedaling, completely zonked out. On more that one occasion I've caught my own driver nodding off at the wheel. I don't know why this sleeping and driving/riding seems to be such an epidemic here - I'll do some investigating and get back to you.
So anyway, Russ says the guy just scooped up his stuff that spilled during the accident and took off. I'm sure he wanted to avoid any police, but he didn't get away without Russ yelling at him and another witness chasing after him.
Poor Russ was also the victim in my next story. He has a subscription to The Economist news magazine and last week's issue arrived a couple days late and was sealed in a different envelope than usual. When he opened it up, he immediately noticed there was a page ripped out. He looked at the table of contents and discovered that the missing page an article on the anniversary of the Tianamen Square incident in 1989. It was one of those moments when all of a sudden, something that only happens far away to somebody else is now happening to you. A little eerie.
[Post script note: I wrote this blog on June 10th, but was unable to post it until now because China was also blocking my blogging website as part of this crackdown. As far as I know it is still blocked - I'm writing this from the US while I'm here for a home visit.]
Friday, April 24, 2009
There is no Target in China
I'm sure I've mentioned my grocery shopping woes before, so here's an update on how it's going:
I expected as a newly arrived expat to have to spend some time checking out different stores in a quest to find all our usual staples, and although that quest never truly ends, I'm now at a point where I've pretty much figured out what I can get, and resigned myself to what I can't. It's not too bad - it is possible to get a pretty big variety of western products here. The problem is that you can't always get what you want, when you want it. So you can't get too attached to a particular item, because it can disappear without any warning and you never know when (or if) it will be back.
It can be frustrating sometimes, especially since I am so health conscious and do a lot of home cooking. In fact, at times I feel downright discriminated against since I've noticed that there are always Pop-Tarts on the shelves, yet sometimes I search in vain for weeks to find a can of plain diced tomatoes. So I've learned that when I do find a good product that I like, buy lots and lots of it and hoard it away like a paranoid doomsayer stocking the bomb shelter.
And this applies not just to western imports, but to stuff you can find in with the regular Chinese groceries as well. Of course, there is always tons of rice and noodles and good produce. But there are some items which I would consider a necessity but I guess they are more "luxury" items to the Chinese. For example, I am currently out of dishwasher detergent because it has not been on the shelf in Carrefour for the past month or so. Apparently, not many Chinese homes have dishwashers. I probably shouldn't be surprised in a country that still sells a lot of bar laundry soap (the kind you use to hand scrub your clothes in a wash basin - or a river). Paper towels is another good example, but I'm thinking they must be imported also since anything disposable here is generally not very sturdy. Their table napkins are basically like large segments of toilet paper.
In the beginning I did try several Chinese products because I didn't like the idea of being so dependent on imports. They are so expensive, especially when you have to get them at a specialty store. But with a few exceptions, I pretty much gave up, at least with food. With health and beauty products you really have to shop local. This is a challenge first and foremost because of the labeling. In a lot of cases the only English word on the bottle is the brand name. The only way I could tell which hair product was conditioner instead of shampoo was the opening on the bottom of the bottle (like in the States). At least I hope it's conditioner - never mind whether it's for dry or oily or permed or colored hair. The bottles of skin lotion have a little more of an English description, but then I have the problem of finding a brand without a "whitening" formula (kind of ironic after all those years of trying to get a decent tan). But so far, we've managed.
So when people ask me what I miss from home, it's really hard to say because there are very few things that you NEVER see. I just keep prowling the stores to see what new shipments may have arrived each week. I still get a little buzz of anticipation every time I walk into the American shops, wondering what I might find - even the boys like to shop there. You should have seen how excited we got the day we found Triscuts and Thomas's English Muffins! I've learned you have to try and contain yourself or else you can really get carried away. More than once I've had a box of something in my hand and had to say to myself "I wouldn't buy Cheez-Its at home, why am I buying them here?" Something about the familiarity of the product, that tangible connection to home, the nostalgia even, overrides any sense of moderation.
What's getting me through right now is the fact that it's less than two months til we'll be back in the States for our home visit and, believe me, I will be stocking up again - I'm just not sure on what. To all of you back home: put in your requests now if anyone who would like some Chinese products - dried duck tongues, jellyfish, maybe some whitening skin cream?
I expected as a newly arrived expat to have to spend some time checking out different stores in a quest to find all our usual staples, and although that quest never truly ends, I'm now at a point where I've pretty much figured out what I can get, and resigned myself to what I can't. It's not too bad - it is possible to get a pretty big variety of western products here. The problem is that you can't always get what you want, when you want it. So you can't get too attached to a particular item, because it can disappear without any warning and you never know when (or if) it will be back.
It can be frustrating sometimes, especially since I am so health conscious and do a lot of home cooking. In fact, at times I feel downright discriminated against since I've noticed that there are always Pop-Tarts on the shelves, yet sometimes I search in vain for weeks to find a can of plain diced tomatoes. So I've learned that when I do find a good product that I like, buy lots and lots of it and hoard it away like a paranoid doomsayer stocking the bomb shelter.
And this applies not just to western imports, but to stuff you can find in with the regular Chinese groceries as well. Of course, there is always tons of rice and noodles and good produce. But there are some items which I would consider a necessity but I guess they are more "luxury" items to the Chinese. For example, I am currently out of dishwasher detergent because it has not been on the shelf in Carrefour for the past month or so. Apparently, not many Chinese homes have dishwashers. I probably shouldn't be surprised in a country that still sells a lot of bar laundry soap (the kind you use to hand scrub your clothes in a wash basin - or a river). Paper towels is another good example, but I'm thinking they must be imported also since anything disposable here is generally not very sturdy. Their table napkins are basically like large segments of toilet paper.
In the beginning I did try several Chinese products because I didn't like the idea of being so dependent on imports. They are so expensive, especially when you have to get them at a specialty store. But with a few exceptions, I pretty much gave up, at least with food. With health and beauty products you really have to shop local. This is a challenge first and foremost because of the labeling. In a lot of cases the only English word on the bottle is the brand name. The only way I could tell which hair product was conditioner instead of shampoo was the opening on the bottom of the bottle (like in the States). At least I hope it's conditioner - never mind whether it's for dry or oily or permed or colored hair. The bottles of skin lotion have a little more of an English description, but then I have the problem of finding a brand without a "whitening" formula (kind of ironic after all those years of trying to get a decent tan). But so far, we've managed.
So when people ask me what I miss from home, it's really hard to say because there are very few things that you NEVER see. I just keep prowling the stores to see what new shipments may have arrived each week. I still get a little buzz of anticipation every time I walk into the American shops, wondering what I might find - even the boys like to shop there. You should have seen how excited we got the day we found Triscuts and Thomas's English Muffins! I've learned you have to try and contain yourself or else you can really get carried away. More than once I've had a box of something in my hand and had to say to myself "I wouldn't buy Cheez-Its at home, why am I buying them here?" Something about the familiarity of the product, that tangible connection to home, the nostalgia even, overrides any sense of moderation.
What's getting me through right now is the fact that it's less than two months til we'll be back in the States for our home visit and, believe me, I will be stocking up again - I'm just not sure on what. To all of you back home: put in your requests now if anyone who would like some Chinese products - dried duck tongues, jellyfish, maybe some whitening skin cream?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
It's still Shanghai, only better!
Well, it’s been a very busy month. We received six weeks notice to vacate our house because a new developer is coming in and renovating the neighborhood where we have been living for the past 8 months. It was a real bummer because we really liked the complex and were starting to feel at home there. It was bad enough that we just moved to the other side of the world, now we had to move houses again. I was worried about the boys (because I’m a mom and that’s what I do) and they were a little disappointed, too, but they didn’t seem nearly as traumatized as I thought they should be.
So we did some really fast house-hunting, some even faster negotiations, packed it up, and off we went. The move went very smoothly - this being the land of cheap labor, when they have any big job here (or even a small job), they just throw lots of people at it. The small army that was our moving team arrived at our old house at 9:30am and everything was unloaded into our new house by 2:30pm the same day.
Our new house is on the grounds of the Dong Jiao State Guest Hotel which is owned by the Chinese government. As the name would indicate, the hotel is host to many guests of the state and government officials. We’re told that the Chinese premiere stays here when he is in town, so there is lots of good security. Not that we can see the hotel from our house - it’s tucked away on the other side of the propery away from us riff-raff.
The grounds are beautiful with lakes and garden paths and lots of trees - all meticulously maintained by an army of workers who live in a dormitory on the property. I came back to the house after a walk the other day and I saw someone actually wiping down my mailbox post. There is also a HUGE sports and fitness center which both the hotel guests and the villa residents have access to. It is very swank and besides the lovely gym and Olympic-sized indoor pool, it has indoor tennis, bowling, badminton, snooker - you name it.
If I thought we were living in an expat bubble before, now I feel like we’ve actually left the country. The house is very American and after three and a half years abroad, I’m giddy over all the similarities to life back in the US. The house is only 2 stories which is a real treat after having to schlep up and down all the stairs in the other houses. The laundry room is on the first floor and is even inside the house! And the washer and dryer are huge! I think they are a pretty normal size for the US, but to me they look absolutely enormous. The oven is also big - Ian took a look the first day and declared that it was “turkey-sized”. I can actually fit in two cookie sheets at a time. You all at home are thinking “wow, she‘s really lost it”, but I feel so spoiled!
The biggest treat for the boys, though, is their new bunk bed - a right of passage for all boys, I think. They have been sleeping in separate rooms for about a year now, so I was a little surprised when they said they wanted to share a room, again. I obviously underestimated the appeal of the bunk bed. They have agreed to take turns sleeping in the top bunk and so far, so good.
There are lots of families here with kids around the boys ages, so it looks like they will have lots of playmates. There is one family that we already knew living here and they’ve all been making new friends, too. There’s a playground close to the house and there isn’t much traffic, so they are free to ride their bikes and skateboards around.
I’ve met several of the moms as well which is nice except for having to go through the whole ayi discussion again. Ayi is the Chinese word for “auntie” and in this instance, refers to a housekeeper. They can be part-time, full-time, or even live-in and virtually everyone has one - everyone except me, that is. I have various reasons for not wanting one, but it all really comes down to principles and it’s a hard stand to make when no one around you gets it. Frankly, I just don’t understand why every American (who, if they were lucky, maybe had a once a week cleaning lady back in the States - no cooking, no ironing) suddenly upon moving to China cannot live without domestic help.
Every time I meet someone new, it eventually comes up. “So did your ayi come with you?” I just say no, I don’t have one and try to leave it at that. But inevitably I get the puzzled look or they just ask out right “Why don’t you have one?” Sometimes I feel like firing back, “Well, why do you need one?” or if I’m really having a bad day, I’m thinking “Your kids are at school all day, you don’t work - are you too good to scrub a toilet once in a while? Don’t you realize how spoiled your kids are getting?” But if I did that I obviously would have no friends, so I’ve come up with my polite answer: “I love to cook, I really don’t mind cleaning, and I like my privacy”. That usually works, but they all still think I’m crazy.
So anyway, we are all happy in our new place and very relieved that the whole move is done. Now we can get back to regular life and look forward to more fun stuff. The weather is slowly warming up here and I, for one, am itching to get out and about to do some more exploring. Check back for more interesting entries this spring!
So we did some really fast house-hunting, some even faster negotiations, packed it up, and off we went. The move went very smoothly - this being the land of cheap labor, when they have any big job here (or even a small job), they just throw lots of people at it. The small army that was our moving team arrived at our old house at 9:30am and everything was unloaded into our new house by 2:30pm the same day.
Our new house is on the grounds of the Dong Jiao State Guest Hotel which is owned by the Chinese government. As the name would indicate, the hotel is host to many guests of the state and government officials. We’re told that the Chinese premiere stays here when he is in town, so there is lots of good security. Not that we can see the hotel from our house - it’s tucked away on the other side of the propery away from us riff-raff.
The grounds are beautiful with lakes and garden paths and lots of trees - all meticulously maintained by an army of workers who live in a dormitory on the property. I came back to the house after a walk the other day and I saw someone actually wiping down my mailbox post. There is also a HUGE sports and fitness center which both the hotel guests and the villa residents have access to. It is very swank and besides the lovely gym and Olympic-sized indoor pool, it has indoor tennis, bowling, badminton, snooker - you name it.
If I thought we were living in an expat bubble before, now I feel like we’ve actually left the country. The house is very American and after three and a half years abroad, I’m giddy over all the similarities to life back in the US. The house is only 2 stories which is a real treat after having to schlep up and down all the stairs in the other houses. The laundry room is on the first floor and is even inside the house! And the washer and dryer are huge! I think they are a pretty normal size for the US, but to me they look absolutely enormous. The oven is also big - Ian took a look the first day and declared that it was “turkey-sized”. I can actually fit in two cookie sheets at a time. You all at home are thinking “wow, she‘s really lost it”, but I feel so spoiled!
The biggest treat for the boys, though, is their new bunk bed - a right of passage for all boys, I think. They have been sleeping in separate rooms for about a year now, so I was a little surprised when they said they wanted to share a room, again. I obviously underestimated the appeal of the bunk bed. They have agreed to take turns sleeping in the top bunk and so far, so good.
There are lots of families here with kids around the boys ages, so it looks like they will have lots of playmates. There is one family that we already knew living here and they’ve all been making new friends, too. There’s a playground close to the house and there isn’t much traffic, so they are free to ride their bikes and skateboards around.
I’ve met several of the moms as well which is nice except for having to go through the whole ayi discussion again. Ayi is the Chinese word for “auntie” and in this instance, refers to a housekeeper. They can be part-time, full-time, or even live-in and virtually everyone has one - everyone except me, that is. I have various reasons for not wanting one, but it all really comes down to principles and it’s a hard stand to make when no one around you gets it. Frankly, I just don’t understand why every American (who, if they were lucky, maybe had a once a week cleaning lady back in the States - no cooking, no ironing) suddenly upon moving to China cannot live without domestic help.
Every time I meet someone new, it eventually comes up. “So did your ayi come with you?” I just say no, I don’t have one and try to leave it at that. But inevitably I get the puzzled look or they just ask out right “Why don’t you have one?” Sometimes I feel like firing back, “Well, why do you need one?” or if I’m really having a bad day, I’m thinking “Your kids are at school all day, you don’t work - are you too good to scrub a toilet once in a while? Don’t you realize how spoiled your kids are getting?” But if I did that I obviously would have no friends, so I’ve come up with my polite answer: “I love to cook, I really don’t mind cleaning, and I like my privacy”. That usually works, but they all still think I’m crazy.
So anyway, we are all happy in our new place and very relieved that the whole move is done. Now we can get back to regular life and look forward to more fun stuff. The weather is slowly warming up here and I, for one, am itching to get out and about to do some more exploring. Check back for more interesting entries this spring!
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