Happy 60th Anniversary China!

Yesterday, October 1, 2009, China celebrated its 60th Anniversary as a Communist governed country.  There were phenomenal displays of pride and strength around the country.  Beijing was the obvious starting point.  I can honestly say I am probably the most ignorant expat when it comes to Chinese politics.  The presidents name is something like Hu and he seems well liked by the people of this mystical country.  I can say that he is much more photogenic then Chairman Mao.  That isn’t saying much but I judge by the way people make me feel, their aura  if you will. 

Here in Nanjing there were numerous activities around town to celebrate the day.  Parades and dinners during the day but the night was all about the fireworks.  One of the main displays was at Yuahaiti Nan Den, Rainflower Terrace, which is also the site of the Communist Martyr Museum and but a quarter of a mile from our apartment. We watched the fireworks from our north side terrace.  The fireworks were amazing and huge.  The display started at 8pm, remember 8 is a lucky lucky number and as it was the 60th Anniv. the fireworks went for 60 minutes.  Crazy I tell you.  I get bored with the boomers so I kept going out the the south side terrace to watch the show on the bridge that we overlook.  1000’s of Chinese lined up on the bridge to watch the show.  Bill and I choose to be  observers and not participate.  As American’s it just feels a bit bizarre celebrating communism.  My grandparents and great grandparents would never understand that option.  I can celebrate thought the advancements that the Chinese have made in the past 60 years.  My understanding of just the past 10 years the changes have been astronomical.  A kin to being a caveman and waking up in 2009.  The things that we think of as common place are still l ooked at here with mystery and unease.  

Take my bread machine.  I just inherited it from a family that was returning to the US and I was using it for one of the first times…my cleaning lady (Ayi) watched me pour all the ingredients into the machine turn it on and walk away.  I glanced back and she was standing on a chair and peering into the viewing window watching the paddle mix the dough.  For the next three hours every time the machine beeped she would come running to find me….yelling “T! T!”.  Once the loaf was done I had to send it home with her so she can tell her family about the magic machine that makes bread.  

These are things that happens often enough to remind us how different our world is from what the common Chinese person experiences. 

If you go out into the rural areas something as normal as a digital camera is interesting….special video cameras.  Bill was recording this older gentleman playing his flute, one of the homemade bamboo flutes.  Bill recorded several minutes and was asked to show the footage back to the player.  This old man, Bill guessed his age at around 80, got to hear himself play for the first time in his life.  Bill had an interpreter with him so we are sure of the sentiment.  I would love to present the man with a copy of the footage but what is he going to play it on? His laptop?  DVD?

My take on this whole communism thing for the time is that it is doing the best it can for Modern China.  The things lost during Mao’s regime cannot be replaced but the lessons learned are priceless.

As much as I may complain or ridicule about my experiences here, under it all, I love China.  I love the simplicity of the people, I love the fact that everyone here wants to learn, I love when I speak in Chinese to an older person and their eyes just light up because the freaky westerner is saying Hi, I love when the older person speaks back to me in English – maybe I can learn something from them and how is it that they, the generation that lived through Mao was speaking English?  I love the Chinese food, well, most of it.  I love the monasteries and the temples.  I love the kids following me around wanting to practice their English and I love the little babies with their chubby cheeks and onyx colored eyes.

Happy Commie Day to all my Chinese friends and family!

 

The government building by our house.

Happy 50th Anniversary Warren and Teena Maki

My in-laws have recently celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Unfortunately Bill and I were unable to attend the celebrations since we are so very far from home. 

Warren and Teena Maki were married on September 5, 1959 in Upper Michigan, USA.  To commemorate the occasion, they returned to the church where they made their original vows, St. Peter’s by the Sea, Episcopal Church in Eagle Harbor, Michigan.

On Sunday afternoon, September 6,  family and friends joined Teena and Warren  for a liturgy of Renewal of Vows and Eucharist. The Rev. Manuel Padilla officiated with Nancy Auer of Christ Church, Calumet serving as Eucharistic Minister. Daughter, Jeanelle Maki, read the lessons and the Rev. Peg Padilla worked the CD player so there was music.

Teena (Mello) grew up in Eagle Harbor, and when she married Warren there in 1959,  theirs was the first wedding performed at St. Peter's.  St. Peter's is a summer chapel only, and the service this Sunday afternoon was the last in the chapel for this year. 

I really respect this amazing couple for their love for their family, friends and their faith in each other.  I hope that they have many more years of joy and laughter.  I know that there are days that they look at each other and think, “What the hell was I thinking?” but at the end of the day they are there for each other. 

God grant them many years.  God grant them many years. God grant them, God grant them many years.

This is NEWS…News I tell ya!

“Two men who tried lighting up cigarettes in a public toilet in Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were seriously scalded as they accidently ignited the marsh gas last Thursday.

A blaze broke out in the environment-friendly toilet in the city’s Erqiaotou road when they lit the cigarettes.

The men suffered burns on their hips and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.  They are out of danger.

It took firefighter two hours to put out the fire.”

                                                                             -Nangou Morning Post

 

This article was printed in our only English language newspaper the only one that we have access to in Nanjing, The China Daily.  The China Daily is full of many delightful stories of happenings around China that the government feels that its citizens should know about.  The paper is the Chinese standard paper that is translated to English for us expats. 

As an English speaking expat I am always interested in finding out all I can about the area I now call home.  Stateside all we do is tune into one of our many local channels to see why the highway was diverted or why there was a crowd of people gathered in the park.  In China we see many of these same sites but have no idea as to the reason why mainly due to the language barrier.  The China Daily covers happening across the whole country and on occasion we get tidbits about things happening in our city. 

This weekend Bill brought this article to my attention.  Oh, my God – I have had several days of laughs thanks to the China Daily and its ability to connect with what the readers are want to know.  Random thoughts  that immediately crossed my mind:

• What did that 911 call sound like?  In China it is actually 119 – whatever.
• Environmental – friendly toilet?
• What the hell did they eat?
• Environmental = marsh gas (methane)?
• First guy goes to second guy “Hey, lets go to the friendly bathroom and smoke.”
• Didn’t it smell, I don’t know FLAMMABLE?
• How did the fire just burn their hips? Right.
• Did first guy yell at second guy, “Dude, my ass is on fire!”
• Second guy responds, “My ass too.”
• How do you say “My ass is on fire!” in Chinese?
• And can I get it on a t-shirt?

I just love living in China.  My bonus site was today I saw a chubby china man strolling down the sidewalk wearing a t-shirt that said Made in Italy.  False Advertisement?

Saturday Stroll

Last weekend, Catherine, Bill and I set out on a random stroll. We meet for lunch and then headed out into the city. With no agenda we would arrive at a street corner at which time one of would say right or left and that was the direction we headed. We find this a great way to find something new and off the "tourist" scene.

What we found was a Buddhist temple. I don't know the name of temple or what the history is....everything is in Chinese, we are in China - you know.

***Up the steps we go....., oops, didn't pay our 10 yuan. Got to do that first.....***

***Is this the offical pose for China? Just don't look right when a man strikes the pose. Bill put your hand down. Who loves you babe?***

***Buddha alter****

***Prayer Candles***

 

 

 

***Another Alter***

***Bell Tower***

***Love the Elephants***

***I am sure this is some special monk

but don't know who he is.***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***We found another peice to the

Nanjing Wall***

 

 

 

***Neighborhood outside the temple.***

Aimless Minded

I am all over the place right now - not physically but MENTALLY.
I have been trying to figure out what I am doing with myself and where I am going? “Where are you going?” Sorry, a little Dave Matthews moment.
This is one of the down sides of the expat wife-life, the constant state of aimlessness. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it is nice not being bombarded with the chaos of my typical day in the US and I uncomfortable complaining because the reality is, my life is easy; easy and indulgent.
I don’t work. I have a cleaning lady three days a week. I workout three mornings a week with a professionally trained coach; I go out to lunch with “the ladies” twice a week, more than that most weeks. I get a foot/shoulder massage once a week and every other week a full manicure and pedicure. I go to the hair salon every 8 weeks for a cut and color.
All of these indulgences are something that I never did when we were stateside. I never had a massage before moving here, who can afford it? Mani/pedi’s were a new treat that I had just recently discovered but rarely indulged due to the price and time consumption. Working out, yeah right, no time, no energy and no money – and trust me, I have to pay someone to keep me in line with the whole exercise portion of my week. Hair treatments…..hahaha, please refer to my pictures from Pre-China and Early China Days. Does it look like I spent a lot of time and money getting my wild woman mane pampered? I was just moments away from getting it all locked. (Which if I could of found someone I trusted, it would have been done.) I MISS my hair, love the short do but still miss my wild hair.
So why am I so unsatisfied with my cushy universe?
I know part of the problem…I am bored, I am bored and oh, I am bored. Doesn’t that sound like I am suffering from the princess complex?
I am now a little more empathetic to Miss Britney Spears, if you can do most anything you want and you do….well, you get bored. You skirt with disaster till you either snap out of it and grow up or you become a train wreck and the universe watches you implode. Am I in danger of going Britney on you? No, but I did cut off all my hair…hmmmmm? No really, nothing so dramatic. However, I did hear tell of a fellow expat throwing a bag of coffee towards a security guard at the IKEA last week. She didn’t throw it at him just in his space. I must admit I laughed since it has crossed all of our minds here at one point or another. Another friend was trying to exchange a defective iron at a local home store and it took everything she had (and the thought of Chinese prison conditions) not to throw the iron through the plate glass window. A lot of this anxiety is due to the language barriers.
I do well most days and I am also aware that I am in THEIR country. I am the interloper in their world so I need to be more flexible. I get that. I also know that the Chinese idea of customer service is nowhere near as developed as well, anywhere in the world. This culture is growing so fast that they cannot wrap their minds around the changes. You have to think that WWII they were invaded by the Japanese and decimated, particularly Nanjing. Horrific experience. The Empire (horrific times for the non royals, hell, the royals were killing each other off too) ruled up till communism and then you had Chairman Mao who basically kept the country in a submissive third world state. I am not read enough on the timelines or history to speak authoritatively but this is what I do know.
The people in the developed city of Nanjing still poo in a trough. Many of the residences do not have bathrooms and they use a public loo. Many of these loos are troughs, okay, do you understand…they have to poo in a little trench where the matter is washed out by either rains or cleaning personnel. I question the cleaning personnel because you have NO IDEA what these loo’s smell like….imagine the house with 8 million cats and one kitty litter box that is cleaned once a month. Got me?
If you figure they government is still a supporter of public loo’s instead of proper plumbing, can you imagine their take on customer service?
YOU ASK WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH ME AND MY PRINCESS COMPLEX – HOW?
Doesn’t - I said I was just all over the place. My mind goes from one subject to another without even a blinker to warn you… Princess – Britney – Train wreck – Customer Service – Poo…makes perfect sense to me.
You should see me when I am out in public. It really is like….”Oh, Shiny things.” Off I go to aimlessly wander among the shiny things of life.

Weekly Highlights

The other evening Bill and I returned from errands and decided to get dinner from the Clubhouse in our compound. Bill went to the gym and I went to order our food. In the dining area there was a table occupied by 5 Chinese folks. I am guessing it was mom, dad, grandma, grown daughter and possible son in law. They had already ordered their food and was awaiting its arrival. A man and little girl walked in before me and they were ordering while I reviewed the menu. My turn came and through my limited language skills, about equal to that of a 2 year old, I ordered our food for take away. Our typical order is Kungpao Chicken, Green Beans, Sweet and Sour tenderloin and rice. I walked to the gym area to talk with Bill while I waited on the food to be done. Bored with that I returned to the dining room to wait.

The family had received their meal as had the father and the little girl, I believe she was around 3 or 4 years old. As I watch the families, since open lurking is a sport in China and no one seems to be bothered by being blatantly watch.

The father is spoon feeding the girl. Okay, get her to try it. As a parent we have all been there, no, this is more like the kid will no feed herself at all. She cannot sit still either. I mean she is all over the place to the point that she is sitting more at my table then at her own and her father is well, okay with it. She keeps jumping up and running over to the table in the corner were the condiments are placed.
I watch this will a little irritation, it seems the kids in China for the most part are out of control. I feel that this is all due to the one child laws enacted in the 70's.

A couple has a child (one child) more then likely both set of grandparents are alive. The wife's parents are the one's that have the market on the grandbaby and will spend the remainder of their years doting on this child. The father's parents will do the same but it seems the wife's family is most active. So you have this one tiny person that has 4 adults at their bidding and more than likely 6. So this tiny undeveloped human has but to grunt and people are all over them trying to make life wonderful and perfect. This creates something of a demon child. I cannot tell you the number of kids I have witnessed have a good old fashioned hissy fit, I am talking stomping, screaming, I am gonna die tantrum. While the adults just watch and in many cases, laugh. Ha Ha Ha, my grandchild is being funny. Ha ha ha, isn't he cute. Jesus people, wake up.

This brings me to this little angel of delight in the dining room. Daddy or maybe grandpa (I really couldn't tell) is spoon feeding Angel and she is now folding herself in half and sticking her head under the table. I am thinking this is an improvement to the running back and forth chattering in her uncontrolled volume Chinese babble. I was so wrong...
.
Angelic One is putting her head under the table so she can SPIT her food out on the floor. Daddy didn't get what she was doing....he is shoveling the food in faster...saying things like, "Good Girl, Yum Yum, Very Good. More More..." all the while she is smiling and showing him that it as all gone. Yeah, right.

The waitress brought out my bag a, I could not get out of there fast enough. By the time I left the food was nearly 4 inches high. I just want to smack her....

Polite disclaimer: Photos borrowed from bing.com