A Robbie Burns Supper in China

Posted on March 2, 2009 by connieinasia

 

A Robbie Burns Supper at the Bookworm

 

            One of my favorite poets has always been the great Scotsman, national poet of Scotland Robert Burns (1759 – 1796).  My mother would read me these as I grew up. Our favorites included  “To a Louse” (‘O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us/To see oursels as others see us’) and “To A Mouse” (‘‘The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley’ , or in English as ‘The best-laid plans of mice and men / Go often wrong/ Go oft’ astray).

            Even if you’ve heard nothing much of Burns’ work,  “Auld Lang Syne,” the words written by Burns himself , I’m sure is something you’re all quite familiar with.  Even in China, this famous New Year’s song  is sung with the words translated into Chinese.

             My students may not know who Robert Burns is, but they definitely know the “Auld Lang Syne” melody.

            Sure, I know of Robert Burns but when I came across the announcement of a  “Robbie Burns Supper,” that was a mystery.

            When in Chengdu two weeks ago, I had mentioned in a previous blog about The Bookworm.  It’s a foreigner’s café-restaurant of sorts with shelves of used books lining the walls.  The books number in the thousands and are there for everyone’s pleasure in reading or enjoying.

             The Bookworm also has many activities for patrons, including visiting author lectures, famous people meet-and-greets (I was privileged to meet environmentalist Jane Goodall there last year), activities for children, special music nights and so forth.

            Jalin and I had been in the Bookworm the week before I returned to Luzhou.  We were cruising over the U.S. fashion magazines when I noticed a flyer for a Robbie Burns Supper on Saturday night.  The supper was thrown in honor of the poet, Robert Burns, and we were invited to take part in a 7-course meal, meet some Scots and enjoy hearing about the life and times of Robbie.

            For 150 yuan per person ($18), seemed a bargain to me. 

            And since I wasn’t about to go by myself, I invited Jalin to come along with me if her parents approved.

            A night out for the girls!  What fun!

 

What is a Robbie Burns Supper?

 

            I had not a clue what this was about so I looked it up on the Internet. 

            According to what I found, a Burns Supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns. These suppers are normally held on or near the poet’s birthday, January 25, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night, although they may in principle be held at any time of the year.

            Burns suppers are most common in Scotland, but they occur wherever there are Burns Clubs, Scottish Societies, expatriate Scots, or lovers of Burns’ poetry.

            In our case, the Scots in the area of Chengdu (mostly businessmen) had decided to throw this shindig for fun.  They had tried last year but due to conflicts in their schedules, they were unable to. 

            Due to Robert Burns’ great love for the ladies and quite lustful, amorous rovings during his short lifetime, they chose Valentine’s Day (February 14) as an appropriate night to honor our poet.

             I furthermore learned these suppers may be formal or informal but they should always be entertaining. The only items which the informal suppers have in common are haggis, Scotch whiskey and perhaps a poem or ten.  (Haggis, by the way, is a traditional Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal. Yum-yum!!)

 

            Whether formal or not, the suppers follow a standard format:

 

1)      Host’s welcome

2)      The Selkirk Grace

 

                                    Some hae meat and canna eat,

                                    And some wad eat that want it;

                                    But we hae meat, and we can eat,

                                    Sae let the Lord be thankit.

 

3)      Entrance of the haggis (all stand, applaud, and eventually toast the haggis)

4)      Start of the dinner

5)      Numerous speeches and toasts, including readings of Robert Burns, a toast to the lassies and a toast to the lads.

6)      Dancing, songs and closing

 

Jalin and Connie’s Robbie Burns Supper Night Out

            Jalin and I excitedly headed off to the Bookworm from her home at 6:30 p.m., February 14th.

             In the crisp evening night air, we walked the 20 minutes to our destination and entered a very cozy atmosphere.  Half of the café was cordoned off for guests of Burns, the beautifully set tables ablaze in plaid to honor the Scots.  We mingled with a few in kilts, our gentlemen hosts and one bonnie lass, before it was finally time to find a place to sit for the night’s festivities.  And what a night it was! 

            Below, find our grand photo album of fun from The Bookworm and Chengdu’s very first Robbie Burns Supper.   

            From China, here’s sending you an opening week’s Ping An (peace)!

 

 

 

Posted in Tales from Sichuan's Yangtze Rivertown, Luzhou | Leave a comment

Little Old’s Video Clip

Posted on February 26, 2009 by connieinasia
 
 
Little Old’s video clip can be found at:
 
 
 
 
 
Ping An, Everyone!
Posted in Luzhou: Yangtze Rivertown | Leave a comment

News From Luzhou

Posted on February 23, 2009 by connieinasia
 

First Week Back At School

            The first week of school began on February 16 with a lot of fun.

            Every class was  full of excited chatter as my college English majors discussed our warm-up questions about their Chinese New Year holidays.

              “How much hong bao (red envelope) money did you receive?” 

            “What  was the most interesting thing you did during your holiday?”

            “What were the most hours you slept in one night?”

            “Who was the oldest person you saw during your holiday?”

            Sounds of jealous “Oh!”s or hoots of laughter erupted when answers such as

150 ($22) to 3,000 yuan ($440) hong bao spending money were given, going to Shanghai or visiting Chengdu for the lantern festival, sleeping from 12 to 18 hours straight, and ages of 80 to 108 reported as the oldest people met.

            But for me, the greatest part of our back-to-school lesson had to do with the essays everyone wrote about their time at home.  Some met for reunions with high school classmates for picnics on the mountainside or restaurant gatherings.  Others detailed their enjoyable time at home with family.  A few told of some worst events, such as when one young girl had all her spending money stolen at a shop(What a horrible thing!) while another was trying to be helpful by washing clothes and ended up washing her mom’s expensive cell phone in the washing machine.  (It was ruined, obviously.)  And almost all essays recounted grand home cooked feasts prepared by family members. 

            Yes, it was obvious that during the holidays, everyone had eaten well.  Their plump figures attested to that!

            This is now our second week where we’ll be getting back into the usual swing of things and also enjoying this fabulously warm weather!
            Spring has arrived, with all its sunshine, fresh green leaves and blossoming flowers and ornamental trees.

            Shivering, wet and cold is behind us;  Sunny rays, blue skies and warmth are finally here.

 

News of Our Toothless Little Old

 

            This past weekend sent me back to Chengdu yet again to check up on Xiao Lao-lao (Little Old).  He has been in Dr. Q’s clinic for over a week now yet we have had no takers after the article was posted on the Chengdu Economic Daily  newspaper website.  Mr. Wu, the reporter, has kindly been following up on this and looking diligently for anyone who is interested.

            The article stimulated much sympathy with readers posting notes such as, “What a shame!” and “How sad!”  One person did offer to take Little Old only if no one else wanted him but I personally would rather have a person who was willing to take him not as a last resort.

            Having someone who is only half-interested and then throws him out on the street when tired of him is not something I want to happen.

            And the more time spent with Little Old makes one want to keep him even more.  He is truly a sweet little guy but whatever will happen to him? 

           This was definitely going to take a bit more thought and ingenuity on my part. 

           

Little Old Posted On Website In Video

 

            With a somewhat hopeless outlook, I decided to try something new for me:  posting a video of Little Old on a Chinese website. 

            Jalin (the 15-year-old daughter of the Yang family whom I lived next to last year) was the assistant in this venture.  On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Dr. Q’s where Jalin would video me, Dr. Q and Little Old together at the clinic.  We’d make a plea for an adoption, write up a short history and post it, along with the newspaper article, on China’s www.tudou.com. 

            This website is read by millions of Net surfers so   it was the best option, I was told, to have the most viewers.

             The video at the clinic was a great one so we’ll see where it takes us.

            If you’re interested in seeing  the newspaper article (in Chinese but with pictures), please go to:    http://www.028town.com/viewthread.php?tid=522347&extra=&page=1.  Scroll down to the pictures.

            As for the video, I’ll try to post it in an easy spot for you all to watch.

            Wish us luck on finding Little Old a happy, loving home!

 

            Until more updates from Luzhou and our homeless doggie, here’s wishing you Ping An (peace) for your week!

             

 

 

Posted in Luzhou: Yangtze Rivertown | Leave a comment

On A Mission: Finding Xiao Lao (Little Old) A Home

Posted on February 15, 2009 by connieinasia
 
          The streets of this small Chengdu neighborhood are clean and spiffy, lined with fashionable clothes’ shops, well-patroned restaurants, tidy family-run convenience stores and tree-lined alleyways or small grassy parks.  It’s a pleasant place to enjoy walking a little dog but that doesn’t mean it’s absent of misery. 
          Little Flower and I have cruised this area often enough last year and this to notice more than our share of scattered, pitiful sights. I still remember our mentally ill woman who last year lined the sidewalk with her neatly bagged things, then stood guarding them in the pouring rain or frigid temperatures.  There was likewise a disheveled old woman who clutched a small doll, sat under a park tree and smiled at us for several days before disappearing. We’ve had beggars as well, the blind elderly playing the erhu  (Chinese fiddle) with cup in hand for small change and the disfigured who openly display their grotesque wounds in the hopes of drawing sympathy.  And who can forget the discarded, boney pets who trot about, scrounging among the garbage cans for food or looking at passersby with hopeful gaze while searching for their owners.
          When it comes to such sights, my heart aches.  While it’s not a fix to the situation by any means, I can’t help but purchase some food for those who don’t have it, pull out some warmer clothes to give to someone who’s shivering, or backtrack my steps to diliberately find a beggar who needs money. 
         The pets are a different story.   Most just come and go with lightening speed as I walk Little Flower around the block.  They are skiddish and either run or slink away when someone approaches them.  Last year, you’ll remember me raising a 1-week old, abandoned kitten (Xiao Gui-gui, Little Ghost) only because no one else would have her and she was just too young and weak to survive by herself. 
          In such cases, I feel the little ones deserve a chance to live.  Since they can’t do it on their own, I have no qualms about letting my feelings overtake practical sense and bringing them into my home.
          All of this brings me to Thursday, and the finding of Xiao Lao (Little Old).
          Little Flower and I had just crossed the street on our way to Sichuan University’s gorgeous campus.  The bright sun was warm and pleasant, a perfect day for a grand tour around the grassy, tree-lined avenues of the school.
          At the West Gate, as I let LF off leash for her race to the well-kept lawns, another Chihuahua (much shorter and smaller than my dog) came over to see us.  It was a funny looking fellow, bow legged with a muscular barrel chest and a skinny, boney rear end.  And strangest of all was his tongue, which refused to stay in his mouth and dragged on  the dirty ground as he went sniffing about for food. 
          I assumed he belonged to someone.  Most Chinese don’t desert very small dogs, especially Chihuahuas, but this one did have an air about it of being on its own.  When I went over to entice it to come to me, his first reaction was to roll over in a submissive manner and expose his tender belly for a rub, which I did.  Such a sweet, gentle little dog. 
         He was so skinny, though, not to mention a bit dirty with over-grown nails.
         Looking at his cute little face, his tongue still plastered with bits of soil and grass on it, I noticed something rather odd.
         Where were his teeth?
          There was something wrong here but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was until I placed my hand on his jaw.
          Gracious!  There wasn’t any!  There was only an odd flap of loose skin with no bone to hold anything in place, either teeth or tongue. 
          Looking at his upper mouth, I found only 2 stained canines as the only means for him to eat anything.
          How this poor thing managed to get down any food at all was beyond me.  He obviously licked everything up that was edible but it would have to be in the form of gruel or mush since he wasn’t able to chew.  How long had he hunted the streets for such sparse meals?  
          His submissive, almost frightened, attitude toward people led me to believe he had once belonged to someone but everyone nearby I asked, including the gate guards and the daily telephone card sellers, said they didn’t know.   He’d just appeared.
          And with that information, Xiao Lao (Little Old) came to find himself in my possession.
          Carefully bundling up his little body into my arms, I returned to the hotel room with Little Flower.  Little Old had a bath and shivered inside a towel until he became dry enough to curl up by himself on the bed’s comforter.  I then went about making a mushy meal using LF’s dry food and hot water.  This proved a good consistency for our no-teeth visitor.  It was a bit of a mess, him awkwardly licking up the food while splattering it everywhere, including on himself.  Still, he managed well and even had seconds. 
          Someone was definitely hungry.
          Next order of business was to call Dr. Qiu (or Dr. Q, as I call him), my Chinese vet, to enlist his help.  Since I already had one dog, having a second wasn’t an option for me.  It was a bit difficult for me to explain the dog’s problem to him on the phone so he wasn’t exactly aware of his condition until he saw it. 
         On the phone, Dr. Q was very upbeat about finding him a home as he was a little dog and a male at that.  Since Chinese rarely, if ever, spay or neuter, the male dog is much easier to place in someone’s care than a female dog, which goes into heat several times a year. 
          Yet in person, when I taxied Little Old over to see him, his reaction was an astonished, "Oh, my God!
          He shook his head in disbelief at this jawless, toothless creature looking up at him as he held him in his arms.
          "But he’s clean and very loving," I said hopefully.  "Don’t you know some kind person who would care for him?"
          Dr. Q looked doubtful.
          "I have some people I can call," he said.  "We can try but in the meantime, what do you want to do?"
          We both decided it was imperative that Little Old be neutered and given his immunizations right away.  He probably had worms and was definitely in need of vitamins to bring him up to proper health standards before having a new home.    
          That agreed upon, we both settled on an amount to take care of all his needs.  I walked next door to the nearby pet market to purchase a new wire cage, bedding, wet food, feeding bowls, collar and leash for Little Old.  Dr. Q planned to neuter him in the morning and promised the staff would look after him that evening until the next day when I’d be visiting again.
         It was a bit hard to leave him there for the night.   It hadn’t taken me very long to get attached to this poor thing but he was in good hands at Dr. Q’s animal hospital.  Better that place than the streets, that’s for sure. 
          
   Xiao Lao (Little Old) About To Be Famous

 

         For three days, I’ve been visiting Little Old at Dr. Q’s animal clinic.  He enjoys walking on a leash and refuses to use the toilet inside his cage, which is quite a feat considering he’s been on the street for awhile.    He’s already been neutered and had his first round of vaccinations but the search for a home wasn’t turning out very well.  

         Dr. Q called several of his friends who all turned him down.  A toothless dog?  No teeth?  Not a puppy?  No, thanks!

       This was going to be harder than it looked.

       So if all else fails, what do you do?  Go to the press!

       Dr. Q has many contacts and one of them was the pet feature editor of the Chengdu Daily, Mr. Wu Guo Ren.  Dr. Q handed over his telephone number to me and I gave him a ring last night concerning Little Old.  Telephone Chinese for me is always a problem as I can’t see the person directly and I get nervous I’ll not understand.  I try to avoid calling anyone aside from those I know if I’m going to be using my pitiful second language skills.  But I was on a mission this time and determined to find Little Old a home.  Mr. Wu would be a lifeline to those in the public who might take on a pity pet case and consider taking a special needs Chihuahua for their own.

       Mr. Wu was quite eager to do a story about this dog so he came over to the clinic this Sunday morning where we talked about Little Old.  I gave him the full story of how I found him, complete with his gentle, quiet demeaner, his special food requirements and the fact that he would have all his shots and had been fixed.  He was really ready to go.  He just needed a loving home.

      Mr. Wu took quite a few pictures, talked a bit with Dr. Q about the dog’s condition and then took his leave of us.  The article will be published on the paper’s website, not in daily print, but we hope that will be enough to find him a home.

     I’m the contact person, meaning I’ll have plenty of practice with my telephone and written Chinese for those who call or email.  My plan is to return to Chengdu next weekend to hopefully send our little guy to a better home. 
     In the meantime, Dr. Q’s staff will continue to take care of him in the hospital, fattening him up and getting him ready for a new life.

    Next email will be from Luzhou, including pictures of a very interesting week, Little Old being one of the photo specials.

                              Until next time, Ping An (Peace), from China!   
           
         
          

Posted in Return to China | Leave a comment

Return to China

Posted on February 12, 2009 by connieinasia
 
Picking Up Xiao Hua (Little Flower)    
    

         It was an anxious and long hike up to Mrs. He’s home on the 7th floor of her apartment building.  Jalin was tagging along behind me as it was a Sunday afternoon and she didn’t have classes to attend.  I’d just arrived in Chengdu that morning from a  2-day trip from the States.  Flight changes and an overnight in Beijing made it a very long journey with very little sleep.  But my first order of business after settling into the hotel here has, and will always be, getting the dog, Xiao Hua (Little Flower). 7 weeks apart and it was time for reuniting.

           Once again, Mrs. He (a very gracious hostess) met us at the door along with two yapping doggies, her poodle and a very excited Chi, Little Flower.  I was relieved to see not only had she happily settled into her temporary home while I was gone but had a playmate as well.  Her figure was intact and her meds for her arthritis condition were obviously working well.  She was all over the place, bounding from couch to sofa chair to floor, while we all sat around to chat about my trip to America.

          As always, I presented Mrs. He with small gifts for her family as well as a money envelope for LF’s stay.  We made this monetary agreement 7 years ago and I stick to it, although Mrs. He considers us friends and insists I shouldn’t do it. 

          "Consider it a hong bao (Chinese New Year red envelope) for your daughter," I tell her.  Mrs. He’s girl is now 21 and a junior in university.  It’s still the custom to give red envelopes to older young people as well so this pretty much satisfies her uneasiness. 

           In China, if you’re buying or gifting for the kids, pretty much anything is acceptable.

           We all laughed at stories about LF which Mrs. He related, including how the dog always wants to get under the covers to sleep with her and her husband.

            Mrs. He re-enacts a shivering Little Flower pawing at the covers around her neck, insisting she needs under there with the husband and wife team.  

            I merely laugh.

            I don’t dare tell her this American has no problem with the dog sandwiched cozily in bed  between the sheets and the coverlet.  It’s one of those unspoken truths we both know takes place but don’t mention.  Being Chinese, she’d feel forced to tsk in utter horror at such an idea and I’d be forced to admit I spoil the dog that much.

            Better to keep the dog-in-the-bed topic in the unspoken category of our relationship.

 Resting Up In The Capital City Before Holidays End

            The week is coming to an end here in Chengdu.  I am getting over jetlag and finishing up a few things before returning to Luzhou on Saturday with the new semester beginning on Monday. In the meantime, I’ve had a very exciting evening for Da Nian (Big Year), which was last Monday.  This was the official Chinese New Year’s end to truly bring in the 1st day of the Ox on Tuesday. 

           The Chinese Lantern Festival in Chengdu is still in full swing at the big park outside of town, although last Monday was the festival’s day itself.  It’s been going on for over a month and will continue to the 23rd.  I’ve already been with Jalin, her mom and her mom’s younger sister to enjoy the displays and fight our way through the crush of other spectators. 

            Most students are still on holiday this week although not so for Jalin.  She will be taking her high school entrance exam this summer. Her classes started a week earlier than others to prepare for this important test.  Senior high school students about to take the college entrance exams in June likewise have already returned to their studies.

          We’ve been making up for her diligence, however, with visits in the evening to The Bookworm, where Jalin takes her homework to do for the next day.

Chengdu’s Enjoyable Hang-out for Foreigners:  The Bookworm

          The Bookworm is a mere 15 minutes’ walk from us.  It’s  a library-style, restaurant-cafe that serves international foods, drinks, offers lectures by visiting authors, holds special holiday celebrations and invites all to enjoy comfy sofas with their laptops, offered magazines or choices of thousands of English books lining their walls.  This is a foreigner’s hang-out but quite a few select Chinese also like to patron the place. 

         There are even children’s English speaking activities on Saturday morning with skits, book reading and craft time led by adults from the international community. 

         And recently, we’ve all been enjoying some new guests of the establishment:  2 kittens belonging to the owner.  Both the long-haired and short-haired kitties have become the favorites of the place.  Our little  library felines hop onto tables, drink saucers of cream we offer from our coffees, bat at our newspapers, sit on our magazines and curl up on our laps.   

          Yes, the place has a very family-home, quiet feel to it.  This is probably why Jalin and I have enjoyed  frequenting it so often this week. For me, it’s a feeling of being back in America.  For Jalin, it’s a pleasant and different cultural experience that she’s not used to as an average Chinese teenager.

          I do have to admit, however, that there’s another side to the place.  It definitely meets the needs of the single crowd, including young (and old) looking for dates.    Jalin and I spend a lot of time snickering over the pick-up lines the men (mostly the older ones) throw out at the giggly Chinese girls they approach.  

           Yes, the Bookworm offers a lot of entertainment for all.

 Closing Off

           As I do not have access to my own computer, you will have to wait for a photo album of enjoyable pictures from our Lantern Festival outing as well as the Bookworm.  

           Stay tuned for more news from China!

          As always, Ping An (peace) for your day.       

           

   

  

Posted in Return to China | Leave a comment

Capturing the Chinese New Year

Posted on January 31, 2009 by connieinasia
 

       When I was teaching in Taiwan, our neighborhood had a very special Chinese New Year tradition.  I share it here with you for the newly-arrived Year of the Ox.

Chinese New Year is a slippery holiday.

I discovered this during my three years in Taiwan as an English teacher. Pinpointing the exact day for celebrations and figuring out which animal was assigned to what year on the Chinese lunar calendar was a constant struggle for me. Nor could I depend on my Taiwanese colleagues for help. Not only did they often misinform me about the dates, but they left out important details of customs which were necessary for me to know about. One of these concerned a long-lasting tradition practiced within the school’s apartment complex where I lived.

On the day of Chinese New Year, it is customary for those in Taiwan to visit one another, exclaiming the Chinese New Year greeting "Gongxi, gongxi!"(Congratulations!) and offering words of good luck for the year. Our principal was the one to begin these early morning visits by stopping at apartment doors to greet her neighbors and invite them to join her on the rounds of our small community. One by one, those visited followed after her until the last person joined to complete the neighborhood. After a quick group photo, everyone then returned home to prepare for their own private celebrations with relatives and friends.

My first year in Taiwan, no one bothered to tell me about this New Year’s custom. I was so pre-occupied with the end of the school year and my mother’s arrival that I hadn’t even asked if something special was happening on that particular day. My "awakening" came at 7:30 in the morning with an insistent pounding on my door.

Hair askew, bleary-eyed and a tad grouchy, I sprang out of bed and opened my door to a crowd of excited Taiwanese.

"Gongxi, gongxi!" my principal and neighbors gleefully sang out.

No one seemed to mind that I had just rolled out of bed. They insisted my still-slumbering mother and I join them for the rest of the village tour, as well as the group photo afterwards. Mom and I always laugh at that picture: There we stand, the groggy, disheveled foreigners amidst the cheery, well-dressed Taiwanese.

The next year, I was determined to make a good showing for Chinese New Year. After asking a friend for the exact date, I began planning how best to impress my neighbors for their special day. I prepared little bags of "lucky" candy. I placed happiness couplets on my door. I practiced my "Gongxi, gongxi!" until I sounded like a native. On the important day, I awakened early, applied a decent layer of make-up and slipped into a stunning dress. Then I sat by my open doorway and anxiously awaited the coming of my neighbors.

For four hours, I waited. It was noon before I finally gave up, believing that the principal had gone on vacation that year and thus the visits had been canceled. Not until the next morning, when I was aroused from bed by an oddly familiar knocking, did I realize my friend had told me the wrong day. Once again, Chinese New Year had slipped through my fingers.

My third New Year’s in Taiwan, I vowed I would be victorious. This time, I checked the date through a more reliable source, the Internet. I again prepared my decorations and "lucky" candy bags. I dressed appropriately. I confidently stood at my doorway. Low and behold, my visitors arrived right on time.

"Gongxi, gongxi!" I cried, thrusting my prepared sweets into their hands while enjoying the looks of surprise my holiday welcome was eliciting.

Principal Mei was especially pleased by my enthusiasm. She immediately linked her arm in mine. Side by side, we jubilantly led the group on the annual rounds of the community. I was even honored by being the official photographer for the neighborhood photograph. Hands clasped and shoulders embraced, all smiled as I triumphantly snapped away.

At last, I thought, Chinese New Year is mine!

When it came time for us to depart, Principal Mei pulled me aside.

"We are so happy you prepared for us this year," she said. "It makes us feel very special, but do you understand the Chinese above your door?"

I gazed at the holiday banner I had hurriedly placed up the night before.

"Gongxi, gongxi!"" I proudly read. "Good fortune in the Year of the Tiger."

"But, Connie," Principal Mei whispered sweetly, "this is the Year of the Rabbit."

Posted in The Chinese New Year | Leave a comment

Out With The Rat, In With The Ox

Posted on January 26, 2009 by connieinasia
 

It’s hard to believe just 10 days ago, I was in China’s northern Lanzhou city, enjoying a last dash to the grocery store to pick up a few items as gifts for friends in the States. The crowds were already starting for the Chinese New Year buy-out of clothes, food and candies for the big January 26th celebration when the Rat Year would leave us and the Ox Year would take its place.

As with the approach of any special day, either in China or the States, entire aisles had been cleared of daily necessity items and replaced with holiday merchandise.

It was hard to miss the sea of red ornaments, placed at the entranceway of the store to catch eager buyers’ attention. Chinese New Year danglies, stacks of red envelopes for money gifts to young people, prosperity couplet door hangings, Chinese happiness character posters and rounded lanterns lined an entire wall.

Sales on winter coats, long underwear, socks, suit jackets and padded pants crowded the clothing sections.

The food floor was overrun with specialty meats (flattened duck, juicy sausages, dried beef strips), waves upon waves of assorted candy counters and fresh fruits up from the southern regions.

Grocery carts were loaded as entire families shopped together: young couples held hands, proud grandparents balanced bundled-up babies in their arms, mothers and fathers pulled their excited children through the masses. There is nothing like shopping in China before the New Year holidays.

Now we have the day almost upon us here in the States but the upbeat, festive atmosphere is not to be found in my small town area. The streets are empty, the store aisles back to normal after Christmas and the shoppers average in number.

Nothing special going on here.

Today, the day before the Ox Year, my mother and I attended church and then returned home to a spaghetti dinner my father had prepared for us. Despite his healthy difficulties these past 4 months, he is still able to pull off a dinner or two when he’s feeling well. Today was just one such day.

In the quiet of our house, my mother and I have ushered in the new year by replacing last year’s rat with this year’s ox. How do we do this?

Well, every year, my mother waits for me to send a new Chinese decoration to hang up in the house for China’s Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). As is the custom in China, decorations stay up the entire year and are never taken down so as not to take away any good luck they bring. Only when the next Chinese New Year arrives is it safe to replace the old with the new. My mother lets hang her Chinese dangly through all four seasons before it’s time to retire our old year and bring in our new one.

Today, I retired the Year of the Rat by removing our rat decoration and my mother brought in the Year of the Ox by hanging up the xx, a rather ostentatious, wildly colorful bull’s head.

My greatest prayer is that the ox will bring about a better year than the rat, which has just seen more sorrows and troubled times than any animal should for 12 months.

For all my Chinese readers, I wish you much happiness for your special day on Monday. May your family gatherings be joyful, your spirits be high and the days ahead full of promise and hope.

From small town Marshall, Illinois, here’s sending you a Ping An (Peace) for your day!

Posted in A Visit Home to America | Leave a comment

A Wednesday in the Countryside

Posted on January 18, 2009 by connieinasia

 

Leaving for the Project Sites

 

            Our group set out at 8:30 a.m. from the hotel to visit two main projects near the smaller city of Dingxi, 1 ½ hours away by bus.  As we’d be traveling high into the mountains, on bumpy, narrow roads, 7 mini-vans had been hired rather than one huge tour bus.  There was a group of about 35: Amity English teachers (whose countries included Canada, America, Britain, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Austria),  a number of overseas’ sending agency representatives and Amity staff from Nanjing and Hong Kong.  In a biting 10 degrees, we loaded onto the vans under Lanzhou’s hazy skies and off we drove out of the city.

            The main expressway was first to bring us into Dingxi, where local government officials were there to greet us.

            Almost all Amity’s rural development projects are a cooperative effort between the local county or provincial government, the beneficiaries of the projects (in this instance, the villagers) and the Amity Foundation.  This partnership is created to empower and support the projects from within rather than just being Amity giving free hand-outs to those in need.  Funding for projects focuses on a 3-party system with each putting in their own portion of money, time and effort:  villagers, local government and Amity.  In the case where villagers are not able to fund a project due to lack of money, Amity and the local government will take over that role.

            Our visits for the day were to see the rewards of Amity’s micro-credit loan system and biogas, although many other projects in the region were likewise going on.

           

Amity’s  Micro-credit Loan System

 

              In China, limited loans from the bank are available to anyone who has an income.  No income, however, means no loan.  This makes it very difficult for the very poor to bring themselves out of poverty to help themselves.

              Another difficulty in bank loans deals with who gets the loan.  The signer of the loan is often allowed only by the man as the women villagers have no incomes.  The men are the ones to migrate into the larger cities, spending months at construction sites getting more money to send home.  The women are left in the villages to tend to farming or household chores. If the man is not present, or if a woman has no male in the family bringing in a salary, there is a problem.   

            Banks in China will just not give loans to such women or too low-income individuals, thus Amity has taken up this problem with its micro-credit loan program.

            Any villager or family can apply for a loan of up to 2,000 yuan (about $300 US) from Amity. Those with little family income or individuals who have no income are not discriminated against.  Of course, those who apply for loans have a carefully detailed plan of what they will do with the money, how it will benefit them to become financially independent individuals and how they will pay it back. In the case of these kinds of loans, the primary endeavors by locals include opening up small stores, raising livestock and farming. (In Gansu, potato and corn are the two major crops grown in the region.)

            A majority of the micro-credit loans are given to women who can then help support the family at home while the men are off in the cities.  This gives them a feeling of pride and success, being able to contribute greatly to the family income.  It also benefits the village, raising living standards and allowing others to service their community.

            According to those working in this program, almost all loans are paid back to Amity.

 

 

Bio-gas Project

              

            In Gansu, the dry weather creates a burden for women to clear areas of grass and what little wood there is to burn for cooking.  Deforestation has been a major problem due to this and also a great hardship for women who have to spend hours finding fuel every day.

            But there is a safe, environmental alternative for these dessert-like regions to get fuel and that is using bio-gas.

            Basically, with bio-gas, a special tank is built under the ground into which is placed human and animal waste.  The tank is sealed with a heavy cement lid. The natural gasses that build up inside this tank are fed out through pipes into the home and can then be used as a constant source of energy.  It flames the gas burners for cooking in the home and also heats the stove to warm the room or boil water. 

            Those wishing to have such a system installed for their homes must put down 900 yuan ($135) with the further costs covered by Amity and/or the local government.

             The benefits of such a system are amazing, not only for the environment but for the time, energy and hardship involved for searching the land to burn other things for fuel use (coal, corn husks, grass).  Then, too, the problem of what to do with livestock or human waste is taken care of.  Into the tank it goes, creating a sustainable source of clean energy.

            While the bio-gas system is a great one, Amity and government organizers are still struggling with convincing and informing more villagers of its excellent benefits, both to themselves and the land itself.  900 yuan is a fortune for many of these poor families.  They’d rather continue in the way they’ve always done than spend money on something they’ve managed without for generations.

 

A Potato Opera and a Tug-of-War in Friendship

 

            We visited two villages.  One had been re-located from the high mountain ranges, meaning their homes were 2-story cement buildings and located on accessible roads.  They were also in the lower-lying plains. 

            The second village was more rustic, found high into the mountains with typical mud-walled houses and no bus routes, stores or schools within miles.

            At the first village, we were entertained by village performers.  We had an erhu (Chinese fiddle) duet and a local opera performance about potato farmers in the field.

            At the mountainous village, we participated in a tug-of-war contest as an ice-breaker. We were also treated to boiled potatoes with salty condiments after our tour of the village and its Amity-benefited projects.

 

Amity’s Rural Development Work in China

 

            Both visits gave us a vivid, and moving, understanding of the work Amity does for people in need, and the work yet needing to be done in China.  Many times, those overseas’ only see on TV the wealthy cities, the prosperous regions, the “rich” China. Even we as teachers, located in our cozy cities and college campuses, see little of such areas, where a majority of our students are from.

 

            These kind of reminders make us realize there are still millions who need a helping hand.  What a blessing it is that the Amity Foundation is here to help, and an even greater blessing that we as Amity teachers were able to see Amity in action during our time in Gansu.

            As for those of you out there who will never make it on an Amity project tour, I hope you enjoy the photo album.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case, I’d have to say that’s right.

 

           From China, here’s sending you Ping An (peace) for your day.

 

Note:  The Amity Foundation is a United Methodist Advance Special.  UM Churches wishing to support Amity and specific Amity projects, including Bible Printing in China, can easily do so via the Advance.

 

 

Posted in China's North | 1 Comment

A Visit To The Moon: Gansu Province

Posted on January 17, 2009 by connieinasia
 

            The dry, powdery, gray surface of the moon.

            That was my first impression flying into the Lanzhou Airport in northern Gansu Province, where our Amity Winter Conference was being held last week.

            Every year, we Amity teachers meet together for a week in different areas of the country where Amity rural development projects are taking place.  We are introduced to the area in our hotel meeting rooms, then go off to countryside sites to see Amity in action among the very poor.  We also do teacher workshops, sharing our lessons with one another, and fill in the extra time with worship, catching up, and being informed by staff about certain business items.  Then it’s off for vacation, wherever we choose, before the New Year holidays end and send us back to our schools, starting at times from Feb. 16 to March 1, depending on our colleges’ schedules.

            This being my first trip to Gansu, the barren mountainsides of sandstone and rock that stretched for miles truly amazed me.  After my lush, green, Sichuan panda country, I was literally dumped onto the moon’s surface where not a single green could be seen anywhere.  When it came to the busride into the capital city,  another surprise awaited me.  We drove and weaved through this bleak land for 70 minutes, not a single village or town in sight, before a sudden turn brought us to sprawling  Lanzhou (lahn-joe), a population of 3.5 million.

            According to statistics, there are 10 most polluted cities in the world.  5 of these are in China.  I was told years ago, Lanzhou was one of them (in the 1990s) but has been cleaned up quite a bit since then.  It’s still a bit more hazy than what I’ve experienced down south. The smog that hovered over and through it was impossible to miss.  There was nothing at all pretty about the place, from my perspective, just a lot of buildings and heavily trafficked main streets.  Given also that it was winter, with temperatures in the 20s, made it even more unpleasant. 

            From my 17th floor hotel window, the haze was dense and thick all during the week I was there.  The mountains barely managed to pierce through this smog although you could make them out a tiny bit.  Car horns and traffic was likewise atrocious, sending vehicle exhaust fumes puffing to overtake what little clean oxygen there might be for us people to breath in.

            Having this kind of introduction within a matter of hours to Gansu Province, I knew in an instant that Amity’s rural development projects were much needed here.  I just couldn’t imagine people surviving in such an environment, either in or outside of the city.  With rainfall being so little, sometimes not a single drop for over 5 months, how could people in the countryside and mountainous areas live?
            I was about to find out Wednesday, when our visits to Amity projects would take us to just those kind of barren places and bring us among the people in Gansu who lived there.   

Posted in China's North | Leave a comment

Final Exams: A Hopeless Case

Posted on January 11, 2009 by connieinasia
 
         It was hopeless.

        Not even the fourth time taking our conversation final was going to do it for poor Eric, a 1st year English major in my Freshman Class 2.
        From day 1, I knew Eric (Wu Tao) should have changed his major.  Not only couldn’t he respond to "What’s your name?" or read a simple sentence in English, but the entire class he spent huddled next to the monitor (class leader) for constant translation.
       His demeanor screamed "Countryside!" from the moment I saw him:  darkened, leathery skin from working in the fields, disheveled hair from not grooming, rumpled clothes, and his daily "deer in the headlight" look of being caught in an academic environment quite foreign from his rural lifestyle and limited educational background. 
       I became very used to his Jethrow-like confused, wide-eyed wonder and vacant expressions both in and out of class.
       Despite being lost a majority of the time, he always had a grin on his face and an eager jump to erase the board or hand out papers to the other students.  And his classmates were so kind and patient.  They sat next to him, trying to lead him through the lesson or explain in Chinese what was going on.
     Yet when it came to the conversation final, not even his classmates could help.
       For 5 weeks, we had practiced in class the group conversation final which would count for 70% of everyone’s grade.  In groups of 3, students practiced asking one another questions about the lessons we’d done.  In total, there were 20 questions which students had ahead of time to prepare for.  During the test, all 20 went into a pot.  Each student drew a question to ask his other two group-mates.  The last question was mine, a free-for-all which no one knew although I prepared them with the subjects beforehand.  Each student’s grade was based upon the answers given and also their group dynamics, such as helping one another, giving positive feedback and showing interest in each other’s replies.
       The test was designed so if everyone practiced, if everyone participated, if everyone prepared, all could pass.
       At least, that’s until Eric showed up.
       Although his classmates openly gave him the answers during the test, Eric just couldn’t manage.  He couldn’t read the question to lead his group.  He couldn’t understand the questions he was asked.  He couldn’t even repeat what his friends told him to say.  Mostly, he just sat in silence, looking around the room for signs of the holy spirit of English to descend upon him and bless him with something to say in this alien language he chose as his major.
       "I try again!  Try again!" were Eric’s parting words every time I announced his failure to pass.
        But by the fourth time, Eric was just getting worse (if that’s possible), not better.  Part of his problem had to do with his group-mates who were so frustrated by his inability to be helped that they snapped at him or sighed in utter exasperation.
        In the end, we all had to laugh, including Eric himself.  We knew it was impossible.  For Eric, English was an alien tongue and would most likely remain so for the rest of his life, no matter how hard he tried.
        The sympathetic teacher in me wasn’t able to give the poor guy a 0 so I gave him 10% for each test he took, a total of 40%.  I added to that a bag of candy to share with his testing group, dorm roommates and friends.
      The last I saw of him was on January 1st, New Year’s Day, after failing my test a fourth time.  Tucking his candy stash under his arm, he bounded excitedly down the steps to pack up his belongings for the 9-hour busride home.  The holidays had begun.  Tests were behind him.  Time to return home to see his parents and hometown, which I’m sure were greatly missed this semester.
       I do wish Eric a happy holiday but I sure hope he decides to change his major next semester.  For this upcoming Chinese Year of the Ox, he might have the strength of a bull to survive our college but he certainly doesn’t have the English language ability to do it.
 
        At present, I am in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province, to attend our winter Amity teacher’s conference.  The conference lasts for a week and will include teaching workshops given by Amity teachers as well as site visits to Amity rural development projects in the area.  Little Flower is at her babysitter’s home, Mrs. He, in Chengdu and will remain there for a month.  After the conference, I’ll be returning to the States to check up on my parents. 
       This week, more reports on Lanzhou to follow!

      From China, wishing you "Ping An!" (peace) for your Sunday.

 
 
Posted in Tales from Sichuan's Yangtze Rivertown, Luzhou | 1 Comment