This is Ting Country

my first time speaking Chinese

2009-10-03T04:57:00.003+08:00

Today, I was at Safeway, at the customer service desk. A woman was pretending to punch a card and making small shooting noises. She had grey hair, was tiny, and spoke very, very little English. I was imagining a re-enactment of a situation on a bus in Ithaca, where a dark-skinned, silent Asian man had been trying to do something, and the frustrated bus driver finally turned to me and asked, "Do you speak... your language??"

Thus, I tried to avoid the customer representative's eyes, but the woman herself turned to me. "Chinese?" I then proceeded to translate her wants and needs. The rep didn't seemed phased or surprised, merely responded to me as though it happened every day. As for me... I haven't spoken much Chinese since coming back, and none at all on the street, so it was kind of fun to get back into it.

So do I have culture shock? Strangely... no. I lived for a month in rural Oregon, and the isolation helped ease me back. Now, I'm in a much more diverse area than China, and definitely Oregon, but it's a welcome change. I miss Kunming sometimes, and I'm sure I'll get the urge to go back soon enough, but for now... I'm back in the U.S.A., baby!

hello

2009-04-21T10:01:00.002+08:00

Just wanted to write a quick update.

Transitions, transitions. They are truly difficult. I don't feel the same as I did two posts ago. Now that I'm about to leave Kunming (for what? where? not sure yet, but I'm 95% sure I'm leaving China), I love it.

The life here is so easy, so amazing! I've just been sucked in. I can get massages for three bucks, facials for eight, a meal for two (and not just noodles!), an apartment to myself for less than two hundred a month, etc etc.

Chinese culture? Of course it's confusing, and it's bitten me in the ass more than once - especially since I look Chinese - but in the end, sometimes things work out so strangely that all you can do is smile. Don't like China? Complaining about it often? Leave. No, seriously.

I am truly picking the worst time to leave, though. The economy is horrible, I don't know what's going on with my life, I can't get a job. But if I stay here much longer, I'm just gonna get sucked in. Or I'll revert back to the me-a-few-months-ago, whining about being here for too long.

Now is the perfect time to go. I'm gonna miss it so much, and when I come back, it won't be the same. I never want to be just a tourist, which may be part of the reason I keep going back to the same places over and over again, rather than exploring new parts of China. (Though my summer may hopefully include a trip to Gansu and Xinjiang, two must-see places on my list.) It's nice to be recognized, to be able to communicate with people, to really try to connect.

China, you've been good to me. Sorry if I'm being corny, but I have about a month left and I'm scareed!!

PS, BTW, if you talk to my dad, don't tell him anything. I'm avoiding him at all costs due to the fact that I have no answers for any of his questions :)

2009 approaches...

2008-12-30T11:12:00.004+08:00

... and I will have been here for .. two years and three months? Wow how time passes! I actually didn't have that much to say. Just wanted to let people know that I am yes, still alive, and will be here until May.

Participated in my first ever bike race this weekend. It was pretty intense and I didn't do that great (7th... out of 12 women... haha), but apparently it's one of the hardest races my friend has done so at least I finished it! Crazy uphill but a great view of Kunming at the top. Here's a not very flattering photo but you can get a glimpse of it. About 200 participants! Pretty crazy that there are THAT many bikers here. :)

I really want to go to SE Asia, since I love it, for Chinese New Years. It will be pricey, esp. since I'm planning on going to Japan for a wedding in Feb. However, I haven't been for a year (when I went to Laos) so I think I will need to just spend the moolah! Right now I'm thinking either a bike trip into Laos, or perhaps beaching in Thailand. Suggestions?

being abroad

2008-10-17T16:05:00.002+08:00

From an email to a friend:

Strangely enough, sometimes I wonder if being abroad has a negative effect on people, making us more cynical and close-minded than we used to be. After all, I now have extreme road rage in the streets of Kunming, and turn ugly when dealing with crowds and frustrating customer service. Some of my friends who have been in China for “too long” can lo longer enjoy the country. “China this,” they complain. “Chinese people that.” Yet my friends in Oregon, none of whom have been to China, are careful about not offending me. “I’ve heard so-and-so about China/Chinese culture,” they say. “But I wanted to check with you first.”

Why does this happen? Why are American (and Israeli, German, etc.) tourists notorious for being obnoxious? Why do people abroad feel justified in making broad statements about the local people? These are, of course, stereotypes. There are plenty of people abroad who are respectful and nonjudgmental (which is, of course, something I am not always able to carry off). There are also plenty of people in the states I wouldn’t want representing me (which is probably why they are not my friends).

However, I do sometimes wonder if I would be a better person if I had stayed in China for only, say, a year. I feel people getting bored with me when I complain about being here for way too long (a total of over two and a half years), about how I need a change. If I had left earlier, would I still see China as a mysterious, adventurous country?

Anyway, I think a lot of this is the homesickness talking. Was able to FINALLY visit home for the first time in two years, and it wasn't quite enough. Kunming is beautiful right now, and I'm not as unhappy as I have been, on and off, these past few months, but there's still something that can be said for living at home, near loved ones.

hello! I'm not dead

2007-10-13T17:44:00.000+08:00

I will work on a good blog entry about what's been going on, but I decided to write something so that any stalkers will rest assured that I'm still hangin out in Yunnan Province.

Some news: An article I've been working on/stressing about since June (ugh) is up! Rural Eco-tourism in NW Yunnan. If you read the editor's comments about the fate of this website, you can sort of imagine a bit of the nightmare this put me through, also. But it's DONE and possibly won't be there forever, so check it out. :)

Also... I am looking for a job. In a big Chinese city, or SE Asia. (Both rank as "civilization" in comparison to Yunnan.) My visa runs out at the end of November and I don't have a plane ticket home which potentially puts me at a dangerous and expensive situation. Hoping for a miracle but maybe some of my friends can help me out, too;).

Will write more soon!

Buyi women and trash collecting

2007-06-01T11:31:00.000+08:00

I have so much to write about… I still need to play catch-up but, for now, I absolutely need to write about Tuesday afternoon and night.

The migrant center also works with another Buyi minority community that is about a 30-minute walk away. With this community, they work not with the kids but with this group of women who do something called “Theater of the Oppressed,” which involves singing, dancing, and a short play involving a reenactment of their lives. Many of them collect trash for a living, and can make about 30-40 yuan a day (after working about 7am – lunch, then 4pm – through the evening). They are from Guizhou, and the stereotype here in Kunming – that people from Guizhou are the trash-collectors – does ring truth. This job pays a decent amount, if one can handle it.

A Hong Kong volunteer went with them on Tuesday to record some sounds of Kunming to put in their play (as background noise) and I was able to follow along. It was such a bittersweet experience – I knew it was an incredible opportunity, yet I soon realized it was certainly not just some exciting adventure. These women took the time to give us a glimpse of their day, yet it really was only a glimpse – usually, they push through intensively, and split up to make their rounds. This time, three of them came with us and, for our sakes, didn’t collect as much as they would have during their shortened shift.

That is the beauty of it – their overwhelming kindness. Even while working this difficult, humiliating job, they were able to make it accessible for us and we could see a bit of what they go through everyday. They come from China’s poorest and probably most underrated in terms of culture and beauty (though I wouldn’t know; I haven’t been there yet) province, and they have come to Yunnan to find a better life. The things I have been able to learn informally at this migrant center, all without conducting any formal interviews, have been invaluable. I can’t wait to spend more time with those women.

Here is a video that I uploaded myself onto Youtube. Slightly impromptu - they knew we were recording, but I was trying to be discreet. This is them walking and singing a Buyi minority song after a short rest.

Later that night I got to watch them practice at a public square. They brought some of their children with them, and went through their routine. I felt a bit of déjà vu from my own high school drama experiences, although, this was still drastically different. No director, no space to themselves, just a routine to go through over and over again until they get it right. If you are in China, maybe someday they’ll be coming to a stage near you!

don't you wish your food was hot like mine?

2007-05-29T12:10:00.000+08:00

A long time without updates - I apologize! I will post more after this, I'm just going to try to catch up for now.

My cousin came to visit during her year-long Asia backpacking trip. It was great to see her for the first time after a six-year separation. She came to the migrant center and to the other NGO's office, and got to slowly acclimate herself to China. Being from my mom's side of the family, she doesn't speak Chinese and I became her food host. While I am a noodles girl myself, I tried to present her with some delicious meals.

Without further ado, here is a selection of some yummy things. None of the credit for these pictures is mine, although I did recently get a camera, so... watch out you blog readers!

1) A (slightly pricey) Chinese meal! We met some Chinese friends at a nice restaraunt (see the glasses and plates?) and had... whatever it is there.

2)Crossing bridge Yunnan noodles. Famous here, there are many chains available to try a taste. They bring out a bowl of extremely hot, oil-filmed soup and depending on what you ordered, you pile it in and in a minute, you have your meal.

3) Isn't this a great shot? Dumplings... the handsome couple who runs this stand near my office has a child about to test for college. Their business is always excellent during lunch, but they manage to handle the flow very professionally.

4)Korean BBQ meat! I'm only just now realizing just how popular Korean food is popular is here. I myself am starting to enjoy it a lot. This resteraunt was really enjoyable, as you can tell by my ridiculous grin.

5)Crab "hot pot"... mmm mmm! Difficult to eat, but spicy (a must for both of us) and delicious.

6) Us grabbing a simple meal while at the migrant center! Since we don't close till 7:30, 8, sometimes we get food delivered while in the office. This is my co-worker, who is famous for her previous work with many orphanages.

7)And our favorite... roast duck. We came here at least three times during Yen's stay. And it probably wasn't enough.
8) Dim sum. That's all visitors want when they come to China, isn't it? Well I'm sorry to say that in Kunming I've only had it twice - it's a Guangdong province thing! And compared to what we had in this picture, well, it's better in the States.

9) Of course, street meat! One of my favorite parts of this city is being able to grab some munchies throughout the day and most of the night.

10) We went to Xishuanbanna for the Dai New Year. The Chinese Dai minority have many similarities to Thais, and they celebrate their new year with a (now very touristy) event called Watersplashing festival. Unfortunately, we have few pictures of the fun, but we do have a couple of food. Here is a picture of our first meal after crawling off the sleeper bus. My friend has a Dai aunt who lives in Jinghong and was sweet enough to take us to lunch. This picture does Dai food no justice!

11) Later that night we ate some real Dai barbecue. Most of it was wrapped in leaves and was deliciously spicy.
12)Migan - a sort of rice noodle. Yen pointed out that it looks a little like pho, so like true vietnamese, we dug in.

Chinese food may make you think of stomach problems, and stomach problems may make you think of health, and health may make you think of the recent news involving Chinese pharmaceuticals and exported goods, such as the antifreeze toothpaste in Panama. Well, China's former drug regulator is now facing the drug sentence. I can't say I agree with this punishment, although I do have to say I'm a bit worried about what's been going into my body. I did see a (actually, two - well, actually... six, in the loose sense of the word) doctor at a Chinese hospital last week, and while it was an interesting experience that cost me a whopping 50 cents (my flea medication - oh, by the way, I got fleas on my recent field trip - came to about 5 dollars), I'm not sure I would repeat it, nor am I regretting that I didn't buy the antihistamines prescribed to me (which would have cost about two dollars).

extension: approved!

2007-04-19T09:47:00.000+08:00

Yay! I just found out that I will have more money to be here until October 16. That does not mean I'm coming back immediately afterwards. Far from it, in fact. I technically have a one way back to the States to use before September 16... but I will likely not use it. Pretty sad, but time is passing by quickly, right? I hope to get a lot of stuff done.

now you must love my blog!

2007-04-04T13:13:00.000+08:00

I just learned how to add pictures straight through this website... so no more huge pictures that took forever to upload (I hope) will plague my blog. Things are still exciting, although the fact that I will be leaving for almost a month to back to Shangrila is bittersweet, mainly because of the migrant center...

I don't have many new pictures on me, but I do have some old ones.

Us and some of the Tibetan ladies from Hongpo village. This was after they had taken us to some hot springs nearby. It sounds like heaven, and it was: wonderful people, hot springs in the mountains (cheap, too!), singing and dancing all night long. Many of the women from that village go there before the new year, once a year.

So that's just a taste of what I can do now!! Muhaha! Wait for more..

P.S.... In hindsight, this took a lot of time to upload. But it looks nice, eh?

my trip to burma and the green lake

2007-03-25T11:44:00.000+08:00

I only seem to be able to upload only one picture at a time. So, painstakingly, I did it. Here is a little view of what I've been up to:

Way back in January, we "took" (I tagged along) six Tibetans from a village in Deqin to Luquan (uplands of Yunnan) and Xishuanbanna (down south) for field visits - so that they could see other project sites. It was an amazing trip, and I went through a slight depression after they went home. This picture is of us in Burma, where we crossed the border for about ten minutes. Hmmm.. gives me some ideas for planning my next trip..

This is a more recent photo! I've been at the migrant center for only a week, but I'm going to become a pretty committed volunteer. They took me to the community the children live in, and they're going to be starting an oral history project there pretty soon. Many of these kids will hang out at the center after school and on weekends. It is Kunming's first migrant center, and opened only in February! My original project proposal was on rural-to-urban migration from the rural perspective, so I'd say that for me, finding this place was perfect. It's just that it changes my research focus... a lot...

Last Saturday, we took the kids on a field trip to the Green Lake (we only passed by, briefly) and then Yunnan University. I don't want to write too much about this center yet because, depending on who sees this (as in, the one person who reads this in the United States) - actually, the problem is more if I publish it -, anything negative I write about the children's conditions or their lives could put pressure on the government to actually shut the center down. Well, anyway, these children are wonderful.

China Scrambles for Stability as Its Workers Age

2007-03-22T14:19:00.000+08:00

Kind of a no-work-post because I am feelin a little burnt out. The migration center is great, but it means I'll be away from the house for almost 12 hours many days...

The proportion of people 60 and older is growing faster in China than in any other major country, with the number of retirees set to double between 2005 and 2015, when it is expected to reach 200 million. By midcentury, according to United Nations projections, roughly 430 million people — about a third of the population — will be retirees.

reflection

2007-03-16T01:27:00.000+08:00

As I sit here waiting for my shower water to heat up (which will later provide a shower which is also physically situated above our toilet - hey, I never said I was living in posh conditions!), I felt that it was about time to write an update.

Being in China, I have gotten used to the changes that occur about once a day. I never fully know what's going on and what will happen in the future, which makes things a little hard, especially as I may have some visitors coming in the next few weeks. It also means I have a lot of highs and a lot of lows. After being in a high early February, only to have it interrupted for a month by being away from Yunnan, I am now back on the horse. And tomorrow I will have a meeting which may push it even further. I am back to being rather busy - and it's great! Of course, if it could come at a steady pace, that would be even more divine.

To stop being vague for a few minutes, here it all is, in a nutshell: Philippines (Boracay Beach) was amazing and highly recommended; Fulbright conference was intense; I am currently connecting with many NGOs, including a newly opened migrant center that I will be volunteering at this Saturday!!!; still working on some slightly new projects in the same villages I've been based in; about to begin focusing on research on village cooperatives; recently engaged in a Chinese birthday (my own) (where the tradition is to treat all your free-loading friends :D); and... hip hop exists in Kunming!

And I would now like to use my celebrity status (aka, the fact that you're reading my blog) to mention an issue I had never given that much thought to: leprosy victims. In the 50s and 60s, the Chinese government, as you might know, created leprosy villages in order to isolate them. In Yunnan there are over 100, at least one in each county. The villages were provided with some subsidies, but things are still hard today. For example, markets are far away, and many people refuse to sell to or buy from these victims. Even after being cured, sufferers cannot easily reunite with their families, due to both the government and society. And the families suffer anyhow - one man's son could not find a job, not even with the army, because of his father having leprosy. In the end, he couldn't find a wife, and had to marry far away - to a woman with mental disabilities.

These stories were told to me tonight by a man working for a rehabilitation center. I asked him what someone outside of his organization could do, and he simply said, "Come with us." Well, I don't see what else my money is supposed to help me do. Though I am not so sure what you, my readers, can do yet, hopefully I will have more information in the future.

marriage as a global institution

2007-02-12T10:59:00.000+08:00

I recently learned of a very personal way to increase international ties to a country: marriage. Some of you may not find this surprising, but after much exposure to lost, Chinese-learning white men teaching English for money/years on end (read: not businessmen) getting it on with (sometimes several) Chinese girls (many of them university students, and some wanting the bonus of getting a way out of the country) in Kunming, I never really felt that vibe of let's-get-hitched-so-I-can-make-billions-of-dollars. But it's happening!

Example one: A fellow FBer, who is African-American and researching banking in Chengdu/Beijing, says that she gets Chinese male friends (given her field, I assume her Chinese friends are much more powerful than mine are) asking her to introduce them to African women (even though she's not from there). Given the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, I suppose some parties on both sides are excited about tapping into each others' respective markets (and as a bonus, in producing hot babies).

Example two: I met an older woman here in Shenzhen whose daughter went to France to study law and came back with a husband. Her husband is now getting good at Chinese in Shanghai, where they have settled, and his mother-in-law is helping him in importing and selling very expensive French wines. Even my father picked up a couple of 300-rmb bottles. Traitor. What about Great Wall Wine, the official Olympic wine? I suppose to even a non-wine connoissur, the differences can be vast. Well, despite them running Chinese wineries out of business (a slight exaggeration, perhaps), at least the couple will produce some hot babies.

If you're interested in joining in on this, I suggest you move fast. The woman told me I need to find a husband NOW, at 22, because in a year I won't have as many prospects. I'm not sure what I can offer to the Chinese market, or to the men, because it's certainly not skills nor money nor connections, and, after my upcoming vacation to the Philippines (Feb 19-26), I -hopefully- won't even be able to offer pale skin. But I suppose if you want to visit me in Yunnan Province, I may be able to help you out with a little translation-flirting!

Chinese people...

2007-01-12T19:16:00.000+08:00

I have been a bit too tired to update, and I apologize! Here is a short one.

I often get tired of city life, everyone rushing around, no one seeming to give a damn about each other. It seems just much too rushed, especially in terms of traffic. It's understandable, in terms of increasing globalization, population (although I suppose the population growth is not technically increasing that much now), divides between the rich and the poor, etc. I have also heard of some nasty city situations pouring into the rural areas: in Sideng Village, Shaxi Township, which is becoming more developed (mainly due to the help from a Swiss organization, and from increased tourism), apparently there are robbers who prawl the streets during the village's market day, which is on Fridays.

Yet every once in a while, I do encounter something that tells me that we are all still in this together, and people sometimes don't have to look out for just themselves. For example, I was on the bus (which is now a rare occurance due to my wonderful, cheap bike) and as more people piled on, I pulled my backpack in front of my chest. I was definitely not in the mood to have my cell phone, or anything else, stolen again. I lazily balanced the bag on the back of the chair in front of me, and I must've shifted it too much, because a sixty-year-old woman sitting behind that chair suddenly insisted on putting my bag in her lap. I protested, but I knew it was no use because most Chinese women seem to have this incredible ability to get things their way. She also took my jacket, which was in my hands.

Sometimes, I try to give back as well. It's worth it to see the smile on a person's face, to just get along with people instead of glaring at them (which is what I am usually doing, be it on my bike - biking is a dangerous mode of transportation here! - or on the bus), but it's sometimes hard. When I see a person digging through garbage or sleeping on the street, would it be "awkward" to give them something to eat?

On a similar note to that, I went to my second visit to Shaxi (and fourth overall) recently. I think I am beginning to realize why there is a lot more research on rural-to-urban migration from the urban standpoint, as opposed to the rural. Rural life is extremely difficult. Yet there are many happy people in villages, some tight bonds, and most importantly, people know each other, and people are in it together. Yet in the city, migrant workers are probably struggling a lot more, even if they make more money. They have to deal with being out working, probably by themselves (unless they are in retail/resteraunt or something similar, and even then they may not know their co-workers), have to deal with no insurance, long hours, bosses that are probably not looking out for their best interests, having lower "statuses", perhaps having to communicate in something other than your mother tongue... and the goddamn traffic. I get more emotional seeing a man riding a bike pulling a huge cart full of glass panes than I do seeing a row of women planting rice. Both are backbreaking jobs, but I think being in the city, away from your home, just makes it that much harder. (Thus, if researchers were to follow this line of feeling, they would probably choose to look at it from that aspect.)

**disclaimer** Not all crappy jobs are taken by migrant workers, of course. But many are - after all, they had almost all the disadvantages from the start.

Diqing

2006-12-22T10:59:00.000+08:00

"Shangri-la - It is a dream, a mystery, and the moon and the sun in the mind of many Tibetans."

- from a guidebook found in Zhongdian, recently renamed Shangri-la County

I went with the NGO to Diqing district, northwest Yunnan, bordering Xizang and Sichuan provinces. I, a CBIK program assistant, an architect (there to give trainings for the traditional housing projects), and our Tibetan driver Ding Zhu went to three separate Tibetan villages over a course of ten days. Needless to say, it was amazing. This is what I came to China for - for its rural side, for this way of life. While I contributed little to the group, I was assured that it was ok because I could go first with them to experience "the field", since I would be going back. While my heart is still with Shaxi Township, Jianchuan County, Dali
Prefecture (a village of mainly the Bai minority), I am excited - and I don't even think the full experience of my trip has even hit me yet!!

I don't yet have the 500+ pictures that my comrades on the trip took, but I do happen to have some pictures Ding Zhu took of his home. While we didn't go there, we drove past it and I think that they're too beautiful not to post.

Tibetans here grow mainly rice, corn, barley, wheat, rapeseed.

I believe these pictures were taken late summer/fall.

Tibetan prayer flags and Snow Mountain.

Roughly translated, this is a "visitor-recieving platform," for praying,etc.

Overlooking some homes in Ding Zhu's village. Not all Tibetan houses are the same, and not all of them use the same materials. Many of them are based on clay, wood, and some bamboo, though, and many of them are rather big. And the insides are similar too, with kitchens built for praying as well.

More will come later! I might also try to put of an MP3 of a Tibetan or Himalayan song... not sure how to do that yet, but I'll try.

getting my ass in gear (sort of)

2006-12-08T10:23:00.000+08:00

My roommate, who is writing his thesis in history, is currently frustrated. He recently found a published article that deals with his same topic, and he is terrified that it will be exactly as he was planning to write it, which will do him nor the greater community any good.

Though I feel bad for him, hearing this story, as I was also empathizing, made me at least feel less alone. (I also had a talk with a former grantee who assured me that some of the things I’m going through have indeed been gone through before.) Yes, so my original plan was to research my topic from the rural standpoint, which would have been more interesting and “fresh” (not to mention that I wouldn’t constantly have a short temper from city life, but that’s another story). But I can still do it from the urban perspective – as in, begin some on-the-DL-interviews with migrants here. Hopefully, my roommate will be able to put a new spin on his topic as well, so that he can write his thesis without feeling like he’s copying someone.

I do have a great opportunity here, and I’m going to try to make the most of it. My plans also include partly working with The Nature Conservancy and sitting in on an economics class next semester. Hope things work out…

In other news, I am going on my very first business trip. Next week, I will be going to Deqin, Zhongdian, to Tibetan villages. (Note to self: Buy warm clothes, now!) The NGO I’m with, Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge, has a few projects there (dealing with traditional housing, watershed governance, etc.) and I guess I’m just going along for the ride.

I suppose before I leave I should talk a little about my four-day trip to the village I was supposed/expecting to be in during my time in China. Therefore you readers don’t get everything mixed up (I know all Chinese villages all seem the same, but I’ll try to make it less painless for you). More will come later.

more reasons why learning chinese is important

2006-12-03T22:32:00.000+08:00

On Friday night, I had just sat down to an overly priced Italian dinner with some fellow outside-country-people. Suddenly, my phone rang, and as it is perfectly polite to speak on the phone in various settings (including in the bathroom, so THERE to everyone who thought I was a freak for doing so), I picked up and listened to the frantic sound of my Chinese friend, Zao Zao (as in, Early Early). He said something about how I had to get to him RIGHT NOW and there were some VIP tickets he had and they were $1000 RMB and they were very difficult to come by. I responded (picturing this VIP event to be a roomful of hundreds of dressed up Chinese people eating fancy food) that I had already sat down to eat, and maybe he should call his other friends. He said it probably wasn't possible, and was very resigned as he hung up the phone. He called back ten minutes later, and again I had to kindly but firmly turn him down. I found out later that he didn't go, because no one else could go.

I ALSO found out later that these tickets were not to a snuffy dinner, but actually to a rather big concert with superstars S.H.E., Jay Chou, and company. Despite the fact that I hate Jay Chou with a passion (but I am the unfortunate owner of Jay Chou bag, FREE! with my purchase of a motorola phone), I am a bit disappointed that I missed out on my chance to attend this event. My friend, Xialing, who was the one who gave me this vital information, couldn't stop laughing. "What, do they have VIP dinners in the states?" and "I can't believe he gave you those details without the definition."

Sigh. I guess I'll have to wait for the next chance to do something cool...

doggies in beijing

2006-11-26T01:43:00.000+08:00

Speaking of Beijing, my mom just happened to send me an article:Chinese hide dogs to escape crackdown. The gov't, worried about the rising rates of rabies, is now working harder on enforcing their rules of one-dog-per-household and less-than-14-inches-only. Apparently some dogs are being beaten to death, and rewards are being offered to neighbors who tattle-tell. For some reason, reading this story makes me feel ultra-protective of my doggy, who is thankfully in Oregon City (but un-thankfully not here with me).

beijing n' me

2006-11-23T14:33:00.000+08:00

This is going to seem really lazy and egotistical. My mother emailed me some pictures from September, when she and her hubby went to Beijing, and I crashed at their hotel for a few days, and at my friend's dorm in Beida that last night. Since I am currently sleep-deprived and bored out of my mind at the NGO, at which my boss seems gives me nothing but "reading" (which is in quotations because reading Chinese-to-english English is more like... slowly picking out hairs from your head) and seems concerned about whether or not I have enough money. Oh well, as long as something worthwhile comes up soon.

Anyway, after these pictures you can read a short update on my life.

Me and my mom at the temple of heaven. This is not the hall of annual prayer, which is probably the "face" of the temple of heaven.

It's just me, so that you can see the building more clearly.

They went to the Great Wall, a trip I did not partake in.

Me and Ben at Beihai park, which I actually really, really like. It can take up a whole day of just walking around and relaxing (although the resteraunts inside are pricey), and is not too expensive to get into. It was built by the Great Khan, and is much older than the Forbidden City.

My mom and I were really excited about these paddle boats at Beihai park.

And one last one at Beihai park.

Wow, that's a lot of photos of ... me.

And now for that promised update, friends and family. The NGO is where I'll be staying, I guess. It's better than doing "research" with the university. I did visit the village site (that is the cause for why I'm in China) for a few days (which I did not mention beforehand because I didn't want one of you to tattle on me to the authorities, you tattleratters). I have a lot to say about that trip, but I'll save that for another time. But I think this may be for the best. I think a lot of my old friends were confused about why I was in China - was I looking for a job? Was I travelling? Was I still in school? - and maybe me being there carrying out my research would just confuse people since I myself am not too clear what I'd be doing it FOR, despite the fact that I'm getting paid to do it. If I am with this NGO, I can do greater things.

So I will be in Kunming. For a long time, I think. I am moving tomorrow to an apartment that is not amazing but has an amazing location. I will live with a Chinese master's student studying history, and due to my last not-amazing roommate experience, I have already try to get all the groundrules laid out. I think it will be a good arrangement.

Thought: Why is China so crazy?

2006-11-13T23:26:00.000+08:00

How quickly things change. In the time of one weekend, I may have lost one affiliation and gained another. Suffice to say that things have been crazy/stressful/quite Chinese.

Mistake one: I was honest with Yunnan Normal University about what I’m planning on doing, which is field research.
Result: I was told on Friday (after being here for almost two months, wow, thank you), that YNU cannot support my interview-based research. I probably have to find another affiliation. They will refund me if this is the case. Otherwise, I can remain with them and do research in their (better than Ithaca’s, but unimpressive nonetheless) library.

Thought one: This is not what I’m here for. What do I do? Fulbright later tells me I am the very first case of somebody arriving on land and then being “rejected.” Jee, wonderful.
Result of thought one: I beg my friend, the previously mentioned Wang Wei, to pull some of his contacts.

Result of this result: Sunday, somebody from an NGO I have previously volunteered with (which will remain anonymous, but for now, they do a lot of rural work) called Wang wei and said I could come in Monday morning at 10.
Result of this result: Monday morning at 10:10 (I couldn’t find the office, despite my previous experience there), I arrived, watched a Chinese interview take place (not mine, thank goodness – it was a girl with not high enough an education, and thus was whisked out with a **free DVD! Yay** in five minutes, and then spoke to the director-type-person. He said they would be happy to have me volunteer, and could I start today? (Today was spent at the computer, doing nothing.) I happened to have to move out today (another long story), and mentioned it, and suddenly I was back home packing with promises of the organization’s driver and car being able to take me to an apartment they’d already paid for, which was already occupied by another American girl, who seems not too pleased to have her space suddenly intruded on without her consent. I also asked about the affiliation/visa, and they said it could be done. He kept calling me “Ling Ling,” when my name is “Ting Ting.” At one point, director-type-person answered the phone and spoke in broken English, “I will not be here tomorrow, but you can speak to my assistant, Ling Ling.”

So, it may work out to be this way. But will it turn out to be…

Mistake number two?: So am I willing to give up all other methods, and perhaps my chances of doing what I really had been planning on doing, which was living in Shaxi Village for several months? If I stay with CBIK, I have a feeling I will then be based in Kunming, and tied to a desk/computer for a majority of the time. They do field work, which is awesome, but I have no guarantees right now how much of it I may be able to participate in.
Thought two: However, I was beginning to have major doubts about the future of my own, individual research. Perhaps I can do better things through an organization, and learn from them as well as help contribute to something bigger.
Thought three: Additionally, this whole process is really stressful, and really political, and I might not get a research affiliation anywhere else, so perhaps I should be grateful for this.
Thought four: Why are some Chinese people so crazy?
Thought five: Today, I reluctantly went to an English corner with my Chinese friend, which is where a bunch of Chinese people talk to you in English. Not a terrible experience, but also not worth my precious time.
Thought six: Just kidding. My time is certainly not precious. I have been here for this long and have very very little to show for it. Also, Kunming makes me lazier than I have ever been before.
Thought seven: Many of you have said that you hate reading long things. And here I am wasting your time by typing more and more.
Thought eight: Speaking of typing a lot, I’ve realized that I cannot correct English essays. It’s because I enjoy writing and sometimes get a little bit too picky/interested in spinning different words and sentences. Not that you can tell from this piece of ****-oh!-I’m-going-to-make-a-list-because-I’m-too-lazy-to-link-paragraphs!.
Thought nine: When I said before "lazier than I have ever been before," I might have been lying. But my laziness now certainly matches the laziness/procrastinative state that held me in its grasp throughout my college years.

So there is my life right now. I have not updated in a while because I have been feeling tired an uninspired. But the above-mentioned events have given me a kick in the arse.

contacting me!

2006-11-03T17:44:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I discovered an amazing website. You should all register: jajah.com. You get one hour a day calling phone to phone. Free. Internationally! And you don't have to download anything, you just have to sign on when you're calling and then type in the other person's number. SO CALL ME!!!!!! I would absolutely love it. I am in China (clearly), and my cell phone is +8613577105454.

Also, while we are stalking me, here is my address:

Don't bother trying to hunt me down - this gets sent to the work address of my auntie lady.

Will write a post later. Right now, I can't view any blogger websites, although I can still edit. It's kind of weird.

photographing the young and rich

2006-10-20T20:37:00.000+08:00

I have more pictures that I did not reduce the size of. I'm sorry, I don't think I know how to do that. And I'm sorry I don't really have a real post. I started to write one, but it was snappy and vapid, and my mood is currently... tired. Since I am imprisoned in this city until my most hated enemy, the Foreign Affairs Office, allows me to leave, I am taking some classes. So doing my homework plus my research (all while procrastinating) is wearing me down, and I get very little sleep at night.

Complaining is stupid, though. Now farmers, farmers should complain. I don't see how they make any money. On the street fruit is sold for so little. I don't even bargain. Although I did accidentally bargain with someone in the Kunming dialect the other day. He told me the price of some fruit, and I thought he said 2 kuai/kg. I said, “OK, OK, 2 kuai,” meaning that I wanted 1 kg worth. He sighed and said, “Fine, fine,” and proceeded to give me much more than a kg. That is when I realized I accidentally told him to make it cheaper.

When it rains, things are even cheaper because of the bad business. After a little shower today, I bought half a papaya (papayas are HUGE) for 1 kuai. 7.89 kuai, for those of you that don't know, is equal to about 1 us dollar. My friend got a bagful of these green veggies (currently un-translatable) for the same price. 1 kuai!!! It's ridiculous!

Well, what can I do now except to continue to live my bourgeois life? Of course, I still have to do lower class things such as ... killing my own cockroaches. Cockroaches that I find in the bathroom feasting on their fellow dead cockroaches. And that run away when I try (weakly) to beat them with rolled up paper. I also have to do things like buy my own food which my cheap nature finds to be extremely reasonable to buy.

Anyway, here are some pictures. My chinese friend Wang wei (doesn't that have an incredible ring to it?) has a camera and is camera crazy. Here are some pictures we've taken this week.

This is us being dorks. Those glasses are pretty cool though, right? Wang wei lives with four other younger people - his sister and cousin and their lovers. They eat together all the time. I basically live here as well, as I am always here and always eat here. In fact, I am here right now - I spent the day napping and then waking up and then hanging out on the computer (Wang wei, a bit of a computer genius, hooked us both up to the internet.) I'm not quite sure what the etiquette is for this situation. They don't really let me help, and so all I do is bring fruit over and take Wang wei out to dinner whenever I can.

We also took lots of pictures of Wang wei in my glasses.

After this dinner, Wang wei asked me if I wanted a smoke. I said, "Uh, no." He said, "Come on!!" It turned out to be this dried fruit candy. Ha, ha. And yes, taking a picture of this was my idea.

Last night, my friend Xialing, who was the assistant in our study abroad group, wanted to eat dinner with me. I invited Wang wei, and Xia ling's friend, a soldier in the Chinese army who also helps his lover run a yoga business, took us out. We went to dianci lake in Kunming, and ate beer-fried duck and had a lot of really good food, as well as interesting conversation. (It was mostly the soldier talking about politics, etc, and though I of course didn't understand all of it, I got the gist of some of the more juicy topics. He also asked me about America and American and Taiwanese views. He told me that Americans aren't really liked that much by a lot of Chinese people. But please, my blonde-haired, blue-eyed friends from Nebraska, please come visit me. I promise I won't try to sell you off on the black market for lots of money.) We also drove by rich houses, and the rather large villas of some Han villagers who have hit it big due to tourism. This is a picture us by the lake, although you can't really see it.

And us girls plus Wang wei! It was cool to introduce two of my good friends here to each other.

Well, I anticipate a lot more internet time for me from now on. I just got a cdma card, something which was, before I bought it, a foreign concept. It will let me access the internet even from rural areas, as long as I have a telephone signal. Apparently it costs about 50 dollars a month in the states, and for me for the year it cost 190 bucks. Pretty pretty pretty good.

picture time!

2006-10-09T20:07:00.000+08:00

I do not have a camera right now, and may not get one for a while. But I am providing some pictures other people have taken.

Before the chinese moon festival (mid-autumn festival), mooncakes were being sold everywhere. The day (this year it was on the 6th) is an occasion for families to get together, watch the moon, have a reunion.

This is a food stand on the street. I was hanging out with two tourists that I met, an Israeli girl (student) and a Vietnamese-Canadian man. Can you pick me out? Haha.

This is picture of me with a stupid expression. I had just eaten a meat stick, I think.

This is cuihu, green lake. It's near a few of the universities, and is a really cool place to hang out. It's easy to get lost in, and there's always some activity going on.

Just a picture of some of the above-said activity going on in cuihu.

On the day we were there, there was a stage and some kind of show being put on. The stage host called up some suaige, young handsome men, to participate in a contest. The contest turned out to be watching some sexy young woman dance scandalously and having each man imitate her.

A close-up of the girl... to re-state, it is not me with the camera!!

I felt a craving for choudoufu - stinky tofu.

Writing peoples' names. They do this in New York, too.

This is the woman who sold us some street food. At the moment, I can't recall what chinese minority she's supposed to me.

This is me making another stupid expression. We're eating some tofu-based food.

The other two thought this kid was adorable, so they took her picture.

Here is the three of us after our mini-tour of Kunming!

This is my "family." The second from left is my guma - she's my grandmother's best friend's daughter. Her husband is to her right, and their son is on the other end. His wife is next to him (I think she looks like a Chinese version of the woman in Being John Malkovitch and 40 Year Old Virgin), and their younger daughter is there, as well. We all hung out on Moon Festival night, and the son and daughter-in-law invited me to their (very swanky) apartment afterwards. I feel really fortunate to have some "family" in this city.

chinglish

2006-10-03T17:17:00.000+08:00

In roommate news: it's been... pretty splendid, actually. We haven't had any spats at all since the one detailed in my last post.

And actually, thanks to her, I'm been able to refocus my image of the migrant community in Kunming. I never really thought about how many migrants might be here. But they are right next to where I live - tearing down old stands, I think even running most of the stands, and to get to the police station cafeteria I walk through a small street where they live. Here they have rows of "factories" where sewing machines are working on embroidery, as well as the usual market stuff.

I wonder how I might be able to explore this community a little more. I don't want to make friends with someone just so that I can see their house. Last time, when I was in Shaxi (the village I'm planning to be based in), I was able to eventually track down a girl left to work at one of those large grocery/department stores in Kunming. But not many of them come to Kunming - it's actually a rather long commute.

So where are the migrants in Kunming mostly from? And should I go to those rural areas to do my research instead?

Until then, I'm still planning on leaving here in a month to go to Dali prefecture, where I will then commute to my original research site. My advisor gave me a couple of books - one on the Bai minority, and one on Dali's economic development history. I started translating - VERY painstakingly - the first page on the latter. This is when I began to realize that Chinese and English are two MAJORLY different languages. No wonder Chinglish is usually so hilarious to read. Here is one of the paragraphs I translated, pre-editing (although how I will edit this I have no idea):

The important point in our research on economic history should be production power development history. The important point of politics and economics history should be the research of production in relation to the history of change. Therefore, we have decided the title “Dali Economic Development History” is a draft of exploration and reflects Dali prefecture’s history of changing manufacturing development situation. Dali prefecture’s economic development history itself should be discontinuous.

So there you have it. I have created Chinglish.

making connections, the chinese way

2006-10-01T13:10:00.000+08:00

I have been in Kunming, the city I studied abroad in last spring, for 8 days. Before I arrived, the administrators of my program told me that I might be here for a while, as my school might be nervous about me going off to a rural village to live for several months. “Use this time to make connections,” they said.I’ve been making connections, though not necessarily the kind that will directly help me. At the hostel I was at, I made friends with an Israeli girl, a 52-year-old Vietnamese Canadian man, and a Taiwanese woman I might be traveling with on Wednesday (it's National Day, which actually lasts a week). My friend introduced me to an environmental engineering professor from Yunnan University – this is the school I originally wanted to affiliate with, but couldn't because the Foreign Affairs Office found my research too controversial – but the connection ended with him browbeating me into teaching his friend’s daughter English. (“Maybe you don't understand Chinese culture,” he said. “My friend is the wife of the governor of ~~a town I have never heard of~~, and is very powerful, and can provide you with many favors. The family will take you out to a steak dinner next week.” “…You can give me her number,” I responded weakly.)
Here are the ways in which I am not making very good connections:
1) I hit a stranger. On purpose.
I saw a disturbing scene of street justice that will stick with me for a while. A man had shoplifted from a store, and I saw a young man kicking, slapping, and punching him while other people were holding him and yelling at him. The shoplifter, though, was an older, slightly hunchbacked, raggedy man with tears in his eyes – I couldn’t watch him lying on the ground being beaten. So after the third attack, I immediately pushed the young man’s shoulder and shouted, “Don't hit him!” The young man actually stopped, and even looked ashamed of myself. The fact is, of course, that my reaction was wrong. I responded to violence with violence, and if I were to help, I should have tried another method, such as telling the policemen that the shoplifter was mistreated.
2) Everytime I've met a researcher with potential helpful advice, the night has ended with us getting wasted.
Getting wasted has once entailed KTV (karoake), and always entails witnesses, some of them (probably horrified) Chinese people. Promises to get together later to discuss research are made, but have not yet been kept.
3) I told my roommate I don' t think most foreign-guy + Chinese-girl relationships will actually work out, and it turns out she's seeing an English man.
Yah.

In the event that all my enemies don't eventually kill me, connections seem relatively easy to start. Everyone knows someone, and sometimes I'll even meet that someone, but one of three problems occur: 1) I'm terrible with email/text messages/following through in general, 2) The researcher is not actually a researcher (I find that this case of let's-build-Jules-up-about-something-only-to-disappoint-her happens quite frequently, actually), or 3) The researcher drags their feet, and cares very little about what I'm doing.

Everything, beyond just the connection-building, is so different from a year ago. I am no longer living in the bubble of the foreign student dorm, with 12 Americans – I now have to take care of my own visa and residency. I do not have an amazing program planned out for me – I have to make my own, although now I need to focus less on playing/traveling and more on work. I'm also just now realizing how big Kunming really is, since I'm taking the bus everywhere; before, classes, entertainment, and shopping were within walking distance.

And my roommate... well, my roomie situation is drastically different. The two of us have had an obscene amount of ups and downs. She is a 35-year-old unmarried woman, and our conversations are often her going on about something (sometimes she gets so worked up she slips into Kunming dialect, which is extremely difficult to understand) and me nodding and maybe saying one sentence in response. Our relationship began through text messages, which were often misunderstood or not recieved. Before I even moved in, I knew we were on shaky ground. The morning after the first night I spent there (after arriving after 1AM, something she was not happy about), she woke me up to say, "Oh, I've decided that you should pay (100 yuan more than what she had advertised on her sign)... and you should (going off on a hundred other rules I should follow. For example, I am now going to make my bed every morning. This is actually a pretty big lifestyle change.)" I tried to argue with her, saying that she should have told me this before I actually made the decision. The money is arbritrary to me, but I did not want her to think I would just roll over and adjust to her every mood swing. "I think we have had a lot of miscommunication." "It's not miscommunication, it's your problem," she snapped. Finally, I actually left her apartment with all my stuff, and she settled for only 50 yuan more (I decided it was fair, for the utilities) and told me to please come back up the stairs.
So yes, this may be difficult. She wants to know everything I'm doing, where I am all the time, etc. She tells me when it's meal time and lists her schedule everyday (perhaps expecting me to return the favor). She comes into my room when she pleases and though she gave me the key to my door, I think it would greatly offend her if I locked it. And she jumped into family mode right away: "I think you are very strong," she said, shortly after I had moved out/moved back in. I thought this was a compliment, but then she continued. "I used to be fat too, but then I just slowly got skinnier and skinnier. I don't even know what happened. But it's better that way. Is it because in America, you ate too many hamburgers?" She chuckled. "In America, I do not count as fat," I grumbled, but she didn't notice. "In China, we just eat steamed vegetables and fruit!" (This is certainly not true, for the record.)

Though she wants to practice English, she rarely does it for more than a word. I have no idea how she carries on conversation with her boyfriend, since she is not exactly the strong silent type.
Anyway, maybe living with this overbearing woman for the month will help me concentrate on staying home and doing work. I need to actually figure out my methodology. And I'm taking Chinese classes as well, since I'll be here in the city anyway. So between those two big projects, maybe being forced to hiding in my room will be useful. I have a desk, which is pretty awesome.

I've already begun to think about applying for a three-month extension on my grant. Ten months seems too short, and I want to be able to be in a village through all of the agricultural seasons. A year seems like a long time though, doesn't it? In actuality, it passes by so quickly. A year and a few months ago, I had left Kunming not having any idea whether or not I'd be back. Now I am, and I'm seeing some of the old people and meeting new ones. It feel strange to return, and yet... very appropriate.

In other news, bird flu might be hitting China this winter, according to China Daily. So if you don't hear from me after January, you should probably just assume the worst.