Two of the boxes I sent from China with gifts for family arrived on Monday. I'd forgotten about one of them (perhaps NEXT time, I should keep records of the big boxes that I send!), but it arrived safely anyway and in part it was quite a surprise for me to find the things that I had packed away.
One of my "chops" and the stamp pad arrived - I was looking forward to that so that I could use the other chop that I have. (I'll post about them later.)
The Chinese Monopoly sets arrived, the China dolls for the grandchildren, some of my summer clothes and more of the scarves that students had made, or that I had bought before I knew I was to be inundated with lovely scarves. A few other items were included and some I will write about later, but two items that I had not remembered were two Red Knots.
I have a small collection of them now, but the two in the box are big ones.
First of all, I need to explain that RED is a favourite colour in China. Red lanterns decorate streets and buildings for festivals, especially Chinese New Year or Spring Festival and the last day of that 10 day festivity is Lantern Festival Day. You can read more about the colour red and how it is used here.
My red knots were gifts from students - supposed to bring me good luck and good fortune. I hope they do.
The knots are made with one single piece of red rope - it is an art to be able to do it, and there are many variations of the knot.
Mine have a big knot at the bottom woven with a gold braid, with more red and gold hanging below.
I'm not sure where these will "live" as I do not wish to put them away. They are so bright and colourful and hold so many memories for me that I would like them to be on show, and my office is the perfect spot I think.
My husband has been in hospital - in Coronary Care indeed, in one of the large private hospitals in Brisbane. I was with him the other day and a nurse came in to take his observations. She was Chinese.
A lovely girl with a bright personality, she was from Harbin. We had a short chat while she worked. She did not do any nursing in China, but managed to do the IELTS and qualified to study nursing at a university in Australia.
I was so impressed. She did her job efficiently, and also showed great empathy and for a short while chatted. She had come on her own - all her family are back in China, and she has not decided what her long term plans are. She worries that she may not fit in the Chinese medical system.
I hope I see her again. She was quite inspiring.
I was thrilled over the last couple of days to receive emails and messages from students at the university. Some are expecting me to return this semester. I did try and explain to everyone that the earliest that I may be back is 2010 - all being well. No guarantees.
I have offered to help the students with their English. One student is already working - on probation for three months. She must work from 7.30 am to 6 pm, for six days a week, and while on probation she will not get paid. The job is 90 minutes from her home, so she is negotiating to live in a dormitory at her work.
It is common in China for employers to provide accomodation for their employees, but the dormitories are quite sparce. This same student told me that her first job, only a couple of weeks ago she stayed in the accomodation provided, but the room she was in was full of other workers, and there were two people to a bed. She resigned.
I heard from another student who will not be returning to college this semester - in part because last year someone stole her laptop. There was no facility to lock up a computer or other valuable equipment - and with 6 students to a dormitory, it is hard to safeguard one's own property.
No wonder the Chinese students are such hard workers. They don't get it easy.
It is just three weeks since I returned to Australia from China, and I've had a very hectic time, although have done little for ME. Housework was a high priority and gardening.
I confess to having some challenges adjusting. One thing that I find quite confronting is seeing all the FAT PEOPLE. It is something that we see little of in China. The majority of people there are small and there is little of the obesity problems that are common in Australia.
When I go to the shopping centre, I feel quite angry that people have allowed themselves to get so obese. I know I have been overweight, but never to the extent that I see some men and women. So many older women are walking with the aid of sticks - again something that I did not see much of in China.
On the personal front, I know that I will have to continue to work to maintain my newer body shape after all the walking in China, and so far so good.
And other things change. Roads and buildings are not the same - so it will be a while before I am familiar with my own territory again.
I have been driving the new car - again something to get used to. I had to put petrol in the car on Friday but could not find how to get access to the petrol tank. I spent ages looking for a button to press, like our old car, and as I was on my own I had to scratch my head a little and try a few things. I could have opened the instruction book which is in the "glovebox" but I managed to work it out alone.
The remotes - we have four to manage for the TV, DVD player etc. I have had a few hiccups, but have mastered it now.
I am also going through things in the house - especially my wardrobe and putting aside all the clothes that I no longer want. Some clothes are being discarded as they are 3 sizes too big for me. Will I throw them out or hang on to them in case I do put on weight again?
I think I will be positive and discard them.
It can be confusing reading/talking about places in China. Most folk know the capital of China as Beijing now, but also know it was called Peking. Or should I say is! Hangchow or Hangzhou? Soochow or Souzhou? One is Mandarin and the other is Pinyin.
Why is this? The explanation is simple, but confusing. It is about the romanization change. So that we westerners can more easily learn the language, and that Chinese children can more easily learn their own language. The best explanation I think is on Wikipedia. I know that is not necessarily the "authority" but it is a good explanation. Click here.
Another site to read.
It is a bit complex. Students in China studying English will have three names. Their Chinese name (Chinese characters), their name in Pinyin, and oddly their English name. Strange as it might be, students choose a name so that their English teacher (if a foreigner can remember, and pronounce his/her name.)
An oddity with this is that Chinese names are different. Perhaps a few wise words. "Heavenly Child", for example. While we might call a girl "Grace" if we want to think of her as a heavenly child, we use a "name" not a "description".
Chinese students choose a strange English names, according to what we are familiar with. Sunny, Moon, Moonshine, Winter, Wind, Eleven, etc. Any word can be a name for a Chinese student. And they change their names from time to time. THAT is confusing.
Statue of Zhou Enlai
I had walked through the street in which the museum and other buildings celebrating his life were, but I had not been in, until the last few weeks of my stay in Shaoxing. One reason was that there was little English to be seen and I had hoped to get a student to go with me, but it was not to be.
In my effort to see all the places on my "to see list", I made a point of going one afternoon all on my own. It certainly was a fascinating place but as usual I was frustrated by the lack of English.
My Tourist card worked again, so it was FREE for me to visit. There are buildings on both sides of the road, and there were few people there. I wandered - reading as much as I could as there was some English, but great things to see.
I never cease to be amazed at the way the buildings fit into one another with beautiful gardens between them. I can't tell much about the photos - but certainly fascinating. Several halls had many photos of Zhou Enlai's family, and others contained photos of him during his political career. One room was like a mausaleum complete with moving music but the reality is there is no body here. He was buried elsewhere.
As usual there were little stalls throughout the buildings and at one I found a lovely book with amazing photos of Shaoxing. It was called "Ancient Bridges and Houses in Waterside Shaoxing" and I was impressed that the photos had English captions, and there was one chapter all in English. It was for sale for 35 RMB. The book that was on display was slightly damaged - it was the copy that obviously many people had already leafed through and there were dirty marks and fingerprints on it. I wanted a new copy. Unblemished.
My Chinese language skills did nothing to convince the two people on the stall that I was happy to purchase - a CLEAN COPY! In the end I left empty handed, and a little annoyed. I looked for the book in other places but it was not until I was inside Lu Xun's Native place some days later that I saw the book again and was able to get my very own clean copy.
Again I enjoyed looking at the wonderful buildings, rooms, furniture, and gardens of the tourist spot. Amazing things.
Zhou Enlai was Premier from 1st October 1949 until his death in 1976, and is hailed as one of the key people in the success of the Communist Party during this time.
In Shaoxing during my visit to the Lu Xun Native Place I visited many of the exhibits. Each corner I turned I found something else of interest - and had a lot more questions to ask, but often no one to ask.
In one small corner I found a small room with a table on which there were many Shaoxing Wine Jars, and two young ladies painstakingly painting them. They did not look up, just kept on with their work. Perhaps the wine bottles were on sale in one or more of the wine shops in the place, but I did not see the finished article in my journey. Perhaps they are boxed for sale, I do not know.
There was no sign in English that explained what was going on - I can only guess that these wine bottles would be filled with the famous Shaoxing Yellow Rice Wine. Perhaps getting ready for the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival.
