Last weekend Brenda and I went to Guangzhou mainly for shopping and to get away. Brenda didn't go anywhere for the spring festival three week holiday so she had pretty fierce cabin fever. We planned the trip well before we left having our Chinese friends write key words like "Bus station", the name of our hotel, and "Zhanjiang" in Chinese so that we wouldn't have as much troube with communication. We did really well, and had no problems getting around and getting to where we need to be. We stayed on ShaMianDao, which is like a little island mecca for foreigners. Guangzhou is a huge, overpopulated, and high poluted city. So this little island was nice to be able to feel like we could get away from those things. It just so happened that the U.S. Consolate is located on this island, and therefor there were many many couples there to work out the paperwork for adoptions. The first night we ate at a Western restaraunt and it was so funny for us to see so many foreigners. I can almost understand now why the Chinese stare so much. We found ourselves doing the same thing! We were like, wow, look at them all!! And then we were freaking out over the menu besides. Wow...tacos!!! So that's what I ordered, but was disappointed with a very Chinese taco. I guess I I'm foolish to expect to get the real thing here. We stayed at a youth hostel, where the price was right and the conditions were surprisingly great. We were very pleased with our selection. The next day we literally shopped til we dropped. But it didn't take long because I was a little sick and Brenda was reacting heavily to the polution. We splurged on good food and nice things. The Island is very popular for foreigners like I said, so there are many places to buy Chinese souvenirs. There are no places like this in Zhanjiang. So I bought a ton of nice things, even had a ChiPao made for myself (Traditional Chinese dress). Yikes I spent a lot. But it's my last oportunity I think to buy things like this. Almost every foreigner there was carrying there brand new baby girl. It's most common to adopt girls here, as the boys are desired more then they. So cute. I want one!! Saturday night we went to the Beijing Lu BuShingJie (Beijing walking street). Amazing! Its a major shopping area, and most impressive at night. There are millions of lights and lanterns and neon signs. Breathtaking and exciting. Too bad the items in the shop weren't equally impressive. We really wanted to buy some shoes but every shop was exactly the same and sold the same cheap ugly shoes. They have the funkiest style here that I really don't like. We entered one place that turned out to be an 8 story mall. There was a huge suare in the middle where you can look all the way up to the dome of the building and almost fall over from looking all around at the heigth of shops. Incredible. We didn't really buy much in these places. They were just cool to see. I'll post pics when I get the chance. The bus rides to and from Guangzhou were fairly pleasant. Six hours of sleeping and watching Chinese music videos. We made it back in time for me to plan my lesson for the next day.
Arthur's wife arrived last week, but we never really got a chance to get to know her until tonight. Now that I teach at the new campus I am not around as much to see them. Both Brenda and I have been uneasy about the whole situation and are not sure how it will be with Anna here now, because we are burdened with this secret of infidelity on his part. But we wanted to welcome her and so we took them out to eat tonight. Anna is such a sweet, kind, and beautiful girl. Only 22, but seems older than me. That's not hard to do though. She told me that Arthur mentioned to her that I went to a Bible College so she asked me if I had a Bible she could borrow!! I was so pleased and said ofcourse. She is orthodox, as she comes from Uzbekistan. So I am not entirely sure what her beliefs are. But I look foward to talking with her. There is something about her that shines, and I hope and pray that I have found a like-minded friend, or at least one very close to becoming... ya know what I mean. Please keep this in your prayers, including the fact that I know what her husband guiltlessly does behind her back. It's painful to bear, and I believe it is not my place to be a tattletale.
Anyway. Crazyness!! I miss home a lot. Just today Mark, our Chinese liaison gave me a tour around the new campus just to kill some time before the bus came. And he asked me, "Will you come back to teach next year... I BEG you!!" They've been having a hard time recruiting teachers I think. I told him I could not make any promises, but I will definitely spread the word to my friends that posistions are available here, the conditions are good, and it's a great experience. So seriously! If any one is interested, let me know. It's a great school.
I'm still not sure what the future holds. But I'm not worried about it. I have plenty of options! Time is flying by so fast. February is almost over. I will be coming home in less than 4 months! I can't wait to come home. But I must admit most readily I will miss China.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Blessings and Joy
Tomorrow Brenda and I are going to Guangzhou (pronounced GwongJo), for a little shopping excursion. He he he.
It's so nice that we get to go. For a while there I didn't think we'd be able to, because this week they changed one of my classes to Friday afternoon, and we had planned to leave Friday at noon. And another problem was that I gave my passport to our liaison, Grace, so she could renew my visa which expires the end of the month. No one was really helping us out, so I talked to the Chinese teacher of class 22, and she was more than willing to switch times with me. I found Grace at a nice time when she found it hard to turn me down and she gave me my passport back (but I must return it Monday at 7:30am). It was a good feeling to know that I got out of that pickle on my own, where as the past few months I've had to depend on the Chinese liaisons to help me get anything done. I am feeling more independent here, which is way cool cuz it makes it more comfortable and relaxing.
Still life here is not without its challenges. Like earlier tonight Brenda and I wanted to see if we could buy our bus tickets so we don't have to worry about it tomorrow. So we planned out how we'd get to the bus station, and how we'd buy the ticket on our own. Arthur helped us tell the taxi driver where to go. He's not very confident that we could figure things out on our own. The bus station is such a zoo. Even before you hop out of the taxi, scalpers attack you. Ewe, that sounds really bad! What I mean is, scores of men and women surround you trying to sell you tickets. These kinds of places are notorious for thieviery so we watch our pockets and belongings like hawks. Even as we are in line at the ticket booth people crowd around hoping to change your mind. And we have the added bonus of being foreigners and every one wants to know our business so even after we reject them they are glued to us. If we had no sense of humor we'd surely go insane in this place. We just laugh and joke around and try to get to the ticket holder in one piece! No one there speaks English so we use the broken Chinese that we know to get the time, date, and price of the bus. After going back and forth in this humorous display we learned that we underestimated what the cost would be, so we didn't bring enough money. So we will have to buy our ticket tomorrow right before we leave.
Guangzhou is the capitol of Guangdong province where we reside. It's a 6hr bus ride away. It's a huge, overpopulated, high polluted city. But the shopping is good, so I hear. I have only been to the airport there for layovers. Please keep me in your thoughts as Guangzhou is full of thieves who prey on unsuspecting foreigners. I will tell you all about this weekend trip when I return.
The Father has given me so much joy and contentment this past week. I am really enjoying myself even in times when I sit at home with nothing exciting or adventurous going on. He's blessed me so much.
Blessings and Joy to you!!!
It's so nice that we get to go. For a while there I didn't think we'd be able to, because this week they changed one of my classes to Friday afternoon, and we had planned to leave Friday at noon. And another problem was that I gave my passport to our liaison, Grace, so she could renew my visa which expires the end of the month. No one was really helping us out, so I talked to the Chinese teacher of class 22, and she was more than willing to switch times with me. I found Grace at a nice time when she found it hard to turn me down and she gave me my passport back (but I must return it Monday at 7:30am). It was a good feeling to know that I got out of that pickle on my own, where as the past few months I've had to depend on the Chinese liaisons to help me get anything done. I am feeling more independent here, which is way cool cuz it makes it more comfortable and relaxing.
Still life here is not without its challenges. Like earlier tonight Brenda and I wanted to see if we could buy our bus tickets so we don't have to worry about it tomorrow. So we planned out how we'd get to the bus station, and how we'd buy the ticket on our own. Arthur helped us tell the taxi driver where to go. He's not very confident that we could figure things out on our own. The bus station is such a zoo. Even before you hop out of the taxi, scalpers attack you. Ewe, that sounds really bad! What I mean is, scores of men and women surround you trying to sell you tickets. These kinds of places are notorious for thieviery so we watch our pockets and belongings like hawks. Even as we are in line at the ticket booth people crowd around hoping to change your mind. And we have the added bonus of being foreigners and every one wants to know our business so even after we reject them they are glued to us. If we had no sense of humor we'd surely go insane in this place. We just laugh and joke around and try to get to the ticket holder in one piece! No one there speaks English so we use the broken Chinese that we know to get the time, date, and price of the bus. After going back and forth in this humorous display we learned that we underestimated what the cost would be, so we didn't bring enough money. So we will have to buy our ticket tomorrow right before we leave.
Guangzhou is the capitol of Guangdong province where we reside. It's a 6hr bus ride away. It's a huge, overpopulated, high polluted city. But the shopping is good, so I hear. I have only been to the airport there for layovers. Please keep me in your thoughts as Guangzhou is full of thieves who prey on unsuspecting foreigners. I will tell you all about this weekend trip when I return.
The Father has given me so much joy and contentment this past week. I am really enjoying myself even in times when I sit at home with nothing exciting or adventurous going on. He's blessed me so much.
Blessings and Joy to you!!!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Monopoly
Hello Dear Friends and Family
This week is going so well. I am very pleased with the way Monopoly is turning out. I actually jacked the idea from Brenda, but had a ball making it. You know how I love to color and create. My Monopoly version is not quite like the original. The rules are very simplified, and everything has to do with practicing English. So far it has proved to be the best tool I've used to get these kids to actually speak English. I'm so pleased and proud, I have to show you a picture. He He He.
Today is only the first day of using it, so I'm actually looking foward to the week. Usually I have to tweek a lesson, and even a game after the first day, which usually is a little shakey cuz they're my guinee pigs. But this was the best first day of a lesson plan.
It was great fun. So many laughs, and so much success in their using English. PTL!!
Yesterday, Sunday, I went shopping with a couple of my students. They are adorable, but I was so tired. They got me up really early. We were walking along the "walking street" and a woman approached us. She chatted with the girls first, and this has happened so many times I was certain that she was wanting to know who I was and if I could teach English for her. And I was right. She was the nicest lady though. She is the leader of a weekend English school for young kids. The school was very close by, so she insisted we have a look. I am terrible at saying no, so agreed to have lunch with her. By then my students were gonners. Just when I think I'm growing thick skin to say NO to these people, I melt. What I think are clear signs to say go away, just don't work on these persistent people! Well, Susan (the woman) is persistent, but she was also very kind, sweet, friendly, and I liked her as tired as I was. She seems a lot less shady then others who've asked me to teach English. The students range from 7-9 years old. And I could tell by watching the class (a Chinese lady was teaching them English), and by the way Susan and her teachers treated the students, that this was a nice place. As the parents arrived to pick up their kids, they all gathered around me and asked many questions in Chinese, and talked about me in Chinese, and gave me so many compliments, and they were all so friendly and nice! I have to record this, because this is the first time in Zhanjiang that I've felt such sincere kindness and interest. Usually when people do such things I feel like I'm being manipulated or that something isn't quite right. Well, I went to lunch with Susan, her 9yr old daugher "Snow White", and three other 8 and 9yr olds ("Dan", "Snow", and "Rain"). I wish I hadn't been so tired, because they were a delightful bunch. And their English was so cute. They took me to a really nice place, and ordered me one of the most expensive veal steaks, soup, bread, fruit bowl, and ice cream. Each of the kids also had a steak. It was a lot of food for me, so I was thinking these kids aren't gonna eat this. But holy smokes those tykes can put it away!!
So I'm seriously thinking about teaching there on the weekends. This is the nicest group I've met here, the classes would be much smaller (only 20), and they'd pay me good. I think it would be fun to hang around some kids. Plus they are at that age where they think you are the coolest thing ever. Wow, a foreigner! I just hope they don't tire me out for my main teaching job here.
Any interesting, exciting, or mundane news from home is welcome.
This week is going so well. I am very pleased with the way Monopoly is turning out. I actually jacked the idea from Brenda, but had a ball making it. You know how I love to color and create. My Monopoly version is not quite like the original. The rules are very simplified, and everything has to do with practicing English. So far it has proved to be the best tool I've used to get these kids to actually speak English. I'm so pleased and proud, I have to show you a picture. He He He.
Today is only the first day of using it, so I'm actually looking foward to the week. Usually I have to tweek a lesson, and even a game after the first day, which usually is a little shakey cuz they're my guinee pigs. But this was the best first day of a lesson plan.It was great fun. So many laughs, and so much success in their using English. PTL!!
Yesterday, Sunday, I went shopping with a couple of my students. They are adorable, but I was so tired. They got me up really early. We were walking along the "walking street" and a woman approached us. She chatted with the girls first, and this has happened so many times I was certain that she was wanting to know who I was and if I could teach English for her. And I was right. She was the nicest lady though. She is the leader of a weekend English school for young kids. The school was very close by, so she insisted we have a look. I am terrible at saying no, so agreed to have lunch with her. By then my students were gonners. Just when I think I'm growing thick skin to say NO to these people, I melt. What I think are clear signs to say go away, just don't work on these persistent people! Well, Susan (the woman) is persistent, but she was also very kind, sweet, friendly, and I liked her as tired as I was. She seems a lot less shady then others who've asked me to teach English. The students range from 7-9 years old. And I could tell by watching the class (a Chinese lady was teaching them English), and by the way Susan and her teachers treated the students, that this was a nice place. As the parents arrived to pick up their kids, they all gathered around me and asked many questions in Chinese, and talked about me in Chinese, and gave me so many compliments, and they were all so friendly and nice! I have to record this, because this is the first time in Zhanjiang that I've felt such sincere kindness and interest. Usually when people do such things I feel like I'm being manipulated or that something isn't quite right. Well, I went to lunch with Susan, her 9yr old daugher "Snow White", and three other 8 and 9yr olds ("Dan", "Snow", and "Rain"). I wish I hadn't been so tired, because they were a delightful bunch. And their English was so cute. They took me to a really nice place, and ordered me one of the most expensive veal steaks, soup, bread, fruit bowl, and ice cream. Each of the kids also had a steak. It was a lot of food for me, so I was thinking these kids aren't gonna eat this. But holy smokes those tykes can put it away!!
So I'm seriously thinking about teaching there on the weekends. This is the nicest group I've met here, the classes would be much smaller (only 20), and they'd pay me good. I think it would be fun to hang around some kids. Plus they are at that age where they think you are the coolest thing ever. Wow, a foreigner! I just hope they don't tire me out for my main teaching job here.
Any interesting, exciting, or mundane news from home is welcome.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Back At It
Well, it's back to teaching. This is the first week of classes. I was not ready to begin. I was already used to sleeping in til 10 and still had vacation on the brain. Here are my thoughts of the first day of class that I wrote while the internet wasn't working:
I woke up before the alarm, which probably means I was feeling anxiety. I actually slept last night, which made me think that maybe I wasn’t really stressed out. But the stomach ache I had was another indicator that I really was. I can never trust my mind. I knew I wasn’t very excited to be there, and I knew I wasn’t prepared. The classrooms are much larger, which makes the classes seem bigger because the students are more spread out. The classrooms echo, and there is construction outside. I can barely hear myself, I’m guessing they have a hard time hearing me too. I came prepared to show pictures of my trip to Yunnan with computer. So when I saw there was no computer, I had to totally wing it. I was very unprepared, and it’s hard for me to think of things off the top of my head like that. So the first class bombed. The second class went a little better, and by the third class I’d gotten kinda figured out what I wanted to say and how many things I could say before time ran out. Plus the last class was class 27, which makes all the difference, as they actually really want to listen to what I have to say.
So, the first day back was a little rough. The second day I missed the school bus and had to take a taxi to school, just making it in time. Maybe you're wondering about the switch in campuses. Well, the school is expanding at a fast rate. It is the one of if not THE best school in Zhanjiang. So they began building this new campus so they can have more room for growth. Last semester they began using it for the first time with only the 11th grade and half of 10th. So Brenda was teaching the 10th grade at the new campus and I was teaching the remainder of 10th at the old campus. But this semester they've moved the rest of 10th over there. The new campus is still under construction, so they are moving a little at a time. It sounds weird, but we're in China. They have a totally different idea of what makes sense. Last semester Brenda taught 12 classes, and I taught 16. This semester they've given her 2 of my classes. So now we both have 14, which makes my work load lighter, but I am really going to miss my students! It's really sad for me! I was able to sit in on the first time that Brenda taught my class 14. I'm sure they'll forget about me real soon. Brenda is a lot of fun.
Well, it's now Wednesday and things are starting to pick up and I'm getting more of a feel for my new surroundings. Today's classes were so much fun. I didn't do much, just talked about the Spring Festival, told them about my trip to Yunnan, how Hmong celebrate the New Year festival, and about Valentine's. I made a couple pink and red heart valentines and gave them away as prizes for the winners of a little game we played.
Last Friday I went with Arthur and Mr. Chen to the Golden Splendid. I'm not really sure who Mr. Chen is. He is some Chinese businessman who speaks English and likes to hang out with foreigners. I just tagged along for the show. I'm not too experienced with clubs, but this place was pretty decent. It reminded me of Chanhassen dinner theater. Every Friday they have a show, like singing and dancing. It's very common in China. It was very cool. The dancers were so good, the costumes were fantastic, and they even sang some English songs. I felt like I was at a concert. We all sat at tables, with nice comfy chairs, and ate nice foods like squid, fried milk, spicy cucumbers, and french fries.
Tomorrow I teach only one class... at 7:45am. I'm sure as soon as I get home I will go back to bed!!
The school is still searching for new teachers, even for this semester. So if anyone out there is interested in spending the next four months in China getting paid to be cool, then let me know and I can hook you up!
I woke up before the alarm, which probably means I was feeling anxiety. I actually slept last night, which made me think that maybe I wasn’t really stressed out. But the stomach ache I had was another indicator that I really was. I can never trust my mind. I knew I wasn’t very excited to be there, and I knew I wasn’t prepared. The classrooms are much larger, which makes the classes seem bigger because the students are more spread out. The classrooms echo, and there is construction outside. I can barely hear myself, I’m guessing they have a hard time hearing me too. I came prepared to show pictures of my trip to Yunnan with computer. So when I saw there was no computer, I had to totally wing it. I was very unprepared, and it’s hard for me to think of things off the top of my head like that. So the first class bombed. The second class went a little better, and by the third class I’d gotten kinda figured out what I wanted to say and how many things I could say before time ran out. Plus the last class was class 27, which makes all the difference, as they actually really want to listen to what I have to say.
So, the first day back was a little rough. The second day I missed the school bus and had to take a taxi to school, just making it in time. Maybe you're wondering about the switch in campuses. Well, the school is expanding at a fast rate. It is the one of if not THE best school in Zhanjiang. So they began building this new campus so they can have more room for growth. Last semester they began using it for the first time with only the 11th grade and half of 10th. So Brenda was teaching the 10th grade at the new campus and I was teaching the remainder of 10th at the old campus. But this semester they've moved the rest of 10th over there. The new campus is still under construction, so they are moving a little at a time. It sounds weird, but we're in China. They have a totally different idea of what makes sense. Last semester Brenda taught 12 classes, and I taught 16. This semester they've given her 2 of my classes. So now we both have 14, which makes my work load lighter, but I am really going to miss my students! It's really sad for me! I was able to sit in on the first time that Brenda taught my class 14. I'm sure they'll forget about me real soon. Brenda is a lot of fun.
Well, it's now Wednesday and things are starting to pick up and I'm getting more of a feel for my new surroundings. Today's classes were so much fun. I didn't do much, just talked about the Spring Festival, told them about my trip to Yunnan, how Hmong celebrate the New Year festival, and about Valentine's. I made a couple pink and red heart valentines and gave them away as prizes for the winners of a little game we played.
Last Friday I went with Arthur and Mr. Chen to the Golden Splendid. I'm not really sure who Mr. Chen is. He is some Chinese businessman who speaks English and likes to hang out with foreigners. I just tagged along for the show. I'm not too experienced with clubs, but this place was pretty decent. It reminded me of Chanhassen dinner theater. Every Friday they have a show, like singing and dancing. It's very common in China. It was very cool. The dancers were so good, the costumes were fantastic, and they even sang some English songs. I felt like I was at a concert. We all sat at tables, with nice comfy chairs, and ate nice foods like squid, fried milk, spicy cucumbers, and french fries.
Tomorrow I teach only one class... at 7:45am. I'm sure as soon as I get home I will go back to bed!!
The school is still searching for new teachers, even for this semester. So if anyone out there is interested in spending the next four months in China getting paid to be cool, then let me know and I can hook you up!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Yunnan
This is the record of my three week long trip to Yunnan, China.
January 18
I bought the ticket just the day before. I finally heard from my college friend Noah, who was also planning to go to Yunnan. He is studying Chinese at a Beijing University. It was totally spur of the moment, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was excited to get out of Zhanjiang for a while and see some new things. This would be my only oportunity to really do some traveling and site seeing while I am here in China. I flew to Guangzhou first because there is no direct flight to Kunming from Zhanjiang. The flight made me a little sick, but I was happy to have a window seat. I was flying in the afternoon, so as we flew above the billowy clouds, the sun shone brightly on them and I pictured my two angels asigned to protect me flying along side the plane and wondered what their names were. On the flight to Kunming I was the only foreigner aboard, and the Chinese people were so lively and friendly towards me. It was like a party in a plane. What a fun group of people! Laughter all the way.
I was worried that my friend Noah wouldn't be at the airport to pick me up. He had flown in the night before and we planned to meet. He wasn't there! He forgot me! Thank God for cell phones, though. As I waited for him to get me, I wondered, what have I gotten myself into. Is this what the whole trip would be like? I must be insane! Also while I waited a man came to practice his English with me. Big surprise that is. (Sarcasm)
Finally Noah showed up, along with his classmate Arief who comes from Indonesia. Both guys are kinda quiet, indecisive and introverted. We made an interesting group of traveling companions. But how refreshing to be with other Christians! We rode the "black taxi" back to Noah friend's apartment. Noah is Hmong, so he has many Hmong friends and contacts in Yunnan. Yunnan is known for it's many minority groups. We stayed with Hnou. She has a nice little apartment in Kunming where she is studying accupuncture.
The weather in Yunnan is a lot colder then it was in Zhanjiang. I was always wearing my coat.
January 19
We planned to do some site seeing in Kunming. The biggest attraction we knew of was the Stone Forest. It sounded really cool and I was excited to go, but we ended up going to a Minority Park or "Nationalities Villiage". It was a tourist attraction to see a set up of what different minority villiages might look like and their dress. It was neat to see many different kinds of minorities, but it was definitely not the real thing and just for show. I think I would prefer to see the real thing. The most interesting was the Tibetan set up. There was a temple, and people wearing traditional Tibetan clothing, and they did a show for us with singing and dancing.
That night we walked around Kunming. It's a beautiful city. We went with Hnou to her teacher's house so she could give them a gift for their new born baby. We ate dinner at a Thai restaruant, Hnou treated us to many interesting foods from the vendors on the street. Kunming is much more lively and interesting then Zhanjiang. There are so many lights, shops, sites, foods, interesting people.
January 20
We had planned to go to southern Yunnan this day with some friend's of Hnou's. They had come to Kunming to see some special doctors, but were now returning to their villiage. Noah thought it would be a good oportunity to go with them and experience a Hmong villiage in China. I was also very excited to go to a real Hmong villiage. I decided to leave one of my bags in Kunming and travel light. I didn't want to cary all kinds of stuff with me to a villiage. So I was told we'd be back to Hnou's place and it would be no problem. So we took a 6 hour bus ride to Wenshan city. The bus was small and packed with people. A very strange place for a young white girl like me to be! We road through the mountains and a very narrow road with now gaurd rails. I thought we were going to die several times!! I counted three car accidents on our way there. They drive so crazy! Driving so fast around these blind mountain curves, passing eachother, and just barely escaping head on collisions. Insane!!! There had to have been more then two angels keeping that bus on the road! There was no way I could sleep during that ride, where as Arief was totally conked out! I didn't want to miss anything anyway, the scenery was breathtaking, and there were so many facinating things to see along the way. We drove past the Stone Forest, beautiful rice paddies terraced up the mountains, people wearing traditional minority clothing not for show but because that's what they really wear, cows and horses along the road, brillian red clay dirt, red rivers, and hundreds of small and poor villiages. I felt like I was in a National Geographic flim or something. I had many mixed feelings like, What in the world am I doing? This is so exciting! My allergies are making me so miserable! How will the people recieve me? Will they hate me? Will they love me?
We arrived in Wenshan, and I was surprised. I was expecting that after that insane ride we'd be in an very remote unheard-of place. But Wenshan City is just slightly smaller than Zhanjiang. The Hmong guy that helped us get this far then told us that his villiage was another six hour bus ride away, and was going some other time. Noah was in touch with a Hmong Missnary around there, and was hoping he'd take us to a Chrstian Hmong villiage, but that missnary friend decided to go to Thailand. So we found ourselves stuck in small Wenshan with no plan. Then I learned that Noah wanted to be here for the Hmong New year more than a week away, so we had to figure out what we were going to do with the next eight days. Well, Hnou (the girl we stayed with in Kunming)--her parents and other reletives live in Wenshan, so we ended up staying at her Uncle's place for a couple days. Hmong hospitality is great. Noah never met these people in his life, and still they are willing to feed us and give us a place to stay. But still I began thinking, what am I doing here! How did I get here! What are we gonna do? And my allergies were getting worse and things were not looking good. But whatever happens, I'm sure it will be interesting and I want to make the most of it.
January 21
Noah was still trying to make plans to get to a Hmong villiage. He didn't know of any other Chrstian ones, so any villiage would do at this point. I was very interested and excited to go to a villiage, but also nervous. I'm probably the only single, white female to ever do something like this.
To fill the time, Hnou's little brother took us to a Wenshan temple on top a mountain. We climbed a million steps to the top. We could see the whole city. I love being in the mountains. We spent the day walking around the city, and sitting around Hnou's parents house and watching movies on Noah's laptop. They are so nice, but it can be very difficult not being able to communicate. I really enjoy their food. It's a lot less greesy then straight up Chinese food. Hnou showed up later today to see her family since it is the Chinese New Year and most people have time off and families get together. She took us for a walk around Wenshan City. There were a lot of people at the park dancing, and we joined in for a bit. It was silly and fun. It's so nice that she can speak English. It's hard not being able to talk with the rest of her family.
January 22
Hnou's uncle treated us to noodles for breakfast. Then we met up with Hnou and the rest of her family and checked out a small museum in the making. They are basically restoring a very old Chinese house where officials used to live. Today was a special day for the Hmong people. It is one week before the Hmong new year, so many people including other minorities gather to sell their beautiful dresses and needlework. Their shops were along this narrow street, and it was wall to wall people. Even with all the activity oddly enough some still insited on two way automobile traffic going through there. It was insane!! It was awesome. The streets were so colorful with Hmong and Yee and Yao things. Women all over wearing their cool bright traditional clothing and hats. Colorful baby carriers everywhere with cute little heads poking through the top. (I bought a couple--not babies, the carriers!) Hnou and her family were always stopping to say hello to friends, and intorducing us. One man really wanted me to stay in Wenshan to teach English. He offered to take us to a villiage too. We walked around the city all day, eating sugar cane and other interesting things like black sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf.
At lunch we met Hnou's grandfather. What a character! He was very nice and friendly, and liked me a lot! Turned out that he is the mayor of Wenshan City, head hancho, very popular. So we are so lucky and honored to eat with him so casually. You can't have a meal with a popular Chinese man with out sharing a glas of BaiJiou with him. It would be very rude and disrespectful. So they poured us a glas, and thus proceded many toasts and Gambeis (cheers). That stuff is so strong and nasty! I thought that since this family was being so nice and hospitable towards us complete strangers it would be the least we could do to make a small toast of thanks to them. I asked Noah if he would do it, since he speaks the language, but he didn't seem to think it was neccessary. So I told him to translate for me! A little taboo for a girl to do such a thing, but I take advantage of the fact that I'm a foreigner and can get away with more. So I made my first toast. So weird. How did I get here!! I'm not a big fan at all of drinking, but I figured it was more important to sincerely show appreciation for their kindness and hospitality then to worry about legalisms.
I wish I could understand what people are saying. It's very difficult to not be able to communicate. I try to use what little Chinese I know. It's really motivating me to learn more! I think Hnou's Grandfather was wondering about my connection with Hmong people and a little surprised. He was certain I was clueless. So through translation he told me that if I could say anything in Hmong he would give me a gift. So I said, Nyob zoo (Hello)... he was so surprised. he he he. So he invited us to have a lamb dinner with him that night.
Afterwards, Noah, Arief, and I were walking around the city and we met a caucasian man. He was more surprised to see me then I was him. He said "we don't get many of your kind around here!" He introduced himself (I'm not sure it's a good idea to say the name) and said he builds schools in Malipo, a very small town south of Wenshan City. He was very excited to talk to me and asked many questions. I introduced Noah to him and mentioned how he is Hmong and that we are hoping to go to a Hmong villiage. And he asked Noah if he knows so-and-so, and it turns out it's the very guy that Noah was in touch with who went to Thailand! So we're pretty sure this guy is "one of us!" I asked him if he had any tips for going to the villiage. He said that I'll have a great time, and had only one thing to say about it, "you are a brave girl!" It's a very rare thing to see a single young girl venture to these parts. I have a feeling that I will be hearing of him again. It is a rare thing for someone like me to be here. But I am not afraid. I am nervous, but not scared. So later we met with Grandfather for lamb dinner (which actually turned out to be goat). He also gave us each a bamboo Hmong craft. Very special.
We finally made plans to go to a villiage the next day. Hnou's aunt lives in Malipo, the same small city where that man we met was building schools. She could hook us up with a family to stay with in a villiage. I didn't really know what was going on, but decided to just go with the flow. That night we stayed in a hotel because other members of Hnou's family were coming to town to stay with them. We got a great deal on the rooms since Hnou's uncle works there and hooked us up, but it was super cold as that hotel has no heat. My allergies had turned into a cold so I wasn't feeling well physically. But my sprits were high. I'm eating good, making friends, getting connections for the future, and learning so much.
January 23
The morning we were to go to Mailpo, Hnou tried hard to convince me not to go. Leah, don't go! Don't go! She said that even though she is Hmong she can't bare to be in the villiage. She says I will be crying the whole time, that I should stay with her and go shopping every day. I almost took her up on it, but decided not to waste the oportunity of a lifetime. And I'm glad I did. It turned out to be the highlight, and most facinating part of the trip!
The bus ride to Malipo was ok. Only about four hours long, and not as crammed as before. I packed even lighter, leaving some things in Hnou's parent's place. Malipo is even more remote then Wenshan. On the way, we saw many small and poor villiages. We arrived to Malipo very hungry, so after meeting up with Hnou's aunt (the sweetest lady ever) and a man whose parents live in the villiage where we will go, she brought us to a roadside place where we at a tastey fish lunch. While we ate they asked around for someone willing to drive us to the villiage. Turns out the villiage was another three hour drive through the mountains, up a very muddy, narrow, cruel road that seldom gets used. We had to pay a lot of money (about 50 USD) to convince someone to take a special trip there just for us. Insane price, but we'd come so far already. The road was bumpy as ever. We passed many small villiages on the way through the quiet mountains of Southern China. We passed so many villiages, but the one we were destined for was at the end of this long bumpy road. We weren't exactly sure where we were exactly, but later learned that we were right on the Vietnam border. Just before we reached the villiage we had to get out of the truck as he carefully drove over a part of the road that was so narrow due to part of it being lost in a landslide. He barely made it!
As we arrived at the villiage I felt strange. Many stares, I'm wondering what are they thinking? Why is this white girl here? But how cool is this! Hnou's aunt and the other dude led us to his parents house. The houses are all made of a lightbrown clay. Chickens running around everywhere. Sounds of roosters, pigs, and an occasional moo. I was surprised to see that they all have TVs and running water (these things provided by the government). It was nicer then I expected. Still, they are the poorest of the poor in China. It's hard for me to recall my first impressions. The scenery is breathtaking. The man introduced his parents who turned out to be the leaders of this particular villiage. The villiage is called "Huang Tian" which in Chinese actually means an unfruitful field.
Well, there's not getting around the fact that everyone is courious about this white girl and what she's doing here. Turns out I am the very first caucasion to come to this particular viliage. But they did mention the presence of Morman missnaries in these parts who spoke fluent Hmong. We were taken to someone elses home, the place where we would stay for how long? We weren't sure how or when we'd be going back to civilization. The Thao family was very hospitable. The inside of their homes are very simple. It felt so unreal to be there. It felt like it should be some kind of museum set up from a hundred years ago, but it wasn't. This is how they really live. They keep a fire inside the house becuase they say the smoke kills bugs that could destroy the house. The smoke burned my eyes and didn't help with the allergies. And towards the end of our time there, our clothes smelled so bad! The women wear traditional embroidered Hmong clothing. And not because they are minority models showing off their culture, but cause this is what they really wear. It was really like going back in time. We sat around the fire as Noah talked with the men of the villiage in Hmong. Arief and I sat around not being able to understand anything going on. I felt out of place around the fire with the men, but I didn't know what else I could do. I couldn't help the women prepare dinner, I couldn't talk to them, and plus it was cold anyway! I was able to talk through Noah to a girl who had the brightest smile. Her name is Pa. We learned that we are the same age and our birthdays are only one day apart! She is married and has a son about six years old!
An observation that Noah made was that this villiage is so quiet. He has been to other Hmong villiages in Laos and Thailand and says they are so lively and full of people and action and noise. But this is a Hmong Chinese villiage. There are very few children, and many of the young people have gone to the city to find a better life. Huang Tian was so quiet.
All the homes have animistic features. Above the front door there is a red cloth nailed their by three silver coins, this to ward off evil spirits that might try to harrass them. Inside the houses they have alters where they burn inscense and present spiritual monies to spirits or ancestors. At night as I prayed I awed in the fact that this could be the very first time that the name of Jesus is spoken in these homes.
Our dinner that night was rice, cabbage, and salty stirfried pork parts (a little meat, lots of liver, some other mysterious things). I figured we had to get used to eating pork when the guts are hanging in the rafters, and the rest of the carcus is lying on the floor in a pile. After dinner, Mama Thao filled up a basin with hot water from the kettle over the fire, so that we could wash our feet. We didn't really understand why we had to wash our feet, but it felt nice. I later learned that they wash their feet everynight because many people go barefoot and there are certain bugs and parasites here that eat away at your feet if you don't keep them clean. The men sat around the fire talking for a long time. They made tea in a small clay jar which they put right in the fire to heat up. They had only one small bown to use for a cup, and would offer us tea one at a time using the same bowl.
That night they gave up their beds for us. Their beds are basically boards nailed together with a straw matt on it. The beds were up in a loft-type area of the house. The rest of them slept downstairs on other cots they had there. I knew it might take me a while to fall asleep as the smoke was heavier upstairs, my allergies were killing me, and the whole experience was mind boggling, so I took some serious cold medicine to help me sleep.
January 24
I woke up to beauty. When we arived in the villiage it was really foggy and we didn't have much time to look around before it got dark, so when I looked out the small window at the foot of my cot that morning it was like looking at a postcard of some unreal place. The morning light, the haze around the mountains, the colors of the subtropical trees and plants, distant villiage huts, the terraced fields built up the mountains. It's so unreal and impossible to describe. The sounds that woke me up that morning were not quite so beautiful as all that. I woke to the sounds of a pig being slaughtered! If you've never heard such an aweful thing, be thankful. I got up before the guys, got ready for they day, and sat by the fire and watched and observed Mama Thao make breakfast and do her thing. She is such a hard worker. I couldn't figure out how old she was. She looks in her late 40s, but her energy, and smile, and strength, and behavior seem to indicate that she's more mid to late 20s. She was so great, though.
The guys finally got up and we had breakfast. It was the same thing we had the night before. Not just the same kind of meal, but the exact same thing, the left overs of what we didn't eat. And they have no refrigeration, so we're prayin over this food like crazy so we don't get sick!
We didn't quite know what to do with ourselves here, so we picked a mountain and decided that we would conquer it. We were given the ok to explore, but told to not cross the border. Since we weren't even sure where the border was, we thought it would be fun to find out. And I think we found it! So I may have been in Vietnam for a little while. Not quite sure! It's amazing how they garden here. They plant their crops along side the mountains, creating giant stair steps. The entire landscape is like this. There is not a mountain they havn't cultivated this way. We discovered many facinating plants and rocks on our hike through the mountains. The air is strange here. It seems to never rain, but it's always wet. There's a constant invisitble myst that lingers in the air. We are pretty high in the mountains so that sometimes we are in a cloud and cannot see the other side of the villiage. It's breathtaking. We walked around til we found some other houses. The people come out and want to know who we are and why we are there. Noah is the only one who can talk to them. I think he got a little tired of telling every one my story. They all want to know what the white girl is doing here. At one place, an elderly couple greeted us very excited. They had NEVER in their lives had their pictures taken, as they've never know anyone with a camer and could never afford such a treasure. So they asked if we would take some for them. It was a delight. They were so adorable. We ended up taking photos of several families. We couldn't leave without them inviting us to eat something. So yay, more pig liver. We made it back to the Thao's and had dinner. Guess what, the same food again. We ate the same food at every meal. It's incredible that they can do this. I might be able to get used to it, especially if I was hungry. But as long as I can help it, I never want to see pig liver again!
That night, we washed our feet, and sat around the fire as before. Mama Thao put the freshly slaughtered pig's brain in a banana leaf and cooked it in the fire. I'm so glad they save the brain for the older people for medicinal purposes rather then treating it like some delicacy to share with guests!! Yeah, she ate the brain right their with her chop sticks. Facinating. Just as gross is this pipe that the men smoke around the fire all the time! It's made out of a chunk of bamboo, they put tobacco in a small hole near one end and stick their mouth around the opening at the top and puff away like a giant bong.
Oh, I can't leave out the adventuresome bathroom. The bathroom is actually in the pig pen. Behind the house the pigs are kept, and this is where you "go", standing on 2 boards. They do not even waste the waste!
January 25
I was hoping we could do a little more this day as far as seeing more of their way of life and culture. So they invited us to watch them smash rocks. I still am not sure exactly why they were doing this. But the women would go somewhere to fill their baskets with big rocks to bring to them men who would break them into smaller pieces with hammers. We watched for a while, and it didn't take long til the guys picked another mountain for us to conquere for the day.
The day was a little wetter then before, and we chose the difficult places to climb. We got very wet and muddy. We must've walked a few miles hiking. We thought we were climbing the highest mountain in the area, only to reach the top and discover an even higher one that we couldn't see through the fog before. So we'd go to that one and then find there was an even higher one yet! We found a waterway and followed it a long ways. We were gone all afternoon and getting hungry. So Noah says we should just go to the nearest villiage and they'd probably feed us. So we come out of the mountain jungle to this villiage as if out of no where and this group of men is looking at us like we are so crazy. Three foreigners out of nowhere! Turns out they were not Hmong! They were Yao! So Noah asked them for a banana in Chinese, and they didn't really know what we were talking about! It was such a funny site. I can't imagine what they must've thought. So we headed back to Huang Tian. Still hungry, we stopped by a field of cabbage and picked some raw to keep us going. We must've climbed three mountains hoping to get to the top, but there was always something higher. Oh, well.
We got back to the villiage and just sat around. It's cool to be there. But it's so hard not being able to communicate or be involved somehow. I would've loved to spend more time with the people and learn more about their way of life. But it was hard.
That night, the same thing. We ate pig liver (both the guys got a little sick), washed our feet, sat by the fire (trying to dry our wet socks and pants from our hike). I wrote in my journal as I sat by the fire. They all watched in awe. Kinda funny. Through Noah, they told me they wanted me to stay and teach English, but they were very discouraged when they learned how much I can make teaching in the big city. It would be amazing to teach English here! As long as I didn't have to eat pig liver every day, and if I could communicate with the people it's all good. We planned to leave the next day, so I had Noah translate my appreciation and goodbyes to them, and how I wish I could talk to them.
January 26
We woke up at 530am to catch the truck to the nearest town. Mama Thao was going to be our guide. I watched her prepare to go to the town. She washed her long black hair and put it in a braid, then up in a bun near her forehead. Then careful and tight as ever, she wrapped layer upon layer of black cloth around her head like a turbin, making it "just so", checking her small hand mirror a hundred times to make sure it was perfect, all that to cover it up with 2 more layers of colorful material. She's so traditional, yet so down to earth, fun loving, happy, laughs at everything, hard working, very self aware, solid identity, pride, wise... but even with her weathered face and hands she has a youthful look in her eyes. She made the biggest impression on me. She's as strong as ten men. She is hard core!
It was still dark when we left the house. We crammed into the back of a truck that I can only describe as something like an illegal-imigrant-transport truck. Many people were standing in the back and we headed for the town where they would sell their vegetables and buy supplies. I was glad that they didn't try to give me any special treatment, but I did things just the way they do. Standing in the back of that truck, holding on to the rails for dear life as we bounced around that rutty, muddy road. And just when you thought the truck was full, we'd pick up ten more people along the way. Unreal! I can't belive it still. We arrived in the busy small town full of buying and selling, and waited for a car headed to Malipo. Things happends kinda fast, and we never said goodbye to Mama Thao. We tried to offer her something for all that they did for us, but she would not accept it. I wish we could've done more to show our gratitude for the sacrifices they made for us.
We arived in Malipo, where Hnou's aunt greeted us and helped us buy tickets back to Wenshan city. She gave us a sweet send off, after making fun of us for our muddy clothes. The bus to Wenshan took forever becuase we got stuck in a traffic jam due to a bunch of cattle, a narrow street and two way traffic.
When we got to Wenshan we planned to treat ourselves to a nice hotel with heat. But we couldn't go right away because Hnou's family invited us to dinner. So we went all muddy, unshowered, and smelling like fire smoke. They were BBQing a pig. As long as it wasn't the liver, ok. One of the Hmong guys there was from Colorado, so it was cool to talk to him. I was happy to let Hnou know that I didn't cry in the villiage!
We were out of the villiage, but still among a ton of people who we couldn't communicate with, so Arief and I had some good conversations. He is Chinese descent, and wants to learn the language so he can communicate with some of his family memebers. He's 20, and a super nice guy. His Indonesian accent is fun to listen to after hearing a Chinese accent so much.
Hnou helped us check into another hotel where we got another discount. I took a looong shower. We washed our clothes in the tub. Just from those three days in the villiage, black dirt from the smokey house saturated our clothes. I was glad to have gone to the villiage, but also glad to be back. I wish I could brag about how hard core I am, but I'm still kind of attatched to the whole idea of clean water, daily showers, and a fresh change of clothes. The villiage life is so simple, yet so hard. I know that I could easily live there if I had certain comforts.
January 27, 28
We still have a few days til the new year, so not sure how we're going to fill the time. Wenshan city isn't exactly the most hoppin' place. We walked around the city all day long. Watched a couple movies on Noah's lap top. The 28th is Spring Festival Eve. So fire works are contantly going off all around. Since it is the Chinese New Year, most people shut up their shops and get together with family. So nothing is open, which makes it very quiet and even fewer things to do. We found a Muslim restaurant to eat at. I'm surprised at the large popualation of Muslims in Yunnan. It's always interesting trying to order food. Most of the time we would get JiDanChaoFan (Egg Fried Rice). We had dinner at Hnou's house with all her family. It felt really strange for me, cuz the men all eat together in one room, and the women in the other. So I didn't have Arief to keep me company. But they are nice as they can be to a complete strange foreigner invading their equivilent to a Christmas family dinner. Not much else happened these couple days in Wenshan, but I was glad to get away from Zhanjiang nonetheless.
At around midnight of Chinese New Year's Eve, it sounds like a warzone! Every one in the city is lighting fireworks. Out my hotel window I could see a show. This went on all night! It's like Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July all on one night.
January 29
Chinese New Year. We just walked around Wenshan all day. Ate some fast food for lunch, bought a cake to celebrate, watched a couple movies, ate dinner at a nearby place, had an interesting conversation about our childhoods when the electricity went out in the hotel and we couldn't use the elevator to get to our hotel rooms. Too lazy to take the stairs. (Even after all that mountain climbing we did!)
January 30
Today was the first day of the week long Hmong New Year celebration. It was not all that we expected. We took a taxi to a random road that led us to a little Hmong villiage outside the city near a brick factory. There weren't many people there, and nothing to do, so we took a walk to this mountain temple park. Noah was very disappointed. He had heard that the Hmong new year in Wenshan was like the biggest gathering of Hmong in China. Later we learned that it was in a different place, and Hnou went without us. Bummer. So we're stuck in Wenshan and not able to go to the big deal.
So we went to this temple build into the side of a mountain. The day was gorgeous, so I was so happy to be out. The sun was shining so bright we even had to shed our coats. We got to climb another mountain. It brought us to another beautiful vew of the entire city of Wenshan and also the Hmong villiage where nothing much was going on. It's a great feeling to climb to the top of a mountain and see the places below and the horizon of endless mountain scenery.
The temple inside the mountain was interesting. Many Chinese go there to pray, burn inscense and wish for good luck and success for the coming year. The temple was more like a cave with several caverns with different idols tucked away where people could worship them and pray to them. What sadness to think how many thousands of people put their trust in lifeless statues and powerless images stuck in the dark places of a cave. But it's all they know.
Our favorite thing to eat in Wenshan was BBQ. Vendors along the road would sell meat BBQed on a stick with special spices. We must've walked every street in Wenshan. And we must've been to every DVD shop.
January 31
Noah and Arief were having some personality differences, which made the day strange. Still, we all stuck together and walked more around the city and explored every corner. It could've been the most boring thing in the world, but I kept thinking how glad I was to be with other believers and to get away from Zhanjiang and see other places.
Arief rented Majiong from a shop and taught me how to play. It's like Chinese dominoes. It's really fun. I like it a lot.
February 1
We thought we'd give the Hmong New Year another chance, so we went to the same little villiage outside the city where nothing was happening before. This time it was a lot more interesting. There were a lot more people. Most of the women were wearing the traditional Hmong clothes. Men brought their nice beafy bulls, and had them fight each other. I guess this is a new year tradition to fight bulls and bet on them. I was hoping to see more singing and dancing, but there was only one girl that danced and a crazy lady. She was so funny.
Noah, Arief and I sat on the side of a mountain and people watched for a long while. We ate noodles, sugar cane, bubble tea, BBQ, took pictures. I got sunburned. I enjoyed observing the culture. I wish we could've seen them climb the pole. I've been told that it's a tradition to have a pole climing contest, upside down. We saw the pole, but no one climbed. I wish they would've had their crafts for sale. But it was a nice time nonetheless.
February 2
We bought tickets to Kunming and decided to head back today. We thought they were so expensive because of the holiday season, but it turned out that it was a sleeper bus. It was nice to be able to lay down the way back, and I didn't think about the crazy mountain roads this way. We checked into a hostel. Back in Kunming was nice because it's such a big and busy city with many things to do. We saw many foreigners here.
February 3
I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the things that I left in Hnou's apartment the week before. She was still in Wenshan with her family and wasn't planning on coming back for another week. We went to several travel agencies looking for a way to get back to Zhanjiang. It was hard to find a ticket!
We ate lunch at Pizza Hut! It was so great, even tasted like home. You can't understand what it's like to appreciate pizza like this, after not having it or the option of it for 5 months. We had tea and fruit at the cutest little sidewalk cafe with white lights all over and the moon shining down. It was a lovely night.
I took some time to think of my psat year, and what I hope and pray for the next year of my life.
February 4
My Birthday! Happy Birthday to MEEE. Afief came at midnight to wish me happy birthday and gave me the Lion King 1/2 as a gift. Well, I was hoping my birthday would be special somehow. Mom always made our birthdays so special and I love her for that. Unfortunately I was really upset and freaking out about my things stuck in Hnou's apartment, afraid that I wouldn't get them. But I decided to get over it and have a good day. So I booked a ticket back to Zhanjiang for the 8th, and hoped for the best.
We went to a big park by a lake, it was nice. We saw a cool caligraphy artist, huge kytes, dudes with massive kyte reels (Kyte flying is serious business here!), saw a million sea gulls. There was a little carnival place there, so we rode one ride. It was slightly painful the way it jerked us around, but it was also fun and crazy. They guys treated me to this fancy Thai restaurant. So sweet of them. I bought myself a piece of cake, and Arief put a match in it for a candel. I wish it tasted as good as it looked. Chinese just don't do chocolate very well. And we watched a movie.
So it was a nice birthday. Not a huge deal. But I won't forget it.
February 5
I called Hnou and asked her permission to hire a locksmith to get into her apartment. Even though she said it was ok, it must've freaked her out cuz she came back the next day!
We took a bus to a most famous tourist spot in Kunming, the Horticulture Garden. But the admission fee was really expensive, so we decided to go to the zoo. The zoo was more like a huge park with some animals here and there. I was expecting to see pathetic and sad looking animals like in the zoo in Zhanjiang. But I was impressed. The animals looked great, and were very lively. The peacock garden was cool. Hundreds of peacocks walking all around you. Some were fighting with eachother which was fun to watch. There was a display of artwork, al the pieces made entirely of butterfly wings. Sounds sick and weird, but they were so beautiful and creative. We came to the carnivorous animals right before the zookeepers took them inside where we couldn't see them. So we only got to see the lion for a couple minutes. Right before he went inside, he sprayed a group of people! It was gross, but so funny at the same time. We spent most time watching 4 kodiak bears wrestling. Very entertaining.
February 6
Went to another park after having KFC for brunch. The park was outside the city, fewer people, quiet, peaceful, and more natural. It was a good place to hike a bit, and rest in a pagoda while the breeze blowed through the trees and the sunshine warmed our faces.
There were many elderly people here playing Majiong.
At around midnight Hnou arrived and I finally got my things.
February 7
We didn't do much at all today. Just relaxed and enjoyed one last day of Kunming. Arief left on the train to Beijing later that night. I'm glad to have met him. It was fun traveling with these guys.
February 8
Noah and I went to the airport as our flights were departing in the morning. Noah was flying to Laos to visit his sister who lives there. He still has 2 weeks of vacation.
Well, I am back in Zhanjiang now. To be honest I'm not all that excited to be back. I had fun traveling around different places in China, and being places that no other young white chick has probably every been. My travels weren't terribly eventful, but it was relaxing and facinating. I would have to say that the villiage experience, as difficult and surreal as it was, was the highlight of this trip. Another thing that I am so grateful for, is being with likeminded people. It was so refreshing to be around other blievers after five months of having no one to fellowship with in Zhanjiang. It's amazing how noticeable the immediate bond is between believers is when you've been starved of it for months! I am so thankful for that. The first night of being back in Zhanjiang was hard, because I was back in the company of unbeleivers. The darkness in this atmosphere is discouraging. But I have a strong sense of purpose here. The Father is protecting me, the Sprit is guiding me, and JC is with me every step of the way. Already, he has done something amazing since I've been back. Through unusual circumstances I was able to give my Chinese WORD to a dear one, and I'm SO excited to see what happens (but who knows, I might never see the outcome.) Please keep this in your prairs.
I begin teaching monday. I'm a little nervous, I don't know why. Only one more day of vacation and it's back to teaching.
Yunnan was great. I hope I can go back someday. I would love to see Mama Thao again. I will never forget.
January 18
I bought the ticket just the day before. I finally heard from my college friend Noah, who was also planning to go to Yunnan. He is studying Chinese at a Beijing University. It was totally spur of the moment, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was excited to get out of Zhanjiang for a while and see some new things. This would be my only oportunity to really do some traveling and site seeing while I am here in China. I flew to Guangzhou first because there is no direct flight to Kunming from Zhanjiang. The flight made me a little sick, but I was happy to have a window seat. I was flying in the afternoon, so as we flew above the billowy clouds, the sun shone brightly on them and I pictured my two angels asigned to protect me flying along side the plane and wondered what their names were. On the flight to Kunming I was the only foreigner aboard, and the Chinese people were so lively and friendly towards me. It was like a party in a plane. What a fun group of people! Laughter all the way.
I was worried that my friend Noah wouldn't be at the airport to pick me up. He had flown in the night before and we planned to meet. He wasn't there! He forgot me! Thank God for cell phones, though. As I waited for him to get me, I wondered, what have I gotten myself into. Is this what the whole trip would be like? I must be insane! Also while I waited a man came to practice his English with me. Big surprise that is. (Sarcasm)
Finally Noah showed up, along with his classmate Arief who comes from Indonesia. Both guys are kinda quiet, indecisive and introverted. We made an interesting group of traveling companions. But how refreshing to be with other Christians! We rode the "black taxi" back to Noah friend's apartment. Noah is Hmong, so he has many Hmong friends and contacts in Yunnan. Yunnan is known for it's many minority groups. We stayed with Hnou. She has a nice little apartment in Kunming where she is studying accupuncture.
The weather in Yunnan is a lot colder then it was in Zhanjiang. I was always wearing my coat.
January 19
We planned to do some site seeing in Kunming. The biggest attraction we knew of was the Stone Forest. It sounded really cool and I was excited to go, but we ended up going to a Minority Park or "Nationalities Villiage". It was a tourist attraction to see a set up of what different minority villiages might look like and their dress. It was neat to see many different kinds of minorities, but it was definitely not the real thing and just for show. I think I would prefer to see the real thing. The most interesting was the Tibetan set up. There was a temple, and people wearing traditional Tibetan clothing, and they did a show for us with singing and dancing.
That night we walked around Kunming. It's a beautiful city. We went with Hnou to her teacher's house so she could give them a gift for their new born baby. We ate dinner at a Thai restaruant, Hnou treated us to many interesting foods from the vendors on the street. Kunming is much more lively and interesting then Zhanjiang. There are so many lights, shops, sites, foods, interesting people.
January 20
We had planned to go to southern Yunnan this day with some friend's of Hnou's. They had come to Kunming to see some special doctors, but were now returning to their villiage. Noah thought it would be a good oportunity to go with them and experience a Hmong villiage in China. I was also very excited to go to a real Hmong villiage. I decided to leave one of my bags in Kunming and travel light. I didn't want to cary all kinds of stuff with me to a villiage. So I was told we'd be back to Hnou's place and it would be no problem. So we took a 6 hour bus ride to Wenshan city. The bus was small and packed with people. A very strange place for a young white girl like me to be! We road through the mountains and a very narrow road with now gaurd rails. I thought we were going to die several times!! I counted three car accidents on our way there. They drive so crazy! Driving so fast around these blind mountain curves, passing eachother, and just barely escaping head on collisions. Insane!!! There had to have been more then two angels keeping that bus on the road! There was no way I could sleep during that ride, where as Arief was totally conked out! I didn't want to miss anything anyway, the scenery was breathtaking, and there were so many facinating things to see along the way. We drove past the Stone Forest, beautiful rice paddies terraced up the mountains, people wearing traditional minority clothing not for show but because that's what they really wear, cows and horses along the road, brillian red clay dirt, red rivers, and hundreds of small and poor villiages. I felt like I was in a National Geographic flim or something. I had many mixed feelings like, What in the world am I doing? This is so exciting! My allergies are making me so miserable! How will the people recieve me? Will they hate me? Will they love me?
We arrived in Wenshan, and I was surprised. I was expecting that after that insane ride we'd be in an very remote unheard-of place. But Wenshan City is just slightly smaller than Zhanjiang. The Hmong guy that helped us get this far then told us that his villiage was another six hour bus ride away, and was going some other time. Noah was in touch with a Hmong Missnary around there, and was hoping he'd take us to a Chrstian Hmong villiage, but that missnary friend decided to go to Thailand. So we found ourselves stuck in small Wenshan with no plan. Then I learned that Noah wanted to be here for the Hmong New year more than a week away, so we had to figure out what we were going to do with the next eight days. Well, Hnou (the girl we stayed with in Kunming)--her parents and other reletives live in Wenshan, so we ended up staying at her Uncle's place for a couple days. Hmong hospitality is great. Noah never met these people in his life, and still they are willing to feed us and give us a place to stay. But still I began thinking, what am I doing here! How did I get here! What are we gonna do? And my allergies were getting worse and things were not looking good. But whatever happens, I'm sure it will be interesting and I want to make the most of it.
January 21
Noah was still trying to make plans to get to a Hmong villiage. He didn't know of any other Chrstian ones, so any villiage would do at this point. I was very interested and excited to go to a villiage, but also nervous. I'm probably the only single, white female to ever do something like this.
To fill the time, Hnou's little brother took us to a Wenshan temple on top a mountain. We climbed a million steps to the top. We could see the whole city. I love being in the mountains. We spent the day walking around the city, and sitting around Hnou's parents house and watching movies on Noah's laptop. They are so nice, but it can be very difficult not being able to communicate. I really enjoy their food. It's a lot less greesy then straight up Chinese food. Hnou showed up later today to see her family since it is the Chinese New Year and most people have time off and families get together. She took us for a walk around Wenshan City. There were a lot of people at the park dancing, and we joined in for a bit. It was silly and fun. It's so nice that she can speak English. It's hard not being able to talk with the rest of her family.
January 22
Hnou's uncle treated us to noodles for breakfast. Then we met up with Hnou and the rest of her family and checked out a small museum in the making. They are basically restoring a very old Chinese house where officials used to live. Today was a special day for the Hmong people. It is one week before the Hmong new year, so many people including other minorities gather to sell their beautiful dresses and needlework. Their shops were along this narrow street, and it was wall to wall people. Even with all the activity oddly enough some still insited on two way automobile traffic going through there. It was insane!! It was awesome. The streets were so colorful with Hmong and Yee and Yao things. Women all over wearing their cool bright traditional clothing and hats. Colorful baby carriers everywhere with cute little heads poking through the top. (I bought a couple--not babies, the carriers!) Hnou and her family were always stopping to say hello to friends, and intorducing us. One man really wanted me to stay in Wenshan to teach English. He offered to take us to a villiage too. We walked around the city all day, eating sugar cane and other interesting things like black sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf.
At lunch we met Hnou's grandfather. What a character! He was very nice and friendly, and liked me a lot! Turned out that he is the mayor of Wenshan City, head hancho, very popular. So we are so lucky and honored to eat with him so casually. You can't have a meal with a popular Chinese man with out sharing a glas of BaiJiou with him. It would be very rude and disrespectful. So they poured us a glas, and thus proceded many toasts and Gambeis (cheers). That stuff is so strong and nasty! I thought that since this family was being so nice and hospitable towards us complete strangers it would be the least we could do to make a small toast of thanks to them. I asked Noah if he would do it, since he speaks the language, but he didn't seem to think it was neccessary. So I told him to translate for me! A little taboo for a girl to do such a thing, but I take advantage of the fact that I'm a foreigner and can get away with more. So I made my first toast. So weird. How did I get here!! I'm not a big fan at all of drinking, but I figured it was more important to sincerely show appreciation for their kindness and hospitality then to worry about legalisms.
I wish I could understand what people are saying. It's very difficult to not be able to communicate. I try to use what little Chinese I know. It's really motivating me to learn more! I think Hnou's Grandfather was wondering about my connection with Hmong people and a little surprised. He was certain I was clueless. So through translation he told me that if I could say anything in Hmong he would give me a gift. So I said, Nyob zoo (Hello)... he was so surprised. he he he. So he invited us to have a lamb dinner with him that night.
Afterwards, Noah, Arief, and I were walking around the city and we met a caucasian man. He was more surprised to see me then I was him. He said "we don't get many of your kind around here!" He introduced himself (I'm not sure it's a good idea to say the name) and said he builds schools in Malipo, a very small town south of Wenshan City. He was very excited to talk to me and asked many questions. I introduced Noah to him and mentioned how he is Hmong and that we are hoping to go to a Hmong villiage. And he asked Noah if he knows so-and-so, and it turns out it's the very guy that Noah was in touch with who went to Thailand! So we're pretty sure this guy is "one of us!" I asked him if he had any tips for going to the villiage. He said that I'll have a great time, and had only one thing to say about it, "you are a brave girl!" It's a very rare thing to see a single young girl venture to these parts. I have a feeling that I will be hearing of him again. It is a rare thing for someone like me to be here. But I am not afraid. I am nervous, but not scared. So later we met with Grandfather for lamb dinner (which actually turned out to be goat). He also gave us each a bamboo Hmong craft. Very special.
We finally made plans to go to a villiage the next day. Hnou's aunt lives in Malipo, the same small city where that man we met was building schools. She could hook us up with a family to stay with in a villiage. I didn't really know what was going on, but decided to just go with the flow. That night we stayed in a hotel because other members of Hnou's family were coming to town to stay with them. We got a great deal on the rooms since Hnou's uncle works there and hooked us up, but it was super cold as that hotel has no heat. My allergies had turned into a cold so I wasn't feeling well physically. But my sprits were high. I'm eating good, making friends, getting connections for the future, and learning so much.
January 23
The morning we were to go to Mailpo, Hnou tried hard to convince me not to go. Leah, don't go! Don't go! She said that even though she is Hmong she can't bare to be in the villiage. She says I will be crying the whole time, that I should stay with her and go shopping every day. I almost took her up on it, but decided not to waste the oportunity of a lifetime. And I'm glad I did. It turned out to be the highlight, and most facinating part of the trip!
The bus ride to Malipo was ok. Only about four hours long, and not as crammed as before. I packed even lighter, leaving some things in Hnou's parent's place. Malipo is even more remote then Wenshan. On the way, we saw many small and poor villiages. We arrived to Malipo very hungry, so after meeting up with Hnou's aunt (the sweetest lady ever) and a man whose parents live in the villiage where we will go, she brought us to a roadside place where we at a tastey fish lunch. While we ate they asked around for someone willing to drive us to the villiage. Turns out the villiage was another three hour drive through the mountains, up a very muddy, narrow, cruel road that seldom gets used. We had to pay a lot of money (about 50 USD) to convince someone to take a special trip there just for us. Insane price, but we'd come so far already. The road was bumpy as ever. We passed many small villiages on the way through the quiet mountains of Southern China. We passed so many villiages, but the one we were destined for was at the end of this long bumpy road. We weren't exactly sure where we were exactly, but later learned that we were right on the Vietnam border. Just before we reached the villiage we had to get out of the truck as he carefully drove over a part of the road that was so narrow due to part of it being lost in a landslide. He barely made it!
As we arrived at the villiage I felt strange. Many stares, I'm wondering what are they thinking? Why is this white girl here? But how cool is this! Hnou's aunt and the other dude led us to his parents house. The houses are all made of a lightbrown clay. Chickens running around everywhere. Sounds of roosters, pigs, and an occasional moo. I was surprised to see that they all have TVs and running water (these things provided by the government). It was nicer then I expected. Still, they are the poorest of the poor in China. It's hard for me to recall my first impressions. The scenery is breathtaking. The man introduced his parents who turned out to be the leaders of this particular villiage. The villiage is called "Huang Tian" which in Chinese actually means an unfruitful field.
Well, there's not getting around the fact that everyone is courious about this white girl and what she's doing here. Turns out I am the very first caucasion to come to this particular viliage. But they did mention the presence of Morman missnaries in these parts who spoke fluent Hmong. We were taken to someone elses home, the place where we would stay for how long? We weren't sure how or when we'd be going back to civilization. The Thao family was very hospitable. The inside of their homes are very simple. It felt so unreal to be there. It felt like it should be some kind of museum set up from a hundred years ago, but it wasn't. This is how they really live. They keep a fire inside the house becuase they say the smoke kills bugs that could destroy the house. The smoke burned my eyes and didn't help with the allergies. And towards the end of our time there, our clothes smelled so bad! The women wear traditional embroidered Hmong clothing. And not because they are minority models showing off their culture, but cause this is what they really wear. It was really like going back in time. We sat around the fire as Noah talked with the men of the villiage in Hmong. Arief and I sat around not being able to understand anything going on. I felt out of place around the fire with the men, but I didn't know what else I could do. I couldn't help the women prepare dinner, I couldn't talk to them, and plus it was cold anyway! I was able to talk through Noah to a girl who had the brightest smile. Her name is Pa. We learned that we are the same age and our birthdays are only one day apart! She is married and has a son about six years old!
An observation that Noah made was that this villiage is so quiet. He has been to other Hmong villiages in Laos and Thailand and says they are so lively and full of people and action and noise. But this is a Hmong Chinese villiage. There are very few children, and many of the young people have gone to the city to find a better life. Huang Tian was so quiet.
All the homes have animistic features. Above the front door there is a red cloth nailed their by three silver coins, this to ward off evil spirits that might try to harrass them. Inside the houses they have alters where they burn inscense and present spiritual monies to spirits or ancestors. At night as I prayed I awed in the fact that this could be the very first time that the name of Jesus is spoken in these homes.
Our dinner that night was rice, cabbage, and salty stirfried pork parts (a little meat, lots of liver, some other mysterious things). I figured we had to get used to eating pork when the guts are hanging in the rafters, and the rest of the carcus is lying on the floor in a pile. After dinner, Mama Thao filled up a basin with hot water from the kettle over the fire, so that we could wash our feet. We didn't really understand why we had to wash our feet, but it felt nice. I later learned that they wash their feet everynight because many people go barefoot and there are certain bugs and parasites here that eat away at your feet if you don't keep them clean. The men sat around the fire talking for a long time. They made tea in a small clay jar which they put right in the fire to heat up. They had only one small bown to use for a cup, and would offer us tea one at a time using the same bowl.
That night they gave up their beds for us. Their beds are basically boards nailed together with a straw matt on it. The beds were up in a loft-type area of the house. The rest of them slept downstairs on other cots they had there. I knew it might take me a while to fall asleep as the smoke was heavier upstairs, my allergies were killing me, and the whole experience was mind boggling, so I took some serious cold medicine to help me sleep.
January 24
I woke up to beauty. When we arived in the villiage it was really foggy and we didn't have much time to look around before it got dark, so when I looked out the small window at the foot of my cot that morning it was like looking at a postcard of some unreal place. The morning light, the haze around the mountains, the colors of the subtropical trees and plants, distant villiage huts, the terraced fields built up the mountains. It's so unreal and impossible to describe. The sounds that woke me up that morning were not quite so beautiful as all that. I woke to the sounds of a pig being slaughtered! If you've never heard such an aweful thing, be thankful. I got up before the guys, got ready for they day, and sat by the fire and watched and observed Mama Thao make breakfast and do her thing. She is such a hard worker. I couldn't figure out how old she was. She looks in her late 40s, but her energy, and smile, and strength, and behavior seem to indicate that she's more mid to late 20s. She was so great, though.
The guys finally got up and we had breakfast. It was the same thing we had the night before. Not just the same kind of meal, but the exact same thing, the left overs of what we didn't eat. And they have no refrigeration, so we're prayin over this food like crazy so we don't get sick!
We didn't quite know what to do with ourselves here, so we picked a mountain and decided that we would conquer it. We were given the ok to explore, but told to not cross the border. Since we weren't even sure where the border was, we thought it would be fun to find out. And I think we found it! So I may have been in Vietnam for a little while. Not quite sure! It's amazing how they garden here. They plant their crops along side the mountains, creating giant stair steps. The entire landscape is like this. There is not a mountain they havn't cultivated this way. We discovered many facinating plants and rocks on our hike through the mountains. The air is strange here. It seems to never rain, but it's always wet. There's a constant invisitble myst that lingers in the air. We are pretty high in the mountains so that sometimes we are in a cloud and cannot see the other side of the villiage. It's breathtaking. We walked around til we found some other houses. The people come out and want to know who we are and why we are there. Noah is the only one who can talk to them. I think he got a little tired of telling every one my story. They all want to know what the white girl is doing here. At one place, an elderly couple greeted us very excited. They had NEVER in their lives had their pictures taken, as they've never know anyone with a camer and could never afford such a treasure. So they asked if we would take some for them. It was a delight. They were so adorable. We ended up taking photos of several families. We couldn't leave without them inviting us to eat something. So yay, more pig liver. We made it back to the Thao's and had dinner. Guess what, the same food again. We ate the same food at every meal. It's incredible that they can do this. I might be able to get used to it, especially if I was hungry. But as long as I can help it, I never want to see pig liver again!
That night, we washed our feet, and sat around the fire as before. Mama Thao put the freshly slaughtered pig's brain in a banana leaf and cooked it in the fire. I'm so glad they save the brain for the older people for medicinal purposes rather then treating it like some delicacy to share with guests!! Yeah, she ate the brain right their with her chop sticks. Facinating. Just as gross is this pipe that the men smoke around the fire all the time! It's made out of a chunk of bamboo, they put tobacco in a small hole near one end and stick their mouth around the opening at the top and puff away like a giant bong.
Oh, I can't leave out the adventuresome bathroom. The bathroom is actually in the pig pen. Behind the house the pigs are kept, and this is where you "go", standing on 2 boards. They do not even waste the waste!
January 25
I was hoping we could do a little more this day as far as seeing more of their way of life and culture. So they invited us to watch them smash rocks. I still am not sure exactly why they were doing this. But the women would go somewhere to fill their baskets with big rocks to bring to them men who would break them into smaller pieces with hammers. We watched for a while, and it didn't take long til the guys picked another mountain for us to conquere for the day.
The day was a little wetter then before, and we chose the difficult places to climb. We got very wet and muddy. We must've walked a few miles hiking. We thought we were climbing the highest mountain in the area, only to reach the top and discover an even higher one that we couldn't see through the fog before. So we'd go to that one and then find there was an even higher one yet! We found a waterway and followed it a long ways. We were gone all afternoon and getting hungry. So Noah says we should just go to the nearest villiage and they'd probably feed us. So we come out of the mountain jungle to this villiage as if out of no where and this group of men is looking at us like we are so crazy. Three foreigners out of nowhere! Turns out they were not Hmong! They were Yao! So Noah asked them for a banana in Chinese, and they didn't really know what we were talking about! It was such a funny site. I can't imagine what they must've thought. So we headed back to Huang Tian. Still hungry, we stopped by a field of cabbage and picked some raw to keep us going. We must've climbed three mountains hoping to get to the top, but there was always something higher. Oh, well.
We got back to the villiage and just sat around. It's cool to be there. But it's so hard not being able to communicate or be involved somehow. I would've loved to spend more time with the people and learn more about their way of life. But it was hard.
That night, the same thing. We ate pig liver (both the guys got a little sick), washed our feet, sat by the fire (trying to dry our wet socks and pants from our hike). I wrote in my journal as I sat by the fire. They all watched in awe. Kinda funny. Through Noah, they told me they wanted me to stay and teach English, but they were very discouraged when they learned how much I can make teaching in the big city. It would be amazing to teach English here! As long as I didn't have to eat pig liver every day, and if I could communicate with the people it's all good. We planned to leave the next day, so I had Noah translate my appreciation and goodbyes to them, and how I wish I could talk to them.
January 26
We woke up at 530am to catch the truck to the nearest town. Mama Thao was going to be our guide. I watched her prepare to go to the town. She washed her long black hair and put it in a braid, then up in a bun near her forehead. Then careful and tight as ever, she wrapped layer upon layer of black cloth around her head like a turbin, making it "just so", checking her small hand mirror a hundred times to make sure it was perfect, all that to cover it up with 2 more layers of colorful material. She's so traditional, yet so down to earth, fun loving, happy, laughs at everything, hard working, very self aware, solid identity, pride, wise... but even with her weathered face and hands she has a youthful look in her eyes. She made the biggest impression on me. She's as strong as ten men. She is hard core!
It was still dark when we left the house. We crammed into the back of a truck that I can only describe as something like an illegal-imigrant-transport truck. Many people were standing in the back and we headed for the town where they would sell their vegetables and buy supplies. I was glad that they didn't try to give me any special treatment, but I did things just the way they do. Standing in the back of that truck, holding on to the rails for dear life as we bounced around that rutty, muddy road. And just when you thought the truck was full, we'd pick up ten more people along the way. Unreal! I can't belive it still. We arrived in the busy small town full of buying and selling, and waited for a car headed to Malipo. Things happends kinda fast, and we never said goodbye to Mama Thao. We tried to offer her something for all that they did for us, but she would not accept it. I wish we could've done more to show our gratitude for the sacrifices they made for us.
We arived in Malipo, where Hnou's aunt greeted us and helped us buy tickets back to Wenshan city. She gave us a sweet send off, after making fun of us for our muddy clothes. The bus to Wenshan took forever becuase we got stuck in a traffic jam due to a bunch of cattle, a narrow street and two way traffic.
When we got to Wenshan we planned to treat ourselves to a nice hotel with heat. But we couldn't go right away because Hnou's family invited us to dinner. So we went all muddy, unshowered, and smelling like fire smoke. They were BBQing a pig. As long as it wasn't the liver, ok. One of the Hmong guys there was from Colorado, so it was cool to talk to him. I was happy to let Hnou know that I didn't cry in the villiage!
We were out of the villiage, but still among a ton of people who we couldn't communicate with, so Arief and I had some good conversations. He is Chinese descent, and wants to learn the language so he can communicate with some of his family memebers. He's 20, and a super nice guy. His Indonesian accent is fun to listen to after hearing a Chinese accent so much.
Hnou helped us check into another hotel where we got another discount. I took a looong shower. We washed our clothes in the tub. Just from those three days in the villiage, black dirt from the smokey house saturated our clothes. I was glad to have gone to the villiage, but also glad to be back. I wish I could brag about how hard core I am, but I'm still kind of attatched to the whole idea of clean water, daily showers, and a fresh change of clothes. The villiage life is so simple, yet so hard. I know that I could easily live there if I had certain comforts.
January 27, 28
We still have a few days til the new year, so not sure how we're going to fill the time. Wenshan city isn't exactly the most hoppin' place. We walked around the city all day long. Watched a couple movies on Noah's lap top. The 28th is Spring Festival Eve. So fire works are contantly going off all around. Since it is the Chinese New Year, most people shut up their shops and get together with family. So nothing is open, which makes it very quiet and even fewer things to do. We found a Muslim restaurant to eat at. I'm surprised at the large popualation of Muslims in Yunnan. It's always interesting trying to order food. Most of the time we would get JiDanChaoFan (Egg Fried Rice). We had dinner at Hnou's house with all her family. It felt really strange for me, cuz the men all eat together in one room, and the women in the other. So I didn't have Arief to keep me company. But they are nice as they can be to a complete strange foreigner invading their equivilent to a Christmas family dinner. Not much else happened these couple days in Wenshan, but I was glad to get away from Zhanjiang nonetheless.
At around midnight of Chinese New Year's Eve, it sounds like a warzone! Every one in the city is lighting fireworks. Out my hotel window I could see a show. This went on all night! It's like Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July all on one night.
January 29
Chinese New Year. We just walked around Wenshan all day. Ate some fast food for lunch, bought a cake to celebrate, watched a couple movies, ate dinner at a nearby place, had an interesting conversation about our childhoods when the electricity went out in the hotel and we couldn't use the elevator to get to our hotel rooms. Too lazy to take the stairs. (Even after all that mountain climbing we did!)
January 30
Today was the first day of the week long Hmong New Year celebration. It was not all that we expected. We took a taxi to a random road that led us to a little Hmong villiage outside the city near a brick factory. There weren't many people there, and nothing to do, so we took a walk to this mountain temple park. Noah was very disappointed. He had heard that the Hmong new year in Wenshan was like the biggest gathering of Hmong in China. Later we learned that it was in a different place, and Hnou went without us. Bummer. So we're stuck in Wenshan and not able to go to the big deal.
So we went to this temple build into the side of a mountain. The day was gorgeous, so I was so happy to be out. The sun was shining so bright we even had to shed our coats. We got to climb another mountain. It brought us to another beautiful vew of the entire city of Wenshan and also the Hmong villiage where nothing much was going on. It's a great feeling to climb to the top of a mountain and see the places below and the horizon of endless mountain scenery.
The temple inside the mountain was interesting. Many Chinese go there to pray, burn inscense and wish for good luck and success for the coming year. The temple was more like a cave with several caverns with different idols tucked away where people could worship them and pray to them. What sadness to think how many thousands of people put their trust in lifeless statues and powerless images stuck in the dark places of a cave. But it's all they know.
Our favorite thing to eat in Wenshan was BBQ. Vendors along the road would sell meat BBQed on a stick with special spices. We must've walked every street in Wenshan. And we must've been to every DVD shop.
January 31
Noah and Arief were having some personality differences, which made the day strange. Still, we all stuck together and walked more around the city and explored every corner. It could've been the most boring thing in the world, but I kept thinking how glad I was to be with other believers and to get away from Zhanjiang and see other places.
Arief rented Majiong from a shop and taught me how to play. It's like Chinese dominoes. It's really fun. I like it a lot.
February 1
We thought we'd give the Hmong New Year another chance, so we went to the same little villiage outside the city where nothing was happening before. This time it was a lot more interesting. There were a lot more people. Most of the women were wearing the traditional Hmong clothes. Men brought their nice beafy bulls, and had them fight each other. I guess this is a new year tradition to fight bulls and bet on them. I was hoping to see more singing and dancing, but there was only one girl that danced and a crazy lady. She was so funny.
Noah, Arief and I sat on the side of a mountain and people watched for a long while. We ate noodles, sugar cane, bubble tea, BBQ, took pictures. I got sunburned. I enjoyed observing the culture. I wish we could've seen them climb the pole. I've been told that it's a tradition to have a pole climing contest, upside down. We saw the pole, but no one climbed. I wish they would've had their crafts for sale. But it was a nice time nonetheless.
February 2
We bought tickets to Kunming and decided to head back today. We thought they were so expensive because of the holiday season, but it turned out that it was a sleeper bus. It was nice to be able to lay down the way back, and I didn't think about the crazy mountain roads this way. We checked into a hostel. Back in Kunming was nice because it's such a big and busy city with many things to do. We saw many foreigners here.
February 3
I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the things that I left in Hnou's apartment the week before. She was still in Wenshan with her family and wasn't planning on coming back for another week. We went to several travel agencies looking for a way to get back to Zhanjiang. It was hard to find a ticket!
We ate lunch at Pizza Hut! It was so great, even tasted like home. You can't understand what it's like to appreciate pizza like this, after not having it or the option of it for 5 months. We had tea and fruit at the cutest little sidewalk cafe with white lights all over and the moon shining down. It was a lovely night.
I took some time to think of my psat year, and what I hope and pray for the next year of my life.
February 4
My Birthday! Happy Birthday to MEEE. Afief came at midnight to wish me happy birthday and gave me the Lion King 1/2 as a gift. Well, I was hoping my birthday would be special somehow. Mom always made our birthdays so special and I love her for that. Unfortunately I was really upset and freaking out about my things stuck in Hnou's apartment, afraid that I wouldn't get them. But I decided to get over it and have a good day. So I booked a ticket back to Zhanjiang for the 8th, and hoped for the best.
We went to a big park by a lake, it was nice. We saw a cool caligraphy artist, huge kytes, dudes with massive kyte reels (Kyte flying is serious business here!), saw a million sea gulls. There was a little carnival place there, so we rode one ride. It was slightly painful the way it jerked us around, but it was also fun and crazy. They guys treated me to this fancy Thai restaurant. So sweet of them. I bought myself a piece of cake, and Arief put a match in it for a candel. I wish it tasted as good as it looked. Chinese just don't do chocolate very well. And we watched a movie.
So it was a nice birthday. Not a huge deal. But I won't forget it.
February 5
I called Hnou and asked her permission to hire a locksmith to get into her apartment. Even though she said it was ok, it must've freaked her out cuz she came back the next day!
We took a bus to a most famous tourist spot in Kunming, the Horticulture Garden. But the admission fee was really expensive, so we decided to go to the zoo. The zoo was more like a huge park with some animals here and there. I was expecting to see pathetic and sad looking animals like in the zoo in Zhanjiang. But I was impressed. The animals looked great, and were very lively. The peacock garden was cool. Hundreds of peacocks walking all around you. Some were fighting with eachother which was fun to watch. There was a display of artwork, al the pieces made entirely of butterfly wings. Sounds sick and weird, but they were so beautiful and creative. We came to the carnivorous animals right before the zookeepers took them inside where we couldn't see them. So we only got to see the lion for a couple minutes. Right before he went inside, he sprayed a group of people! It was gross, but so funny at the same time. We spent most time watching 4 kodiak bears wrestling. Very entertaining.
February 6
Went to another park after having KFC for brunch. The park was outside the city, fewer people, quiet, peaceful, and more natural. It was a good place to hike a bit, and rest in a pagoda while the breeze blowed through the trees and the sunshine warmed our faces.
There were many elderly people here playing Majiong.
At around midnight Hnou arrived and I finally got my things.
February 7
We didn't do much at all today. Just relaxed and enjoyed one last day of Kunming. Arief left on the train to Beijing later that night. I'm glad to have met him. It was fun traveling with these guys.
February 8
Noah and I went to the airport as our flights were departing in the morning. Noah was flying to Laos to visit his sister who lives there. He still has 2 weeks of vacation.
Well, I am back in Zhanjiang now. To be honest I'm not all that excited to be back. I had fun traveling around different places in China, and being places that no other young white chick has probably every been. My travels weren't terribly eventful, but it was relaxing and facinating. I would have to say that the villiage experience, as difficult and surreal as it was, was the highlight of this trip. Another thing that I am so grateful for, is being with likeminded people. It was so refreshing to be around other blievers after five months of having no one to fellowship with in Zhanjiang. It's amazing how noticeable the immediate bond is between believers is when you've been starved of it for months! I am so thankful for that. The first night of being back in Zhanjiang was hard, because I was back in the company of unbeleivers. The darkness in this atmosphere is discouraging. But I have a strong sense of purpose here. The Father is protecting me, the Sprit is guiding me, and JC is with me every step of the way. Already, he has done something amazing since I've been back. Through unusual circumstances I was able to give my Chinese WORD to a dear one, and I'm SO excited to see what happens (but who knows, I might never see the outcome.) Please keep this in your prairs.
I begin teaching monday. I'm a little nervous, I don't know why. Only one more day of vacation and it's back to teaching.
Yunnan was great. I hope I can go back someday. I would love to see Mama Thao again. I will never forget.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Greetings from Kunming!
Hello!
I am at an internet cafe in Kunming right now. My trip is almost over and I will be going back to Zhanjiang soon. I don't have time to tell you all about the trip right now, so I will just say that it's been good. I'm not ready to go back and teach. It's been nice to get away. I took quite a few pics, and also got ones from my friends camera as well, so I can't wait to share them with you. I went with a friend of mine that also went to Crown and his classmate. They are studying Chinese language in a Beijing University. We went to Yunnan province, to the cities Kunming, Wenshan, and Malipo, and to a Hmong villiage south of Malipo near the Vietnam boarder.
I have many things to tell. I kept a journal, so I will try to not leave anything out.
Til then...
I am at an internet cafe in Kunming right now. My trip is almost over and I will be going back to Zhanjiang soon. I don't have time to tell you all about the trip right now, so I will just say that it's been good. I'm not ready to go back and teach. It's been nice to get away. I took quite a few pics, and also got ones from my friends camera as well, so I can't wait to share them with you. I went with a friend of mine that also went to Crown and his classmate. They are studying Chinese language in a Beijing University. We went to Yunnan province, to the cities Kunming, Wenshan, and Malipo, and to a Hmong villiage south of Malipo near the Vietnam boarder.
I have many things to tell. I kept a journal, so I will try to not leave anything out.
Til then...
