HELLO

I am having a hard time thinking of things to write in this blog; one friend told me to just make up funny things because no one would know the difference I can't do that. So, instead I post less frequently.

I have become more comfortable meeting the local people of China. I told you about my Qing Ming experience and how interesting and enjoyable it was, now I have a new one.

I teach part time at a private English school. The students live at the school and study only English. I teach 4.5 hours a week there. I have started using tongue twisters in all of my classes. I was surprised that this tool has not been widely used, students like them (particularly when I mess them up) and it seems to help their pronunciation. One class at this school has 25 students and I gave them the Peter Piper...twister to practice and I told them I would take the best male and female student to lunch. They had a week to practice. Not all of them practiced and I was surprised that Josh and Bu Bu won. For two weeks we could not get our schedules to match for lunch. So instead of lunch Josh and I went to Bu Bu's grandparents home for dinner.

Their home is a condo in a very large complex. The grounds of the complex are well maintained and have many amenities (Bu Bu says the pool is too small, I think she means shallow). The buildings are 8 to 9 stories tall and have no elevators. Her families unit was on the 5th floor, I am tired of stairs and my calves are the size of Popeye's forearms.

Their unit was very modern. Neo-modern, a lot of sharp corners, a wrought iron stair case to second floor. It was furnished with plush furniture and glass and brass tables and, the dining room table was in the Ikea style. The decorations were also Ikeaish.

Her grandparents are 75 and 68. I was the first foreigner they had ever eaten with, at one point Bu Bu told her grandfather to relax that I was a nice foreigner. When she told me they were nervous I put aside my nervousness and asked them questions about their life. Turns out they travel quite a bit. They are off to Hangzhou soon to visit a daughter.

There were five of us eating and their were seven dishes, plus dessert. I did not like the dessert but everything else was very good. The grandfather made a soup that had dumplings made from fish paste, flour and egg, it had a lite taste and was good. Bu Bu was very happy we like the dishes she made. It was funny, they were surprised to see me using chopsticks. They offered utensils after I fumbled a couple of times but I refused. They were impressed I was able to use the chopsticks to eat chicken wings, you never use your fingers here, chopsticks for all.

I have been invited back, I told them I will make a western dish. I am thinking of fried chicken or lasagna. I would need to find an oven to make the lasagna.

Well I am boring myself so I will talk to you later.

The drought is over, yeah.

I am thinking of buying a scooter. Some of my Chinese friends are fearing for my life.

Terry

Qing Ming (Pure & Bright in Chinese)

Today is a holiday, not an official one but the universities are closed anyway and we have to make up the day of classes we miss.

I visit an area of food kiosks across the street from my main school. I only eat at one of them. I have become friends with the husband and wife that run this particular kiosk. I was invited to their home during the break between the fall and winter terms; unfortunately I was sick and could not go. Yesterday I was invited to go with them for Qing Ming. I accepted.

I met the wife at the kiosk at 13:00 hrs, from there we went to their home. I did not realize that it was for lunch and then the event for the holiday. I sampled some of the food and was forced to drink beer with the other men in attendance. Everyone there, except me, was a family member. I met the grandmother, an uncle, their children and, some neighbors stopped by. It was interesting.
The homes in China very small, often just a couple of rooms. There is no carpeting, drywall, heating or cooling. The older ones are all brick with maybe a layer of concrete on the inside. The living area of the home had one wooden table and four benches. The windows and doors do not have screens, while we were eating birds flew in and out of the apartment. There is no running water which means there is an outhouse. I am trying to be objective, these are people I consider to be friends so I am not trying to say how they live is bad: It is just the way they live.

Now on to Qing Ming.

This holiday occurs two times a year. It is the time when they honor their ancestors by going to their graves and conducting a ritual. On one of my bike rides I rode up the side of mountain. On the mountain I saw several crypts, headstones and burial sites. The pictures are ones I took then, I did not think it appropriate to take my camera today. We drove about 15 minutes the foothills of Lu Shan Mountain (Shan means mountain in Chinese pin yin). I think I can safely say that the remains of most people are buried on mountainsides in this region. It is not farmable so it is used for that purpose. Most people are cremated and their ashes/urns are buried, this seems to save quite a lot of space.

The family brought fireworks, incense, fake money, paper that signified money, spiritual paper and decorations. All the members of the family burn the money and paper. Their family plot is about 50 yards long, it was begun in the 1800's. Only the man's father, his father and uncle and, grandfather have headstones. Those three are were most of the things brought with are burned but, some is placed at every "grave". In this plot the graves without markers had bricks, new ones, marking their spot. the last 4 or 5 had no markings at all but incense, money and paper were placed at them and burned. The three with headstones are prayed to by kneeling in front of the headstone, then the descendants bow three times and tap their heads to the ground three times. The children and I were sent down the hill while the others stayed behind for a private ritual, when the remaining fireworks were it they joined us.

The family laughed and had fun. As this is a tradition there were many other families doing the same thing at other grave sites. No sadness, no sorrow, simply honoring their ancestors.


This is the rainy season so when I got home I had to stripped to my shorts in the hall so as not to drag red dirt all through my apartment. Writing this and thinking of the apartment I am provided makes me happy to be Lowaii.

Take care,

Terry