Friday, July 31, 2009

Heartbreaking Tale

If you want to know more about what China is really like, I suggest you read the following news story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5907368/Wave-of-suicide-sweeps-Chinas-graduate-class.html

(You may have to cut and paste this link in order to view it.)

It talks about suicide, and underlying issues of poverty, unemployment, hopelessness, marriageability, and unconsolable grief. I got choked up reading it, because it reminded me of so many I have known in this country who have faced these same kinds of issues, and reminds me of their tragic--practically non-existent--coping mechanisms. I think of former students, current acquaintances, and others who feel so depressed and so out of control. This one story can tell you quite a lot about what life is like for more of the average Chinese than you would dare imagine. If you want to pray for China, pray for hopeless people like Ms. Liu. They come in all ages, male and female.

Note: 6.8 yuan = US$1

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Padre - on the 29th!

My mom ought to be out of the hospital on Tuesday, just in time to help my dad celebrate his birthday on Wednesday the 29th. (I posted this a day earlier than his actual birthday.) Happy Birthday Padre!
My Turn


Hey, Mimi here. It's been several months since I last got a chance to write ... Master hogs the computer ... so I wanted to catch up and say hi to everyone. Do you like my picture? I'm pretty, huh? In the summer I open my mouth a lot to let sweat drip out. Most people think I am smiling when I do this. I am happy almost all the time though, so it's okay if you think I am smiling. The only time I am not happy is when I want a pastrami or bacon sandwich and I get Pedigree dry dog food instead. Then I whine.

(Note from Master: Mimi is not going to be happy on Saturday when I go on a trip for five days and she has new dog sitters to train. Poor doggy is pretty faithful to her master, and so please feel sorry for her if you can. Let me turn this back over to Mimi now....)

Not much is new in Bamboo Forest. There are lots of cats in the neighborhood who are not smart enough to run away when they see me. They just freeze and hiss violently if I get too close. Master won't let me eat them though, as surely I would like to do. Master spends a lot of money on dog food, but if she would just let me catch a cat, I could help save money. I don't understand. People are weird.

The gardeners finally mowed the grass yesterday. Do you have any idea how difficult my life is when the grass is taller than I am? This is only the second time in 2009 that they cut the grass. I'm just glad that I am taller than the grass again.

Well, I don't have much to say and my paws hurt from typing, so I'll close for now. Write sometime. Master and I like to get your e-mails. Love and kisses, Mimi

Monday, July 27, 2009

City View

This is the view from my balcony. I love a city view ... it is even better at night. This was taken on a sunny day. It is raining today.

Madre Okay

My mother is doing okay after her surgeries (one on Friday, another on Saturday). She ought to be able to go home on Monday. My dad and the two dogs will be glad to have her home again. Thanks for your prayers for this.

The weather is a bit drippy here in Bamboo Forest. Since most of my travels throughout town are by motorbike, the rain tends to keep me home more than I would be otherwise. I ran errands today in the light rain, but didn't venture far.

I do love the different seasons, but I wish summer was a bit longer and winter a bit shorter. I get out a lot more in summer.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

My Madre's Knee and a House

My mom is having knee surgery again this Friday. She had knee replacement surgery last September. Sometime in early spring she was at a mobile health clinic and fell off the stairs, landing pretty hard on the ground. She had bruises and was pretty banged up all over. Her knee from the replacement surgery had lots of trouble, so they have to go back in and fix something (I forget, tendons or ligaments or something). Anyway, surgery is surgery, so please pray that hers goes completely well, and pray for a quick rehabilitation.

While my family is on your mind, please pray my brother James can sell his house in Montana so he can move to Texas. You know, trying to sell a house to recoup the price you paid yourself in the current housing market is quite a challenge, but our God is God of the economy too. We need a quick miracle in this circumstance. Thanks.

Black, Black, Black as Night

I live right in the path of today's solar eclipse. We've had sunny skies for many consecutive days, but during the eclipse we had clouds and much-needed heavy rain. But umbrella in tow, I went out to have a look anyway, of course, hoping for a break in the clouds.

(You should know that we don't have daylight savings time. First light is sometime after 4:30 a.m., and the sun is usually high up in the sky by 9:30 a.m. That's the time of the eclipse.)

And when the eclipse came, it was eerie and freaky. If scientists and news anchors were not around to tell us what was going on, like it was for people hundreds of years ago, I'm sure we would have all been running, screaming and thinking the world was coming to an end.

It got VERY, VERY dark as behind the clouds, the moon completely obscured the sun. It was blacker than the blackest night I have ever seen. I was standing outside on a grassy area, and it was so dark that I could not see to safely take a step. This lasted about six minutes. I could not get over how black it was. Usually at night, we have a little moonlight so we can see where we are going, but there was no light going on during the eclipse. It was oh-so goose-bump inducing cool! Everyone was quietly in awe, up until some pyrotechnic maniac a few blocks away decided to spoil the magical eerie moment by setting off fireworks.

I'm so glad I got to see this, the longest and best eclipse of the 21st century, and probably the only one for which I will live in its path.

Monday, July 20, 2009

High Fashion

I went to Shanghai the other day. I was on Huaihai Lu, one of the most high-energy, fashionable tree-lined shopping streets anywhere. Tiny little 20-something Chinese rich girls in their clicking high-heeled shoes, Louie Vuitton bags, short shorts or dresses, flawless skin and gorgeous hair swarmed like little bees in the hive of high fashion. How can so many Shanghai girls be so beautiful? I actually like to be in this atmosphere with outdoor cafes, coffee shops, designer stores I can’t afford to enter, and near these hopeful young rich girls that seem to have the world as their oyster.

As I walked the street in the sweltering humid day, I scanned the streets and saw something that has probably always been there, but no doubt my mind blocked out because it didn’t fit the image of this fashionable street. There were men, very poor men, some quite elderly with bent backs, who at every corner were scouring through the trash bins, looking for empty plastic water bottles that they could put in their worn dirty sacks tied to poles they carried on their backs. The men were absolutely filthy, and their dull clothing was in shreds. One elderly man was so emaciated looking that I would have gone and given him some money for food if a red light had not separated me from him for too long.

I admire these men who try to make a living, regardless of the humiliating nature of their work.They could have just as easily gotten a tin cup from home and sat at the train station as beggars all day like so many others do. These men sought to retain their dignity by working. And yet the fashionable ladies of Huaihu Lu were from another world and didn’t even seem to notice that the poor men existed.

The contrasts in this place are both startling and humbling.




A local Chinese garden view

Meat

I rode my bicycle to get some grilled lamb kebabs at the Xinjiang restaurant a few blocks away. Xinjiang (sheen-jahng) is comparable to a state in the USA. It’s way out in the northwest in the barren middle of nowhere. (Sounds like where I grew up. I must go sometime.) The people who are from there, for the most part, are a Chinese ethnic minority who are Muslim. They have exquisitely yummy good, which is why I went to one of their restaurants to get kebabs. I wasn’t interested in a complete meal, I just wanted lamb kebabs, so I went to the grill that is always located outside the front of the restaurants and ordered some for take-away.

These Xinjiang guys working at the restaurant do not look Chinese. To me they look like Turks. They speak Chinese, but it is not their first language. I order ten kebabs. The grill guy asks me if I want the pepper that goes on the kebabs. That’s the way they are supposed to be made, but because another customer before me had asked for some without pepper, he thought he’d better ask. I ask for half with, and half without. I start to tell him that those without hot pepper on them were for my dog who shouldn’t eat spicy food, but then I thought he might get mad that his chef skills were being used for the benefit of a dog. Do Muslims even like dogs? It was safer to keep my mouth closed on this subject.

(Before you judge me about serving my dog this kind of food, I would like to point out that this food designed for human consumption is 75% cheaper than one individual serving of dog food that I can buy in the high-priced pet stores. I would be more foolish to buy the dog food. Things are not the same here as where you live, so….)

I continue to look at these Muslim minority men, thinking about how different they seem than Han Chinese men. And then it happened. One of the Muslim guys standing around pulled the bottom of his t-shirt up under his armpits. That’s when I knew--he was really and truly a bona fide Chinese man at heart.

Oh yeah, I know, you think Britney Spears was the trailblazer of baring the midriff, but no. Long before anyone ever heard of Britney, Chinese men were pulling up their shirts to cool their midsections. In fact, after giving it some thought, I think it is entirely possibly that back ten years ago, Britney had a Chinese man as her stylist. Yeah, that’s got to be it.

I would like to point out that is not an attractive look. On the other hand, it is funny and I always want to giggle. I really would like to take a photo of this sometime to show you, so you can giggle too, but I’m afraid the man being photographed would notice, think I was into him, and try to ask me out or something. So, if you don’t mind, please either go with the mental picture or try it yourself at home.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Grand Canal

Back about 1500 years ago, the Chinese government wanted to build a "highway" to transport goods between the north and south of China (no wheeled vehicles back then). Since most of the rivers run west to east in China, the gov decided to build a north/south running canal between Beijing and Hangzhou (which is several hundred miles south of Shanghai). The canal is still used to this day, and it is about a block from where I live. I love to go watch all the old-looking barges coming and going all day long.



The Pearl Market

Last week I went to visit the pearl market. I loved it! They had scads of booths selling freshwater pearls from a pearl farm, and the prices were rock-bottom. They had many different styles and colors (even in America, "chocolate pearls" are popular). I liked the turquoise too. They also had jade and other things. I only got to stay about an hour. I took a taxi out there, only to find it is out in the boonies. There was no public transportation to get me back to town, so the taxi driver agreed to wait for me if I only took an hour. I could have stayed three hours! Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the merchandise....


4th of July

My American friends in Bamboo Forest threw an amazing 4th of July party. It was so fun!!! There were 25 present, and we had lots of yummy American-style picnic food on their first floor patio area. After dinner they had 3-legged races and water balloon throws. Then there were sparklers, fire crackers (noisy variety) and fireworks (the pretty kind that explode in the sky). I better leave their faces off the blog, but I'll show you the hot dogs on the grill so you can see how normal life can be here!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Happy 54th Wedding Anniversary!

Today, July 1st, is my parents 54th wedding anniversary. Here's a picture I took of them in their backyard in April (or early May maybe). Congratulations Padre and Madre.