It been a very tumultuous week that we've spent in Xining. It would take to long to write about, so I will share some highlights:
1. Drinking and Yak's tongue. The beer in this city is very warm. Some Tibetan cuisine consists of cold yak tongue and rough cuts of mutton that are more or less fat. It was a rude awakening to be treated to a meal of these two and the warm beer on my second day in town.
2. Cleaning my filth-hole. Ligaya and I have spent a lot of time cleaning out the putrid dirt trap that is my apartment. The last volunteer (I won't name names) felt that to any sort of cleaning for two years or to clean up after herself when moving out was too much work. Everything in the apartment was caked in a half-inch of dust and/or cooking oil. The curtains were nearly black, the walls smudgeable, and the dishes filled with dried food offerings. I threw out so much trash (which was promptly intercepted and taken by Chinese trash-diggers when I took it to the street), and there is much much more. I still have several frightening bras to dispose of.
3. Other foreigners. The foreigners here seem to be in three major groups: a) The tourists and the transient. Not so many of these people, they supposedly clear out when the winter comes. b) Missionary folk. There are very young families all over the city. The adults are shy of 30 and the children all very very young. As its illegal to do their work here, the missionaries are language students or language teachers de jure and convert heathens de facto. I still have not talked to any of the missionaries, but am sure to next week, as they are my teaching buddies! c) ETP people. We've hung out with these dudes a lot, a lot of fun, a lot of passion. They teach for the Tibetan teaching program, and I will be working with them as well, as I will also be an ETP teacher. I get the feeling that they don't hang out with the missionaries very often. Doing cultural preservation work is no doubt somewhat at odds with proselytizing.
That's all for now, teaching starts in only 2 days! Lord help me!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Wondering about the power grab.
It has been pointed out to me on a number of occasions that Chinese males seem to be big purveyors of the "power grab," seizing their female companions by their arm at a the elbow. As you can imagine, being held at this point is both annoying and affects one's mobility.
On the way to this computer lab I witnessed two men practice not only a power grab but also force their companions to a wall or fence in a very quiet but intense power struggle. The men would be firm and forceful and the girls resistant but ultimately giving up with a forced smile.
And so I thought: What sort of domestic abuse issues plague China?
A China daily article reports that 30% of families (80 million) have reported domestic violence, and that 100,000 divorces a year stem from this issue.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/02/content_5447324.htm
Current laws stress equality in marriage and at home and strictly prohibit things such forcing one into prostitution or to commit infanticide upon newborn girls, but seem to step around dealing with domestic violence.
http://www.women.org.cn/english/english/laws/02.htm
Despite being legally and rhetorically equal in Chinese society, women hold less cadre and university positions than men, make up only 41% of the university enrollment, and are much more likely to be illiterate:
http://www.women.org.cn/english/english/fact/mulu.htm
Percent(%) Illiterate - 1999
Total 15
Male 9
Female 22
From another recent article:
"In Shenzhen, South China, 26 people have died resulting from domestic abuse in the first half of this year -- 13 percent of deaths -- occurring in all criminal cases.
In the past two years, the federation has received about 50,000 complaints of domestic violence, up 70 percent, the deputy chairman of the federation, Mo Wenxiu, was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency."
http://www.newsgd.com/news/China1/200503050029.htm
It's so easy to be a visitor here and not see this as an issue at all. The subtleness of the little battles so common on the streets here are almost imperceptable to the untrained eye. Yet like many things in China, the serious non-cutsy halfs of most things that are discussed or acted out upon go on behind closed doors.
On the way to this computer lab I witnessed two men practice not only a power grab but also force their companions to a wall or fence in a very quiet but intense power struggle. The men would be firm and forceful and the girls resistant but ultimately giving up with a forced smile.
And so I thought: What sort of domestic abuse issues plague China?
A China daily article reports that 30% of families (80 million) have reported domestic violence, and that 100,000 divorces a year stem from this issue.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/02/content_5447324.htm
Current laws stress equality in marriage and at home and strictly prohibit things such forcing one into prostitution or to commit infanticide upon newborn girls, but seem to step around dealing with domestic violence.
http://www.women.org.cn/english/english/laws/02.htm
Despite being legally and rhetorically equal in Chinese society, women hold less cadre and university positions than men, make up only 41% of the university enrollment, and are much more likely to be illiterate:
http://www.women.org.cn/english/english/fact/mulu.htm
Percent(%) Illiterate - 1999
Total 15
Male 9
Female 22
From another recent article:
"In Shenzhen, South China, 26 people have died resulting from domestic abuse in the first half of this year -- 13 percent of deaths -- occurring in all criminal cases.
In the past two years, the federation has received about 50,000 complaints of domestic violence, up 70 percent, the deputy chairman of the federation, Mo Wenxiu, was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency."
http://www.newsgd.com/news/China1/200503050029.htm
It's so easy to be a visitor here and not see this as an issue at all. The subtleness of the little battles so common on the streets here are almost imperceptable to the untrained eye. Yet like many things in China, the serious non-cutsy halfs of most things that are discussed or acted out upon go on behind closed doors.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
China
We're in China. It's so nice here. Despite record hot temperatures in Nanjing and Shanghai, I have been impressed by the lightness of the fetid tan cloud that usually occupies the skies of China's industrial coast.
Anyway, we are living in a very tall highrise on the campus of Nanjing Shifan Daxue (Normal College) and yesterday Will succeeded in getting his ass locked on top of it! There is an elevator and roof access door that he made the mistake of entering too late at night in search of a wireless connection. Luckily and ironically, Will is the only one with a cellphone in our group and a plea for help made it too the staff at the hotel. On a side note, Will DID in fact find a wireless signal, albeit a weak one.
My Chinese is coming back to me...very slowly. We are in classes at the University and have been since hearing a blistering introduction speech Tuesday morning. I guess this college, like so many others in China, is in the top 50 of all Chinese universities. After proclaiming this to an audience that understood 10% of his talk, the orator disappeared and we were whisked into classes. After a brief interview I was placed in a class with 4 other students who had just started learning Chinese 3 weeks before. A few Korean girls in the back struggled with Chinese numbers and the teacher spoke to us in English. All of those credits at UW in vain!
The next class was a little better and I have know realized that I fill have to relearn nearly all the characters, which I have nearly completely forgotten. At least it gives me a fresh start with my poor pronunciation as well.
News from Xining. I will be teaching grammar and ********Geography! as well as English at QNU. What joy!! A little over 2 weeks until Ligaya and I arrive.
Anyway, we are living in a very tall highrise on the campus of Nanjing Shifan Daxue (Normal College) and yesterday Will succeeded in getting his ass locked on top of it! There is an elevator and roof access door that he made the mistake of entering too late at night in search of a wireless connection. Luckily and ironically, Will is the only one with a cellphone in our group and a plea for help made it too the staff at the hotel. On a side note, Will DID in fact find a wireless signal, albeit a weak one.
My Chinese is coming back to me...very slowly. We are in classes at the University and have been since hearing a blistering introduction speech Tuesday morning. I guess this college, like so many others in China, is in the top 50 of all Chinese universities. After proclaiming this to an audience that understood 10% of his talk, the orator disappeared and we were whisked into classes. After a brief interview I was placed in a class with 4 other students who had just started learning Chinese 3 weeks before. A few Korean girls in the back struggled with Chinese numbers and the teacher spoke to us in English. All of those credits at UW in vain!
The next class was a little better and I have know realized that I fill have to relearn nearly all the characters, which I have nearly completely forgotten. At least it gives me a fresh start with my poor pronunciation as well.
News from Xining. I will be teaching grammar and ********Geography! as well as English at QNU. What joy!! A little over 2 weeks until Ligaya and I arrive.
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