as of last night i now share my wee apartment with two beautiful chinese friends, its a long story, but basically I met Josy through looking for apartments. She is one of those sparkly, bubbly, vibrant people that you can just feel the positive energy radiating off.
Last week I called to see how she was, and she was in hospital really sick, next thing she had to quit her job, and had to move out of her apartment because she couldn't afford it, had no where to go, then she finds out her 14year old sister has been working in a shoe factory in a neighbouring city from her old neighbour in Chengdu. They lost their father a few years ago, and don't have much contact with their mother...crazy situation. So she went to 'rescue her' two days ago, and now they are both sleeping on my couch (much to my disapointment...they refused my bed! oh well! it is a rock but i guess they'd be used to that!) She told me how her sister told her in detail how to make shoes, with a smile on her face. but then when she explained how their were many other 14year old girls or younger working there, they are supposedly paid 800rmb a month (under $250NZD) but they deduct food and rent allowance as the kids all live and eat at the factory...its just horrific to think that people can get away with this, and that these kids, who dont know any better, but can earn money and perhaps help their families if they are in need....hmmm anyway i am so happy to have people in my home. It will only be temporary until Josy finds a job and can afford an apartment, but at the moment I'm just so glad to have them. And they can cook!! WEEHEEEE fiery sichuan style food too...yummy yummy.
last week i was feeling soooo lonely, even though i know i have people and friends, but just getting bouts of homesickness, now i feel like i have a family. Three girls, all in some way displaced. It's unifying, in a wierd way!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
growing pains
sitting at 'costa coffee' on huaihui road near my flat. using their wireless cos i havent had a chance to set mine up yet...so many details to do, so little time..listening to pimsler mandarin in my head phones. trying to learn this language. feeling overwhelmed by how much i have to go, 'wo shaw der boo hao' i speak badly..yes its true..
feeling like im adusting slowly...i have a love hate relationship at the moment with shanghai. i love the organised chaos (at times!), the bikers everywhere, the 20cent soya milk drinks and dumplings on the way to the school shuttle bus, the villagers and their deep smiles as they try to sell me grapes from their hanging baskets, the scraping metal sound from the street stall cooking on her wok outside my window at 11pm at night, the grandad and grandma's doing their tai chi in the park on mass, or carrying their precious grandchilden in their arms rocking them to sleep.
you see such poverty here its heart wrenching. there is a family that lives under the stairs by the metro stop near my school, actually UNDER the stairs, they get inside through a small crack. then there is the two chickens that casually trot around as people walk past in their high heels. the children bathing in tiny blue plastic baths outside. an entire house built out of old mattresses, to form a hut, when smack bang next door is a massive high rise apartment block. country meets city.
the city is moving at a crazy pace. i met some geologists from nz yesterday, they tell me shanghai is sinking, they can tell even walking out of a new metro stop, the water seeping through the cracks...sky scrapers everywhere...what is the rush? why does a city have to prove itself by racing skyward when in the shadows people are homeless and struggling to survive.
every big city has these same problems and contrasts...its just so disgusting at times to see materialism running rampant here, taking over like the worse disease you could think of, eating in the vitals of the human race.
but amongst all the sadness there is this joy, this beauty and simplicity of living. the sense of community is still alive and well even in a city of 30million or so..The mid autumn full moon festival seemed to capture the essence of it. they celebrate it as the moon in its fullness symbolises unity of family, and along huaihui rd, the materialist street of gucci, prada, you name it, held on saturday a gorgeous parade celebrating all the nationalities in shanghai, all parading on floats in their costumes...it was beautiful, and again, that concept of unity and diversity so built into their culture ...makes me smile....
feeling tired. teaching kids is exhausting at times. but im beginning to enjoy it. and my matress is like a rock. thats the way it is in china. sleep on a plank it feels like! im sure its great for my back but just a bit of softness is good...hehe. its all about toughening up over here in someways..and there is that part of me inside that is resisting , that wants to give up because im not seeing 'results' like i thought i would see. i want it all know, study circles, friends, a grasp of the language, how to teach drama to 6 year old kids who see me one hour a week and go wild... its about trust, and prayer...really thats all i have to cling to, everything else is moving at such a rapid speed and seems to transient...
if you are reading this and in haifa, please think of me...and say a wee prayer for me in the Shrines....thank you!!!
feeling like im adusting slowly...i have a love hate relationship at the moment with shanghai. i love the organised chaos (at times!), the bikers everywhere, the 20cent soya milk drinks and dumplings on the way to the school shuttle bus, the villagers and their deep smiles as they try to sell me grapes from their hanging baskets, the scraping metal sound from the street stall cooking on her wok outside my window at 11pm at night, the grandad and grandma's doing their tai chi in the park on mass, or carrying their precious grandchilden in their arms rocking them to sleep.
you see such poverty here its heart wrenching. there is a family that lives under the stairs by the metro stop near my school, actually UNDER the stairs, they get inside through a small crack. then there is the two chickens that casually trot around as people walk past in their high heels. the children bathing in tiny blue plastic baths outside. an entire house built out of old mattresses, to form a hut, when smack bang next door is a massive high rise apartment block. country meets city.
the city is moving at a crazy pace. i met some geologists from nz yesterday, they tell me shanghai is sinking, they can tell even walking out of a new metro stop, the water seeping through the cracks...sky scrapers everywhere...what is the rush? why does a city have to prove itself by racing skyward when in the shadows people are homeless and struggling to survive.
every big city has these same problems and contrasts...its just so disgusting at times to see materialism running rampant here, taking over like the worse disease you could think of, eating in the vitals of the human race.
but amongst all the sadness there is this joy, this beauty and simplicity of living. the sense of community is still alive and well even in a city of 30million or so..The mid autumn full moon festival seemed to capture the essence of it. they celebrate it as the moon in its fullness symbolises unity of family, and along huaihui rd, the materialist street of gucci, prada, you name it, held on saturday a gorgeous parade celebrating all the nationalities in shanghai, all parading on floats in their costumes...it was beautiful, and again, that concept of unity and diversity so built into their culture ...makes me smile....
feeling tired. teaching kids is exhausting at times. but im beginning to enjoy it. and my matress is like a rock. thats the way it is in china. sleep on a plank it feels like! im sure its great for my back but just a bit of softness is good...hehe. its all about toughening up over here in someways..and there is that part of me inside that is resisting , that wants to give up because im not seeing 'results' like i thought i would see. i want it all know, study circles, friends, a grasp of the language, how to teach drama to 6 year old kids who see me one hour a week and go wild... its about trust, and prayer...really thats all i have to cling to, everything else is moving at such a rapid speed and seems to transient...
if you are reading this and in haifa, please think of me...and say a wee prayer for me in the Shrines....thank you!!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
moon cakes and mandarin
found a cockroach last night.
welcome to lanehouse life.
oh well.
had a shower and the entire shower head suddenly broke on me! the joys of renting!
but i have a gorgeous landlady who is fixing it today, they took me out for dinner the night before with the family. No one spoke a work of english and my mandarin is appalling, but we had a great time, me acting like a clown using my hands an awful lot to gesture how i was feeling, and making a HUGE mess on the table and laughing about it. I ate what I thought was a green capsicum, turned out to be a massive chilli pepper...eyes watering severly, face red and sweaty, least i made them laugh....They wanted to buy me goose liver and jelly fish soup but i declined...hopefully I haven't offended them....
It's mid autumn festival at the moment too, one of the two most important festivals in China (the other is New Year). This is when the moon is at its fullest. All the teachers were given moon cakes yesterday in a big red box that weighs a tonne.
Moon cakes are small cakey things (wow, what a description) with squishy sweet bean paste inside, and the occasional egg, sometimes jewellary! random, and apparently you can buy some for thousands of dollars to show your wealth when you give it as a gift.
Well, I bought one like this from the corner store for 1.50RMB so if that's saying anything .....
but the beany taste is growing on me. In fact I am eating food i would NEVER eat back in NZ. Like those bubble drinks. They grossed me out, floaties in your tea...now I cant have enough!! Funny how you adapt...but I still can't face the pigs trotters...
It was Teachers Day yesterday in China. We were all given red roses by the principal at assembly! hehe. Very sweet. I still can't believe I am a teacher, and I have a lot of learning to do but its great cos I feel like thats the best place to be, an equal to my students! I am responsible for the 'values of the month' showings at assembly which is basically a three to five minute play from the kids about compassion, or fairness, truthfulness...etc.. so its gonna be a fun year of virtue filled drama. just gotta find interesting ways to make it come alive and not naf and cliched. My mind is running wild with my obsession with shadow puppetry, mask work, short films, you name it...but we have limited resources and budgets...
oh well...where there's a will, there's a way....
welcome to lanehouse life.
oh well.
had a shower and the entire shower head suddenly broke on me! the joys of renting!
but i have a gorgeous landlady who is fixing it today, they took me out for dinner the night before with the family. No one spoke a work of english and my mandarin is appalling, but we had a great time, me acting like a clown using my hands an awful lot to gesture how i was feeling, and making a HUGE mess on the table and laughing about it. I ate what I thought was a green capsicum, turned out to be a massive chilli pepper...eyes watering severly, face red and sweaty, least i made them laugh....They wanted to buy me goose liver and jelly fish soup but i declined...hopefully I haven't offended them....
It's mid autumn festival at the moment too, one of the two most important festivals in China (the other is New Year). This is when the moon is at its fullest. All the teachers were given moon cakes yesterday in a big red box that weighs a tonne.
Moon cakes are small cakey things (wow, what a description) with squishy sweet bean paste inside, and the occasional egg, sometimes jewellary! random, and apparently you can buy some for thousands of dollars to show your wealth when you give it as a gift.
Well, I bought one like this from the corner store for 1.50RMB so if that's saying anything .....
but the beany taste is growing on me. In fact I am eating food i would NEVER eat back in NZ. Like those bubble drinks. They grossed me out, floaties in your tea...now I cant have enough!! Funny how you adapt...but I still can't face the pigs trotters...
It was Teachers Day yesterday in China. We were all given red roses by the principal at assembly! hehe. Very sweet. I still can't believe I am a teacher, and I have a lot of learning to do but its great cos I feel like thats the best place to be, an equal to my students! I am responsible for the 'values of the month' showings at assembly which is basically a three to five minute play from the kids about compassion, or fairness, truthfulness...etc.. so its gonna be a fun year of virtue filled drama. just gotta find interesting ways to make it come alive and not naf and cliched. My mind is running wild with my obsession with shadow puppetry, mask work, short films, you name it...but we have limited resources and budgets...
oh well...where there's a will, there's a way....
Monday, September 8, 2008
the nest...
finally. she finds a home. its a lane house. weeeheee. its clean. weeeheee. its renovated. weehee. and its smack right in the centre of downtown shanghai!
what a transition! from the Shrine to the ultimate urban jungle. But, i'm ready for it!
Here is a sneak peak...
welcome to my staircase...(it has three mini levels)
take your shoes off when you come in, and i'll have some cosy
slippers waiting for you...(its what they do in China!)
i love the random horse in the alcove...i may do a weekly theme...
next week..a dog statue (a fav of mine if u havent already noticed)
excuse the bottles. they are not mine! this is taken from the website i found the place from...my camera's battery is dead and im too lazy to find a place to buy new ones! haha my mandarin is boo hao.
love the whole red and white thing. when i stepped into this place, it felt like an answer to my prayers. a lane house that is CLEAN can you believe it!
the funky bathroom. HAS A BATH TUB!! WOOOHOOOOO
so thats a taste of my new shanghai home...the bedroom loft style! heheee
Feels like i live in playhouse....so excited!
its actually above a shop...its very small, but very cosy....
yah. to my new home in shanghai...a happy space for a happy time
let the study circles begin!!!!
what a transition! from the Shrine to the ultimate urban jungle. But, i'm ready for it!
Here is a sneak peak...
take your shoes off when you come in, and i'll have some cosy
slippers waiting for you...(its what they do in China!)
i love the random horse in the alcove...i may do a weekly theme...
next week..a dog statue (a fav of mine if u havent already noticed)
excuse the bottles. they are not mine! this is taken from the website i found the place from...my camera's battery is dead and im too lazy to find a place to buy new ones! haha my mandarin is boo hao.
love the whole red and white thing. when i stepped into this place, it felt like an answer to my prayers. a lane house that is CLEAN can you believe it!
the funky bathroom. HAS A BATH TUB!! WOOOHOOOOO
so thats a taste of my new shanghai home...the bedroom loft style! heheee
Feels like i live in playhouse....so excited!
its actually above a shop...its very small, but very cosy....
yah. to my new home in shanghai...a happy space for a happy time
let the study circles begin!!!!
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