Recently in wuhan Category

I don't know if I have ever felt so unmotivated to write my blog; or even write in general.

It's not that things aren't happening or I haven't been traveling; but I don't know. . . I kinda feel a bit embarrassed these days about writing so openly and honestly and then posting on the internet. It could be that I have been finding out recently that quite a few people in my life here in Wuhan read my blog. That's really embarrassing because I don't want them to know 'the other sides'. As I have said before, I really just write this for my family and friends at home as well as random special people I have met along the road of life. But anyways, what can you do? It could also be a variety of other things - many of which are touched on below.

 

I thought since I've not written in a while (but I will write a lot during July and August) that I'd do a little clean up of things gone on in May and June, as well as a little update on the next few years' plans.

As I mentioned, I've not failed to write due to any lack of things to say. A lot has been going on in my 'love life' (let's put that in quotations for a variety of reasons that you can all just speculate on silently) which include an old but new character who almost has me considering changing my Facebook status from « single » - the issue is, there are no Facebook status choices that can explain 'sort of not really too single anymore but will be temporarily whilst traveling and upon return may not necessarily be single again' The point here is I am thinking about it - ok - that is a big step for me so let's just go with that.

Furthermore, I have been on a few fun 'dates' recently (again, the quotation marks are up to you to decipher, but I'd say you can just take the meaning to refer to not-so-serious events) One date in particular was to the Communist Party's National Ballet. Holy smokes I wish I'd smuggled a camera in along with the vodka. It was amazing. Although it was my first ballet and thus my perception of quality might not be as seasoned as some; but I'd say it was the most impressive show I've been to - possibly in my life. To make it even more interesting, it was about a female soldier in China over the last 70 or so years of China's history. There was no shortage of Communist Party propaganda which had both me and my date squirming in discomfort and giggling in shock. But this was overridden a hundred times by the absolutely stunning dancers, costumes and music. While I am on the topic I must say there is again something strange going on in the stars - EVERY person who has entered my life in the last while is a Gemini. Why are Gemini men attracted to me? Maybe I am the only person who puts up with their shenanigans. In fact, I love Gemini shenanigans - but I would certainly not want them in a situation that I can't readily get out of whenever I want.

 

Moreover, in the relationship section of  today's entry, I mustn't forget to mention May and AP's wedding.

I traveled to Suzhou and Shanghai last weekend to take part in May and AP's second wedding (they will have three: one in May's home town; one in their hometown and one in AP's hometown) . Being back in Shanghai and Suzhou reminded me a bit of last year but the only nostalgia I felt had to do with the woman who used to do my nails. Again - I don't know what I want; but I certainly know what I don't want. Anyways, the weekend was great and it was fun to see some of my old students and friends.

 

What's more, the day after the wedding, I was blessed to be part of one of the most special moments of my life. Sometimes I have moments that I just can't write about. I can't take pictures of because in the moment I don't even consider thinking about anything else but being there and soaking it all in. I don't want to even talk about moments like this for fear of releasing the specialness or memory from my brain through my mouth. In saying that I'll just say thank you, May and AP for making me feel so accepted and comfortable and loved.

Bliss.

I love you guys, man!

 

I could say another reason why I've not written in my blog is I don't have a camera. It was stolen about 2 months ago then a friend gave me his spare but then his wife found out and forced him to get it back. So I've been cameraless for a month. No big deal except my stories kinda suck without visual stimulation in the form of either my pictures or my face and hand expressions. It is a sad state of affairs that was going to rectified this past weekend in Shanghai but instead I bought a bike. Anyways, luckily May and AP have a camera.

About a month ago, May, AP, Chandler and I traveled to Xian. I was the tour guide  (the Xian specialist between the 4 of us) and we got to explore all my favorite Chinese things there: culture, history, old walls, relics, minority groups, religions - oh, and speaking of religions:

Chandler and I tried our hand at being Muslim. I liked it. Then I found out we couldn't drink beer.

The idea was immediately KYBOSHED - but not before we drank beer in our new hats secretly in the hotel room. 

 

A few other random thoughts over the last month or so before I let you go:

The Tiennamen Square Massacre's 20th Anniversary was last week. For almost 4 days all of China had no email, no facebook, no youtube, not wikipedia and no access to most news sources. But, of course the following week we completely forgot about any sort of injustice in Beijing only 20 years prior and wouldn't consider at all mentioning this to friends via email nor looking up stories or blogs from the previous week. I wonder sometimes if the Chinese government thinks we're all complete idiots - or, if most people just are?

 

Yes, we all will get old and die - it is one of two of lifes certainties. The other certainty is change. And Change is something I am progressively getting more and more comfortable with. In saying that (and sorry to some of you who are hearing this for the first time through this media - it's not that I don't love you!) but plans have changed for me. I am no longer returning to Wuhan. BUT my plan is to return to China (how can I not - I love it here!). I'll 95% likely be heading up to Beijing for school (although the pic above that i took this year only a block from tiennamen reminds me the air there is not so great) and to work a bit on the IELTS examining I do some weekends. I really want to intensively study Chinese, and get as profficient as possible in this third year. Then, I'll likely do my PHD (or a concurrent Law degree/PHD) back in Canada. Or I might do some of the studies for my PHD in China too.

Anyways, the moral is this : I'm on the move again; feeling a bit traveled out; definitely taught out; certainly wanting to hit the books hard again. And, yes, I think I'm in love but running from it as usual.

 

Hi Home!
Man, I miss you. I just had a long Monday (taught 6 classes) and walked home; picked up my laptop; filled a mug full of Okanagan Pinot Gris; and walked over to sit by the lakeside to write to you. It is a beautiful 20C. The skies are clear and I have another few hours of day light. The Cherry blossoms are out in full bloom now and the city seems really peaceful today. It's a great day to be alive - and more importantly - lucid enough to see, hear, smell, feel, breath -  all of this.

(This is the exact thing I am looking at right now as I write home)


Not a lot really to report here. It seems like it's the same old same old lately. But a lot is about to happen so, as usual, I have a lot to look forward to. To be honest, lately I've been pretty down in the dumps. Going to the garden to eat worms... It's a combination of a lot of things; and ultimately I have a lot to be thankful for and it could all be a lot worse. So I won't burden you with my troubles - I'll put on a brave face, as usual, for the fans.

(About 5 Long Island Ice Teas later, I put on an "I'm not drunk" poker face for the camera)

A way I cope with my current state of constantly missing family and friends; being lonely; feeling stressed out; working too hard; and generally needing a break from my constant thoughts is (as I have mentioned before) listening to music. Right now Jason Mraz is playing. A few other musicians that have been keeping me sane and therefore I'd like to recommend to you are : The Cat Empire, Kathleen Edwards, Eskimo Joe, Born Ruffian, and Jose Gonzales.

(About 5 beers later.... My poker face is not so good this time)

Since I've been a bit stressed, I've been trying to think of things to do that make me happy. Sometimes I ask myself what I liked to do as a child. Reading was certainly one of those things and so I've recently made some time to read a few books (other than my Chinese Language for Foreigners textbook). I just finished 'Fermat's Last Theorem', which has opened a door to an amazing world that was previously clouded in highschool-classroom-frustration. It is a book about the history of Maths - but it is also so much more than that. I learned so much from it that I think I will do a book report in a few weeks and post it as a blog posting!

(Geeks shall inherit the earth!)

Ugh I just looked down at my arms and was reminded how old I am looking lately. 28 might be the year that I look back on as the first year of my life I started to look old. Oh well. If there is one truth in life it is that we age as time goes by - a law of life perhaps. Why fight it~ In fact, I wouldn't mind being a little less attractive every once in a while. Ha ha. Who says that! I'm sure I'll delete that later -  the benefit of writing a letter home over the computer rather than with a paper and pen. (Also you don't see how horrible of a speller I am- thank you spellcheck!)

(Classic - two-beers-in-one-hand pose)

So what else~ I should probably sandwich some negatives in with some positives in order not to depress you (or I) too much. I only have a week left of classes (Spectroscopy in Chem and Radioactivity in Physics) and then it is review for a month, and then exams for 3 weeks. What's more, in a month and a half when it's all over, I'll be jet-setting to Northern China for the cycle tour of a century! Jenn, seriously, this is going to be the most amazing 3 weeks of our lives. From this I'll maintain a state of ecstasy on route to a whirlwind tour of the Maritimes and then a visit to my Gran in Toronto before heading back to China for another go.

Well, that's the plan for now - but you know me.
Nope, I don't plan to head to B.C. as of now. You'll just have to come see me!

(I had the pleasure of hosting some friends from Suzhou recently where I introduced them to some local delicacies as well as local Wuhan sites - I miss you May and AP!)

FYI and in case you were wondering, China is still China.
Sigh~
Too many people; smoke every where; amazing culture and history; great friends and lots of travel; constant staring; constant littering; Shangbalao central! Loving it BUT I am feeling restless lately and can't figure out why.

(A surprise around every corner - I never get tired of that!)

I'm Definitely missing something in my life, and have found myself thinking a lot about really wanting a new challenge of sorts.

I feel as though it should be in the form of a family. But something tells me maybe I'm still not ready for that. In larger part because I still pity anyone who tells me they are getting married or having a child. Maybe I should wait until my mind changes about that before I go and do something I wouldn't even condone another person to do.

(Wow, it is hard to please a girl like me - I even had my own version of Kobe recently and was bored to tears with him - WTF~ PS: this is a new Orang Orang shirt that is for sale now and is part of the Winter 2009 collection.)

Oh, this reminds me of a movie I just watched recently (Vicky blah blah Barcelona) in which my favorite actress, Scarlette Johannsen (would have her babies in a second), stars as a platinum blond bombshell living MY life. It inspired me to go blond again, and also reminded me that life is a journey and there is no right path or ultimate thing we need to attain. And this is different for everyone. It has to be.
Like she says in the movie (and I have heard myself say over and over)
"I don't know what I want - but I do know what I don't want."
Guess I'll just keep going with that one for a while.

(Why can't all men be like you, Didi~)


This brings me to the topic of men. Why~ Why oh why does this have to be so difficult~
As if life isn't hard already - half the population has to be comprised of lying assholes who only care about themselves. Ugh!
This life has not been easy on me when it comes to this topic.
Two things: yes I do it to myself; and yes, it just keeps getting worse.
My mum once told me that you're not stupid for making a mistake. But you are stupid if you make that mistake again.
Um, I am an idiot.... Alas, I will leave it at that. One day, the right prince charming will come along and sweep all of these bad memories and experiences under the bed and I will be whisked off to a land of love, trust and respect.
The good news is I still partially believe in that fantasy, so it can't be all that bad.

(If May can find AP, I can find someone - anyone!~!@#$@!~ I just want someone to have fun with and explore this wonderful world and life together with me - is that too much to ask~)

Ok, gotta sandwich in another good thing now, eh?

Well there is no doubt I am fully addicted to and loving learning Chinese. Although now I can hear people slag me - but I can also slag them back! Like the Taxi driver who told me my Chinese sucked and I was like "oh really, my Chinese sucks? Yeah, well your Chinese sucks AND you're a shitty driver!" He was silent for the rest of the ride.

One point for the white girl! But I am getting tired of the constant comments about how good my Chinese is.

Like, because I have white skin and round eyes I can't possibly be able to use chopsticks or speak their language!??!?! Get over it already! 

Imagine if I worked at a bar in Victoria and a Chinese-decent-fourth-generation-Canadian came in and ordered a drink and I said "Oh, wow, your English is so good!" Obviously it would never happen. Talk about an ignorant bunch of hicks we've got over here- but give it a generation and the entire world will speak Chinese, so it'll all just be a distant memory. One day day I'll tell my (undoubtedly one quarter to one half Chinese decent) grandchildren about how it was strange for a white person to speak Chinese back when I was young.

(I love China)

Last but certainly not least, The Orang Orang Project is keeping me busy - and partially insane. We are building such an amazing thing and I really can't say enough about how fortunate I feel to be a part of it. So far we not only have an amazing group of women on Bali Island but are slowly building a team of young, brilliant, beautiful women all over the world to build this vision and project with us. How cool! I really want to quit my job and dedicate all my time and energy to this but the realities of the real world (money) requires that I teach Chemistry to fund the project for now - though I have a feeling that'll be all part of the value of the story later on.

(Have I mentioned lately how much I love the beauty in simplicity~)


Well, with that, my wine is done. The sun is going down. And if this were on paper, I'm sure I'd have run out long ago.

Again, I miss you, Home!
Please write soon (address above) and give yourself a big hug, kiss, and lots of love from China.

XOXOXO Lindy-Loo

In China, winter solstice, is a sign that Spring Festival and Chinese New Year (around mid January this year) are just around the corner. In order to manifest a healthy and bountiful year, families make 饺子 (jiaozi, aka dumplings) together and eat it on this day. I had the absolute pleasure of spending this day with my friend Michelle and her parents, who patiently taught me how to make a vegetarian version of this traditional meal. 

I always joke that Chinese people think everything comes from China. From porcelain (ok, they can have that one) to pizza and soccer (hmmmm) there is no doubt that Chinese people think they live at the centre of the world. Furthermore, every family thinks that their version of whatever is being done (playing mahjiang by their family rules) or made (any meal at all) is the best version and no other families in the area know how to do it as well as them.

In the case of Michelle's family, they are from Northern China, and 饺子 is a traditional Norther Chinese dish. Thus, Michelle's parents were not shy in touting that their 饺子 was much better than any other 饺子 in Wuhan. Furthermore, no one in Wuhan even really knows how to make real 饺子. Therefore, I was learning from real pros!

Roll up your sleeves and wash your hands.
It all starts with filling and dough. Chinese dumplings to me are almost exactly like perogies. When I began to tell them that Perogies are common in Canada and come from Northern Europe, I was quickly silenced with a comment about how they come from China.
Ha ha ha. I love Chinese pride!

The filling is usually a combination of green onion and pork. But in my case, we added green onion, cooked egg, and a bit of shrimp. The dough is made of rice flour and water and a bit of baking powder. Michelle's dad, whom I call 'baba' (chinese for dad) kneeded the dough to perfection while I sat wide eyed and regressed back to being a 7 year old.



准备好了啊！ Let the games begin.....


First you take the dough and roll it into long cylinders about 1.5cm in diameter.

Then you cut each cylinder into 1cm pieces. BUT you HAVE to turn the cylinder 90 degrees with every cut. There are many essential small details that must be followed.... this is about the part where I begin to fail. I missed the class on details in grade school.

You then take each little 1cmX1.5cm cylinder and sprinkle a bit of flour on them and stir them around. This step is crucial, of course. Then you squish each piece down.
At this point, baba took over. I must not have impressed him thus far with my skills. So he showed me how to properly roll each piece out. It is a long and arduous ordeal and I will not explain it here. I think if you just roll them out like you would roll out pie crust you'd be alright. Baba would ardently disagree.
The meticulous way in which this entire process occurred was unbelievably endearing and quite a family bonding event. IN addition, each individual dumpling takes at least 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish. Wow does that ever make them taste better in the end.


Once baba felt I was ready to jump into the line again, he showed me how to fill the dumpling. Jeeze Louise.
我覺得我很差。 不過他是很好老師。

Although my folding, nipping and tucking skills are not yet honed, I think I did ok for a white girl....

Baba, on the other hand, repeatedly showed me how to improve. Perfection is something that really does exist in Chinese culture. (Y'all know I'm not too big into that.) But I persevered and tried to make baba proud.


And finally, I think maybe my attention to detail paid off. I made one that made baba smile!

The history of the jiao zi dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty. During this time, merchants in Chengdu distributed one of the earliest known paper money. The currency was called 'jiao zi.' With the high circulation of the currency, the local government of Chengdu established the earliest administrative and savings bank known as the Office of Jiao zi (Chengdu Government). The word jiao zi then began to be used as a general term for money.

In ancient China, yuan bao was used as currency before the use of jiao zi paper money. P.S. Chinese people think they invented money. Back in the day, jiao zi looked like shoe shaped gold and silver ingots known as yuan bao. In the Chinese culture, jiao zi are made during the New Year to resemble the gold and silver ingots. Eating the dumplings during the New Year is a metaphor for eating money; when people eat jiao zi during the New Year celebration, they hope that it will bring prosperity and good luck for the forthcoming year.

The term jiao zi has multiple meanings, one of the meanings means "midnight or the end and the beginning of time." This is why the jiao zi are made the midnight of the last day of the passing lunar year. Another meaning of the term comes from the literal translation to "sleep together and have sons" which is a long lost good wish for a family. Not only does the shape of the jiao zi resemble the golden ingots, it also represents a crescent moon and symbolizes the hope for a year of plenty. Occasionally people will add specific fillings to select dumplings in order to symbolize certain wishes. Those who receive sweets will have a sweeter life, peanuts symbolize long life, and dates and chestnuts represent the imminent arrival of a son. Because the word "dates" is homonymic with the word "early" in Chinese, so are chestnuts (zhenzi), the syllable "zi" is homonymic with children.

The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance of wealth in the household. Rich families in ancient times added gold, silver, and other precious stones in their dumplings. To get one of these dumplings was considered good luck. Later this transitioned to adding coins in the dumplings. Copper coins, for example, meant that one would never lack money.

In contemporary times, only a few coins were washed and add to the batch of dumplings, the person who discovers the coin would enjoy good luck and make a lot of money in the coming year.

for more info on jiaozi, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi


P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just realized I have quite the few months ahead of me...to Hong Kong next weekend (for a part-ay!) then a few weeks later I'm in Hawaii (to see the fam.!) and then a few weeks after that I am in Vietnam/Cambodia for a month of volunteer work (no big deal...just saving the world by setting up sustainable farming on the border).

Having foreshadowed your entertainment for the next few months, I now need to update you all on my current (relatively boring) life prior to wowing you with my forthcoming exciting extracurricular activities.
So here are a few random pics and stories of my peeps.


First of all, (just so my mum doesn't have a heart attack when she sees me in 3 weeks), yes, I got a nose ring.
This is my "please don't get mad, mum" face.


My amazing students in a physics lab.
Me wandering around learning more from them than they are learning in the lab I have set up for them.
Typical.