Advertisement
Published: October 14th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Wedding pictures
It is the practice, among arriviste Chinese, to have wedding pictures taken in a variety of places, replete with costumes. Traditional Western, traditional Chinese, playful with goofy hats and sunglasses, and outdoorsy are among the tropes. We have been in Guangzhou for a little over a week at this point, although it seems in some ways that we have never left. The old haunts, the friends and colleagues from earlier visits, and the sights, sounds and smells of China quickly return me to the setting. Not exactly a madeleine but the tiger skin peppers on the plate evoke a remembrance of things past!
Ellen and I are getting immersed in our routines, each in our way. For Ms. EDF it has been an ongoing round of meetings, reading groups and dinners (alas, no struggle sessions) as she fully engages at 180 MPH, full bore, flat out. For me, the pace has been more measured, but I now have in hand the outline of what is to be done on this visit, a combination of on-site consultations (drug clinics, Youth Zone), trainings (Solution-based treatment as one example), program development and all round “foreign expert” (that's what my visa says, I am not making this up!) With it all, we get to spend a great deal of time together, each at our work stations in our apartment or tending to self-improvement activities (yesterday morning we got up at
Selling some sort of hair piece
Were these called "falls" at some time in my youth? The demo is accompanied with an amplified patter, straining to be heard over the horn honking. 7:30, had some tea, then off for a run, back for the
7 minute routine, then on to meditation and finally on to the day. By then it is nearly lunch time and I go off to the market for some supplies.
The air pollution, always a concern here, has been rather intense the past few days, after a pleasant few days around our arrival. The usual admonitions about not exercising outside are sometimes ignored with little apparent (short-term) consequences. Pay me now or pay me later.
We have been doing this long enough so that people we first met as students are now married and with young babies and launched on to careers. For Ellen in particular there has been a great sense of accomplishment as she sees students wrestle with some political and economic ideas that are outside the mainstream (here and elsewhere) and use that engagement as a foundation for identifying possibilities for engagement with society.
Earlier this week I spend an hour or so at a Starbucks, of which there are now 32 in Guangzhou. I went seeking an internet connection as we had some of the usual teething problems in getting one setup in
New mode of transport
Three or four years ago motorcycles were banned from the streets of the Inner Ring, they had been used to ferry passengers from the metro. Now these pedicabs have taen over our digs. I had heard that young people here regard a job at Starbucks as desirable and after some observation I think I know why. The emphasis on service, not something one can count on here, offers a chance for employees to learn communication skills and cooperation as well as some of the details of beverage preparation, even if it is something as basic as making a macchiato, half caf/half decaf, soy. There is a choreographed movement that accompanies every order as it moves from the order taker, to the order preparer and then to the server. The Starbucks equipment requires attentiveness and high standards of cleanliness are maintained. Many students complain that a job as a government official, which are also highly sought after because of its salary and benefits, nothing is learned except how to avoid working too hard. And lastly there is the environment, cool, hushed voices, and earth-toned easy chairs where you can have a romantic tete-a tete, conduct some business or catch up on your email. It reminds me of the old Common Man ads (this is for long-term Vermont residents), “like going to the West without leaving China”. I am told that the pay
AIDS/HIV campaign
The government has, in the past few years, developed decent intervention programs, free anti-retrovials and widespread availability of methadone being two initatives is better than other posts in the service industry (that doesn't say much), but long-term chances for advancement are nil and employees will quickly “age-out” of their positions (restaurants and the sort are almost exclusively staffed by those under 35) with few marketable skills.
We had a revealing conversation with one of our colleagues, the father of a 7 -month old daughter. He was adamant about how he and JF (his wife) were motivated to see that their daughter did not receive her education in China. They both believed that the harsh demands, the emphasis on memorization, and the lack of attention paid to creativity was stifling and they were looking for a way out. (Take note that they were both products of such and education, although they both completed terminal degrees in Hong Kong.) Since their daughter was born in Hong Kong, she is entitled to education there, which is more highly regarded (in fact, as a result of the restrictive citizenship that China confers on its urban residents, since she does not have a
hukou here she is not entitled to public education.) They have a few years to sort this out and it can be assumed
Siesta time
Disabuse yourselves of the notion that siestas belong to the Mediterranean; we have learned to never schedule anything in the afternoon before 2 PM, a "rest" is required that other young parents of their socio-economic strata (well educated, outward looking, familiar with foreigners and foreign places) are struggling with the same issue. The government has recognized this problem, recently issuing an edict that directs schools to assign less homework. Interestingly, Eli, who was here doing research in the schools, tells us that teachers reacted to the proclamation with incredulity and disdain. They report that if they were to give less homework that parents would complain, worried that their children would fall behind in the extremely competitive race for top university positions. Any change in this regard will need to come from the families in community rather than any proclamations from Beijing.
Two days ago I had a poignant conversation with a young woman, second year masters student in social work and someone with whom I have worked closely with over the years. Most recently, she has had a field placement at a psychiatric hospital and although she was without adequate local supervision, our weekly Skype talks helped her see the way to an engaging and instructive experience. So much so that when it became clear that there was an opening for a social worker at the hospital
BRT- Bus Rapid Transit
These express lanes, built in the past three years, have made bus travel more attractive, while limiting traffic lanes for automobiles she let people know of her interest. Amazingly, she was told to forget it, that it had been decided that only a male would be considered for the job, that women were considered too “soft” to handle the rigors of the job. This to a student who had made a meaningful and productive relationship with a “frequent flier” (male) patient, had engaged his family therapeutically and surely bent the arc of this patient's life. She stated that there was little that she could do, that there were no legal avenues open to her and she would resort to posting on
Weibo and seek out other women who had faced similar discrimination.
This in the face of the fact that discrimination against women is against the law and the revolutionary edict that "women hold half the sky". Discrimination is rampant, unmediated by any legal process, and infiltrates every level of society. With the wildly out of disproportionate ratio of live births (117 male to every 100 female), the new dynamic of women turning their back on marriages that they see as stifling, and the growing imbalance between those working and those not, this is a demographic train wreck that looms
It is Starbucks, but it is China
Concerns about thievery are widespread, our friends admonish us to be careful how we carry our belongings. large in discussions here. So far, the governments have done little but issue flowery phrases. For an historical account you can look here:
sinolicious.com/2013/09/03/chinese-women-dont-hold-half-sky/ For a great article that provides a good review of the difficulties China's youngsters face look here:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/10/04/8186784/index.htm OK, I am off to market for the fixings for MaPaTofu, I will write again in two weeks or so.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0542s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb