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Published: December 10th 2006
University holiday display
Thanksgiving and Christmas are not ignored here. On Thanksgiving, students and colleagues sent me good wishes. I’ve just discovered Elton John. Of course, you have been listening to him for years, but I haven’t. CDs here aren’t as expensive in the U.S., so I’ve been buying some. I put some on my MP3 player, and Elton John, in a quiet, warm room, and I wonder, “Where am I?” Am I really in CHINA!! It’s a cure for the blues. It’s a warm room, because I asked the University Foreign Affairs office if I could buy a heater, and they got me one. Oh, I love a warm room!
I just had dinner with five great students after having a “chat” with them at my apartment. In the U.S. we would say, after a ‘visit,’ but here it’s always called a “chat.” Is that British?
Recently, some of the students decided to come visit me. It’s wonderful and I hope they keep it up. It’s a chance for me to get to know them and vice versa. It’s easy to see universal similarities in university students in the U.S. and in China and in Turkey; but the state of the economy, the political situation, the access to information, etc. all
Behind the live chickens is the KFC
In front of a warehouse shopping area is the KFC; in front of that was this street sale of live chickens. Notice the banner behind them. make a huge difference. Chinese students have hard working lives, but also access to the world through the internet. (Two students kept up a side conversation about the TV show “24 Hours” off and on throughout the evening.) I didn’t have those resources when I was in college. (Did we Linell? Sandy? John? Mary Ellen?) (Those are my college classmates who read this blog.)
These students are very interested in the world. They want more education. They talk of going to Australia, the U.S., England, etc. They talk of visa problems; taking the GRE; what should be the next area of study.
As you can tell from other things I wrote, China is exuberant now. If a young person wants to push for a career in almost any field, now is the time here. International companies see China as a huge market—a huge global pocket of consumers. That’s true. I was in Nanjing’s main shopping district today, in one of the large department stores. I could have been in any major, developed city in the world. Furs, jewelry, beautiful clothes, leather goods, etc. Definitely, not the China from my last visit in 1978.
When the students came
Student breakfast in the classroom
It's cold in here. This student was squeezing this brown stuff on her bread. It's chocolate flavored condensed milk. I couldn't resist taking her picture. over, one brought me a delicious box of Dove chocolates, made by Mars candies. We drank coffee, made by Nescafe. We also had local black tea and jasmine tea. We ate popcorn, local brand sold in bulk. I popped the corn the American way, salt, not sugar. I picked up the salt shaker and a student questioned, “Shouldn’t you put sugar on it?” Here you buy it on the street popped on a hot air popper and sprinkled with sugar. The same vendor sells popped rice. I’ll take a picture later.
A student who came earlier in the day, brought me beautiful long stemmed red roses. I added them to her flowers from the prior week—a bird of paradise, mums, and roses. And one lily. The only flower with a scent. The flowers are very, very beautiful. The colors are rich and deep. I really enjoy looking at them daily.
HEALTH I keep getting sore throats. It may be the pollution, or the cold, or the bacteria, or whatever… When I was very sick, the foreign affairs office made sure I got to the doctor. When the sore throat came back, I went by the office and found
card players at the night market
At the end of the warm weather, the men here were happy to smile for me, one of their customers. They have stalls at the night market. out I can get the amoxicillin over the counter. But the clinic drug was .25 and the OTC (over the counter) drug was .50. I took too much of the latter and had to stop.
I realize that I’m from a culture where we ask the doctor to help us and s/he gives us directions and drugs. I think the patient makes more decisions here, especially because we can get stronger medicines over the counter (from the pharmacy) without a prescription.
Well, then I threw my neck out and wished my chiropractor, Dr. Kerri Kramer from Little 5 Points were here. She’s not, so I headed for the massage folks.
My masseur (massage therapist) tried to fix my neck with massage and stretches. Then he put bamboo jars on my back. He filled them with heat and put them on my back. They stuck and stayed for 20 minutes. It helped my cold, and my neck was eased, but still not quite right. He said it was the 4th and 5th vertebrae. But now, two days later, I feel pretty good.
When I got home from the massage, I checked my back. I had big circles of pink where the bamboo jars had been. I wish I understood Chinese medicine.
CHINA IN THE NEWS Did you read the NY Times article about the documentary shown on Chinese TV called, “Rise of the Great Powers”? I missed the documentary. (It was on a Chinese station, and I watch only the English station.) If you’re interested, as I am, you can read more about it at this website, http://english.china.com/zh_cn/culture_history/news/11020710/20061127/13769403.html
Here are a few interesting paragraphs from the website:
As China continues to develop, the title of the documentary has stirred debate about the country‘s own ambitions.
China‘s GDP now ranks fourth in the world after the United States, Japan, and Germany. Any crumb of news about its one trillion U.S. dollars of foreign exchange reserves can immediately affect global financial markets.
What‘s more, China‘s positive role in the Korean peninsular nuclear issue and its increasingly close relations with African countries have shown that it is also prepared to "shoulder the burden" of its responsibilities as a major nation.
"According to an old Chinese saying, if you use history as a mirror you can understand the vicissitudes of life," said former Chinese ambassador to France Cai Fangbo, who thought the fusion of history and current conditions is one of the strengths of the documentary.
"History helps us understand what development path a country has chosen, and its experiences and lessons. This helps us understand what we should do", said Cai. I was surprised to learn that China’s GDP ranks 4th in the world. So, why is China still called a “developing” country, instead of a “developed” country? (For those of you who know, please comment on the blog.)
(I’ll carry my camera for the next two days and get some winter shots of the streets for you.)
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howard romaine
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reactions from Nashville
Susan, when I hear you talk of constant colds, I wonder several things.a.)what about vitamin C, do you take it, get enough? b.I wonder about my own sniffles here in Nashville, with the change of the weather to cold, and think about the vaporizer Rita got me last year...I must set it up..I'm wondering if the climate there is much dryer than in the U.S. and that could be partly it, then, c.) I think of particulate matter in the air, in rapidly industrializing, and uncontrolled, Chinese development..well, enough of my differential diagnosis. I'm happy to receive these continued notes, and that your students bring you flowers, and enjoy the internet..what's their take on the 'revolutionary change in U.S. Politics'..give us a hint next mail..happy Christmas Holidays..do you get some there..is there a Winter Break..love to you from Nashville, Atlanta, and the Deep South, H Romaine