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Published: December 13th 2008
Okay, so the British are responsible enough to know that you just don’t go out a buy a dog on a whim. That to have a dog means that you need to dedicate time, energy, commitment, love, care and money to it and for an EXTENDED period of time. And, that if you’re in a foreign country and not knowing exactly what you will be doing in the next 6 months or year, then to buy a dog is a very stupid idea.
This being fully understood, we went to the animal market to buy the cat that I had eyed up a couple of times during the week. A sad white cat that cried and cried with its arms out of the cage to catch any love that may walk by. Excitedly, Chris, Cathy (from the hostel) and I went to the market to get the cat. The stall owner wasn’t there so I lifted the old carpets from the bottom cage to show Chris and Cathy the cat of my dreams. All white with bright blue eyes, crying with its arms out. We were all in agreement that it was the cat for us. Because the stall owner
Chris and yoyo on day one
sitting in 'The Bookworm'wasn’t there, we walked around the market. This is something that Chris would never normally do because either I always say, “hey, look at this” and it is either something so sadly kept that he wants to save it , or “hey, look at this” and it’s the cutest specimen on earth - that’s as well as the “hey look at this”, which I won’t talk about. Anyways, Cathy hadn’t been round the market so we all went round. The saddest things were the beautiful birds on perches with tiny red strings around their necks tied to the perch. The bird, knowing that if it flew it would be choked, just hopped up and down only seeing the free sky above but never being able to reach it.
On walking around the market, I saw Chris out of the corner of my eye stroking a big white husky puppy. ALL of the dogs in the market were yapping at us and each other as we walked but this big dog was silent. He was in a big cage tied to the side. Chris was silently looking at him whilst I stroked as many yappy puppies as possible exclaiming how
Ding Hui Si roof animals
little creatures running along the eaves cute they were. As I looked at Chris and the dog, I just saw this perfect union. Chris doesn’t really like dogs and needs a lot of time on his own, he needs to not be bothered. To have a dog that size would be time consuming and, at times, restricting and not really for us but as I looked at them, I asked him if he liked the dog. He said yes and I said do you want it and he said yes, without hesitation. Now, Chris’s impulsive purchasing nature and my love of dogs are a dangerous match and were possibly the reasons why, right there and then, we bartered for a dog that we hadn’t even imagined buying 1 minute previously. And that is how we came to own a dog 6 days after arriving in a new city, 1 day after signing a contract for an apartment and without even having jobs. Stupid? Maybe.
The day after we bought the dog we all moved into our apartment together and I started work within the week.
So, I’ve:
1,signed a one year contract on an apartment
2, become a legal temporary resident of Suzhou
Twin Pagodas next to our apartment complex
The early morning sun lighting these pagodas which were built over 1,000 years ago. ( involving a police officer coming to the apartment to check that I really live here)
3, Gone through my health examination for work (including an ecg, xray, a scan, dental check, height, weight and blood tests) and passed,
4, had my experts certificate arrive at work
5, signed a one year work contract
6, had my tourist visa extended to a work visa
Oh, and the dog of course and, no we didn’t get my cat - Yet.
This all happened within 2 weeks of arriving here in Suzhou.
After one week staying at the hostel, we knew that we needed to find an apartment but didn’t know how to do it as the only way to find a place to live that we knew of was on the internet but the places were all located in SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park) which is on the East side of the city. We didn’t want to live there because it was too far from work and all new high rise blocks and nothing of old Suzhou. So we spoke to Cathy at the hostel and she took us out on our 6th day
Cathy eating hairy crabs.
Cathy helped us with our apartment, dog, and trying to get the internet installed in the apartment. She's full of life and character. in Suzhou to see the (what we would call estate agents).
The agents have small offices in dark square rooms facing the streets. There are small pieces of paper tacked onto a board outside each agent’s shop with available apartment information. It lists the size, and price and mostly says ‘just take your bag and move in’ on the bottom. After one agent refused us because we were waiguoren (foreigners), we went to two more. One didn’t have anything and the other had an apartment 80 square meters, just take your bag and move in now and the price was right. The agent phoned the owner and we arranged to see it there and then. In the agents shop were two sparrows in a green net bag. He’d caught them in his shop and was going to buy a cage to keep them. This I couldn’t really bear and felt very sad. I held the birds in the bag in my hand and asked if I could buy them. He swung the bag out of my hands, thought about it for a second then swung it back at me and gave them as a gift. This overwhelming act enabled me
to 1, make him happy at giving a gift and 2, after seeing the apartment and agreeing on it and him leaving - me being able to set them free. The agent wanted me to teach his son and he wanted to pay, I would have taught his son for the birds only, just to set them free.
On that Saturday, Chris, Cathy, the agent and myself, met another guy at the apartment whom we thought owned the place but turned out to be another agent. We briefly looked around the place and without much conversation, Chris and I knew it was perfect. It’s right on Ding Hui Temple Lane. It’s the ground floor apartment of 3, it sits in the quiet area by the side of Shuang Ta - The Twin Pagodas built in 982 and next to Ding Hui Temple which is not on the map and is fully working every day from 7am. The area is alive and buzzing with locals and it sits by the canal running down the right side of the city. It’s 10 minutes from work - what more could we want? Perfect. So, two days later, we signed the contract and
met the owner, a kind man named Zhu De Ming who wants to come and practice his English with Chris.
I started my job on 1st Dec and really like it. I work for Web International teaching adults English. I teach 5 hours per day with 2-3 hours prep time and I mostly work 1 - 9pm which gives me the morning to visit pagodas, temples, museums, be with Chris, walk the dog or just read and write. The job itself is interesting. The team at Web are kind and welcoming. The students are interesting and really want to learn. I realise how lucky I am because not only do I like my work environment but I can talk with students and learn about China and life here. I’ve had some really interesting and stimulating conversations led by the topics in the classes and I know that have the opportunity to understand and learn so much too. No two days are the same. I work 5 days a week with Mondays and Thursdays off which suits me because the weekends are soooo busy here.
11/12/08 - Thursday, My first proper day off work because we sorted the visa
on Monday.
It’s Thursday and it’s my day off work as I always work Saturdays and Sundays now. Every time that I have a day off, I feel that time is more precious because I need and want to do so much and I need to make as much of the day count as possible. Today, I have no plans but know that I want to fill the time as much as possible with things that enrich my day.
I get up and walk the dog. We are lucky, no strays or random dogs attack Yoyo. Our walks have become fraught with confrontational angry dogs and they all (large and small) have a go at our dog. So, today, I am lucky. We meet no other dogs and our walk goes smoothly - me with my cup of boiled water with a slice of lemon and the dog making its marks everywhere are now a well known recognised sight in the local area. Walking the dog with a mug of tea in my hand is just like I used to do with my dog at Chatsworth over 10 years ago - it’s calming and gives me a sense of
North Pagoda
we visited it before I started work on Wednesday, A crisp day with blue skies belonging.
As usual, whilst walking the dog in Suzhou, most people either do one of two things - either, they stop and stare at the dog but never touch and rarely speak or they jump out of its way, often with a muffled scream or squeal lingering in the air. Both actions tickle me.
After I walk the dog, I nip to Ding Hui Si - it is the temple on our lane and is open at 7am every morning and fully active with people worshiping to their gods and ancestors on their way to work. It is not on any map - I think because it is not a tourist temple but a working one. Today, I am late. I arrive at the Temple gates at about 8.30am. As I walk from the front buildings, past the middle 2 towards the back, I hear chanting and follow the sound. The singing is coming from the back temple room that is used for teaching. There are rows of desks and chairs and there’s a huge, lounging god/ess at the front alter. Inside, I see that there are people walking in a line, slowly snaking in between the desks chanting.
I sit on the chair by the door and watch. There are 26 people in the line and I can see that a nun is leading the line and tapping a small hand drum to the rhythm of the chanting. As I become accustomed to the room and the low light, I can see that most of the people in line are nuns, with the exception of a few men and a local lady who dropped in line at the back. They all slowly stride on, and step about every other second whilst all the time chant/singing the same line over and over again. As they pass me, they all do the same thing - they press their hands together and bow to me. I don’t know why they do this or what they chant or what it means or what it’s all for. The song changes to another repeated chant. They all weave in between the rows of desk and file in front of the god/ess who is lounging in splendour at the front.
It is times like this that I feel close to something - close but not close enough. I see it, I feel it but
don’t know what it is. These fleeting moments are beautiful and hook me into my day, my senses, my life here. They are hidden moments that China presents every day amidst this city of millions and the hustle and bustle of life - there are places where the quiet gather to pray, to think of ancestors, and just be close to a way of life that I can only see in a tiny fleeting moment. More than that, the moment touches me and time stands still. Whilst sitting on my chair watching the moving line, I lean forward and move with them without moving. When the chant comes to an end, the nuns sit in a row by the book cases and meditate in silence. The men who were in line at the back, resume their regular seats by the front door and next to my seat. I nod to them, they nod back. They can see that I have a book on China - I offer it to them. Li Pai Qing and Wang Yuan Chen look intently at my book on China. Somehow, they instil great respect in me. They look at all of the pictures and the
pages on Suzhou, pronouncing the English words for their city sights. They chatter quietly whilst the nuns silently pray. I write.
We cannot understand each other but somehow, there is a calm, common understanding of acceptance. They ask me to write in their visitors book and then a third man, Wang Yong Ming , also comes to sit with us and looks at the book on China. He’s a gentle man. We all whisper to each other so as not to interrupt the nuns. For no reason, Wang Yong Ming hands me 4 books. They are paper backed books full of hanzi, except for one, which has drawings in. I gather that he has done the drawings. I am humbled by his generosity and humility. I have nothing to give them back and once again feel as if I have fallen into an ancient kind of Chinese hole that blocks out any of the day to day frustrations with its enveloping and unexpected kindness. They ask nothing but give something that you cannot explain. It’s bigger than kindness, it’s open, honest, free, unconditional - there, I reached the words that I was searching for - Unconditional kindness. The nuns
resume their chanting and circuits around the room, Wang Yong Chen is still looking at Suzhou in my book whilst Wang Yong Ming emanates warmth towards me and I can only wear a smile that is both genuine and warm but I feel, gives them nothing. As we sit together, I realise that there is a mutual gift and the gift is time. I touch this time and let myself enjoy it because although it is rare, it is here to be found everyday in China, if you just look and wait.
After 20 minutes Wang Yong Chen has read all he can from my book about Suzhou and hands it back to me and I know that my moment touching this time and place is over.
I loitered home just in time to catch the postman delivering my first letter from the UK - from gwenny - cooool. What a good start to my day off.
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Grant
non-member comment
not for Xmas...
... just for main course? Ohhh! Who said that?? Really... now that is ENOUGH... What job is it that you do Tracey? I am so green with envy of all that you are doing... you are both amazing!! Love to you all from a cold and miserable Sheffield x