Worth A Thousand Words: Day Two

Foreign Devil, Foreign Monkey

Maybe you've heard the term "foreign devil".

The Chinese word "guilao" can be literally translated as "ghost man" and it dates back several thousand years to a time when European barbarians invaded China and made a really bad first impression.  The term has been carried down through generations as a candid description of unwelcome outsiders.  It is certainly still in circulation today but China is changing rapidly and with the changes comes a shift in how they view foreigners.  We have rarely heard (or felt) the term "foreign devil".  However, there is a newer term that better describes the opinion of the outsiders like us.

"Laowai Houzi"  or "Foreign Monkey"

The general idea is that the foreigner goes on display and draws a crowd.  You don't have to live in China for long before you get to play the monkey.  It's generally well intentioned, much appreciated and often an opportunity to show that you're a good sport and build a relationship.  Westerners, however, often let their arrogance cloud their vision.  "Wow, these people really like me, I must be a superstar!"  They haven't learned yet that these people also really like monkeys.

We haven't seen a lot of real monkeys in China but when we do we are sure to snap a picture.   

Monkeys for Charity

This was a three man, two monkey operation that we saw 

on the street just a few weeks ago.  The trainer fed and 

whipped the monkeys while they did tricks.  Notice the 

disabled boy on the side who watched the show.  The third 

man was in the crowd with a tin can making sure spectators 

paid for the pictures they took.

Monkeys on Motorcycles

This was a show on Monkey Island.  A short ski lift ride from Hainan island

in the south China Sea it is inhabited with thousands of monkeys and is a 

popular tourist attraction.  It comes complete with monkey shows, monkey 

swimming pools, monkeys chained to the ground and a monkey prison for 

bad monkeys who attack guests and steal their bananas.

Monkey on her back

Trainer gets 10 kuai (about $1.50).  Monkey gets a piece of popcorn.  We get

a beautiful, lifetime reminder of the one moment that LaWanda let a real, live 

monkey climb on her back and rest his elbow on her head.  I think we got 

the best part of that deal.

Cute Monkey

Just don't walk around with Cheeto's in your pocket.

 

LaWanda's Homemade Pizza Class

A great friend of ours runs a rare Chinese Kindergarten.  Rare because one of his core values is to encourage parents to take an active role in their children's education process.  He has designed a program that allows children to experience English in an interactive, fun way and invites/requires the parents to come and encourage their children as they learn.  It's a great program.

So we get to hang out with some really cool kids for a couple of hours at a time and teach them something useful like how to play baseball and make pizza.  Last night was pizza night and it was a huge success.  One by one they kneaded the dough, shredded the mozzarella, added ingredients and finally feasted on the "bisa bing" (there, now you can say "pizza in Chinese).  Jerry's contribution you ask?  Cracking himself up by teaching the kids to say, "I cut the cheese."  

Parents gather around, take pictures and encourage their kids. They also take turns holding Judah and telling us how heavy he is. 

Worth A Thousand Words: Day One

So in an effort to be better communicators we have committed to sharing our China lives in pictures.  If I could describe China in one word it would be "VAST".  Is it cheating to use a word that basically means there could never be enough words?  Ok, I'm a cheater.  Instead of a million word epic on the vastness of China how about some pictures worth a thousand words each?  Cheating again you say?  Fair enough

Day One:  Common Strangeness
These are just a few of the things that seemed strange when we moved to China but are now just a part of our daily lives.

It's common for little old ladies to touch your baby.

They usually have some advice for the mother like he's 

too hot, too cold, hungry, fat, crying and are eager to share.

It's also common (and often quite sweet) for them to pick 

up your baby.  This sweet lady got more than she expected

when she grabbed our little chunk though.  She mumbled in

a local dialect that we couldn't understand but we're pretty 

sure she was saying, "OOOOHHH take him back! take him

back!"

It's common to see men and women, young and old sitting 

on the street playing games.  Cards, chess (the Chinese kind) and 

mahjong are favorites.  Always seem to have a great time and a 

good game will often draw a crowd.

It's common to see people sleeping.  Tired?  Take a rest.  Makes perfect

sense and you have to respect a culture who values a good nap but

it still amazes us where people can fall asleep.  Truth be told, his back

is probably in better shape than mine.

We're Back! Maybe. Kind of.

Can you taste the reluctance in this post.  Blogging seems to be habitual for so many people these days.  Unfortunately we kicked the habit nearly two years ago and now we're going to try to pick it up again.  So here's hoping for a healthy addiction.  Maybe.

Kind of funny things  . . . 

• our last blog was election day 2008
• our second to last blog was an apology for being such bad bloggers
• our third to last blog was one year (September 11) before the birth of our son