And now what you've all been waiting for....
Yes, yes I realize it’s been about three weeks, so this will be a long one, I swear! I hope to keep you busy for a while, a lot has happened, and I just haven’t had the time/motivation/a working computer to be able to write it all. The every day activities are becoming more and more normal. Again, I’m less surprised by many of the things that I see on a daily basis, except for the spitting. I will never get used to the spittingn, mainly because I think that a lot of the time I find that people spit right after passing me (or other westerners – I don’t know if it’s paranoia but I’m not the only one who seems to notice it).OK, so the first experience I’d like to recount (this is pretty much chronological) is my trip to the orphanage. I had to miss our first visit because of my law school applications, but the following Saturday I woke up and was downstairs for 7:30 (hey, that’s early if you know me well) with Kat & Cristine to make the trek to the orphanage. Every other week a school group goes, so there are a limited number of spaces hence only a small collection of Queen’s students this particular week. We had to take a cab to the light rail then take the light rail most of the way down the line to Zongshen park where we catch another cab to a hotel where a bus chartered by the orphanage administrator, a Spanish woman named Millichu who has started lots of orphanages in different areas in South America and Asia. She likes to recount a story of how she started 14 orphanages in Chile (or maybe it was somewhere else in latin America) and that was in the span of one year, whereas she’s spent several years years here and has only been able to open two. It’s a “model” orphanage meaning that it is somewhere where westerners are allowed to go, and is probably where any “official” visits are made. The facility is pristine and very sterile. Upon entering the huge building with beautiful landscaping outside was completely empty. We wandered through huge hallways that were completely desserted until we got to one of the smaller corridors that held the smaller children. They seem to be organized by age and the children that we visited were probably anywhere between two years old and four years old. Upstairs there were smaller children, but I didn’t go up there. I ended up going into the first room, and finding a room full of little boys. Well, they looked like boys and it took me until after I left them to relize that it was only the way that they were dressed that made me think they were boys, when in fact there were probably as many if not more girls than boys there. Many of them were crying when the bunch of us came in, I can understand they were frightened, but the rest of them did absolutely nothing; no sounds, no noises, no response to us entering the room. I approached two young children who cried mercilessly on me bending down to see them and then a third who did nothing, I offered with my arms to pick her up (I’m pretty sure it was a her, a beautiful child nonetheless) and she seemed kind of indifferent but let me lift her. We spent the entire morning together, and although she kept squirming and almost crying in my arms, she cried worse when I would put her down. We finally found a comfortable position on one of the benches outside of the smaller corridor where she fell asleep on my front (and I sitting in the chair) for about 40 minutes (I have a nap buddy!). We were late for lunch (with Cristine and her little buddy) but when we started to eat, I got my first smile and giggles out of her when I played airplane with her food. It was a positive way to leave her but still really difficult. There were about 20 children in a room and at most there were 5 women looking after the children, still a rather large ratio for these kids at such critical development points. It was heartbreaking but also really wonderful to go to be able to experience that and hopefully cheer up the child I got a chance to spend my day with. We haven’t been allowed back because of a flu outbreak at the orphanage. That was discouraging, but at least I got to go away this weekend (that will come later) without feeling guilty for missing the orphanage.
Friday was another interesting day – I went to prison. Yes, you heard me right. We went to a suburb just outside of Shanghai (Qingpo) and visited a “model” prison (yes, that term is thrown around a lot to mean expemplary example of Chinese infrastructure/labour/way of life, etc. It’s basically what they will show officials and foreigners). The prison was incredibly enlightening. We didn’t see very many people, and I wasn’t too comfortable. It wasn’t because I felt in danger or that the prison was creepy, but that I felt like the guards were parading us students around (we went with our Fudan counterparts) for the publicity for themselves as much as it was to show Canadians what the best part of the prison system looks like. We had a chat with the head guard who happened to be good friends with one of the government officials who came to Kingston in the summer (he met most of us then, and was very involved in the administration and cultural exchange aspect of the program – it was because of him that we were allowed in – visitors like student groups were not granted access to the facility like we were). We ended up on the lunchroom where prisoners on good behaviour were granted access to eat with their families. They were given 30 minutes, and then they paraded us through the middle of their meal. I felt kind of intrusive being there during the limited time that these men have with their families. It was an interesting facility, the dormitories slept twelve men in a room (six bunk beds), with a tiny hole for a washroom and sink with 12 shelves for toothbrush and a cup as well as 12 towels. Each bed had very neatly piled covers at the foot of the bed, obviously a chore that had to be finished every morning before they left for the morning to whichever facility they went to for either food or exercise. There were classes (university and workshop-type classes) that the prisoners could take such as pottery and music and one of the prisoners had just completed a degree from Cambridge University (weird, eh?). This was also the prison where foreign prisoners were held. We all secretly hoped to run into someone who was a Westerner and see if we could steal a few words, but we didn’t see very much of anyone and the majority of foreign prisoners were from Asia and South East Asia. Mainly drug charges for foreigners and it was definitely something that many of the students freaked out at. If you don’t quite understand, I suggest you watch Broken Down Palace, the story of two American girls stuck in a Thai prison. While it was not anywhere close to that, it was still kind of frightening to think that we take for granted some of the laws that are much more strongly enforced here. Yikes! We ended the day with a big lunch buffet at some hotel and almost went to a Christian cathedral in the suburbsbut didn’t get a chance to go in because some girls needed to catch a train to Tianjin and then to Daqio. It’s a small village that was once a “model village” (there’s that word again) which is actually a really interesting story that I feel I will bastardize if I tell it (oh well, I’ll try it anyways!). The book we read on the village was called Model Rebels and it basically describes this rural village that gained control over its production factors and under the village leader who was a prominent party member (the name escapes me, and I’m sure that the spelling of the village is incorrect as well, but I can’t see the screen of my computer right now so we’re doing what I can). Anyways, production greatly increased and the village prospered but in the midst of this prosperous time, and good publicity there were also some tragic events that involved murder and corruption that started to give the village a bad name and the government realized the private power held by this one particular village and tried to stem the power that was growing by breaking down the leadership structure. It’s bizarre, and a little complicated, so I really would suggest you read it.
Anyways, back to my life ….
I went to go see the acrobatic show at the Portman Ritz-Carleton, which is the fanciest and probably one of the most expensive hotels in Shanghai. Outside of the hotel itself contained in the same building (kind of) are a number of restaurants and a theatre where the acrobats performed. The Portman has a Tony Roma’s, a California Pizza Kitchen, Gucci, Hagen Daaz, a western grocery store with lots of stuff that is overpriced but reminds me of home (like baguettes! And Coffee!! And Cheese!!!). The best restaurant there is called Element Fresh and is a “health-food” type restaurant (not vegetarian) which serves organic fruits & vegetables, smoothies, salads and sandwiches that are a little fancier than regular sandwiches. Anyways, back to the acrobats … crazy show that lasted about an hour and a half with 8-10 acts of different crazy things, such as balancing glasses full of water on glass plates balanced on a thing that attached to a girls nose, contortionists, jumping through hoops (all people and very gymnastic based, not like the circus), it was incredibly crazy. It looked like there were a ton of people in the cast but it turns out that only about 20 people were in the show, just participating in multiple acts to make it look like it was a bigger production than it actually was. It was kind of like Cirque du Soleil, only a little more cheesy. It was a great night, but not a very long one, so it doesn’t really make for a huge entry here. I’m always amazed at all of the contortion and tumbling that seem to be very common in these types of show, but is still so amazing and kind of makes me feel a little bit unproductive in my own life when all I can barely touch my own toes on a good day. I was much better when I was doing yoga, but I’m yoga-free here (mainly because I just don’t want to spend hundreds of kuai on a gym that is over an hour away).
I also saw my first movie in a theatre here. I went with RJ, Cristine, Donald and Kat. We couldn’t really decide what to see at first. D-dog, Cristine & Kat had already seen Zorro 2 (which was apparently horrible), they also were playing Before Sunset (with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek – it’s quite old) which I had seen already, and the final English language movie was called Churchill: The Hollywood Years. It stars Christian Slater and Neve Campbell. It seemed interesting so we paid our way in and were the only ones in the theatre. Well, the movie was definitely interesting. It was a “Hollywood” take on the character of Winston Churchill. I found out later that is was released in 2004 in the UK so it was never something I had ever heard of. Well, the basic synopsis was that “they” wanted to make a movie about the REAL Winston Churchill, not the round, British imposter who was the public face. The REAL Winston Churchill was a gruff American soldier who made it his lone goal to defeat Hitler from invading the UK with his trusty sidekick Eisenhower, a black American soldier. There mayu also have been a rap about Hitler that the two of them did that had the line “Hitler has one nut”. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Nothing was meant to be factual, Neve Campbell was Princess Elizabeth, and had a sleazy sister Princess Margaret, which was also hilarious. If you need a laugh, it’s definitely worth it. Don’t expect anything too intelligent, however. It’s no intellectual comedy, more British humour, and not nearly as gross as Team America or anything, but it’s worth renting if you can find it, just to see how bizarre it was.
About a week ago my computer went on the fritz (hence this taking so long). The computer screen keeps turning off and it took me a few days to figure out how to turn it back on without turning off the machine and I’m still working on transferring the warranty and finding out where someone speaks English and can help fix the machine. It’s put a little bit of a stall on my work, but ah well, what can you do. I’ve found alternative ways of wasting my time. One of which is audio books and regular books (I read a lot on my computer, so the audio books are a decent alternative and the next book I’m going to read is currently being read by Kat, so hopefully she’ll be done soon). I’m re-reading Harry Potter 5 (well, listening) before getting into the new book, which I haven’t yet read. I was advised to be a little refreshed before diving into book 6 and I really do think it was a good idea. It’s been 2 years since the last book so I only remember a few of the goings on in Hogwarts. Oh Harry! Well, that’s about it for now, I feel this post has been long enough. I still have to let you know about a couple of side trips I’ve taken lately, last Wednesday to Souzhou, about an hour away by train, and this past weekend to Hongzhou, about two and a half hours away. Both were fantastic, but I’m a little exhausted from typing all of this and I’m writing more than I do for most essays lately, so I feel I’ve exhausted my typing quota today. I know, it’s rather disjointed and not very well written, I could totally re-write it but I’m a lazy girl and I’m a little distracted while writing it (that and I’m typing with a dark screen for most of the time). Well, I miss everyone a lot and still love getting your e-mails. I promise I haven’t forgotten anyone and want to apologize for late responses, but this computer is making correspondence a little difficult.
Later dudes!
posted by Jenn @ 11:27 p.m.
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