Tag Archives: water

Re-locating turtle eggs at Mon Repos

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Warm rain water dripped off my floppy Aussie hat as I watched a thirty year old mother Loggerhead turtle drop her fifth clutch of ping pong size turtle eggs into a freshly dug egg chamber on the beach at Mon Repos. Quietly in the darkness, lite by a single flash-lite I saw over a hundred eggs pile up by one by one. The ninety kilo turtle had lumbered onto the beach about thirty minutes before, dug her nesting chamber and as we arrived she started to lay. Not long after she covered the eggs by paddling sand with her flippers. Once it was all flat and tight she meandered back to the ocean.

The wonderful park rangers carefully dug the eggs out by hand to relocate them to a higher spot above the sand dunes. Each person was given two sandy eggs to transport to the new egg chamber. In total one hundred and eleven eggs were moved to the new location.

My first week in “OZ” and I am moving turtles around. I love it.

Chinese Medicine or was that marijuana I smell?

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My experience with Chinese Medicine has been a humorous encounter!

As an American our standards are just entirely different than the Chinese.  The traditional basic Chinese customs are fresh air is a must, even if it is below freezing.  One should open a window and let the cool air in.  Hot water is drank all the time, no ice and no cold water.  One must wear many layers of clothes and jackets pretty much all the time.  Of course if you are into the “fresh air belief” your home will be as cold as it is outside, therefore  jackets are worn in the house.  Surgical masks are worn by a majority of the people on the street.  Is it a fashion statement or is it to stay well?  I just bought one to keep my nose warm when I bike in 23 degree weather.  Mine has words on it– “Not Paranoid!”  One is allowed to cough, hock up a loogie and spit it on the street, or in your hand and then flick it on the road. One must always watch where one walks.  Kleenex tissues, impossible to find in the store are not used by the Chinese.  I have pockets full.

My wonderful Chinese neighbor brought me some throat lozenges to help my sore throat.  They are pink, round and chalky.  I tried one of these “Watermelon Frost” tablets as it was titled in English.  As fast as it went in my month, hit my tongue I expelled it!  The taste was that of Lysol!  I don’t want to disinfect my month but soothe it.  Last week I walked into our library to smell marijuana wafting throughout the room.  I saw the librarian holding a white cigar lit stick, in front of the heater letting the blowing air dissipate the smoke.  I asked, “What in the world are you doing with a huge doobie?”   She said it was Chinese Medicine to ward off the flu virus we all have.  I have news for you it may not get rid of the flu, but no one will care in an hour or so.  Someone needs to tell me, is hemp legal here?

Do animals have souls?

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Alice had crabs for dinner a couple nights ago.  A vegetation – I did not partake.  Sawyer was steaming the little guys and I was reminded of the time Andy, Casey and Randy went crabbing at Kemah.  I had pretty much given up meat and was almost a total vegetarian when they caught  a mess of Blue Crabs in Clear Lake by our home.  I told them I just couldn’t clean them live and would just chunk them in the boiling water to cook.  Do you know when you toss something live in boiling water it screams?  Well it does!  Crabs or what ever?  There I was with a huge pot of boiling water and I threw those live crustaceans in.   Crab legs were flailing, little voices hollering, and I am cramming a lid on the pot trying to not hear or see the entire thing.   As soon as all the blue crabs were in the pot, lid on, silence from within, did I realize they were dead.   Within an instance their poor souls are scurrying up my arms and pinching me.  It was quite a metaphysical visual and at that point I became a total vegetarian.

I know I have told this story to many of you and some of you think I am unrealistic in my belief  about animal souls.  But believe me they have souls.  You really shouldn’t kill them or eat them.  They will come back and haunt you or in my case pinch you.  Don’t really like the whole thought of it.  I just send them to animal heaven, when I see dead animal on the road or in the market.  I have a huge “road kill” animal heaven awaiting me when I get there.

Dead animals.  Think about that, what do you believe?

“You shall not kill or murder!”  One of those commandments, Moses found.  Poor old Moses and his ten commandments God gave him on a stone tablet up on a mountain.   Ever really thought about that one?  Don’t kill or murder, killing an animal is murder.  Take it seriously and don’t kill anything, including animals.  At least don’t make excuses if you do.

I was counted in the Chinese census

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The amount of people in China, is just overwhelming.  Every bit of land is covered with gardens, fruit trees, wheat, canals taking water to rice, sky high apartments or maybe 4-story homes.  Traveling I’ve noticed the massive semi-trucks are much longer and higher than American semi’s.  Passing trucks of rabbits and pigs stacked on top of each other, it is amazing to see the amount of food going down the road.

Tour boat riding seats many and even had a squatter toilet!  No thanks!

One observance is picture taking.  The Chinese take pictures of each other and love to pose.  They love their children.  Some have funny poses!  Isn’t it fun to take pictures of people acting up?  I have more pictures of me now, because my new Chinese friends, want to take pictures of me using my camera.

Speaking of population, I was counted in the Chinese census.  They actually came by three different nights!  I think I was an anomaly with four of them on the last night to double or triple check!  So we have over 8 million in Nanjing– that is just a guess, more than New York City.  Probably when it is all said and done, much larger than 8 mil!

What’s funny — I am counted twice on this planet, here and in the America census last year.

Toilets in China

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So many questions about bathroom facilities.   These are the little commodes and urinals at the the daycare connected to the high school in Suzhou.   I took a picture as I had never seen a tiny urinal…. It is unusual to see tiny toilets or any western toilets in China.

This is a basic  ladies rest room.  You squat facing the door, cause if some one opens the door you want them to see your face not your booty, so says Alice my friend.  You do not flush any paper products.  There is NO toilet paper in majority of bathrooms, so you bring your own.  The paper you carry comes in packages like this.  You carry a small pack of 10 little kleenex.  If you forget, you hope a friend has some.  Otherwise, well you can guess.  Personally I hold one over my nose when I squat, as the smells are usually horrendous!  A friend told me always lean forward or you might fall in.  I have heard some people have dropped their cell phones in there!  Good bye phone.  By the way this is a clean one at the school.

You will notice in my downstairs bathroom, it is tiled floor and walls with a drain in the floor.  Can be convenient if you have a water issue!  You see a white hose, that is the run out from my washer.  I also have a mop sink, very hygienic, don’t you think?  In my upstairs bathroom, above the commode or western lou I have a hot water heater for my shower.  Never flush the toilet and jump into the shower right after, the water will stop and you will be cold and wet for a few minutes until the water tank fills back up.  The water heater in my kitchen heats water for the kitchen and sink in the downstairs bathroom only.  No hot water for the washing machine.  This is the heater that ignites loudly when you turn the hot water on in the sinks.  It does get ever so hot.

Chinese laundry

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October 6, 2010

Looking out the living room window I see a wedding at the 5-star hotel across the street.  It looks like a magnificent event with two or did I see three chefs?  Wish I had a pair of binoculars so I could see what’s happening up close.  Remember the TV show “Friends” and how they always looked out of their New York apartment window and would see the naked guy in the apartment across?  I think I could do that here, looking into thousands of apartment windows and seeing what’s happening.  Or they could be looking at the blonde western girl running around in her apartment in a purple night gown!  Ha which is funnier?  Ok back to the wedding, I hear something in Chinese from loud speakers, are they married yet?  What fun, maybe there will be a firecracker event to follow?  Maybe I can take some photographs.  Hey Alex, I need some help with night exposures and fire crackers.  I remember your wonderful photos last year in HL art class.  Gee I wish you were here to help me with my photography.  This is the fourth wedding party I have seen around the city in the last few days.  I was told it is good luck and good fortune to marry during the week of the National Holiday (remember this is China’s 4th of July!  Well sort of, I don’t they are celebrating independence from Britain.  Maybe it is just a happy week to be Chinese.  I’m happy to be in China and to be living the oriental lifestyle.  Shoot some firecrackers, would you!

Speaking of culture, Patti has been curious about the laundry issue in China, so I am devoting this blog to doing Chinese Laundry.  My little washer is nice, except it is written in Chinese, so I had it deciphered onto a green post-it.  (By the way “post-its” doesn’t exist here; I brought these from the states!)  My laundry detergent smells great and we all know how I like good smells.  The washer is only connected to cold water and I was told to do a warm wash, you boil water and pour it in.  Ok I did that for towels, seems to work.  Then after it is “dry”, that’s what the Chinese say, actually it is the “spin cycle” in America.  It is now ready for the dryer.  Don’t have dryers in China, ok they do but not in my apartment.  I actually haven’t seen one here, but know they do exist.  Where, I don’t know?  So in my case it is a walk upstairs to my master bedroom, open the sliding door and out onto the balcony.  This is where I have a clothes line pulley system.  You turn the lever and down comes one line which I bought a couple little hanger thingies to hang unmentionables on.  Then when this line is full you move the handle to the other lever and roll this pile up in the air and the other line rolls down.  I know what a wooden clothespin is, do you?  I actually bought some at the Suguo!  Cheap ones at that, cause they sprang apart, and I have bits and pieces in my nightstand drawer.  My balcony faces the south, which is good luck.  This side gets all the sun so clothes dry faster.  I like the balcony it is enclosed with glass panels which move and let you open them up and get a nice breeze.  Hanging clothes reminds me of my childhood in Plano when my mom did laundry.  She hung it out on the clothes line and the sheets and towels would get so stiff.  I remember the wind blowing them and me having to hang and bring them in.  I am reminded of hanging Ruth Ann’s diapers one after another.  Mom will recall when I was three I had a “blankie”, she would wash it for me and I would go hold onto it as it hung to dry.  It had a satin border and I recollect how cool it was on my face when I was warm.  Now that is a long time ago, and I still like blankets, as I brought my down comforter in the satin coverlet with me to China.  Still like that cool feeling when it is hot.  Since I don’t have anyone to hang onto, this is a good replacement, soft, cuddly and no emotional attachment.

I saw a UFO!

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I saw a UFO night before last!  Walking back to the hotel about 9pm looked up and this set of green lights in a semi-circular pattern were flashing on and off.  It was hovering around and then would change the light pattern into a triangle.  I saw the hotel guard and signaled for him to see it.  He agreed “UFO”– universal word, as he spoke no English.  Other people walked up and some showed me on their English/Chinese hand held computer translator they thought it was a kite or a helicopter.  NO way Jose, this is a UFO.  It was higher than the skyscrapers and just floated around, maybe twenty minutes.  I went to my room and tried to photograph it but can’t seem to get the shutter to stay open long enough.  Need to read up on time exposures  in my Nikon book!  Alas no proof, darn!

Woke up to a Chinese cooking TV show this morning.  Ok sauté some garlic, add some chili powder and water, looks like soup we are making, um.  Now the main ingredient oh my gosh it is a fish head!  They sprinkle it with a dark vinegar (No  soy sauce is used here at all!  Surprise, that must be a Japanese custom) and fry it.  Then plop that head in the soup and add some fresh eggplant, tomatoes, green beans with a corn starch thickener.  Ok I am going to pass on cooking or eating this!

Infomercials are here too. I saw one for buying uncirculated Chinese yuan, probably proofs.  Another was a rubber set of breasts with a hole in them to increase your bust size, yet still have nipplies and the last was a Blender-Boiler to make hot soy milk!  My favorite TV show is the Spanish Bull fights translated into Chinese!  I’ve never really seen a bull fight — so this has been a new education, watching the matador get pierced in the leg by a bull’s horn.  He tries to save face and not look like he is dying from severe agony and continues to hobble and coax the bull to ram his cloak.  I think the Chinese like “blood and guts” on TV.  I saw a news show with a child that was backed over by a car and the driver just didn’t see him.  He then proceeded to drive forward, hit him again, open the door jump out then the car rolls back over the kid.  What a mess, I never could figure out if the child survived.  In America we just wouldn’t see all the gory details.

Walking toward the back entrance of the University I meandered by a sweet little pond, with huge red-orange goldfish.  I heard the sweetest melody, someone is singing a Chinese opera song.  I saw a very old gray haired lady just strolling around the pond singing I guess to the fish.  I was transposed and couldn’t move.   She looked up, saw me, smiled and kept on singing.  What a charming moment in time!  Walking on, I come to a tunnel with a ten inch thick cement door.  Ok now what is this?  I walk in and see the  light at the end of the tunnel.  (Spiritually I am looking  to see the light at the end of my tunnel!)  As I walk though, I realize it might have been a bomb shelter, damp, dank, with exposed wires running the length of it for lights and a trench on the sides collecting water and what ever else is wet and smelly.

Leave the tunnel, and hop on a taxi.  Today it is sunny and I notice my cab driver has on a short sleeve T shirt with pull on sleeves he has added that tie at the wrist and upper arm, plus white gloves.  Well this is an interesting fashion statement!  Later I learn that the Chinese want to stay light complexed  and I am wearing a tank top to get what little bit of direct sun I can find to tan. We have the windows down even in the heat, and we drive past men pulling carts with piles of Styrofoam packing pieces, one with used cardboard boxes flattened and tied down, and another with old lumber pieces bouncing around.  All of this looks like trash to me, but may be someones treasures, I don’t know.  I see a biker with twenty or so helium brightly colored balloons, maybe he is going to the hospital down the road.  Another man is walking balancing two large bowlfuls of fruit on ropes with a stick across his neck.  Then out of the blue we stop at a red light and I hear this god-awful coughing up and hocking of a loogie right next to my window.  Seems this is quite accepted and I hear and see this many times a day.  The thing is, don’t step on it when walking!  Another reason to leave your shoes at the door of your home.

China is heaven!

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September 4, 2010

Just got in from a night on the town, ok it is 10:15 pm and that is late for me, but I did have dinner and hit two bars with my colleagues.  We met up at McDonalds, the Aussie Peter, Brit Michael and youngster Brit John (he has lived here six years and is the one married to a Chinese woman) plus my American friends Daniel, Paula and their little sweet daughter.  We had a lovely Chinese dinner across the street from the University for 141 RMB, not quite $20 for seven of us!  Dinner was served family style in a private room, red walls and gold chairs and a gold table cloth.  Only chopsticks are allowed!  Got a proper lesson on how to hold them from John, the bottom stick doesn’t move only the top one!  Since John is Vegan, life if good for me, as he orders in Chinese and most all we have to eat is Vegetarian.  Michael says that the Chinese will eat everything that has four legs except the table!  E-gads…. Gad I am vegetarian.  I see chicken feet, turkey necks and all sorts of meat products we would toss in American, that are scrumptious morsels here in China.

After dinner we head to the Youth Hostel for a beer.  Just the guys and I go; Paula has to put the wee one to bed.  A Snow beer 2.5 alcohol content, and tastes like a girl beer from Texas with bubbles!  So this is really nice for me, the guys hate it.  Then after one beer, John wants to move on to another bar.  Off we go, this time to a college hang out, have a lager, and listen to the cute Chinese girl sing hits from the Carpenters!  That was eerie!   Played pool with the guys, felt like I was 19 and in college.  Had a few lucky shots, but let the Aussie and Brit win!  Yes I am good at pool, but guys need to win!  Then about 10 pm decided it was my bed time and they all walked me back to the hotel.   Someone tell me where I went wrong in America?  These guys actually care about my warfare.  How delightful is this??   I so love China, John told me I would never leave, I fit in so nicely.  It is a really unusual feeling, like I belong here.  Someone told me I must have lived a past life here, duh….. I think many past lives.  I am so comfortable here, everything makes sense.

During the afternoon I looked at an apartment near the school where I teach.  It was perfect… 27th floor about 2 blocks from campus and will be available in a couple weeks.  It is more than the school allotment provides but it will be wonderful for me.  All the appliances are so not typical American, very “old school” Chinese, but hell with a pent house view

who cares.  It is something like 100 meters square, God what size is that?  It has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room and a bath and a half.  Total cost 38000 RMB for one year… about $519 a month…. And the school will pay 2/3rds of that. I am so ok with a penthouse view. (It is really not a penthouse, I am just calling it that and it is split level) Too cool for this American Art girl.

What is a”Carrefour” store?  Went to one of those today and found green olives, hot damn!  I am in heaven, plus a jar of Pesto!  (Patti, it is really good, almost as good as I make!) OK don’t laugh too hard, but I had McDonalds French fries too!  Tasted just like the states!   And they had ketchup, yew haw!  Motor bicycles are 1299 up too 1899RMB which is about $200+.  Someone tell me how cheap that is!!!!  Peter is going to buy one and I will ride on the back.  I don’t think I have the nerve to drive one with all the traffic!

Stopped in a tea shop and sat down at a tree truck table, with a Buddha carved in it.  Ok that was the best Karma ever.  The guy boiled up some Oolong tea, oh my god, best I ever drank.  I sat there looking at his little Buddha clay trinkets for sale and found one with a frog on it.  Yes I have this frog thing going now.  He sold it to me for 30 RMB ($4) then he took it and soaked it in water and it somehow filled up!  Next he poured boiling water on it and the frog magically spit water out its mouth.  Omg, I started laughing so hard, I could hardly stand it.  Then he had a water buffalo figurine and he poured boiling water on him and low and behold he turned red!  I thought I was in magic heaven!  I am so going back to this place and having tea during school lunch break.

China is heaven!

Frogville TV

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September 3, 2010

Nice big thunderstorm, after I got home from my one class of three students.  Turned the TV on and have about 25 channels, of course it is all in Chinese.  There are no western programs or English.  On occasion you might hear seconds of English on a news broadcast, but it is nothing important.  I saw a water buffalo fight tonight; concept was like a cock fight in America.  Water Buffalo 48 was doing really good, they run head on into each other and try to kill the other, till he met up with number 15.  Water buffalo 15 knocked him to the ground and they hauled him off in a paddy wagon, poor 15. The owner of 48 got a red scarf which they put on the back of the buffalo.  Everyone cheered.  Then I flipped it to a show about frogs, looked like a place where they raised them, like a Frogville.  The weather was too hot and the little guys were dying of heat exhaustion.  So the owner was showing how he grew plants with large leafs to create shade for the little guys.  He even had cabbage plants for them to crawl in.  Then as it got hotter he made little wooden plank bridges so they could crawl under. The frogs had a mud moat to swim in and seemed to love the slime.  Then the owner showed how he took raw meat and let it set out and catch flies and in turn created maggots.  The maggot worms were gobbled up by the frogs, creating a very efficient business.  What he did with the frogs I do not know.  After thirty minutes I switched channels.

The channels are all called CCTV- Central China TV.  CCTV 1, CCTV 2 and so on, no diversity like in the US.  Although there is CCTV-MTV, now that’s a hoot.  Saw a guy that looked like Wayne Newton, ok sort of, with glitter in his puffy hair singing a Chinese Celine Dion song.  She would have been proud.  His voice was higher than hers!  Then a Michael Jackson rip-off was performing, and a Yanni piano guy. Yes, I liked the Yanni guy!  Remember it is all in Chinese!  There is a lot of Drama- with Ming Dynasty costumes, which is fun to look at for about five minutes.  Lots of love stories, boring.  Tonight I saw a Color Splash/Devine Design HGTV type of show.  The designer redid a Chinese apartment.  She had gone to IKEA and got some cheap shelves, which she arranged on the covered balcony, and then made a vase with popsicle like sticks.  GEEZ.  Not real impressed with the style.  Hey I found “Family Feud” in Chinese, just can’t read the answers!

Commercials are interesting; saw one today that was made of smoke that changed from a mountain, to a butterfly into a man, to a dragon, to the Great Wall of China and back to the mountain.  That was actually artistically cool and got my attention.  Don’t have the foggiest what it meant.  Cartoons are about the same, just Chinese-esque.

Speaking of smoke, the Chinese can smoke in motel rooms, cafes, taxis and at school.  My motel room occasionally will smell from next door smokers’ waking me up causing breathing problems.  Pollution is bad, yesterday morning was one of the first times I actually saw a blue sky.  It is humid, so mixed with the pollution seems smoggy most of the time.  I imagine in the country side it is cleaner.

Afternoon at Qingliangshan park

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August 29, 2010 Saturday was a busy day. Met up with my American friends and my new British colleague for breakfast at a place called S.I.T = Sculpting in Time! Looks just like a 1950’s British cafe, very quaint. Another latte and pizza…. with corn kernels on it? But tasty! Then a walk around the area, found a place to buy pirated DVD’s. Thought I’d wait on that, not knowing it they would work on my Laptop.

Found a teapot art shop that sold one of a kind maybe antique Chinese teapots. They sold for over $1000. Just gorgeous. Stopped at the grocery and got some yogurt that doesn’t need refrigeration, with a fork, spoon, wash cloth and toilet paper!

Speaking of toilets, let me tell you more in my quest for the western lou, as my British friends are calling it! As we departed S.I.T., I found a hallway with sliding doors, ah they have men/women symbols on them, went to slid the womens door open and low and behold a Chinese guy was sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper. Did I squeal! So I just went to the Mens next door and used that one! Today I am carrying toilet paper.

The afternoon I spent at Qingliangshan Park, about two blocks away, across the street from the “Brain Hospital,” yes that was the name on the sign! Lots of men in their Chinese patterned Pajamas were walking around the hospital and in the park. I just figured they were airing out their brains! The park was old Chinese in style, with ponds and lily’s coming out of the mucky water. (Linda Giordono you need to know I thought of your Buddhist advice on life in the muck and the lily blooming from it! Alais I am in the land of the blooming lily’s! You know Susan means lily!) There was Calligraphy stones with characters on them around the ponds, and some locked buildings with sample Calligraphy on the walls. I think I saw a statue of Kwan Yin. Old men were playing cards, checkers and chatting while their bamboo caged birds sang little songs hanging in the trees next to them. How very charming that was to see.

Last night I went out on the town! Took me 25 minutes to hail a cab. Need to figure out what corner to stand on and how to jump out there without getting run over by hundreds of mopeds and bikes, ching-ching. Met up with Michael, the British Econ teacher and his two friends, John and Sue for a tea. Mine was a loose leaf, maybe a Darjeeling or Oolong but whatever it was defiantly a new experience. Came in a glass coffee mug, with a ton of leaves floating on top and would not sink down. Humm, trying to be the world traveler with my expert Brit tea drinkers I proceeded to drink this straining with my teeth. I think Micheal noticed I was not the seasoned tea drinker and advised me to add water to sink the leaves. Need to read up on teas! Next we are off to a Japanese restaurant for a Vegetarian dinner. These Brits were so sweet they all ordered vegetarian food so I would have plenty. The noodle bowl was tasty, great mushrooms and the broth was scrumptious. There was potato curry and a sliced cucumber dish. Sue had sake and the guys had Kiren beer I believe. I stayed with the hot water they bring you when you sit down. No booze till I get more comfortable, or maybe never with my past husband experience!

Just prior to leaving, tried another lou! Ok got to learn this squatting thing! (Patti remember you told me, squatting brings wealth. Now I know why the Chinese are fiscally viable.) Sue warned me not to lean back or I might fall in the hole! Geez that is not good, so keep my head forward and down. Thanks Sue. Then off for a coffee. Latte please! And another glass of hot water. We had a great conversation about politics, me and my Texas issues with these worldly Brits. Sue did show me where the western toilet was in the Costa coffee house so I would at least know my way around.

Homeward bound, asleep by 11pm and up for a new day. Did laundry in my shower and have it all dripping around the bathroom. By the way my hotel room has a western lou.