Milk comes from cows.
Cows exist in China (they must do, they eat enough beef in this corner of the world).
Ergo, milk exists (and must have existed for a long time) in China.
Why then is milk not part of the diet, not involved in any cooking processes, and only a relatively modern addition to the Chinese supermarket shelves? (Also, could they get their act together and start selling it in something more than a 243ml BAG WITH FOIL-COVERED HOLES FOR STRAWS? Oh and UHT milk in cartons does NOT need refrigerating until it has been opened - if you've opened all the milk cartons in the supermarket already, I want to know what's going on!)
Someone please explain :) Thanks!
Friday 20 March 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009
Guess You Had To Be There ...
In the last week I have seen:
* A girl, about 4 years old, squat down outside a clothes market, spill the contents of her bladder on the pavement, not wipe (or even be offered one, the mother was just watching impassively from a distance with the other child), and happily jump up and run back to join them before they walked off, fresh urine gracing the pavement.
* A toddler, about 2 years old, squat and relieve herself on the floor of a restaurant in which I was eating (actually I didn't SEE this, I heard it from where I was sitting, the splash was quite audible thank you - I leaned over the table to check I wasn't imagining things, and the yellow puddle was more than a giveaway). The mother / co-proprietor of the restaurant just said to the grandmother to get the mop. In she comes, I don't even know if the mop was damp let alone wet, there certainly wasn't a bucket to accompany it (the Chinese havent got a clue what mopping is really like or for) and she "mops" the urine up, except it's not really mopping is it? It's just SPREADING it across the floor to evaporate faster.
* Finally, this week I have seen a grandmother sitting outside on a step, grandchild in lap, now you would have the child on a knee or something right? Or sideways? Or facing you? Or anything really, EXCEPT facing out, one leg on each of your legs, the split trousers (remember my rants on them?) gaping open exposing all to the elements and anyone who happens by. I don't know whether the grandmother was making the soothing "shhh" noises they use to encourage their kids to go, and I don't want to know.
I've been told urine is sterile at the point of exit; true or not, you wouldn't clean your pans with urine just because of this, and you would certainly balk if someone had a slash right in front of you, in a dining area no less.
This is foul, disgusting, backwards, dirty, horrible, filthy, unhygienic, irresponsible behaviour, and I cannot see why it is happening in a major city, in a region which borders on at least 7 other countries. What the hell kind of impression do you get of China if THIS is the first place you see, and THESE are the people who live here? I could understand if it was a village maybe, but a fairly developed city of 2 - 3 million people, with cars and internet, chain stores, internationally sourced goods?
Can you imagine Birmingham, Nice, or Dusseldorf with people like this? China needs a kick up the arse (and possibly one to the crotch).
* A girl, about 4 years old, squat down outside a clothes market, spill the contents of her bladder on the pavement, not wipe (or even be offered one, the mother was just watching impassively from a distance with the other child), and happily jump up and run back to join them before they walked off, fresh urine gracing the pavement.
* A toddler, about 2 years old, squat and relieve herself on the floor of a restaurant in which I was eating (actually I didn't SEE this, I heard it from where I was sitting, the splash was quite audible thank you - I leaned over the table to check I wasn't imagining things, and the yellow puddle was more than a giveaway). The mother / co-proprietor of the restaurant just said to the grandmother to get the mop. In she comes, I don't even know if the mop was damp let alone wet, there certainly wasn't a bucket to accompany it (the Chinese havent got a clue what mopping is really like or for) and she "mops" the urine up, except it's not really mopping is it? It's just SPREADING it across the floor to evaporate faster.
* Finally, this week I have seen a grandmother sitting outside on a step, grandchild in lap, now you would have the child on a knee or something right? Or sideways? Or facing you? Or anything really, EXCEPT facing out, one leg on each of your legs, the split trousers (remember my rants on them?) gaping open exposing all to the elements and anyone who happens by. I don't know whether the grandmother was making the soothing "shhh" noises they use to encourage their kids to go, and I don't want to know.
I've been told urine is sterile at the point of exit; true or not, you wouldn't clean your pans with urine just because of this, and you would certainly balk if someone had a slash right in front of you, in a dining area no less.
This is foul, disgusting, backwards, dirty, horrible, filthy, unhygienic, irresponsible behaviour, and I cannot see why it is happening in a major city, in a region which borders on at least 7 other countries. What the hell kind of impression do you get of China if THIS is the first place you see, and THESE are the people who live here? I could understand if it was a village maybe, but a fairly developed city of 2 - 3 million people, with cars and internet, chain stores, internationally sourced goods?
Can you imagine Birmingham, Nice, or Dusseldorf with people like this? China needs a kick up the arse (and possibly one to the crotch).
Thursday 12 March 2009
Some Random Musings on Today and Tomorrow
I'm really quite uninterested in my birthday but for anyone who cares, it's happening tomorrow, I will be 22, and no it is not the first birthday I have had in China so this is yet another reason for it not being special. I will be going to my favourite place in Urumqi - the Texas Cafe - where one of the staff is also celebrating their birthday (a little older than 22 I am told), and from there I don't know, I don't have concrete plans because it seems to be a bigger deal for everyone else than it is for me, and I'm happy enough if I just sit down with some friends and chat.
In other news I woke up this morning, picked slightly at an irritating small scratch that first made itself known on the inside of my left nostril two days ago, and promptly leaked enough blood to fill up my left palm before I made it to the bathroom. Bloody marvellous (pun intended). Still that'll teach me to pick at wounds, as if I didnt learn my lesson 8 years ago.
I then got my timetable confused and went to the wrong class, which happened to be the one not taking place today, so I've missed today's lessons completely. Drat.
On the plus side of it all the weather is LOVELY - sunshine, warm, snow melting away, spring in the air and so on. If only Urumqi had a skydiving centre it would be perfect.
In other news I woke up this morning, picked slightly at an irritating small scratch that first made itself known on the inside of my left nostril two days ago, and promptly leaked enough blood to fill up my left palm before I made it to the bathroom. Bloody marvellous (pun intended). Still that'll teach me to pick at wounds, as if I didnt learn my lesson 8 years ago.
I then got my timetable confused and went to the wrong class, which happened to be the one not taking place today, so I've missed today's lessons completely. Drat.
On the plus side of it all the weather is LOVELY - sunshine, warm, snow melting away, spring in the air and so on. If only Urumqi had a skydiving centre it would be perfect.
Friday 6 March 2009
Back To School
Blah, I've been back less than a week and I've already taken today off ... well it was just reading class, and I suppose I can do the catchup at home; I've moved myself permanently into Intermediate Group 1, which is still (I think) slightly larger than IG2, but (I'm guessing) more productive! The listening work is pretty simple (I think not only has my listening improved, not only is the audio quality a LOT better, but the stuff we are listening to is just EASIER) - I wonder how long this will last, the rest of the class isn't complaining just yet, but their Chinese is better than mine and they must surely be as bored with it as I am (last semester I was bored because I didn't understand enough despite three attempts at listening, now I am bored because I understand 95% of the tapes first time round), plus the teacher takes the lessons really slowly, she doesn't seem to grasp that the material is simple and our Chinese is actually alright by now. *SIGH* ... she also asked a very dunce question of me:
(going round checking people had been noting down words' meanings in their own languages)
her: oh good, good, you looked it up, good. oh, harry, did you look this stuff up? (there is no writing in my book you see)
me: er, sorry? (I didn't understand the word for looking things up, maybe I had forgotten it)
her: did you look these up?
me: "look up"? I don't understand (obviously this was in Chinese)
(she goes to explain it. someone shouts out "did you use a dictionary")
me: *perplexed and a little annoyed that the teacher can be so dense* but the words are given in ENGLISH! i AM English!
her: oh so you understand them all, ah yes i see.
GRAH! WHAT THE HELL?
Apart from that, classes seem to be okay. Chinese people this week have suddenly decided they must ask me "Are you American?", instead of asking where I come from. This invariably results in me telling them exactly where they can go. It's not so much that I mind being called American, it's more that they have the gall to just assume; I don't go around asking if they are Tajiks or Uzbeks for heaven's sake. Another thing that will not score you points is going "WHISSS WHISS" at me in an attempt to get my attention - I am not you dog, you backwards bastards. [The latter happens mainly in markets, not school, though I wouldn't be surprised if next week they all decided that was a decent way to act.]
Oh and in happy-making news, I got my exam results for last semester:
Grammar - 77
Listening and Speaking - 78
Reading - 84
I'm not sure how I pulled off the listening and speaking mark either! Those are all percentages, so they need to be multiplied by 0.85 for conversion to Newcastle's scale, which gives me 65.45, 66.3, and 71.4, a combined conversion of 67.7, not bad considering I swapped to IG1 briefly before the exams but took IG2's exam because I didn't think I would be able to pass IG1 at that time, and didn't revise very well for the IG2 exam anyway :) Makes me think with a bit of effort this semester I might be able to achieve something!
So there you go, I'm back into uni, life continues, oh and it's just 137 days until I leave China. Woop!
(going round checking people had been noting down words' meanings in their own languages)
her: oh good, good, you looked it up, good. oh, harry, did you look this stuff up? (there is no writing in my book you see)
me: er, sorry? (I didn't understand the word for looking things up, maybe I had forgotten it)
her: did you look these up?
me: "look up"? I don't understand (obviously this was in Chinese)
(she goes to explain it. someone shouts out "did you use a dictionary")
me: *perplexed and a little annoyed that the teacher can be so dense* but the words are given in ENGLISH! i AM English!
her: oh so you understand them all, ah yes i see.
GRAH! WHAT THE HELL?
Apart from that, classes seem to be okay. Chinese people this week have suddenly decided they must ask me "Are you American?", instead of asking where I come from. This invariably results in me telling them exactly where they can go. It's not so much that I mind being called American, it's more that they have the gall to just assume; I don't go around asking if they are Tajiks or Uzbeks for heaven's sake. Another thing that will not score you points is going "WHISSS WHISS" at me in an attempt to get my attention - I am not you dog, you backwards bastards. [The latter happens mainly in markets, not school, though I wouldn't be surprised if next week they all decided that was a decent way to act.]
Oh and in happy-making news, I got my exam results for last semester:
Grammar - 77
Listening and Speaking - 78
Reading - 84
I'm not sure how I pulled off the listening and speaking mark either! Those are all percentages, so they need to be multiplied by 0.85 for conversion to Newcastle's scale, which gives me 65.45, 66.3, and 71.4, a combined conversion of 67.7, not bad considering I swapped to IG1 briefly before the exams but took IG2's exam because I didn't think I would be able to pass IG1 at that time, and didn't revise very well for the IG2 exam anyway :) Makes me think with a bit of effort this semester I might be able to achieve something!
So there you go, I'm back into uni, life continues, oh and it's just 137 days until I leave China. Woop!
Monday 2 March 2009
Seasonal Change
It was light at 0900 this morning. What?
It was still light at 2000 this evening. What?
I didn't feel my legs turning to ice as I walked outside. Eh?!
Clearly, changes are afoot.
PS yes I am aware this happens every year. Thank you.
It was still light at 2000 this evening. What?
I didn't feel my legs turning to ice as I walked outside. Eh?!
Clearly, changes are afoot.
PS yes I am aware this happens every year. Thank you.
Chinese Driving License
I wish I knew what they had to do to get a license in China - from the looks of things on the road, not a lot besides rudimentary grasp of what pedal does what and how to turn the steering wheel. Being quick on the brake helps avoid jail, ergo most of them are quite good at that. A lot of people have automatic gearboxes which makes me think they don't actually know much about their cars (for the record, I don't know about how a gearbox really works but I do enjoy the control I have when I drive a manual car over how the engine performs in a given situation) ... the buses are manual-drive and some of the drivers clearly don't know what they're doing, feels like they are taking off in 4th gear sometimes (they may be).
But what gets me the most, and it could just be Urumqi drivers, is reversing. They have not got a clue about going backwards (which is funny considering everything else I say about China and Urumqi is basically saying they are very good at being backwards). Bay parking? Not a clue how to line up. Reversing round a corner? Inch by sodding inch. Part of the reason is they don't think the rear window is very important and it's often blacked out, blocked off, with lots of luggage on it, etc. The other part is, well I'm throwing a wild guess out here, they simply don't get taught about it.
So please, anyone, information on driving licenses in China?
But what gets me the most, and it could just be Urumqi drivers, is reversing. They have not got a clue about going backwards (which is funny considering everything else I say about China and Urumqi is basically saying they are very good at being backwards). Bay parking? Not a clue how to line up. Reversing round a corner? Inch by sodding inch. Part of the reason is they don't think the rear window is very important and it's often blacked out, blocked off, with lots of luggage on it, etc. The other part is, well I'm throwing a wild guess out here, they simply don't get taught about it.
So please, anyone, information on driving licenses in China?
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