Family
Life in The Village
With my
wife and child on extended stay with Siu Ying’s parents in their village near
Baba is not
a person given to idling his time away, and is always busy doing something. The
only exceptions on quiet days are when perhaps an old friend is visiting the
village, or relative he has not seen for ages drops by. All the others will
enjoy slack times by playing Mah Jong, or sleeping late, watching TV = the
normal things people with time to spare do. Both Siu Ying and Yee Lo like to
listen to music on my laptop, and surprisingly you may find he actually enjoy
hearing and singing the same Chinese songs I like best!
At present
the household comprises of: Baba, Mama, Yee Lo, Loi Loi (Yee Lo’s daughter),
Siu Ying and Rhiannon (Nonni). Yee Lo’s wife visits about once a week, usually
arriving Saturday and leaving late Sunday. I turn up every two or three weeks
and stay for several nights. The house has four bedrooms, so there is more than
enough space to accommodate everybody and rooms are dedicated to a family unit
– so Siu Ying, Nonni and I share her bedroom. There is an extra bed in Yee Lo’s
room for Loi Loi. One bedroom is reserved for Dai Lo, which Baba sometimes uses
if Nonni spends time with Mama during the night.
Siu Ying is
breast feeding, which is a great strain I am sure. Rhiannon is not the easiest
of babies, and does cry often. This usually means she wants feeding, and
instead of having a feast and sleeping it off, she tends to prefer a little and
often. At 4-months old she is now a lot better than before, but still remains
quite labour intensive compared to others her age. Her feed is supplemented by
bottled milk, but she refuses to drink the Chinese brands, and will only have
the same thing brought from
Meanwhile
Siu Ying is still on a restricted eating regime, something she must be fed-up
with by now. She is very aware that what she eats will become part of Nonni’s
milk, so since 1-month before the birth she has been taking hot water as her
only fluid intake. She eats twice per day, and has at least 2 large bowls of
rice with each meal. Her main course is always fish supplemented by a little
chicken and cabbage. She also has a lot of soup, especially several forms of
vegetable soups that are often served with every meal. Unlike the rest of
I think the
thing with men who have hard labour in their lives, is that they do not like to
eat immediately they awaken, but instead prefer to work for a couple of hours.
Then a decent meal is just what their system requires, and does not leave them
feeling bloated. Lunch is then a minimal requirement they often pass and nap
instead, and the second big meal then comes at the end of the day. I now live
quite a sedentary life, and my most used muscles are probably in my fingers, as
used for typing this missive. I tend to eat only once per day, and it is a big
meal which totally knocks me out. My wife has learnt this, and knows I will
fall asleep very soon after eating. We are both night-owls, and before Nonni
arrived, we would usually go to bed as dawn was breaking - I guess we are both
a little bit crazy? Now wouldn’t this world be so very boring if we were all
the same - Ahha! By the way, it is 3.35am now, and I am wide awake and in full
flow. Time for a beer I guess, and perhaps I will finish today around 7am, and
just in time for morning ‘Sik Juk’ (Rice porridge) as served by Peter Perfect
The Porridge Pastor who works just up the lane. However, it is also time we
returned to Mohr Dohr Soi Zheng and village life in Toisan as it is today:
Friday, 30th April 2010.
Baba rises
each day around 6.30am, and goes straight out to work. He will return around
11.30 for brunch, and again around 7pm (Dusk) for the evening meal. Sometimes
he stays with the family, and sometimes he goes out to visit friends or finish
his days work. His normal bedtime is around 9.30 at night, but this is never
set in stone of course. I think that sometimes he visits friends and has the
odd glass of rice wine, and may arrive back after midnight – but this is not a
usual occurrence.
Mama also
rises at 6.30, and for the last few months she has taken charge of looking
after Rhiannon. In effect, Siu Ying has been her trainee for the last 3 months,
as Mama has always bathed the baby and taken the lead in all baby related
matters. It seems that Siu Ying’s apprenticeship is now over, as she alone now
baths Nonni, and takes a lot more time and care about it. So what does Mama do
I hear you ask? Well, she looks after the chickens and makes feed for them each
morning. She runs the house of course, but in subtle ways, as everyone present
knows their place. She also feeds to two cats, one of which is now heavily
pregnant. She brings in the daily tinder and wood for the fire (Which Yee Lo
and Baba have prepared already), and sometimes cooks. She works the rice fields
with Baba and Yee Lo at planting and harvest times, but otherwise mainly
supervises what is happening on a daily level. She likes to play Mah Jong when
there is time, but still does some remarkable things on the side. For example;
whilst we all eat, she takes care on Nonni and eats after we have all finished.
Most afternoons she will strap Nonni to her back and carry her around in the
typical Chinese back-pack contraption that apparently her own Mother used to
carry her around in when she was a baby. There are numerous pictures of this.
She is also quite vociferous when it comes to family matters, and is determined
to have her way. Baba occasionally over-rules her, but in general he leaves her
to get on with whatever it is. During the evenings both Mama and Siu Ying love
to watch Chinese soaps on TV. These are everlasting period drama’s that seem to
have neither beginning nor end? Fortunately they are usually in Cantonese, so I
could follow the plot – if I had the desire too of course? Yep! Let’s take that
as a ‘No’ then hehe! Mama usually heads for bed around the same time as Baba =
9.30pm, but sometimes a lot later as nothing hereabouts is ever set in stone.
Yee Lo is
an interesting character, and the second of the three children. Dai Lo is much
older, but lives away in Hoipeng (
During my
last trip to Mohr Dohr Soi I made a point of finding out more about Yee Lo’s
life, and it is interesting – if only for cultural exchange purposes. I still
haven’t fixed what’s with his wife yet, as when I first met him he was living
in a nice gaff in Toisan city, whilst his wife was away working in the States.
He was raising Loi Loi on his own + working as a chef in a local restaurant. He
is a very good cook by the way! Next thing I know, he has returned to the
family home, whilst his wife has returned from
Yee Lo’s
daily life has altered recently, as he has started a new business in order to
pay for his daughters kindergarten, presumably pay his parents for food and
lodgings (?), and he is saving up to buy a new motorbike, as he thinks the two
they already own are a load of crap. It would be difficult to pay more than
about Y4, 000 RMB for a brand new motorbike or scooter – or about 400 quid in
Yee Lo’s
daily routines are a tad bizarre, even by my own extremes! It’s the fish
thingymagig you know? Well, Yee Lo tends to rise around 7.30, give or take half
an hour. His first priority is to wake Loi Loi (Who is definitely not a morning
person), and take her to Kindergarten. This is located somewhere on the main
road and takes about ten minutes to reach by scooter. Loi Loi has just turned
4, and has been attending for the last 8-months or so. This costs around Y1,
000 RMB per 20-week semester, two of these being divided annually either side
of Chinese New Year (February-ish), with a long summer break. Chinese
kindergartens usually operate at least 12 hours per day, and usually offer
boarding facilities also. Loi Loi is a day student, and has already grasped a
high level of Mandarin, and enjoys English – which she sometimes tries to
practice on me. However, she is really into the songs, or repeating Mandarin
and English as taught. In her home they always speak Toisanwah, whilst I only
understand English and Cantonese. This has me in absolute stitches sometimes,
as I will speak to Loi Loi in Cantonese, and she will reply to me in Mandarin.
Durrrh! My point is that at age just turned 4, this child can already speak 4
languages! Imaging that in
This leads
me to thinking about Rhiannon and her own schooling and future. She may follow
a similar route in her early years, and kindergarten will be central to this
from 3-years old. This means she will end up with Toisanwah and Mandarin as her
basic languages: except, I am British and speak English. Her only other option
is to speak Cantonese to me, and by that I mean mainstream ‘Bahtwah’ such as
Foshan speaking. If I were really cruel, then I would add International Spanish
to this mix … but how much language can you responsibly inflict upon an infant,
when music is the only true international language – and one I must also
address for her future wellbeing. At night, Nonni likes to go to sleep holding
my fingers in her small hand, and I am already trying to get her to shape E in
the key of C. 12-Bar Blues hahaha!
Loi Loi is
too young still for me to be effective with, as her English always reverts to
the songs given in the textbooks and accompanying CD. I don’t even know the
tunes, although was delighted to hear her singing Frere Jaque in Chinese –
which is nothing remotely like the original in French btw (By The Way). Maybe I
surprised her by singing it first in French, and then the English version
(Somehow magically managing to translate the French directly into English as I
sang – where the hell did that come from?)
But that’s
my point – you learn without knowing, and language learnt at such early ages is
so easy. I am now 56 years old, and my brain is already full of shit (I said it
first Hahaha!) A brain is very like a computer, except, you cannot install a
new operating system, nor delete items from memory. There is only so much you
can put into a brain, and trying to learn a new and bizarre language is not
something I am good at. Jesus! I am British, and the only reason English is now
the default world language is because my ancestors refused point black to speak
other languages, and only spoke and used English. I am pretty good at writing
International Spanish, and have tried to introduce the word ‘Gringo’ to
The above
probably relates little to Yee Lo’s life, but some could be important to his
daughter’s future. This will be my honour as she grows into her future. But for
now, until she works out that I don’t speak Mandarin, there is a pause – and it
is for her to catch-up, as I am far too old and British too get my head around
Mandarin. Having stated that, my Mandarin is actually coming on a lot,
basically because if I want to write a Chinese character in the computer, then
I need to know ‘pinyin’ (Mandarin written using the alphabet), and this is now
quite common for me. But in order to write the pinyin, I need to know the
mandarin word. Ahha! Yes, that simple and intriguing.
Just in
case you ever wondered how Chinese people manage to write Chinese characters
using a Western keyboard – it goes like this:
First of
all you go to the language bar (Activate as necessary) and select an input
language. I use Chinese Simplified (Mandarin) and Chinese Traditional (
Pinyin is
Mandarin written using the alphabet, and is excellent, if not always quite
correct. Jyutpin is Cantonese written using the alphabet, except this is the
weird type of Cantonese used only in
Having
started typing pinyin (In lower case only) the pop-up screen gives you a
seemingly endless list of alternative characters in pages of 10 entries. This
is refined as you add English letters of the pinyin spelling. I found the ‘Yue’
character listed at number 12; or the second one on page 2 if you prefer. Numbers
are extremely difficult to find, so much so I usually copy/paste them. Chinese
input keyboards do exist, and the only one I have ever seen in real life was
used by Kelvin - a friend of mine in
So now you
know how to write Chinese characters using your own computer at home. My
pleasure! Quickly moving on…
Returning
to focus on Yee Lo (At last!) and I am developing a great respect for him –
simply by how he lives his life. He works hard and makes money as best he can.
Whilst his daily routines alter by the day, a pretty standard example follows:-
Awaken and
take Loi Loi to kindergarten. Return home and second-sort his catch from the
night before. His staple source of income is from fresh-water prawns, which he
has a ditch full of somewhere. He supplies these to a buyer for local schools,
and has a quota to fulfil each day. He makes around Y130 from this each day –
but it is every day x 6 days per week (Not Sundays). Now that’s not bad money
actually, as 6x130x4=Y3120 RMB per month. But he also catches a lot of other
things as well, which are sold at local wet markets by traders, or end up on
the family table. These about doubles his income. For example, I now know a
small eel is worth 2RMB, and a snake is worth Y15 or 20. Last time he caught
something that looked similar to a Chinese Adder (Viper), and was a nasty piece
of work he handled very carefully (And with a little sweat). This was sold for
Y34 RMB alone. Larger Eels and Catfish usually bring in around Y100/Y150 per
day, which he takes to market early (Sometimes before daybreak). When you add
this all up, Yee Lo is making around Y7K per month or more. Not bad at all in
China, where English speaking graduates can expect to earn Y1500 on leaving
University, or an export Manager earn Y3Kpm. Respect due!
After
delivering and selling to market traders, Yee Lo usually retires to bed for a
few hours. The guy who buys the prawns rocks-up before lunchtime, and together
they grade the prawns for school quality. This takes about 5-minutes, and is a
long standing relationship. The buyer sometimes takes certain other fish like
smaller eels or a few Catfish. This sorted, then it is soon Brunch time, and
often Yee Lo retires to bed for the afternoon; although sometimes we watch a
Jackie Chan type Kung Fu flick together in the early afternoon.
Yee Lo then
starts to get busy doing stuff around 4pm, and everything appears normal until
after dinner. Now I did start this by stating his lifestyle was a tad bizarre
if you remember, and his sleeping all afternoon is for a very good reason. At
about 8pm most evenings, he dons his galoshes and heads out to work the ditch.
He sometimes returns by midnight, and sometimes a lot later. He then
first-sorts his catch – as you don’t really want predators and prey in the same
containers now do you? Sometimes he chills afterwards while watching TV or
eating, but usually he simply heads for bed, knackered I presume. This is each
and every day don’t forget, and not a one-off. I would say he gets into bed
around 2am each night, but I do not know if he is lucky enough to go straight
to sleep – like many of us, I think not. So when you put this all together, you
find his daily routine is a bit odd; but he seems to enjoy it … and sometimes
he finds time to cook, which is always a treat!
Loi Loi
turned 4 years old during the last days of March, meaning that Chinese people
would now regard her as being 5 by the solar calendar. Often they use the lunar
calendar when referring to ages and birthdays – which gets very confusing. The
lunar calendar has roughly 28 days, so the extra days accumulate as time and
years pass by. This explains why a girl who is 26 say, could actually tell you
she is 28 if she uses the lunar calendar. Think about it – that’s 29 days per
year 30 every 4), or roughly a year adrift and extra every 12 years or so.
I have
mentioned that Loi Loi is not a morning person, but she has no problems
dressing herself and getting ready for school. She remembers her school bag and
makes sure everything she needs is inside. Then off she goes to kindergarten
5-days per week. Leaving home at 7.30 she will be in time for breakfast at the
kindergarten; or if running late for some reason will eat a little at home
before departure. I do not know her precise school routine, but virtually all others
are like so: Overnighters rise about 6.30 am, shower/was and tend to ablutions.
Breakfast is around 7.30, and class begins at 8am. Classes will be of 40
minutes duration, and will have a predefined structure and materials. They will
also be a lot of fun, and feature a lot of singing and activities + some
physical skills such as painting etc. There are 4 morning classes, therefore
the lunch break starts at 11.40 am. Lunch will be scheduled for midday, but
serving will begin early. The children then have a nap; with boarders returning
to their dormitories, whilst special rooms with beds are set aside for day
attendees. The staff will also take a siesta, and wake to arouse the youngsters
around 2pm. Class will begin again at 2.30, with 3 afternoon classes often with
different emphasis from morning ones. For instance, Wednesday afternoon will be
set aside solely for sports. Day classes end officially at 5.30, and children
are then ready to go home. As most parents are still working at this time, most
kids will stop for dinner at 6pm; and be picked up later. Boarders have other
activities during the evenings in their own entertainment room. Those being
collected late will join them until such time as a parent arrives to collect
them. There will be security on the gate, and no unauthorised persons are
allowed inside. Whilst this sounds very officious when written, it is actually
very amenable in real life. Therefore in other kindergartens I know well,
parents will either wait just outside the school gate by the security office
for their offspring, or in differing circumstances, at reception – depends on
the schools layout really.
Chinese
kindergartens lay heavy emphasis on fun and enjoying learning. Children love
them and look forward to going. They also make many new friends, but also learn
that friendship can be a transient thing sometimes – hence this also prepares
them for the trials to come in later life. I haven’t quite figured out Loi
Loi’s kindergarten routine yet, as some days she is home earlier than other,
and for no apparent reason. However, she usually has dinner at school and on
average returns home between 6.30 and 7pm every evening. That’s just about 12
hours! She is always cheerful and bouncy, so don’t let your imagination run
away with you – it works for her and she is a very happy child.
Shortly
after her return the family will sit down to eat their evening meal. Loi Loi is
not normally included, but during my last visit she was allowed to have some
tasty morsels like hunks of fresh steamed chicken and the like. After the main
dinner people do their own things, which really vary a lot day to day. Loi Loi
usually does her homework around this time, and it is very little actually.
Most days she simply is asked to go over the days lessons as a review = a few
minutes recital. On Friday she has English class, and then her homework takes
longer, as supplementary to her normal daily review, she also has to practice
the English letter of the day. Last Friday saw her writing the lower case
letter ‘n’ in a special book designed for teaching letter representations. It
is basically a book made up of small squares like mini-graphs. I also use these
for learning to write Chinese characters. She uses hers for both Chinese
characters and English (One book dedicated for each language), so late Friday
she was writing letter ‘n’ 100 times or more. I the West getting her to do this
would probably end up as a battle of wits and wills; but Loi Loi simply takes
herself off to a quite area of the living room and sets about the task under
her own free will. The Family never have to tell her to do this. I only noticed
as happenstance I was passing her at an appropriate time. 4-years old! Some
evenings she goes upstairs to an informal den/corridor thingymagig where there
is a second television and DVD player. Her she will play the coursework
CD-whatever and sing along to songs she likes. I have known Baba join her
occasionally, but mainly she does this by herself, and all-by-to-herself. As
mentioned above, she is still a little young for me to be more effective with,
but some evening’s she shows great enthusiasm when I show interest in her
schoolwork. Normally the rest of the family take absolutely no interest, which
I find slightly discomforting.
After the
dishes from dinner are cleared away the family haphazardly sets about having
their evening showers. Each time fresh water has to be boiled by the Chinese
Aga, and added to a large bowl which is then taken into the small shower
closet. It has a cold tap and cold hand-held shower. This is the only time I
have know Loi loi have to be told to do something, as the thought of showering
does not appeal to her. She loves it once she is there of course, and I relate
this to perhaps us taking a cold shower or dip in a cold sea – great once your
there, but most of us do have a mental block beforehand. After showering she
changes into her nightclothes and then has a little something before bed. For
supper she often has a milky drink, or perhaps a small bowl of watery rice.
They have now given up trying to get her to eat a small bowl of rice, and I
concur. I mean, the rice is good, fresh grown in their own fields, organic, and
fantastic. I am not a big rice-eater, and always find Chinese rice to be
thoroughly cooked, and dry to the taste. It is superb however with a thick
sauce or curry. I have known Loi Loi take several hours to get through a small
bowl of the stuff – so not on her bedtime menu I guess. Me neither. Loi Loi
does not have video games, whilst the family control what is shown on TV. The
upstairs TV is not connected to cable service, so this is not something she is
attracted to. She doesn’t have any toys either for that matter – something I
just thought about. We did give her a Pooh Bear a few months ago, and whilst
this was great fun for a week or so, it now resides untouched in the carrycot.
Now perhaps
that has got you thinking? This young girl has her work from kindergarten,
associated DVD’s, and nothing else except a full stomach and nice clothes to
wear. By 4-years old, Western equivalents would have a cupboard full of toys,
special learning aides, and probably a games machine, access to TV and
internet. I exaggerate slightly I am sure … but not by much. Most would still
be trying to speak English, let alone function in 4 languages simultaneously.
This is the prime learning period, and just maybe by cluttering up this
learning portal with toys, we are actually doing our children a disservice?
Obviously I am playing the role of ‘Devils advocate’ by asking you this
question; but I do believe it is a very valid one.
Weekends
and holidays – and Loi Loi has her long-term friends in the village. Sometimes
they drop by to play, and otherwise she goes to theirs to play. It is a safe
and quite insular society reminiscent of the rural
I will
leave this here for your consideration; as I am also considering future
implications for my own baby. However I now witness first hand that Loi Loi
knows what she can and cannot do with a 4-month old baby. She sees Siu Ying
breast feeding every day, which also means she understands innately what a
woman does in life = herself in some years time. She sees her Auntie,
Grandfather and Grandmother constantly, and knows she is part of a greater
whole. All I am doing is relating to you my personal daily life by way of the insights
and understandings I observe. I do believe it is in such circumstances that
true cultural exchanges take place. Loi Loi usually heads for bed around 9pm,
although this is not set of course; and we will also leave her life for the
moment and move on with this missive.
Meanwhile
Siu Ying is tied to the house basically – excepting that Nonni really enjoys
being outside all of the time! Looking after the baby is a pretty time
consuming affair and I do worry that she has not slept properly for months now.
Since her arrival back at the home she has taken over most of the daily chores
and cooking also. She tends to go to bed most evenings around 10 o’clock, and
rise somewhere between 8 and 10 am. Her routines are becoming more stable now
as Rhiannon settles into her new life, but there are always nights when she
gets little or no sleep. She generally cooks the 2 main meals, and also sweeps
and washes the floors. She also hand washes laundry for herself and Nonni +
myself when I am in residence.
Otherwise
she has much free time, mainly preoccupied by the baby’s needs and desires.
Nonni has her daily bath around 6pm, which she greatly enjoys. Siu Ying now
always does this herself, and takes at least 30 minutes from beginning till
end. Mama used to do this in about half the time, but there is bonding and love
involved, and better not to rush these things I believe. If Siu Ying is tired,
then some afternoons Mama will strap my daughter in the Chinese rucksack
thingymagig and walk her around while my wife has a nap. Other days are more
scheduled, like when vaccinations are due, which are administered at the local
cottage hospital some 5-minutes away by charabanc. Occasionally they have also
attended for other medical reasons, such as diarrhoea or small skin sores –
nothing serious, but treatment required.
As for Rhiannon herself, she is doing well and
growing quickly. As with all babies, she loves bright lights, colour changes
and movement. I am aware that babies can’t really see properly as yet, but she
does love to gawp at the TV, or look at people doing things. At just 4-months
old she can already stand her own weight (Safe, but just not quite supported by
me), and has made her first identifiable sound. I don’t know who stumbled
across this, but often Siu Ying will make a sort of high-pitched and rising
yelling sound – and damn me but Nonni has already copied this and is pretty
good at it! She hasn’t actually spoken a proper word yet, but I am very encouraged
that this won’t be too far away. Without instruction, we all keep repeating
about 8 words to her over and over again: Baba, Mama, Nonni, etc. She also
smiles a lot, especially when either I or Baba makes a fuss of her – she’s
quite cute actually. During my last visit she almost managed to turn herself
over in bed at night, and I guess it won’t be long before we have to be a lot
more watchful of her movements. Nonni likes to sleep in Siu Ying’s arm, and
this suits us both as it is very handy for night-time breast feeding. During my
last visit, I took her for a few hours, and was awoken by a disgruntled
daughter trying her best to suck on my chest. I don’t think either of us
enjoyed that experience very much hahaha! I think she has now learnt that there
is no milk to be had from the hairy person. But enough of baby talk, as you may
not be interested.
Yours truly
comes from an alternative planet, and yes I admit to being very crazy; enjoy! I
do enjoy visiting the village, but hate the travelling to and fro. Whilst the
main bus ride is fine, my journey actually consists of at least six parts: walk
to the ferry, catch the ferry, get a motorbike taxi to the main road several
miles away, catch the bus, in Toisan, catch another bus to the local road, then
finally another motorcycle taxi to the village. Hmmm. We are now decided to
rent a gaff in
Before I
took the laptop down to the village, life for me there was very boring = I simply
had nothing to do, and wasn’t allowed to go anywhere or do anything anyway
(Safety concerns – Du-what!) Much of my life is actually spent in computer
work, and these missives and associated website are one example. I also build,
host, and maintain websites for others. Therefore I can now continue my daily
work whilst I am there, and also write missives as they occur; which is really
great.
When I was
back in Blighty last, I also spend time transferring vinyl LP’s via my Sister
Roo’s turntable converter, into digital media. These are basically one large
file that needs click and sound removal, and then splitting into individual
tracks. The software runs on the laptop, but not on my main pc at home = Weird?
Anyways, I have already done Soldiers of Fortune by The Outlaws, and next plan
to sort out The Great Society double album = a lot of work. Oh and just in case
you wondered about copyright issues, these albums were originally released on
media such as: reel-to-reel tape, cassette, 8-track, and vinyl. They were never
released on CD, and we bought the vinyl many years ago now. Some of you may not
be aware that in the first years of the 60’s Grace Slick was in a band with her
two brothers, Darby and ???. This was called The Great Society, and is the only
place you will find the original recordings of some Jefferson Airplane classics
such as: White Rabbit and Somebody to Love – both written by Grace. After the
untimely death of Darby Circa 1964 the band split after releasing only 2
albums: Conspicuous Only in its Absence, and a double album by the same name.
Grace then joined Jefferson Airplane replacing the former lead female singer,
and they had already released one album prior to Grace’s appearance. I guess
the rest is history, although I did see them live when they topped the bill at
the second Bath Music Festival circa 1972 – which later transferred down the
road and became
As well as
being a person used to only eating once per day, I also sleep little and
normally about four or five hours in any 24. I don’t do ‘Time’ as you would
know it, so whenever I am awake or asleep is ok by me. This gets very
complicated for me to plan, on such occasions I actually have an appointment.
Crazy things - Nightmare!
In The
Village I am probably regarded a little like Number 6 (Patrick MaGoohan and
Porthmerrion). Joking aside, whilst I could very happily become a central part
of the family as my younger days spend on English and Irish farms bequeath, I
have moved on in life, and am becoming used to thinking of myself as a writer.
More and more I seem shifted towards trying to explain this fascinating and
mysterious Land of the Dragon to others who only have their TV set for
reference. This is counterbalanced by trying to explain the West to local
Chinese people – both still works in progress.
Therefore I usually go to bed with Siu Ying
and Nonni somewhere around 10pm. I am bound to be wide awake again by 3am, so
head downstairs for a coffee (I have some excellent 3-in-1 sachets from
Let us now
leave the immediate family to their daily routines, and look at other family
matters…
Baba and I
are the only people who do not cook. Normally this would be Mama’s task, but
because of circumstances, Siu Ying now does most of this. However, both Mama
and Yee Lo also cook a full meal sometimes, or add certain dishes to the table
very few days. Each person except Baba, Loi Loi and myself does their own
clothes washing, and washing up after meals. I do try to help where I can, but
usually end up in the way. Therefore I have made a point of clearing off the
dining table, a small fold-up affair, wiping it, and returning it to its home
in the corner of the living room and putting the stools back in their places.
Outside the
home life continues as it has for decades – possibly millennia? People work the
fields and are open to extra sources of income. Children are born and raised,
whilst the elderly are cared for by family before their departure. Boys are
still boys, and girls are still girls – no matter where on this planet you hail
from. The big city (Toisan) is 20 minutes away to the north, and is a place I
will be writing about in far greater detail in the near future. Siu Ying just
rang me to say that the gaff she mentioned was ‘mmm ho’ = not nice for whatever
reason. However, she wants me to go tomorrow or the day after to see another
home which Yee Lo has viewed and says is perfect; and also whilst old outside,
is new inside. I guess it is equivalent to the one above, having 3 bedrooms and
2 bathrooms, and all for Y500 per month. Geeez-zus! That’s change from £50, or
$75 per month, and comes semi-furnished.
I guess
this missive may have given some readers a lot to think about, which was
totally intentional. Now whilst I will not be doing an ‘Andy Rooney’ on you, I
just want you to set a little time aside to think about the quality of your
lives, as compared to say … mine. Whilst I am not advocating you all pack up
your things and move to
Anyway, I just
had a call from my great friend Jim, and it seems he will be coming around to
visit us (Wherever we are) in a few days time. I have already invited him to
experience the delights of
These pages
are always open to everyone, so why not write about your life - and what you
did today?
More next
time…
Jonno