Home Sweet Home

Hey all, just a quick update - after the somewhat unwholesome accommodation the university placed me in, i decided that it was worth the money to move into one of the awesome sky rise apartments you see around Kunming. I feel almost guilty at how much foreigners can get here for so little, but in this case my bid for luxury won over guilt and I've now been on my 13th floor, Miami looking complex for almost a week. Here are just a few photos so you can all picture me all happy and settled in my little Chinese life. Bye Now x

Instinct is the 6th sense

Instinct is the 6th sense, the most basic and yet fundamental of all animal intellect. Tonight I had come back from a night out with new friends, it had been a fortunate afternoon as I had found myself a well respecting job in the local university district teaching English. In good spirits I had walk back to my hotel feeling rather on top of the world, even running into some other friends in the lobby. They had asked me to come out with them but it was past eleven on a Sunday night and I felt tired so bid them all goodnight and continued to wait for the lift. As I stood I noticed that the Chinese man standing opposite me – also waiting – had the strangest of characteristics about him. I couldn’t quite pick it, it was not a harsh, blunt or confronting nature but as I surreptitiously gazed on at him I could see in his eyes the look of a man that had drunk well. Certainly he was not the only man in town who had that night, but this knowledge brought me no rest. The lift began to descent and I felt a hasty decision coming over me. Should I get in the lift with this man I would be alone for at least thirty seconds until the lift reached my floor. How much was possible in thirty seconds? Even if he were to drunkenly speak or grunt I would find it unpleasant but what more could be possible in a man that gave me this uneasy feeling. Say from the seventh floor he got out with me and attempted to drag me or force me to open my door with him there; as strange as these thoughts were I just couldn’t get the very idea out of my head. The lift door opened and just as the gentleman stumbled into the lift I felt my heels turn me and I pretended to walk in the other direction; it would be just as easy to wait for the lift to come back down. As the lift began to ascend and had reached at least the third floor I pushed the button again to wait and watched patiently to see which floor the man would get off at; level seven – my floor. I sigh of relief washed over my mind, perhaps the whole idea had just been crazy, but knowing we would have been just doors away from each other as we made our exit from the elevator I came to realize that the whole situation had not been too far at all from possible. Moral of the story; I think that humans have become somewhat detached from their basic instincts, sometimes thoughts or ideas come into our head and we can never seem to find a plausible reason for them but later we come to understand that there was a strange truth behind the peculiar emotion. I am not saying I was at all correct with my analysis of this man outside the lift, but being alone and female in this foreign country I think that it is essential that one does not pass by these moments. Travel tip # 1 – trust your instincts.

A thought

There has never been a greater love. When history was written something so beautiful, so timeless, so magnanimous did not exist. With our love we could shake the very foundations of the earth. With our love I can feel your warmth around me; though you are 1,200km away. With our love I beam a smile as I walk down the street because I know that you are thinking of me. With our love the squalling city I stand in becomes a dice that I hold in the cup of my hand. And all the while it comforts me to know that you know that wherever you are; I am with you.

Home?

Things are relatively hectic at the moment, but it amazes me how much pleasure can be found in chaos. In a matter of days I must find myself a place to live, someone to live with, a job, my bearings in this city and all the while find the time to breathe in and bask under the glory that this city beholds.
Moments ago I stood from my open window which looks south westerly onto the squalling city that appears meek against the vast mountain ranges that wake in the distance. As I leaned out into the afternoon sunshine and looked over the squalor that is mine, a distinct sound of an Italian opera could be heard flowing from a nearby window and out onto the afternoon haze. It was a perfect soundtrack as I watched children playing basketball, men riding home from work and women walking gaily down the street. In this chaos I had found perfection so uncanny that I couldn’t help by allow a smile to beam on my face. Home?

First Day Blitz

I am feeling weary at the moment, it is nearing the end of my first day in Kunming and things have not been everything I could have expected; but in some ways they have gone so much better. On the plane I was one of three foreigners, a boy with a cast on both his right leg and right arm and a girl who reminded me of a mid afternoon breeze through a thick forest. Her name, I later discovered was Hannah and she is from Slovenia. She has been living in Kunming for the past year and while she described her Chinese home to me as a ‘concrete jungle’, she happily offered to show me round. Her nature was both zestful and relaxed and a cynical humor perfumed her disposition. My day was going well under her wing, but later we discovered I had gone to the wrong university and in fact needed to go a little further down the road; not a problem except for the 20kg luggage I was carrying with me. Finally, upon arrival I was bombarded in true Chinese style with a sea of instructions before being told that I would shortly need to take a language test – then and there – in order to determine which class I would be put into. This I found distressing because I was weary, dirty and hungry and being asked to expel all my academic potential without warning. Alas, I felt that the test result will be a complete failure and I bare nearly guessed the entire last section; more out of lack of care more than anything else. I just wanted to retreat to my dormitory and let cool water run over my body until I felt human again. Alas, I was told something I couldn’t quite understand about my dormitory not being ready until tomorrow and I would need to stay in the student hostel until then. Ai-ya! I did keep in good spirits and I know that one cannot expect much more from Chinese bureaucracy, but somewhere between trying to find this International Hostel (which isn’t as cool as it sounds) and typing this entry, my spirits have waned. I still do find myself in some great fortunes; the girl I am sharing my room with tonight is from Thailand and does not speak English so we both have to practice our Mandarin in order to communicate. I think this is rather cool, and was pleased to take a walk around with her and get some local foods as an evening meal.

Leaving Home Behind; Stop Over in Kuala Lumpur

This morning I, the newly crowned pervasive nomad, became well acquainted with the most determined of stray cats I had ever seen. It presented itself to me first not through vision but with a deep grumbling sound of a voice that said, “I mean business”. It was my first and only morning in Malaysia before heading onto further travels in my destination, Kunming. I had chosen to sit outside to eat my morning meal in order to make some attempt to enjoy my short stay under the canopy of the Malaysian tropics. It was warm; perhaps too warm for my liking but not so warm that it was unpleasant. The smell of spices that had infiltrated my lungs from the night before had now subdued into a damp, mossy heat that attracted earth and heavy floral scents of Frangipani and Hibiscus. I had been unaware at first of the stray’s presence, but rather had looked around in a state of confusion to find the source of the noise that seemed to echo throughout the lush greenery before me. It was not until several more minutes had passed that I found myself face to face with the source of the screeching A Cappella; a meek, timid, wide eyed, black cat. Indeed it seemed that the desperate growl had been little more than a bluff; for now I saw the poor creature staring so gingerly at my food plate that it nearly shook to be so close to me. The creature’s wide eyes brought the greatest sense of empathy to my heart, but as much as I would have loved to pat the poor creature I knew that this stray’s business lay no further than the appetizing food that it hoped was piled on my plate. I looked down, watermelon, pineapple, honeydew – luckily I had selected a small portion of scrambled eggs that I decided would have to do for a feline breakfast. I threw a clumped portion towards it, it bowed it’s head and sniffed my offering; a disappointed “meowww” was all I heard. I knew the delicacy it sought. It became clear to me that this cat, in fact, knew the menu and its distinct “meooww” had gradually transformed into a language that called for one thing, “meaaaat”. A pleasant disposition washed over me, how happy I would be to set out on such a mission for my new acquaintance. I was sure that hotel staff would not think too kindly of my encouragement towards the cat’s presence, so I decided that my mission would have to require stealth, precision and absolute secrecy. I had only taken a small portion when I had first circulated the buffet, so it would appear normal that I return for seconds – particularly a western girl, those Malays would think, they are always eating too much. I took my plate and casually walked back inside; I re-circulated the buffet this time with the best of feline intentions. Sausages, curried meats, were both too large and too flavorsome for my dear friend. Ah, but placed like a feline shrine in the middle of the buffet, steaming under the golden lighting lay a tray titled “Sliced Beef”, perfect. I piled several lashings onto my place and made quickened movements as I returned to my outside table. “Puss, puss, puss, puss”, I whispered; beginning to fear that I had in fact lost my morning companion. “Meow”, I heard from a thicket of tropical leaves, and the small, goggle eyed creature appeared once more. I tossed my offerings towards him, and the dear eagerly fed into them; a primitive yet fundamental sign of consent. I watched the cat eating, it no longer made sharp, uncertain movements towards me but merely accepted me as it’s equal, it’s food source, it’s friend. How pleased I was. Not only by my exceeding success in selecting the right meal for my friend, but most importantly for the sheer comfort of that; a friend. I sipped my dhal and looked on at my fury companion. His manners were of the most unwholesome propriety as he gnawed and gnarled at the stringy flesh, and yet in all manner of speaking his company was most appealing. The last of the meat was swallowed by my friend and I happily offered him a little more. I was happy for the company perhaps even more so than I was for some human company? He did not ask me “and how is the weather today Miss Anderton,” or “and did we sleep well last night?” But rather he approached me in the most humane manner I had ever expected, just like an equal. It became clear to me, we were both survivors, trying to make the best of a free meal, unsure of where we would end up by the end of the day, but equally prepared to meet with the best and the worst of times.

When we travel, it is funny what things come to move us and re-teach us the fundamentals that we often forget at home. There is a saying from somewhere that I once heard that goes; you will not find your home by leaving it. But maybe it is when we do travel that we come to find what we appreciate about our home the most. Here I am no longer Jordan Anderton, but the ‘Australian Girl’. My single self has come to represent the whole of Australia in this one city that I will live in.

Back to 'Zhongguo'

On August 25th 2009 I will set out again back to the land of ‘Zhongguo’. A country that continues to fascinate me with its epic culture and histories as well as it's modern struggle against a globalized world. I have decided to start up this blog because of recent Chinese censorship laws which have chosen to ban popular Western sites such as Facebook; my former and preferred method of cyber communication. This ban follows the CCP’s constriction on it's already tightly controlled media, which is believed to be in retaliation to recent protests by Uighur minority groups in Xinjiang Province. These protests have followed unrest among the Uighur minority of Xinjiang who feel that the CCP's "Big development of the Northwest" strategies of the 1990s has widened a gap between the Autonomous Regions Uighur minority and the Han Chinese who only began to settle in the region after the 1950’s. Since the riots have elevated to levels unseen in the past two decades, the CCP has tightened it's grip around free speech so to project it's own message which argues the Xinjiang unrest is a result of fundamental Islamic terrorist organizations; who pose a threat to the greater world! It’s because of all this that I will not be able to use Facebook for the next six months, not even to simply tell you about my day or even upload pictures of the beautiful region of China's South West province Yunnan, where I will be staying to complete my tertiary Chinese language studies. I feel sad to leave my home town, with so many beautiful friends and family behind me; but I look forward to the adventures that wait for me in this beautiful and ethnically diverse part of the world. Love to all xxx