Market day and some thoughts
Jul 13th, 2007 by Peter
11th July 2007 Yilan
Note: Pictures from the market can be found by scrolling a bit down this page
Not sure what time we woke up. C decided it was time, so I just went with the flow. Turns out she had a plan. That’s how things work out here. Either there is a hidden agenda, or already prepared plans get pushed aside for something else. Most of the time I don’t care. It’s still an adventure to me.
We washed a bit and I was specifically ordered by C not to use cold water “as it is dangerous for your health”. I laughed a bit and went to wash in the cold water only sink in the bathroom while C boiled some water for her own wash. C was almost furious but on the other hand, what could she do?
I asked her a bit in details to why this was dangerous. The first answer was that you could easily become ill. After drilling a bit it was changed to “attracting insects”. Not sure what to think, but sure don’t wont to boil water to wash my face. I’ve washed more sensitive things in cold water recently, so I should be dead by now. If I dig too much into this subject, I’m pretty sure I’ll be told that the cold water is why my stomach has been upset, so better drop the subject.
Just makes you think, doesn’t it? Man must have been ill constantly 1.000.000 years ago before fire were invented? Either that or they just didn’t wash. So many weird superstitions here, that I’m not sure what to believe. Do we have the same ones in different clothes back in Denmark? I think we have some, but not in the same count though.
C had “asked” me if I wanted to go to the market. I was not quite sure at that time. I was still in bed when she pushed the question and still hadn’t opened my eyes completely. Anyway, it sounded all-right to me. My stomach felt pretty good and for the first time in at least one week, I didn’t feel a morning pit-stop at the toilet to be imminent. The day before, I had finally done what I should have done days before: Taken some diarrhea medicine I brought from Denmark. I had stalled the decision, because I always feel it is best for the body to recover by itself. I had stomach problems – yes – but they weren’t violent or hazardous to my health. I was sure the tide would soon turn (to keep it graphical). As the days went by I felt it more and more of an inconvenience. The many family dinners with liquor and beer was hard to keep a brave face through and I’m pretty sure I lost face for the whole western world every time I had to pass on fast paced toasting.
So I violated my own rule and popped a few pills. Then later the 3rd one which should be enough. Hadn’t felt like going to the toilet since, but then again, I’m not sure it actually helped permanently. Let’s wait and see. Right now I’m just happy to feel on top again. And – no – there won’t be a display of pictures of my poop from day 1 to day 10. Ok?
Off track I know. So C called her new taxi girlfriend and we headed off to this market. I shoot some videos of us driving and also some stills. I even think I got a video where someone shouts out a “reflex-hello” as we pass him. Unfortunately the line to my homepage is so slow that I would grow a beard in the time it takes to upload a video.
We arrived at the west end of market on top of the edge of Yilan where the city meets the river. I did my paparazzi trick and we started heading down the market street. The amount of “hellos” was on the rise and I could hear the two words “weiguren” and “denmairen” being passed on through the crowd. So to make sure to get ahead of the word of mouth, we set in motion. I got plenty of cool pictures there. Mostly of fruits and vegetables that we either haven’t got in Denmark, or have, but in a different shape or color.
After supplying with some dried tofu and some vinegar and chili soaked roots or unknown origin, we went back to C’s parents to get some breakfast. I don’t carry my belt bag anymore. It’s simply drawing too much unneeded attention (that’s my guess anyway). I look like a tourist no matter what I do, but no sense in looking like one packing the goods too. So I’m back to pockets and my trusty camera. This also means that I have stopped carrying my cell phone and therefore have no idea of the time. I rely on C and her little red borrowed Chinese phone for that fancy stuff. This change also means that I get some surprises from time to time. When we were at C’s parents, it was only 7.28am. This means we’d had to have been up at 6.00am or earlier. Crazy wife.
We had some breakfast consisting of steamed bread and some of the chilied roots that we bought. C also had some egg soup, which I’ve seen before and find pretty gross. But as long as she’s happy.
Afterwards we walked back to the apartment where I had a chance to write up on this entry, while C decided to save 10rmb and do some clothes washing. 10rmb won’t kill the budget, but on the other side it keeps C out of my hair and I get time to write meanwhile. I think C is slowly getting a bit bored and may soon figure out that I pulled the long match regarding buying the laptop.
Close to 12.00 o’clock, we walked to C’s parent’s house to get some dinner. Dinner was, as always, great and afterwards we could be found at C’s sister’s computer school where I had a chance to use the Internet. C chatted a bit with her brother-in-law and afterwards fell asleep on a bunk bed next to me. All good stuff.
Cooler was it hat I finally was able to upload some pictures. I was like there was a hole through the GFW and Filezilla (Ftp program) was let loose. Not at crazy speeds, though, but enough for me to upload the desired pictures. As you may have guessed these are just a few of the many I’ve shoot. I think I counted about 6-700 all in all including some videos. I have decided to keep family stuff out of the picture, so only C and I will be present on them.
Time flies when the Internet is slow, so it was soon time for dinner. As we came back to C’s parents home, C’s stepbrother proudly showed us some fish he’d caught a hour before. They weren’t big, but still big enough to eat. I’m not big on fish. Actually, I’d rather be without it, but do I love fishing. It’s a paradox I know, but I’m a strange guy, right? Bottom-line is that I now have a standing invitation to go fishing with him one of these day. As always, nothing here is certain. I told C to tell him that it would be very cool and C let him know that. I also asked C if we should plan a day already, to which C said: “Not yet We’ll see”. That’s what I have to get used to here in China. There’s no structure. Had this been Denmark, we would at least have agreed on phoning each other up a few days ahead to discus it, but not here. Here it’s a “Let’s see country” and I am as always kept in the even darker areas due to my lack of language skills.
Much of our time is used at waiting or just hanging around. I don’t know why, but days fly by and I feel nothing much is accomplished besides writing this blog. It’s like things here takes more time than it would in Denmark. Back there, I could plan my day in details and be sure to accomplish 99% of it. Here, just going to get some fresh water for our apartment can be put in 2 categories:
1. Getting it out of pure reflex. A “better grab some water, now we’re here anyway” sort of deal.
2. Talking about it all day, and finally doing it in the evening or next day.
Number 1 is Danish too. Number 2 is not. If we were in need of some groceries back in Denmark, I would start figuring out when to do this exactly the same time I knew we needed it. Maybe I would go and get it as I passed the shop on another errand, or decide to do mix it up with some other shopping we had to do anyway. When I’d planned it, I’d do it too. Not like we do here most of the time.
Here we notice the task at hand and I talk a lot about it. Notice the “I”. C on the other hand is in no hurry and I never get a clear answer from her. Ok – I’m a freaking lunatic in this regard, I know. I’m not very bad about it, but I still like to plan ahead. It’s actually due to my lazy genes. I hate doing things twice if I can avoid it.
An example is the deadlock that I find us in at the moment.
We have planned to go to Harbin for a few days. Actually it’s not only a trip of comfort, but also one of necessity. We have to buy train tickets for our trip home over Beijing, but also need to re-supply with 2 new suitcases. The most important part is getting back C’s Danish dictionary, so she can study again. Right now she’s complaining how she can’t study and I’m telling her to do something about it instead. The most obvious solution would be to go to Harbin and get it over with, right?
The problem is that we can’t go right now. The trip will eat 2-3 days of our time here and right now we are waiting for C’s sister to get back to us about another local trip here nearer Yilan. I asked C why she didn’t call her sister and ask her what time she’d planned for the local trip, but C is hesitant. According to her it is not polite to call her sister, as she is extremely busy these days. Ok – fair enough. The problem in this situation is that we right now are pretty much locked to Yilan and the things we can do here. Not that there aren’t plenty of stuff to do here still, but in my world, I would unlock the cage first, so we could fly free and plan ahead. A simple phone call would solve the problem. C’s sister could say that she will be busy for the next 3-4 days, and so we were free to roam in Harbin. If C’s sister on the other hand was free tomorrow, then we could plan on going to Harbin another day. These are some of the things I have to deal with. Again notice the “I”. Even though I have a hard time accepting it from time to time, it’s still my problem. I’m the guest here and I’m living in a Chinese city with a Chinese family. I just have to learn how to relax my brain and take one thing at a time.
Regarding the time standing still here, it is not just the planning I’m thinking about. Walking here is almost in slowmo and I haven’t seen anyone panicking about something yet. It’s like the people here has stopped looking at the time and just settling with a slower pace about everything. The heat is a factor of course, but even in the Southern Europe where the heat is comparable, I haven’t experienced anything like this. In a way it’s soothing for my worn work spirit, but on the other hand it’s a tiny stress factor to me too. Doing simple things can take forever, while a short grocery shopping trip can end up being a shopping spree. Eating dinner can expand to become a huge family dinner with monster toasting. I never know what to expect and never can take part in planning since there is no plan.
Also I’m almost treated like freaking Pu-Yi by C’s family. Their hospitality and politeness is over the top. They buy special food for me, they won’t allow me to help with anything and I’m generally always pushed into a sofa or bed to relax when I really should be walking. I’m force-fed with beer and liquor and food is always a bit more than I can eat. I eat it anyway to be polite. This means that I am constantly feeling too full and never get a chance to work it off. I’m a fat golden parrot in a cage. No one understands what the creature says, but it sure has what it needs.
So long whine – for nothing I guess. I shouldn’t complain.
Back to today’s deeds. After dinner we decided to go for a walk. C parents, her sister, the two of us, and her other sister’s child. We walked longer than I’ve imagined for a “short walk” as it was called when I was lured out on it, but it was cool with me. We walked to a new part of town that is newer and better looking than where’ I’ve been recently. We ended up taking a break at the government’s official building. Not sure of the exact name, since C can’t translate it 100%. It’s a pretty cool looking big house with the classy red commi sign on the front. A flagpole was standing in front of it with the Chinese flag slowly moving to the gentle breeze. To a Dane that’s odd. In Denmark there is a law saying that you have to take down the flag at sunset. Apparently not important here, but funny how small things are different.
In front of the building there was a big square where children rollerbladed. There was also a woman who leased out tiny cars for children, which C’s sisters boy had a go at. He was delighted as were his family. I shot some pictures of him. I’ve planned on getting some of my pictures done in hardcopy before we leave. I’m sure they will bring happiness when C’s family gets them.
After the walk we went home and did our infamous wash thingy before finally going to sleep.