Pictures of Australia

Australia

About two weeks before time to leave China, we took a vacation to Australia. I was surprised that the flight from Beijing to Australia was just as long as the flight from Chicago to Beijing. We flew from Beijing to Sydney and spent the night. We arrived in Sydney early enough to get out and see the sights. Transportation in Sydney was a short walk to the train station then a quick ride downtown. The train was about U.S. $3 one way.

The following morning we flew to Cairnes then took a bus to the resort town of Port Douglas. Australia is beautiful and very clean. We were in awe of the nighttime sky on the bus trip to Port Douglas. I saw constellations I have only seen in science books. After having spent so much time in Beijing, Australia was quite literally a breath of fresh air.

We coughed incessantly for the first couple days. I’m sure it was because our lungs were so used to breathing the polluted air in Beijing – it was almost as though clean air was a foreign substance. Everything in Australia is expensive beginning with the $6 can of coke on the plane. We spent the first and last nights in Sydney and the days in between in Port Douglas. We stayed in a nice hotel in Sydney and would take the train into downtown to eat or see the sights. I don’t think we walked away from any meal for under about $60 – and this was just ordinary dining, nothing particularly special.

Our resort was advertised as being in the “middle of a rainforest.” Well that was close to the truth. It was indeed surrounded by lush vegetation and had a lagoon shaped swimming pool running through the property. However, I must admit it was not quite “in the rainforest” the way I imagined. We went on a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Ken went scuba diving and I snorkeled. Diving is old hat for him but that was the first time I have been in that much water and it was a bit overwhelming. The beaches are beautiful and I took pictures of all kinds of flowers. We spent another day at a wildlife preserve in Sydney. The baby kangaroos walk up and eat right out of your hand.

Part of our trip to the rainforest included a tour by an Aboriginal guide. The history of the Australian Aboriginal people is in many ways similar to that of the Native Americans. They were the original inhabitants, got ripped off by Europeans and are currently scarcely seen in mainstream Australia. Anyway, he taught us about the way his ancestors lived in the rainforest. They used indigenous plants from the rainforest for health and beauty purposes, for religious and cultural rituals and of course for food. We saw Aboriginal cave paintings that were similar to those done by Native Americans. At the end of the tour we were treated to a musical serenade performed on the didgeridoo – a long, wooden flutelike instrument. The Aborigines listened to the sounds of nature in the rainforest and learned to imitate them on this amazing instrument. If you close your eyes and listen to the it, you can here the bird calls, water flowing and even thunder rolling. It is a deep, haunting sound.

Not Always Easy

Since he was working on a U.S. government project, Ken had to work lots of hours while we were in China. It was difficult at first because we were newly married and of course wanted to spend as much time together as possible. One thing we did together was take language lessons. Three nights a week, we went to Guang Ming Hotel after dinner and attended a language school. Our class consisted of four people, including the two of us. The other students were an American and a German. The class was small enough that everyone got their fill of attention from the instructor and of being singled out to recite things like I want to buy a kilo of apples. This is my water. How much is that blue shirt? And, the most important Chinese phrase to know is “That’s too expensive, give me friend price.” Grammar rules are relatively simple in Mandarin since the verbs don’t get conjugated and nouns don’t have gender.

We had plenty of good times in China. Yet, there were times when I wanted nothing to do with anything Chinese. Sometimes I grew weary of the crud that constantly hung in the air, the ongoing struggle to communicate with locals who spoke very little English and questionable sanitation practices in public places. Whatever you’ve heard about public restrooms in China I’m just about certain does not do the real thing any justice. Most public restrooms there simply have to be seen (and smelled) to be believed. You cannot drink the tap water and shower water is extremely hard, leaving heavy mineral deposits in your hair. A good conditioner is a necessity. Some days I felt very isolated and extremely homesick. On those days, I closed the curtains, closed my eyes and listened to national public radio on the Web while I pretended to be back in the States. Even while I was missing home where I could drink from the tap, walk on the lakefront and breathe pretty consistently fresh air, I must admit that I never, ever felt concern about being a victim of crime in China. Criminals in China are typically dealt with swiftly and often severely.

Touring & a History Lesson

Shirley and I took a day trip that was sponsored by the Chinese language school I attended. We boarded a very comfortable bus and started our adventure early that morning. Our destination was Dajue Temple, one of many ancient Buddhist temples located northwest of Beijing way up in the hills. In fact, it was far enough from the center of the city that the air was actually fresh. This temple is also home to a one thousand year old Ginkgo tree. It’s actually pretty amazing to stand next to something that old.

We visited a pavilion with several different temples. The locals burn incense and make prayer requests at the temple. Out of respect for the ancients, tourists are not allowed to take pictures inside the temples but we could go inside and pray or just quietly look around. We ended the day with a riverboat cruise where we saw the Beijing Zoo (not much to look at) and the Summer Palace. Lots of good photo ops!

What was more interesting to me however was the history lesson the guide provided. I was quite surprised by her candor. She shared some of the not so pretty things about Chinese history and society in general. Our guide gave an oral history beginning with the earliest dynasties, the last Emperor, the rise of the Communist party and the changes in China after Nixon’s historic visit in the 1970s.

One of China’s most pressing problems of course is over population. Many Westerners know of China’s one-child policy. This tour was the first time I was really able to talk with a Chinese woman about the issue. Her first comment was that abortion in China is simply not a controversial issue an issue as it is here. There is absolutely not stigma attached. It’s just something that women do when it’s necessary. The one child policy has been in place since the 1970s. Couples can legally have one child and if mom gets pregnant again, it’s have an abortion, pay a heft fine or face some other penalty. Apparently, the policy does not apply to wealthy Chinese who can pay the fine, peasants in the countryside and to those considered to be ethnic minorities. Incidentally, twins count as one child. So, forced abortions, forced sterilization – these are not anecdotal

More About China (continued)

Once the honeymoon was over and my husband went back to work, I had the days to myself. Okay, so what does an American, first-time housewife do everyday in China? I started out watching way too much TV instead of going out exploring my new neighborhood. Incidentally, we had satellite TV with several English-speaking channels that showed lots of reruns from the States. I became quite a CNN junkie. Other favorites were the History Channel and National Geographic. I confess that my close friend Shirley and I were hooked on American Idol. For me, it was probably more about connecting with American culture than about really caring who won the contest.

I’m not much of a shopper, and that being the case, shopping was not one of my favorite activities in China. You must barter with the local merchants for everything. It helps to not only know how to recite numbers in Chinese but to actually be able to barter in their language. Beijing is loaded with designer knockoffs – Coach, Gucci, North Face, music – you name the designer, it can be found. It was my experience that these fakes finds look nice but the quality is never on par. My formula for bartering was something like figure out what I would have paid for the item at home then I would never pay more than 25% of the U.S. dollar value. Consequently, you can get a lot of cheap goods there but you end up with cheap goods.

The point of my keeping this log of my travels is not to offer a lesson in Chinese history and certainly not any political commentary. However, it was fascinating to learn things from inside of the country and contrast them with what I thought I knew about it. It was also very interesting to read the newspaper, China Daily, and get the official Communist Party’s take on current events.

I’ve had many American friends share their understanding about life in China. For example, some thought it was illegal to go to church in China. Not true. Foreigners in China with a current passport are allowed to attend government sanctioned (tolerated) church services. Foreigners are not allowed to proselytize to Chinese nationals. There is no “official” religion in China since it is communist and members of the communist party are atheists. The communist party in China began with the New Movement during the early 1900s. Loads of information can be found in the library or online.

More About China

As everyone knows, China is very large. In fact, as the world’s third largest country, it has a total landmass of 9,326,410 square kilometers (it’s slightly smaller than the U.S.). While we only spent time in Beijing, there were many times when I was keenly aware that the Chinese have a different perspective when it comes to personal space. I can only assume this is because they are accustomed to sharing space with so many people. For example, many times in the grocery store or at the ATM, I had Chinese people stand at a distance that I considered an “invasion” of my personal space and it never seemed to faze them.

One of the things I missed about home while in China was solitude while outdoors. I used to live on the lakefront in Chicago and spent many hours reading, watching sunrises or walking on the shore of Lake Michigan all alone. Our Chinese driver once asked me about some of the differences between home and China and I brought up the issue of solitude. He laughed and said Chinese people don’t like to be alone and that he did not understand the appeal of not being around others.

We had Chinese friends from the workplace so most of them spoke pretty close to fluent English (Chinese accent, of course). Obviously, all individuals are different so I won’t make generalizations about an entire group of people. What I did observe in our Chinese friends was that most of them were very sociable, they liked going out for meals together, they celebrate long Chinese holidays like the Spring Festival, most were very much into Western culture, the women tended to be rather shy and they really, really like karaoke.

Getting around Beijing is actually quite convenient. Taxis are easily accessible and cheap. Beijing has an extensive bus system (again, quite inexpensive). My husband frequently bicycled around the city, although I would not recommend this for the faint of heart.

Wedding Bells

After spending a month in Beijing, I was secure in the knowledge that yes, this was to be my new temporary home. I headed back to the U.S. to figure out what we needed to do about getting married, quit my job and prepare for an extended stay overseas.

The first (short-lived) plan was for us to wait until he could return to the U.S. without suffering the tax consequences – this meant staying outside America for 330 consecutive days. We quickly decided we did not want be apart for that long. Another consideration was if we were not married and I returned to China, I could only stay for the length of a tourist Visa.

I returned to China a month later without a solid plan for this wedding. After spending hours on the Internet and making phone calls and trips to the U.S. Embassy in China, we found out that we actually could get married in China! As long as one of the couple was authorized to work in China, we were good to go. This, as it turns out, was a well-kept secret.

I found a tailor and had my wedding dress custom made. Ken also had a mandarin style jacket made. The ceremony itself was conducted completely in Chinese, although they did have us walk in on the traditional wedding march. It was conducted at the Chinese marriage bureau – much like the local City Hall. Our Best Man/Translator was our Chinese driver Benny. We filled out some paperwork, went through the ceremony, took pictures and we were married in under an hour. So, while we could not understand what was being said, it was a very special day for us. Our original marriage certificate is written in Chinese and bound in a red silk book. Of course we had to have it translated into English at the Embassy.

That evening we had a small reception with our friends at the apartment building. True to our nontraditional selves, we had our honeymoon in Viet Nam. When the travel agent made the suggestion, the first thing I thought was, “You’re suggesting we go where?!” Sounds familiar. Anyway, we flew from Beijing to Hanoi then to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). We spent the night in Ho Chi Minh then a driver took us to our resort in Phan Thiet – about a four-hour drive.

I was pleasantly surprised with Viet Nam. The streets were nicely paved, lots of freestanding stores and our hotel in Ho Chi Minh was truly five-star. Phan Thiet is a resort town located on the edge of the South China Sea. Although the resort was about 20 kilometers from the water’s edge there was not much swimming and certainly no diving or snorkeling. Lots of skydiving and parasailing. The resort was “quaint” in an Asia sort of way – individual bungalows with a small front porch and the basic necessities. Meals at the resort were pretty average but much better in town. We found a restaurant where the seafood was plucked fresh from the sea – now that’s the way to eat shrimp.

Phan Thiet is not a place to go if you want an action-packed vacation. It was relaxing and the air was clean. We did a lot of walking and just hanging out by the pool. I was surprised that most of the locals spoke English quite well – better than most of the Chinese we ran into at home. We did an island tour and had a run in with a local scam artist but came away from it unscathed. The main mode of transportation in Viet Nam seems to be motorbike. We rented one and zipped around the island for a day. By the end of our honeymoon we felt we’d seen all there was to see in Phan Thiet and headed back to China.

You're Moving Where??

I was living in my hometown, Chicago, working at an okay job and living in a cute lakefront condo. The kids were grown and I lived alone. The man I was dating proposed and I happily became engaged. We were both in our late 40s and had previous marriages under our belts so we knew, without hesitation, that this was the right thing. Here’s the catch – marrying my beloved meant leaving behind all that was familiar. My familiar included family, friends, work, even culture – all the marbles. He was an American expatriate working in China and I was going to join him. Me, a Black woman born on the south side of Chicago, going to live on what was literally the other side of the world.

Like many Black families, mine is traditional in some ways. We enjoy family reunions, go to church, sometimes dip a bit too deeply into each other’s business, have our squabbles but manage to somehow “be there” for one another. Most times we feel the love. That said, when I told them the plan, the resounding response was, “YOU’RE GOING WHERE?!” It seemed everyone had their own notions of what life in China would be for us. Girl, you know they’re Communist over there and you’ll be persecuted for being a Christian. Ooh, so many people. They have some strange notions of personal hygiene. What will you eat? Do they have cable TV? And my personal favorite from my soon to be mother-in-law…Hmmm, they have lots of silk and pearls in China don’t they?

Well I sucked it all up and undaunted by the folks who love me, started making plans. My heart’s twin was in China and I was going to be with him. My fiancée and I decided I would come to China for a month, just to make sure I really was okay with this whole thing. We also planned to figure out when and where we would get married. It was important that he remain outside the U.S. for tax reasons and we were certain we could not get married in China. So, I used up the last of my vacation days, took some unpaid leave and headed to Beijing.

Beijing - First Impressions

I left Chicago for Beijing the weekend after Thanksgiving. The route was Chicago to Minneapolis to Japan and finally Beijing. My total travel time was about 24 hours including layovers. Just long enough for my mind to start playing cruel tricks like, “You realize you’re going to have your next birthday on this plane, don’t you?” At any rate, I finally did get to China and had jetlag for most of the first week.

In terms of housing, we had a lovely modern apartment in a high rise building that would not have been out of place on Chicago’s Gold Coast. We could buy a decent bottle of wine from the market downstairs. The building had satellite TV and reasonably reliable wireless Internet service. It had all the amenities of home. We lived across the street from the German and Israeli embassies. There was never any problem with access to wholesome food at the grocery store and the fresh produce was amazing (and cheap). I bought fresh flowers at Lady Street and meat from the German butcher shop. Since our stay in China was sponsored by the U.S. government, we really were made pretty comfortable. We had excellent health care, Chinese drivers and security guards both at home and at the job site.

From the balcony of our 6th floor apartment, I watched the work day unfold. Before the bustling morning traffic came to life, a cadre of street sweepers cleaned the sidewalks in front of already meticulous embassy compounds under the watchful eyes of armed Chinese military guards. It was not uncommon to see platoons of young Chinese soldiers decked out in spotless green and red uniforms marching or running in perfect formation bringing traffic to a halt. Initially, it was quite unsettling but eventually it became one of those facts of life that barely registered in my mind.

Dining out in Beijing was hit or miss until we came up with a short list of favorites. In terms of Chinese food, I quickly learned that what I’d eaten in Chinese restaurants in the U.S. doesn’t even come close to being authentic. Food in China, like in any country, including the U.S. varies depending on the region of the country. One thing that is universal, however, is that the Chinese don’t typically eat big pieces of meat like we do in the States. Nor do they eat lots of sugar. So, do they really eat what we Americans would consider “exotic” foods? Absolutely. Did I eat any? No.

Beijing is the capital city of China – the seat of government and commerce. It’s a place of stark contrasts between rich and poor. It was nothing to see obviously wealthy Chinese driving luxury cars past the poorest most ragged beggars. The air and water in Beijing are both horribly polluted. Although a mountain range was visible from our balcony, more often than not it was obscured by the pollutants in the air. The Chinese still use leaded gasoline and coal for heating. Many days the smell was bad enough that leaving the balcony doors open was not an option. I remember on those days the weather forecast was often listed as “smoky.”