The Beixin Chinese New Year Chronicles: Day Two.

Currently:

• I saw the Packers beat the Steelers in the comfort of my apartment here in Wuxi, China, Monday morning local time.  The game was good.  The half-time show was terrible.  Why didn't they do something for the Ronald Reagan Centenary?
• I had a real shower for the first time in a week.  My in-laws heat their water with solar panels.  Go figure.
• Here is a photo of my in-laws.
• Catching up on my blogging and podcast-listening seems an impossible task.
• Tony said.
• A great video of Tony with a girl on youku.  Or you can watch it on youtube.
• A walk in Beixin Town.  A walk in the Beixin Countryside.
• Tony plays with gravel.
• The boat.
• Tony on the boat.

 

 

Day Two of the Beixin Chronicles (the official log of my time spent in Beixin for the start of the Year of the Rabbit):

• It is February 2.  New Year's Eve is tonight.  For the longest time, I had thought that February 2 was the first day of the lunar new year because of the dates we were given off from school.
• Feeling useless.  As all prepare for the CNY eve's activities, I watch.
• I do look after Tony.
• But it is not an easy task so I have convinced Jenny to buy her parents a new DVD player.  Tony can watch his Dora DVDs.  We can now think and have some peace and quiet.  Tony doesn't know what to do with himself.
• The in-laws compound is too close to the road.  The trucks zooming by make the house shake and shake.
• Everywhere I go in Beixin, I hear them say "laowai!"  Jenny stops me from yelling "Zhongguoren" back at them.  She correctly points out that I am a remarkable sight in Beixin, and cut them some slack.
• Old men pedalling their bikes down the road.  It briefly feels like I am in Mao's China as depicted in an issue of Life Magazine.
• All the buildings in Beixin are decorated with red posters and sashes for tonight.
• The loud pops and booms of fireworks scare Tony.
• I take Tony for a long walk and suddenly feel overdressed.  In the evening, I need long johns and a toque.  In the day time, it gets up to fifteen degrees Celsius.
• Said David Warren, walking is a great way to ascertain the spirit (the zeitgeist?) of a place.  I see people are moving and getting stuff.  Otherwise, it seems very soulless.
• Tony can answer "or" questions now.  This morning, I ask him is he wants to sleep or get up.  He answers sleep.
• My first shower of the Odyssey is primitive.  I get a trinkle of hot water from the shower head.  I later see that the in-laws' compound has a solar panel.
• My in-laws can gut fish, cook, kill and tear apart animals for meat, and use primitive appliances skillfully.
• I couldn't find my sock.  I looked and looked and looked.  The sock wasn't anywhere to be seen. But then it turned out I had put both socks on one foot.
• CNY eve's supper was big.
• Jenny's Father's brother is 84.  He was born in the year of Rabbit.
• I smoked a cigarette from a 140 rmb pack. (I pay 5 rmb a pack)  The cigarette had a nice-looking filter, but it didn't taste expensive.
• At supper time, I noticed the roads were completely empty because of CNY's eve.  I had to go for a walk to take in the quiet and soak in some sanity.  I then listen to a podcast about GKC and all seemed right with the world.
• All the trash that gets thrown on the street is burnt, on the street.
• Fireworks here seem more like explosives.  The only nice ones I saw were actually over-sized sparklers that were fizzy, colourful, and bursting low to the ground.  Little kids watching them jumped up and down in joy.
• I spend New Year's Eve in bed with Tony.  He falls asleep around eleven.  Jenny watches television, and later joins us.  At midnight, of course, a lot of fireworks are let off.