Wuk in China

Hey Everyone

Not much is new since I wrote my last post from zigong except that for the last couple of days I have been in very good health but unfortunately now Haixiao has a really sore throat that is being very persistent

One cool thing we did recently was to go to the Zigong Dinosaur Museum on Sunday - it is apparently the largest dinosaur museum in asia and the second largest in the world - I have taken lots of photos for my two little nephews Ben and Bailey. (including some cool photos where Haixiao who is only 5′2 is standing next to this gigantic monster of a creature that must be nearly 20 times her height!) - very impressive to see. And of course I took a lot of photos of the fantastic ‘chinglish’ directions on the signs e.g. ‘Way Of Visiting –>’

The museum was actually built around (on top of) a site where a huge number of dinosaur bones and fossils were discovered. It had some fun things for children to do there as well as some massive fully reconstructed dinosaur skeletons on display. The whole place was unfortunately very hot due to poor ventilation and/or air conditioning.

P.S. I forgot to mention in my previous post that we had visited a fairly large Buddhist Temple fairly shortly after I arrived in Zigong - it was undergoing some renovation but I still got a couple of nice photos even if the temple itself was far from immaculate and had cement mixers and rubble scattered around, not to mention all the people clanging and banging with tools etc.

Yesterday while I sat at an internet cafe Haixiao went to the University to put on her funky square hat and have photos with the other graduates, there are some very cute pictures that I am looking forward to putting on the site in the near future (It would now seem that we are definitely heading back to Chengdu tomorrow and I can’t wait to be honest)

So if all goes to plan then tomorrow I will get to meet the parents. I am admittedly a little nervous as there is bound to be at least one or two awkward situations at some point in time. I am trying my best to be brave…. In regards to her parents my two biggest concerns are 1) There will be little/no ‘personal’ time alone with my girlfriend while we stay there (maybe for as long as one week) and 2) That the language barrier will leave me in some stupid situation when Haixiao is not around to save me.

At this point I want to share with you all the worst experience I have had in China thus far - Yesterday while walking around town with Haixiao trying to think of something to do we found ourselves stopped in front of a table-tennis and pool-hall while we were deciding whether to go inside or not. Haixiao received an sms and was replying to it meanwhile more and more people around us are staring directly at us. It was the most awful and #%)*&*ed up feeling for both of us. Neither of us had been so acutely aware of the pressure and the negative attention that is a result of a white person being attached to a chinese person. It is quite clear that there are a lot of ‘more traditional’ people around displaying some of the most blatant racism I have ever encountered. (granted I have seen white people in Australia treat Aboriginals very poorly and I have seen what rednecks are like in the U.S. and etc etc) but what hurts me most is the way it makes Haixiao sad. I have decided that I have to simply try to remember that the main reason why people give us both nasty looks is because they are jealous. (It is worth noting that when I am in public by myself without Haixiao the number of Chinese that stare at me is reduced tenfold or more)

All we can do is hope that people’s attitudes will be a lot better in Chengdu - and it definitely will be, it just a question of how much better. I’m sure that when we are walking down some of the more ‘local’ backalleys we will still attract the occasional glare but we are determined to overcome such problems. The two of us are very much in love and we get along very well - so I am sure we will be OK.

On this note I will bring the post to an end, and I can promise you the next one will have some interesting news about the encounter with Mr and Mrs Wang, and I will also be able to take the time to comb through the mass of pics I have taken over the last 9 days and put some of the more groovy ones up for you all to see.

Take care everyone and thanks for your support!

Zai jian