User Comments - brendaninaus

Posted on: Leaky Pipes and Faucets

This lesson is good timing for me. Recently our toilet blocked up, and my Chinese housemates insisted it was because I flush toilet paper down it. But I argued that this is never the case for Australian suburban toilet systems. Finally a visit from a plumber solved the problem with the removal of a mass of tree roots from the down pipes.

Posted on: The Left-handed Child

On my most recent trip to China, I was forced to use chopsticks with my left hand as my right hand was bandaged up (after fighting back when I fell for one of those karoke scams,and falling on a glass which shattered and left me requiring 7 stitches). It was messy at times, but I did better than I thought I would.

Posted on: Why is everyone looking at me?

Definitely some children are frightened of laowai. When I was in a tour group on a boat trip along the 3 Gorges, another Chinese passenger was showing her child the laowai on board. The kid stared in amazement and fright, and whenever he/she saw me it started crying. Maybe my taller height and blue eyes made me more scarier than the others in our group.

I think any adopted kid would be initially be freaked out having strangers take him or her away, but as long as you are kind to him or her, they will get used to you being their parents. I have even heard of adopted Asian children shocked when they looked in the mirror and saw they weren't white like their adoptive parents.

Posted on: Getting Taller (Not Fatter)

Sorry to break the talk on morals of the wets & China, but to go to an earlier point on "mei" or "bu" jian. When I first learnt the term hao jiu mei/bu jian, I found it one way in one book, the other in another. The problem for me was that different Chinese friends from different regions would sometimes "correct" me in it being one or the other. But it wasn't always the same correction (some would insist that it is mei jian, others that it is bu jian). It seems that both negation words are correct, but depending on the region the Chinese speaker is from, not always accepted.

Posted on: Warm Winter Clothes

In the lesson John mentioned that a friend gets comments on wearing shorts in the winter.

I found that wearing shorts in general (even in warmer times) resulted in strange looks from the locals when I was in China. Even in my home in Australia (which I share with 2 Chinese) when I first started wearing shorts, as we came out of the winter, my housemates initially gave me strange looks. But it looks like either my precedent or the Australian heat has converted them, so now they too wear shorts and don't look at me strange anymore when I do.

On the subject of "Ocka"pod and Aussie terms for clothing, you could have mentioned "budgie smugglers", recently worn by the newly elected federal opposition leader. Now they're something that will ceratinly get you strange looks if you wear them in China.

Posted on: Buying a Bike

I didn't notice it when I was there, but do they do what they do with motorbikes in many other Asian countries, and load a bike up with the whole family. I did notice a guy carrying a large load of bricks when I was there, but never the whole family, but it is quite common to have the whole family on a motorbike in places like Thailand & Vietnam.

Posted on: National Day

@sydcarten

Actually the communists hold Sun Yatsen in high regard, as evidenced by the many popular sites in Nanjing celebrating him.

The communists (under the encouragement of the then most powerful communist party in the world, that of the USSR) were part of the KMT until Chang Kaishek took over its leadership and vehmently opposed the communists even over the Japanese who were at the time conquering much of China.

Concerning the 300,000 Nanjing deaths figure. It is a commonly accepted estimate (there are some who argue it is much more, fewer who argue it is less) for the Nanjing massacre. It of course isn't an exact figure, as records weren't that accurately kept then (especially in the fog of war), plus there were many deaths due to starvation and sickness which you might or might not attribute to the Japanese occupation, Certainly the starvation & illness was more than what would be expected without the occupation (especially in nearby Vietnam). There were of course many more deaths outside of Nanjing. The Japanese occupation is commonly used throughout Asia to generate nationalism at the expense of hatred to the Japanese, not helped by a common Japanese view that they were helping to free Asia of its European occupation, so therefore those countries should have higher respect for the Japanese.

Posted on: Jewish Holiday

There are Jewish descendants in the Henan town of Kaifeng. They are descending from Jewish traders who came along the Silk Road, which Kaifeng was at one time the end of. They still practise many Jewish traditions, and have a small museum (very hard to find, basically you have to walk around the area and hope someone from the museum will see you), although their ancient Torah, one of the oldest in existence, is now in Israel, but it was an important document in proving they were actually from the original Jewish people (and many in Israel still refuse to recognise them as such).

They are indistinguishable from the local non-Jews (it would be about 1000 years since their descendants first arrived).

Posted on: City Series: Bali

For those who really want to try, the poop coffee is usually available at specialist coffee shops in the western world, but you will pay. Jenny's quoted prices would probably be the cheapest you could get.

Having just come back from Bali, I found that outside of Kuta, it wasn't the Australian occupied overseas territory that I thought it might be. And it is more than just a beach! There is a lot of cultural things there. Outside of Bali (Java) I rarely saw an Australian at all, even less than all the other Asian countries I have visited.

Posted on: City Series: Bali

I just came back from Bali 2 days ago myself.

I climbed 3 volcanoes. 2, Merapi & Bromo, on Java and Batur (after much arguing with the "compulsory" guides) in Bali, but I decided to not bother with getting there for the sunrise for the last one (trekking @ 1am in the morning is quite hard on several fronts).

I had some nice coffee but I don't think any of it was the copra variety.

I did notice quite a few Chinese tourists there.

BTW, you said you can't go on to the volcano, but I did. Yes, you have to argue with some overpriced and not really necessary guides who insist that they take you (even with threats of physical force if you don't hire one of them), but it is a fairly easy climb. 

There are other volcanoes in Bali but from what I know all are climbable. The one in nearby Lombok (Guranji) you can trek part of, but I am told it is erupting so you can't climb all of it (but, one fellow traveller told me, you can see lava flows, unlike the other volcanoes where you see smoke from geysers and sometimes bubbling springs).