Shivaratri

SO today is potentially going to be a pretty crazy day. One of Nepal's (and maybe India's) biggest festivals, Shivaratri, is happening today in honor of Shiva. One element of today that makes it interesting is that we're going to Pasupathinath, a huge Hindu temple and cremation site that is said to be/represent the head of Shiva (the rest of the body is in India). Eight hundred thousand other devotees and tourists are also expected to attend throughout the day from all parts of the Hindu world. That's 800,000, just in case you didn't get that.

(http://gorkhatimes.wordpress.com/)

But the other, even more interesting, thing about Shivaratri is that the god it celebrates was apparently a big fan of the ganj...meaning that a certain percentage of the crowd will probably be stoned off their faces. Much bigger than any weed march! And we've been told that, as well as marajuana, other drugs will be sold through the food vendors..inside the food... Definitely glad I've been warned, cause it sounds like the drugs here are reeaaallly strong. And, as an easily identifiable tourist, one can never be safe in the knowledge that a local policeperson won't decide that you're in fact the exception, and extort money off your stoned ass!

What I'm really looking forward to are the sadhus- the uber devoted- who apparently strip down to their skinny bones and cover themselves in ash. Not sure if this happens before or during their high. However, outsiders may not actually be able to see these guys in their most devoted state because of recent laws containing the nudity to specific areas. Trop mal..

Nepali lookalikes

Molly Shannon
Jay Baruchel
Justin Timberlake
Adrian Brody
The actress that plays LaGuerta on 'Dexter'
Someone Gorgeous

and

William Shatner.

Best post I've ever done.

I feel like a broken record

Sooo today I'm going to a Bryan Adams concert. How's that for random? I know exactly 2 of his songs, and don't think I like the sounds of any other of his music! But everyone at the volunteer center is going- although it's only the staff who are actually going out of a genuine appreciation for his career-, and after a few days of being a grumps I decided to get a ticket too.
It's a HUGE event for Nepal;possibly the first Western artist ever to play in the country. Everyone seems to be very proud, and I can't count the number of times someone's asked me, 'Did you know that Bryan Adams is coming to Nepal?' One thing I really don't like about the concert is that the cheapest tickets cost 2000 rupees- about 30 US! Talk about alienating your fans. Sure, U2 and Gaga and Sting charge insane prices; but would they do the same in Nepal, of all places?
It's funny how many people really like him here- really really like him. Is it his relatively safe musical style? Or just one of those random things? Michael Jackson, or even Mariah Carey, I can understand, but not really our Canadian pop country friend. Maybe he'll go all crazy live and bust out some cool cover songs...it's not like there are going to be beer tents (even though a beer company is sponsoring the damn thing).

But seriously, the fact that it's the weekend is really great. I didn't even have school Monday or Tuesday this week, and I definitely had TGIF written across my forehead. I'm getting a lot more enjoyment out of teaching at the school, but I could not imagine working there for more than a few months! I'm doing my best (ok, my almost best) to make things interesting and relevent, but getting most of the students to write even their name is a massive ordeal, and it wastes almost half the lesson-which is only 45 minutes to begin with!
It (really) doesn't help that the teachers act like part of their job description is chilling out, though. I've written things on the chalkboard during my first class of the day, and come back the next to have all of it still up there. And every single day, I go into at least one classroom to find the students playing and possibly copying out lines, while their teacher sits with their colleagues.
How the fuck can you expect to deserve the right to hit students when they misbehave, when you can't even lead by example as a teacher? No wonder they're crazy and bored. Also, I have serious beef with what they're teaching the kids. Oh good, they can copy out English phrases they don't even know how to say? Someone please tell me why it's important for a beginner EAL student to spell the months of the year off by heart?

Ok, I'm sure noone is really that interested in the sitch at my school. But now I'm bored of writing.

will never be a kindergarden teacher.

Tired tired, 8:49pm. At least it isn't 9:11pm; although not for any 9-11 sentimentality or cause it's the emergency number. It's because, every time I look at the clock....it is 9:11 am/pm. This has afflicted me for years now, with the additional injury of it almost always being eleven minutes past the hour whenever I look at the clock otherwise. What it all means, I do not know. All I know is that it's a boring story, and noone cares about it but me and maybe my mom.

Didn't feel like responding to anything on facebook, felt a bit overwhelming. Although my work starts at 10:15am, I have to leave the house at 8:30 in order to get there on time; and it took me two looong hours to get home today. I burned with rage the entire ride home in my tuk tuk...it just seems silly to put a volunteer in a placement that takes so long to get to! I'm not here to power walk and share DNA with all the other millions of passengers squashed in to whatever form of transport I happen to be taking.

Also, does it seem cold of me to bring up the idea of travel stipends? Yes, I know my placement organization is an NGO,but 40 rupees a day does make a difference here. I figured that if lots of the other volunteers at our center don't actually have to take public transport, this just ends up being another thing a select few of us have to pay for. But obviously it's not going to kill me to shell out the dollaz. Just a suggestion folks; it's not like I'm asking to be reimbursed for all the photocopying etc. that my teaching requires.

And it requires quite a bit, I have found! The "rambunctuous" kids I'm teaching literally are unable to sit and work for more than ...7..minutes without asking me if we can play "Mr. 'eti" (Mr. Yeti, the replacement figure for Mr. Wolf in 'What time is it, mr. wolf?'), or shouting/hitting etc etc. And I'm not talking just about the little guys- who are insane, just so we're all on the same page. This extends to all the students, all the way up to age 14. So now I start the lessons with, 'First, you COPY/FILL THIS IN', and THEN we will color/play/sing'. It's much more effective than me getting pissy-especially when no kid at the school understands more than 40% of what I'm saying at any one time!

Also, these are not 'normal' students. For one, they live in a country where school is mandatory and many kids work instead of going. Secondly, their parents are almost all workers in the village brick factory, which means that they don't get a lot of face time with mom or dad. These kids, I have heard, also deal with the reality of living in small huts with their family, instead of in their native villages.

And the teachers are also part of their attitude towards school. At my placement, though a bell is rung to signal the start and end of classes, the idea of a schedule has little to no bearing on what the teachers will be doing at any given time. My first day, I had lunch outside with the other 6 teachers (who are rather lovely, by the way). When 1:45 rolled around, meaning that classes were meant to resume, not a person acknowledged this fact. While I didn't want to rock the boat on my first time there, by the time it got to 2:10 I decided to finally make a move, prompting the rest of the teachers to follow suit. They probably have certain strengths, these men and women, but routine? Continuity? Responsibility? Perhaps a bit weak. Or just not an issue to them; as is the same with hitting students, having kids wander around the school during class, and rote learning.

It may be working (in certain respects) for Chinese schools, but the way my students have warmed to any sort of fun change in the classroom norm, rote learning and strictly theoretical lessons are not really working here. I mean, even the older kids at school enjoy coloring and playing 'fruit salad'- and not because they're immature. I know I'm kind of rambling here, but basically my opinion is that the educational system here (at least in my village) is pushing kids away rather than drawing them in.

blah blah blah, xyz. 

oh, and we've officially cranked it up to more hours without than with power. Some kind of bouquet is called for, I'm sure. Fourteen hours a day baby!

good day

Sun burning its way through the chilly air. Watermelon season soon. Legs de-furred. These are all excellent things.
But the Most Excellent Aspect of today is that there are Other Volunteers at what I've come to think of as My volunteer center! Been waiting for this period for four weeks!!
 I seriously could not stomach the idea of another long night without electricity (Nepal runs on hydropower, it's dry season now, also avoiding "the grid" from melting blah blah blah. And the government sells spare power we don't have to India.), reading by head lamp and trying to fight the overwhelming power of melatonin until at leeeast..eight thirty....  So I am glad! Gladder than gays and lesbians against defamation (wince). More gleeful than a group of high school singers dressed by Claire's and Gap. Happier than, um, a bunch of penguins tap dancing.
Anyway.
So I had another round of food poisoning, which I'm tempted just to call poisoning, cause I have no idea where it's coming from. Hopefully my body will just follow the 'everything happens in threes' rule on this front, cause this last bout was preetttty awful! Soon I'll hear from the clinic whether it was caused by bacteria or whether I have a parasite living inside me *pukes*. I almost wish it was the parasite option though, cause then I wouldn't feel like I was somehow ingesting every bug in the vicinity! But it really is kind of inevitable here, I think, considering that there are so many people in the city, coughing up nasty gooey stuff (and then spitting it virtually anywhere) is common practise, and we all wash in water contaminated enough to be warned not to open our mouths in the shower.
I guess with other volunteers living and eating alongside me, I'll be able to see whether I'm just a dirty bird or an innocent germ magnet.

Kathmanjimjams

 So I’m finally putting fingers to keyboard (ugh..does not have the same ring to it) and writing about what the herr is going on over here!

Now I don’t want to be one of those people that acts like their experience is the single most unique and crrrazy one ever, or that I have learned sooo much from this amazingly rich culture. Crazy has happened, learning has happened and, hmm, maybe unique too. But I’ve just read/heard way too many self-important travelers spouting all sorts of trite crap and answering the supposedly BURNING questions everyone back at home has for them. Clearly I have a chip on my shoulder about something, but that sort of stuff really annoys me haha.

Speaking of chips- finally saw Black Swan. I guess ‘cracks’ would be a more appropriate term to use in relation to that movie….holy shit what a character! I’d definitely support Natalie Portman for Best Actress, though the Oscars are pretty BS in my opinion. Not sure what my opinion is on the actual movie, but it really affected me, as it did many other people. (Sort of like Aranovsky’s last film The Wrestler; I thought it was really really well made, and the performances amazing, but I don’t know how much I actually enjoyed it, for some reason) I am obviously not a professional dancer (you don’t say!), but when I did dance, in high school, as I got older it became harder and harder not to put a lot of pressure on myself before/during/after performances. So that aspect of the movie resonated strongly with me-if not the extent of the anxiety. Or talent or dedication, for that matter! I wonder how much of the dancing Natalie did, Mila Kunis too. Wasn’t super convinced by Mila’s character or dancing, even though I thought she did a great job with the acting.

Ok ok this isn’t a film blog, so I’ll get on with it. Oh wait, first just wanted to say that I also recently watched (or half watched) The Blind Side. So trite! So corny! And despite the fact that I think Sandra Bullock is a really underrated actress, she really would’ve been more appropriately nominated for playing Harper Lee and (one of) the Capote movie(s) Infamous.

Rant complete.

I guess this is the danger of blogs, hey? That people will suddenly start sharing….everything on their minds…

 But luckily for me/you/everyone, I got to unload a bit of what was on my mind from today on the exceedingly helpful Program Coordinator we have over at our volunteer center. It was a pretty difficult day that brought certain frustrations I’ve had for a while to the surface, and I definitely got a little emotional. Toughen up, bitch!

But seriously, Kathmandu is pretty draining at times. For one thing- the men. I’ll just be blunt and say that I think a significant amount of men here are really immature. Given that the school I’m volunteering is relatively far away, I am out in public a lot on my own, taking the microbuses and tuk-tuks and walking, just like any other resident of the city. And everywhere I go, I am stared at by men (sometimes to the point that I end up shading my face when I’m on the bus when there’s a particularly interested party boring holes into my face) as if I have no peripheral vision. I’ve had guys shout ‘hey. Hey! Hey!!’ when I walk by, as if they can command me to stop. And the jungle of weird/creepy noises and invitations are the worst, because it almost seems like I’m expected to respond positively to them   :/

And no, I DON’T think I’m hot shit or anything. These instances do not translate into affirmations of my undeniable sexuality- especially when I’m wearing shapeless clothing, as I do most days here. (Ok, there’s a bit of shape, fine.)

And I hate it, cause I’ve become completely reluctant to interact with men that I don’t know here, even if they say ‘namaste’ or something. I mean, if the girls also said Namaste, I’d be a lot friendlier- but they don’t.

 Plus, who’s been told before that certain cultures see Western women as more “open”? I’m fucking sick of that and what it implies. Sure, it’s correct to an extent, but everyone will decide how..liberal, we’ll say liberal..they’re going to be. We’re not all the same, obviously, but we’ve all been tarred with the same brush. Gah!

And I’m guilty of the same thing- but you clever people have already picked up on that, haven’t you? Clearly, there are many worthy (and handsome!) men in Kathmandu. And the part about the staring? There isn’t actually a WORD in the Nepali language for ‘privacy’(really), so I shouldn’t run off my mouth too far on that point. Also, there’s a lovely culture of respect that has been set up by the Nepali language that treats everyone like a family member: older women are "didi" (auntie), older men "dai" (uncle), and so on. The other day someone addressed me as "bhainee" (sister) on the bus, and it was a great moment.

Maybe it’s cause I like the women here so much, that certain men really make me frustrated  J  From what I’ve read, heard and seen, women in Nepal work incredibly hard, are hugely resistant and strong and have a great sense of humor. They’re also extremely pretty- although I told a Nepali guy that, and he laughed. (I am obviously of a more cultured taste than he is.)

Though times ARE a changing, I still see what I feel are remnants of a heavily patriarchal society. For instance, I have been lectured to several times by older men when either a) it totally wasn’t necessary, or b) a few sentences would have sufficed. One time an agent talked AT me for literally 15 minutes straight, on a topic that really wasn’t any of his business, and when I started to reply to him, he started talking again! But, to his credit, he did respond to my “No, it’s my turn now” very well. And he did mean well. It’s just something that I’ve noticed and ascribed a cause to.

I think it’s time to put this negative little guy to bed now. 

Discovery Bay

So I’m sitting on the couch listening to Jamiroquai (disco-funk pop from the Nineties? Yeah you do!). This wouldn’t be unusual in any fashion, except that I’m doing it in Hong Kong instead of Vancouver. To be specific, I am in a small section of Lantau Island (see map below) called Discovery Bay, or “Yue Geng Waan” in Cantonese (愉景灣 ).

 This is where I grew up: an increasingly odd “white ghetto” (so-called because of the overwhelmingly Western nature of DB- not because of the race of its inhabitants) that really cannot be done proper justice in words.

The aerial photo above looks to be several years old, but it gives a very clear image of how Discovery Bay is laid out. It also shows how green Hong Kong actually is (something often lost on people who have only ventured into the city part). Plus, the picture has a kind of dated, grainy look that I really like.

The concept of Discovery Bay first came up in the late Seventies. Development had originally started under the old owner of the Hong Kong Resort Company Ltd., Mr. Eddy Wong, but financial troubles saw HK Resorts being purchased by the Cha family, an international textile group. Under Wong DB was intended to be a tourist getaway, but the Chas instead marketed the area as a residential community with a “relaxed lifestyle”. That doesn’t mean to say, however, that ‘Disco Bay’ (the abysmal nickname some residents used to employ) would have looked much different under the supervision of Mr. Wong. I mean it really does have a holiday feel about it- as though a little town in Spain and Club Med Bali had a baby. Or something along those lines.

I really don’t sound too enamored with the place, do I? I suppose it’s cynicism, along with that jittery feeling suburbs sometime evoke in me. Because I really did have a fantastic time growing up in Discovery Bay- it’s pretty much heaven for kids. In addition, the relative peace and space and freedom after the crowds and pollution of Hong Kong proper was really special. Sometimes I describe the experience as essentially growing up in a small town- just one 30 minutes away from of the world’s most famous metropolises.

Another thing about DB is that it’s in a really great location for exploring some of Hong Kong’s lesser known locations and activities. For instance, today I went on a hike to Mui Wo (梅窩 –'plum nest’), a more rural community South of Discovery Bay. Amazingly enough, the last imperial court of the Southern Song Dynasty fled all the way from modern-day Hangzhou (Eastern China) to Mui Wo from the invading Mongols in 1277. Also intriguing are the silver mines that were worked along the Silver River; or rather, the fact that they used to exist- there’s not much to see in the way of memorabilia nowadays.

But the super relaxed village wasn’t the only sight of the hike. Because it’s more like a very steep march up a rough concrete path. That goes past (and if you make a detour, through) a Trappist Monastery. So cool! The monks used to keep dairy cows in the monastery to sell to Lantau Islanders, but now that job is done by the bovine residents of another Trappist Monastery in Hong Kong…not sure what the reasons were for the switch though. Either way, hikers do sometimes run into cows chilling out on the paths! They’re really cute looking but the bulls are kind of on the intimidating side, what with their horns and all. Less cute are the wooden crosses nailed periodically to trees leading the way to the monastery, decorated with Roman numerals and small portraits of Jesus looking martyr-like.

Also fun is the small village spanning the distance inbetween the Trappist monastery and Discovery Bay, called Nim Shue Wan (can’t find any English translation!). It’s this little beach community totally separate from DB, despite its small size and proximity to the heart of Discovery Bay. Apparently most of the people who live there now are domestic helpers (“amahs” in Cantonese), but there are still a few small farms growing carrots, ginger, eggplant and the like (I myself plan to become a regular face at ‘Grandpa’s Organic Farm’). From the looks of it, though, Nim Shue Wan is a poor and somewhat neglected neighbourhood. The roofless remains of cement houses no bigger than nine square meters and the Tin Hau (“Godess of the Sea”) temple remind passers by that this was once a different place. Probably a fishing village or something. But I always enjoy likening it to Jurrassic Park, cause there is at least one abandoned jeep with cracked windows halfway up a hill. Heheh.

 Essentially what I’m saying is that Discovery Bay, for all of its faults, is filled with and surrounded by some amazing places, places I’ve forgotten about since moving to Canada. This is long so I’ll end here. Haven’t credited a single one of the images I’ve used, so let me know if that’s a problem..