After weeks of mild cultural shocks and adapting to the Chinese way of living, I've finally got time tonight to do a bit of blogging. I have no idea where to start about my first impression of Jinan 济南, the capital of Shandong山东. It's just too overwhelming. It's nothing like what I've imagined before.
First of all, Shandong is not what you and I image it to be. Shandong people are not as tall a giant as rumour has it, though they are generally taller and have bigger body build than their Southern brothers. They have the typical rectangular face and speak loud and fast.
Shandong girls are really fair. So fair that they look nice wearing just about anything & any colour! Oh, speaking of fashion, Shandong fashion is more or less Korean-like; well, with a bit of China mainland touch. They like Korean drama very much, thus copying their hairstyle and fashion. And, oh, Shandong ladies are tough, ok... never mess with them. Very aggressive. I saw at least 2 to 3 incidents how Shandong girls treat (more like 'legs kick and punch fly') their deserving boy-friends. Saya sangat takut.
The first difficulty I encountered here is communication. Oh dear god, what on earth are they talking about? They talk with the velocity of 100mph and you hardly see their mouths open. They could probably recite the whole of SAN ZI JING (三字经) in the blink of an eye! Seriously, it all sounds like this when they talk:"!-@#@ !)*%_+^# #%^ =-$ @#$." Now try to read that.
I can't make out any sausages whatsoever of what they are talking about. Worse still, they complain that I speak too slow! Most of the time I will just give it an "Ey?" After which they will ask if I'm from the South, or Canton. Err... quite close. But most of them would think I'm from Korea, and I will just pretend so since they like Korean so much. (Ha! I also disguised myself as Japanese in London.) This is mainly the reason why I haven't got an internet connection yet because everytime I call the ISP, they start to talk funny and makes me feel like a complete idoit.
This really reminds me the time I was in Paris. I'm a mummer again. I have to mime everything I try to communicate, entirely by gesture and facial expression. How to do that over the phone? Can u see how frustrated I am? So don't ask me how I like it here. (lol)
They don't say the no.1 as YI, you have to say YAO. They don't say medicine as YAO but YUE. You have to start learning to say XING 行 as ok, not KE YI 可以. The most interesting thing though is when they found out that you can speak English, Mandarin, Malay, Cantonese and Hakka, you can virtually see their eyes turning green and the smoke of envy emerging out from their shoulder. It's like, Jesus, I want to kill this little multi-lingual bastard from the South. No lah, just kidding.
Well, it's summer now, it's HOT and DRY. Yes, when I say hot, it's hot hot. 炎热!
Temperature ranges from 37.5 - 40 degree Celsius. It's unbearable. Imagine heat, fire, strong sun-light. Stand yourself in front of the oven with the lid open, oh yes, that's how it feels like. But it's funny how you will still see the crowd gathering in front of the hawkers selling lamb kebab. 2 of my Malaysian colleagues got seriously sick for 1 whole week for eating just 15 sticks of it. And it's so hot that you will see things on the streets that you don't usually see in K.L. What else but all the wet kisses and "free shows". Oh, please, save me from all these obscene cultural shock! Why is it that you feel romantic when you see angmohs kissing and huggin in the streets of London, but otherwise in China? 热情的中国人?
Everything in Shandong is so convenient. Buses come every 2 minutes and stop at every stop. And the bus driver will let you know the name of that stop and when he's about to turn and to stop. (It rhymes!) Fruits are everywhere and cheap, but they taste like plain water. Bank branches can be found anywhere. Food is everywhere. Hospital is everywhere. You can find anything anywhere. It's just so funny how it's similar to the UK. It has the socialist feel to the administration of the everyday life welfare. Even the TV programmes are deeper and more meaningful than those nonsense in Malaysia. It's probably too early to say, but it is generally 'easier' to live in Jinan than in KL. Though food is more refine in KL.
No, things here are not cheap. Well, I should really say, the things that I want are not cheap, but those that I don't need are cheap.
I bought my sandals for RMB120. Not even branded. The cabs here (called DA DI) charge RMB 7 when you first hoop in. I shopped in a departmental store the other day and all the goods ranges from RMB300 to 800 and still demanding. Shandong people love alcohol (70% is nothing to them). No dinner is complete without a few good bottles of alcohol. Host and co-host have to sit face to face on the round table and GAN BEI all night long. Food is so salty you thought they've put the whole pot of salt in. I just don't know how to survive with these kind of food. I will probably end up having High Blood Pressure, talk loud and, who knows, fight like a Shandong lady.
Righty, I've started my 'work' at the hospital in the out-patient department. We have to treat 60 patients a day. Trust me, it's very very tiring. Again, I have not a clue what the patients are talking about. It's frustrating. They cannot comprehend why I can speak perfect Mandarin but not understand a word that they say. They call what I speak as "Pu Tong Hua". When I submit my reports to the doctors, they are all surprised that I can write Chinese. Most are also surprised to find that I'm not brown but look Chinese. Well, am I not a Chinese? Again, they all thought that I am 21. It's not that I pretend to look young, but Shandong ladies really do get old rather early. Most 28-35 look like they are already in the 40's. That's pretty scary. I think it's got something to do with their salty food.
This teacher has 6 assistants. He has to see about 40 patients in the duration of 3 hours.
This is the kind of writings I have to put up with at the hospital.
I heard from my colleagues working in the Gynaecology department that teenage abortion rate is very high here. They are more open minded about sex than us in Malaysia. It probably has got something to do with the fact that they don't have the habit of closing their doors when making chocolate in the loo. Speaking of which... oh dear, they really don't close the door! I saw a lady 'doing' it in the hospital toilet, frontal view, later whom I found to be my teacher. Oh dear, oh dear.
When I told my sister about Jinan, she was really dissapointed that I am NOT going to live in a mountain hole, and in this hole NOT setting up fire to cook and NOT digging a hole in the ground to poo. Now, don't tell me you are dissappointed, too. *Shaking head*
Friday, June 23, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment