Coping thoughts

While it is easy for us to post a blog, it is not always easy to view/read it. Already, I have developed a coping attitude about life here: be patient (it will happen, the line will be get shorter), it doesn't matter that much (like assuming that by 8:30 tomorrow morning we'll have 4 passport photos, about $200 in cash and an array of other documents for our "physical examination" for residency) or it will just work out (by god, everything is here and everyone else manages, getting 4 passport photos is not so difficult).

And this is just the attitidue one needs with interacting with the internet. The Atlantic Monthly had a great article by James Fallows, something like the Great Firewall that did a good job explaining the censor process in China. As an American, I guess I had not given that much thought to censoring. Despite my 2 year stint in Poland, I had forgotten how sophisticated censoring could be. In China, there are a few ways the governments makes sure you are not reading sensitive information and the bottom line, is that you can always find a way around the system systems/channels...but it takes a while and you get frustrated or punished..and then you are less likel to risk reading that report, articles, or going to that website. So, when we try to pull up our blog, we are likely to get "a cannot reach this link/website" message and then we have to go back, forward or reload to get it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

We went downtown, which has a lot less meaning here, given that everything is everywhere, and instead of watching the Chinese dancers celebrate the last day of the New Year celebration, the audience turned to our girls and rapidly a crowd formed. The two Westerners, who they initially thought were Russian, became the center of attention. They were asked about China, Xi'an, the New Year's celebration, food. The girls were naturally shy and Julia, surprisingly more so than Hana probably because they see Julia as a real live doll and most have no problem touching her excessively, pinching her cheecks, they just can't get over how cute this doll is...or that's what they say. At one point, as Hana was doing her interview in Chinese, an elderly woman picked Julia up for the crowd to see and adore. Jeff and I were pushed aside; as parents of the dolls, we were significantly less important. All I could think is that the dancers, elderly woman with ribbons, had lost their crowd and boy, I bet they were sad. Yet, as I looked at them, they too were focused on the blonde girls, hoping for a peek.

The girls did ok, but left the scene as quickly as they could get away, with one elderly woman following hoping she could take Julia into the crowd so everyone could pinch and squeeze her. We rushed off, hoping that they would not follow for long.