User Comments - kdombros

Posted on: Minor Changes, Virtual School, and a Lefty in the Studio

I also read somewhere that there is some indication that the (so far) only 'negative' side effect of ultrasounds is increased frequency of left-handed kiddies!

http://www.healthline.com/blogs/pregnancy_childbirth/2007/10/obstetrical-ultrasound-and.html

Posted on: Assembling IKEA Furniture

I had an interesting conversation with a Chinese furniture store manager here in Sydney. It was a shop selling solid wood (plantation pine stained to whatever wood colour you like).  Most of it was pretty rough, with knots etc, the kind of colonial style that has been popular in Australia and NZ for years especially for families (I think here IKEA is seen as somewhat disposable... buy it if you can't afford to invest in real furniture to see you through your flatting years or until you can get a decent table or whatever).

Anyway, I was saying how nice it was to see solid wood quality furniture that is cheaper (mostly becuase of the knots etc, kinda homemade looking:-) because for young families we still want sturdy stuff that lasts but can't afford like heritage furniture. I asked her why I never saw this kind of stuff in China -- some of it was even made in China and shipped flat pack IKEA style from her hometown in the south somewhere!  She laughed, and said Chinese people didn't like this kind of stuff, it looked too much like peasant furniture. I said "but all that new stuff is just fake, it's not even wood!". Oh well, different tastes she reckoned it looked more modern (the fake stuff).

There is laowai in Qinghai who actually travels around the villages and buys up all the solid wood peasant furniture for peanuts and restores them to sell to... you guessed it... expats living in China :-) Apparently the peasants think he is insane and are happy to use the cash to buy some 'modern' furniture.

BTW has anyone notice how huge lounge suites are in China? Sometimes the couch and two chairs take up the whole lounge room!

Oh, and Henning and Matt, you are probably both right, it just depends what end of the scale you are buying at in both countries -- you could get a whole lounge room of furniture at Fantastic Furniture for a few thousand Australian dollars, but if you wanted to actually kit up your home in your own style and buy all those pieces separately you could spend a fortune. I've seen friends in China do it both ways -- spend fortunes or get it all at bargain price.  Depends how much you want to express your 'pingwei' (don't know the characters for that... means something like 'taste' right?/) 

Posted on: Farewell, Sweet Pete

Aiyooooooooo! Pete I was just thinking how cool you were on Chinesepod... I must have jinxed it :-)

Really enjoyed the way you are sensitive and understanding towards Chinese culture, yet firm on your own beliefs and principles. I will miss your input!

Kelly

Posted on: Xinjiang Delicacies

mmmm I am missing Xinjiang food after this one... I'm with Jenny nang is the best! There is one place in Xining that does it (Qinghai) and I trekked all the way across town to get it for my Sichuan mates visiting.... I told them it was the best bread in China so they had to try it.

We also ate a lot of zhua fan while travelling around in Xinjiang, and another dish that was like ding dings of eggplant, beans, lajiao (banana chillis my Australian grocer calls them) served on rice. Anyone got a recipe??? I've been trying to recreate it ever since using cumin and paprika as spices.

They also have really nice tea, mild with some kind of cinnamon type flavour?

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!

你们好！

孩子终于生了！

但是我对cpod一点失望。。。你真在中过生孩子没有意思！！ 我在中过陪产一个朋友， 中国的生孩子的习惯跟西方真的不一样， 而且他们用的词都是特别的。

在西宁市他们打部分不让老公陪产。一般一个产房有很多怒人一起生孩子，男人不让进去。

我只到在中过很多人说农村是‘落后’但是我觉得他们就是通情达理的。。。因为他们的生活环境真的是不一样的。我觉得你们用了‘落后’对他们一点不客气吧！

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 6: Shopping for the Newborn

In Xining there is no colour code for kids at all -- I have seen many boys dressed in bright pink (which is interestingly called red 红 mostly) but girls certainly wear more frills, bows and flowers. Here, many children have their heads shaved until around three, and you mostly tell their sex while out and about by how much lace and frills on their outfits. Most children here wear a lot of black, as it doesn't show the dirt (very dusty place :-) but with coloured bows and frills etc. When I interview people at home however, the children are wearing older playclothes and I can only tell boys from girls by the traditional method...made convienient through kai1dang1ku4 (split crotch pants).

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 6: Shopping for the Newborn

我跟很多比较穷的人谈话。他们一般晚上用了尿布是，比较便宜的。白天他们大部分用了尿布，或者开裆裤。我也认识一些没有很多钱的妈妈， 她们要去别的人家给孩子穿尿布湿。不是pampers 的牌子：-）

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 6: Shopping for the Newborn

miantiao...

我也觉得很方便。我的孩子小时候我们也把她尿尿。现在澳大利亚的妈妈也刚学怎么把尿！我给她们写一个论文，让她们明白把尿的习惯。因为澳大利亚没有很多水用了尿布也对环境不太好。

在西宁，‘尿布’不是我们西方的尿布，就是一条棉布放在开裆裤里面。孩子尿的话你可以很快给他换一下， 也很方便。孩子会走路以后不要穿尿布。成都也是这样吗？

我看‘二号’不是在路旁，一般孩子早上已经拉的。而且不到三岁的孩子的尿就是一种中药， 我们不应该害怕孩子的尿。

尿不湿 就是‘disposable nappy'。 get it? 'wee-not-wet'

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 6: Shopping for the Newborn

Matt you are right!! We managed to get by with no cot, pram, very few nappies, and pretty much spent no money until all the clothes other people gave us were too small. Oh, we spent money on some 开裆裤 kai1dang1ku4 (split crotch pants) when she was older, and a simple cloth baby sling, which was great for wandering around the unevenly paved streets of Xining. Although I must say one essential was a big swiss ball we owned... useful for Daddies to bounce the newborn to sleep when magic mummy milk doesn't work. Probably different in Shanghai though? I was inspired my Xining friends who needed very little for their little ones.

Posted on: Funny Business

Awesome! Definitely useful -- people are always complaining about this kind of thing, great to be able to participate in this kind of discussion.

I recently asked to have access to a university library here in Qinghai, and they want to charge me 500RMB for five days! I think someone must be running a little 'business' on the side through the foreign students office, knowing that research students can often apply for funding from our home universities for these kinds of expenses. And they are right... as long as I can get a proper receipt it becomes my home university's problem.