Milk Scandal

The latest food scandal that has China in the headlines has exposed information about the political elite of China. It appears that the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. It seems they can get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. This is all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all organic goods from farms working under the strictest guidelines.

This secure food network is in stark contrast to the frustrations of the ordinary people of China who have faced numerous food scandals. While we were living in China, we lived through the honey contamination, moon cakes filled with bacteria-laden filling, eggs colored with industrial dye and fake liquor that caused blindness or death. We were lucky that we were able to pick up imported goods from shops that specialize for expatriates. The cost of groceries was mind blowing for what we paid for a box of cereal from the U.S. I could have purchased cereal produced in China but was often hesitant to do so. I scrutinized where products came from and would often purchase items from anywhere outside of China.

It is absolutely inhumane that the politically elite are offered food that is deemed "Nation A" which stands for "top end, irreplaceable, the best". These food products are offered to senior politicians or government offices and are not released to the general consumer market. The fact that rice is watered by melted snow from Mount Changbai, which straddles the China-North Korea border, fish is brought in from Hubei province- which is known traditionally as the "land of fish and rice" and tea from mountainous Yunnan area abutting Tibet and beef and mutton from the Inner Mongolia steppes. It has been documented that the rice comes from the northeast, grown seeds specially cultivated by experts from the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It has a very small output, doesn't involve any genetic engineering and it tastes very good. Ninety percent of the rice cultivated goes to the Beidaihe Sanitorium which is a seaside resort for retired party cadres. The remainder is sold on the market. The market price for this rice is five times higher than ordinary organic rice and fifteen times more than the price of ordinary rice.

Reminds me of the time when my friend, Ina told me about the rice she saw drying on the highway between the car lanes. The farmers laid out the rice in the middle of the road amidst car exhaust fumes and locals riding their bicycles. Yummy. I always purchased Thai rice that was hermetically sealed from Thailand and never the rice available in the open buckets at Carrefours. We would often find the locals manhandling the rice with their hands. They would never use a scooper to put the rice directly into a bag. The rice was incredibly cheap versus the bags of rice I was buying. Uh, no thanks.

I have previously stated this before and I'll say it again. China has a very long way to go before the world can trust any and all products that come out of the country. The government goes through the exercise of cleaning up their image for the Olympics. The government manipulates and as soon as the Olympics packs up and leaves town, all the scandals come creeping out again. Coincidence? Nope. It's the government controlling the information that creeps out. They manipulated the Olympics by putting the "cuter" kid as the singer at the opening ceremony and dubbed her voice of the kid with the better voice that also happened to not be so cute. Let's see when the real numbers for HIV, AIDS and drug abuse come through. When the Chinese government can really be honest and address these issues, there is hope for the country.

Happiness is.....

Happiness is being back in my home turf and being able to get to and from errands by myself. No need to schedule a driver, ride the shuttle bus and tool around town in a taxi. Happiness is being able to walk into a store and find clothes that will actually fit me AND not have a sales person trailing behind me invading my personal space and watching me like a hawk. My friends in China know about the freedom I am writing about which they currently cannot experience. Happiness is being able to go to the supermarket and buy anything I want and not worry about food or milk being tampered. Yeah, that's right. That is my happiness.

I had to run a few errands this morning after Matthew left for school. I cleaned up the house, ran a few loads of laundry and got in the car to start my day. Yes- got in MY car to start my day. It was great to be able to listen to what I want on the radio and play with the radio knob. I was able to sing in the car and be off key and not worry about anyone snickering at me. It was nice to be able to do what I wanted and not have to schedule a pick up time. I wasn't on any schedule and wandered into a store to peruse the latest fashions. I was quite pleased that there items in the store that would actually fit me. I didn't have a sales person trailing after me or have to hear the snide "Xiao jie, ni hen pang" followed by the giggle and the smile. Chinese translation "Miss, you are very fat." Yes, I admit that I am carrying around extra weight since college but I must say, I am not obese. In China, I was something of a freak show. The Chinese women there border on the anorexic side while I am on the uh.... pleasantly plump side. Yeah, pleasantly plump. Mind you, I would not qualify to be painted by Sir Peter Paul Reubens if he were alive but I can't claim to be anorexic as well.

I'm out of a job......

Matthew's been in school for a month now and I have been his private taxi driver. When we arrived in July, we submitted an application for bus service with the City of Stamford but, we were informed in late August that the City never received it. As a result, we weren't on the list for bus service. This didn't make me a very happy camper since we found out about this one day before school started. We resubmitted the application and had to wait for Matthew to be input into the system. Should be easy right? Wrong. This whole process from start to finish took four weeks. Ridiculous by my standards but when you're at the mercy of the administration that dictates who gets on the bus, you kind of have to play along. I was a very good girl and I played along by calling the transportation office daily to get a status update. You knew I was a regular when all I had to do was say the last name and not even spell it. The staff knew me by voice, not by face. You get the picture of how persistent I was.

My follow up calls have finally paid off. As of this morning, Matthew was officially picked up by the Stamford school bus for the daily ride to/from school. I was giddy as I waited at the bottom of the driveway with Matthew and watched the bus approach. Now that he's been squared away, I face the reality that I am nothing but an unemployed homemaker and will need to concentrate my efforts to find a job. I really despise the term "homemaker". Then again, my nick name is Susie. I guess that kind of works.

Living in the wild

Living in the suburbs has it's ups and downs. Last night, I was awaken to the howling of several coyotes. Loud and clear in our back yard. This went on for about half an hour. The coyotes were howling at the beautiful moon and I was trying to sleep through the noise. It's nice that National Geographic likes to cut through our back yard as it makes its way through North Stamford. Since I am still Matthew's private limousine driver, this morning we saw an opossum who was sadly mowed down by a vehicle. In fact, we see lots of animals big and small who meet their unfortunate demise on the road.

Sometimes, I can hear the raccoons trying to break into our garbage cans. Luckily for us, it's locked pretty tightly. Otherwise, it would be a bloody mess in the morning. A skunk passing through our backyard will leave the tell tale sign that it's passing through. In Shanghai, we didn't see anything like this. If we did, they were in a jar located at the local herbalist or at Carrefours. The Chinese believe that the animals help with their inner qi mixed with the right herbs. It's not uncommon to find deer, bear claws and what not. So, in China these animals would be fermented in some type of rice wine or in some sort of soup stock. In the U.S., we find them running free until their unfortunate demise.

When it rains, it pours

I've been busy getting things back into order. To date, I am still the limousine service that takes Matthew to/from school. We do the daily jockey of leaving the house by 7:00 AM to beat the school buses on the road and I promptly drop him off at 7:10 AM. Enough time for Matthew to get to this locker and sort out his school bag. I proceed home to start the laundry list of items that need to be done that day. Most of the time, it involves locking myself in a room and facing the items that need to find a home.

Today, my routine has been blown. For starters, I've started the morning with a flat tire. One that won't come off the wheel base at all. I've called the service and someone was supposed to arrive to help me get this thing off the wheel base. So far, no show. In the meantime, I've kept myself occupied by calling the neighborhood tire repair place so I can schedule an appointment to get my tire repaired and putting things away. In addition, I have my eye on the clock because I need to pick Matthew up from school this afternoon.

Oh, did I mention that I've got follow up calls to the insurance company about the paint damage and for the damage to our items? Yes, that is the ongoing saga that doesn't seem to want to end. I've got to make follow up calls to the City of Stamford regarding the school bus situation. I've been desperately trying to get Matthew onto the bus route since the beginning of school. Ridiculous that this has been ongoing for the past three weeks but I have to exercise patience since if I tick off the wrong party, he may never be put on a bus route. So, I am exercising my karma and remaining calm. Hopefully, the rest of the day will be better.