My teacher’s secret, last night’s dream.
I feel this is really interesting, but on the other hand I feel like it’s mean to talk about this, like it’s something I should keep quiet about. The other day I asked my embroidery teacher what her surname was. She told me, and wanted to write it down, but told me she didn’t know how to read and write! In fact, the only thing she could write was her name, because her brother had taught her, but she had real trouble with even that. She told me that her parents wouldn’t send her to school and told her to study embroidery instead, because if she didn’t know how to do embroidery nobody would want her. Her older brother and younger brother got to go to school. Of course, refusing to send girls to school isn’t allowed, but she lived in a little village in the countryside, and people didn’t come around checking very often. Imagine if you couldn’t read and write at all! I feel a little bad mentioning this here since I posted her picture and all, but it’s so interesting. She’s my age or a little younger. She’s married now, and told me her husband and daughter live in Shanghai, and that her daughter goes to primary school here.
Another thing is that I had an interesting dream last night. Really, it was more pleasant than interesting. I often dream of houses and apartments. I’ve even dreamt about them so much that I’ve gotten sick of it. Oftentimes my dreams have to do with moving between two places and not being able to finish, realizing I’ve forgotten to make a firm reservation on the place I want to rent, finding out the doors of my apartment don’t lock properly or something like that. Last night I had a dream in which I had a four room apartment — four rooms in a row, very simple, along a hall in a completely white, square apartment building. The living room was on a corner, and there were windows making up most of two walls, from which we could look down on the city below. There was the living room, with couch, TV and everything, then a bedroom for my husband and I, then a bedroom for our child, and then a kitchen. Not only was this a totally new apartment for me to dream about, but in this dream I had a family! I’ve never had a dream where I was married or had a child before!
November 1st, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Guess you need a man!!!
.
it’s not hard to see you love the Chinese culture so much and I suggest you should be a part of it. Being a REAL Chinese! In the psychological view, I can see that you want to settle down and have a stable life.
I was 12 years old when my mother is in your age . to tell the truth, having a family is the warmest thing in the world. but raising a kid is somehow different, Marry a Shanghai guy, they’re submissive and will cook and do the landuary for their wives.
This proves an old saying in Chinese “Êó•ÊúâÊâÄÊÄùÔºå§úÊúâÊâÄÊ¢¶‚Äú
November 1st, 2006 at 3:03 pm
speaking of your embroidery teacher, most of Miao persons and some other minorities live in the rural areas of China and influenced deeply by the Chinese traditional thoughts. you know, girls shouldn’t go to school and were trained to be a qualified housewife. but lucky for her, she lives in Shanghai and experience the different life-style with her family in the modern city, support herself by teaching embroidery. you found you two alike, you know, you two are at the same age, both living in a stranger city, both fascinated in embroidery. and you envy her family and that’s where your dream comes from, I suppose.
November 1st, 2006 at 3:14 pm
I think I should say something like “you found both of you have something in common” instead, my chinglish is getting better and better since I speak less English these days, and I really wanna end up this and speak more like a native. let’s why I was posting these messages on your blog, hope you don’t mind, and hopefully my comment doesn’t make you feel offensive, I’m interested in people who are interested in the Chinese Culture, and mostly being cool. I think you’re one of them.
November 3rd, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Thanks for your nice comments, Arnold!
Read away! I’m always surprised and pleased to find people I don’t know are reading my blog!