Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Typhoon watch

We had a typhoon today. It even has a name. Which I forgot the minute I took my eyes off its onscreen written representation. But it was very Chinese sounding and foreboding. Originated somewhere in the Philippines. The school has issued a warning, cancelled classes (today was my day off anyway)), and the students lined up in the campus store from the back wall to the registers getting whole baskets full of crackers and canned stuff. Probably they were expecting to be sealed up in the dorms for a couple of days. The store must have made a fortune that day. The online paper said thousands were evacuated from Guangdong and Fujian (that's me!) provinces' coastal areas (that's me again!) - a fun read when the typhoon is coming, you are sitting right on the coast, and the paper says people are being evacuated. Ho.

The night was pretty aggressive. The rain was jumping right at the window panes, the wind was howling ominously, and the sky was overcast in that weird way when through the rushing dark-silver clouds you could see some volatile patches of the clear sky, but those patches didn't look at all friendly, - they were more like clear icy-blue steel blades, rather than welcoming starry heavens. Birds were fighting with the air currents energetically navigating along the broken routes with their touseled feathers, calling up in memory the name of Jonothan Livingston. A slight crack in the balcony door blew the curtains up to the ceiling with a sinister hiss. The kitchen cooker hood which is leaning against the window in my kitchen with its iron bars (a strange design I agree), was jittering and groaning with every gust of wind that knocked on the window, threatening to tumble onto my woks and pans. A Philippino teacher raced on his bike off campus when everybody was rushing under the protection of their houses, and to my joking ain't you afraid, he just moved a brow with a 'huh!'. I guess if the typhoon is coming from the Philippines the Philippinos are immune : )

Anyhow, why I am writing all this. I received a telephone message from a former student of mine that read:

Attention please! Typhoon is coming. Store enough food for yourself!

What a nice girl, thought I. And thanked her. In reply I got this:

You are welcome! Staying at your room all day is safe for us!

Now I am thinking what this last phrase really has in its semanix. Doh: )
Did I miss on the whole bunch of scared and shivering girls who wanted to come into the safe haven of my room for protection? Or was it a kind reminder for me not to stick my nose out and let them for once feel comfy even though on the typhooned streets?



Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Off-line vs. On-line reality

Huh! So much time has passed since the last post... But it doesn't feel this way, so everything is fine I guess, 'coz if life in the reality is eventful, who cares about its online reflection :)

Anyhow - my Hainan saga has not been written yet, with only one post hanging out there somewhere, but I am already up and kicking to share the tidbits of my new adventure - a trip to Guilin and Yunnan.

The May holidays turned out longer than I had expected - so I did this dream tour from

Guilin to

Yangshuo by boat on

Lijiang River to

Kumning and

Stone Forest (Shi Lin) to

Lijiang to

Shangri-la to

Tiger Leaping Gorge to

Dali

and back to Quanzhou several hours before I had to turn up in the classroom. 459 photos were brought back, tons of knick-knacks I am not sure what to do with now that I am sober from all the excitement, but I can say I was in the official Shangri-la. Lalala. And patted a live tiger on the nape of the neck. The fur is not as coarse as I'd expected, something like the back of an Airdale.

Stay tuned for more.