HAPPY 500th POST

Yes, you read that right this is my  500^th blogging birthday. Bring out the cake, light the candles, hang the banners and celebrate.  The KSA Daily officially has 500 posts !!! A collection of 500 stories recounting my cross-cultural mishaps and funny moments, stories of language learning and opening a business, tales of my travels and tour groups, 500 posts with pictures of Uyghur life and beautiful settings I get to call home.  

When I started this project a little over six years ago I never thought I would make it to 500 posts ( I didn’t think my life had that many interesting moments).  Not all of the 500 posts have come from my own hand.  In fact at least seven others have participated in authoring some of those posts, my former roommate, a classmate, my mom, my friend’s mom, expat friends, local friends and a completestranger.

  I am also surprised with the number of people I have met via the blogging world.  I was able to go for coffee in Thailand with a blogging friend from Mongolia, I catch up on news from college dorm mates who now live in Siberia.  I recently met another expat, we spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how she knew me or where we might have met in the past before she finally asked “Do you have a blog?  Are your initials KSA?”

   

I often feel as if it is unfair, when I go home to Canada friends and family know small details about my life.  They have a collection of 500 insights into what my daily life looks like. I, however, don’t know anything about what they have been up to.  I feel like a dud having to ask questions like “You had a second child right?  Girl or a Boy?”  Only to find out that baby is already over three years old.  Those same people know details about the color of my winter coat and my favorite breakfast food.  I feel like an uncaring friend.

The blogger stats say that on a daily basis more than 50 people check out the KSA Daily.  We have had guests from all over the world.  People from over forty countries have stopped by to read some of what is happening at the KSA Daily.  The map on the side shows that Tunisia, Venezuela , Egypt, Singapore and Azerbaijan. If you look up almost anything about Uyghur culture Google will pull up a link to this blog.

On the KSA Daily’s 100^th birthday I asked people to leave comments indicating whether or not it was still worth my time and energy to record my experiences in this fashion.  After such a blatant plea for feedback and encouragement, only 4 people left comments.  Only four people took the time to respond.  Only four people asked that I continue.  On my 200^th birthday my request for affirmation was even stronger.  I asked people to be completely honest and let me know if what I wrote was boring or if they just had nothing to say.  For the 11 people who took the time to comment I kept writing for another three years.

Part of me loves this whole idea of on-line journaling.  The thought that others may read what I am writing,  that you as a guest to this sight might check on a weekly basis to see if I have updated it,  helped me to be more disciplined in the act of journaling than I ever was when it was just a personal book stuffed in my sock drawer.   But truth be told I am tired.  I need a break from constantly thinking of my life as one big blog post.  I want to stop sitting down ever few nights and figuring out how I could write each life situation up as a funny entry.  

And so on my 500^th birthday I want to thank you all for joining me in this adventure and I want to say goodbye for now.  I don’t know if I am permanently done with blogging, or if I just need a break for a few months.  It’s been fun.  We’ll see if in a few weeks I miss the habit of recording, or if enough people respond asking me to continue. But for now we say adieu.   Thanks for sharing in all the humors moments in my life, KSA.

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was another big happy birthday for my roommate and I. This year we out did ourselves rather than a toned down small group parties like past years we embraced the fun of a full on Uyghur dance party. We found a wedding to crash, went for the crazy hair, over the top makeup and sparkly outfits, invited all our friends and danced until we dropped. It was quite the way to ring in my 32^nd birthday.

Also worth mentioning is the fun pile of gifts that people brought; flowers that are individually wrapped, gold studded comb and brush set, miniature Uyghur instruments, scarves, scarves and more scarves and calcium supplements (I guess they think I am getting frail in my old age).

Wedding Crashers

Today was one of my old classmate’s birthday…his one wish was for a crazy dance party with all of his friends. In total our group was comprised of seven different nationalities. Planning a party for that many people takes way too much time and energy, so we decided to just crash a random wedding. Actually this is considered totally acceptable. Most weddings take place at huge restaurants and there are almost always empty tables around the edge of the party. If you are willing to eat the same food as the wedding guests you can buy a table of your own and join in the dancing.

Some of us went shopping and found good Uyghur party outfits. This season’s fashion expands beyond just sparkle and glimmer to include leopard and fishnet (it’s considered trendy not trashy – this year in Uyghur shopping leopard is ‘in’ for every age).

The scene that greeted us at the door was much like any wedding a man in a suite, a women in white, even the bridesmaid. But this was no wedding…

This time we crashed a circumcision party. In Uyghur culture boys are circumcised when they are about 7 or 8 years old. The party and the actual event take place several weeks apart, which means last night was more of a big overblown birthday party for this kid too (hence the reason Mickey and Mini mouse showed up part way through the evening).

At these parties the mom and dad dress up like it's their wedding, the kids stand around singing songs and playing little game, all the relatives eat until they are stuffed, and we foreigners awkwardly swing our arms around and call it Uyghur dancing. But I think both of the boys would tell you: "It was the best birthday ever!"

Roommates Birthday Party

December 28^th is a fun day around our house as it is both mine and my roommate’s birthday. Last year on my 30^th we spent the day enjoying things I love to do. This year was her big 30 and I wanted it to be just as special.
My roommate grew up in an odd home where her parents were mixed in their religious beliefs and therefore conflicted on the holidays they valued celebrating. This discord often caused tension in her house over any festive season. Halloween, however was different, neither of her parents saw anything wrong with their kids dressing up in funny outfits and getting free candy from the neighbors. October 31 quickly became her favorite holiday. This year we spent the end of Oct in the same fashion we have spent most of the month; running around getting our business started (or so worn out from trying that we had no energy to do anything else). Which means other than a few pumpkins in the living year we didn’t really even recognize the highlight of my roommates year.

To remedy that fact, last night we had our very own Halloween 30^th Birthday party. Everyone was encouraged to come in costume.

We had a sports fan,

A Russian man and his flashy skeleton wife

A blind Date

Batman

And we two birthday girls showed up as Uyghur dance princesses.

My roommate loved her new carpet, which we all went in together to buy for her. Sadly we are all out of floor space in this house; I guess we will just have to start hanging carpets from the walls (a very Uyghur thing to do).

For my present I got my very own pomegranate press. I will sometimes buy pomegranate juice freshly squeezed on the streets, but often regret it later when I get really sick from a combination dirty pollution covered fruit being dripped into an unwashed cup and passed to me to drink.

It was a great K and K 30th-31st Halloween/Birthday Extravaganza

Radom Acts of Kindness

Saturday was my roommates birthday. Our present might have been rather unusual, but it was a lot of fun for all the friends who joined her in celebrating. In her card we wrote:

Happy 35th Birthday, Roommate! Instead of giving you a gift, we want to give you the opportunity to perform 35 random acts of kindness because we know that blessing others is what really brings you joy. All of these must be completed by the end of the day. We are including everything you’ll need to complete the tasks. Happy birthday, we love you!

Help 1 person make lunch.

Tell 2 jokes that make people laugh
Help 3 people hand out fliers on the street
Fix 4 things
Help 5 people get their pictures on Jess and Rachel’s wall
Provide entertainment for 6 yellow armband people on the bus
Write 7 notes of encouragement
Hold 8 babies
Help 9 elderly people
Give 10 kids toys
Pick 11 things up for people
Buy a refreshing beverage for 12 people
Take 13 pictures with people to print out and give to them later
Hand out 14 flowers
Give up your seat on the bus for 15 people
Tell 16 people that you love them
Say welcome to 17 people as they enter the store
Leave 18 local currency around town for other people to find
Clear 19 dishes off tables
Collect 20 bottles to give to the recycle lady
Give 21 local currency to beggars
Feed 22 fish
Give 23 hugs
Give 24 popsicles to troops, police, or other public servants
Pay the bus fare for 25 people
Tell 26 memories of people in the group
Bake 27 cookies to give away
Water 28 plants
Pick up 29 pieces of garbage
Teach 30 new English words
Read 31 pages of a book to the neighborhood kids
Tell 32 girls that they are beautiful
Give 33 pieces of fruit to kids as they come out of school
Say “hello” to 34 people
Watch 35 minutes of your favorite show

If you think our gift was unique, you should have seen some of the things her local friends gave her. We still don't know what to feed the salamanders, or whether one thing is a scarf, a night shirt or an outfit. But that my friends is another post for another day.

Timmies Run

If you are a Canadian, or if you have ever been to Canada, I don't need to explain how much Timmie Runs are a part of the everyday ebb and flow of life. When I was in college I use to stop in everyday on my way to work or school and grab a large double-double and a sour cream glazed doughnut. There were many days that I would need another pick-me-up half way through the afternoon. I have so many good memories hanging out at Timmies with my friends, and now I can add one more big one to that list.

With the Internet still being off I don't know when you are reading this....but December 28th was my 30th birthday. Sadly the day didn't start the greatest for me (I was still really exhausted from basket delivery the night before. Yes the Christmas season was just so busy we put off playing Santa until two days after Christmas. We figured people here always celebrate their holidays for days after the event and they would never know the difference). This old body could barely make it out to the living room. My roommate unexpectedly had to head into work for the morning, and I couldn't find my favorite Tim Horton's coffee mug anywhere.

As I was laying on the couch trying to recover from the long trip from my bedroom one of my friends called. She was also not feeling well, I guess she had eaten something the day before that had sent her stomach into convolutions (it is funny this girl and I often are affected by the same foods). She was calling to see if I could come over and take care of her. Normally the three minute trip to her house would not be a big deal, but on days when I am moving slow, and the ground is slippery it seems like miles to me. I made apologies that I just wasn't up to it and hoped she felt better soon.

She called me back a few seconds later to tell me that she had been lying and that she was on the road walking towards my house to pick me up and take me back home with her. I have to admit to being a little mad, I mean if she had a birthday surprise that was worth lying to me for, why didn't she just bring it with her instead of making me go back to her place.

We made the slow cold trek to her house and when the door flew open I was greeted with the most amazing sight. There were all of my closest friends wearing Tim Horton name tags. They had moved the kitchen table to act like a front counter. There was my favorite "missing" coffee mug filled with freshly brewed Timmies coffee (they had had the grinds sent from Canada) and homemade sour cream glazed doughnuts. They had traced the logo off my mug and had made signs for the walls. We spent the morning just sitting around Tim Hortons on the other side of the world, drinking coffee and hanging out. It was the sweetest birthday treat ever.

Celebrating another Birthday

Today is my roommate’s birthday; we started the celebrations off last night by going out with a bunch of her friends to one of our favourite restaurants. Our poor tutor came along because my roommate had assured him that some of her friends were bringing their husbands, but he ended up being stuck at a table of all girls (you would think that would be most twenty something guy’s dream come true).

All of her friends brought nice gifts, but I think the best was the tea pot cozy that doubled as a hat. You see these elaborate tea pot warmers for sale everywhere in the bazaar and for months my roommate wasn’t sure what they were… was it a pillow, a hat, or what? Well she found her own use for it...

The restaurant we went to is normally known for its show and dancing. First they entertain the customers with a performance. In the past they had two Uyghur midgets dancing, more recently it has been a tightrope walker. The show is always followed by music and an open dance floor. While I was never much of a dancer at home, I have learned to love Uyghur dancing since I moved here. Sadly last night they were remodeling the big room and we didn't have any sort of entertainment (other than one of our friends Patigul – she is hilarious). Oh well, here are some pictures from a few years ago, to show you some of the fun we missed out on.

Happy to Me

Yesterday was mine and my classmate’s birthday. We decided to keep up my annual tradition of going to the People’s Square and checking out the ice sculptures ( a weird practice for a girl who hates ice as much as I do). We had fun, but this year they had tape around the sculptures to keep us form climbing on them for pictures. We didn't last long outside this year because the thermometer read -17 degrees, so we snapped some pictures and headed to the restaurant to continue our celebrations.

Bling for my Birthday

For me dressing up means putting on my jean skirt instead of just my jeans, it means my black jacket, or maybe a nice sweater. I like to fool myself by calling it an ‘elegant, understated sort of style’, but to my Uyghur friends it is just plain, simple, and boring. Dressing up requires more, it needs sparkle and colour and zing. All of the Uyghur ladies I go out with will have on makeup and jewellery; their dresses are often caked and incrusted with sequence and glitter.

This semester I have had a real journey to try to add some bling to my outfits (I don’t want these ladies embarrassed when they introduce me to their friends). I don’t know how many times I went to the stores to look. I always wanted to get the smallest delicate necklace I could find in the shop, but the sales ladies would often pick up another one and tell me how much more beautiful it was. The war inside would begin: I knew I should get the one the local people like if I really wanted to fit in, but I just didn’t like it that much. Normally the frustration and tension inside would mount to the point that I would give up and leave the store empty handed.

The truth is that jewellery is more than just a status symbol with the Uyghurs, it is a way to care for your family. Every girl at a rather young age is given a pair of gold earrings by their family. The logic is that if the girl ever finds herself desperate for money, the family has provided something she can sell to survive. So the glitter also has a practical side.

The other day for my birthday my tutor (and Uyghur mother) gave me a pearl, jade and diamond necklace, which might sound like overkill but is actually really pretty. Now she doesn’t have to be as ashamed of my drab appearance in public. But really it is more than that, the pearls are all real, so now my Uyghur family has helped take care of me.