sorry

Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001
From: Ceels
Subject: sorry

As I was trying to say, China loves Celine Dion. Unfortunately, Titanic was one of the ten foreign films the government allows to be played in China each year. Therefore, everywhere you go you hear that damn song (the muszak version)

I was watching the telly the other night (a pointless exercise as you might imagine) when I found one channel broadcasting an English version of the news and I discovered that China TV has no qualms about showing the results of accidentally driving your jeep over an anti-personnel mine. Nor what a body looks like after it has suffocated to death in a bomb blast.

I have only a very limited access to the news and much of it I am very suspicious about. Chinese reporters take great delight in making 'the west' look either sinister or foolish.

I don't know what to believe about anything. I read one article about how Australia had put the blowfly on the $50 bill because Australia is so clean now that there are no dirty places for flies to breed in, so they are cleaner, so they are now regarded in much the same light as bees. Also (and I know this can't be true) I read that Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise have split. What I read about Pres. Bush is enough to put fear in anyone’s heart (but I’ve been kinda scared of him for a while). And as for Falun Gong... I don't want to think about it. Beijing is outraged that America is going to try and pass legislation against them bidding for the 2008 Olympics because of human rights violations, but they executed seven people yesterday for smuggling, "The seven were also deprived of their political rights and their personal property was confiscated".

I fixed the noise in the class by trying to teach Junior One to do the hokey pokey. They were so shocked at the idea of putting their right foot in and shaking it all about that they all just shut up. So much for the hokey pokey.

hope you're well
love ceels