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Chinese New Year's Day
Wednesday, February 9, 2005-8:31 PM
Chinese New Year's Day. The last couple days have been spent in Nanfeng, Jiangxi Province, Natasha's hometown. Natasha calls Nanfeng a county, but actually it's a small city. To give you some idea of the size, it only has one McDonalds, and it's fake.
Natasha's family (now just her parents since her and her brother live in Guangzhou) live in a two bedroom flat. They've bought another place that's 50% bigger that's being built now, but I'm not sure if they plan to live there in the future or not.
Natasha's mother has been cooking for us. Some items on the menu include chicken, pork, frog, and fish balls (balls made of fish, not fish testicles).
Last night firecrackers went off almost constantly throughout the night. The fireworks set off the car alarms and made sleeping difficult.
I asked Natasha if a lot of people get hurt with all the explosives around. She told me, "Only once a year."
Everyone speaks the local dialect. The only time I heard them speak standard Chinese was when there was a guest at the table from Wuhan. Even if I listen very carefully, I can't understand anything.
I'll spend a little more than a week here before I go back to Guangzhou.
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