In answer to your question about how I know it is the 13th generation of Hou’s, I confess that it is merely what I was told and therefore what I accepted as fact without questioning. I did note though, how it was explained to me that they were part of the Ming dynasty 1500 years ago, so I worked off the assumption that somewhere within this dynasty the Hou name appeared and the first generation ‘began’.
I’m afraid I don’t think that Hollywood is quite worthy of a story which must be told with the utmost integrity, with all the ugly parts included. Alas, even if I could entrust Hollywood with its narration, i’d be very, very afraid about the ensuing fights over movie rights and the division of money that it would inevitably cause amongst the Jackson’s. The story will have to remain hearsay for now.
I’m still confused about your melon steak, for it seems to just be a slice of melon on a bed of leaves. Correct me if i’m wrong, but I think you’ve finally been done.
Today was a lot. I have taken the day off fieldwork, although this is nonsense really as I am quite literally planted in the middle of my field. We took a trip to the city via a bus that cost 3 yuan (it’s a Jackson thing to list off prices, and a trait I hope to avoid except in exceptional circumstances) and i’ve got to say, China’s children seem to be having the time of their lives. In the shopping mall I saw the following: an actual snow play area the size of two tennis courts where children were wearing ski gear, a VR game haven, a go-kart ring (?!) and a ball pit at the bottom floor with two banana rafts inside (?!) and a slide that wound from the top floor into the pit. I wondered what on Earth you would go to the mall as an adult for, if you could only gaze upon what I can only call this childcare phenomenon that I was witnessing. Also, I pissed in my first hole. It was un-extraordinary but I couldn’t help but note how much more hygienic the process was than using a toilet seat. Suck on that modernity. I was also let loose in a stationary store and almost wet myself as you can probably imagine, the same went for the supermarket. Then the hot-pot oh the hot-pot, £5 for unlimited food and drink (fuck, I did it again) yes pls. I have to admit though, I did cause a bit of a ruckus in the restaurant as the staff came rushing up to talk to me (as a foreigner) and it felt like the whole restaurant turned to watch. Still though, no one stared and for that I am eternally grateful.
Lotsa love and pictures (soon),
Kirsten
A little bit of a Hou 