I’ve been silenced. My tongue has been tied and my typing hands bound! I feel like starting a campaign – give Conortje back his voice! I arrived in China and found that I can no longer access Facebook, Youtube or more worrying, my blog! This means that things will be very quiet around here for the next few weeks. My Newfie kindly posted this and indeed the last post about Sapa.I cannot reply to any comments but I will be able to see them through my e mail so please keep them coming so I don’t feel too isolated. I have also written about my trip to Halong Bay and Kuala Lumpur but they will have to wait until my freedom has been returned. It’s kind of funny in a way, but only because I don’t live here and for me it is only temporary. But if I really stop and think about it, it is just incredibly scary and so wrong! I will never take for granted my basic freedom of speech again.
I’ve been moving progressively along the communist scale on this trip. In Laos you’d hardly notice you were in a one party communist state. Vietnam however is proudly decorated in posters of Ho Chi Minh! Every step you move Uncle Ho is looking down at you. And with the big yellow star and hammer & sickle everywhere you look you couldn’t forget what kind of country it was. They had also blocked Facebook but there were easy ways around it and I didn’t notice any other censorship. China is a big step up again and it’s taking a bit of getting used to. But it’s only day two so I have time enough.
If all goes according to plan I will visit North Korea in two weeks time. And there things become even more severe. I am not even allowed bring my mobile phone into the country or my zoom lens for the camera. There is also no internet access permitted! I will be completely cut off from the world and will only be shown what the authorities will allow and want me to see. I can’t wait for the ridiculous, bizarre experience. I have wanted to go there for years – it’s been No,1 on my list and I am ridiculously excited to get the chance before it all changes.
I’ll keep on writing away and when I’m back in a country that doesn’t fear its own people I will post everything in one great tsunami of Conorwords. Until I am back my Newfie is going to post some of my travel photos here just so there is some life left in the blog. I’ll not let the powers that be win completely!
I am sure China will present many weird and wonderful situations. The language barrier has already made me giggle to myself more than is sane or polite. For example, in the hostel;
Is breakfast included in the room rate?
No, it is in the restaurant!
Or with a guy on the street who wanted to practice his English on me. We had been talking about his home town when I asked;
And is it a nice city?
Yes, it IS nice to see you!
And today in the supermarket, I picked up an item from the cooler because it looked exotic and interesting and a women came over to me and said
You should buy that?
Really? What is it?
It is delicious!
Yes but what is it?
I had it last week and it was really delicious.
Realising that was the extent of her vocabulary I gave up and just bought the thing. Turned out to be yoghurt. It wasn’t that delicious but at least it wasn’t strawberry flavoured cheese or blueberry flavoured crisps that I also saw on sale. It’s going to be an incredibly interesting few weeks.
You _can_ actually reply to comments via email. Just try replying to this email!
For the Newfie to check out: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/comment-reply-via-email-open-to-all/
Oh and you can even _post_ new blogs via email http://en.support.wordpress.com/post-by-email/
No Newfie needed!
there is ALWAYS a Newfie needed let me tell you
I can? really? did this work?
It sure did…
Argh, so jealous that you’re getting to North Korea before me, and me living right next door! I’ve been toying with the idea since I went to the DMZ a few months ago, but of course I can’t get in from this side so I’d have to go via China… and the South Koreans aren’t exactly generous with holidays so I haven’t managaed to come up with a plan yet! I can’t WAIT to read all about your experiences on the other side of the border! Oh, and if you visit the south, come say hi.
Be careful, Conortje! Remember, loose lips sink ships and all that. Okay, so you’ve no ships to sink, but blogging isn’t worth getting yourself thrown into a “retraining” camp. Leave it in your Newfie’s capable hands. Take care.
ope ouy illw ebe koay? Ouy ouldc usey umay ande aday’s anguagel. Heyt illw evern nderstandu ite!!!eeH!eeh!!
hatwa reatga deaia
my father loved china. got off the plane and felt like he was home. of course, he could speak and read the language fairly well. my mother, on the other hand, hated it. felt like a giantess, with huge feet. couldn’t communicate. wanted nothing more than to go back to London.
i have a friend whose son is there right now. he’s occasionally found ways around the facebook firewall, but mostly he can’t post and stores up his words until he goes to taiwan, and then posts like mad.
I’m undecided as yet – but it’s still early days…
You really didn’t know that you wouldn’t be able to access Facebook and your blog and YouTube in China?! Seriously?! Dude!
A few years back, I had a blog friend who had ways around that, via proxy servers and such, but I do believe that in the intervening years the Chinese government has pretty effectively blocked those.
I just told the Spouse Sparrow about you wanting to go to North Korea, and how I thought you were nuts. He said “Well, what does he want to go for?”
Me: “Dunno, he’s daft. It’s Conor, remember?”
Spouse Sparrow: “Well, maybe just because it’s there. I could see that. You know, like if you were near a Wal-Mart, and you’ve never been, and you just figure you’ll pop in for a moment.”
Me: “WHAT?! How the fuckity fuck can you compare North Korea to a Wal-Mart?!”
SS: “You’re right. Wal-Mart’s worse.”
Me: “No it isn’t, you twat!”
SS: (gives me a nod with a knowing look and raised eyebrows) “Our old Wal-Mart. In the ghetto. North Korea. Which would you rather go to?”
Me: (silence and glares)
So there you have it, North Korea, probably not as bad as a ghetto Wal-Mart.
But you still be careful, okay? Wal-Mart re-programming they do at minimum wage, North Korea re-programming, not so much.
fat sparrow – I love it hehe, brilliant! And, I know you are not going to believe it but I visited my very first Wal Mart two days ago – in Kunming China! It was massive. I got lost – whoever heard of a supermarket having different floors? When I get back from N Korea I’ll let you know which was worse
Best of luck dodging the forces of repression. I had them last week and they were really delicious. Is that how you say?
Oh Conor! Even Google are pulling out of China and just keeping their Hong Kong pages running due to the censorship there. I remember the bruhaha during the Olympics because they tried to censor journalists from posting news about the games. I’m sure there are ways around it though but I did know about Facebook. It’s another world my friend but a colourful one nonetheless! Enjoy (If you don’t know what it is, don’t eat it!)
wow, i didn’t realise that things were quite so severe there. flippin heck. it will be interesting won’t it. can’t wait to hear all about it. glad you found a way to talk to us, mwahahahaha, no one can stop our mighty conor!!xxx