Mien people

At my day job, there are people in Member Services from all over the world.  I love being in the West where Polynesians and Asians are prolific. There are small pockets of Italians, Poles, Russians, Brits, and Irish, but they as are the Native Alaskans, are far outnumbered.  I can't recognize dialect or features yet, but I am working on it.
I work with one young lady who is of Mien descent.  They are country-less like the Jews, and far less is known about their culture.

Originally the Mien people were from China, but emigrated to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.  Mai's family went to Laos and then to Los Angeles, then Anchorage.  She is a beauty with a wide, flat face and big almond-shaped eyes.  She is bubbly and bright with those she knows, but it took a while for her to open up.

She has a large, extended family and practices Animism and Taoism, ancient religions that believe in propitiating and pacifying the spirits.  As with many Polynesians and Asians, family comes first.  For their New Year celebration which does not coincide with China's Mai says, the family slaughters a pig and a cow in the traditional way because they do not like to buy pre-packaged meat.

I can't imagine my race being known as 'insect', like the Han called the Mien.  We always here about the isolated races in deepest Africa but not these people.

Iu Mien, Hunan of China
Photo source: Operation China, Paul Hattaway	People Name: Iu Mien, Hunan Country: China Language: Iu Mien Population: 204,000 Unreached: Yes People Cluster: Yao-Mien Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions % Adherents: 0.00 % % Evangelical: 0.00 % Progress Status: 1.1 Statistics Source: Joshua Project	Profile provided by: Joshua Project PO Box 62614 Colorado Springs, CO 80962 USA 719.886.4000 www.joshuaproject.net
Map source: Joshua Project / Global Mapping International Identity Although they are part of the great Yao nationality in China, the Iu Mien living in Hunan Province have been found to speak a dialect that differs and is considered mutually unintelligible with Iu Mien varieties elsewhere. History There has been great conflict between the Iu Mien (Yao) and the Han for many centuries. Until this century the Chinese character for writing Yao used the radical for "insect" instead of the radical for "people." A series of rebellions occurred among the Iu Mien in Hunan, starting in 1836. The fight was over the control of the opium trade. Most drugs going from southern China to the northern provinces passed through Xinning County, just to the west of the Xiang River valley. The Iu Mien in this region were involved with the trade as well as several Chinese triad societies, including the Qinglian Jiao (Black Lotus Society) and the Bangbang Hui (Cudgel Society). In 1847 another revolt occurred in Xinning, led by an Iu Mien, Li Caihao. The Iu Mien were savagely defeated after fighting lasted for several months. Thousands of Iu Mien were killed. Customs Many of the Iu Mien in Hunan live in isolated villages at the summits of high mountains. Because of their location, the Iu Mien pipe fresh water to their villages through a skillfully constructed system of bamboo pipes. Religion The Hunan Iu Mien share three religious belief systems. They worship Pan Hu, the mythical progenitor of their race, they appease spirits and demons, and they also observe rituals borrowed from Daoism (which includes ancestor worship). Christianity The Iu Mien in Hunan are among China's most unreached people groups. There is very little Christian influence of any sort in Hunan, and few believers have ever dared to venture into the isolated mountains inhabited by the Iu Mien since time immemorial. Text source: Copyright © Operation China, Paul Hattaway. Used with permission.
Iu Mien, Hunan of China

 

Treacle

Recently we went to New Sagaya grocery store.  It is a good place to go for armchair travel as they specialize in stocking items from around the world for the large immigrant population here and maybe for adventurous locals.  We enjoy seeing products that we can't find anyplace else and we always have fun trying to figure out what the products are that are wrapped in colorful packaging or frozen into shapeless balls.  Some of it is quite alien to a Western stomach.

The lad was quite pleased to see whole pigs' heads in the frozen section.  That reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and Farmer Boy, I think it was. Both books detail the dissection and use of each particle of meat/fat/bone/gristle, right down to the stomach which Laura's pa blew up and gave to the girls to play with.  Anyway, if we ever feel like making head cheese, we know where to go although I know quite well the Irish would much rather raise and slaughter his own pig.

It is nearly time to bake the Christmas cake and this particular visit's list included black treacle which was out of stock.  That tells us there are others in Anchorage who make Christmas cakes.

Treacle is any syrup made during the refining of sugar and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". Treacle is used chiefly in cooking as a form of sweetener or condiment.
The most common forms of treacle are the pale syrup that is also known as golden syrup and the darker syrup that is usually referred to as dark treacle or black treacle. Dark treacle has a distinctively strong flavour, slightly bitter, and a richer colour than golden syrup, yet not as dark as molasses.
Treacle is made from syrups that remain after sugar is removed in its refining process. Raw sugars are first treated in a process called affination so that, when dissolved thereafter, the resulting liquor contains the minimum of dissolved non-sugars to be removed by treatment with activated carbon or bone char. The dark-coloured washings are treated separately, without carbon or bone char. They are boiled to grain (i.e. until sugar crystals precipitate out) in a vacuum pan, forming a low-grade massecuite (boiled mass) which is centrifuged, yielding a brown sugar and a liquid by-product—treacle.

The making of it sounds quite dark.  Here are a few references to treacle; some unfamiliar. Funny, how I never thought about the meaning of the word before.
In chapter 7 of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Dormouse tells a story of Elsie, Lacie and Tillie living at the bottom of a well, which confuses Alice, who interrupts to ask. "The Dormouse again took a minute or two to think about it, and then said, 'It was a treacle-well.'" When Alice remonstrated, she was stopped by the Mad Hatter's analogy: "You can draw water out of a water-well, so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well." Alice said very humbly, "I won't interrupt you again. I dare say there may be one." This is an allusion to the so-called "treacle well", the curative St. Margaret's Well at Binsey, Oxfordshire.

In Series 3 episode 6 of Jeeves and Wooster, Bertie Wooster attempts to use treacle and brown paper to muffle the sound of broken glass while trying to make off with an unsightly painting. He is foiled, however, by the treacle's stickiness.

Harry Potter often eats treacle tart in the Harry Potter book series by J.K Rowling.
Treacle tart is also mentioned in Agatha Christie's murder mystery novel, 4.50 from Paddington, as young Alexander Eastley's favourite dessert.

In the film Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Phileas Fogg tells the steward on the RMS Mongolia from Suez to India that his Thursday mid-day meal "has always been, and will always be, hot soup, fried sole, roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, baked potato, suet pudding and treacle".

In the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the "Child Catcher" uses the promise of free Treacle Tarts as one of the lures to capture the Potts children. When Jeremy Potts hears "Treacle Tarts" among the list of treats promised, he exclaims "Treacle Tarts!"

In the Rev. W. Awdry's book Tramway Engines, part of The Railway Series, a harbor crane drops a crate of treacle and is "upset" all over Percy. This happens in the story Wooly Bear.

In Hugh Lofting's book The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle it was mentioned by Tommy Stubbins that treacle tart is one of Doctor John Dolittle's favourite dishes. They also took with them "20 pounds of treacle" on their voyage to Spider-Monkey Island.

A treacle mine features in the novels Reaper Man  (1987) and Night Watch (2002) by Terry Pratchett.
In the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork there is a street named Treacle Mine Road, with the current watch house (analogous to a police station) found in the building formerly housing the entrance to a treacle mine.

The third verse of the children's nursery rhyme Pop Goes the Weasel refers to "Half a pound of treacle."

Treacle is mentioned in the second verse of the song 'Cups And Cakes', by the  parody fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap: "The china's so dear and the treacle so clear."

'Treacle' is a term of endearment, from Cockney rhyming slang: sweetheart  = treacle tart.   In the BBC soap opera Eastenders, former character Pete Beale often addressed Sharon Watts as 'treacle'.

Arctic Monkeys,  English indie rock band have a song named 'Black Treacle'. It is the second song, on their fourth studio album Suck It and See. During the song there are references to the properties of treacle. "Now its getting dark, and the sky looks sticky. More like black treacle than tar."

Somehow, dark karo syrup or molasses just won't be the same.

The Keyboard Cache

After more than 35 years, The Keyboard Cache, the only retail store w/sheet music in town, has closed.  The owner's husband, long retired himself, has been begging his wife to retire for some time.

I myself shopped there while at UAA and remember it fondly. I am wondering what the folks in the Bush are doing for their sheet music.  Probably the same as me:  Googling sheet music companies.

I went in when they were closing and picked up quite a few books for myself and my students but of course could not totally anticipate what I would be needing.

It is a shame they are closed, because we teachers are forced to order from Outside and unable to look at scores and sheet music before purchasing.  Since I am not a self-employed teacher, I am unable to pay wholesale prices and could not by in bulk anyway, having only 26 students and two small choirs. 

I did just receive two piano/vocal books from JW Pepper: Taylor Swift and Adele, but didn't order Strauss' Four Last Songs like I wanted to and I am sorry, because the order came quite quickly.  I just ordered them from Amazon.  That collection is for me; I have been waiting to sing it all my life.  Now I have the right experience and maturity to appreciate it. The cycle has been sung by all the greats:  Lucia Popp, Renee Fleming, the current reigning diva; Jessye Norman; and Kirsten Flagstad and others.

Strauss did not live long enough to see the premiere.  They are titled "Fruhling" (Spring), "September", "Beim Schlafengehen" (Going to Sleep), and  "Im Abendrot" (At Sunset) and all deal with death.

Into the Dark

The year is flying by.  This time last year the Irish lad and I and all our possessions were on our way to the great state of Alaska.  We were probably struggling through the South Dakota nightmare storm at this moment, soon to be at the Great Falls KOA where the lad rested for four days. Pak and I went out and walked a part of the great prairie every day, stopping on the way back to harvest veggies for dinner.

The lad is a Sourdough having made it through a winter here. And he says, yes, he is sour and dough-like which of course, is not true. 

In less than three weeks we went from morning and evening commuting light night to dark.  The morning dark is especially unpleasant and well, black.  I have a two-minute combat commute on Minnesota in the morning that forces one to be instantly awake and aggressive.  Seems like other drivers are affected by the sudden dark as well...

At the day job we have to leave the blinds down until sunrise around 10, so customers can't read our computers.  It's a fish bowl my friend Steve says.  On the plus side, the sunrises and sets are glorious.

All family and spouses/others have been participating in the annual first snow/first stick snow guess.  The lad and I guessed earlier and are no longer in the running, although we thought he had won as he witnessed snow at work.  He was instantly disqualified by the judges though who all sent strict and to- the-point emails stating the snow must be seen in one's back yard! 

The Chugach range, Sleeping Lady, and Denali all have a thick white covering that can't be called Termination Dust by even the most die-hard of ostriches.  The Chugach Mountains lie East of Anchorage and every day that covering gets a little lower and a little thicker. Won't be long now.  It was 23 yesterday morning.

We of course, are not completely prepared for winter as the tires need to be changed over.  The lad did put up plastic on all the exterior house windows and that has helped this drafty, poorly-built, and poorly-maintained house quite a bit already.  The lad and I have had an ongoing argument re getting a woodstove as I find the forced air heating to be ineffective for my arthritic joints, but I fear the lad will win as the only wood for burning is birch which he refuses to pay for.  We did bring up the kerosene heater which he will install in the living room and we will pay $10/per gallon for fuel.

Right now we are thinking how to seat and entertain guests for Thanksgiving in this tiny and over-crowded house and are contemplating getting a storage unit.  I hate to, but there is just no room for a gathering and I do love Thanksgiving.  Not because of the settlers but because it combines family and friends and food!   We hope to have both siblings and their spouses and a friend with no family here but not everybody has RSVP'd yet.  One sib is designing a signature cocktail and I am thumbing through holiday recipes.

The PFD checks have arrived and been spent by now, but not for us until next year.

 Then came the AK Federation of Native week-long gathering which flooded ANC with 5000 Natives and clogged the roads.  This year's theme is "Strength in Unity" and the keynote speaker was John Baker, the Iditarod champion from OTZ.  He raced 16 times I think, and won the 17th time.  I would have liked to have been a part of this but work took priority.  Maybe next year.

Halloween is nearly upon us, and boy, does this town love Halloween!  Houses are decorated nearly as much as for Christmas with strings of lights and skeletons.   We are not sure how many trick or treaters we will see.  The lad will be trying to sleep before the night shift and I will be home at 5:30.

So, the point of the last three paragraphs is to illustrate how clogged and manic the roads are just now.  I fear it will last til after the New Year and then folks will settle down for the last bit of winter.  Combined with the dark, it does seem manic, chaotic, and unnecessary.  But oh well, we are in a city now!

Harvest

The Irish lad brought in the hop, angelica, and Sorrel plants and they are already starting to grow again in the warmth of the house.  We froze the blanched kale and bagged up the sorrel and froze it as well.  It is delicate and the leaves are thin, so that is an experiment.  The lad made a boiled dinner yesterday with the cabbage, which was delicious.  I made a frittata with the sorrel, mushrooms, zucchini, and potatoes which was wonderful.  Today is Spaghetti Bolognese day.

Resolution Park; Downtown Anchorage

Sticker Shock Update

We have been here nearly a year.  The shocking price has mostly worn off, but a few things still stick in my mind:

Natural gas, which is an Alaskan product, has increased in price over 33% in the last ten years.  I am still going to have the gas stove installed as I burn most everything I cook on the electric.

Kerosene is $10.00 per gallon, more than three times the price than VT.  We have a lovely kerosene heater that we have not used up here yet.  The Irish lad has decided he will install it anyway this year, so maybe his sticker shock has worn off.  (I know he is sorry he doesn't have any snow blowers anymore, but people up here just let the snow lie where it falls, mostly.) I hate the forced air heating.  When it goes off, the heat stops immediately.  I have been campaigning for a woodstove but the Irish is adamant that we will not have one as "the wood is no good up here".  It is mostly birch.

Gasoline, by the way, is $3.85 here.

Red peppers are usually sold by the each in markets.  I have seen them as high as $6.00 each in winter and sale prices are 2/$4.  At Costco, they are usually a little more than a $1 a piece.

I have the Fred Meyer flier here.  This week here are some sample sale prices:

Boneless Beef Cross Rib Roast  2.99/lb               Red, Green, or Black Grapes     1.48/lb
18 large, white Eggs                   2/4.00                Kellogg's cereal, regular size      2/6.00
Hunt's tomatoes 14 oz               4/5.00                 Silver salmon, whole                  6.00/lb
Organic milk, 1/2 gl.                  3.29                    Organic avocado                       2/5.00
Roma tomatoes                         1.48/lb                Ocean Spray Juice                    4.00
Ribeye steak                             9.00/lb                 Ben and Jerry's                          2/6.00

The lad has been buying lots of fruit which I have been craving all summer.  This week was Honeycrisps, mandarin oranges, white peaches, bananas, and raspberries.   We are receiving Western sources now, which seems a bit funny to him.  VT Honeycrisps are better than WA's.  The maple syrup is mostly Canadian and we have not seen an Cabot (VT) cheese anywhere which is shameful!  Every place else though.

I went in to an Italian market yesterday to check it out.  The pasta was $30.00 a pound and it was a regular dry box, sold by the pound.  Imported from Italy of course, but still...They had black truffles and probably wonderful olive oil and grana padana cheese.

I still like Costco.  The part of me that prepares in advance for harsh weather likes to buy large quantities to stock up.  We are just now finishing staple goods brought up from VT, all carefully packed in the trailer.

So, back to the red peppers.  I love them and we used to purchase them at White's market in Lyndonville for $1.88/lb regularly, to eat raw or to roast.  We have only seen small jars of roasted peppers here and not at all at Costco, which is weird as they carry pepperoncini, capers, marinated olives, and other similar items.  Finally, recently at New Sagaya, we found a big jar for $12.00 and promptly purchased them.  I have been enjoying red peppers mixed with Roma tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and olive oil; red pepper sandwiches with  garden arugula and salami; and red peppers on an hors d'oeuvres tray with kalamata olives, pepperoncini, and capers.  And that jar is half gone!  Life is good.