Why, Hello again. 哦！ 你好！

Hey Kids, I know it's been awhile. Not sure if anyone out there still checks in, though I did promise some more photos.
These are all from my last apartment, near Dongzhimen. The woman you see is Fiona, my roommate, and her dog, Puffy.

I am back on-line, so please stay tuned for more photo posting as well as updates.

Tidbits: The 2008 olympics are being called the killjoy games, the sex determination testing facility in Beijing is ready to go (in case a male athlete tries to pose as a woman) , and I will be in the wilderness for the opening ceremonies, so if anyone happens to tape it or finds a good show on-line, let me know.

What isn't tied to China, now?

The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Every time I come back to Wisconsin, it looks different. I'm sure it's myself that's changing, but each trip home I notice new things that have seemingly always been here. Lightening bugs. Bats! Birds and stars. Stars! So many stars. Living in a city for four months that only allows a dim outline of the very brightest stars on exceptionally good nights really lights up the Wisconsin sky.

Depending on who asks, I have different answers as to the, "How was China?" question. "Interesting. Good. Hard. Hell." Living in a sin city of smog, dust, a suicidally inducing living/work situation in a foreign county and culture was not a walk in the park, though I did have some lovely strolls. That is one thing the Chinese know how to do well. City parks. Uh-huh.

Picking a flower, laying in the grass, hearing the sound of life around me, I think of all the millions of people in China who may never breathe clean air, drink natural water or see delphinius. When I lay in the grass and get up covered in leaves, smelling of clover, I remember that in Beijing, no one even puts their bags on the ground. If I layed down, my body would be covered in dust and be left smelling that China smell; garbage and industrial waste and humans everywhere.

I'll be leaving again soon, bound for Mars, I mean, Moab, Utah. But my heart will stay buried here, somewhere in the field flood lakes, green hills and morning valley mist. Stay strong Crawford County! You are one helluva place to come home to.

(I may return to China this fall, in which case, the travel blog ought to be more frequently updated. Until then, watch for some follow up picutres and China related blurbs. Thanks to Mr. J. Knowles for the print and matting of photos, which are available to view at the 'rents, and please to check out ongoing poetry at www.wrender.blogspot.com )

Love!

Tomorrow

I fly back to the states. I'll be working with the Engles in lovely Wisconsin until my older sister Faye "pushes this baby out" (my roomate Fiona's way of saying giving birth) and then assist the rents in a cross country drive to Mars, I mean, Moab. Open Sky is overflowing with students, and I'm excited to spend some time working with them in the desert and COLORADO (hooray!) as well.

I am extremely excited and also very sad to leave Beijing. My apologies I haven't written more lately; the computer is still down and now I am in the basement of a huge mall with chainsmoking Chinese boys playing computer games to use the internet. Soul crushing.

Recently discovered I live very close to Paddy O'Sheas, a wonderful Irish pub in DongZhimen. Through G, who is now in France, I met Maggie, a marine who gaurds the US embassy and is a fabulous lady and lover of the Irish music scene. I was so surprised to see a Bodhran in Beijing! I showed her my spoon skills, much to the chargrin of all others around since she's an enthusastic player now. I sang a few songs myself last night, which I consider an accomplishment considering my stage fright.

An update: XG is in Shandong, training for his new job. When I first came to China, he'd had a month off but now it's work work work again and all the time. My friend Jenny, the girl from Sanlitun, is apparently doing some modeling work now with her Swedish boyfriend? I am not sure what that's all about but am meeting tonight. I never made it back to my ai yi's house, though I may try and say goodbye this evening somehow. My old boss called after the last class I taught and said, "You know, you actually did a good job. Our company will be very different in the fall if you come back." Hm. I have observed at least 3 start up companies in China and will be interested to see which ones are still going in a few years.

Aside from leaving, the most recent adventure I've had was my trip to Sichuan. I traveled down with Caroline and Yangyang, the founder and an employee of HuaDan. We mostly did initial assessment, networking, and preparing for the rest of the team to come down and run participatory theater workshops with the earth-quake survivers. I spent one night and three days in communities hit by the quake and perhaps it's good I don't have photos right now; the devestation was immense.

People ask how it was and the best adjective I've come up with is "broken." The buildings, the roads, the spirit of people. Many folk put on a cheerful face, but after sitting and talking late into the night with a group of adults in Guangji, a town of about 200,000 people, Yangyang and I discovered there is a lot lurking under the surface. The tent camp where we stayed was inundated with barking dogs, sirens, cars and tractors, and fighting couples late into the night. People said they can't sleep because they're haunted by those who died. There are no epidemics yet, but people are getting colds and not getting better. The kids are listless with nothing to do all day and parents don't know how to support them. If families leave their broken homes, they don't get the government subsidy to rebuild. (Only 15-20,000 Kuai, not nearly enough to build a house.) So they can't leave, but there is nothing for them to do while they stay. There is enough food and water for now, but it is going to be a long, long time before communities are able to function again. Peasants gave us heartfelt thanks for coming and while I felt inadequate, just being a novel foreinger able to crack jokes and speak a bit of Chinese, plus play games with the kids brought smiles. I wish I was staying longer to support HuaDan, to see their projects and joy in the villages, to add some of my own in a longer term project.

Prayer, that act of love-thought abounds.

On my train back from Chengdu, I read Jane Goodall's Harvest for Hope, about eating responsibly and caring for the planet. It certainly made coming home feel right. Between the southern city and Beijing, there was NO BLUE SKY. Perhaps it was just a hazy 30 hrs, but I also saw many nuclear power plants and other smoke stacks. Taking planes doesn't help the earth, I am sure.

Recently, I also read Mao's Last Dancer, by Li Cunxin. It's the story of a peasant boy born during the years of Mao who became a world famous ballerina and international citizen. I highly reccomend it, as well as the book Wild Swans by Jung Chang to understand better what the people of this country have been through in the past several decades. The courage and strength is amazing.

Thanks to all for reading and coming on this adventure with me. It's been a trip.

Much Love,

Martha

Counting Down Time

I know it's been a while since I rapped at'cha....

Amazing how free I feel without the computer. Not writing as much and not watching as many movies. Sorry I don't have any pics for y'all, 'cause there are a lot of things I'm going to miss now that I know I'm leaving.

I now live in a room on the 8th floor of a concrete box that has probably never had a white person in its bowels. There is no air conditioning and it's very close to the Dongzhimen subway stop, which is under full blown construction. At night, they use flood lights to keep working. The best thing about my new living situation (besides my roomate Fiona's poodle that is soft and crazy) is that there is a lot of street food for the workers. Eggs and chicken fetuses on skewers abound. I'm more inclined towards the yogurt in jars, but hey.

I've been having a great time in Beijing recently, now that I'm out of the living nightmare of the past few months. I'm far enough away that I can laugh at the ridiculousness now. Whew.....I stumbled onto the Beijing Ultimate scene and disc folk are good folk. Crazy loud drunks with great verticles. Yessss. Sorry I don't have the address, but on Kevin's page (above) you can also visit Tao's blog (just look for the link.) He's a great writer and has some well informed opinions on China. Frisbee is literally translated at flying plate. Cool.

My income consists of the cash I get for doing voiceovers; reading the same 200 conversations over and over for recordings to accompany English learning text books. I find myself either a.) correcting the chinglish grammar, or b.)using it in my every day conversation. "No, I go bed now."

Going to Sichuan with Hua-Dan on Saturday to volunteer with quake relief. Check out their website and please donate if you're so inclined. Be advised it's done in Hong Kong dollars. We do need money. :)

It's amazing the way China (and the world) has rallied to help people in Sichuan. Sadness and hope strong side by side.

It's been so thickly nasty polluted these days that I have an amphibian the size of Texas squatting in my throat. Heard about the storms in Iowa and hope every one there is alright.

Some recent T-shirts:

That's is a angel.
The whole of life on earth is one.
My heart is full of Joy Discovery, Franny.

Love!

Computer Down!

Yes, it is. Hopefully I'll be able to retrieve some of the hard drive (photos and writings, music and projects) and be able to get online again soon.

Until then, infrequent posts. I am now living by dongzhimen with a 21 year old girl from Sichuan and her puppy. Tomorrow is my last day teaching and after that I don't have too much of a plan other than experiencing Beijing and coming stateside in June, hooray!

Today my new roommate and I went shopping and while eating some street noodles in someone's house, the proprieter came in and said, hey, the officials are here, could you all just be really quiet and stay here for like 5 minutes? I'll come back and get you out the back in a little bit. OK!

The Earth is Quaking

The death toll is rising. Every day higher estimates come in. Cities I've never even heard of with hundreds of thousands of people have been destroyed, with no way for help to get in.

How can I write about anything else, how can I stop to think of families who lost their only child, who have worked their entire lives for this one being of their love, crushed? Mercy.

I felt the earthquake here in Beijing. Eating lunch, I thought I was dizzy, about to pass out and then realized no one else was talking either, and the buildings next to ours was swaying. So far away from the epicenter and I was still scared.

I once sent a friend an email, asking why I hadn't gotten an update in a while and the reply said something like, Well, I do the best I can and then I forget how to live. Sometimes, I feel this way too.

A prayer for those suffering.

I suppose it's time to split it all open. I am almost done with this "job" and "apartment," though really the combination of these two things is exactly how I'd imagine being under house arrest must feel like. Not really allowed to go anywhere or have anyone visit, but also without any thing to do, and no one to talk to. I could say more, but I won't.

The best thing to come out of my living / working here is the relationship I've developed with my Aiyi, the woman who cooks and cleans every day. Yesterday I went home with her, to her little place an hour and half by bus outside the city. Her rent is 100 yuan per month; this place is 17,000. ( $US 14 and 2,472 respectively.) I'm not saying that money is the only factor in shaping character, but Aiyi is certainly more kind, patient, and good hearted than some of the folk living here. Again, being outside the city, with common people spitting on the ground, cooking in a room much like the tree house I spent most of my time in as a child, my heart again felt full. I had a fantasy of living in that place, making compost and gardens, not speaking English or using a computer at all. With Aiyi's next door neighbor and best friend we bought vegetables, made jiaozi, (dumplings,) and talked our hearts out. (Literal translation.) After living for months in this cold apartment, I suddenly realized why I've been depressed.

Going to use the toilet (public, squat, no doors) this morning, we heard that one of the neighbor's younger sister's husbands had died from a cerebral hemorrhage. "Who knows?" said my Aiyi as we walked back to her shack next to a canal full of green water littered with garbage. Who knows? Who knows when this life will end?

I am coming back to the states sometime in June, with intentions of returning to China in the fall.

Forbidden Wall

This past weekend was a holiday, Labor day. A lot of people left the city, similar to the spring festival, which made my trips to the forbidden city and the great wall much more enjoyable. (There have been horror stories on long lines.) It also POURED rain, the heaviest I've seen here in this arid city, which I'm sure kept some people away.



Quick notes: The forbidden city is located in the very center of Beijing and was first constructed in 1407, though it's gone through a *few renovations since then. It's really a city within the city as the palace included the living quarters for the emperor, his concubines and children, and the eunuchs who ran the place. Many of the treasures that were once stored here got carted off by Chiang Kai-shek when he fled to Taiwan in 1949, but there are some small museum halls opening now with neat past palace pieces. Currently undergoing a 16 year restoration project, the Forbidden city is only partially open to the public. The last time I visited, there was a Starbucks by the north gate. It closed in 2007.



Rain is acid rain, and you can imagine what it must be doing to all the marble here. The above water spout really looks to be crying, though I'm not sure what's going on chemically to produce the black streaks. Anyone?



This marble slab is very famous, it depicts the heavens with nine dragons (?). I thought it was really cool, because to bring the HUGE slab to the city, they waiting until winter, covered a road with water and slid the stone along the newly created ice road all the way from the quarry. Cool.

Getting out of Beijing the following day to visit the great wall at Simatai was really excellent. The green and the mountains was so refreshing, though I'm surprised at how quickly I've gotten used to the pollution. I really hardly even notice it anymore. Hiking again was also great, as I haven't been getting a whole lot of exercise here in the city. I did buy a bike earlier this week, which was improved my outlook on life about ten-fold and makes getting around a lot more fun. Some people say they don't dare to bike in Beijing traffic, but to me, it's really wonderful. My eyes, clothes, and hair feel a bit nasty afterwards, but it just feels so good to be on a bike again! And yes, my bike has a basket and a back rack and was much cheaper than anything I'd find in the states.

Though I'm still up in the air about what my future holds (in particular the next few months,) I have to admit that the ability to live comfortably in Beijing is a perk.

Medicine Wheel

One map of looking at life is the medicine wheel, which I think of sometimes, here. The assertion is that there are many stages and phases in life people (and the earth) go through, represented by the directions and seasons.

South: Summer, childhood, happiness, sensuality, passion.
West: Fall, adolescence, struggle, pain.
North: Winter, adulthood, responsibility, strength.
East: Spring, death/rebirth, enlightenment, peace.

Maybe some people, in some places, say, the tropics, don't experience this as much as folk from Wisconsin, where we can have freezing cold winters with lots of snow and sweltering summers of drought. Perhaps that is why I am so sensitive.





The past week or so has been tough. Confusing. The badger Emily and I bumped into in Hong Kong said that what I was going through sounded pretty normal; a lot of people just drink themselves through the first few months.




Today I ate a new dish, something with pork, potatoes, green beans, garlic and ginger, onion, and corn all sort of slow cooked together and then eaten with little cornmeal pancakes. SOOOO GOOOOD.




Tidbits: The water we drink here in Beijing is ocean water from Tianjin that's been desalinated using nuclear power. Talking sustainability the other night, someone brought up the point that we as humans surpassed being sustainable a long long time ago. The only option is to figure out how to stay one step ahead of the game, (which has always been the case, eh?) and if anywhere is going to figure out how to do that, it's China. I mean, they have to.




Pictures include the Drum and Bell towers in central Beijing, Shopping on Thursday, the first day of a national holiday for labor day. The girls I went with laughed very hard when I said "China really does have a lot of people," after being squished on the subway and trapped in a 6 story shopping mall for hours buying clothes. We ate in a canteen on the top floor where a fight broke out and soup was spilled all over the floor. I couldn't understand a word that was said.
That day I also went to a break and hip-hop dancing competition, which made me feel like I was 19 and back in Madison.




Thanks to Danny for the post and I love hearing from the fam. Hi Grandma Dot!

Swim and eat rocks.

In all honesty, I sort of hate the blog. It's a jumbled mess, reflective of my life.

I almost hate it as much as the Chinese men that send text messages saying "I was divorce. I think you the one," offer to marry me for $40,000, or assume that since I'm American it's OK to ask if we can practice sex.

Almost, but not quite.

Olympics: Most people in China are really, really excited about them. The slogan "One world, one dream" is everywhere, which should provide some insight into how China sees the upcoming games: as their debut into the international flat world. People here still idolize the west, and America's consumer goods, high living standards, and overall perceived wealth most of all. They don't see a mortgage crisis or debt problem, just big houses and cars. Historically, China has gotten knocked around rather badly by the western world and this is their chance to show everyone what they can do. I think they'll blow our socks off.

People are proud the Olympics will be here, and are all expected to do their part to make Beijing shine. Today I saw a billboard that said, "My Olympics, my contribution, my happiness." This is a good example of modern Chinese thought; nation, family, and self, are all tied, are all one. When news of the anti-China riots spread, all of the profile pictures on QQ (the most popular instant messaging program in China) changed from photos of individuals to an icon of the Chinese flag with a heart, and the words "I love China." ALL OF THEM. The intensity of nationalism here is a powerful thing.

As I'm sure you've heard, it is now ridiculously hard to negotiate visas due to the games. The government isn't even giving out ones that last longer than 30 days, so if you happen to be already living in China, this can be a major problem. I know people who have lives here and already have tickets for the games, but since their visas will run out before, they might not even be able to attend, and might have to leave until October.

That's right, the fuel is controlled by a foot petal, the cart to the left is full of spices, and one of them is MSG, the root of our newest classified taste, Umami. Service is so fast here. This is why.

Hong Kong and Response

Hong Kong is nothing like Beijing. It was cold and rainy when I left the capital at 8 am and swelteringly humid at the Shueng Wan subway station where I first breathed the shark-fin soup smelling air. Ridiculous hills covered in tiny streets, traditional characters everywhere, and that feel of money food money food. Most foreigners that live on the Island are on the extreme "ex-pat package" and have a lot of wealth even by western standards. Cantonese is so pretty, and there seems to be a bit more hostility towards white faces than on the mainland. It was only 11 years ago that the British gave up control of HK.

I was fortunate to be able to stay with a fellow Tianjin '04 Madison student living in HK which greatly reduced the expense of my trip and injected me with a good dose of midwesternism. While catching up in a cafe in Central, we noticed a familiar looking boy on the sidewalk below who upon further interrogation turned out to be a Badger living in Hangzhou. What are the chances? We rode the tram to the peak, walked among the greenery up top and saw the sunset. That night I was treated to dinner at a restaurant where the whole HK skyline was visible...and again didn't bring my camera.

The next day E and I went out the an Island with a giant Buddha statue and I escaped into the wilds for several hours. It's always what I need.

Now I am on the way back to BJ, city of smog and concrete.

Due to the recent remarks by French PM Scozi, all of China is planning to boycott carrefor, a French owned company May 1 and show the world their economic power.


Thanks the responses!

DGH, I think you bring up some good points and for the sake of sake, I'm going to play devil's advocate. Kicking journalists out of tbet certainly didn't improve the world's image of China. It seems that the government wants to keep the western world (and everyone) as calm as possible about the situation. With the coming games, the best method is as little press coverage as possible. Ignorance is bliss.

The name calling is completely ridiculous. No intelligent person puts any merit to it....remember the U.S. is fighting a war on "terror" and trying to defeat "evil," which basically means entire populations of people. At least China has pinpointed ONE individual. Kidding, sort of. Like people in the U.S. who don't think we're in Iraq for democracy, there are common people here who don't really think the DL is evil. But they do want China to remain strong and unified, which will probably benefit them personally, and a free tbet will not help.

I hadn't thought about the lack of coverage during the games. However, I suspect it will be next to impossible to keep anything under wraps. There will be so many foreigners here and they can't kick out the press. Should be interesting, nonetheless.

I wish I didn't have to write tbet. I wish that people were able to say what they think and not be afraid of going to jail or getting killed. I wish that individual thought existed here, that corruption didn't, and that everyone every where could just get along. I don't want to think of myself as defending the country so much as trying to offer a different perspective.

But this situation does highlight an ongoing issue for me as well as many foreigners I've talked to who study China; I was originally amazed with the beauty and simplicity of the Chinese language and ancient philosophy and while the modern society is birthed from these ancient ideas, it's much more complex and there's a lot that's changed. Following the Dao and acting with wuwei, by doing nothing at all seem to be concepts that have vanished completely in the mad-dash for luxury goods and Hummers. I'm amazed by both the incredible detail of calligraphy and jade hairpins and the extreme passionate hate I hear voiced for Japan over and over again.

(Graffiti out at 798.)


I am beginning to settle into my neighborhood. Bought a dress from the woman who lives in a stairwell next to the subway station and met Kudusi, a year and half year old baby boy and his mother, who live in the hutongish neighborhood I look down on from my bedroom window. Kudusi's father is Nigerian, and his mother doesn't know where he is now, but the baby is absolutely beautiful and has six teeth.

According to my aiyi, American children are all very gorgeous, but then they get fat.

Tidbits: A 16 oz bottle of coke is usually 2-3 yuan, or $0.28-0.43. In one of the local flower shops, red roses are 4 kuai/yuan/RMB each. (About $.58 US.) Apparently in the south there's a movement in the goods industries to produce all of the worlds' flowers, fruit, etc, and ship them abroad. One subway stop away, at the world trade center mall, you can ice skate at an indoor rink for 20 yuan ($2.8) per every hour and a half. Apparently that whole cardboard in the dumplings thing was a scam...over zealous reporter.

Western thought and Chinese thought is very different. In the west, we're focused on the individual, creative and critical thinking, with sense of ethical responsibility and social guilt. We have to save the world! Most people in China don't seem to care much about that. They just live as happy as they can and try to do the best for themselves and their families. Human kind is a seriously tiny blip in the life of this planet and an even smaller component in the grand universe. I find that Chinese way of thinking much more practical. At the same time, I've begun to shower a lot less than I used to in the states. Perhaps because here I see how many people there are in the world, I'm more inclined to do my small part to conserve.



My mom is laid up at the moment, and can't get to a computer, so I figured I'd honor her requests for picture posts of miself. If anyone reads this and is able to bring her a copy, I'd really appreciate it. And if you happen to be at my parents house, can you bug them about getting a computer/internet? And maybe tell my parents I love them and I'm glad they are alive? Thanks.

On my way to the improv workshop tonight I saw the moon through the day's haze over the forbidden city. Yesterday night I wandered for a couple hours through the embassy neighborhood, saying "Hello" to all the soldiers that march with such precision. Working on starting a compost and trying to find red worms, which has resulted in some interesting online discussion with other ex-pats. ("The public security bureau has worms?")

What's the News like?

This morning, April 16, 2008, the top stories from various news sources online are as follows:

1.) CNN: State now a danger to kids, sect's moms say (Regarding polygamous ranch Raid)

2.) The Gaurdian: Change in Farming can feed the world

3.) The Economist: Delta Airlines and Northwest are to Merge

4.) China Daily, English version: Comment: CNN owes China an apology for slandering

5.) China Daily, Chinese version: 普京当选统一俄罗斯党主席 Putin to be elected (as the) unified Russian party chairman.

Of these five headlines, the only one mentioned on NPR's 7am news summary podcast was Putin as leader of new Russian Party.

Huh.

Spring Day

I like it when it rains in Beijing. The rain is acid rain, and getting a taxi is ridiculously difficult, but somehow the city seems to slow down, and everything feels clean. I finally bought a second hand umbrella and enjoyed walking a hutong in the dripping evening.




Today, again, sunday, lovely sunday. Friday night I went again to Mao live house, where I saw my first show in BJ, with no expectations of the headliners, Dandi wind. There is so much to see and do in this city, I've gotten a bit overloaded with drum and bass, house, and other forms of music that recently I've pretty much given up on going out. But I'm so glad I made it to this one. Introduced to Glam rock through the likes of Milwaukee's Diamonds, I was expecting a good night of spandex and glitter and got more than I bargained for with this Canadian duo. Completely over the top singing, dancing, and live stage acting combined with on the spot electronic keyboard and a lot of Chinese and foreigners who didn't seem to know what to make of it. The singer even came down and jumped with us on the floor. LikeGoldfrapp mixed with Bjork and David Bowie, crica Hunky Dory. Fabulous.




Saturday I taught my fourth class, which was the best yet. The kids and I are finally getting into a groove and with some increased discipline, getting more English in the class. I no longer allow them to speak Chinese and we played freeze tag. Many children (and their parents) are so focused on competition for education that kids rarely get the opportunity to chase each other, scream, and play out their crushes in the sunshine. Great fun.



My college friend Randy from Kansas came into town on Friday and today we spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around Houhai (a lake with many bars and shops in central BJ) and the surrounding hutongs (old neighborhoods) taking pictures, drinking Qingdao and catching up. It was the first summer day of the year and I showed off my first pedicure ever by wearing flip flops. The feet are now hopelessly dirty, but it was very pleasant to stroll about in the sunshine and cottonwood dander floating down.




Tidbits: Cigarettes here, (as well as alcohol) can be fake, with no drugs at all, only household poisons. The Bladerunner-esque sirens that come standard on all infamous traffic clearing black Audis can actually be purchased by the common man, not just important party officials. The average life expectancy is 72.88 years and China is the fourth largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, and the US.



Opinions: The protests. I think Tbtn culture and spirituality is one of the most beautiful human things on this earth. But this is getting ridiculous.


(Co-workers.)

I have to express my frustration with the huge surge in the western world's jumping on the anti-Chna bandwagon. For a lot of people, it's not hard...up ratings and popularity by becoming political, and chose your side: the communist country eating up world resources, or the holy spiritual outcasts. Not a difficult choice. I think the real, underlying issue is that there are a lot of people who are quite nervous and ignorant about China and are expressing their fear sideways.

How many of the protesters have actually thought about what would happen if Tbt were free? (Free HK! Free Taiwan! What happens then to the US-Chna relations, the global economy, American or French lifestyles?) Really, it's not an option.

Human rights in China is an issue, but it IS getting better. And don't forget we kill people in the US too. Furthermore, raising 5 million people from poverty as quickly as China has is no easy feat. There were some bumps, but I'd say 'twas accomplished with relative grace.

The people here have worked very long and very hard for the upcoming games. It's a shame the common person here will suffer disgrace for something they have little or no control over.

Whew. Sorry about that.



(In the Garbage.)


For pure entertainment, check out this video. Ah yes, it's all coming together for me... hip-hop, film, Chinese, and farming.

Love y'all, love to hear from you!

Art, part II

The trees are starting to get green
and summer city smell comes leaking out
of cracks in shacks and sidewalks.

Yes indeed, spring is coming to Beijing.




Today I went to 798 with two of my co-workers to check out the art. There was some pretty interesting stuff there, though it appears the old warehouses are getting taken over by trendy coffee shops and apartments that none of the artists can afford. There is a village outside of Beijing full of the young starving kind which I'm hoping to check out soon.





Two types of dragons...the fear dragon (literal translation of dinosaur,) and the modern art kind.



More art.



And fashion, the art you wear.

Art, part I

A jade pillow at the Capital Museum. Really amazingly beautiful things here that reminded me how and why I fell in love with Chinese calligraphy, painting, and art.


A bridal chamber.

Sitting in the apartment watching the sand storm come in, two giant pieces of styrofoam just came barreling down from somewhere above me, smashed into the ground, and knocked over a bike. They coulda killed someone. And now lots of other garbage, plastic bags and unidentifiable debris are whipping in the wind. How strange.



Dragons at the Capital Museum




Beijing opera Masks, replicas.

I've been getting some comments on photos and wanted to share some more beautiful pictures, if you're interested in other worldly travels.
My good friend friend Cari is returning soon to Wisconsin after spending three months biking across the Andes and is an amazing photographer. You can check out her photos here.

Tidbits

Some of m' students. We have fun.


To be read like a harper's findings:

You can't transfer rmb to us dollars in China. One form of birth control is to give a pregnant woman an injection to kill the fetus. The government will do this if someone has had more than one child and is even 8 months pregnant. I've been told again and again that most organic food in China is really, not organic. The veggies and such still have lots of chemicals, and I should never eat anything raw, even if I wash it. There was a recent scandal about people soaking cardboard in meat juice and then putting that in dumplings.


I went through a serious bout of homesickness this week, cursing my entire existence for ever moving to this country. Apparently the 2-3month mark is the worst, and I hope it'll only get better from here on out.

China Day

Today was a day. One of those days. A China Day.


But as usual, it started yesterday. After teaching poetry and simon says to my students, (or I should say Professors, since they teach me as much Chinese as I teach them English,) I rushed across town in a taxi to watch the Beijing improv acting troupe. Somehow my girlfriends and I ended up sharing a table with some fellow who really had a parrot on his shoulder, and has played a pirate on T.V. I laughed so much my face hurt and I got a better understanding of how small the ex-pat circle in Beijing is. I mean, in a city of 17 million people, it's surprising how gossip, names, and networking spread like wildfire.



After the show I sort of considered going home since I was planning on Church this morning, but there were plans of a jazz club and it wasn't so late. Our group of about 20 people did not go to a jazz club, however, but ended up at what one might call a Chinese dive bar listening to a Mongolian throat singing band. It was packed to the brim with people shouting, drinking, and singing along with this completely indescribable music. Instruments I've never even dreamed of combined with irishfolk/nativeamerican type traditional melodies sung by the most beautiful men. I wish I had pictures. Alas. If you're really interested, email me... I will send you a song. Needless to say, I didn't get as much sleep that night as I have been and I think that greatly contributed to today being such a DAY.



First thing, church was great; as they usually are. It was refreshing to be surrounded with thoughts of something larger than self and I met many very interesting and kind people who run in the Ambassador circle.

On the way home, I walked. Beijing is famous for its spring dust/sand storms and after 5 days of blue skies and 2 days of hazy rain smog, the strong winds were welcome and warm. I didn't drink at all last night, but still felt hung-over just walking in the bright sunshine. I came back to the apartment (where we now have plants, hooray!) and crashed out for several hours.



In the evening I went to a workshop for Huadan, a non-profit theatre therapy group that works with female migrant workers in China. Tons of fun, good for my Chinese, (since there pretty much no English spoken,) and we ended the session with some drumming and dancing Open Sky party style. I did get lost on my way to the workshop and spent about an hour wandering the Hutong neighborhood in the setting sunlight.



It always seems to be that way for me. I get lost and end up finding something I didn't even know I was looking for. For instance, on the way home from the workshop, I took the wrong subway and while waiting for my correct train I saw a group of Chinese boys moving their fancy feet. Not wanting to let the chance go by again and emboldened by lack of sleep, I asked them if they were b-boys. Big smiles, exchange of phone numbers and the only English words spoken being "B-girl" and "locking" and I now have a place and people to practice dancing with. YESSS.



On the train I also had a nice conversation with a 78 year old Chinese diplomat. I bought milk-tea and bananas and now it's 1:15 in the morning. I'm trying to make it a routine to post on Sundays. I almost made it.

Other news and facts: I'm working on finding a family to stay with for a bit in Beijing so I can better understand parent-child dynamics in this country. Apparently the gov't is working to make a pipeline to bring water from the south of China to the city, since the reservoir BJ is built on is pretty much depleted. Many of these photos are from a camp scout in Maiyun, at the foot of one of the great walls.




(The making of embroidery soles for collecting sweat in shoes.)
(My boss in the doorway of the villagers where we might set up camp. Since it was snowing, they invited us to to have lunch on their Kang, a huge stone bed that sleeps up to 6 people and is heated from underneath by a fire. It was so nice and cozy!)
(The playground within Gemdale International Plaza, my apartment compound.)
(Lunch in Maiyun. So delicious; free range chicken, roasted trout, lots of fungi. They have solar panels on every street light there, which is how it's all powered.)
(Top photo: Maiyun hills north of Beijing covered with flowering trees and falling sleet. We are scouting areas for summer wilderness camp areas.)

Love!