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.