jvd213inBeijing2008

“A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, nor a garden without love.”
- Chinese proverb

“Diane, never drink coffee that has been anywhere near a fish.” – Agent Dale Cooper

January 14, 2008: 11:03 am

Chinese phrase of the day:
Qing wei wo chang yishou ge. – Please sing a song for me.

I’m running on fumes this morning, as I still haven’t been able to regulate my sleep too much, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to my insanely brick-hard mattress. Not to mention, I’ve been wide open all week long, and I’m still on the high of being in a new and foreign country. Yesterday’s classes went really well, and this afternoon/evening, I’ll have two more elective classes, but I’m not sure exactly what I’m teaching yet. The “elective board” goes up on Monday mornings, so I haven’t had a chance to prepare yet for today’s activities. Tomorrow will be my first day teaching over at the SOHO campus, and I’m excited about being over there with some of the teachers I’ve gotten in really good with.

On Friday night, about 8 or 9 of us went over to karaoke, and we had a real blast. It was absolutely nothing like I expected, as I’m used to karaoke being in a big bar or room with lots of people around, and folks taking turns up on the microphone. The place we went to was called “Partyworld” (about as original as “Drinkland”), and I realize now that “KTV” is what everyone calls karaoke here, and have started to notice the places all over town. The Chinese take their karaoke very seriously, and once we got inside I was taken aback by how nice and ritzy the establishment was. We were taken down to the bottom floor where there were hallways lined with little private rooms. We took a room at the far, south end of the building, where there were a few TV screens and little computer monitors set up to pick your songs. There were three microphones set up on a little one-person stage, and a couple of tambourines and shaker-things sitting on the tables. The girls who had been there before took over right away, and things really got going once Aaron and I performed a ridiculously hilarious version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. The TV screens were pretty ricockulous, too, as they played silly fake versions of the music videos while we all sang. When we did “Hey Jude”, there was a funny-looking Paul McCartney look-alike on the screen, intercut with goofy shots of landscapes and kangaroos and ducks swimming in a pond (WTF?). We had some really good laughs and enjoyed ourselves immensely, but I think the other teachers (and me, as well) were disappointed that Shebaz and Jasmin refused to sing. Just not their bag, I suppose, but you wouldn’t have thought it was mine either, and I was on the mike for at least a third of the songs.

When we got home, I threw on the Pilot episode of “Twin Peaks” (previously unavailable in the States), and I’m sure I’ll be quoting the series for the next few weeks (“That’s one damn fine cup of coffee! And hot!”) Before bed I sent out a couple of emails before hitting the sack a little after 1 am. On a side note, everyone here is on Facebook, and that’s how they send each other notes about coordinated events and such, so it’s going to be a challenge to keep myself from getting on there. I’ve held out this long, so I’m hoping I can get by without it, but I’m afraid I might finally have to break down and sign up once some of the teachers start to leave, as I imagine it might be my best source of keeping in touch with everyone. I’ve only been here a week and have already developed some good relationships, so I’ll be sad to see some of the girls leave after the Spring Festival.

Speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to the Festival, which is the celebration of the Chinese New Year, and the biggest holiday in China. It’s a week-long federal holiday here, so I’ll already get a week of vacation, but since the entire country apparently travels during this week, I’m most likely going to stay in the city and try to get as much done in Beijing as possible. On CCTV they’ve already been talking about the week-long fireworks display, as it will be the biggest and longest display in the history of mankind!! Setting off fireworks in the city was deemed illegal a couple of years ago, but during Spring Festival, everyone is allowed to shoot off as many as they like. I’ve been told that the first night will completely blow my mind, and will be the best thing ever, but by the third of fourth day we’ll probably get sick of the constant bombardment of loud “bangs” all throughout the day and night. Someone even told me to be careful when we’re walking around, because people will be shooting off fireworks in the street at all angles and hours of the day, so you’ve got to watch out for stray rockets heading for your face!

As I was telling someone last night, it’s a pretty incredible feeling in this city right now. Whereas moving to NYC at 17-years-old was amazing in itself, New York was already such an established metropolis when I got there. It would have been amazing to have been there in the 1920’s or 30’s, when the city was really coming to life, and that’s exactly the feeling you get when you’re in Beijing right now. This city is in it’s real growth stage, and there’s just something in the air that makes it feel special to be here right now. I don’t think I could have ever picked a better time to experience this city, and everything feels very bustling and vibrant, as if the city is becoming what New York or London has become to the rest of the world.

Last night was a real treat as well, as we traveled to any area called Hou Hai (pronounced “How high”), and about 20 of the teachers went to a beautiful little restaurant down in one of the hutongs to have a huge meal of insanely delicious pizza (a couple of you guys made fun of me for using the term “pie”) and French fries and red wine. It was nice to have some real-deal Western food, as the previous evening’s late-night trip to McDonald’s (which the Aussies call “Mackers”) was much less fulfilling. It was a bit of an experience, though, to order a Big Mac and fries in Chinese! At dinner I got to talk a lot with a teacher named Leigh, a 60’s-something Scottish teacher who works here with her husband. The two of them have been traveling across the world teaching English for the past twenty years, and it was really encouraging and inspiring to hear her tales of working in different countries, and how they had given up their dream of being rich, to live out their dream of traveling the world and experiencing all the different cultures our beautiful planet has to offer. Unfortunately, both her and her hubby will be leaving rather soon, but I’ve really enjoyed their company and stimulating conversations.

After dinner, we went over to a huuuge sports bar called the “Goose and Duck”, and had a great time drinking and playing pool and air hockey into the wee hours. Right behind our table, their was a huge photo of Yankee Stadium, and when I stood up on my chair to point out the section that we’d usually sit when we got to go to the games, the manager, an older American fellow from South Carolina with the strangest mustache I’ve ever seen, came over to ask me if I was a Yankees fan, and gave me a personal grand tour of the establishment. He invited us to come watch the Super Bowl at the bar, but he said they were expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people for the game, and I think we’ll probably go over to another place that’s a little more low key. It was really cool, however, that there were some photographers at the bar in the room we were in from Sports Illustrated China, and they told me all about the NFL and NBA offices in the city. They also said that there would be a party the night before the Super Bowl with five New England Patriots cheerleaders, and as I explained there is one team in the world that I hate more than the Pats (those bloody Red Sox), I would certainly enjoy a bit of eye-candy if we end up being able to attend.

This afternoon, my first class doesn’t start until 4 o’clock, but I’ve got to go over to the school at 2:00 to get all my hours in. I’ll probably go see what my electives will be, and then go down to Starbucks to put together my lesson plans. Going to heat up some leftover chicken and rice now, and boil up some water to throw on a few dumplings. I hope it’s not nearly as cold over there as it is here (it’s sooo bitter and dry here, I’ve been using facial moisturizer every day to keep the end of my nose from peeling!), and it’ll really be weird when I come home, since I’m adjusting to all the metric measurements over here (today it’s -2° C). Time to get some food in my belly, so will post another update in a few days. As always, my thoughts are with you all. Lots o’ love, and “Zaoshang hao!”

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