jvd213inBeijing2008

February 22, 2008: 7:48 pm

Chinese phrase of the day:
cèng – Walk slowly.

“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.” – Mao Zedong

Lest any more me said?

It’s been quite a bit since my last update, but the last couple of weeks have been - to make a grandiose understatement - quite a whirlwind. I’ve been bouncing around the city, splitting time between a few different “crews” of friends, and I believe that I’ve now been to almost every part of Beijing. My Mandarin is coming along well, albeit slowly, and I’ve finally started my real language classes. I’ve already picked up quite a bit of “travel language,” and have been trying to learn as much as possible from my students and new Chinese friends. The last few days, in particular, have been filled with a number of “firsts”: first travel alone on the subway, first “proper” date, first time at the Centre and the city’s original hutongs, first trip to Tiananmen, first trip to The Great Wall, and a plethora of others with no less significance than the previous…

On Monday of last week, a few of us took a trip over to the Beijing Zoo. While the collection of animals was quite impressive, it ended up being a fairly depressing experience. Most of the facilities were clearly, very inadequate, and it was obvious that many of the animals were not well cared for. The big cats were especially sad, as they paced back-and-forth in their tiny cages, an obvious sign that the majority of them had lost their precious minds while confined to their puny concrete cells. Even the larger pits, which allowed a few of the tigers to have their daily turn outdoors, were littered with rubbish and all sorts of debris. I was most excited to get a glimpse of the ever-so rare panda bears, especially since I thought my mom would enjoy the pictures, but was I desperately disappointed to see that the two we were actually able to catch a glimpse of looked tired and aged, and sadly, they even had a bit of a yellow tint to their fur. The same went for the gorillas, and the rhinos, and the hippos, too, and to make matters even worse, the temperatures on the afternoon that we went were well below freezing, and the wind-chill was at a toe-numbing -15° Celsius. I would say that the trip was worth the meager fee that we paid for the entire day’s activities, but I actually ended up leaving feeling rather hollow about the whole situation.

On Thursday, after a single day back in the classroom from our weeklong Spring Festival vacation, the roommates and I had our first big bash at the apartment to celebrate our hatred for America’s favorite corporate holiday (Boooo, hissss, Valentine’s Day!!). I would reveal the little tagline that I (so cleverly) came up with to commemorate the event, but I’m fairly certain than the language would be a tad racy for a few of you, my devoted family readers. Let’s just say it was an interesting invitation to pound out some booze with friends, rather than stay home alone and participate in a much less exciting anti-Valentine’s activity. We were a little worried that the turnout would be rather slim, but by midnight, we had an absolute apartment full, and it turned out to be quite the smashing success. Cupid would’ve been proud (and drunk!).

The weekend that followed turned out being a chance for Baz and I to head out and do some “prowling” around town, and we spent a couple of nights out in Sanlitun, where we both met a couple of really nice girls – mine, a beautiful little Frenchy from Nice, and his, a sweet Chinese girl from southern Beijing (that spoke even better English than I do!). On Sunday night, we had a really fun evening out at Lucky Street at a bar called “Nashville,” where an incredible Chinese cover band performed a couple of hours worth of hits, from “Freebird” to “Buffalo Soldier.” The funny thing was, after the performance, I tried to talk to the band members and compliment them on their insane skills, but as flawlessly as they belted out the tunes in English, none of them spoke another word of the language, other than the lyrics that they had memorized so perfectly.

Earlier this week, I braved the subway system all by my lonesome to meet the French newbie out for a date in Hou Hai. As frightened as I was initially about the excursion, I quickly learned that mastering the system was one-hundred-thousand times easier than the trains that run in NYC. There are only four lines, and they have a pretty simple layout, so since the pinyin is written on all the signs, and the voice-recordings on the train are spoken in Chinese and English, I found it fairly simple to get myself from Wang Jing over to the city’s heart. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be utilizing the underground more often in the future, as a 10 RMB cab ride over to the station, and a 2.5 RMB ticket for the train, is about 20-30 yuan cheaper than a taxi ride over to our usual destinations. Anyway, we had a really nice night out, as we had dinner at a quaint little Chinese restaurant where we ordered a bunch of different veggie plates to share (what’s up with me and the vegetarians, anyway?), and I got a big order of braised duck in soy sauce. After dinner, we went to a sweet Jazz bar named “Zoon,” which much to my pleasure and surprise, was packed with Chinese people, instead of the typical Western fare. (Side note – many nights out, I feel like I’m in freakin’ Europe, as sometimes the Chinese folks are few and far between!)

Yesterday, my New Yorker friend, Hedi, and I, trekked over to the Centre, where I finally got to experience Tiananmen Square. As I was told that we would be, we were immediately attacked by a trio of female Chinese university students, who walked around with us and tried to get us to go with them to a nearby restaurant to get tea, but I was more interested in exploring the square and taking lots of video and photos. It was my first experience with the Communist regime that exists just beneath the surface of the city’s Capitalist face, and Chairman Mao looked out over us with the same stern expression that is on the face of the 100 RMB note. We walked around and checked out the goose-stepping soldiers, evaded the legions of Chinese hawkers, and took photos of all the Soviet-style government buildings, including the Mao Mausoleum, the Monument to the People’s Heroes, and the Great Hall of the People. It was quite a bizarre experience to step foot upon the ground where the great tragedy occurred (or did it?) in the exact same spot so many years ago, but absolutely incredible to witness the largest city square in the entire world!

After about 45 minutes-to-an-hour, fighting off the throngs of “students” and hellbent salesmen trying to constantly take advantage of a couple of stupid Western “tourists,” we headed over to the hutongs to continue delving. Hedi explained that much off what is left of the “old city” is on track to be destroyed in the very near future, and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to witness the ancient history, which will no longer exist in just a few years. Seeing the hutongs, just minutes away from the government capital, was as great a juxtaposition in architecture and wealth as one city could provide. The extreme poverty was undeniable in this section, and we wandered around, playing soccer with a few little kids, and saying “ni hao” to the smiling elderly folk that littered the narrow alley streets. Many of the shabby residences were being torn down already, or condemned to future destruction, but those structures that remained were a gateway into a more ancient time, when people lived amongst the small community, sharing resources such as food, running water, and toilet facilities. At one point, we even saw an old man driving a rickshaw through the street, yelling out “toilet paper” (in Mandarin, of course), to sell the precious commodity to those who are able to afford it. The experience was beautiful, sad, and eye-opening, all in the same breath. How fortunate it made me feel for all the wealth that our country, our people, and I, have been afforded over this last century. I just wanted to stay and be amongst these people, to share whatever I could, though little it was that I had to offer.

Followed shortly by this incredible experience, this morning, we woke up early to catch the bus with a few other teachers that took us out to the Mutianuyu portion of The Great Wall. When we first arrived, yet again, the tourist junk and hawkers proved to be every bit as annoying, but once we set foot upon the great stairs leading us up the mountain, every one of us was filled with bewilderment and amazement. It was quite a hike getting up the mountain, and I’m sure that I’ll be extremely sore tomorrow morning when I roll out of bed, but when we got to the top, the huffing and puffing was well worth it, indeed. This section of The Wall, though restored in the 19th century, dates back to 1386, and was “built on the foundations laid in the 6th century by the Qi Dynasty.” Needless to say, the experience was as life changing as they get, and you’ll all just have to see the pictures to believe. No explanation that I could ever provide could do this great wonder justice. After a few hours of taking in the watchtowers and all the breath-taking views, we all got whisked back down the mountain in some super scary chairlifts that provided even more incredible views of the majestic Beijing countryside.

All-in-all, you can probably tell I’m enjoying myself immensely, and using every bit of this time to reflect on how wonderful my life is, and has been. I know that I say this in every single blog, but how I wish you were all here to experience this incredible journey with me. I suppose you’re tired of reading now, and I’m just flat-out tired, so I’ll continue to keep you in my thoughts. Untill next time…

[ADDENDUM: Recommended viewing]

I’ve been meaning to include this in my blog, and have emailed a few of you this list already, but here are a few Chinese films that I recommend with the highest appreciation and regard. Anyone, and everyone, would enjoy, and all of these should be available at your local rental store or retailer (by their English titles):

1. Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)
aka “Curse of the Golden Flower” - (English title)

2. “The Last Emperor” (1997)*
* This is actually a Western film, and as such, was the first of its kind to be made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.

3. Ying xiong (2002)
aka “Hero” – (English title)

4. Shi mian mai fu (2004)
aka “House of Flying Daggers” (Hong Kong: English title)

5. Kung fu (2004)
aka “Kung Fu Hustle” - (English title)

6. Se, jie (2007)
aka “Lust, Caution” – (English title)

7. Shao lin zu qiu (2001)
aka “Shaolin Soccer” - (International: English title)

8. Wo hu cang long (2000)
aka “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” - (English title)

9. Ping guo (2007)
aka “Lost in Bejing” - (English title)

10. Huozhe (1994)
aka “To Live”- (English title)

February 26, 2008: 11:48 pm

Chinese phrase of the day:
wŏ xiăng nĭ。 – I miss you.

So, I promised myself that I would steer clear of all the World Link politics, but I’ve decided that I’m going to apply for the Head Teacher position that’s opening up in the next month or so. I fully realize that I don’t have very much in the way of teaching qualifications, but the job entails more organization and delegation skills, and I figured that I’d go ahead and throw my name in the hat, since within the next 3 or 4 weeks, I’m going to be a senior teacher around here anyway. I’ve gotten in good with the guy and gal that currently hold the positions, and they’ve both encouraged me separately to apply, so since it would be a hefty little bump in pay, and afford me my own apartment over in the heart of the city, I figured, “Hey, why the hell not, right?” For those of you that know me best, you would have to concede that my organization skills teeter on the verge of obsessive compulsion anyway, and I’ve already made up my mind that this is the city for me (for a good minute, at least). There’s probably a better chance than not that they’ll decide to go outside the company to hire someone with more experience, but I suppose I have nothing to lose by trying!

I’ve got my next few weekends all plotted out now, so I’m going to be visiting the Mao Memorial Hall (to actually go inside and see The Legend’s body this time), take the day-long grand tour of the Forbidden City, check out the Ancient Observatory at Chang’an Avenue, do a walk of The Lanes (to go inside the Lama and Confucius Temples), trek out to the Temple of Heaven, and visit the National Art Museum (all in the next couple of weeks). I’m hoping that my camera gets back from the States by the time I do some of this stuff, because the one I’ve been using is super K-rappy, and I want to have some nice shots to share with everyone as I cram all this sightseeing in. I’ve put away the novels and movies for a bit, and I’m keeping my nose buried deep in my language books and those about ancient Chinese history, so I feel like I’m really starting to accomplish more of what I truly came here for. It’s certainly hard to believe that only a year ago I could have cared less about this country and its culture, and now I’m growing to love and embrace it more and more with every day! I wish I had the software to actually type with the Mandarin characters, so I could share with you some of what I’ve learned in my last couple of Chinese classes.

Speaking of which, I think I’m going to do better than expected when it comes to speaking and writing, but boy, is reading going to be tough! I’m still completely perplexed by the complication of all the characters, but it seems to be growing easier with each and every lesson. I’m so proud and excited to finally start learning a new language (and big shout outs to Miss Chen for getting me a bit ahead of the curve before I came over!).

I’ve got to hit the sack now, since today was another 12-hour day (including Chinese class), but I’m encouraging all you jerky’s to make your flight plans now, and to get your butts over here before the year’s end! Love you lots, and as always, take care of yourselves. XXXOOO. Zaijian!

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