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Published: March 10th 2007
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We thought Spring was in the air. We shed our outer layers, slipped on our sunglasses and rejoiced outside in the sunshine and warm temperatures. We packed away our down jackets, stowed away our winter boots and plotted to steal away for a moment of stolen sunshine during the working hours.
Oh, Beijing weather, how you have mocked us.
Over the past couple days, the winds have roared back in from Siberia, stripping the trees of their hesistant blooms, rattling the windows and bowling over small children struggling to pedal their way to school on their pathetic little bicycles. The temperature has dropped 20 degrees, making the impending shut-off of the government-regulated heat next Thursday all the more daunting. We have lost Spring, and fallen back into Winter. I hold but one stubborn ray of happiness towards the weather: there is no snow.
The week after Spring Festival, 5 new teachers arrived to join the RLE family. Four of the teachers hail from the United States; one is from Britain. I was delighted to learn that 2 of the new teachers are neighbors of mine: 1 is from Minnesota, while the other is from Illinois. I finally have
Ticket Prices at the Great Wall
Note the 1 RMB insurance
That's roughly 12 cents. compadres to defend the Motherland against those nonbelievers of midwestern greatness in the teaching staff. They've begun to recover from the bleary-eyed, zombie-like trance that I can still remember experiencing when I first arrived, and have taken on some teaching duties of their own-- which is great, as it frees up my schedule a bit to study more Chinese.
Last Friday, we journeyed to the Great Wall. It was the first trip I'd made to the Wall since I've been here this year and the third time I'd been to that particular section of the wall, Mutianyu. The weather was still overcast and smoggy, but the wall never disappoints. It was interesting to be climbing the wall and wearing a winter jacket; in previous experiences, I'd always been wearing shorts. Of course, climbing a mountain requires one to exert a lot of energy, so I shed my jacket in no time. I found it odd that while I was sweating and comfortable without a jacket, I could still see my breath.
Last night, I had longtime wish fulfilled-- I went to see the China Philharmonic play in concert. Almost from the day I'd arrived in Beijing, I'd been
trying to organize an evening out to see the symphony. I had gotten my hopes up so many times, only to be thwarted by our demanding work schedules, a change of venue or a cancellation of the concert. This time, however, everything worked out perfectly. Ten of the other teachers wanted to come with me, so we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant beforehand and then went to the Beijing Concert Hall for the music. The venue is just gorgeous-- marble steps, chandeliers, flowers everywhere. The concert was all Grieg, in recognition that 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of his death. I was delighted to see there was a piano concerto on the program, as well: Grieg's piano concerto in A minor. What I hadn't expected was the rush of feelings that overwhelmed me as I listened.
For much of my life, my dream was to be a concert pianist. When I was 5 years old, I told my mom that I wanted to take lessons, and by age 8, my wish was granted. By age 12, I was competing in local compeitions, and by 16 I had won the Wisconsin State Piano Competition. Most of my high
Ski lift to the top
We cheated and took a chair lift to the top before we started hiking. school graduation yearbook messages include some reference to seeing me in concert at Carnegie Hall one day. I started university as a piano performance major, but the great love of my life didn't continue to go as planned. I found myself frustrated, lonely and agonized as I sat by myself for hours in the cold, dark practice rooms that were in the basement of the music building on campus. I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life: I decided to quit the music school. Fortunately, I had been taking Chinese classes at the same time, purely as an elective, but I was so interested and found I had an uncanny skill to pick up the language more easily than others, that I immersed myself fully into the language major. By the time I graduated, I'd earned a degree each in Chinese language and history.
I can honestly say that looking back, quitting the music school was the best decision for me. I'm thrilled to be in China and I love the Chinese language and culture with the same amount of passion I felt for piano. However, it's a different kind of passion. Music was,
and always will be, my first and greatest love. As I sat in my seat in the audience, watching another young woman perform the concerto with the orchestra, I felt so many emotions. Longing. Bitterness. Envy. Disappointment. Humiliation. Sadness. It's difficult to describe the plethora of feelings I experienced in those moments. I felt the wash of emotion, relived my decision, and then realized that the path I chose for myself is the right path. Music will always be a part of my life, and a big part at that. I can still learn concertos, and maybe I'll even play with an orchestra again one day. For right now, though, I have to be content to be merely a spectator.
By the fourth movement of the concerto, all I felt was the joy and pleasure I feel when I connect with music. I could feel the pulse of the notes in my hands, and I wanted to jump up from my seat, run up to the stage, and finish the concerto for the soloist. Instead, I satisfied myself with being as involved as I could be from where I was sitting-- tapping my foot, playing the notes on my
Great Wall
It's been said that the Great Wall is the one man-made strucure you can see from space, but that's actually a myth.
There's too much smog. lap and breathing in tandem with the performer.
The evening was a huge success. All the other teachers who came professed to have had a wonderful time and pressed me for details about when the next concert would be. I'm so glad to have found people who share my love for classical music, or who can at least appreciate an evening of culture.
As always, thanks for reading.
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