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It's been a week since I posted anything, and it's been a jam-packed 7 days. Got a lot of creative writing/reflection/picture-taking done too, but don't have time to include that here. I'll post a link to pics, and just ask if you wanna know more about the personal writing efforts. 9 p.m. an already tired so let's get this started...
RECAP written on bus 6/27...Late Monday
currently listening to: Starlight Mints
Drum & Bell Towers were interesting & informative. Background: During the day, the Chinese would play the 24 accompanying drums and large 25th main drum once every 2hrs, same for the Bell but it was rung at night. They're stored in adjacent facing towers seperated by a small courtyard. They were used as time-telling devices for the whole of Beijing in the days before roman numerals, so the Chinese system was based on Zodiac Symbology. For example, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. in was called "time of the rat," etc etc.
We were around at 3 p.m. for a demonstration of the drum-beating ceremony, got to witness the ushering in of "time of the monkey"--cool synchronization, like anachronistic Stomp or Blue Man Group.
We also took rickshaws through the backstreets of neighborhoods called HuTong's that afternoon. They're back-alley streets somethimes as narrow as few feet at points and still two-way) winding around courtyard-based family mini-compounds that have been inherited for 100's of years. They looked like mazes from above winding around the towers, and from the rickshaws at ground level like human sweat and near collisions. A family let us tour their home--a series of small rooms encircling a central courtyard that has one door leading to the HuTong itself. They gave us dixie cups of tea and a history of their property and the area.
Then back to dorms to study w/Wes & Hao before bed.
Tuesday
No excursion but lecture from the U.S. Curator at Forbidden City/"Palace Museum" (the terms are synonymous). She gave us great pre-information for our visit the next day. The most engaging topic she discussed, to me, was how symbology is woven into the architecture of every major construction project of ancient China--especially colors and numerology. Color use is interesting in particular, may talk more about it later or even do my CHI294 Special Topics essay on it. That or local botany (flowers here are gorgeous) or, if I decide to be less effeminate, TerraCotta Army haha.
Met with a couple of language partners that night, walked & talked mostly about how different U.S./Chinese are, etc. Most college studens here still have their majors chosen for them by their parents. They've been too busy studying in high school to know what they want. This even goes for paths that would be considered "liberal arts" in the U.S., like Calligraphy and History. If the student doesn't like it, they can switch to something else for Graduate School. Other talking points:
--Gay rights in China...well, are limited. It's legal to be homosexual, but still ridiculously taboo topic. I asked if someone was "allowed" to be gay/lesbian here, and they said, "yes, of course, you just can't admit it to anyone ever." Differing opinions on what "allowed" or "freedom" is I guess. So there's technically no legislation against a relationship (although marriage not permitted), but also no culturally acceptable outlet. My friends said that only .01%!o(MISSING)f the Chinese population identifies as gay (compared to America which is probably around 2-3%!)(MISSING), and that basically the only way they can express homosexual tendancies is through internet web postings and photos. They kept referring to the choice as "strange" although not outright slamming it. So a stance of passive exclusion--didn't fully understand my stance of "it doesn't matter, love is love."
--Greetings/idioms...compared all the different ways each languale can say hello/goodbye (they were particularly fascinated with our prhase "sweet dreams"), American slang (they were trying to use the word "tomboy" and kept saying "tomgirl" instead), and how Chinese and English have some similar phrases ("long time no see" is stolen directly from Mandarin's 好久不见; their version of "...when pigs fly" is that something will happen "when the sun rises in the West"）.
--Introversion of charity...they completely, 100%!,(MISSING) absolutely could not comprehend the logic of being a missionary. They were flabbergasted. "Why did you go to Mexico to build a house?" "Well, doesn't anybody in China help out the poor?" "Yes, but we help out the poor people in China. Why did you go to another country to build a house?"
---Various other differences between Beijing, Phoenix, and their rural home towns. We mentioned the air pollution (smog is a huge problem here still), and compared weather, and made fun of Cantonese accents hahaha
We had planned on playing Badminton afterwards but one of my 练习汉语人forgot the racquets. Still a very fun night, I love these little sessions, they teach me so much I wouldn't have learned in a classroom.
Wednesday
Class is picking up, the week's second lesson was introduced (Chapter 6 was about renting apartments, Chapter 7 about romance/relationships). Huge grip 'o' excursions today as well: first up, Forbidden City.
Three 1/2 hours was way too short. Gardens were gorgeous, intertwining tree trunks, rock formations, et etc. Towers and the City complex itself is overwhleming and imposing. Sorry, drawing a blank when it comes down to actually describing it for you here & now. Closest I can get (and this is a huge stretch) is it was like watching a really good History Channel show, one that literally absorbs you into the subject so that you're actually there. Because I was. I was at Forbidden City. How surreal. Like I was teleported to the site of the documentaries I've been watching on TV.
There was an exhibit featuring all the treasured clocks and watches, etc housed at Palace Museum--the site still has tons and tons of ancient treasures, only a small few of which are viewable to public. Clock museum sounds lame but it was actually really interesting with some beautiful pieces, English/Chinese/French/Swiss, including an old Manchu-dynasty-era giant wooden waterfall that told time by counting/collecting drops as they passed.
We grabbed a quick group dinner at some hole-in-the-wall joint before attending an Acrobat Show. It was almost like the circus except only the good acts of incredible human body tricks. And funny outfits. Featured were people doing flips through really tall hoops, a kinda shitty juggler, some little kids who could do amazing handstand and pogo tricks, a pair of contortionists who cold balance dozens of tea cups on themselves while bending like pretzels, a tightrope, etc etc etc. Long show but lighthearted and fun. Afterwards we realized the performers' bus had parked right next to ours, so we got to see the acrobats face-to-face coming out the of theater and wave like the jackass tourists we are.
Afterwards some of us were dropped off at the Night Market, a street vendor showacse we knew little more than rumors about, such as stands where you could buy live scorpions to eat. Couldn't pass this up. I was hoping for some sort of wild mixed arts/crafts/music/performance/food/fun sort of deal, but basically it was 500 meters of Fear Factor stands (see pics for more detail). My bluff to eat a scorpion was called; they didn't have big scary live ones but there were skewers of 3 little ones. Dan, Kyle & I split a kabob...so yes, i've now officially tried deep-fried baby scorpion. It was super-crunchy, no real "taste/flavor" to speak of, all texture--all ridges and salt and crisp, remarkably like a Ruffles. Dan got others to try fried crickets, bananas, and pineapple rinds with him too. We may come back another night when we're less tired/actually hungry, maybe feeling more adventurous in general. I've been challendged to bull testicle and have challenged others to seahorse. Other oddities--raw starfish, whole sea urchins, bubbling perhaps-alcholic drinks, silkworms, centipedes, whole octopus tentacles, fried milk cubes, an ostrich head, and last but not least: goat penis kabobs. No joke.
Took the subway tiredly home, wondering if i'd studied enough haha
Thursday
Not much to say, really. Studied a lot, went to a study session from 2-5, planned on showing my English//Chinese study partner what an American picnic was like, but it was a bit of a downpour that night so we got rained out. Did laundry and studied my butt off all night, basically. Lame i know but you gotta cram sometime haha.
Friday
Test at 8 a.m. , feel pretty good about it, just some written translation portions/grammar exercises from workbook + a one-on-one speaking exam w/the teacher. Varied from kid to kid but I had to describe my ideal girlfriend haha. Dropped as many random vocab words/sentence structures as possible, I think she gave me a B+, so I'm happy. Bus took off at noon, lucky I did laundry night before, was able to pack in late morning. Heading off to Hebei, on the Northern coast of China, somewhat near Mongolia/Russia I believe. I'm so exited, but not sure what to expect, except this 4-5 hour bus ride haha.
cont'd, written 6/28 8 a.m.
currently listening to: Tom Waits
Get to hotel & check in around 4:30. Quickly put my stuff in my room and grabbed my trunks. We’re at the fucking beach! At the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean, at that. Most kids started up a game of Ultimate Beach Frisbee, some took barefoot walks, a few (namely Dan, Dave & I) braved the waters. Cold but refreshing. Went out to the buoys, at some point I got a big nappy gulp of salt water. That & maybe the low temperature (never have liked cold water, gotta say) led me to suddenly lose energy halfway through the swim back. Waded a few seconds and it came back, no worries, but when I stepped back on the beach to walk to hotel I got a little shaky/dizzy again. Maybe slightly dehydrated from the brine water gulp or a little hypothermia? Dunno, but very minor case regardless, a long hot shower and some 米饭 at dinner fixed me up all right.
I just bite of more than I can chew sometimes. I’m a bit of a nail-biter sometimes, haha.
Anyway we chilled for awhile in the basement after, this place has a billards/ping pong table room and a weight room down there, plus a b-ball court outside. It’s property owned by Renmin Daxue, and the other buildings look like barracks and classrooms—probably a smaller, splinter campus, similar to ASU’s Polytechnic or something. We’re thinking it’s he government official/army cadet wing of the university. This college is known for its political and military programs so it’s very possible.
Other specialty of the university: Journalism. Most clear example of China’s state-run press system I’ve seen yet.
Went to local Night Market after ping pong, but it was mostly novelty souvenir vendors + a few tanks of live seafood. We walked back and some of us capped of the night with a cool breezy beachwalk. Called it in around midnight—had to be up before 7 today to leave for Dragon’s Head of Great Wall. I’m exited but it’s raining pretty good and if this keeps up we might not get to explore/take pics as much as I’d hoped. After that is The First Pass Under Heaven, which is the closest military fortress to the coast of China (mini-bases and fortresses were built into the Great Wall at intervals as a way of reinforcing its defense and serving as barracks/fortification. This is a major one because of its size and historically strategic location). 可是Pang says that’s even more rain-out-able, but I don’t think any of us mind a little 下雨if it means getting to
literally see the beginning of the Great Wall of China. She also said this is the first time for rain on this portion of the trip in its history. Oh well. I like the rain. It’s a nice change.
written in retrospect, now, 7/1Saturday
currently listening to: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Dragon's Head was beyond indescribable. Didn't end up raining. Surf crashing against the shore under me. I'm standing at the edge of the Great Wall and the edge of the world. Dang. This writer's block is so frustrating and probably boring/unfulfilling to read but there really is no way to convey the moment to you over the internet. I stood at the end of the Great Wall and took pictures and watched the surf crash and wondered who the hell I was. That's that.
I beach-combed next to the Dragon's head with Melissa, David and Daniel. Found a lot of gorgeous rocks and sea glass. One piece was especially pristine, perfectly clear and crystal-shaped. It was too perfect to take, so I threw it back in the ocean.
There are a couple small temples at the Dragon's head too, all with beautiful design and ancient inscription. One also had a prayer drum which I played the hell out of. Twice. There were four sticks, all symbolizing something you want guidance with in your life: Business Affairs, Academic Affairs, Prosperity, and Peace. I used Study and Prosperity once, and also doubled up on Peace haha, we'll see how my furtunes turn.
Also some military training grounds, including an archery range and tactical training labyrinth for soldiers. But of course, the beach and the Wall are what i loved to see. No major hiking, both parts visited this day are low--lying and coastal, but that's fine. This weekend is about appreciation and relaxation.
Went straight from there to The First Pass Under Heaven, which I explained a little bit earlier. In-person, parts were a little dissappointing due to the rampant tourist pandering, there was even a carnival games section in the central square. But up on top of the wall (about 75 feet high maybe?) you could walk and visit various forts etc along it. The most interesting part to me was a little side courtyard next to the big inner fortress square. It was designed so that if enemies managed to breach the outside of First Pass, they'd have to be funneled through this 100ft x 100ft unroofed box of land that kiddy-cornered two narrow tunnels. There were archers all along the top of each of the four walls, and soldiers waiting at the end of one tunnel, and they other becoming closed off. The only way to the central courtyard of First Pass was to try and push through this courtyard and single tunnel with just the other closed-off tunnel for retreat. It was essentially a death trap, with arrows raining down and all alternatives eliminated. Strategically incredible design; I felt weird loitering on top of it where expert longbowsman used to pick apart armies of men.
On a lighter note, the rest of the place was fun too haha. Left at 1:30 and came back to hotel for lunch. They fed us like kings here--cuisine closest in U.S. comparison tp Maine or SanFran--northern coastal areas = delicious seafood. And seafood is my favorite food. I put up some impressive performances here at mealtimes. Oyster, octopus salad, three types of mussels, 家常豆腐 ("home-style tofu"--northern super-spicy flavor, look it up), bok choy, oh boy.
Played pool with Kyle for about an hour after, then spent essentially the rest of the day at the beach. Played some Ultimate, kicked the soccer ball around, did some beach-combing/exploration with Dan & Dave, etc etc. Didn't feel much like all-out swimming but walked in the waves and still got a little wet. Found Kyle at the far rocky end of one side of the beach, making bohemian towers out of rocks and stones and pebbles. He had at least two dozen. He'd been at it alone ever since billiards apparantly. So we let him be to create spontaneous temporary nature art.
The group rented out the hotel's karaoke room after dinner for 3 hours. My first time and although it was corny, I actually had a pretty good time too. Sang early on, then Should I Stay or Should I Go w/Teagan and my best Lipps, Inc. impression on "Funkytown" towards the end. Couple of girls did some disco moves on stage to it while I belting out the same line over and over haha.
That ended around 11 and Wes, Daniel, Dave & I all went down to the beach for another night of fresh ocean air. Those who had one brought their instruments and we jammed atop a rock in China by the mighty Pacific. Alternately hammered and pattered my drum while Dave learned his violen (he bought a gorgeous one for the U.S. equivilant of like $35 on a whim, just to learn to play) and Dan tooted on the gourd flute and ocarina. But honestly we mostly just talked literature and the creative process.
Sunday
Woke up just in time for chinese continental--if there's one thing I want on my epitaph, it's the engraving "Tye Rabens never turned down a free breakfast."
We had to leave by 1, so pretty much everyone scrambled to the beach so as not to squander their last few hours in HeBei. I read on a rock that was jutting into the sea, a mini-precipice, for an hour or less before doing some exploring/surf-walking on my own. I'm such a beach-comber, I just love seashells, wish I could be a beach bum the rest of my life haha
This was by far my favorite place in China. Wish I could tell you in better detail. I can't. Words are inadequate. It's just my favorite, is all.
Made it all the way to the other end of the beach a mile or so off, a little peninsula that was luckily at low tide. Some unique coral-colored rocks out there, and a gorgeous view. Again, I'm such a beach bum, and I walked the entire length of our beach over the course of this weekend. I love the cool air and optional shirts (which I always seem to opt out of haha) and it's too bad we had to leave but alas it's true Snuck in one more game of basement pool though haha.
**Side-note: Wes is a ping-pong god. No one can beat him. He owns the table down here. I played him one game the first night and got rocked 11-2. Didn't play another game all weekend haha**
Did some studying on the bus, bad traffic in Beijing so we didn't get back til around 6. Unpacked and studyed a little, then Wes/Dave/Dan/Kyle/Ryan (Hao's roomate) and I decided to walk off-campus and try to order at a nice restaurant on our own, since we hadn't had to pay for a meal all weekend. David is 300-level and vegetarian, so he ordered 3 non-meat dishes while I did my best with a couple main dishes. Rounded it out with 6 bowls of rice and actually managed to put together an impressive, eclectic, delectable dinner. Sweet onion w/lamb and mini-noodles, sauteed bok choy, sea mushrooms w/spicy peanuts, green leafy veggies with soy, and some random new dish--basically peppers and roast beef over sweet & sour french fries.
Did some more studying and review, slept from 12-2, then headed off to a downtown sports bar aimed towards foreigners w/Dan, Dave to meet up w/about a dozen other classmates and watch the EuroCup Finals. Spain over Germany, 1-0 btw. Very fun and although I was very tired next day don't regret it for a second. I love such spontaneous ridiculous plans and hoped that this China trip would provide them.
Monday
New lesson in class--movies and TV. Again, that's mostly just a stage for introducing vocab and grammar, and we learn some very practical phrases and sentence constructions this week. Ran to a little on-campus swap meet before 1 p.m. excursion to find some thick string suitable for a small shoulder harness--my hand drum is now mobile.
We went to visit Fragrant Hill, a garden retreat for everyone from ancient dynasty emperors to incense burners to MaoZeDong himself. Plant life was visually stunning here, so gorgeous, immediately got spacy and wandered off taking pictures. Yep, seperated from group within 10 minutes. I lack common sense. But I was just so visually stunned haha, look at the upcoming photobucket update to see why though.
Luckily another kid on the trip was similarly bedazzled and we eventually collided cameras and woke up. It was Scott, David's roomate, who I'd never really met before. We decided to spend the next hour wandering the premises, looking for classmates while soaking up the sites. We didn't happen to rejoin the group, but found some great gardens, and the Zhao Temple, which was so aged and quixotic I could barely stand it.
We had heard of an incense tower at the top of Fragrant Hill itself that was supposedly the main attraction, so we decided people might be up there and headed out. Cable cars up were 50 kuai (over $7 US) so we said screw that and made the 1500 meter hike. Doesn't sound too bad, it's only about 3/4 mile elevation, but we underestimated the steps and their nearly completely vertical nature. Ouch, 45-minute hike at a consistant 70-degree angle was not what I was hoping for after my fatty 2-hour beach walk the day before. But it's fine, because it was worth it. The top of Fragrant Hill (which at that elevation is technically a mountain but oh well) was completely covered in mist. You couldn't see anything but clouds and your own feet on the way up. Then at the summit it cleared a little, and the peaks were littered with new trees to see and begotas to enjoy and picnicers and love birds and the most incredible views. Also water bottles for sale haha. Also I got to meet a, interesting new person on the trip. Take some incredible pictures. And I didn't wake up sore the next day, so what am I complaining about?
Although we never did hook up with anyone else from the group (apparantly Dan/Dave/Kyle also hiked the Hill but descended already before we got there), and missed the shuttle bus home by just 10-15 minutes apparantly. We had been seperated so early that we hadn't even heard the meeting time or which parking lot the bus would be in. So we just split a taxi home. Turns out we missed a free group dinner too. But oh well, I so I had to spend $3 U.S. on a cab and like $2.50 on dinner. That's meaningless shit compared to what I got to see and do. I was on the Summit of Fragrant Hill. How many Americans can say that? Say they've seen the same mists as Qing Dynasty royalty? Eh?
But damn, it was a Hot Pot-style dinner at that (look it up), my favorite, haha. Studied and slept. That's all I had the energy to do afterwards last night.
Today, Tuesday, July 1
currently introducing Wes to: The Black Keys
In class they're having us watch this music video called 北京欢迎你"Beijing Welcomes You," which is the weirdest piece of celebrity pop-culture psuedo-propaganda I've ever seen in my life. Seriously, look it up. I've seen it about 30 times now--our Tueday/Thursday teacher loves it to death an therefore plays it to death. She gave us a lyric sheet and says it's to help our listening comprehension and pronounciation (which it does a little actually) but I it's still mind-numbingly ridiculous. Seriously. Look it up. In fact, here, I just did for you:
Wes, Dan, David, Daniel & I went down the street to this area that has adjacent book store/music shop combo. Daniel got a mandolin. That's right. A mandolin. Our band is complete, and is called Peking Pita. We will create for ouselves a long history of success.
At Book City I bought a little comic book all in Chinese about BlackBeard for myself to work on my reading skills and character vocab. It's probably about 1st/2nd grade reading level, which is actually a good challenge for me, because I seem to have about a preschool-level vocabulary hahaha
Besides that, all I've done today is this travel journal. And it's taken me about all day. But there you go. We're almost finished with excursions for the Beijing portion of the trip, a lot of studying to do. Got a 2-page character essay on Saturday, and the final next Thursday (!!) it's okay though, if I study, I'll be fine, as always. This trip has given me some confidence. I can do just about anything if my willpower is behind it. But I don't have to exhaust myself tying to accomplish everything. Just the things I love. I can climb Fragrant Hill running on 3 hours of sleep one day, and beach-comb all my time away the other.
Bejing has been fun but I'm exited for the final two weeks. They'll be a Silk Road/Hong Kong/adventuresome/mind-expanding whirlwind of my life exploding and imploding at the same time and I can't wait.
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Saili
Sally Lockhart
violin
Tell Dave to pick up the Suzuki method book/album to teach himself violin. It also helps learn to read music and play by ear. Some wild adventures there, Dr Jones.