Happenings....And Pictures

So I am truly a bad blogger, in that I have had almost nothing to say for a while now. However, I thought I should take a couple of minutes to at least give a minuscule nod to the idea that I do have a blog that is not dedicated to my training for my 109 mile bikeride. Really...the training and the fundraising has been taking most of my creative energy these days, which I guess is kind of pathetic that I can't drum up any additional effort to write a couple of words here on this blog that I started almost exactly a year ago.

Yes...it was a year ago that I began this little blog. I started it in an effort to communicate with friends and family while I jumped off a bridge and flew off to China for 3 months. It then morphed into musings on life, the universe, and everything, but ended up a little boring as once I returned from China last December I didn't have much to say. Searching for work, searching for your goals in life, etc., etc., apparently doesn't lend itself to much communication with the outside world.

But I thought I could take this time to list a few things that I have learned over the last year:

1. I am not as open-minded and able to adapt easily as I always imagined myself. My trip to China taught me where my boundaries are and where I need to let go and let life be life rather than trying to control it.
2. Looking for a job sucks. I mean really sucks. While I have had some incredible validation from some amazing people that I "should" be able to find a job (and have come relatively close a couple of times), the reality is decidedly more humiliating and confidence-crushing. The only thing that has gotten me through is having wonderful friends that have done their damnedest to keep my spirits up...but it still sucks!
3. Tangential to #2 is I've learned that I have the BEST FRIENDS EVER!!!
4. I need to stop thinking so much about what is logical and expected, but start thinking about what will make me happy and make the world a better place.
5. Control over one's life is completely impossible, despite my best efforts. Every day now I am having to learn all over again that I don't know what is going to happen, and if I try to make the future conform to my ideas of what it should be I will go insane.
6. Doing something difficult and new for someone else is amazingly rewarding, and the payoff is seeing these numbers rise...

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive in the last year...it has meant the world to me...

I'll leave you for now with some of my favorite photos from this last year:




Hopefully I'll find a new voice and you'll hear from me again soon.

Kayaking in Connecticut, and Waterfalls in New York City

This week I am in New York City, taking advantage of the fact that Doug is at a conference in Manhattan to wander around the city where we may end up before the end of the year. Although we both would rather be back on the West Coast, life, the universe, and everything, is conspiring to make us believe we will likely end up here in New York before long. Since his conference was immediately preceded by the Fourth of July long weekend, we decided to visit our long-lost friends who moved to South Norwalk, Connecticut in March. They have a lovely two bedroom little house with a back deck abutting a hillside (to read about our fun grilling on the deck check out my post here), and we spent a relaxing weekend drinking wine and chatting about life.

By Sunday we were all ready to get out and about, and had a great time renting sea kayaks in Rowayton, CT and paddling out to the Long Island Sound past the most ridiculously large houses you’ve ever seen. I don’t have any pictures of the kayaking adventure, because I didn’t bring my waterproof camera, but here’s a picture of Rowayton looking out towards the sound past all the adorable boats:

We got into New York City on Monday afternoon, had some great Indian food at Tiffin Wallah (how can you beat $6/person for a delicious, authentic, buffet?), then relaxed in our lovely hotel room with a view of downtown and the Brooklyn Bridge in the evening and caught up on our sleep.

Today I was on my own as Doug attended the conference. For the first time, I decided to do something really touristy (but not TOO touristy), and take a boat cruise to see the new installation art piece called Waterfalls. Funded by the Public Art Fund, it is a series of four artificial waterfalls created over the river, including one under the Brooklyn Bridge and one on Governor’s Island. I went early in the day to avoid the hordes, and it was well worth it, as I was one of only 10 people on a huge boat to see the falls. I am always intrigued by large-scale installation art, and found it to be really lovely, although I found the one under the Brooklyn Bridge to be the most organic and with the best sense of place. Here are a few photos from the morning:

This afternoon I wandered up to Chelsea Market, and was heartily disappointed by what I saw. I guess it’s a factor of the changing costs associated with the neighborhood, but what was supposed to be a great place to buy meat, fish, and vegetables directly from vendors, apparently has lost much of that character. On the bright side, it does appear they are trying to turn it into something resembling the Ferry Building in San Francisco (which I adore). This evening, Doug and I will be trying to get in to Tia Pol for dinner, about which I will blog over here tomorrow.

Did We Really Climb to 15,000+ feet?

Lijiang:

This town was most definitely the highlight of the trip. However, we’re also convinced that we’d hate it in any other time than off-season. This opinion was reinforced by the statements of our new friends at Sexy Tractor...a great resource for local info in town actually, and one of the most pleasant porches to hang out on for a day, watching the world walk by on the cobblestone streets below you.

I guess I’m at a loss on how to really describe Lijiang. Where Dali was a quaint town that had been overrun by tourist-led renovations, Lijiang somehow managed to keep its character as an old town where people actually lived their lives. As we wandered the backstreets of the old city, I was struck by how much it was a lived-in city, with all the qualities of a small, happy town, and full of people who had lived there for generations. In most of China I have found that the cities have been built with a plan to an extent that one city feels and looks very much the same as another. Lijiang was the exception. Yes, parts have the feeling of a bad theme park as flag-toting tourist guides lead baseball-cap-clad Chinese tourists, but once you leave the main drag shopping streets it’s like you’ve stepped back in time and into another world populated by women wearing traditional Naxi clothing, hawking their vegetables down the alleyways. I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves because all narrative in my stilted prose would fail to do it justice:

Oh, and did I mention that on our second day in Lijiang we accidentally hiked up to 4680 meters? Yes, most of it was accomplished by a gondola, but we sincerely thought we were only going up to 3000 meters, and then we get on the gondola and we just kept going up. There’s a stunning mountain in the Lijiang area called Yu Long Xue Shan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain), which you can see from pretty much everywhere, being as it towers up to 5,600 meters (18,360 feet) over the valley.

We were amazed at how long it took to hike up from 4506 meters to 4680 meters (the upper terminus of where silly tourists like us can go): two hours! But frankly it was worth it. We definitely had some oxygen and pressure issues – Doug on the way up, and me on the way down - we ate tons of food that night, and the cost was ridiculous for China (RMB 220 per person), but for the first time in my life I understand why there is an urge to climb mountains. The quiet and hugeness of it all was breathtaking (or maybe that was the lack of oxygen?). But in the end I can say I was at 15,354 feet…

One final note on Lijiang before I close out the China portion of the blog. A lot of places in the world have become replicas of themselves and many people have consistently argued that globalization creates homogenization of cultures and the loss of tradition and history amongst indigenous cultures and minority peoples. While not an opponent of globalization by any means, I have always been somewhat conflicted about the tradeoffs between significant increases in quality of life and health and life expectancy, and the loss of traditional values and entire cultures to the advent of “modern” life. In Lijiang we encountered something truly surprising. When all the annoying tour groups were gone from the streets and the tourist shops began closing their doors, something amazing happened in the central square every night. Young local people began converging in the square to dance and socialize. One evening we even saw an adorable old woman with an ecstatic smile on her face dancing circles around the younger women and men, teaching by example the joy she had for her traditions and culture. I took a short video, which doesn’t begin to capture the experience, but gives you a taste of the music, singing, and ritual to it all.

And so, I leave you with that for now...

Last Night At the Family, Hello Luxury Hotel!

Hey folks. So tonight’s the last night I’m spending with the family, and tomorrow I go to check into the Westin for some R&R before Doug gets here. Thought I’d post some sort of summary of what’s past and what’s next.

Thoughts on the Experience:

Well, in the end I think I found out I was a bit less flexible than I thought in my lifestyle and my ability to drop my own ideas when faced with something different. One never wants to find out you are less tolerant and open-minded than you thought, but I guess it’s a good learning experience to know where your boundaries are.

For anyone who wants a crash-course in learning a foreign language, I would definitely suggest going to the country and living with a family that doesn’t speak English. It’s amazing how much the mind can learn if it doesn’t have a choice if it wants to eat or know where it can get water!

I missed home more than I expected, but also made some great friends. All my tutors have been especially great to get to know. The badminton match (see prior post) was brutal on my muscles but lots of fun. Whether or not I actually want to return to this house, they have been more than kind and have repeatedly told me that this is my house too now and anytime I’m back in China I must come see them. I knew from prior experiences that people in China are hospitable to a fault, and now I’ve experienced it in its largest form. Don’t underestimate the persistence of the head of households in China!

What’s Next?:

Doug and I are off to Guilin, Yangshuo, Dali, and Lijiang next week. From everything I hear they are beautiful places, and I’m looking forward to seeing something new. I will likely bring the computer on the trip so will probably post from there. Doug and I wanted to go to Dali ten years ago when we were students in China but didn’t have enough time to get there by train and back. This time we’re flying, so should be a little bit shorter.

Tomorrow this time I'll be out with friends in Beijing, celebrating the fact that I've at least managed to stick it out and learn what I can in the time I allotted myself. Only time will tell if it's worth it, but at this moment I can truly say I accomplished something.

Thanksgiving Cometh

I thought it was my duty as a good American to comment on the fact that Thanksgiving is coming. I’m finding it very interesting that no one here seems to have ever heard of the holiday. They’ve all heard of Christmas (the commercialism and consumerism of that holiday seems to have found its way into the hearts of Chinese merchants everywhere), but no one has the foggiest idea what Thanksgiving is. For some reason I find that intriguing. In the end, it’s probably the most celebrated holiday in the U.S., and yet a huge portion of the world’s population doesn’t even know about it. What does that say about our new “world is flat” idea? What holidays do we know nothing about in other countries? How can we ever truly understand another culture if we don’t understand what they celebrate and why?

Ok, I’m not saying most Americans even know what Thanksgiving really signifies other than a big feast with family and friends, not even sure I really do, but at least I know in theory. And I think it is a big part of our culture that we choose to go to crazy lengths through hellish airports and roads to find our families and friends to celebrate by eating a big tasteless bird, gorging ourselves on countless delicious side-dishes, and napping it all off afterwards while staring mindlessly at parades and football. It’s a way to bond with our families that we don’t see very much due to our hectic lives, and a way to force ourselves to stop and give thanks for all that we have amongst the craziness of our lives. The question then becomes, what defines other country’s holidays that we don’t know about?

In true American fashion, I will be taking to the roads/skies this weekend to find some form of comfort and familiarity that is associated with Thanksgiving. Tonight I blow this joint after tutoring and head over to a friend’s house to sleep. Sleep – what a wonderful thing. Then tomorrow I will be gorging myself on good ol’American food thanks to the hospitality of friends of friends, and hanging out doing good ol’American things for the first time in a couple of months. Then Friday morning I head out to Shanghai, again thanks to the hospitality of some lovely people. I’m going to spend a luxurious weekend in Shanghai getting clean, eating excellent food, shopping (only window shopping Doug, don’t worry!), and relaxing. Hopefully I’ll come back recharged and ready for my lasts two weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chinese Wine…He Bu He? (To Drink or Not To Drink?)

So I thought I’d do a little cultural experiment today. I do like wine very much, especially good wine. Good wine is particularly difficult to come by in my little corner of Beijing. However, today I was at the ChaoShiFa (a supermarket chain here) buying Gatorade for the little girl in the house who’s had the stomach flu for 3 days now (family didn’t seem to know about Gatorade and they couldn’t get the kid to drink anything – poor thing’s screaming was breaking my heart). I stumbled upon a huge display of “Great Wall Wines.” Firstly I thought it was amusing that all the labels were in English, and secondly I thought it was hilarious that they were proudly labeling themselves as the official wine of the 2008 Olympic Games. So of course…I had to buy a bottle right?

I know what a lot of you are thinking…this can’t turn out well…especially with that lead-in.

Ok, so while on Skype with Doug, I mentioned that I bought it, and of course then we both start doing searches for anything about the 2003 Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon. The only thing I could find was this article from Vancouver Magazine about obscure wines: http://www.vanmag.com/foodanddrink/07oct/Drink.shtml. Before I tell you about the review, and before you go and read the review, let me tell you what my tastebuds said.

The nose is definitely unique, I’d say heavy plum with an underpinning of coal (or maybe my nostrils are just coated with coal dust from living in Beijing). There’s also a very strong tannin component that comes through as it opens up. For the taste, I’m not sure I can describe it….a very off Merlot? Or maybe a corked Cab? Heavy tannin with a subtle shag-carpet finish. I know…I know…I’m being pretty harsh. But really, not sure what they were trying to accomplish with this wine. It doesn’t taste like any Cab I’ve ever had, but then again, it’s not as bad as that RMB 20 bottle I bought in some town somewhere at my old job. I think they were going for a moderate fruit with some oak or pine finish, but didn’t really accomplish it. The balance is off…way off. So apparently I agree with the reviewer at the Vancouver Magazine – a Tsing Tao is better with food!

Et voila! My experiment with Chinese wine is accomplished…though I do think that to give it a fair shake I should probably sample a few more, but next time I might just try a glass instead of being stuck with a bottle…

Answer to initial question: 2003 Great Wall Cab: Bu He! (don't drink!)

Modern Beijing

Despite all the talk in the West about how much China has changed in the last 10-15 years, it’s difficult to truly fathom how much change has truly occurred. The pace of change is truly remarkable, and I guess you could say I have seen it first-hand, which sometimes I find hard to believe. I never guessed that I would watch a country change so much in such a short time.

I first came to Beijing China in 1997, as part of the Carleton Beijing Program. At the time, there were still more bicycles than cars, you regularly saw mule/horse-drawn carts on major streets, and the fourth-ring road (Si Huan Lu) was not built yet. The colors I remember from that time are mostly grey and brown, broken only on rainy days when all of the bicyclists in Beijing would magically break out these neon-colored rain tarps to ride down the street. We lived on the outskirts of Beijing, north of the third-ring road (San Huan Lu) and could see farmland from our windows at the University of International Business and Economics. There was a large dirt track north of us that we heard might become a new ring road. We ate at mom and pop places in holes-in-the-wall locations, and when we heard that the first Dunkin’ Doughnuts was opening in Beijing probably ten of our group went on an epic bus and walking trek downtown to taste the first coffee we had had in 2 months.

Now things have changed. I came back to Beijing about six years later, in August 2003, right after SARS shut the whole country down for several months. I was here for two weeks, and must have visited every park within walking distance of the St. Regis hotel on Jianguomen Dajie. And I walked it all, seeing the differences everywhere and becoming astonished at what change had wrought in six years.

I have been coming back 2-3 times a year ever since. I have seen streets that existed disappear, buildings spring up into huge towers, and whole neighborhoods leveled for shopping malls and apartment towers. Huge hutong neighborhoods (one story courtyard house groups built in the Chinese imperial era) have either been leveled or “restored” to two-story lavish homes or boutique hotels north of the Forbidden City. There’s now a Starbucks pretty much everywhere. The fourth and fifth ring roads have been built, and I’m currently living in a 20-story apartment building surrounded by other such buildings and hotels between the third and fourth ring roads close to the Summer Palace. As I recall, 10 years ago the Summer Palace was basically in the countryside.

I wish I had electronic copies of the pictures I took 10 years ago for a true comparison, somehow I think even I would be astonished to compare them to what I see every day here. The contrast truly hit me this evening when I went out to have Indian food with some friends at a place that they jokingly called the Arlington Commons of Beijing. There was a Zara, a Starbucks, a Guess store, an international food court…and oh yes, the biggest darn TV screen I’ve ever seen:

Oh, and 10 years ago some of us went to a nightclub called the “PLA Club,” which yes, did stand for the People’s Liberation Army. Western women got in free, and there were cage dancers. This is what the location looks like now:

In the end I don’t know what all of this means. I think I just needed to get it all down on paper (or the internet I guess) how remarkable the changes I’ve seen really are. In the end I feel privileged to have seen such rapid change in a city that I truly find fascinating in all its aspects, and am impressed at how quickly the standard of living has rocketed skyward here. However, there is a sort of sadness for the type of life that has been lost: the slow methodical pace of riding a bike down the large, crowded, bike lanes of Beijing (no one ever went faster than anyone else you see…), has been replaced by millions of cars, taxis, and tour buses. But in the end, who can ever truly say whether such massive changes are ultimately good or bad…only history can tell, and 30 years from now when I read that history book, I can say I was here to see it happen, which is astounding and humbling all at the same time.