Beijing Bicycle (and other thoughts on China)

Today, I had the privilege of having my very first Beijing Bicycle ride. As many of you know, the bike is one of the most common forms of transportation in Beijing, and probably in China as a whole. You are swarmed by bicycle riders the minute you step foot on the street, and I'm pretty sure bike riding is an art, attempted by only the brave. There is even an excellent film made called "Beijing Bicycle", depicting the story of a Beijing resident that really could be any average resident's story. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you check it out. Anyway, back to the bike. My co-worker Carmen is headed to Hong Kong for the week, so she said I could borrow her bicycle while she was gone (I really should have bought my own, but now it's too late for the investment). Regardless, I felt pretty ecstatic about this offer, and gladly took her up on it. This means INDEPENDENCE in transportation in Beijing; no crowded subway, no smelly bus, no ridiculously long walks. My own transportation. Yesssss.

So, this evening, I went for a leisurely ride. Since I'm still a newbie at city bike riding, I just rode across the street to Tsinghua University (which is now officially my favorite place in Beijing because of all the open spaces). Tsinghua is my biking paradise, because there are very few cars, wide streets, lots of other bikers, and many many trees (a rare sight for Beijing). Bike riding in Beijing is a scary thing for me; I'm used to my car and lots of room to maneuver. No such luxuries here. And, sorry to say, Carmen's bike isn't the most sturdy (sorry Carmen!), but I'm wobbling down the street, using about all the man power my little arms can muster just to stay on the road. I think it's a pretty funny sight for people to see a white blonde girl on a bike. So, I rode through Tsinghua and made my went to the center of campus where there is this beautiful lake and trees and gardens, and I had a sit in the sunshine and journaled some China thoughts. Other than the occasional blog, I haven't had much time to reflect on China, so I decided to write down a few thoughts and share them. I wrote this after reading a novel, so please forgive me if my language is a little cheesy romance novel-ish.

From the park bench where I sit, I can view all of my favorite things about China (minus the street-food!); I see a traditional Chinese structure sitting on the edge of the lake, with its ornate tile roof and up-turned corners. The building has faded from what was once a brilliant red to a dull brown, but the ornate paintings that line the top still speak strongly of the years this place has seen. Through the openness and columns of the structure, I see willow trees drooping over the lake, their stark green spring leaves reflecting on the water and swaying in the ever-present Beijing wind. And then there's the people. I think volumes could be written about the Chinese people, and still no justice would be done to the complexity that surrounds them. Right now, I'm watching the classic grandpa/grandson pair; the grandpa leads his grandson near the water, then they go chasing each other around the tree in the courtyard. I see the young couple, sitting together very sweetly and overlooking the water, always holding hands. I see the mom with her baby, naked baby butt in the air. And then from across the water, I see the inescapable reminders of poverty: the old man working hard, hauling tree branches across the park, the other old man in rags digging through to garbage to find plastic bottles to trade in for money. And these scenes to me paint a vivid picture of modern China--the inseparable space shared by progress and history, old and young generations, tradition rubbing against modernization, the wealthy and educated rubbing shoulders with those who can barely survive. I know that sounds really cliche, but that's China. A melting pot for stark contrasts, the struggle for change and progress in a system weighed down by tradition and control. How will China come out? I think the world is waiting to see!

And, as I wrote that, there was some guy taking pictures of me, and another guy drawing a picture of me. And again, that is China.

the average life of a girl in china.

I think I read on my friend Bjorn's blog lately some comment about not having much to say. I must admit that that's where I'm at right now... I haven't blogged for awhile because life has been pretty average. I guess one could argue that the life of a Westerner in China is never quite "average", which is very true. But after a little while, what once caught my eye as being funny, interesting, or even exciting has sadly turned...just average. So, I'll just update you on some "current events" in this waiguoren's life.

At the beginning of this past week, I took a trip to Shenyang with my boss to check out a "business opportunity" up there. Shenyang is a city that is northwest of Beijing, and also pretty big (8 million people)---it will host the Olympic soccer, which is exciting. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to see much of Shenyang because all we did was business. Bor-ing. I guess that's adulthood creeping up on me... travel with no fun included. Anyway, we DID get to kick off the day with a bang. Our office branch that is located in Shenyang has connections with this kindergarten, and we happened to be there for their "English Olympic Performance" (I don't even know if that's what it's called, but it was something like that). Being that I am a foreign person, I usually get special duties and responsibilities. On Monday, I happened to get the privilege of singing and dancing impromptu in front of 1000 students. Awesome. However, the kicker was right before we were going to sing; there were these little girls on the stage (who were going to sing with us) in these elaborate dance recital-ish outfits, and it was part of the routine that they ask us some questions before we all sang. The conversation went like this:
little chinese girl: (yelling at me) Hello! How are you today?
me: I am fine, thank you.
little chinese girl: (still yelling at me) Would you please accept this gift to you from our school (hands me a sticker).
me: Ok.
girl puts the sticker on my shirt
little chinese girl: (yelling a little less loudly) Will you please sign on my hand?
I sign the girls hand
little chinese girl: (turning around to face the crowd and thrusting her fist into the air) I have received the signature of the foreign visitor!

Maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" moments, but... oh China. I'll try to link a video of some other kids that were singing and dancing to Jingle Bells (yes, in May). It isn't very steady, but you can see just how cute they were! (its at the bottom)

This morning, my co-worker Carmen and I had our usual Saturday morning classes. Since her birthday is on Monday, we decided to treat ourselves this afternoon! We had Xinjiang for lunch (a province in the Northwest of China, with delicious food), and then went to treat ourselves to a hairwash at our favorite place, the Shenmei (down the street from teaching). I think every trip to the Shenmei is an adventure. For all of my Minnesota friends, I just want to let you know that we get an hour (usually hour and a half) head and shoulder massage for 15 kuai (a little over $2). It is ah-maz-ing. Anyway, today we went, and as usual, the person massaging me started asking me some questions (in Chinese). I smiled and shrugged and said "ting bu dong" (I don't understand), but did that deter him? Never. He kept asking me questions, all the time, and I stopped even telling him that I didn't understand. I think he just wanted to be friends but... I think you have to at least have some common language to do that. Also, I think he was fascinated by my hair. While the special "Shenmei hair expert" came over to dry my hair, this kid just stood there and would pick up strands of my hair and stroke it, and turn it over and look at it. It was a little bit cute. It was a wonderful and relaxing experience (except for all these questions I just didn't understand).

Pretty much my entire life is really eventful and non-eventful all rolled into one.

Also, I feel like I keep writing about my life... and while I know this is ever-so exciting to hear about, I want to know what's going on with you too! E-mails, letters, cards, packages, flowers, gifts, chocolate (ok, really just e-mails) from home are always a real encouragement and fun to read. So, keep up the good e-mailing.

Lastly, I do want to add one thing. Although my life may be anti-climatic for the time being, life is anything but for thousands of people in Southern China. The amount of people struck by the earthquakes in Sichuan is devastating, and it is heartbreaking to think of how many fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, teachers, co-workers and friends were lost in this natural disaster of gigantic proportions. I know from first hand experience that sometimes events across the world don't phase us much, but I urge you to keep the families of China in your thoughts as they struggle through such a grief-stricken time. I guess I could be an advocate for many international injustices, but the people of Burma/Myanmar are also facing a tragedy of astronomical proportions, so keep them in your thoughts too.