the last typical Saturday

As this week marks many of my "Beijing lasts", today exemplified the last of what I would like to call a "typical Saturday".

As with all of my Saturdays for the last four months, this one started early. I met Carmen at the train station at 7:50 (we had planned for 7:30, but again as in all usual Saturdays, we always run late). We hopped on the ditie, and rode line 13 to the Xizhimen stop, got off, and walked really quickly to the bus stop (in order not to miss the bus like we usually do). After grabbing a breakfast jiaotzi (sp?!), we hopped on the 632 and rode to the Kindergarten at Shuguong Huayuan.

Today was our last day of class. I was really prepared to be sad, to get all mushy with the kids and say goodbye and how much I was going to miss them... well, that didn't happen. It's probably a good thing. The performance that we had prepared for parents and other family members turned out to be mass chaos, with kids walking around everywhere, not sitting where they were supposed to, everything going for shorter than we anticipated (thus ending about 30 minutes early), and other students coming late and missing their performance. I guess it was a typical Chinese get-together. After two hours of running around, herding stray children and leading them in song and dance, I was ready to say goodbye. And although I will miss them and their cute little Chinese English... I truly hope this was my last foray into teaching children. Yes, even teaching my own children. For as cute as they are, there is something a little annoying about trying to tell a group of 20 kids to sit down and listen when they really don't understand a word you're saying.

the little rascals

Phew, I'm tired even writing about that morning. SO, after the end of the semester performance for my class, Carmen and I had our last "after-teaching" ritual (so it seems my life is a little "ritualistic"... I can neither confirm nor deny that). Often after an exhausting day of teaching, we indulge in a little Xinjiang food, and then hop across the street to the Shenmei. I know I have written about this before, but the Shenmei is seriously one of my favorite Beijing experiences. The Shenmei is a place where you go to get your hair washed, cut, colored, etc. We are officially Shenmei regulars, and I feel like I know all of the staff (despite the fact I can't talk to them). Unfortunately, I have not yet been bold enough to do a China cut or color, but when we go we pay 20 yuan for what is supposed to be an hour massage and hair wash, but it usually ends up being about 2 hours (plus, we get our hair dryed by the super cool "laoshi", or teacher). We told them today that it was my last day and after a little mourning that I will "hui guo"-ing it, we decided to take some friendly pictures (and promptly walked next door together to get copies made). Ahhh, I will really miss my friends at the Shenmei.


I think that's all for now. I don't have much more to report (or that I'm willing to report at this time in a blog!); I'm spending all of my time with people, sleeping, or working. Maybe after I sit on a plane for 15 hours, I'll have a little time to reflect and write something worth reading.

I will return to America on July 2nd. Please be friends with me when I get back.

Ah, some time in Fuqing China

Per usual, my blogging record has been less than stellar. Once again, my apologies. I was chatting on the phone the other day with my mom (and by "phone" I mean Skype), and she started telling me how much everyone LOVES my brother and sister's blog because theirs are so interesting, and they always update it, and their lives are so exciting, yadda yadda, but since I don't update mine, none of her friends read it. No pressure. So this one is for all of you who aren't reading.

Life in the Zhongguo has been really busy lately, but really good. Of course, as I'm gearing up to leave Beijing, things start going really well--I'm starting to really enjoy Chinese and learn a little more (although my teacher might strongly disagree), work stuff is really starting to fall into place, and I've been busy with buddies. It's one of life's funny ironies. Anyway, busy but good.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, my boss Bruce and I took another trip to explore some business opportunities. This time, we went down south to a city called Fuqing (yes, really, foo-ching, laugh all you want) in the Fujian province. Fuqing is right off of the ocean, and right across the sea from Taiwan, so pretty far south. It was actually a really great trip. In all honesty, I was dreading the trip a little bit. I'm coming to the end of my time in Beijing, and just felt ready to stick around here and really soak up life. But, something nudged me a little bit, and I decided to make the time (and significant financial) commitment to take the trip to Fuqing. AND... I'm really glad I did. Out of all the business options that I've explored, I think this one holds the most potential for the goals we want to accomplish. So hopefully, I can whip up a quick business plan to bring home (and to prove I was doing a little bit of work while here).

In addition to being a really exciting business opportunity, the trip to Fuqing was just really interesting. We stepped off the plane in Fuzhou (the nearest large city) and were greeted by green grass, palm trees and ridiculously humid air. I felt like I was on a tropical vacation. Our contact, Jeremiah, led us across the parking lot, past all the beautiful, shiny black cars (that surely had air conditioning) to an old, beat-up, Gordy Wilson-style Ford van, complete with the rusty wheel wells and Chinese driver sleeping with legs on the dash. After a swift bang on the side of the van, the driver was quickly alert, and greeted us with the biggest smile I've ever seen. Seriously, this guy was just happy. So, we piled into the van, backed out of the spot, drove over a few sidewalks to avoid waiting in line (really, no need to wait when you can just hop over a sidewalk), and were soon on our way, bouncing down the road to Fuqing. Now, I've heard China driving horror stories, but have really yet to experience anything that I would consider "unbearable"... until now. If one thinks that Beijing traffic is bad, you have another thing coming. We're driving down this highway, two lanes with a grass median, and naturally one would assume that one lane is for traffic going one direction, while the other lane is used for traffic going the other direction. But, this is China, and as we've noticed, the rules are never quite "the rules". We are whizzing down this highway, much faster than anyone else, and cars and motorcyles and bicyles and oxen and goats and people are just wandering lazily down this road (the motorized vehicles drive in either lane, there isn't quite a rhyme or a reason). Keep in mind, this is a legitimate highway, like I-35 or something, with people and cars and animals going every direction. So, we're speeding and bumping along with no AC, dodging whatever is in our way, with the driver grinning the whole way. Needless to say, we're thanking the Big Guy we're still in one piece.

All in all, Fuqing was just a really interesting experience for me, because it presented a side of China I haven't seen yet. It was rural, but in a different way than the rural I saw in Taiyuan, or the China I've seen in other smaller cities. It had this bizarre combination of extreme wealth and poverty (massive, and ugly, 6-7 story houses built for one family, right next to a family living in a shack that is falling apart), of modernity and old ways (beautiful cars and buildings and every sign of progress, surrounded by animals walking in the streets, men leading their oxen on ropes and people carrying water on their back through the fields). It was a really great and intriguing experience.

So, now that I've rambled, I better get back to... everything else I've been missing out on the last few days. Hopefully more to come before I fly back to the Meiguo.

Beijing Musings

As I was walking home from the subway station this afternoon (after a frustrating day of teaching little, poorly-behaved Chinese children), I thought to myself: "How can I best utilize my free afternoon? Should I send e-mails (which I have recently neglected to do--my apologies)? Should I do laundry? Should I sleep? Should I eat?" But after some deep contemplation and soul searching along the roadside of Chengfu Lu, I decided, "You know what... I'm going to blog. Maybe people are interested in what their long lost friend is up to... maybe they aren't, but at least I tried."

So, here we go. Unfortunately, there are no significant occurrences or events in my life at this time, so you won't get to witness, via my internet journal, my vast array of personal breakthroughs and areas of growth. I know, I know, you are disappointed. Maybe next time.

So, my time in Beijing is starting to come to an end. As of today, I have 25 days until I depart to the US of A. I'm not going to lie... last week, I was really ready to go. I was ready to stop fighting every day with my water heater (luckily, I'm up to about 75% of my showers being warm...), ready to live in a clean apartment without a rotting bathroom door and uncontrollable mold, to wear clothes that were really clean (and dried!), ready to drive a car and not fear for my life, ready to ask questions in my own language, ready to see my friends and family, and pretty much just ready to be resident of one of the best nations in the world. But, of course as my luck would have it, this week I'm feeling really nostalgic and not ready to go. I'm really going to miss this place! After spending three months struggling with culture and language and food and directions... I'm starting to understand. I'm feeling more comfortable in my own skin. I know at least 3 Mandarin phrases that will get me help when I need it. I like my little (chaotic) neighborhood. I like my elevator attendant. I loooove street food. I'm addicted to 20 kuai ($3) manicures and 48 kuai ($6.95) hour and a half massages. I think it's really funny that Chinese men are always pulling up their shirts, and that Chinese women always wear ankle-length nylons with capris and shorts. In all honesty, this bizarre (and lets face it, sometimes really aggravating) culture has weaseled it's way into my heart! And I'm going to be sad to go.

This is probably what people refer to as "reverse-culture shock"... only I'm preempting what I will feel before I even go. I'm soaking in all of China I can before I return to Minnesota, and who knows how long it will be until I come back to China. For me (and I can't speak for everyone), there is something really... great (sorry, I can think of a smart word) about living overseas. It is full of "grrr" moments, angry fists raised in the air, ambiguity, confusion, and unending frustrations. BUT, there is also this sense of belonging that comes from un-belonging, a sense of comfort that comes from knowing that your discomfort is completely expected, even welcomed and shared by all. Maybe for me, there is also this sense of addiction (again, wrong word!) to learning about, existing in, and adapting the values of other people that I exist with from all around the world; not only what I've learned about Chinese culture and people, but what I've learned about life from my friends that are from various parts of the United States, from Australia, from England, from Israel, from Nigeria, from Korea, from everywhere. And although sometimes it feels like "East vs. West" creates chaos and a great deal of misunderstanding, there is also a ridiculous amount of similarities.

Ok, I'm done, again, being all novel-esque, but really, I am sad to go.

In other news, Carmen and I treated ourselves to a foot and back massage yesterday after our Chinese classes. I usually love massages, and am always asking people to "push harder!", but yesterday, I met my masseus match. As I sat in this recliner watching the women around get their backs cracked and their arms yanked behind their heads, I should have known what I was getting into. But I thought I could handle it, I thought I could be strong. It all started with a back massage, and that felt wonderful... but then he stopped being kind and decided to dig in. The guy literally put his whole weight behind rubbing my neck and shoulders, and I told him (in broken Chinese) "It's a little to hard", but it didn't work. I'm feeling the effects today. I went to put my hair back this morning, and my neck was tender to the touch! Who knew a massage could do such things. But, as they say... no pain, no gain. I think in the end, it was worth it.

I think I've done enough rambling. I'm going to make me some lunch, and enjoy my Saturday afternoon. I'm currently reading Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry (lent to me by a friend), and it is a really beautiful book--slow, but rich in meaning and beautiful descriptions, just my kind of read. So, I am going to enjoy. Hopefully I'll be a little more faithful about the writing, at least before I leave Zhongguo to return to Meiguo.

Zaijian.