Beijing Pics

Well I said awhile back that their would be Beijing pics. Then I got caught up in the Shanghai life. I blinked and November and much of December has passed. Fear not, their were two separate Thanksgiving celebrations to keep me grounded in true American Patriotism. Here are some pics from Beijing. I'll get back on the horse here get back into this posting thing:)

Recent Citing

Today on the way home from my bus stop a small woman on the side of the road caught my eye. She was quite dirty and crouched in a rather ordinary spot. In front of her she had a small trash bag in which she displayed a single live cat fish. I'm mystified by how this catfish was living but I saw it move. This woman was not selling several fish, just one, so if anyone was to purchase that fish there would be no illusions of previous satisfied customers. This fish would require a serious risk taker.

These are the thoughts that fill my head as I wonder through Shanghai.

Off To Beijing

Being an a teacher at in International School definitely has its perks. I'm flying to Beijing today to go to a three day educational conference. I'll do my best to explore and post some photos when I return.

Equal Rights and Cultural Differences

Several times in my teaching career I have covered historical issues that relate to power differences. It is a part of human history that society is organized with those in power, who usually control wealth, and those who are poor and at beholden to the elites. I have a fun lesson that has worked throughout the years to help students really feel a power inequity. The essence of the lesson is this.

1) Divide students groups of 4 or 5.

2) Make one student in each group the leader.

3) Give each group a large task to complete. Tell them that the leader gets to make all the important decisions in how the task will be carried out.

4) Explain that once groups start working leaders may leave the group and hang out together at the leader table.

5) At the leader table put out chips, candy and soda. The leaders may eat as much as they like. They also may play card games or dice. They make the decisions for their groups but don't actually have to work at all.

I have done this lesson several times in my US classes. The leaders are chosen before explaining the benefits. By the time I'm done defining all the perks the leaders get, my classes are in an uproar. "Thats not fair!" "They really get soda!" "This is stupid!" "How come they don't have to work!" The students get more and more angry until it is almost impossible to control. And I giggle inside. After laboring day after day to be understood it is delightfully fun to completely confuse the students. But all quickly wraps up. We break up, they don't finish the project and instead we discuss power distribution and relate it to the history (or the current world.)

Now in China one of my classes is covering WWI, including how Europe was largely governed by wealthy monarchies. Well, I thought, time to break out my trusty lesson and fire up the students! So I bought some snacks and drinks and decided that each group would draw a major continent and label the battles that took place upon that continent while the leaders snacked and played Trivial Pursuit.

I was ready on this day to get a good laugh at the students' outrage. But things started strangely: leaders stayed with their groups, helping them to get a good start. With a little prodding from me the leaders made there way back to their special table and started snacking. The other students were so busy at work in their groups they barely payed attention to the leaders. "This is weird!" I thought, so I went to stir things up. I went around to each group asking if they thought this was fair. Their reaction was almost as if the question was irrelevant. A simple shoulder shrug was the most common response.

I thought for a bit and decided to see how long this could go. Then I saw something that truly amazed me... The leaders returning to their groups and sharing their snacks, equally, among all members! All of them in every group! Every person in the class got something to eat! I watched with my jaw on the floor and figured why would I stop them. I let them work for the rest of the class. At the end of the class I asked them, "did this activity seem like it was well planned? Was this fair?" Only one student thought the situation was very unfair and many students said yes, totally fair.

This would never, ever happen in the US! We are taught to demand our rights and our share from day one. It is in our blood! In my current school, largely populated with Singaporean, Korean, Chinese and Japanese students, it is very unusual to issue a direct challenge to authority. Students would rather follow unfair directions then make a fuss. Or rather, making a fuss about fairness is simply not a part of their reality. This is reflected in the larger population as well. People don't spend a lot of energy expecting fairness from leadership, they simply enjoy the good and move on from the bad.

So back to the drawing board. Anybody got any ideas about how I can outrage my students?

Time to Give

This is a video from last weekend. If you listen you will surely here the dice cups rattling:-)

Rock and Roll Shanghai Style

Two musical experiences in one day! I went to my first festival in China and followed it up by playing my first concert. And although I'm very familiar with musical extravaganzas both of these were distinct from anything I have every experienced.

Music in China is a funny thing. Right now Shanghai is trying hard to be an international, cosmopolitan city and encompass the arts and culture inherent in such status. So there is a push for art and music that has not existed in the last 50 years in China. Yet there are still forces that find musical and artistic expression a risky or possibly controversial experience. Thus concerts are often cancelled at the last second and, unfortunately, Shanghai was not able to experience the musical talents of Kanye West last month (despite much hype and anticipation.) So when the drummer in my band asked if I wanted to go to an outdoor festival I jumped at the chance.

As I set out the door to hit the festival ominous clouds loomed on the horizon. Sure enough, the rain opened up as soon as we all met up I found myself haggling over 50 cents price difference while buying an umbrella. It is amazing the number of umbrella vendors that magically appear when it rains. I wonder where they hide as they wait patiently for the skies to open. I choose a green polka dot one at the prodding of my friends. Overall there was great jazz and fun people and the rain stopped after an hour or so.

We left the show after a funky band from belgium ripped it up. They rocked the Q Chord which everyone who was on the Oleanna trip with Richard knows is the awesome quirky instrument of many pitches.

We couldn't stay too long as we were scheduled to play and international festival designed to expose Chinese locals to foreign music. We rolled into the posh club with fruit platters and mirrored walls and smiled at each other. This was sure to be interesting. After some minor glitches (like getting power to the stage) we started rocking an audience of some friends and about 5 Chinese people. As the night went on more and more Chinese people filtered in until we were playing to a pretty full house. Chinese people don't really dance (or at least I haven't seen it) so the people sat at their tables and played a dice game that involves slamming a cup full of dice on the table as loudly as possible. Yet they liked it! They applauded! That's not super normal here.

We wrapped up, got paid, and then I was interviewed by a local TV station. As I expounded upon my message to China and what I want people to take out of the music my ego started to swell to epic proportions! The bar manager quickly burst my bubble by telling me to get my stuff off the stage and move the drums over so the next act could start. Following us was a young stylish Chinese man who was clearly lip syncing and didn't look that excited about it. The Chinese people continued to loudly slam down their dice cups.

Bus Crash

My bus driver is most aggressive driver I have ever been in a car with. He darts in and out of the traffic of bikes, cars and pedestrians like he was behind the wheel of a ferarri. Except he is not driving a ferarri. He is driving a bus.

On top of his darting he also uses the size of the bus to his advantage. There is no right of way in China, the rule is simply get in front of the other person. So left hand turns crossing traffic are started by one person bravely piloting their car into oncoming traffic, forcing it to stop, and then the 15 cars behind the lead car who progressively peel into their left hand turn earlier and earlier so that oncoming traffic must let them by. My bus driver will often pass 6 stopped cars to make sure that gets in behind the courageous car that has for a moment stopped the onslaught of oncoming traffic.

Seeing as how we almost mowed down 3 bikers on friday it seemed only a matter of time before some sort of traffic altercation occurred. You must also understand that on top of most drivers behaving in exactly the same fashion their are countless bikers in the streets and these people ride RIGHT in front of these busses, expecting them to stop. Yet road rage is almost non-existent. When everyone breaks the rules, no one really cares anymore.

Today on the way home are bus clipped the side of another bus waking me sharply from my afternoon nap. I looked up to see what happened as traffic stopped both busses. My driver jumped out and proceeded to yell at the very jovial looking driver of the other bus. The other driver simply laughed and walked up to a back bus window, where someone handed him a handful of cash. The money was excepted by our driver who got back on the bus, said a few words and then started moving again with traffic. The whole exchange took less then a minute. And within two minutes we were back into city streets scattering bikers and pedestrians like flies from a watermelon.

My House

Is AWESOME! It is close to everything. Within one block I have eaten at 6 different restaurants, done my laundry, bought writing materials, got a haircut and got a massage. It is spacious and quiet. I see trees out my window. My neighbors don't complain if I'm noisy. There is a shower designed with a frosted white tropical scene (which I never knew would make me so happy.) Seriously perfect! It came furnished but I just bought a bunch of plants to start the decorating process.

Luck!

My Middle School English class begins with The Pearl. For those of you who haven't read The Pearl, it is the story written by John Steinbeck about a poor indigenous Mexican pearl diver who finds the greatest pearl the world has ever known. But his joy quickly fades as his lucky break soon turns against him and he finds himself hunted and life shattered. It is less than 100 pages and I highly recommend it as a case study in lingering effects of colonialism and a riveting story.

My first assignment related to the book was for students to write for 5 minutes about something lucky that has happened to them or something lucky that could happen. I participated as well and wrote about my experience 2 days ago. Here it is:

"You must get the photos by tomorrow!" I'm getting used to this. Everything is urgent here. But don't expect an early notification. Just know that it had better be done by tomorrow.

So it is after work, we had a meeting and it is around 6 PM. The bus drops me off at a mall that is pedestrian by Chinese standards but dwarfs the puny likes of a Pioneer Courthouse Square. I have two things on my mind: I must buy passport photos and floss. Floss is near impossible to find in China. Large supermarkets have an entire isle of toothpaste selection but, bafflingly, floss is no where to be found and I've had a piece of meat between my back teeth for 3 days now. If you come to China bring floss!

It is not easy to find a photo booth when you don't speak the native language. Shanghai is very international, still, English often fails me hear and leaves me wishing I would have studied a little before moving here. So to make a long adventure short I finally gather that there used to a photo booth in the subway station under the mall. Unfortunately they removed it for the Olympics. Hmmmm... Apparently there is some latent danger in Photo booths that I don't understand. It is now 8:30. Yes, it took me two hours of trekking around the 9 floors of this mall and the subway station underneath to finally uncover that photo booths are contrary to the spirit of the Olympics. The good news, I see on the elevator that there is a dental clinic on level 6! I drop by and immediately go the restroom and remove the offending bit of food from between my molars.

Then I ponder a bit. Are the photos really that important? I'll call the Fanny, the young woman in charge of my visa and see how urgent this is. Her response, "You need photos NOW!" Well, that clears that up. She's going to call me back. When she does, it is to tell me that Tina, her colleague is coming by to pick me up. At 8:30 on a tuesday? I'm imagining and American leaving the house to help a Chinese person from their work get photos at 8:30 and laughing to myself. Sure enough, Tina and her boyfriend come pick me up, pulling over to block the busiest bike line at the busiest intersection I've ever seen.

By now the photo shops have closed but Tina and her boyfriend are both furiously dialing their phones. Somehow they get a closed Kodak shop to reopen. We park on the sidewalk, blocking all pedestrians (this is legal I'm told.) I get my photo taken and it is decided: we are all going out to dinner together, we are going to eat hot pot, where each person gets their own bowl of boiling broth into which they can drop whatever food they wish. We meet three friends of Tina's and the food starts arriving, normal at first, chunks of beef, vegetables and it is all quite yummy. Then come spoons that are covered with some sort of seafood pate. Well alright, I'm in a strange land, pass the pate. Plus my companions keep assuring me, "very delicious." They assure me yet again when the bowl of bone marrow arrives and they drop it in my soup. And again as the drop live shrimp from a bowl in the middle of our table into my soup. Quite surprisingly it is all "very delicious," it helps that we were in a very fancy restaurant. Besides the thought of flossing afterward is already bringing me joy. We finish off dinner with the always entertaining game of teach me how to swear in your language. Sonofbitch is always funny!

As we get up to leave and I ask about the bill. Somehow through the miracle of not knowing the language my new friends have managed to pay without me witnessing a bill or cash or a credit card of some nature. I'm very confused but I try to pay the bill and they all insist that I'm their guest. I'm blown away again. I think again of someone in America being asked to take someone from their work out to get photos long after office hours ended and instead of being angry taking that person out to dinner and paying the bill! It is hard to imagine.

When I get home I reflect upon my Tuesday night and I feel pretty darn lucky. I cap it off with a nice long tooth brushing and a thorough floss!

Downtown!

I'm moving downtown to an AMAZING apartment that I love! It is central, yet quiet and surrounded by trees. I plan on writing a whole blog about it soon. I will be off line a few days as I will have to set up internet when I move (which is sure to be an adventure.) Until then here are two interesting tidbits. In order to move in China I have to visit a police department and register at my new place or I face a hefty fine. I'm doing this tomorrow with my landlord.

Also I nabbed tickets to the bronze soccer game this Friday in Shanghai, so I will certainly write about that soon. Until then I will leave you with the most amusing olympic picture I've seen so far. Truly worth a thousand words!

Baby Steps with Mandarin

When deciding upon Shanghai as a destination I reached a comfortable ambivalence when it came to learning the Chinese language; or to be specific, learning Mandarin. Universally one thing is known about Mandarin, that it is hard to learn. People who know nothing about China somehow know the language is akin to some form of verbal calculus. Additionally, China has about 5 main languages and they don't mesh smoothly. A country the size of the US with many diverse cultural histories and 1.5 billion people is bound to have some differences. The government has decided that language heritage is not a high priority and that everyone in China needs to speak Mandarin. Still a language know as Shanghaiese dominates in Shanghai (not surprisingly) and Mandarin is seen as a business, work and otherwise kind of uncool language. Knowing these things made the thought of learning Mandarin, or any Chinese language, simultaneously daunting and uninspiring.

About 5 minutes after getting off the plane my ambivalence faded into the hazy sky. My ride was late and the thought of hailing a taxi and traveling over an hour with my non existent communication skills made me hungry for the convenience of speech. For all it's internationalism, Shanghai is still China, and China is confusing. Especially if you can't understand anyone. So I sat and waited and wondered and felt helpless. I hate feeling helpless.

So I set about learning. I can now count to 10, say good morning and tell a cab driver I want to go somewhere. They are humble beginnings but I'm quite proud of them.

There is one wild card helping me quite a bit. I don't mind making a fool of myself. Actually, I quite enjoy taking actions that others might find embarrassing, bold, silly or unorthodox. They don't make me feel like a fool, they amuse me. Without this trait I wouldn't survive my chosen career as a middle school teacher. So to defeat my helplessness I have begun parroting people incessantly. When I hear Chinese I parrot it. Never mind that I'm clueless as to whether I'm hearing Mandarin or Shanghaiese, I find this a fun way to pass the time. It is not hard to overhear the language. The Chinese are loud talkers, and the volume quadruples if there is a cell phone involved. It makes wonder about hearing loss and if it is common problem in China. When the volume soars to a near scream I listen and I quietly repeat it. When I talk with a local and they say something that leaves me clueless, like anything that isn't the numbers 1-10 or good morning, I repeat it like an five year old oscillating between cute and annoying.

Amazingly this parroting is highly entertaining to people. I'm really trying to sound accurate and not patronize but my mouth is not used to these funny sounds and the resulting noises amuses travelers, expats and Chinese locals equally. This is especially true with the tones, which I am determined to master and which are also baffling at this point. It seems logical that the descending tone would descend but I just don't hear it. So I give my best effort at repetition and I get laughs like I'm Jerry Sienfeld. I love it! Maybe someday the I'll get used to the volume and then start hearing the tones and people will stop laughing. And then I will be sad.

First Day in Shanghai

Before leaving for Shanghai I stopped into Powell’s Book Store with a friend. I was extolling her on the wisdom of Siddhartha: when I finished raving and rambling she decided to buy the book. So here I was in Powell’s, a place that is near impossible to leave without buying a book, and I see the brand new, shiny and bright, Lost on Planet China sitting in the best-seller rack. Being rather bored of travel books (ie lonely planet) this book fit my criteria of being about China and also engagingly written. Powell’s worked its magic and we both left with new reading material.

This book was my plane flight reading and between my long naps I would eagerly flip the pages looking for glimpses of what might await. By chapter two the author had expounded thoroughly upon the difficulty of the Chinese language, the horrific pollution, the deadly traffic laws, the frequency of phlegm filled spit flying through the air, public defecation, line cutting, disease, and a host of other concerns. These came in no particular order and each page held a new critique that left wondering what exactly I was doing on a plane to China.

My first evening was a hazy, jet-lagged and uneventful. The school I’m working for is owned by a luxury golf resort (weird huh) and for my first two months I can stay at room at the course for free. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) the resort is more than a hour outside of town . After reading about the horrors of Chinese cities for the past 18 hours I considered staying in my air-conditioned, green and lush, golf course resort. I don’t even golf but, I admit, I was tempted to stay inside and read about how bad China is as opposed to actually experiencing it myself.

Instead I threw the book in my bag, as if I hadn’t had enough, hailed a Taxi and off I went. I arrived in downtown Shanghai and to see a lightly clouded, almost pollution free, blue sky on a comfortable day. I found myself in the old French Concession and it was pleasantly populated, with wide streets that were clean and nice. I met a German friend and a German restaurant and settled down to a Rueben Sandwich and a German beer served by a Chinese waitress wearing a traditional German dress(See pics.) Where is this China I’d been reading about?

We decided to take the Metro the one stop to the very heart of the city, the People’s square. Here I thought for sure I would experience the craziness of overpopulation, the subway to the center of a thriving metropolis of more than 18 million. Yet again, I was surprised. Yes, the car was full, but I’ve been on way crazier crowded trains on Mexico City.

Maybe it was a good day. Maybe the Olympics are cleaning all large Chinese cities for a few weeks. Maybe in 3 weeks it’ll all be over. But I hope not! I’m hoping the China I’ve been reading about is a place I can explore on the weekend and gather a handful crazy tales of eating sheep’s brain and dodging spit. Until then I’m happy to live the Shanghai I found on my first day.

Goodnight US

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic. And it hit me. Tomorrow I will be in China! The thousands of dancers and the sheer magnitude of the event gave me the goosebumps. China is so damn big! How exactly will I swim in this ocean of people. The goosebumps come back whenever I think about it.

Now I'm packing at 2:30 AM, leaving in less then 5 hours. I've spent all week partying with my amazing friends and family (I'll miss you guys) and pushing with a mad rush to finish my CD. I'm calm and alert. I usually this way before I travel. I'm ready to experience the new and unknown.

Shanghai here I come!

The Olympics

I arrive in China on August 9th, one day after the Olympics start. I’m flirting with the idea of trying to go. There are numerous problems with this flirtation.

1) It will be my first week in China and I should be looking for a place to live and preparing for my new job. Responsible and boring but true.

2) I don’t have Olympic tickets. And I’ve heard they are hard to get. And sneaking in to an event where the consequence is the Chinese legal system looses some of the romantic rebel sheen that it has here in the US.

3) I will be flying into Shanghai, which is an 11 hour train ride (according to one google search) from Beijing.

4) I don’t know anybody so this will be a solo, flying by the seat of my pants adventure.

Clearly it is not the smart decision to go. But it is the OLYMPICS. And they are in China. This whole clash of competition, materialism and excess with the communist values of simplicity and functionality is guaranteed to be interesting.

Let me know with the olympics poll.

Short Term Memory Loss

I just wrote and recorded my first overtly political song. China is bad place to start distributing material with an anti-government feel. I wonder if the Chinese government care that I critique the US government from abroad. Anybody got any experience with that?

Take a listen.

Chinese Food

I haven’t eaten Chinese food in years. Why would I when their southern neighbor Thailand has food that is far tastier and is much less likely to leave me feeling as if I drank a quart of motor oil? I know that what we get here in the US is not REAL Chinese food but American Chinese food. Even so, I have a sneaking suspicion that real Chinese food is infinitely worse than any day after General Tzo’s bathroom grumblings I’ve faced thus far in my life. Maybe it is the plum soda I tried from an Asian market down the street, or the chicken feet and chunks of bone I’ve encountered at apparently authentic Dim Sum in San Francisco. Somebody tell me I’m wrong! Tell me that I will find great food. I swear I’m not picky.

Traveling in Style

My passport is about to expire. When I first got it my freshmen year in high school it seemed impossible to imagine what the world would be like in 10 years. 2008, by then we will either have world peace or all be dead. I suppose still I think the same way about 2018. Hmmm…

I need a new passport to apply for my 2 year visa so I got to the business of renewing, which is damn expensive. After sending in all my forms and my extra $60 to have the renewal rushed I had to wait a few weeks. But when it came I wasn’t disappointed. The new passport has quite a facelift and is surprisingly beautiful. Check out the difference in the Info pages.

Old Passport

New Passport

The first words that greet the reader of the new passport are Abraham Lincoln's, “… and that a government, by the people, for the people and of the people, shall not perish from this earth.” I love ole’ honest Abe. The old passport started with the official, “The Secretary of the State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national to…blah, blah, blah.” Obviously! It is a passport.

The old passport was merely a collection of pages. The new one contains intricate art on each page including inspiring quotes. There are pictures of the railroad, ships, cowboys and plains. For those of us with multicultural sensitivities there are quotes by Native Americans, MLK Jr,, women and a totem pole. The picture with a totem pole also has a bear and shows an appreciation of nature. I’m including a photo as proof.

Being a nerd for both history and good quotes I thoroughly enjoyed leafing through its pages. I plan to enjoy it again when I find myself on long border crossing bus rides. I don’t find myself often impressed by the government. On this occasion I’m making sure to enjoy it.

Favorite Passport Quote:

The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class- it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.

Anna Julia Cooper