Wow! Whoa! Ho! .....Slow!.....Now I remember why I quit writing poetry.
The last week has been quite....something. I was so excited to finally see my group. Like, REALLY excited. I was so jittery. Really. I couldn't stop shaking because my nerves were shot! Like, nervous break down shot! First, it snowed! And driving in the snow was worse then normal, and if you've read the last few excerpts, you'll know that normal is bad! Then Gary gave me a ride on his bike to our meeting place. It all just added up you know? I was so happy to see Anthony smoking outside, just a familiar face. Then the others, just asking how it's been, what have they done, how are their host families, etc. Most of the experiences seemed similar, a bit scary, not knowing what our host families are saying most of the time. Everyone gatherered in Maxime's office, where some of us just began to hug eachother. Sadie, known in Kelowna to bike everywhere, I just hugged and told her "Never, EVER touch a bike here!" We all shared in excitement and nervousness our stories. We had a well needed circle check, ever since the olympic talk fiasco. I was last, listening to everyone talk about their miscommunication, or lack thereof, sharing things with their host families, and just the experience. When it got to me, I was very jittery. I told my group, well, practically everything I've past written. I described it as being a small kitten in the middle of a Beijing highway, me being the cat. It just hit me hard is all. It felt very comforting to tell everyone this. Just hearing some people having the same problems helped. That afternoon, we opened up letters we had written to ourselves at the beginning of the program. It was like talking to yourself, a different self who had different expectations and aspirations. I laughed and chuckled a bit, cuz I wrote some silly things to myself. What do you expect? So we wrote new letters, and I just shared the same experiences I did at circle check and how I expect to overcome them, that I will, and when I'm done, I'll be a better person and stronger one at that. It'll be good to read after the next 3 months. We went for a small walking tour and went to a mall for lunch. Fast food restaurants are similar I guess. The one we were at gave out large stone bowls with our food in them. But even the food all looks like the food everywhere else. Doesn't really look "greasy" or anything. Ironic I say that, because they add oil to EVERYTHING. I calmed down a lot by the afternoon. I went home, excited to see my host sister who was coming home from university as well, but she wasn't there until Saturday.
The next day, I went out with some of the group to go meet some of Kassie's friends for dinner. It was nice to go out to another dinner. We've been doing that a fair bit lately, but it seems expected. We just discussed everything, had a few beers (15 tall ones between like 8 of us) and Maxime shared some great stories with us from his Benign program, like the one about the kid bleeding out the ass and the retarded doctors who let someone die next to him. Glad we have an experienced person in our group. We went our Lotus Lake, a frozen lake with lots of pubs around it. People beg you to come into their pub, and sometimes drag you I've been told. We chose one, but it was a bit hectic as it was late and we were still deciding and figuring out rides. I came home around 10pm. Just in time to meet my host sister and fall asleep.
The next morning, we were meeting at the Red Theatre to watch an arts performance. Dancers, singers, and even a short demonstration of kung fu. I liked it rather much, as a supporter for the arts. We were planned to be part of it! As the Canadian guests, we were to perform a Christmas song. What song did we choose? That damn annoying one! 12 days of Christmas. But we shortened it to the 8 Days of Christmas instead. We were all nervous, but I just enjoyed the idea, that we were performing (albeit a very minor) at a Chinese arts performance! The song was alright, but our counterparts in the audience said it was grand. At the end, they brought us out with some higher officials (the judges maybe?) and they blew confetti guns and cheered. Oh, to be a foreigner in front of an applauding crowd. We rock! I went out with some girls for lunch at a noodle place, with a stop at the Chinese 7/11. It was a bit different. God I miss taquitoes! Then we walked around, Canadians only. It was the most cold and windiest day ever. What I thought was the sweet munchies for Yuchan was actually a stop for a slice of birthday cake for me! Although it was a day early, my friends remembered my birthday! I was so happy. We walked around a bit more, stopping at a book store. The rest of the group seemed to appear. I guess they were called. They had some drinks and snacks and we went into a building close by. I thought it was another activity that was supposedly planned for later, but as we walked into a karaoke room, they all yelled "SURPRISE!" It was! It really was! I had no clue the entire day (which isn't hard if you know me well) I really appreciated it, especially considering I ruined my surprise party last year by, ahem, showing up. Don't ask. We laughed, we sang. But take note. Even the english songs aren't the same versions we all know and love. The energy by our well known singers just isn't there. And the singer themselves are different. Even Ivy, the vice director of foreign affairs (second to Director Wang) was there. I was thrilled, however, the party ran short, as it was in the afternoon, but people ran out of steam quickly. We retired for the night.
On my actual birthday, my host sister took me to the market place, close by our house. It's insane there. So many people, even foreigners, walking up and down like a hundred aisles and alleyways, lots of small counters and shops and stores. It was more antique oriented. But it was very cool, and I had a tough time saying no to so many shop keeps, telling them I was just looking. Next, she took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone, that I was borrowing off of her cousin. I was a little surprised to be buying a SIM card off of a random lady on the street almost, picking my phone number out of a coloring book it seemed! But lo and behold, it did work. It was charged that afternoon, while Gary took Mavis, my host sister, his girlfriend and I bowling. But the bowling alley was closed, and Gary tried hard to find things for us to do. It was difficult though, as he kept asking me what I wanted to do. It's Beijing! How the hell do I know what I want to do, or know what there is TO do? We went to the Hong Qiao market, another market place, but more uptodate and sold new things. In other words, a lot of stuff that was either fake, or they sold expensive. It was another thrilling place for me, bustling with people from all over the world, haggling with the clerks, this time a little more refined, dressed up, and THEN trying to rip you off. I wanted to look for a new memory card for my camera. But when Gary found a cheap one, they found out my camera was out of date and couldn't handle a 2 Gb memory card. I sighed and decided I needed a new camera. Mine had lasted long enough, for the last two years. I bought it in Katimavik, when my last one burned out. But I was not sad, as it had been far and wide, from mountain tops to underground, to yonder rivers and above the air. I kid you not. So now, I'm shopping for a new one. What better place to though, eh? Gary took me to see Tiannanmen Square too. It was so crowded with tourists, even Chinese alike, against the rails to see the guards. They come out of Mao Zidong's building and lower the flag with the sun. It was good timing. Gary took us out for birthday noodles after, as is the tradition in China. I was more excited to eat sweet and sour pork, TRUE sweet and sour pork. It was so delicious, moist, yet crunchy, just like my old love affair of meat, ginger beef! I returned home to find my cell phone now charged and ready for phone calls. It was a great birthday.
New Year's, sorry to say, wasn't as exciting. We planned to hang out with people, but being still fresh with our host families, it's hard to stray away as lots of participants were being shown off to other family members or just busy. I went exploring for the first time by myself. I walked towards the Longtan (Dragon) park. It was a shame it was winter, as I expect it will be beautiful in the spring or summer. I met Lyndsay and Lilly and we went to a restaurant for a hot pot. Only about 10 of us showed up, but it was still a celebration. The restaurant was very hospitable, with hot towels, plates of fruit, and a small demonstration of noodle making! This lady practically skipped with noodle dough, almost whipping it in your face. And through casual conversation, we found out that a "hairdresser" is slang for prostitute. Needless to say, that sparked some vulgar jokes. After, I decided to try to stay out fairly late, as in, home by 10pm. I went out with Jamie in attempts to visit Maxime, but he wasn't home and was hard to get ahold of. So there we were, in front of a mall with a big New Years stage, in Beijing, at 9:20pm. Happy New Years! I left, not wanting to be late, especially because my host dad trusted me with the house key. That was big, considering I don't think any other participants have keys. We couldn't stay out late, as most of the host families didn't want us to. They we scared for us, especially the girls, and refused to give most of us keys. We tried to express the importance of New Year's but they didn't understand. It's quite disappointing for us, because we like to go out, experience the night life. This does not necessarily mean go partying or drinking, but we have fun late at night. I think it's part of the cultural experience. But I've been told me may have to wait like a month or two before they soften up on this.
Yesterday was a nice, cold, windy day, as the past couple days have been. I guess that the dark smog we saw the first couple of days actually was due to the stranger weather.
Yes. I am admitting the pollution problem doesn't look as bad as I made it out to be. I'm not saying it's not a problem, but it's not as bad as it seemed the first day.
So I went out in the afternoon with Leah and Kassie to go get my glasses fixed. Lucky I am to be in a place where a lot of these kind of things are cheap. And plentiful it seems! We went into a 4 story building, one floor consisting entirely of glass crafters, contact lens stores and the such. I repaired my old glasses for 60 yuan and got a whole new sexy pair for 100 yuan. Typically, for pricing, we divide by 7 to get the approximate value of how much were spending. So 160 for a repair and new pair comes to a little more then $20. Yay China! And Leah got purple contact lenses for fun, which make her look like an anime character. We visited Maxime to show them off and just chilled with him. I haven't even mentioned his apartment, which is hiliarious in itself! His bathroom is like 1 meter by 1 meter (yes, metric sytem!) He has to turn sideways to use the toilet, and has to stand over the toilet to shower! The whole apartment just makes you laugh. And laughing, at this point, as how we stay sane.
I got to laugh some more when I finally phoned home, the first time since I got here. Just hearing comforting words from family and friends really helped. And even when I checked my email, lots of people remembered I'm over here and wished me Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday and even a happy new year! Glad to know I'm missed.
The hurricane has passed, and things have slowed down a bit. After getting to know the city and it's people a bit better, the stress level has quickly dropped. It was just the intensity of being thrown in it all so fast with no group members and little counterpart contact. I've thought about it though. To me, Beijing is the scariest place I've ever been. From going to one of the smallest places in Canada to one of the biggest in the world, where the traffic still scares the hell out of me, and the obvious language barrier. The biggest city ever, the worst traffic I've experienced and I can't understand almost anyone. This is the scariest place I've ever been. And I'm not afraid of it no more. Except when I'm standing in the middle of a cross walk on a green light, then its like "AUGH HOLY SHIT! STUPID BEIJING!"
The last week has been quite....something. I was so excited to finally see my group. Like, REALLY excited. I was so jittery. Really. I couldn't stop shaking because my nerves were shot! Like, nervous break down shot! First, it snowed! And driving in the snow was worse then normal, and if you've read the last few excerpts, you'll know that normal is bad! Then Gary gave me a ride on his bike to our meeting place. It all just added up you know? I was so happy to see Anthony smoking outside, just a familiar face. Then the others, just asking how it's been, what have they done, how are their host families, etc. Most of the experiences seemed similar, a bit scary, not knowing what our host families are saying most of the time. Everyone gatherered in Maxime's office, where some of us just began to hug eachother. Sadie, known in Kelowna to bike everywhere, I just hugged and told her "Never, EVER touch a bike here!" We all shared in excitement and nervousness our stories. We had a well needed circle check, ever since the olympic talk fiasco. I was last, listening to everyone talk about their miscommunication, or lack thereof, sharing things with their host families, and just the experience. When it got to me, I was very jittery. I told my group, well, practically everything I've past written. I described it as being a small kitten in the middle of a Beijing highway, me being the cat. It just hit me hard is all. It felt very comforting to tell everyone this. Just hearing some people having the same problems helped. That afternoon, we opened up letters we had written to ourselves at the beginning of the program. It was like talking to yourself, a different self who had different expectations and aspirations. I laughed and chuckled a bit, cuz I wrote some silly things to myself. What do you expect? So we wrote new letters, and I just shared the same experiences I did at circle check and how I expect to overcome them, that I will, and when I'm done, I'll be a better person and stronger one at that. It'll be good to read after the next 3 months. We went for a small walking tour and went to a mall for lunch. Fast food restaurants are similar I guess. The one we were at gave out large stone bowls with our food in them. But even the food all looks like the food everywhere else. Doesn't really look "greasy" or anything. Ironic I say that, because they add oil to EVERYTHING. I calmed down a lot by the afternoon. I went home, excited to see my host sister who was coming home from university as well, but she wasn't there until Saturday.
The next day, I went out with some of the group to go meet some of Kassie's friends for dinner. It was nice to go out to another dinner. We've been doing that a fair bit lately, but it seems expected. We just discussed everything, had a few beers (15 tall ones between like 8 of us) and Maxime shared some great stories with us from his Benign program, like the one about the kid bleeding out the ass and the retarded doctors who let someone die next to him. Glad we have an experienced person in our group. We went our Lotus Lake, a frozen lake with lots of pubs around it. People beg you to come into their pub, and sometimes drag you I've been told. We chose one, but it was a bit hectic as it was late and we were still deciding and figuring out rides. I came home around 10pm. Just in time to meet my host sister and fall asleep.
The next morning, we were meeting at the Red Theatre to watch an arts performance. Dancers, singers, and even a short demonstration of kung fu. I liked it rather much, as a supporter for the arts. We were planned to be part of it! As the Canadian guests, we were to perform a Christmas song. What song did we choose? That damn annoying one! 12 days of Christmas. But we shortened it to the 8 Days of Christmas instead. We were all nervous, but I just enjoyed the idea, that we were performing (albeit a very minor) at a Chinese arts performance! The song was alright, but our counterparts in the audience said it was grand. At the end, they brought us out with some higher officials (the judges maybe?) and they blew confetti guns and cheered. Oh, to be a foreigner in front of an applauding crowd. We rock! I went out with some girls for lunch at a noodle place, with a stop at the Chinese 7/11. It was a bit different. God I miss taquitoes! Then we walked around, Canadians only. It was the most cold and windiest day ever. What I thought was the sweet munchies for Yuchan was actually a stop for a slice of birthday cake for me! Although it was a day early, my friends remembered my birthday! I was so happy. We walked around a bit more, stopping at a book store. The rest of the group seemed to appear. I guess they were called. They had some drinks and snacks and we went into a building close by. I thought it was another activity that was supposedly planned for later, but as we walked into a karaoke room, they all yelled "SURPRISE!" It was! It really was! I had no clue the entire day (which isn't hard if you know me well) I really appreciated it, especially considering I ruined my surprise party last year by, ahem, showing up. Don't ask. We laughed, we sang. But take note. Even the english songs aren't the same versions we all know and love. The energy by our well known singers just isn't there. And the singer themselves are different. Even Ivy, the vice director of foreign affairs (second to Director Wang) was there. I was thrilled, however, the party ran short, as it was in the afternoon, but people ran out of steam quickly. We retired for the night.
On my actual birthday, my host sister took me to the market place, close by our house. It's insane there. So many people, even foreigners, walking up and down like a hundred aisles and alleyways, lots of small counters and shops and stores. It was more antique oriented. But it was very cool, and I had a tough time saying no to so many shop keeps, telling them I was just looking. Next, she took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone, that I was borrowing off of her cousin. I was a little surprised to be buying a SIM card off of a random lady on the street almost, picking my phone number out of a coloring book it seemed! But lo and behold, it did work. It was charged that afternoon, while Gary took Mavis, my host sister, his girlfriend and I bowling. But the bowling alley was closed, and Gary tried hard to find things for us to do. It was difficult though, as he kept asking me what I wanted to do. It's Beijing! How the hell do I know what I want to do, or know what there is TO do? We went to the Hong Qiao market, another market place, but more uptodate and sold new things. In other words, a lot of stuff that was either fake, or they sold expensive. It was another thrilling place for me, bustling with people from all over the world, haggling with the clerks, this time a little more refined, dressed up, and THEN trying to rip you off. I wanted to look for a new memory card for my camera. But when Gary found a cheap one, they found out my camera was out of date and couldn't handle a 2 Gb memory card. I sighed and decided I needed a new camera. Mine had lasted long enough, for the last two years. I bought it in Katimavik, when my last one burned out. But I was not sad, as it had been far and wide, from mountain tops to underground, to yonder rivers and above the air. I kid you not. So now, I'm shopping for a new one. What better place to though, eh? Gary took me to see Tiannanmen Square too. It was so crowded with tourists, even Chinese alike, against the rails to see the guards. They come out of Mao Zidong's building and lower the flag with the sun. It was good timing. Gary took us out for birthday noodles after, as is the tradition in China. I was more excited to eat sweet and sour pork, TRUE sweet and sour pork. It was so delicious, moist, yet crunchy, just like my old love affair of meat, ginger beef! I returned home to find my cell phone now charged and ready for phone calls. It was a great birthday.
New Year's, sorry to say, wasn't as exciting. We planned to hang out with people, but being still fresh with our host families, it's hard to stray away as lots of participants were being shown off to other family members or just busy. I went exploring for the first time by myself. I walked towards the Longtan (Dragon) park. It was a shame it was winter, as I expect it will be beautiful in the spring or summer. I met Lyndsay and Lilly and we went to a restaurant for a hot pot. Only about 10 of us showed up, but it was still a celebration. The restaurant was very hospitable, with hot towels, plates of fruit, and a small demonstration of noodle making! This lady practically skipped with noodle dough, almost whipping it in your face. And through casual conversation, we found out that a "hairdresser" is slang for prostitute. Needless to say, that sparked some vulgar jokes. After, I decided to try to stay out fairly late, as in, home by 10pm. I went out with Jamie in attempts to visit Maxime, but he wasn't home and was hard to get ahold of. So there we were, in front of a mall with a big New Years stage, in Beijing, at 9:20pm. Happy New Years! I left, not wanting to be late, especially because my host dad trusted me with the house key. That was big, considering I don't think any other participants have keys. We couldn't stay out late, as most of the host families didn't want us to. They we scared for us, especially the girls, and refused to give most of us keys. We tried to express the importance of New Year's but they didn't understand. It's quite disappointing for us, because we like to go out, experience the night life. This does not necessarily mean go partying or drinking, but we have fun late at night. I think it's part of the cultural experience. But I've been told me may have to wait like a month or two before they soften up on this.
Yesterday was a nice, cold, windy day, as the past couple days have been. I guess that the dark smog we saw the first couple of days actually was due to the stranger weather.
Yes. I am admitting the pollution problem doesn't look as bad as I made it out to be. I'm not saying it's not a problem, but it's not as bad as it seemed the first day.
So I went out in the afternoon with Leah and Kassie to go get my glasses fixed. Lucky I am to be in a place where a lot of these kind of things are cheap. And plentiful it seems! We went into a 4 story building, one floor consisting entirely of glass crafters, contact lens stores and the such. I repaired my old glasses for 60 yuan and got a whole new sexy pair for 100 yuan. Typically, for pricing, we divide by 7 to get the approximate value of how much were spending. So 160 for a repair and new pair comes to a little more then $20. Yay China! And Leah got purple contact lenses for fun, which make her look like an anime character. We visited Maxime to show them off and just chilled with him. I haven't even mentioned his apartment, which is hiliarious in itself! His bathroom is like 1 meter by 1 meter (yes, metric sytem!) He has to turn sideways to use the toilet, and has to stand over the toilet to shower! The whole apartment just makes you laugh. And laughing, at this point, as how we stay sane.
I got to laugh some more when I finally phoned home, the first time since I got here. Just hearing comforting words from family and friends really helped. And even when I checked my email, lots of people remembered I'm over here and wished me Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday and even a happy new year! Glad to know I'm missed.
The hurricane has passed, and things have slowed down a bit. After getting to know the city and it's people a bit better, the stress level has quickly dropped. It was just the intensity of being thrown in it all so fast with no group members and little counterpart contact. I've thought about it though. To me, Beijing is the scariest place I've ever been. From going to one of the smallest places in Canada to one of the biggest in the world, where the traffic still scares the hell out of me, and the obvious language barrier. The biggest city ever, the worst traffic I've experienced and I can't understand almost anyone. This is the scariest place I've ever been. And I'm not afraid of it no more. Except when I'm standing in the middle of a cross walk on a green light, then its like "AUGH HOLY SHIT! STUPID BEIJING!"
1 comment:
Feb 7th is chinese new year this year. Watch how different that will be compared to Dec 31st!
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