Just some thoughts

Hey all,

I added some pictures to the Harbin and Apartment albums and also posted one of our staff trip to Crazy Lake. Check them out and see if you can figure out what the door to the left is.

It is interesting to be here 20 years after a major event and not be able to talk about it with any Chinese person that I know... mainly because they don't know about it. Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out some of these essays: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/opinion/31tiananmen.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Every time that I've been to China, I've been struck by the contradictory nature of their society. It is often difficult to explain my observations of Chinese people and culture because there are usually two seemingly conflicting sides to every issue. For example, citizens feel little or no obligation to clean up public areas such as their stairwells or litter on the streets, but if you walk in to their houses or offices you will be struck by the attention and care given to cleanliness. Further, most pursuits in daily life are somewhat selfish: when crossing the street, driving a car, boarding a bus, or waiting in "line", Chinese people tend to put 'me' first. I must get from this side of the street to that one, no matter how many accidents I almost cause. I must get on the bus first in case there is a seat for me. I must merge into that lane of traffic... too bad if I cut off 4 other bustling lanes. And when looking at the big picture, one begins to forgive and understand that this selfish attitude is out of necessity in order to claw one's way through the ranks of 1.3 billion others. However, one of the most notable, and oft cited, differences between Chinese and American culture is China's orientation toward groups and group work and America's tendency toward individualism and independence. So I have to wonder, how is it that this group mindedness can coexist with a selfish nature? The truth is, Chinese people will go out of their way to help or host a friend or family member... they just might push a few people out of their way when buying the cherries for the party.

That is the frustrating nature of the society. China is a culture that has always revered and honored revolutionaries who went against the rest of the society to accomplish a goal and make things better for the Chinese people. At the same time, they continue to suppress new ideas and revolutionary types, and often have in the past. See? Contradiction. It seems that only in hindsight is this sort of forward thinking and action good. It makes me sad to see a nation of youth who don't fully understand their nation's history or its possible future... sad that I can't even talk about it with them, not only because I might get kicked out of the country but also because they wouldn't understand what I was talking about. They would just label me as another arrogant Westerner that didn't really understand China. And they'd be mostly right. I could never hope to understand everything about their culture and society, especially with just a few years of study and a year of first hand experience. But I know that this country is a nation full of lovely people and there is more out there for them. I don't mean western, materialistic things. I mean a purpose or a cause. A society with no religion is an interesting one indeed.

In their pursuit to be like us, they've taken a liking to our expensive, famous brands and our unhealthy fast food chains. Every person under the age of 40, and some over, that I talked to before the Dragon Boat Festival admitted that they didn't know how to make the traditional food for the festival, a type of rice dumpling called zongzi. No, their mother couldn't make zongzi either. Their grandma? Yeah, she could make them. When I asked what this meant for 20 years from now, they shrugged and said it didn't matter because you could buy zongzi at the supermarket. Even with all of this western influence, I still cause near accidents every day simply by walking down the street. I garner cat calls and "Hellos!" just for being white. They love me and want to help me, while at the same time they don't trust me or respect me. Contradiction.

Perhaps it is living in this society that has done it to me, but I love China and I hate China. I love the people. I love the traditions. I love the food and I love the challenge of crossing a street. I don't like people staring at me... I don't like the people talking about me when they think I can't understand. I don't like the food... don't you people eat large chunks of meat? I hate the traffic... can't you see that there are ways to do this better? I love the Sunshine Chinese staff. I love the feel of a Chinese city. I hate the litter... I hate that people so carelessly toss it out of bus windows or throw it at your feet as you're walking by. I love the genuine warmth of a Chinese stranger. I love the importance that is placed on education... I don't like the the education system. It's great to see people take pride in their appearance and dress smartly. I don't like when their critical eyes inevitably turn to my artfully worn and holey shoes. I love riding on Chinese buses and I love it when my students run to hug me and shout my name in glee. A full Chinese bus is the most uncomfortable place a Westerner could find themselves. I hate when that student who shouts, "Jaclyn!" and beams at me during break deliberately disobeys me and doesn't pay attention in class minutes later. Taxi drivers will honk at you and try to pick you up just because you're foreign... Taxi drivers will blow past you or ignore you just because you're foreign. Neither is desirable. A day in China is lovely or disagreeable. Exciting and adventurous or difficult at best. You love it and you wish to leave it. A true battle of the senses.

Switching tracks entirely....

Steve and I went to the Xuefu bookstore again yesterday. We hadn't been since Harbin was an icy wonderland, and I didn't recognize any of it! Steve kept saying things like, "Oh yeah, there's the building with the curvy roof," and I was sure I'd never seen the building with a curvy roof in all my years. It also doesn't help that they are building a subway in Harbin and many of the roads are barricaded with blue fences, as was the case in this part of town. So for me, everything seemed new and interesting. We had a look through the bookstore and then strolled through the surrounding area. This particular area is home to two of the large universities in town, and we saw a student dressed in cap in gown having his friend take some pictures of him around his campus. There were also lots of street stalls offering 'fast food' and wares being proffered everywhere you looked. I had bought several books in the book store (Northanger Abbey, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1, and Out of Africa... only the classics are offered because they are for students of English) and my shoulder was beginning to resent the fact that we'd gone to the bookstore before walking the streets, so we took a bus home. But first, we noticed a sign advertising chocolate donuts! That's right.. chocolate donuts! It was a fast food chain specializing in fried chicken called Dicos ( a Chinese version of KFC ). We weren't at all hungry, since we had eaten a large lunch, but we grabbed some chocolate donuts to go and ate them this morning for breakfast. Not too bad!

For now, Steve has gone to teach his 1:00 o'clock class and then has a long break before his 5:30. I'm waiting for my 4:30 start time. We've enjoyed having all of our windows open for the past few weeks. The weather has really been great, but now we're getting in to rainy season. There is rain in the forecast everyday for the foreseeable future, but it doesn't always come to fruition. It didn't rain yesterday, for example. But as long as it's raining, the temperatures stay in the high 60s or low 70s, so you can't complain! And the sun is now coming up at 3:45, so you've got a lot more time to enjoy the cool temperatures. The sunset (pictured) is around 7:30.

Having the windows open leaves you a little more susceptible to the many and varied sounds of a Chinese neighborhood. We usually wake up to the banging of plastic buckets and the long, high-pitched cries of "recycling men" (for lack of a better term). These men [and women] ride around banging on their buckets or shouting out their presence in case anyone within ear shot has some bit of recycling to give them. This includes everything from bottles and cans to scraps of metal or cardboard and old refrigerators. Of course, there is the constant honking and the sounds of trucks and buses braking. We also have been hearing someone play a flute, or similar instrument, quite a bit recently. It would seem that this person has just taken it up and is practicing with determination, because I can constantly hear the same patterns and notes floating out of a nearby window. It would also seem, however, that the flute player has not contracted a tutor or learned how to read music... Just now I heard a large piece of metal hit the ground and a few weeks ago we heard the constant pounding of bricks into sand as all of the sidewalks around our neighborhood were redone. And of course, you can always hear voices. The other night we heard a pitched and feverish argument between a young couple, wherein the woman was crying and yelling in that hoarse, somewhat unintelligible way that people yell between sobs. All very interesting.

And that's about all I can think of to say.

Good morning, Good night, or Good afternoon! Choose the one which best applies...

Love you all!