Mondays are usually a write off for me. I work hard all weekend, usually with very little sleep going into it, then I stay up until all hours Sunday night, and sleep in until…late the next day. I won’t tell you exactly how late, because it would be embarassing.
Today began as usual, but it has gone wonderfully since then. So wonderfully I thought I’d tell you about it.
I woke up, made a terrible sausage (which I proceeded to throw in the trash) and some noodles, lit up a cigarette, and sat down to watch The Bishop’s Wife (the 1947 black and white version with Cary Grant, not the more recent The Preacher’s Wife). It didn’t even occur to me when I popped it in that it is a Christmas movie, but it is and I suppose watching it was in some way inaugural of the season. I finished the movie and my housemate returned, but I was beginning to go stir crazy, feeling a nicotine and caffeine driven angst coming on, so I decided to head off to Starbucks to finish G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. If you haven’t read Heretics and Orthodoxy, I tell you, as I may well have told you before, that it’s an absolute must. I recommend these books more categorically than any other books I’ve ever read. I recommend them to anyone, regardless of interests or beliefs or even your ability to comprehend the contents. Work it out, if it’s difficult for you.
But back to my day. I finished Orthodoxy, and the ending couldn’t have been more satisfactory. My mind was stimulated, I was inspired, and I took down notes for some of the best thoughts I’ve had in months. Chesterton is always inspiring like that. I really ought to read some Chesterton every morning to get my mind fired up, but the weight of the thoughts might overburden me. They take time to fully process.
Then Olen, my coworker and manager, called to see if I wanted to go for a foot washing. Absolutely I did, so we went, along with a ladyfriend of his.
The term ‘foot washing’ is misleading. There is indeed a foot washing, and such a washing that if you ever had doubts about the usefulness of your feet, it would convince that they were worth having if only for the pleasure of having them washed. But there is also much more. A full leg and back massage, to be precise, and tea and oranges, and, if you are there after midnight, the option of sleeping there (the rooms are quite nice, with a TV and everything). There are several foot washing options, such as milk washing or, what I had tonight, some kind of Tibetan herbal washing. Needless to say the whole thing was divine. I feel like a new man.
Revelling in my masculine newness, I stopped at the little outdoor barbecue place on the way home (surprisingly, perhaps fortuitously, open at 1am) for some vegetable barbacue. I brought it up to my housemate, and it turned out he had just been craving the very thing, only had assumed the barbecue people would be gone by this hour. Now I’m sitting here typing this, and he is just returning with more barbecue.
There you have it. Monday-Tuesday, November 27-28, in Chongqing China.
Don’t you wish you were here?
[6]
I just saw the most screwed up thing.
I was nearing my home, crossing a bridge on which I regularly encounter beggars and buskers. As I came to the end of the bridge I saw a very disturbing sight. A forlorn kid, maybe 14, maybe 16, was sitting there with his head down. He didn’t have any plate out for money or anything, he just looked as dejected and resigned and pitiable as anyone I’ve ever seen. He looked as though he’d cried his tears and screamed his screams, and now he was just sitting there in solemn anguish. The reason was obvious. A large chunk was missing from the side of his foot, and it had obviously gone missing quite recently. I have no idea how it happened. I didn’t stand around staring and trying to work out the details. It was pitiful and disturbing, and there isn’t much else I can say about it.
It could have been an accident, and he could have been waiting for help. It wasn’t bleeding anymore and so I doubt it. It didn’t really look that way. Some of the beggars around here have only stubs for legs or are missing hands. At first I thought they had been injured and now couldn’t work and so turned to begging, but I asked some of my adult students about it and they told me otherwise. They said the government will help such people, if they want. They told me the ones missing parts of their bodies are beggars from childhood, when they are taken by some organization, have the limbs cut off, and are sent out to beg. From that point on that’s just how they live. Apparently the government tries to stop it but the organization (or organizations) are squirmy and widespread.
As I say, I have no idea if this kid’s gouged out foot is related to any of that, but that’s what occurred to me. The whole beggar thing is still kind of strange and I don’t really understand the details. I don’t speak enough Chinese to really converse about it, so I guess I’ll remain in the dark for now.
The new link on the side – the one with the question marks – will lead you to my new friend and housemate’s website. I don’t know why the Chinese doesn’t appear. I guess textpattern doesn’t support it. The site, naturally, is in Chinese. You can always translate it with BabelFish, but the translation is poor. He also writes poetry, some of which doesn’t translate at all. If you scroll through the slide show a bit you’ll see a picture I took of a man smoking a cigarette. That’s him. More to come…someday…I think.
Does it seem strange to you that the Chinese government has censored blogspot but has reopened wikipedia? It seems strange to me. Supposedly they employ something like 30,000 people for web censorship. I wish they’d censor some of the spam flooding into my website.
The Chinese don’t mind the censorship. Unlike North Americans, they’re perfectly willing to sacrifice freedom of expression for the good of the state. I had a discussion in one of my adult classes on the topic of free expression, with Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” as the theme text. My students all agreed that it was an excellent song and a good protest. They said that freedom of expression should be allowed, as in Dylan’s song, but only with government approval. I mentioned that most 60s protestors weren’t interested in government approval; in fact were interested in directly opposing government actions at the time. This was difficult for them to comprehend. Their whole way of thinking is geared such that if there is dissonance between state and individual, the state wins out, no questions asked. There were unanimous on this point.
What about people on the margins of state policies, I asked (using very different language). What about people for whom state good simply does not coincide? They could hardly understand what I meant: of course they will submit themselves to the state, they said. We do not think like westerners about individual rights. The state good is the individual good.
Some might argue this is simply due to the propoganda of the last 50 years, but I don’t think so. Confucion modes of thinking, though altered, remain strong despite the cultural revolution which claimed to throw off old ways of thinking and living. There certainly have been changes that don’t fit with strict Confucion morality, but the general ordering of society remains the same. It will be interesting to see what happens as the one-child generation, pampered as they are not only by their parents but two sets of grandparents, and used to getting their own way, grows up.
[1]
I’ll add a permanent link soon, replacing the sadly defunct Simplicitude blog, but for now, I’ll just tell you: more China pics up at my flickr. I have many, many more. These are just a few of my favourites. They are not representative of the more epic of my journeys so far, but I like them anyway.
How in the world did both Aaron and I miss this.
~~
Dr. Tim Perry makes his way into the pages of First Things.
~~
I am back from Chengdu (a link with pictures and anecdotal accompaniment to follow shortly). My itinerary and experiences, very briefly, included:
~A train trip involving a Chinese card game and a vanishing act among new friends: 40RMB straight from my wallet.
~Being put up at a hotel along with a wedding party of which I was not a part. I didn’t like this arrangement, since I felt I had no business there, but there was really no way to refuse. This also included taking part in a large meal among the groom’s and bride’s friends and family.
~A overnight trip to Emeishan, one of China four major Buddhist mountains. This included the visiting of various temples, and monkeys, on the way up and down.
~A visit to the Panda Breeding Reserve in Chengdu – the only successful Great Panda breedery in the world.
~The fantastic spectacle that is Sichuan Opera, along with an pre-show massage.
~A lengthly visit to the Dufu Thatched Hut museum, home of the Tang dynasty poet Dufu, and a number of other interesting pieces of Chinese history and artlore. This may not sound that interesting, but entry was rather expensive, I did it because I had time to kill one day, and it was one of the favourite parts of my trip.
~Meeting and speaking with various people from around the world, including a Belgian, Germans, Frenchpersons, Englishpersons, an Irish friend I trained with in Xian, the people I was supposed to teach with in Xianyang, Chinese people from Chengdu, Beijing, Chongqing, and sundry parts China, a hispanic American teaching English in a deep Tibetan Monastery (who offered me a job – such jobs are, apparently, everywhere), and others. One of the most interesting couples were an Australian and New Zealander who had lived in London for the last 9 years, and were now traveling the Eastern continent on their way home. They had already done Cairo to Cape Town and St. Petersberg to Beijing. They had to hurry out of China, though, due to Visa related complications – of which there were many, and of which I too was subject. Luckily it all turned out all right in the end, and I only lost a few extra yuan in the process.
All told, Chengdu is a tourist city, and a great time despite and in part because of that. There are plenty of things to do in Sichuan province, most of which I have yet to do. I would like to re-ascend Emeishan in better weather, and I neglected to visit the world’s largest Buddha at nearby Leshan.
~~
Science and aesthetics collide in the form of String Theory?
~~
Krista Tippett continues to offer up what appear to be a very interesting series of podcasts. (I haven’t begun listening yet, but they include issues on religion in Mao’s China, faith heroes from the world religions, perspectives on homosexuality, and so on).
~~
Finally, I have already been listening to Ravi Zacharias’ podcasts, entitled, “Let My People Think”. I particularly recommend the pair on Secularization.
[2]
So I’ve been asked once or twice why I’m not writing anything about China, now that I’m here. The answer is that, well, I’m in China, and I simply can’t summarize my experience or this country and culture for you – even with my prodigious literary skills. If I set myself to the task I might give you a taste of the lidded grapelike dragon’s eyes, let you feel the humid weight of the morning fog, and listen to the constant chorus of tonal Chinese that seeps from every pore and public space like the scent of sichuan oil. But I could not do so without giving the impression that you were sampling all of these things, as at the supermarket, only for a moment. In reality, the foreigners are the produce for sample in China, on display and ready to be tasted or, possibly, thrown aside.
But you all know I’m being silly and dramatic because it’s late and I feel like it. The Chinese are wonderfully friendly and easy to get along with in most situations, despite communicational difficulties. That doesn’t make the bit about being on display untrue.
I am enjoying my time here so far, at least when I’m not sick. Teaching is going as well as could be expected – and if it isn’t they’re not telling me. Things are cheap and living in its simple form is easy. Everyday social interaction can be a chore, since I’m often dependent on the Chinese for one thing or another, and it’s no fun to be dependent all the time.
On Sunday I travel to Chengdu, home of the panda reserve, and if all goes well will visit either Emei Shan or Qingcheng Shan, or both. I plan to take pictures and report back with details as appropriate, so, vicarious travellers, stay tuned.
Immediately available are a few location pics I’ve taken here in Chongqing – the view from my apartment, of part of my apartment, and of my place of work.
I also have pics of coworkers but I decided to refrain from posting some until I could post all.
[4]