Monday, July 27, 2009

Kacie and I have been worried about our fish--two showed up with white spots on their backs and then the pump started sounding really funny. So Ying had a consultation with a person at the pet store and came last night with a new pump and drops for the fish pond. She also suggested we fill the pond higher, so we added a couple of gallons of water. The fish seemed happy, and we fed them and they were dancing in the tank, glad to get order restored in their lives.

Sad to say, the party must have become too wild after I fell asleep: when I woke up this morning, one of the fat, beautiful, healthy ones had jumped for joy a little too high, and was on the floor, still golden and bright, but dried and dead. Darn.

They are all flapping happy to see me, though, and just gathered around for some snacks and conversation. Funny how one, missing two kitties, can start thinking fish are cute.

Another funny thing that I keep forgetting to tell you is that last week when Kongli had to drive Kacie to the police station to get her resident permit, he called Duo to ask for directions. Duo told Kongli to ask ME since I’d been there twice already. What a riot. After Kongli got us in the near vicinity, I was able to point down a street, where Kacie saw a sign that said, “P-O-L-I-C-E,” and we were there!

Saturday morning I dedicated my life to getting my nails done. When I first arrived, Ying and I had had manicures at a fancy mall, and she had told me that it’s so inexpensive around here, people often get them at least once or even twice a week. I figured bright red polish would be no problem. After a week, though, we never had made it back to any nail salon and so I started to try to find nail polish remover. Try asking for that in pantomime to sales clerks who get manicures twice a week. Couldn’t find any, anywhere. Friday at Silk Market, Kacie and I were all set to have mani/pedi treats, but decided it was too expensive there (tourist trap?) and our neighborhood nail salon would be better. Trouble was, we couldn’t find one. So we gave up.

Which brings us to Saturday morning and my determination to get my nails done in our neighborhood. I walked up one side of Maliandao East and then up Maliandao South and then back. I saw lots of things--a man burning trash on a sidewalk, a mother holding a baby so he could pee on the sidewalk, thousands of bikes parked at the local supermarket, a huge argument between two drivers (with the one who had gotten out his car reaching in and grabbing the other guy’s shirt and almost pulling hi through the window until a policeman sauntered over, told him to quit it, and he got back into this car and drove off)--but no nail salon. I knew I was running out of time: we were heading for the Summer Palace at 12:30 and it was already 11. In despair, I walked home on the shady side of the street, and what did I see but a woman getting her nails done in the front window of a shoe store! PERFECT!

I went in and made some new friends. Susan (Su San), a travel agent, was visiting from the North and spoke perfect English. The owner of the shop was a model-beautiful tall, thin, graceful woman wearing a gorgeous red dress and high sandals who looked like she stepped off the cover of Vogue. I sat and they chatted and we chatted and finally it was my turn. I hope you all have admired my sparkly pinkly purple nails (Lila suggested the color I should get). Su San gave me her phone number and told me to call if I ever need help with anything. I thanked her, and told the owner of the shop that I would be back--soon and often.

The high points of our visit to the Summer Palace, the huge residence built mostly by the wicked Dowager Empress Cixi as a place to lock up the reigning Emperor in a high tower, was a taste of Famous Chinese Tourist Spot on a Weekend During the School Holidays. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people there. I noted, as I have been observing, how very dressed up many of the women were: silk dresses and high heels are not uncommon, even on a family outing to a national monument. (If you haven’t seen my pictures because I haven’t sent you a Kodak Gallery invitation, please e-mail me at chow6569@gmail.com and I will do so! Many of the pictures speak for themselves!)

After our visit to the SP, Ying drove Kacie and me to have supper with Tammy, one of our students who had gone on the tour with us. Tammy called her boyfriend Patrick to join us at T.G.I.Friday’s--my first time at one of those restaurants. (We had said we wanted American food...) The meal doesn’t need talking about--and I don’t need to eat at a chain restaurant ever again. But the dinner conversation was amazing.

Tammy is reluctant to speak English, thinking she doesn’t do it well (which she does), but Patrick has all the assurance of a Beijing international attorney and investment banker--which is what he is. He was articulate, funny, and occasionally outrageously outspoken (“The people of China are good. The government of China is shit” and “People from Fujian Province are stupid and horrible. No country in the world wants to give them visas. We do not want them visiting Beijing.”)

We were on the Fifth Avenue cum Wall Street of Beijing--surrounded by high rises whose upper floors hold international corporate headquarters, banks, and law offices. The ground floors seemed to be taken up with Prada, Gucci, and Versace stores. They told us that three years ago this area was all hutongs--old neighborhoods--which had been razed to bring Beijing into the 21st Century. Amazing transformation, and quite impressive. Not the China I’ve seen before, nor the China were most people live...but where Tammy and Patrick do have an apartment...

Patrick drove us back to our apartment, which, it turns out, is only a few miles from theirs. As he was driving and turning and switching lanes, Patrick was talking on the phone with a friend, asking for directions ust as Tammy was doing the same in the back seat (as Elder Auntie in most gatherings, I am often given the front seat of a car or the first choice of seats elsewhere...). Ying earlier that day and Patrick that night told us that we should be happy to be in Beijing, for drivers here are better than anywhere else in the country. Oh dear, oh dear. Have I mentioned that drivers don’t stay in lanes? Except on divided highways, it’s possible at any moment that traffic will come at you in your lane from the other direction, or swerve in front of you in case they want to turn, or stop. Beijing drivers are certainly alert, for we’ve seen only a few accidents...

Oh-oh. Look how many pages I’ve written and I haven’t even got to the Great Wall of China. Well, let me tell you, the government has realized what a gold mine it has in the Great Wall. The Badaling site, where I visited ten years ago and actually earned my status (“In order to be a great man [hero], one must climb the Great Wall,” Mao Zedong), is now a huge, overcrowded, jazzed up tourist spot. Yes, the Great Wall is still there--but with the addition of a cable car (which I rode up in), picnic tables, toilets, and even a “Badaling Safari” zoo nearby (where, I hear, a teenager trying to avoid paying admission was eaten by the tiger whose cage he unwisely jumped over the fence and into...).

Today’s (Monday’s) classes were great. In the Professors class, we talked about Families and Religion in America. Do I have more favorite topics? We talked about all sorts and conditions of families--from intact traditional nuclear to two moms/donor sperm. They said there were gay couples in China living openly (although illegally) and many wondered why so many Americans want to adopt Chinese baby girls (although they all agreed that the children are often from orphanages and get a good life in the U.S.A.)

Our discussion about religion was fabulous, but too short. They wanted to know who God is (I taught them the word “ineffable”) and they wondered if scientists believe in God (I told them about Uncle John McLucas), and if we thought every word of the Bible is true. I had already made a chart on a powerpoint, listing different branches of Christianity, so I could point to the differences between Evangelical Protestants and Mainline Protestants. I talked about All Saints’, Peterborough, and they gave up part of their lunchtime to go to the ASP website and see some pictures!

The kids started their speeches on how to play games today: eight of the kids talked and seven will do so tomorrow. Many of the games are similar: Leon explained “16 Questions” (a.k.a. 20 Questions) and Zhi Jian guessed “Princess Diana” in just 9. Ran did a magic trick with playing cards and told how to play a game where you drop sticks and pick them up one-by-one! Selena explained “Flying Bag,” where you toss little sandbags (beanbags?) at kids to make them dead, and Ashley taught us all a finger-dancing drinking game. Chloe had a powerpoint to explain UNO, Duo explained the basic moves of Chinese chess (so similar to our chess..but different...no queen, only the Emperor is important.) We then practiced using the telephone and phone etiquette, and their assignment is to call me before midnight. So far, I’ve got one call, including an invitation to go shopping in Beijing with Jamie, who has lived here for 21 years!

During the last 45 minutes of class, we started on the U.S. Government. I asked what they already knew, and heard the words White House, Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, 55 states, voting, NASA, Pentagon, and, from Jinglin, an explanation of the three branches of government...

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the Constitution and Bill of Rights (is it September in the USA in an 8th Grade History class?), and begin on holidays and festivals...

Thanks for reading.