"The bus driver would like me to tell you all that he's selling beer for 5rmb a can."
It's 10:00am and I'm freshly out of a steaming hot shower. 15 minutes ago I arrived home, soaking wet, shoes sand encrusted, quite fragrant (somehow rainwater doesn't counteract the pungent aroma that characterizes all night dancing), and rather satisfied.
I spent last night at the intersection of the Great Wall and the Yellow Sea dancing until the sun came up beneath a canopy of thunder, lightening, and beautiful blessed rain. On a small courtyard of sand sandwiched between the wall and the sea and at the mercy of the storming Chinese sky, we 500 (give or take a few French girls) from all over the world pranced about as hard as you possibly can. At this point, if you haven't surmised this for yourself, I would like to say that last night was utterly and incomprehensibly fantastic.
Near Beijing University theres this place you can go for a really good pizza and a Draft Guinness. At this place, for the past 3 weeks or so, there have been fliers for an all night long beach party at the Great Wall for 200rmb (+/-30 dollars), including entry and roundtrip bus fare. Now, the words 'Great Wall' and 'Beach Party', when separated, hold little allure for me. To me the Great Wall equals hoards of tourists and after living on Oahu beach parties not held in the state of Hawaii don't sound very enticing. When inextricably combined, however, those two phrases become quite irresistable. So I, along with two lovely ladies named Kalinda and Any, bought some tickets. And a few Guinesses, but that doesn't really have bearing on the story at hand.
Our busride ended up being about 5 to 5 1/2 hours long, and absolutely fantastic. With the addition of the beer so thoughtfully supplied by our bus driver, the ride turned from dull and gruelling to lively and enjoyable (as a number of situations, when supplied with alchohol, are wont to do). As a nod to not only how small but also how vast our globe is, directly behind me was a guy celebrating his graduation from UCSB and my seat partner had just flown in from Paris. The bus itself was filled mostly with expats, and was oddly balanced in representation- in addition to our representation of rowdy americans, there were rowdy french, germans, australians, brits (who thankfully were not soulless tory scum), belgians, and spaniards. The bus was long, it was pleasant. We had drinking songs, my contribution to which was the drunken sailor song (of which i know quite a few verses). The best drinking song, however, erupted towards the end of the ride. It had no words, and only a tune. Somehow, everyone knew it. I don't think anyone had heard it before, and i'm not sure from whence it came, but it arrived none the less and persisted longer than any of the others. Yatta for that.
Arriving to find not only the Great Wall but also the stormy Yellow Sea was amazing. None of us partygoers had really known where we were going (or for that matter the length of the ride- in China people don't really like to tell you things and most of us had heard is was going to be about 2 hours), but the payoff was stunning. Lining the Wall were various food stands (of the Beijing street vendor variety), as well as beer and mixed drink stands. Adjacent to these a rather large stage stood on the sand, upon which DJs spun their wares from dusk till dawn. The juxtaposition of ancient grandeur and modern festivities was quite interesting. Down the beach from our stage one of the Wall's watchtowers jutted into the sea and further up traditional chinese homes formed a little cluster on the shore.
The night unfurled with lots of music, food, drinks, and fun. I haven't felt such a sense of comraderie and community since the last time I was on Oahu amongst close friends. The vibe of the festivities was extremely open and friendly, and was a balm to any irritations i've had towards humankind lately. Strongly reminiscent of the wholeness I feel in Hawaii, it was lovely. The night started strong with lots of dancing and carousing, and inexorably as the night began to turn closer to day people paired off and scattered across the shore near the water. Lightening had been gracing the sky with promises of rain that for a while seemed false, but around 2am the sky opened and let her bounty fall. Dancing with two beautiful french sisters in the rain next to Great Wall and the Yellow sea, seeing the crowd enthused by the rain rather than dissuaded, i couldnt help but feel the world grab me by the shoulders and yell, "snap the fuck out of it! dont you see the beauty?!"
And the rain fell steadily for the next two hours, the lightening grew heavier, the dancers more vibrantly ecstatic.
I climbed onto a bus at 5:00am, and made it home by 10.
love&luz
jessie
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
To Elizabeth Regina.
There are some things in China that just flat out amaze me.
I'm not talking about things like 长城 (Great Wall) or 颐和园 (Summer Palace), which are of course in and of themselves splendiferous, i'm talking about things like blatant and unabashed racial discrimination.
Let me, for example, give you a direct quote from an email I just receieved from a potential employer:
"Only white-skinned teachers will be hired."
I'm not really even sure that I can make a comment on that stipulation. All I really have is-wow, nice. Bravo and round of applause. The balls on that statement sincerely impress me. In fact, they (in all of their elephantitis induced glory) almost impress me as much as the business call I took today in the midst of which the mother of a prospective student suggested that I use a British accent when i teach her son. Cause, you know, it sounds nicer. And because that is so not absolutely ridiculous and bordering on rather insulting.
At this request, as you can only imagine, my silence was thunderous.
But then, ludicrous as the request was, it briefly crossed my mind that it might be incredibly fun to spend an hour faking a british accent for pay. Of course, it would be horrible for the student, who would probably come out with pronunciation like the love baby of Sean Connery and The Crocodile Hunter (which is what i sound like when i try to do a British accent) but hey it'd be kind of fun. And then I came back to my senses and told her to maybe find someone actually from the United Kingdom. I refrained from asking her if maybe she could start speaking to me with a Shanghai accent. Or better yet, in Cantonese. I mean, Mandarin and Cantonese are really just dialects of the same language, so if she can speak to me in Mandarin she should be able to manage Canto too....right? Oh, thats not how langauge works? Oops. My bad.
Speaking of the United Kingdom (and switching trains a little), I got into a barfight last night. With two British guys. Which i may or may not have incited. Our interaction started out nice enough with a toast towards Queen and Country (hence the title of the post), but then I said something about Margaret Thatcher and Great Danes. Followed closely by something about Tories and black holes where your heart should be. Now, you guys may or may not know this, but one of my favorite activities when confronted with British people is to commence Tory bashing. Usually this goes over alright because, well, most people I know are communist tree hugging lefties (which is what the Brits from last night dubbed me) and wouldn't be caught dead helping a Tory from a burning building. Unfortunately for all involved, the Brits I met last night were coddled right wing soulless Tories (which may or may not be what I called them) and didn't take well to me insulting Maggie.
I think at this point, lest you all get the wrong idea about my political savviness, I should mention that everything i know about Margaret Thatcher and Tory party i learned from this . Don't judge. It's very informative film.
I think I should also mention that one of the guys had just graduated from Cambridge (major, political science) and the other from Kings (major, you guessed it, political science).
Luckily i'm good at fooling people into thinking I know what I'm talking about (this blog, case in point) and so was able to sustain a half an hour to hour long (rather passionate) debate about welfare reform in England circa 1995. And it probably didn't hurt that it was about 3 in the morning and we'd all been out for quite a while. It most definately didn't hurt that I'd spent the previous half an hour talking up the bartender, who kept sending incindiery beverages our way, slowly but surely steering us away from coherent trains of thought.
And I may or may not have ended it all by throwing my clutch down, pushing up my sleeves, and declaring that the only way to show an illegitamte tory his place was by arm wrestling.
Cause I'm an idiot like that.
love&luz
jess
*note: i don't really have anything against tories, its just really fun to rile up british people. they're so cute with their quaint and outdated english!
I'm not talking about things like 长城 (Great Wall) or 颐和园 (Summer Palace), which are of course in and of themselves splendiferous, i'm talking about things like blatant and unabashed racial discrimination.
Let me, for example, give you a direct quote from an email I just receieved from a potential employer:
"Only white-skinned teachers will be hired."
I'm not really even sure that I can make a comment on that stipulation. All I really have is-wow, nice. Bravo and round of applause. The balls on that statement sincerely impress me. In fact, they (in all of their elephantitis induced glory) almost impress me as much as the business call I took today in the midst of which the mother of a prospective student suggested that I use a British accent when i teach her son. Cause, you know, it sounds nicer. And because that is so not absolutely ridiculous and bordering on rather insulting.
At this request, as you can only imagine, my silence was thunderous.
But then, ludicrous as the request was, it briefly crossed my mind that it might be incredibly fun to spend an hour faking a british accent for pay. Of course, it would be horrible for the student, who would probably come out with pronunciation like the love baby of Sean Connery and The Crocodile Hunter (which is what i sound like when i try to do a British accent) but hey it'd be kind of fun. And then I came back to my senses and told her to maybe find someone actually from the United Kingdom. I refrained from asking her if maybe she could start speaking to me with a Shanghai accent. Or better yet, in Cantonese. I mean, Mandarin and Cantonese are really just dialects of the same language, so if she can speak to me in Mandarin she should be able to manage Canto too....right? Oh, thats not how langauge works? Oops. My bad.
Speaking of the United Kingdom (and switching trains a little), I got into a barfight last night. With two British guys. Which i may or may not have incited. Our interaction started out nice enough with a toast towards Queen and Country (hence the title of the post), but then I said something about Margaret Thatcher and Great Danes. Followed closely by something about Tories and black holes where your heart should be. Now, you guys may or may not know this, but one of my favorite activities when confronted with British people is to commence Tory bashing. Usually this goes over alright because, well, most people I know are communist tree hugging lefties (which is what the Brits from last night dubbed me) and wouldn't be caught dead helping a Tory from a burning building. Unfortunately for all involved, the Brits I met last night were coddled right wing soulless Tories (which may or may not be what I called them) and didn't take well to me insulting Maggie.
I think at this point, lest you all get the wrong idea about my political savviness, I should mention that everything i know about Margaret Thatcher and Tory party i learned from this . Don't judge. It's very informative film.
I think I should also mention that one of the guys had just graduated from Cambridge (major, political science) and the other from Kings (major, you guessed it, political science).
Luckily i'm good at fooling people into thinking I know what I'm talking about (this blog, case in point) and so was able to sustain a half an hour to hour long (rather passionate) debate about welfare reform in England circa 1995. And it probably didn't hurt that it was about 3 in the morning and we'd all been out for quite a while. It most definately didn't hurt that I'd spent the previous half an hour talking up the bartender, who kept sending incindiery beverages our way, slowly but surely steering us away from coherent trains of thought.
And I may or may not have ended it all by throwing my clutch down, pushing up my sleeves, and declaring that the only way to show an illegitamte tory his place was by arm wrestling.
Cause I'm an idiot like that.
love&luz
jess
*note: i don't really have anything against tories, its just really fun to rile up british people. they're so cute with their quaint and outdated english!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Not dead yet.
Hello one and all!
It's been about a year and half since i updated, my apologies. In this post, let's explore the nightlife in Beijing.
First, a word about something interesting i've encountered recently. Beijing is a vibrant city and attracts all kinds of people. This being said, the thing about Beijing is that if you want to surround yourself completely with english you really can. It is possible to get along in Beijing with very few mandarin skills. As a matter of fact within the last week I've met 2 different people who have lived in beijing for over a year and barely have the language aptitude of a year 1 mandarin student. And they do just fine. They know enough to tell a cab driver where they want to go, order a beer and ask for the check. And thats about it. They have their own apartments and full social lives, all while speaking about 50 words in Mandarin. Suffice to say, the expat scene is quite full and quite sheltering.
What do i think of this? Well, I think it's a waste of an available and valuable opportunity. To me the best part of living in a foriegn country is that you have access to what is, for all intents and purposes, a free education. I think it's a shame that someone would move away from the familiar and into the unknown only to, once arriving, isolate themself from their very surroundings. But, in all fairness, that's only my opinion. Not everyone comes to China with a cultural curiousity and an eye towards integrating (to whatever extent it is that you can integrate as a non-ethnically chinese person in china, that is). I didn't come to China to continously rotate between the same english speaking expat hang outs, but apparently some people did. And if thats what they want, so be it. I'll be down the street at the Chinese punk bar, thanks.
Now, about the nightlife. Beijing is a huge city, and there is something to do at all hours of the night. In this way it reminds me of LA, except that in LA clubs close around 2- in beijing they go until 7 or 8 in the AM. A few are even 24 hours. This is dangerous. It is also fantastic, though mostly dangerous. It lulls you into the idea that being out at 5 in the morning really is ok, cause after all the club you started at at 10pm is still open.
This is especially dangerous because on a tuesday at 5 in the morning you will most likely find yourself wanting to believe anything that tells you being awake and tipsy is acceptable. Whether it really is or not is an entirely different matter. In terms of selection, there are some tastes i have yet to adequatly indulge. I've yet to be to a good jazz club, but Vegan Mos Def says that he knows a couple of good ones. Have I introduced you guys to vegan mos def? Suffice to say, he's a vegan i met who looks like mos def. The gay scene is not what i'd like it to be, but then again i haven't been able to make it out the any of the les bars that i've looked up. This friday i hope to check out one or two and though ive been saying that for a couple weeks i'm pretty set on it going down this weekend. It'll have to be friday, cause saturday is a party at the junction of the Great Wall and the ocean. Yea, i'm even a little jealous of myself, don't worry.
Love you guys, another update later on. My stomach, it rumbles.
Jess
It's been about a year and half since i updated, my apologies. In this post, let's explore the nightlife in Beijing.
First, a word about something interesting i've encountered recently. Beijing is a vibrant city and attracts all kinds of people. This being said, the thing about Beijing is that if you want to surround yourself completely with english you really can. It is possible to get along in Beijing with very few mandarin skills. As a matter of fact within the last week I've met 2 different people who have lived in beijing for over a year and barely have the language aptitude of a year 1 mandarin student. And they do just fine. They know enough to tell a cab driver where they want to go, order a beer and ask for the check. And thats about it. They have their own apartments and full social lives, all while speaking about 50 words in Mandarin. Suffice to say, the expat scene is quite full and quite sheltering.
What do i think of this? Well, I think it's a waste of an available and valuable opportunity. To me the best part of living in a foriegn country is that you have access to what is, for all intents and purposes, a free education. I think it's a shame that someone would move away from the familiar and into the unknown only to, once arriving, isolate themself from their very surroundings. But, in all fairness, that's only my opinion. Not everyone comes to China with a cultural curiousity and an eye towards integrating (to whatever extent it is that you can integrate as a non-ethnically chinese person in china, that is). I didn't come to China to continously rotate between the same english speaking expat hang outs, but apparently some people did. And if thats what they want, so be it. I'll be down the street at the Chinese punk bar, thanks.
Now, about the nightlife. Beijing is a huge city, and there is something to do at all hours of the night. In this way it reminds me of LA, except that in LA clubs close around 2- in beijing they go until 7 or 8 in the AM. A few are even 24 hours. This is dangerous. It is also fantastic, though mostly dangerous. It lulls you into the idea that being out at 5 in the morning really is ok, cause after all the club you started at at 10pm is still open.
This is especially dangerous because on a tuesday at 5 in the morning you will most likely find yourself wanting to believe anything that tells you being awake and tipsy is acceptable. Whether it really is or not is an entirely different matter. In terms of selection, there are some tastes i have yet to adequatly indulge. I've yet to be to a good jazz club, but Vegan Mos Def says that he knows a couple of good ones. Have I introduced you guys to vegan mos def? Suffice to say, he's a vegan i met who looks like mos def. The gay scene is not what i'd like it to be, but then again i haven't been able to make it out the any of the les bars that i've looked up. This friday i hope to check out one or two and though ive been saying that for a couple weeks i'm pretty set on it going down this weekend. It'll have to be friday, cause saturday is a party at the junction of the Great Wall and the ocean. Yea, i'm even a little jealous of myself, don't worry.
Love you guys, another update later on. My stomach, it rumbles.
Jess
Friday, June 20, 2008
Make Love!
I want to take a moment today to express just how proud I am of my home state.
With LA's Pride just a couple of weeks in the past and San Francisco's Pride fast approaching, I think it's only fitting that a few days ago equality rang clear in the vows of couples up and down my golden state. I'm fairly confident that everyone that takes the time to read this blog needs no preaching to on the subject of gay marriage, so let's all take a few minutes together to be thankful and renew our faith in human equality. It really touched me a few weeks ago when I read that gay marriage had been legalized, and it made me absolutely overjoyed to hear that it was, of all places, in lovely California.
Yay for love that is love. Yay for equality and understanding and celebrations. Is heterosexual love any different from homosexual love? What is it that makes a marriage a marriage? Is it the ability of the couple to procreate, is it one penis and one vagina, is it the perpetuation of heteronormative behavior? Marriage isnt about sex, it's about emotion and understanding. I have never been able to understand why certain people want to focus on the kind of sex a married couple has instead of the strength and tenacity of their union. Preserving and strengthening family is something I'm all for, but as for separating and labeling the kinds of sex in allowed in a 'marriage', i'm sorry but i'll have to pass. The government can issue all of the little slips of paper it wants, but without the love of those whose names it bears, that piece of paper is meaningless. Conservative heterosexuals cannot hold the monopoly on sanctioned love forever. It's taken over 200 years, but Separation of Church and State is finally becoming less bark and more bite. Those key words are so often left to collect dust.
Do we remember that Separate is not Equal? Today, we do.
The battle is not over, but this victory tastes divine. Now we've just got to keep on working to spread equality and love to all corners of our country, of our world. Like one big blanket of love, together we can bundle the world up and soothe our respective wounds.
Today I'm going to celebrate the beauty that is pulic recognition of private love. If you're lucky enough to be in SF, go out next week and party a little bit for me. If you're in Cali at all, I envy you. I love all you guys.
Soundtrack: God-dess and She JaDa
With LA's Pride just a couple of weeks in the past and San Francisco's Pride fast approaching, I think it's only fitting that a few days ago equality rang clear in the vows of couples up and down my golden state. I'm fairly confident that everyone that takes the time to read this blog needs no preaching to on the subject of gay marriage, so let's all take a few minutes together to be thankful and renew our faith in human equality. It really touched me a few weeks ago when I read that gay marriage had been legalized, and it made me absolutely overjoyed to hear that it was, of all places, in lovely California.
Yay for love that is love. Yay for equality and understanding and celebrations. Is heterosexual love any different from homosexual love? What is it that makes a marriage a marriage? Is it the ability of the couple to procreate, is it one penis and one vagina, is it the perpetuation of heteronormative behavior? Marriage isnt about sex, it's about emotion and understanding. I have never been able to understand why certain people want to focus on the kind of sex a married couple has instead of the strength and tenacity of their union. Preserving and strengthening family is something I'm all for, but as for separating and labeling the kinds of sex in allowed in a 'marriage', i'm sorry but i'll have to pass. The government can issue all of the little slips of paper it wants, but without the love of those whose names it bears, that piece of paper is meaningless. Conservative heterosexuals cannot hold the monopoly on sanctioned love forever. It's taken over 200 years, but Separation of Church and State is finally becoming less bark and more bite. Those key words are so often left to collect dust.
Do we remember that Separate is not Equal? Today, we do.
The battle is not over, but this victory tastes divine. Now we've just got to keep on working to spread equality and love to all corners of our country, of our world. Like one big blanket of love, together we can bundle the world up and soothe our respective wounds.
Today I'm going to celebrate the beauty that is pulic recognition of private love. If you're lucky enough to be in SF, go out next week and party a little bit for me. If you're in Cali at all, I envy you. I love all you guys.
Soundtrack: God-dess and She JaDa
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Look ma, no medicine!
So today I'm finally feeling better. In the world of jessie, a four day recovery is nothing short of a miracle.
As is usual when i come down with something, my friends and family urge me to either go see the doctor or go buy some medicine. I, of course, never do either of these things. I prefer to let me body heal itself naturally. Thats just how I do. If my body can surmount an illness using only it's own defenses, then after that illness passes it's that much stronger. Plus I don't really trust all those medicines and the odd things they have in them...but that's a different tangent. And of course, it's not the same for everyone. We've all got different opinions and different bodies :)
So, for the past three days I've been languishing in my congestion, feeling incrementally better each day. Last night came around and I went off to work for a couple hours, and when this morning dawned I was feeling much better if not quite one hundred percent whole. yatta!
So, of course, I'm taking today as my last day off from school to get back into my routine. Some light stretching, and some serious studying, and by the time tomorrow comes around I should be ready to get back into the swing of things.
Thank you guys for your love and well wishes :) Soon we'll be back to posts that have more substance that "OMG I'm SICK *whine*"
I promise!
love&luz
jessie
As is usual when i come down with something, my friends and family urge me to either go see the doctor or go buy some medicine. I, of course, never do either of these things. I prefer to let me body heal itself naturally. Thats just how I do. If my body can surmount an illness using only it's own defenses, then after that illness passes it's that much stronger. Plus I don't really trust all those medicines and the odd things they have in them...but that's a different tangent. And of course, it's not the same for everyone. We've all got different opinions and different bodies :)
So, for the past three days I've been languishing in my congestion, feeling incrementally better each day. Last night came around and I went off to work for a couple hours, and when this morning dawned I was feeling much better if not quite one hundred percent whole. yatta!
So, of course, I'm taking today as my last day off from school to get back into my routine. Some light stretching, and some serious studying, and by the time tomorrow comes around I should be ready to get back into the swing of things.
Thank you guys for your love and well wishes :) Soon we'll be back to posts that have more substance that "OMG I'm SICK *whine*"
I promise!
love&luz
jessie
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sigh.
You should go and watch Before Sunset
Then you should catch the next flight to Beijing, flag a taxi, throw your things in the back, and wrap your arms around me.
We can sip tea and watch the sun rise.
love
jessie
Then you should catch the next flight to Beijing, flag a taxi, throw your things in the back, and wrap your arms around me.
We can sip tea and watch the sun rise.
love
jessie
Still Sicksies
There are a lot of activites in which i could be enaging to pass my sickness time, but i think blog posting is as good as any of them.
Firstly, it lets you guys know that I'm still alive.
Secondly, I get to feel like i accomplished something throughout the day other than improving my relationship with my unconcious and the tiles on my shower floor.
Thirdly, it's in English, so I get to feel literate and well spoken.
yay for that.
Today and yesterday have both been spent mostly sleeping. I've got a little den of darkness and solitude, and I put up the 'please do not bother' signage on the door so the maid won't knock and ask "打扫房子吗？" cause when she does that i invariably have to holler back, "不要！谢谢你！" which hurts my throat and causes me to awake from my congestion induced slumber. I am thinking that by thursday I'll be back in class, because goddamn it i'm china and i'm going to take my time getting better.
When this blog post is over I'm going to turn on either Noah's Ark or Before Sunset. I think it'll be Noah's Ark, since it makes me remember West Hollywood and the young and free days (cause im so old and restricted now, right? ha.) whereas Before Sunset makes me contemplate a life of longing for someone i don't have. It's for me to try to remain as positive as possible when unhealthy, or at least so i've discovered over the past few days. I tend to be more susceptible to depression when every inch of me aches and phlegm is my only constant companion (gross).
On that note, I'm really sad that I'll be missing all the Prides. I already missed LA Pride and I'll be missing San Francisco Pride next week. I'll just have to start up a Beijing Pride to make it for it, but that might interfere with my mother's request that i not get hauled into jail for political/social demonstrations while in China. It would, however, be fun and make for a good story. And those are two of my main criteria for deciding to do something (level of fun and potential for a good story). Hmm...
And now i'm going to go make a cup of tea and curl up in a hazy fog of sickness.
love&luz
jessie
ps! do you guys like or dislike the newly added slideshow of pictures to the right? does it make your browser too slow? lemme know. <3
Firstly, it lets you guys know that I'm still alive.
Secondly, I get to feel like i accomplished something throughout the day other than improving my relationship with my unconcious and the tiles on my shower floor.
Thirdly, it's in English, so I get to feel literate and well spoken.
yay for that.
Today and yesterday have both been spent mostly sleeping. I've got a little den of darkness and solitude, and I put up the 'please do not bother' signage on the door so the maid won't knock and ask "打扫房子吗？" cause when she does that i invariably have to holler back, "不要！谢谢你！" which hurts my throat and causes me to awake from my congestion induced slumber. I am thinking that by thursday I'll be back in class, because goddamn it i'm china and i'm going to take my time getting better.
When this blog post is over I'm going to turn on either Noah's Ark or Before Sunset. I think it'll be Noah's Ark, since it makes me remember West Hollywood and the young and free days (cause im so old and restricted now, right? ha.) whereas Before Sunset makes me contemplate a life of longing for someone i don't have. It's for me to try to remain as positive as possible when unhealthy, or at least so i've discovered over the past few days. I tend to be more susceptible to depression when every inch of me aches and phlegm is my only constant companion (gross).
On that note, I'm really sad that I'll be missing all the Prides. I already missed LA Pride and I'll be missing San Francisco Pride next week. I'll just have to start up a Beijing Pride to make it for it, but that might interfere with my mother's request that i not get hauled into jail for political/social demonstrations while in China. It would, however, be fun and make for a good story. And those are two of my main criteria for deciding to do something (level of fun and potential for a good story). Hmm...
And now i'm going to go make a cup of tea and curl up in a hazy fog of sickness.
love&luz
jessie
ps! do you guys like or dislike the newly added slideshow of pictures to the right? does it make your browser too slow? lemme know. <3
Monday, June 16, 2008
Wicked ill, homegirl.
This post comes to you courtesy of my sick bed.
I'm sprawled out right now, blinds drawn and windows closed, my only companions a large cup of hot soymilk and waaay too many used tissues.
Gross.
So I thought I'd take a little time in between naps to keep you guys up to date on whats going down in Chinatown (....haha, get it?).
I've been pretty busy the last few days and as such haven't had any time to get on over here and be charming and witty. Well, I guess its more like try to be charming and witty, right? I think the last actual post was about refrigerators and my crazy hippy opinions on them, so i think i'll give this post a little more mass appeal.
I got my first actual chinese foot massage yesterday. I've since decided I'm not ever going to leave China, I'm just going to stay here and blow all my money on massages. 6 months from now I'll probably be on the street panhandling just so i can get a fix- me love you long time baby. Now, off colour jokes aside, it really was fantastic- the thing about this whole foot massage business was that even though its called a 'foot massage' they start out by working on your neck and back to loosen you up. Feet in a steaming wood tub full of tea, my back got the works before the real foot massage even started. Neck, back, shoulders, arms, even some slight spinal adjustment. And they did that thing with the glass cups and the fire. Talk about fantastic. I will definately be back for more. And more, and some more after that. (Thats what she said! haha, ha.)
On to the second bit of fantasticness. Now, I know this is going to sound a little chauvinistic, but one of the best parts was how extremely attractive the masseurs were. I mean, as if having my muscles kneaded and drummed upon wasn't nice enough, i got to be kneaded and drummed upon by an incredibly attractive asian man. Big fat (or, rather, cut and trim) yay for that. If only he had been vegan...
Oh, what? How much was it? Yea. It converts to something like 7 dollars.
For an hour and a half.
Yatta!
And on that note, im going to go curl up in a fetal position on my shower floor and waste copious amounts of hot water before I pass out (again) from congestion and the aches. Hopefully this knowledge of my misery will temper any jealousy about the ridiculous fantasticity of my foot massage access, unless of course you're just being jealous of my shower floor :)
love&luz
ill jessie
I'm sprawled out right now, blinds drawn and windows closed, my only companions a large cup of hot soymilk and waaay too many used tissues.
Gross.
So I thought I'd take a little time in between naps to keep you guys up to date on whats going down in Chinatown (....haha, get it?).
I've been pretty busy the last few days and as such haven't had any time to get on over here and be charming and witty. Well, I guess its more like try to be charming and witty, right? I think the last actual post was about refrigerators and my crazy hippy opinions on them, so i think i'll give this post a little more mass appeal.
I got my first actual chinese foot massage yesterday. I've since decided I'm not ever going to leave China, I'm just going to stay here and blow all my money on massages. 6 months from now I'll probably be on the street panhandling just so i can get a fix- me love you long time baby. Now, off colour jokes aside, it really was fantastic- the thing about this whole foot massage business was that even though its called a 'foot massage' they start out by working on your neck and back to loosen you up. Feet in a steaming wood tub full of tea, my back got the works before the real foot massage even started. Neck, back, shoulders, arms, even some slight spinal adjustment. And they did that thing with the glass cups and the fire. Talk about fantastic. I will definately be back for more. And more, and some more after that. (Thats what she said! haha, ha.)
On to the second bit of fantasticness. Now, I know this is going to sound a little chauvinistic, but one of the best parts was how extremely attractive the masseurs were. I mean, as if having my muscles kneaded and drummed upon wasn't nice enough, i got to be kneaded and drummed upon by an incredibly attractive asian man. Big fat (or, rather, cut and trim) yay for that. If only he had been vegan...
Oh, what? How much was it? Yea. It converts to something like 7 dollars.
For an hour and a half.
Yatta!
And on that note, im going to go curl up in a fetal position on my shower floor and waste copious amounts of hot water before I pass out (again) from congestion and the aches. Hopefully this knowledge of my misery will temper any jealousy about the ridiculous fantasticity of my foot massage access, unless of course you're just being jealous of my shower floor :)
love&luz
ill jessie
Friday, June 13, 2008
like goodness falling from the sky!
It's pouring right now in Beijing.
There is thunder, there is lightning.
It's just all so damn exciting!
There are few things that renew my faith in the world.
Rainstorms are one of them.
I went outside and pranced in it until i was soaked through and violently shivering.
The natives look at me like i was crazy. Which i was. Crazy rain dancing lady. They loved it.
You know they did.
You love it too.
<3<3
There is thunder, there is lightning.
It's just all so damn exciting!
There are few things that renew my faith in the world.
Rainstorms are one of them.
I went outside and pranced in it until i was soaked through and violently shivering.
The natives look at me like i was crazy. Which i was. Crazy rain dancing lady. They loved it.
You know they did.
You love it too.
<3<3
We've go to move those, refrigerators.
I have the air conditioning on, it creeps me out.
I feel really uncomfortable about how preservation obsessed our society is, and I always feel like the air conditioner exemplifies that. I always feel like im in a refrigerator when in a room with AC, as though people are trying to stop the progression of time (and age) by retarding the growth of bacteria.
You know, like the general premise behind refrigerators.
I feel like it fucks with my senses and gives my body a false read on the actual environment.
I know that’s really weird, but its always how I feel. Especially the whole refrigerator-air conditioner comparison. I view refrigerators as the epitome of our culture’s uphill battle against nature. With a refrigerator you can stock pile food for days, weeks, in some cases even months. It gives complete control over your most vital resource, your food source. We as a society have lost hold of only getting enough food for now (and maybe tomorrow) and once that’s eaten, getting some more (not to mention how far we’ve regressed from actually producing the food we eat ourselves). The refrigerator is the essential tool of the society that has ‘progressed’ past the hunter gather stage. It’s the shiny gold star sticker on this third grader’s lapel. We’ve made it. Screw you mother nature, with your seasons and unpredictable fury, on the one hand fey and the other favorable- we don’t need to search for your bounty, we’ve taken matters into our own hands. We’ve cleared your forests and cultivated crops, we’ve created preservatives and additives to keep our spoils from spoiling indefinitely!
If we hadn’t come to this point of control over our food source, none of society as we know it would be possible. This is no new news, I just think about it a lot. Once a society reaches the point where its no longer necessary to follow a food source across the plains or scavenge daily for fresh growing bounty the society can begin to build in one place. Buildings rise, a concept of land ownership develops. And really, everything that our society is most proud of has been produced because people have had the excess time to invent and create. If we were still out hunting for food, we wouldn’t have time to develop all of the useless technology we have today.
I think that is where the majority of our society’s developmental problems come from. I’m referring to the environmental problems, the oil problems, and the poverty/starvation problems. We use resources in a way they were never meant to be used. I don’t necessarily think that humans are meant to have the level of control over their food source that we have. It frees up too much time, allows idle hands to prosper. A concept of ownership deveops, people begin to think they own land when in reality no one does. No one being ever can. Land belongs to all beings and to one, and we’re supposed to share it. Only thing is, humanity has claimed all the land and all the water for itself, and acts as though it is kindly allowing other creatures to take out leases.
Sad.
This turned into a tangent. I’m going to go turn the air conditioner off.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Excuse me.
I have a few brief questions for you folks stateside.
A) Why is it that when i log into the LAtimes.com to read up on the sanctioning of same sex marriage in my home state that within the last month i find one meager article?
B) Why is this man allowed to be any city's assemblyman, let alone one so close to my hometown?
"Marriage should be between a man and a woman, end of story. Next issue," insisted Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia). "It's not about civil rights or personal rights, it's about acceptance. They want to be accepted as normal. They are not normal."
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wanderlust
I am turning into my father.
Evidence at the end of this post.
Before that, though, a quick concern;
I bought a pinky ring last night.
It fits not only my pinky, but my middle toe as well. Is that abnormal?
Anyway.
Last weekend I had a business trip down south to a different province.
We left Beijing Friday night at midnight, spent the night sleeping on an uncharacteristically uncrowned train. My train ride was a thoroughly refreshing seven hours. The rattle of the undercarriage beneath my head eased my concious into a deep and renewing rest. No joke, no sarcasm. I was enamored. That one night’s sleep was enough to make the entire weekend worthwhile . Glimpses of unadulterated mobility assalted me, tantalizing in their simplicity. It awakened an echo in me of nomadic experiences before this incarnation, packing up moving on and starting new with the dawn. There was something so sexy, so alluring, overly familiar, about the prospect of a transient existence. Sleeping with no worries because as each track passes below my head I slip farther and farther from all my conflicts. No matter how fast they run my issues can’t quite grasp the door of that last train car.
There is one thing I can’t describe to you though. Remember how I said the Great Wall was indescribable and then took it back? I’m about to tell you that henan’s night markets were indescribable, and I’m not reneging on this one. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes. The night markets were crammed with so many tiny mobile stalls of so many tantalizing foods I am salivating just thinking about it. They were multi ethnic and multi talented.
Some of them had minature clay ovens on the backs of horse drawn carts filled with red coals from which sesame encrusted rounded baguettes emerged, ashy and piping hot.
Some of them had carts where, in tidy lines, bowl after bowl was filled with different pickled, steamed, or fried vegetables, which were then wrapped in huge crepes to make a southeastern Chinese style burrito.
I can’t even describe to you to how sexy it all was. All I know is I became more and more excited as I came upon each new edible wonder, and I ate some of everything (almost everything- most of them were vegan!). It made me feel complete, and happy, and renewed my faith in the world.
The fact that food can do that to me, and just how much food I packed away that night, is what makes me know I am my father’s daughter.
All in all it’s not such a bad thing to be.
Love you poppa.
Evidence at the end of this post.
Before that, though, a quick concern;
I bought a pinky ring last night.
It fits not only my pinky, but my middle toe as well. Is that abnormal?
Anyway.
Last weekend I had a business trip down south to a different province.
We left Beijing Friday night at midnight, spent the night sleeping on an uncharacteristically uncrowned train. My train ride was a thoroughly refreshing seven hours. The rattle of the undercarriage beneath my head eased my concious into a deep and renewing rest. No joke, no sarcasm. I was enamored. That one night’s sleep was enough to make the entire weekend worthwhile . Glimpses of unadulterated mobility assalted me, tantalizing in their simplicity. It awakened an echo in me of nomadic experiences before this incarnation, packing up moving on and starting new with the dawn. There was something so sexy, so alluring, overly familiar, about the prospect of a transient existence. Sleeping with no worries because as each track passes below my head I slip farther and farther from all my conflicts. No matter how fast they run my issues can’t quite grasp the door of that last train car.
I fancy it.
I woke in the morning time in the province of Henan (河南 ) in one of it’s two large cities, Shang Qiu（商丘). I spent all of Saturday at a elementary school talking to and playing with little Chinese kids, testing the English level of each. Most had no English experience at all and they were all so cute and sweet! We all know Jessie’s weakness for little asian kids (eclipsed only by her weakness for charming asian men and sesame seeds), so there way really no way I could have disliked my work. On top of it, my boss (who accompanied me) took me out to the best lunch and dinner I have had since I’ve been in China.There is one thing I can’t describe to you though. Remember how I said the Great Wall was indescribable and then took it back? I’m about to tell you that henan’s night markets were indescribable, and I’m not reneging on this one. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes. The night markets were crammed with so many tiny mobile stalls of so many tantalizing foods I am salivating just thinking about it. They were multi ethnic and multi talented.
Some of them had minature clay ovens on the backs of horse drawn carts filled with red coals from which sesame encrusted rounded baguettes emerged, ashy and piping hot.
Some of them had carts where, in tidy lines, bowl after bowl was filled with different pickled, steamed, or fried vegetables, which were then wrapped in huge crepes to make a southeastern Chinese style burrito.
I can’t even describe to you to how sexy it all was. All I know is I became more and more excited as I came upon each new edible wonder, and I ate some of everything (almost everything- most of them were vegan!). It made me feel complete, and happy, and renewed my faith in the world.
The fact that food can do that to me, and just how much food I packed away that night, is what makes me know I am my father’s daughter.
All in all it’s not such a bad thing to be.
Love you poppa.
Rubbish
Usually what I'll do when i blog is write up a rough, go out to class or tea, and then the following day or so edit and subsequently post. I'm always concerned about the tone and subject matter, and my ability to grasp your guys' interest.
Usually the first bit of what i write is rubbish.
That being said, tonight you're going to get unadulterated rubbish, as i'm in the mood to just post something up.
I've got a few already edited posts sitting in the wings, shiny and pretty (all dolled up and tricked out with witticisms and criticisms) but they'll have to wait till tomorrow to take center stage.
I'm listening to Atmosphere for the first time in a few weeks right now. (4 weeks, nearly)
Tomorrow i'm going to start on a whole foods diet, and i'm also going to start working out more.
My goal for my time in China is to gain five pounds in muscle. (biceps, thighs, abs, triceps)
Another goal is to improve my flexibility, physically and mentally.
(Verbally too, obviously.)
I was described earlier, in passing, as unwilling to show my emotions.
I've got a gnarly scar from where i fell in the river before i left honolulu.
Chicks dig scars, right?
Maybe I can get a girlfriend.
too bad i'm too busy working on myself to work with anyone else.
famous last words.
love&luz
(this past weekend was exciting, so look forward to details on the morrow)
Usually the first bit of what i write is rubbish.
That being said, tonight you're going to get unadulterated rubbish, as i'm in the mood to just post something up.
I've got a few already edited posts sitting in the wings, shiny and pretty (all dolled up and tricked out with witticisms and criticisms) but they'll have to wait till tomorrow to take center stage.
I'm listening to Atmosphere for the first time in a few weeks right now. (4 weeks, nearly)
Tomorrow i'm going to start on a whole foods diet, and i'm also going to start working out more.
My goal for my time in China is to gain five pounds in muscle. (biceps, thighs, abs, triceps)
Another goal is to improve my flexibility, physically and mentally.
(Verbally too, obviously.)
I was described earlier, in passing, as unwilling to show my emotions.
I've got a gnarly scar from where i fell in the river before i left honolulu.
Chicks dig scars, right?
Maybe I can get a girlfriend.
too bad i'm too busy working on myself to work with anyone else.
famous last words.
love&luz
(this past weekend was exciting, so look forward to details on the morrow)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Minidate
Our blog post today comes courtesy of The Dragon Boat Festival.
It was quite the nice treat to wake up friday morning and walk to class only to realize that there was no class to be had. yahtzee!
Since I owe my newly found free time to said festival [it having freed up my friday for study time and opened weekend time for leisure], i suppose i should take a moment to talk about it. What is the dragon boat festival, you wonder? Well, first off, it's today, Sunday June 8th. It's a holiday whose festivites take place mostly in Shanghai where, amongst various other festive things, they race dragon boats. Why? I don't know. I've gotten lots of answers to this question, mostly pertaining to a poet who, a long long time ago, tried to warn the emporer about dangers to the country but, when ignored, threw himself into the river and drowned. Kind of a downer of a holiday, except for the whole no class part. That part rocks.
Whats going on in Beijing besides holidays? Lots more construction. The kind that starts outside my window at about 2 in the morning and continous, uninterrupted, till about 2 in the afternoon. Yay for that.
What else? Well, I'm hungry. I went out thursday night with Mongolian homeboy who apparently has a plan to open a restaurant with lots of vegan options. Whether he is genuinely interested in presenting healthier, kinder, enviornmentally concious food or is just attempting to get into my pants through my 'religion' (as harumi would call it), i don't know. It really could be either. Or both. Or neither, for that matter.
I digress.
Mongolian homeboy is a nice guy, but the majority of our conversations take place in english [with some chinese interspersed]. This is not optimal for the improvement of my Chinese, however, and next time i see him im going to tell him that we have to speak more chinese. Which actually might be today, as he wants me to go and buy his car with him, and eat zongzi, which are sticky rice triangle things wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with savory meat or sweet fillings. Theyre really, really good, and part of the whole dragon boat festival thing. Not that people dont eat them everyday, which they do. Why theyre special festival food if they are sold everyday in the cafeteria anyway, i'm not really sure, but who cares cause theyre tasty. Back to the Mongol and his friends. I'm a pretty firm believer in the idea that you are who you surround yourself with, you know, the whole 'lie down with dogs' thing. The mongolians i've befriended are all very sweet and very motivated (and talented- we all watched the matou playing video from a few posts ago, right?) so it makes me happy to have found positive friends. In fact, all of China so far has been really good to me, but thats going to take a long time to detail and will be mused upon at a later date.
love you guys!
It was quite the nice treat to wake up friday morning and walk to class only to realize that there was no class to be had. yahtzee!
Since I owe my newly found free time to said festival [it having freed up my friday for study time and opened weekend time for leisure], i suppose i should take a moment to talk about it. What is the dragon boat festival, you wonder? Well, first off, it's today, Sunday June 8th. It's a holiday whose festivites take place mostly in Shanghai where, amongst various other festive things, they race dragon boats. Why? I don't know. I've gotten lots of answers to this question, mostly pertaining to a poet who, a long long time ago, tried to warn the emporer about dangers to the country but, when ignored, threw himself into the river and drowned. Kind of a downer of a holiday, except for the whole no class part. That part rocks.
Whats going on in Beijing besides holidays? Lots more construction. The kind that starts outside my window at about 2 in the morning and continous, uninterrupted, till about 2 in the afternoon. Yay for that.
What else? Well, I'm hungry. I went out thursday night with Mongolian homeboy who apparently has a plan to open a restaurant with lots of vegan options. Whether he is genuinely interested in presenting healthier, kinder, enviornmentally concious food or is just attempting to get into my pants through my 'religion' (as harumi would call it), i don't know. It really could be either. Or both. Or neither, for that matter.
I digress.
Mongolian homeboy is a nice guy, but the majority of our conversations take place in english [with some chinese interspersed]. This is not optimal for the improvement of my Chinese, however, and next time i see him im going to tell him that we have to speak more chinese. Which actually might be today, as he wants me to go and buy his car with him, and eat zongzi, which are sticky rice triangle things wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with savory meat or sweet fillings. Theyre really, really good, and part of the whole dragon boat festival thing. Not that people dont eat them everyday, which they do. Why theyre special festival food if they are sold everyday in the cafeteria anyway, i'm not really sure, but who cares cause theyre tasty. Back to the Mongol and his friends. I'm a pretty firm believer in the idea that you are who you surround yourself with, you know, the whole 'lie down with dogs' thing. The mongolians i've befriended are all very sweet and very motivated (and talented- we all watched the matou playing video from a few posts ago, right?) so it makes me happy to have found positive friends. In fact, all of China so far has been really good to me, but thats going to take a long time to detail and will be mused upon at a later date.
love you guys!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Just a little in between class quickie.
It's raining right now in Beijing
Cool Calm Pete's spittin game on my laptop
Open bag of almonds to my left
Hot tea to my right
Interview at 5 oclock
Dinner with these guys? Perchance.
Love you guys.
(pictures of the lama buddhist temple and mongolian homeboys up on flickr)
It's raining right now in Beijing
Cool Calm Pete's spittin game on my laptop
Open bag of almonds to my left
Hot tea to my right
Interview at 5 oclock
Dinner with these guys? Perchance.
Love you guys.
(pictures of the lama buddhist temple and mongolian homeboys up on flickr)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Great.
I really like dried apricots.
This post is about the Great Wall.
A few days ago, I traveled there. I bought dried apricots, and they are tasty.
[edit: I started this post yesterday and have since finished all of the apricots. I am sad.]
The wall itself was amazing. Breathtaking. It really cannot be describe in words.
Scratch that, were that true, my writing this and your subsequent read of it would be wastes of time. It can be described, albeit poorly, in words.
Mao’s famous quote about no Chinese man being a man until he has visited the Great Wall may be stretching it (we all know how I feel about gender related heteronormative generalizations), but something definitely resonates when you get up there. It is a truly amazing, mammoth construction. As far as you can see along the mountainsides, the wall continues. And the view. Amazing. The Great Wall is about an hour and a half outside of Beijing but it seems like much longer. The landscape is still very wild and peaks recede into the distance as far as you can see. After living on an island for so long (the panorama of my hikes on oahu concluding in endless cerulean blue) it was really powerful to see such a gorgeous untamed mountain landscape. The wall is also outside of the grey woolen bowler hat (which is how I have decided to henceforth describe Beijing’s smog, GWBH anyone?) and the air is crisp, clear, clean. Parts of the mountain side could be the Pali. Parts could be up Chantry. Parts could definitely be out near Rock Creek. (I think I hit up all the hoods I’m beholden to, with those three wilderness references). It’s pretty fucking awesome.
All in all, honestly, I really wasn’t that stoked on going. I had images of tourists and touristy things on some wall that thousands died to erect. And we all know how Jessie feels about touristy attractions. She loathes them. I envisioned one more marker of mankind’s desire to draw a line in the sand between what is ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ (which, honestly, it was, it was held more of tangible impact than I imagined). Plus I had heard there was a Starbucks, and that I think would have been too much for me to bear (there wasn‘t one, thankfully).
There was, however, a slide. A huge sheet metal slide that you can take from the top down to the bottom. Now that, that was awesome.
Now go look at it, over on my flickr (cause I hate uploading to blogger)
Flickr.com/sinksync
Love&luz
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