Intro to Chinese

Monday, May 29, 2006

Getting to Hangzhou

In the Shanghai train station, I prepared the family for the train boarding madness. I had to coach my Mom in particular; “Don’t be nice” I told her, “look out for number one---that’s you.” We were at a slight disadvantage with four large suitcases, which some men in blue shirts may or may not have been trying to help us check. I was reluctant to let go of the luggage because I didn’t understand what they were telling me. I informed the family of my lack of understanding and they agreed it was better not to risk the nightmare of losing our bargain-price souvenirs and knock-off designer bags acquired in Shanghai.

We stood with a growing crowd between two long aisles of chairs, feet planted and ready to push through with the crowd once boarding began. Our seats were assigned; urgency lay in the need to find overhead space for the luggage.
If it sounds to you like we were being pushy, you are correct.

Waiting in a line to board would mean that all the passengers would have to have some faith in each other’s commitment to such line. But because we-the-mob can’t be sure everyone will commit, we-the-mob decide to pass through the turn-style as the mob. Perhaps, observed from above, we look like little molecules trying to escape through the neck of a bottle, all pushing on each other until one bursts through and then another and then another. The harder we push on those around us, the sooner it will be our turn to burst through the opening.

Once boarding began, we each fought our tendency to give way and pushed. With great success, we were among the first on the train. After stowing our bags, we took our seats and set up our little picnic of snacks. We watched as the train filled up, pleased that we could avoid the ensuing congestion. Several minutes later, a group of passengers paused near our seats. They looked from their tickets to the seat numbers to us and back to the tickets. I produced one of our tickets and a helpful onlooker gestured to the stairs, pointing out the little character on my ticket that meant we were “up”.

We gathered our snacks and guidebooks, went upstairs, floundered through a trade negotiation so that we could all sit together, took our new seats, and began to unpack again. Just as we began munching on crackers, another man appeared looking pretty confident that I was in his seat. I was slightly confused and completely arrested by my inability to explain that I had traded for this seat with a man who was now drifting off to sleep in my original seat.

I gave the seat to its actual ticket holder, stood up and leaned against the side of Jake’s seat. Not 30 seconds passed before the man who was drifting off jumped up and gestured that I take his seat (my original seat), most probably explaining that he actually had a standing room only ticket. And not 10 seconds after I sat down across the aisle from the family, the man now sitting with them offered to trade with me. At last, I was seated back with the family and the snacks.

Any amount of musical chairs would have been worth it. Just look at the place. You can see why the Chinese call Hangzhou “Heaven on Earth”.

Dragon Boat Festival

Yesterday (5/31/06) was the Dragon Boat Festival--one of the four big festivals in China.
The night before, one of Josh's students came by the apartment bearing weeds and glutinous rice. He instructed us to hang the weeds on our door to protect ourselves from evil and disease for the rest of the year.

Weeds on door: check.

He also handed over bag full of sticky rice dumplings and said, "Eat these tomorrow".
I found out that a Chinese poet, Chu Yuan, drowned in 277 B.C. and after his death, citizens threw sticky rice into the water so the fish would eat the rice instead of the drowned poet. Nowadays, the rice is eaten by the people themselves.
We steamed a couple and ate them right up. The purple one had dates and peanuts inside. Pretty tastey.















Last night, I was on my way to bed when my dad called, "You didn't eat any sticky rice dumplings today, did you Bets?"

"As a matter of fact I did, Dad. How did you know about the sticky rice?"

"Because I just read an article entitled, China warns of poisonous Dragon Boat dumplings."


Sunday, May 28, 2006

Taking it Easy in Shanghai

After a week of Q&A with the family classes, it was time to give the family the vacation I had promised. And what city could be better than Shanghai---the East’s most Western city where it appears Chinese only outnumber foreigners 2:1.

We found many willing helpers upon arrival at the airport and after a short negotiation we were on our way to a hotel with a room for four. Along with the dead cockroach and rowdy neighbors, we made ourselves at home. Next door we found a charming establishment that served noodles and wan ton soup for breakfast and across the street was a massage parlor in which we proved to ourselves that we would endure any conditions for a cheap massage. That’s right. No matter what shoddy alley we find ourselves standing in, and no matter how dodgy the characters behind the glass doors appear, if we see massages advertised for $4, we’re going for it.

After a long day of walking and sightseeing, we lingered outside the doors of the massage parlor near the hotel. The attendants pushed the doors open and ushered us up the stairs. Like zombies, we traipsed up the stairs and were instantly swallowed into a negotiation for a “Chinese massage”. I glanced over at Jake who looked positively frightened, “You guys, is it okay if I skip it?”

I assured him that massages were about pleasure and if he didn’t feel comfortable, of course he should go.

The three of us, however, were going for it. Just one request, You can not smoke? In response to my broken Chinese, all the men in the room with cigarettes dangling from their lips nodded enthusiastically, “Fine, fine. No smoke.”
It did not occur to us that that wouldn’t make a sliver of difference. Twenty years of stale smoke had settled into that room, into the air, and into the furniture.
Before we were seperated into three smaller smoky rooms, I reminded Mom and LeaAnn of the Chinese word for “pain”. After 45 minutes of drumming, cracking and slapping we reemerged and compared our war stories. Mom told us of a potent face massage given by a woman who had recently chopped garlic, LeaAnn of her uncontrollable laughter brought on by tickling, and I described my face pressed into a smoky mat while a man drummed out a beat across my arms.

That wasn’t the only time we found ourselves in dodgy surroundings to experience relaxation and luxury. The next night, we followed man into a small dark alley because he came up close to us and whispered, “Gucci. Prada. Coach”. We followed him for two blocks further and further from bright lights and busy streets. At last he pulled a sheet aside revealing a doorway into a small room filled with knock off designer bags. While the man stood near the doorway peaking behind the sheet every so often, his wife pulled bags of shelves, said "Latest style" and punched prices into her calculator. Good times in dodgy places.









































In Shanghai, we learned that Jake is the man when it comes to bargaining. You wouldn’t know it looking at that smile.

Shopkeepers grimaced as Jake punched numbers into the calculator. He whittled them right down from the "friend discount" to "Now, you make me lose money".

Because my Grandaddy will be tickled pink

If you are from New Mexico, you should recognize these men...





































The State Department Dinner














And get this...the keynote speaker at the biggest event of the week: none other than Jake's office mate from JPL, Kobe Boykin!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

The Family Comes to China

The flight back to China went just as I predicted. We stowed our carryon baggage, keeping the essentials in the seat pocket—Sudoku, Oprah Magazine, and I-pod for me--- unwrapped blue airplane blankets and stuffed little white pillows into any space still available. Once we were finally situated, Mom sighed---half nostalgic for the week that had just passed and half relieved that she could finally relax.

Jake immediately whipped out a piece of blank paper and started to make notes of some basic phrases he wanted to learn in Chinese before our arrival.

I understood bits and pieces of the flight announcements made in Chinese and felt a sense belonging on the flight. Off to China, a destination where I never expected to live and suddenly I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I couldn’t wait to show off my China.

With all the in-flight entertainment, meals and naps I didn’t even pick up a Sudoku until we were taxing to the gate in Beijing. When you are excited to get somewhere, that final stretch always feels like it takes the longest.

At the arrivals gate, Lea Ann was waiting—a vision in pink and khaki. We found a spot of tea, for a price that nearly gave me heart failure, and heard stories of Lea Ann’s journey from Baghdad, which included an after-curfew departure in an armored car and apache helicopters. We sipped fine tea as Lea Ann told us about kicking it with Vince Vaughn and Jeb Bush, mortars and car bombs, pool parties, dust storms and 130-degree temperatures. Most importantly, she assured us that she feels safe and she has a lot of fun out there. Its nice to think of the troops getting a chance to take their minds off war, missing family and hot temperatures with an event planned by Lea Ann and her staff.

When we finally arrived at the apartment in Jinan that night, we found Josh curled up in a ball determined not to mess up the immaculately clean floors that had taken him days to complete.
















The next few days were so much fun and they passed way too quickly.

My students were beside themselves with excitment to meet the family. Can you spot Jake in the photo below? One man was convinced Jake was part Chinese.



















On Tuesday, my students had a highly acclaimed guest lecturer, Josh. The rest of us headed to the home of Confucious--Qufu.


In Jinan, we introduced our friends and our favorite dishes to Lea Ann, Mom and Jake. The family even through caution to the wind and exhibited such "risky" behaviors as eating street food. Mmm!

We hit all the popular desintations in Jinan including the square and 1000 Buddha Mountain where Jake led us in some of his own unique Tai Chi-type exercises.

I took Mom and LeaAnn to my facial/foot massage spot where they experienced pain and laughter.





















At night, I walked the famliy back over to the campus hotel which was rumored to have HBO. Jake turned on the TV to show me, but look who was on TV! Ha ha, what a coincidence! The family never let me live down one of my cheesy lines, but I hope this trip proved to them that "convenient" is a good word to know!













My students are still requesting that I email them photos of Jake.


On the last night, we had dinner with my tutor, Sharon (in green). The timing was bad, because I was fresh out of Chinese dishes that I knew how to say. The true extent of my Chinese language comprehension was revealed!!!!


Next stop: a city rumored to be like ten New York City's----Shanghai.

Long birthday

I got a lot of mileage out of my birthday this year. The celebrating started with the earth’s dawn (roughly) of May 24th in New Zealand, and then peaked several hours later here in China. CONUS, as I have grown fond of calling it, took the baton when China was too tired to continue. And at last, the day came to a close in Albuquerque, then LA, then gone.

I am thinking of my next move in terms of how it can broaden the longitude of my birthday.
And I haven’t even read The World Is Flat yet.

It was a good day. An old student came to class with a small wooden comb wrapped in pink birthday paper subtly enlightening the rest of my students of the occasion. Of course, I wanted to announce it first thing in the morning and was delighted that my former student rescued me from saying, "Hi, its my birthday". I know you are supposed to play it cool on your special day, but secretly I've always want to steal Claire’s approach: “Happy birthday to me” as a substitute for hi, hello, how are you, and even as a phone greeting for the full 24 (+ 17) hours.

The highlight of the day was dinner at Wei Wei’s in the Muslim district. Wednesday has recently become foreigner’s night at Wei Wei’s. We ate the usual boiled peanuts, grilled lamb on bicycle spokes and drank a lot of local beer. A Shandong T.V station came to get some footage to help promote a new website designed to help us wai guo ren meet each other and have a good time in Jinan.
So today, at 5:30pm I watched the Shandong news report and got to watch myself turn red and awkward as a flute player, summonsed by a friend, came over and played a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday for me. That is a long song.

Really a very happy birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

Monday, May 22, 2006

How a computer virus ruined my life

No, not really, but I like the ring to that title. It reminds me of an article you might find in a woman's magazine with an inset photograph of a woman cradling her face in her hands. The photo has to be slightly blurry, of course, to give you a feel for her unending pain.

In truth, it is Josh who is fighting this virus most hours of the day. He has loaded on a half dozen virus scanners and protectors. My favorite is called "Search and Destroy". It really feels like we are in combat.

Its almost too frustrating to use the computer at all. Everything is sooo slooow.
The good news is we have been getting a lot of good advice, and I think this sucker is going down today.

Oh, and another thing: after spending a week trying to recruit my family to gmail, I have to admit that right now it is driving me insane! About 6 seconds after I log on, it experiences "technical difficulties" and never recovers. I watch the seconds tick down as it tries to connect and then it starts over at 3 minutes. Is anyone else having this problem with gmail?

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Congratulations


Amie...
First Class Honors Graduate of Victoria University of Wellington 2006!!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Where were we?

Thursday's awards ceremony at the National Academy of Sciences was awesome. I can't think of a better word.

For starters, Ede, my close friend from high school, was able to attend. Ede works for New Mexico congresswoman Heather Wilson on Capitol Hill. Visiting her at work is pretty surreal. She stands in a smart business suit amid tall white columns and powerful politicians---the first of my friends to officially have crossed over into adulthood.

Jake’s high school buddy, Elias, now a concert pianist based in Washington DC also joined us. With Aunt Terri, Uncle Randy, Jake, Elias, Ede and me, our Miss New Mexico Science cheering section filled out nicely.

Soon, the theatre darkened and a large white screen lowered above the stage. A slideshow of the awardees headshots and hometowns was projected onto the screen accompanied by the Top Gun theme song. Next came a movie made up of cuts and clips from the week, heavily featuring an interview with Mom filmed a few days earlier. Having watched the filming over her interview, I must say I was not surprised that they used so much footage from it. A particularly thoughtful clip was when she described watching one of her students have an “aha!” moment in class.

Finally the feature presentation: I felt like a proud parent at a high school graduation as a I watched my Mom’s row stand up and ready themselves to cross the stage. My heartbeat quickened as Mom got closer and closer. Finally, “Rhonda Marie Spidell, New Mexico, Science”.

In Washington , it was so nice to get to meet my Mom's group of friends. With their help, I got tickets to every event and help physically getting myself to the events. I know the fellows are really going to miss each other.










above: Egda

Group photo: John, Heidi, Jennifer, Steve, Cassie, Deb, and Pam

Friday, May 19, 2006

Breaking up is never easy

This afternoon, in front of a youth hostel in Beijing, we all went our separate ways.

Josh and I set off for the train station leaving the others to finish packing their silk, tea and other souvenirs snugly into suitcases. Jake knows the Chinese word for “airplane”, so I presume they made it to the airport with no problems. At this moment, Mom and Jake should be half way through their flight to Newark. Mom is likely to be snapping pictures of the North Pole through her window on the airplane. I imagine nearby passengers squinting at the burst of light streaming through her window. Jake is reading by the light of the North Pole, waxy earplugs sealed over his ear canals.

Lea Ann will continue to travel in China for a few more days. Tonight she is in Xi’an awaiting tomorrow’s tour of the Terracotta Soldiers.

For the next day or two, I’ll know just what everyone is up to. I can look at my watch and say, “Jake is on a bus to Pasadena” or “Lea Ann is on a flight to Dubai”. We are slowly moving away from each other, but its almost as if I can still see everyone.
Inside my head are neatly divided squares. One is Jake, one is Mom, and one is Lea Ann---each one shows what’s happening in real time. The fourth square is what I’m currently seeing through my eyes. It’s like surveillance cameras, but with the more upbeat vibe of that opening bit on The Brady Bunch. Do you follow?

Real-time-Betsy-cam is going to be dark and boring for the next 9 and half hours.

Good night.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Today is the Day


Tonight is the awards ceremony, when the nomination officially becomes an award with President Bush's signature.

Everyday this week, Mom has been out the door before 7am for a full day of "professional development" and various brunches/lunches/meetings with the other awardees.


Yesterday, while Mom was at the Willard having breakfast (seen here with "Miss New Mexico Math") and catching up with George at the White House, Jake and I picked up Aunt Terri and Uncle Randy from the airport.

























Last night, we went on a dinner cruise along the Potomac river. The sites were spectacular.












After dinner, all those awardees got up to shake a tail feather. Of course Mom was among the first on the dance floor!

All those teachers really know how to have a good time.









And finally, I included this last photo because it perfectly captures how this week feels.












We fly to China in two days. I am looking forward to having my Mom in one place for 14 hours so I can finally talk to her!