28.6.09
Thich Minh Duc
I befriended a monk from Vietnam named Thich Minh Duc who just completed his Masters in Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese literature after studying at CNU for 3 years. He's leaving tuesday so I really didn't get much time to hang out but we really got along well. We meditated together, I listened to him chant, he gave me my first cup of coffee in China. We talked about Buddhism, college, his life, and we had a rather awkward and emotional moment during which I apologized for the Vietnam war. He was a child when it ended, and I had not been born, but it was still something I wanted to say and he smiled. As he's leaving in two days he decided to dump a lot of his stuff on me including his stash of Vietnamese instant coffee ( I expect to do very well this week in class), a book (in Chinese unfortunately) on Buddhism, and a work of his calligraphy. The calligraphy, while mostly ilegible to me, I recognized as the Heart Sutra. We also listened to some Vietnamese music and Sunday afternoon went with two of his classmates and one of mine (Michael, fifth year Chinese student at DSIC) to eat at a great vegetarian restaurant. Definately tops off a great weekend.
27.6.09
Great Wall and New Friends
Friday afternoon after our exams, the teachers took us out to a delicious restaurant. Then it was time to pack up and get ready for our trip to the Great Wall! While waiting in the Lobby I ran into my two buddies Hu Wei and Ren Yi. Both recently graduated from Capital Normal University. Hu Wei's major was philosophy and when I first met him was plowing through some Chinese poetry and a translation of Ernst Cassier. Ren Yi was a film studies major, and was reading some Laozi and Zhuangzi (two of China's greatest philosophers) when I met him. Anyway, this time the two of them were with a third friend listening to a recording of someone playing a traditional Chinese instrument called the Wuqin. Turns out the third guy (Liu somebody) was the guy they were listening too! Also, a philosophy major, he proceeded to have a half hour conversation with me comparing traditional Chinese music to American blues.
To tie up a surreal afternoon, I made buddies with a monk waiting for the elevator who lives on the 9th floor of my building. He had just graduated from CNU with a masters in something. Said we should hang out sometime.
Great Wall! The bus ride was torturously long and though we drived for several hours through the Chinese countryside we only went to the border of Beijing (the province), by Hebei. The countryside and road were like nothing I've ever seen. We stayed over night in a hostel at the foot of a leg of the Great Wall known as Si Ma Tai, arguably the most beautiful portion of the Wall. It is kind of remote and we started hiking at 3 in the morning, so we were alone on the Great Wall, pretty awesome. The night before I roomed with DSIC's only male teacher and staff member. The teacher, Qu Laoshi, and I really hit it off. During dinner, him and the truck driver and I talked about my bracelet, ghosts, Beijing, Chinese people in Jamaica, and the Great Wall. While watching some cartoons that night we chatted about China, Buddhism, cheap street food near CNU, relationships, and the pluses and minuses of not drinking the night before attempting a hard hike. He's from Northeat China, by the Chaoshan (North Korean) border and is of a Chinese ethnic minority which speaks a dialect of Korean. His home sounded nice (a place in China with water so clean you could drink it straight from the tap) and he invited me to come travel with him and his friends after the program through China's great Northeast, visit his parents, some some beautiful old historic sites, and return to Beijing.
Si Ma Tai is so beautiful. Words fail to describe what it feels like after climbing for hours up a milenia old wall on a steep mountain in the dark to come to the summit and gaze apon green hills as far as the eye can see and see the sun rise big and red over the horizon. The lakes, mountains, and trees as green as only could be possible in perhaps a dream. Dragonflies scurrying around in dawns first light. The place reminded me of my childhood trips to New Hampshire's White Mountains, ony here the trail was a wonder of the World. And the best thing about a 3:30am hike? No tourists but us, not one on the way up. Only one on the way down, and he was Chinese.
Two more weeks until our midterm trip. I originally signed up to go to Shandong and see Taishan and Kong Zi (Confucius)'s birthplace, but out of 80 students only I wanted to do that trip, so it was cancelled. Instead, I'm going to Datong in Shanxi which I've heard is beautiful . Monday night I'm meeting with a friend I met in the States who lives nearby.
To tie up a surreal afternoon, I made buddies with a monk waiting for the elevator who lives on the 9th floor of my building. He had just graduated from CNU with a masters in something. Said we should hang out sometime.
Great Wall! The bus ride was torturously long and though we drived for several hours through the Chinese countryside we only went to the border of Beijing (the province), by Hebei. The countryside and road were like nothing I've ever seen. We stayed over night in a hostel at the foot of a leg of the Great Wall known as Si Ma Tai, arguably the most beautiful portion of the Wall. It is kind of remote and we started hiking at 3 in the morning, so we were alone on the Great Wall, pretty awesome. The night before I roomed with DSIC's only male teacher and staff member. The teacher, Qu Laoshi, and I really hit it off. During dinner, him and the truck driver and I talked about my bracelet, ghosts, Beijing, Chinese people in Jamaica, and the Great Wall. While watching some cartoons that night we chatted about China, Buddhism, cheap street food near CNU, relationships, and the pluses and minuses of not drinking the night before attempting a hard hike. He's from Northeat China, by the Chaoshan (North Korean) border and is of a Chinese ethnic minority which speaks a dialect of Korean. His home sounded nice (a place in China with water so clean you could drink it straight from the tap) and he invited me to come travel with him and his friends after the program through China's great Northeast, visit his parents, some some beautiful old historic sites, and return to Beijing.
Si Ma Tai is so beautiful. Words fail to describe what it feels like after climbing for hours up a milenia old wall on a steep mountain in the dark to come to the summit and gaze apon green hills as far as the eye can see and see the sun rise big and red over the horizon. The lakes, mountains, and trees as green as only could be possible in perhaps a dream. Dragonflies scurrying around in dawns first light. The place reminded me of my childhood trips to New Hampshire's White Mountains, ony here the trail was a wonder of the World. And the best thing about a 3:30am hike? No tourists but us, not one on the way up. Only one on the way down, and he was Chinese.
Two more weeks until our midterm trip. I originally signed up to go to Shandong and see Taishan and Kong Zi (Confucius)'s birthplace, but out of 80 students only I wanted to do that trip, so it was cancelled. Instead, I'm going to Datong in Shanxi which I've heard is beautiful . Monday night I'm meeting with a friend I met in the States who lives nearby.
26.6.09
Wutang Clan
Apparently the American gangster rap group Wutang Clan named themselves after Wudang Mountain in China, the birthplace of Taiji.
25.6.09
Shopping Trip
So this morning after breakfast I ran into an unusual sight in a crowded Chinese ghetto usually deserted of foreigners: a former Cuban general. He walked up to me and started speaking Spanish which I understood but for some reason kept responding in Chinese. We had a three minute chat before he turned the corner and we went separate ways. Speaking of foreigners, I discovered two Arab guys I often talk to who are studying Chinese at Capital Normal University are well, Saudi Royalty, which I thought was really cool.
Today the teachers took all the second year students on a shopping trip to the most crowded mall I've ever seen. I'm an awful bargainer but I ended up buying 2 beaded bracelets (total Y15), a poor quality jade Guanyin necklace (Y25), and a bottle of some sweet milk tea (Y2.50) thing for a total of Y42.50 or a little over 6 US dollars. Good practice for my Chinese, well worth the six dollars. My search to buy a Zhong Shan Zhuan aka Mao suit proved fruitless. I saw some fancy shirts like the ones I bought in the ghetto in the mall for 108 kuai a peace. Slightly better quality than what I payed 40 kuai for, but not much. Exam tommorow, Great Wall trip this weekend, Taiji, Shaolin Kung Fu, and Calligraphy classes Sunday. Allowance tomorrow too!
Today the teachers took all the second year students on a shopping trip to the most crowded mall I've ever seen. I'm an awful bargainer but I ended up buying 2 beaded bracelets (total Y15), a poor quality jade Guanyin necklace (Y25), and a bottle of some sweet milk tea (Y2.50) thing for a total of Y42.50 or a little over 6 US dollars. Good practice for my Chinese, well worth the six dollars. My search to buy a Zhong Shan Zhuan aka Mao suit proved fruitless. I saw some fancy shirts like the ones I bought in the ghetto in the mall for 108 kuai a peace. Slightly better quality than what I payed 40 kuai for, but not much. Exam tommorow, Great Wall trip this weekend, Taiji, Shaolin Kung Fu, and Calligraphy classes Sunday. Allowance tomorrow too!
24.6.09
Chinese Shirts
Not sure if this was a good deal but I bought two lovely Chinese shirts on the street for 40 kuai each. One red and ostentatious one with cattle and happy new year on it, and one white and subtle one.
Kangding Love Song 康定情歌
My Language Partner taught me a beautiful old Sichuanese love song. Something about riding a horse up a hill:
Pao ma liu liu de shan shang
Yi duo liu liu de yun you
Zhang jia liu liu de da jie
Ren cai liu liu de hao you
Li jia liu liu de ta ge
Kan shan liu liu de ta you
Pao ma liu liu de shan shang
Yi duo liu liu de yun you
Zhang jia liu liu de da jie
Ren cai liu liu de hao you
Li jia liu liu de ta ge
Kan shan liu liu de ta you
21.6.09
Rings, Kungfu, and Chinese Class
6/21/09
Just had brunch, bought some fruit for later on. Bought some nice rings from a
Tibetan woman on the street. One was bone, and one was something else, both
inscribed with some writing. Originally she said 15 kuai. I heard that in China
its best to start at a third of the asking price and bargain up, but not past
halfway. So i bargained up to 7 kuai per ring. This, along with buying fruit,
was great practice for my Chinese.
So, I think the way it will work is every Sunday we'll have Shaolin Kungfu class, every Wedn we'll have Taijichuan (Taichi) class, and once a week we'll have traditional dance class, probably Mongolian. And we practice on our own time. Hmm... the kungfu was fun. Learned a form, i was slower than the other three students who showed up, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Tommorrow starts our first week of normal class (8 in the morning)
- Manny
Just had brunch, bought some fruit for later on. Bought some nice rings from a
Tibetan woman on the street. One was bone, and one was something else, both
inscribed with some writing. Originally she said 15 kuai. I heard that in China
its best to start at a third of the asking price and bargain up, but not past
halfway. So i bargained up to 7 kuai per ring. This, along with buying fruit,
was great practice for my Chinese.
So, I think the way it will work is every Sunday we'll have Shaolin Kungfu class, every Wedn we'll have Taijichuan (Taichi) class, and once a week we'll have traditional dance class, probably Mongolian. And we practice on our own time. Hmm... the kungfu was fun. Learned a form, i was slower than the other three students who showed up, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Tommorrow starts our first week of normal class (8 in the morning)
- Manny
China
6/20/09
I've been in China about a week now. Started getting used to the rhythm of life
here. Roommate is back after a week in quarantine for being on a plane with
someone who had swine flu. Tried out some restaurants in the area. Eat food
ranging from 3 kuai a meal to 40 kuai. That's not including an interesting
street I discovered which I will talk about more later.
Along with most of the other people in Duke's program in Beijing, I joined a gym
nearby named "Hokay" (I think they wanted to write "okay") which is really
great.
One can get a phone, tea, food, clothes, school supplies, and a million other
things at the nearby knockoff Wall-mart, the WuMei.
Basically Beijing is a ring road city with major roads forming circles which
spread out from the center of the city. Between the first and third road is
downtown. The third road to the fifth road is the suburbs, and past the fifth
road is the countryside. Capital Normal University, where the program is,
borders the third road. At the University I'm staying in the international
students housing which is basically a beautiful and very modern hotel populated
by hundreds of foreigners, mostly Koreans, learning Chinese. There is a general
store and an absurdly expensive cafe on the first floor. First week we took
classes nearby but next week we will start taking classes on a different place
on campus.
Class is between 3 and 4 hours a day. We have a quiz every day and a test
Friday. Every day we have to do homework assignments, study grammar, and
memorize 50 words. On the weekends we have to interview local students or other
people and write essays in Chinese. This week I talked to two students about
their daily life. One was a Philosophy major and one was a film studies major.
The average student dorms are not like the fancy place we stay in. They live
cramped 6 in a dorm without air conditioning. Both were very friendly and
patient with my bad Chinese.
In addition to class, we also meet Monday through Thursday with our language
partner, who I just met yesterday. She is a getting a masters in History from
the University and plans to teach in high school after college. She is from
Sichuan Province and judging from the fact that she has siblings, she is
probably from the countryside. Her family name is Zhou, and her given name is
something I can't pronounce.
The air in Beijing is famously horrible. There were days were the visibility was
one block. But I should mention just as many days had beautiful blue skies, and
the city has cleaned up a lot since before the Olympics.
Today was a very special day. We went on a class trip to Tian'anmen Square and
the Forbidden City. Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest public square, abuts
fronts the massive walls of the (now a museum) Forbidden City. It has a very
long history, though in the US is only talked about for its recent history. The
Forbidden City itself is well, huge. Larger than 10 times what I thought it
would be. It seemed to stretch for every. Gate after gate, courtyard after
courtyard. Towards the back we reached the imperial garden and from there some
pretty hills which were once dotted with shrines. Around 1900 (history I did
not know before coming her), a coalition of eight Western powers (including the
US), sacked the area, and stole off much of the treasures. Two massive pots
which were two heavy to carry had had the gold coating chipped off them. Blank
squares lay where Buddhist statues 30 feet tall once stood. Once shrine
remained which was stunningly beautiful and overlooked a view of all the
forbidden city and much of Beijing beyond.
This evening I decided to check out a street a friend told me he had come
across. It's about a five or ten minute walk from where I live. Basically a
Chinese ghetto, bars on the windows, etc. But I felt safe. But it was full of
people selling delicious food, talking, drinking. A very authentic Chinese
neighborhood (not a single foreigner in sight). Mostly a minority community
with Hui and Uighur Muslims from Shaanxi and Xinjiang, Tibetans, and Han from
far off Hebei and Anhui. The food was unbelievable and very cheap. A huge
bottle of Yanjing beer (the water of the people in this country) was 2.50 (not
that I bought it). A bowl Anhui spicy tofu was 2 dollars. Some Chinese baked
goods totalled 2.50. Some Veggie fried bread thing from some Shaanxi Muslims
was 2 kuai. Fried eggplant was 50 cents. And this was Chinese dollars! 10 kuai
filled me with a ton of food from more places than I could even imagine. It was
lively beyond anything I'd ever seen before, but its poverty was obvious, and a
20 minute walk from houses more ostentatious than anything I've seen before.
Tomorrow we get to meet a Taijiquan (Taichi) teacher who I think will be
teaching a class every morning at 6:30. Very excited.
Enjoying China, miss everyone back home,
Manny
I've been in China about a week now. Started getting used to the rhythm of life
here. Roommate is back after a week in quarantine for being on a plane with
someone who had swine flu. Tried out some restaurants in the area. Eat food
ranging from 3 kuai a meal to 40 kuai. That's not including an interesting
street I discovered which I will talk about more later.
Along with most of the other people in Duke's program in Beijing, I joined a gym
nearby named "Hokay" (I think they wanted to write "okay") which is really
great.
One can get a phone, tea, food, clothes, school supplies, and a million other
things at the nearby knockoff Wall-mart, the WuMei.
Basically Beijing is a ring road city with major roads forming circles which
spread out from the center of the city. Between the first and third road is
downtown. The third road to the fifth road is the suburbs, and past the fifth
road is the countryside. Capital Normal University, where the program is,
borders the third road. At the University I'm staying in the international
students housing which is basically a beautiful and very modern hotel populated
by hundreds of foreigners, mostly Koreans, learning Chinese. There is a general
store and an absurdly expensive cafe on the first floor. First week we took
classes nearby but next week we will start taking classes on a different place
on campus.
Class is between 3 and 4 hours a day. We have a quiz every day and a test
Friday. Every day we have to do homework assignments, study grammar, and
memorize 50 words. On the weekends we have to interview local students or other
people and write essays in Chinese. This week I talked to two students about
their daily life. One was a Philosophy major and one was a film studies major.
The average student dorms are not like the fancy place we stay in. They live
cramped 6 in a dorm without air conditioning. Both were very friendly and
patient with my bad Chinese.
In addition to class, we also meet Monday through Thursday with our language
partner, who I just met yesterday. She is a getting a masters in History from
the University and plans to teach in high school after college. She is from
Sichuan Province and judging from the fact that she has siblings, she is
probably from the countryside. Her family name is Zhou, and her given name is
something I can't pronounce.
The air in Beijing is famously horrible. There were days were the visibility was
one block. But I should mention just as many days had beautiful blue skies, and
the city has cleaned up a lot since before the Olympics.
Today was a very special day. We went on a class trip to Tian'anmen Square and
the Forbidden City. Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest public square, abuts
fronts the massive walls of the (now a museum) Forbidden City. It has a very
long history, though in the US is only talked about for its recent history. The
Forbidden City itself is well, huge. Larger than 10 times what I thought it
would be. It seemed to stretch for every. Gate after gate, courtyard after
courtyard. Towards the back we reached the imperial garden and from there some
pretty hills which were once dotted with shrines. Around 1900 (history I did
not know before coming her), a coalition of eight Western powers (including the
US), sacked the area, and stole off much of the treasures. Two massive pots
which were two heavy to carry had had the gold coating chipped off them. Blank
squares lay where Buddhist statues 30 feet tall once stood. Once shrine
remained which was stunningly beautiful and overlooked a view of all the
forbidden city and much of Beijing beyond.
This evening I decided to check out a street a friend told me he had come
across. It's about a five or ten minute walk from where I live. Basically a
Chinese ghetto, bars on the windows, etc. But I felt safe. But it was full of
people selling delicious food, talking, drinking. A very authentic Chinese
neighborhood (not a single foreigner in sight). Mostly a minority community
with Hui and Uighur Muslims from Shaanxi and Xinjiang, Tibetans, and Han from
far off Hebei and Anhui. The food was unbelievable and very cheap. A huge
bottle of Yanjing beer (the water of the people in this country) was 2.50 (not
that I bought it). A bowl Anhui spicy tofu was 2 dollars. Some Chinese baked
goods totalled 2.50. Some Veggie fried bread thing from some Shaanxi Muslims
was 2 kuai. Fried eggplant was 50 cents. And this was Chinese dollars! 10 kuai
filled me with a ton of food from more places than I could even imagine. It was
lively beyond anything I'd ever seen before, but its poverty was obvious, and a
20 minute walk from houses more ostentatious than anything I've seen before.
Tomorrow we get to meet a Taijiquan (Taichi) teacher who I think will be
teaching a class every morning at 6:30. Very excited.
Enjoying China, miss everyone back home,
Manny
4.6.09
One Week to Go
I have my metal kuaizi, my Intermediate Modern Chinese textbooks, my lonely planet guide, my nalgene, my passport, visa, light handbook, and duke handbook. I think I'm set. One week left for time with family, studying chinese, trying to shed the 30 pounds I put on since April 08, packing, and sleeping late. In one week, I'll be on the way to China! I'm so excited. Can't wait to go!
1.6.09
Zhuangzi and Butterfly
莊 子 夢 見 自 己 化 成 蝴 蝶 ， 翩 翩 而 飛 ， 竟 然 忘 記 了 自 己 是 莊 周 ； 醒 來 之 後 ， 又 覺 得 自 己 是 莊 周 。 到 底 是 莊 周 做 夢 化 成 蝴 蝶 ， 還 是 蝴 蝶 做 夢 化 成 莊 周 ？ 在 道 家 與 道 門 中 人 看 來 ， 不 論 莊 周 也 好 ， 蝴 蝶 也 好 ， 其 實 不 必 進 行 人 為 的 彼 此 區 分 ， 因 為 讓 思 維 處 於 物 我 一 體 的 狀 態 ， 彼 此 沒 有 分 別 ， 大 道 也 就 在 心 中 .
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