Nevermind, screw Shanghai

Things never go as planned, I learned that fairly early in life and it still persists. Nonetheless, I had an excellent week off from teaching, free to roam and go wherever I wanted. Since there was no more availability on the trains from Shanghai for several days, I chose to stay in Beijing.

I love Beijing, a lot. I could see myself living there for an extended amount of time. A downfall of that city, however, is it is easy to get by without knowing much Chinese. Sure, this came as an advantage for me during my stay, but if I want to learn more it's best for me to stick around in Baoding. And since I've returned home, I realized the "week off" from practicing Chinese regularly was a bit detrimental in my Mandarin progress.

Regardless, I still had a good time. I made my way back to the Sanlitun hostel I value so dearly of all the hostels I've stayed at. Getting there was kind of a challenge within; I took the bus rather than the subway, and my friend texted me the wrong characters for the stop. Fortunately, I met a really nice girl whose English name was "U U," she was indeed very helpful in communicating to the woman commanding stops where I was to go. I called my friend and had the woman talk to her on the phone so it would be determined where I was going. Oh me, a noob of China.

I recognized the nearby buildings of the hostel and stood before they told me it was my stop. I thanked the woman and U U, then made my way toward the hostel, a familiar turf in the still-unfamiliar city of Beijing.

After grabbing a long-desired shower and a bite to eat, I called another friend and we met up for drinks. I thought I could drink almost anyone under the table but I was sadly mistaken. After several spins and unimportant small talk, I fell fast asleep and felt like shit the next morning. My way of celebrating the Chinese National Holiday was staying in close proximity of the hostel. I managed to grade a bunch of papers, say hello to my friend Julia I met before, and meet some other hostel residents.

The first was Jez, a Caucasian man from Zimbabwe. He was particularly cocky but okay to have conversation with. Being a tour guide, he was privileged to travel all over the globe, including North Korea. We talked about a number of things, including American politics and the skewiness of them. What became interesting to me is my initial assumption that most people outside of America considered us to be crazy, sexual war-mongers. This may be true for some, but after also meeting three Swiss women, one Australian, and an Irish man, it came to light that several's view of Americans are we are crazy religious fanatics. Here I thought everyone thought we were too liberal, but in fact it was the opposite. By typical religious standards, I would be considered "Agnostic," and if a politician said he or she was an Atheist or Agnostic person, I would most likely respect him or her more than a "Christian," not because it was aligned with my view but because it would seem more honest. Jez brought up an interesting point. Politicians could list a plethora of things that are considered unpopular opinion, but if they were to say they didn't have a strong religious conviction (other than Agostic or Atheist, etc.), their chance at office would be screwed forever. I hadn't really deeply thought about that until now.

So my beliefs about things I do not factually know about, things I was not present to witness, affect my standing in America if I were to run for office. That's a bit hypocritical since my country began by religious persecution. Whatever, my country is not perfect, nor is any other country in this world. That's not an excuse, merely an observation. Being here three weeks has allowed me to see certain things I formally did not recognize. However, someone else said something very interesting. If someone were to move abroad for a year, it is "typical" that the first six months are spent recognizing and praising the new culture they are surrounded by and noticing the flaws of their homeland, but the latter six months are spent seeing the flaws of the new country and missing home. Maybe that will be the case in a few months. I can't lie and say I haven't had several moments of missing my homeland, the United States of America.

Anyway, I had a series of interesting conversations with these people from all over the globe. After several ja-peys I excused myself and went to sleep. The next day I met up with Alex and Yusi after they arrived in Beijing, and we went to the club where Notch08 was being held. I met them outside the station where I took my first solo subway ride. I remembered it being somewhat overwhelming and claustrophobic, but this time it wasn't nearly as bad. I felt more confident and I got the job done. We went to the club around 2pm to help out and observe everything being set up. This was day one of two, and I'm very glad I was able to be present.

Beijing has an underground music scene, and some of it is a bit forbidden, which makes it all the more delightful when it's being experienced. Notch showcased Chinese and Nordic music, and fused them together in one room for a mixed crowd. I heard so many accents and languages floating around the club. French, Chinese, English, Finish, Dutch, Islandic. You name the language, I can almost guarantee it was spoken. It wasn't like some of the bars in Sanlitun that cater to gringos with a "Spring Break 2008!" vibe, this felt much more honest and real.

I particularly enjoyed how jazz was fused with electronic, experimental beats and tracks. Nils ?? (I will fill this in once I have his name right) played his horn gently over a down-tempo trance, he was so careful and precise about it. A perfectionist as well. Each time the speaker cracked he shot the room a dirty look, even stopped at one point to say, "Excuse me...we're having a, oh how do you say it in English, a 'fuck up'?" Of course the audience laughed but you could tell it was supremely chapping his ass. I can't blame him, especially if he came all the way from Finland.

We left after awhile and I headed back toward the hostel. The people I met the night before were standing in the lobby. I was preparing to just head to my room and go to sleep but they insisted I come out with them to some of the gringo bars. I reluctantly agreed to go. At the bar, they urged me to dance but I just wasn't feeling it. The music was shit. But finally, after a few Tsingtaos, I jumped on a chair and started going apeshit. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl I suppose. Then I took with the pole, not like a stripper would, but got aggressive with it like I was mad. It only made sense being that I was in jeans and chucks rather than a miniskirt.

I pulled my typical disappearing act so I could go home without anyone trying to make me stay. I quietly slipped into my room, only to receive a text message from someone asking if I was tucked in safely. Yes, I replied. Thanks.

The next day, I met Alex and Yusi for pizza. The last time we were in Beijing, Alex and Charlotte's pizza came out small and Emily and mine never arrived at all. But this time we decided to give it another shot and show up in the daytime. Wise decision. Each of us had our own vegetarian pizza, with cheese and tomatoes and onion and garlicky deliciousness. I miss pizza. I miss cooking them too.

We headed back to the second night of Notch. This time, Alex and I worked the merch table. I gotta hand it to her, Alex is good at manning shit like that. I got a little confused, especially since I couldn't pronounce half of the artists we were selling on disc. Plus it's hard for me to hear. Luckily Yusi was there to help translate in case shit was too difficult to understand. I met a guy who DJ's around Beijing. We exchanged numbers to wander around town at another time and go record shopping. He was cute.

An Islandic cellist played, called Lost in Hilderness. It was enjoyable to some degree, as I really love the cello, but I will admit that after awhile it began to sound the same. I realize that's probably one of the goals, but I crave versatility in sound. Only did she really start to get frantic toward the end of her set. I craved more melodies. But that's just me, that in no way insults her craft. I respect what she does and absolutely LOVE when artists merge classical music with modern sound. In between sets, the beginning of Mozart's Requiem played, I got so excited. I think everyone should listen to Requiem at least once. It's good for your health.

The final act was clearly the most entertaining. Once again, I'll return to this entry with the proper names to include. We will call him the Gameboy DJ. He must have had six or seven Gameboys, nudging and bobbing each of them to make the room dancy and delirious. It was fantastic. The crowd went from sitting on the floor to up on their feet, it was impossible to sit still. Fog machines went off, the lights cast crazy swirls of smoke in the air, it was electrifying. Great way to end the night.

Afterward, once again it was Sanlitun. Next time I'm in Beijing I'm taking on a different part of town.

I'm back in Baoding, had my first class today and plenty more to follow. It's getting cold here now and I don't know how to make it warmer in my room. I think the radiators won't be turned on until later in the month. I hope my southern ass can handle this upcoming winter. Since getting back from my trip I will admit to feeling pangs of homesickness. I don't really know what I would do with myself if I were to return home just yet, but I do miss people. Hopefully that will subside a bit and I can continue about my life and make the most of it. I just don't want to lose contact with the people I care about, regardless if we go a long time without talking.

I'm going to go do a lesson plan now.