The day we've all been waiting for...

08.08.08

Tonight at 8:08pm is the start of the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. This past year has been a crazy one, living in Beijing and watching this city prepare for, what many consider, the biggest and most important event for modern China.

Yesterday, I went to the Olympic torch relay near Ditan Park in Beijing. My friends and I arrived at the park early in the morning, only to be told that the torch wouldn't get to the park until 5 or 6 pm (since its route that morning included parts of the Great Wall and other suburbs of Beijing). I returned alone at 2:30pm to wait.

And let me tell you, it was a MESS. First it started out fine, with a sparse crowd sitting on curbs. Eventually they put out the police tape, made us stand, and then came the stupidest idea ever. The police announced that we'd all have to move across the street, so of course people started RUNNING across the street and I was nearly stepped all over. But once we got across the street, no one directed us, so the giant mob moved back ACROSS the street. After lots of pushing and manhandling from the police, the crowd moved onto the steps across the street. Later, I learned that we wouldn't even see the torch, since the relay would take place solely inside the park (that no one had access to), and that we were all waiting to see the caravan of Olympic vehicles. This meant that whenever any "nice looking cars" (read Hummers, Audi's, tour buses, and camouflaged military-looking vehicles) passed, the crowd would stir and push past the chain of security guards holding us back.



It was definitely a China moment. It's every person for themselves as people are nudging and elbowing you in the back, trying to get past you to see something that's probably not very interesting in the first place. Contributing to the China moment was the fact that most people couldn't see anything past the back of the person's head in front of us (since most of us ranged in the 5 foot to 5 foot 6 inches tall range). Just another reason I love China.

China is just an all around ridiculous country. Full of contradictions and hypocritical reasoning. Last Sunday (Aug. 3), a friend and I visited Jingshan Park, which is a park with a peak overlooking the Forbidden City. I think we chose the best day in the year to go because the sky was soo clear, we could see as far out as the 4th and 5th Rings of Beijing, as well as the mountains surrounding Beijing on 3 sides (Let me just tell you, that up until that day the pollution was so awful that, I hadn't realized Beijing was near ANY mountains).



I have to say that the mentality of the Chinese government (which is then fed to the overall Chinese population via its state controlled media) is often one of a proclaimed victim. When you talk about people choosing to boycott the Olympic games, rather than address the issues people have objections with (Tibet, Darfur, human rights, censorship, etc), people essentially respond with, "Why are people picking on China? We have never done anything to your country, why can't you just leave us alone? We are a calm and peaceful people. How can you be so cruel as to criticize us during a year when thousands of our people died in a terrible earthquake?"

When you accuse China of having pollution problems, rather than come straight out and say, "Yes we have problems and we're trying our best to solve them," the media has a roundabout way of talking about the minute improvements that have been made, and make excuses. The other day I read an article about how the air quality has been improving overall and that recently it just looks like there's worse pollution because of a haze caused by an unusual amount of rain in Beijing in the past weeks, with no wind to blow it away. An unusual amount of rain you say? Hmmmm.... maybe this has a little something to do with those silver iodide pellets the government's been releasing in the air to INDUCE rain to wash the pollution out of the air.

I mean, I'm not saying this is a completely ineffectual idea. Actually, I've seen blue skies as a result of government created rainstorms. (This photo has not been digitally altered at all).



Sometimes when I write on this blog, I feel like I need to put up a disclaimer. This disclaimer being that since moving to Beijing, I have become extremely biased, in favor of the Chinese government. I try my hardest to remain critical, but when it comes down to it, I love China.

In the past two weeks, I've seen the introduction of the odd-even license plate driving restrictions (which has created even larger crowds on the subways, and only made a dent in reducing gridlock traffic), mandatory bag checks in subway terminals and some buses, I.D. checks for every Chinese-looking person entering school campuses (I find it ironic that anyone with a white face can stroll right into my campus without having identification, but I get stopped without fail, every time). I've seen hordes of Olympic volunteers in their blue and yellow t-shirts sweltering in their Olympic volunteer booths in the summer heat (Some of the booths have a scale you can use to weight yourself. Why? I still haven't figured out), and taxi drivers in their new bright yellow collared shirt uniforms.

Also, a new addition to Beijing, are enormous pro-Beijing Olympic posters/billboards. You can find them all over the city. At first I liked them, so colorful, and shiny and new, and festive, to get you in the mood for the games. Then I read this article about the government putting up these walls in front of people's homes and businesses which they consider to be an "eyesore" to the city. Read the article, it will break your heart. And it's stories like this, that make me want to slap the CCP in the back of the head, because my love for China stems from a love for the people. And when I read about the Chinese government displacing people from their homes without providing an alternative, passive-aggressively building walls in front of family owned businesses (which are more than likely also the business owners' home), it angers me that the CCP has no respect for its people.

China is a complicated issue. I'm sure some of you have wondered whether I would be boycotting the Olympic games. The answer is No, I won't be. But not because I don't see the connection between China, the Olympics, and human rights issues, not because I think the Olympics is/should be an apolitical event (in fact, having had experience organizing boycott campaigns, I think using the Olympics is actually great leverage). But the reason I am not boycotting the Olympics is because boycotting the games would call into question my entire existence here in China (the work that I'm doing and my newfound Chinese nationalism), and that's not something I'm ready for right now. I know that's not really an answer, but it's all I have right now.

So get ready for future posts with pictures of me smiling in front of the Bird's Nest cuz I'm going to the Olympic Games!

Less than a month until the Olympics...

and security is TIGHT.

Having lived in Beijing for the past 10 months (and for 4 months back in 2005 while I was studying abroad), I've been tracking the changes this city has been undergoing in preparation for the Olympics.

Back when I was studying abroad, I heard these rumors that the government was going to put a ban on all construction starting a year prior to the Olympics in order to decrease pollution in the air. Slowly that deadline became 6 months. Then 1 month. And now with less than 30 days until the Opening Ceremonies, construction is still going at full force. If anything, contractors are in a furious and mad dash to finish up their projects before the start of the Olympics. (The new rumored deadline is July 20, a mere 3 weeks until the Games begin).

Along with the postponement of this supposed "construction ban," us Beijing residents have simultaneously been teased with the opening dates of the new city subway lines. June 1. June 30. July 20. I've already been convinced that these dates are purely arbitrary. In terms of being up to par with other major metropolitan cities, the Beijing subway system has quite a ways to go. There are only 5 subways lines open right now, and Beijing is very similar to L.A. in that the city is all sprawl. The city is huge, and expansive, and traffic is horrible all the time. It takes literally 2 hours to get from one end of the city to the other via subway. Though 3 additional subway lines are in the works (including an airport expressway), who knows when those will actually be finished since it was also rumored that these subway lines would be open by the Olympics. But again, no dice.

What I really want to talk about is security.

In the past few weeks, I've noticed increased security in lots of areas. Most notably the airport, which is understandable. Standards of security here at the new Terminal 3 (the largest in the world, btw) are so ridiculous, that I would almost compare it to levels experienced in the States (And unfortunately, even in China, it's the brown folk who get "randomly" chosen for searches most frequently here as well).

New additions in the past few weeks are the bag scanners at every subway terminal, and the dozens of uniformed guards waiting to stop and search you. Signs are posted here saying we can't take firearms, explosives, knives, or (my favorite) firecrackers on the subway. And even on my way back to campus one night, I got stopped at the gate by a guard and was asked to show my student i.d. card (which I of course don't have, considering I'm not a student).

I've heard stories of other foreigners being stopped by officials. And police officers doing random searches of apartment buildings and taxi cabs, trying to catch people who are overstaying their visas, or working on a tourist visa, etc.

Among other ridiculous stories I've heard about increased security measures for the Olympics, my boss told me the other day that the Chinese government was preventing people (and suspicious cargo) from entering Beijing via car by increasing the number of guards at the Beijing border. Now that doesn't sound so ridiculous right? Well the absurd part is that the guards have been instructed to "keep people happy." So instead of just outrightly denying cars entry, the guards have been instructed to simply give the cars the wrong directions, so that they end up driving loops around Beijing, without actually entering, until they get so tired of driving that they decide to go home. Yes, my boss actually told me this.

My boss (and others) also told me that there are missiles at the Olympic bird's nest stadium. Missiles. So that if somebody decides to attack the stadium during the Games, China can quickly retaliate and "protect" itself. It all seems counterproductive to me, but leave it to China to use missiles to solve the problem. (But, in defense of China, Athens also had "safety" missiles in place for their 2004 Olympics as well (FMI, google: Beijing Olympics missiles)).

Madness. This country is pure madness.

In case you needed more doses of madness, in the past few weeks the government also used rocket launchers to shoot iodide into the clouds to make it rain, you know, to clear the skies up. (Beijing is a dry city, it doesn't typically rain in the early summer). And now they're having drills to see if they can prevent possible future rain (since it does rain in Beijing in the late summer, read: during the Olympic games). So the current plan is to shoot iodide into the rain clouds before they move above Beijing, so that no rain will actually reach Beijing.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like weather is one of those things that you don't want to mess with.

Cultural exchange like whoa

Earlier this week, I taught my students how to FLOSS.

We were doing a lesson on daily routines. I talked about how it is quite common for Americans to brush their teeth in the middle of the day, after lunch. And that some Americans even floss after lunch. I asked the class if anyone brushed their teeth or flossed after lunch, knowing full well the answer would be No.

Then I asked the class if they ever flossed. They all shook their heads and said No. One student, Lisa, said, "Chinese people don't floss!" I asked her why that is. She said, "Nobody has ever taught us! So we don't know how to. I want to floss! But I can't because I don't know how."

So during the break, I got some floss and some mirrors, and I taught them how to floss. I don't think they enjoyed it. One of my students, Allan, started bleeding (I warned them that might happen the first time!) One of my students even explained that she didn't floss because she thought flossing created gaps between your teeth. I argued flossing doesn't create the gaps, flossing just removes the tartar so that you can actually see the gaps clearly.

Great teaching moment of the week

Earlier this week, I spent some time in class explaining the differences between "bored" and "boring," "excited" and "exciting," "embarrassed" and "embarrassing." For some reason, the students always get really confused about how to use the two adjectives. For example, the difference in meaning between saying "I am bored" and "I am boring."

I had just finished explaining embarrass. So I asked the class, "What are examples of some things that might make you feel embarrassed?"
Lisa, one of my favorite students, answers,

"Walking into the men's bathroom."

Nationalism at its best (and its worst)

It's been a little over a week since the 8.0 earthquake hit Sichuan. I've been following the news, trying to digest the photos, the news reports, and the ever rising death toll, and having an extremely hard time trying to put into words all the feelings bubbling up inside.

I guess in the simplest terms, all those feelings amount to... I am extremely extremely upset and distraught. And I've actually been wondering if there's some special kind of therapy for or psychological term for the kind of trauma one experiences from events that one hasn't actually experienced personally. Cuz whatever kind of trauma that is, I think I've got it.

A few days ago, one of my students said, "This is a very bad year for China." Ain't that the truth. What with the disruptions in the Olympic Torch Relay, the protests in Tibet, the boycott of the Olympics, and now the Sichuan earthquake, it has indeed been a very bad year for China.

On Monday of this week, we observed a 3 minute moment of silence beginning at 2:28 pm, at the exact time the earthquake occurred a week earlier. I stood silently, with my students, arms folded across my chest, eyes downward, and all I could hear were the blaring of cars horns. It sounded like air raid sirens. My body was shivering, and all I could think was, "I want to cry right now, but I can't."

In my time here, I've had my ups and downs with Chinese nationalism. At some point during my stay here, I've felt a deep connection with China and all things Chinese. Other times, I simply couldn't believe how repressive the government was. But even with all the issues I have with the way things are done here, somewhere inside of me I still have a deep, deep love for China and Chinese people (What can I say, the kool-aid is quite effective). And so when I see the footage of the earthquake victims, I can't help but think, "Those are my people suffering. When they suffer, I suffer." And it has everything to do with being Chinese.

And that is nationalism at its best. I know I'm generalizing, but I don't think it would be a stretch to say that other Chinese people probably feel the same way I do. "Those are my people. What can I do to help my fellow people?" I am impressed by the level of selflessness the majority of people here have expressed. I am impressed, but not surprised. It's not surprising because people here are helping out of sheer love for their country. They love their country, so when they see that a part of their country is suffering, they will do everything in their power to relieve that suffering.

I did just read a New York Times article though that commented on how remarkable it is the government is allowing such a large public involvement in the matter. It is actually the first time the Chinese government has ever accepted foreign aid for a disaster. Again I argue, it is all out of love for China and their fellow Chinese people. (I guess even the Chinese bureaucrats can put their egos aside to provide help to those who need it).

And with all this news coverage (I'm talking 24/7 coverage of relief efforts), I've heard many a discussion about comparisons to the tsunami in 2004, Myanmar, and Hurricane Katrina. One of my colleagues today said that the lightning fast response of the Chinese government officials to the earthquake really puts the U.S. to shame, particularly in regards to Hurricane Katrina. And I have to agree. What happened with Hurricane Katrina was an absolute catastrophe. But I have to say that, among other things, it had everything to do with race. And that is one area where China has it a lot less complicated. That's not to say that there's no racism in China, or that everyone living in China is Han Chinese (in fact, there are over 50 ethnic minority groups living in China), but it just isn't so blatantly obvious (well actually, sometimes it is, but people just don't label it racism).

Now I hate to play the speculation game, but you all have heard those comments like, "If Hurricane Katrina had hit a rich, white area instead of a poor, black one, would the government response be just as slow?" And now I pose a similar hypothetical question, "If the earthquake hit one of the areas in China comprised primarily of an ethnic minority group, say Tibet, would the public response be just as unwaveringly supportive?" Now I know this is all speculative, but I would argue that the answer would be No. I think there would be a sense of hesitation from the uber-nationalist Chinese people, some self-satisfied feelings like, "Well Tibetans, doesn't that teach you a lesson about biting the hand that feeds you?" and who knows, maybe even a bit of resentment if there was a strong international outpour of support for Tibet (nationalism at its worst). But there's really no use in playing this game now.

Though quite honestly, I think much of the strong sense of empathy expressed has to do with seeing those news reports and being able to physically identify with the victims of the quake, being able to sit there and think, "That could be me, or my sister, or my mother, or my grandmother."

My heart goes out to all those displaced and affected by the earthquake. It scares and pains me to think about what those people who lost everything will do now (and how the government will (or won't) step in to help them).

And to end with some additional food for thought. So the Chinese government has the People's Liberation Army (the national Chinese military force) doing a bulk of the relief work. On the one hand, way to consolidate resources, multi-task and make use of organized people power, China. On the other hand, that just means the military is really powerful and is pretty much ready to be dispatched in full force to any situation at the beck and call of the CPC. Hmmm..... (and sadly, history has already shown how this second scenario could be to the detriment of the people).

Beijing, you're so polluted, you make me mad.

The moment I step outside, I feel like I'm being pelted by debris. It's in my eyes, up my nose, in the back of my throat. And it feels gritty and dirty. Now I completely understand why old Chinese men are constantly hocking up loogies onto the street. They're EATING the pollution! I don't know how anyone has clear skin here. I'm constantly breaking out. Not pretty. It's so smoky and dusty all the time, I feel like I'm inhaling smoke all the time.

So the Chinese government recently issued a ban on smoking. Beginning May 1st, no more smoking in... SCHOOLS and HOSPITALS! Are you kidding me?! You mean it was actually okay to smoke in schools and hospitals prior to this ban?! They initially wanted to ban smoking in restaurants and bars too, but the business owners got pissy. I guess it's a step in the right direction at least.

And now that it's spring, add pollen and mysterious white puffs (from trees that aren't close enough to be seen), and it's hell for every orifice on my face. I might have to start wearing goggles around outside. And my face feels so gross from the sweat and the heat, and it's not even humid yet. Lovely. I can't wait for summer.

Remember to cut me some slack if next time you see me, my face is covered in pocks and flecks (actual phrasing on Chinese acne medication).

Reporting from Seoul, S.Korea!

Dear Friends and Readers,

Please forgive me for having neglected my blog for so long. I started writing pretty frequently in my personal blog, so I kinda gave up writing detailed entries here (In case you haven't noticed from the many video posts). But now I am back!

And I'm in Korea!

I arrived yesterday afternoon in Seoul and have been spending all my time with the beloved Min! It's been really great.

Here is the play-by-play, more for my sake than for your's.

I woke up at 4am on Saturday morning, to take a van to the airport at 6am for my 8:50am flight. The new Terminal at the Beijing airport is really impressive. It's quite pretty and clean-looking. It took an hour to go through check-in and security. I'm a dummy; I got my hand sanitizer and my hand lotion confiscated. I hate how paranoid airports make me feel. I also have this weird phobia that people won't believe that my passport actually belongs to me (since I don't really look like my photo anymore).

Smooth 2 hour flight. Passed out and scarfed sandwiches. Arrived in Seoul at 12pm, and took a bus to a hotel. Quickly realized that I did not understand what anyone around me was saying. Passed out on the bus too. Was able to make my way to the hostel without any problems.

Dropped my stuff off and tried to get in contact with Min. Again I was a dummy and didn't write down his cell phone number so I had to go on the internet to find it, and then find a phone to call him. Ended up making 2 trips back and forth from the hostel to the pay phone a block away because I couldn't figure out how to use the pay phone and I wasn't sure if I had the right number.

Finally reached him and found him at the subway stop. HEART skipped a beat when I saw Min in a corduroy brown blazer and brown leather dress shoes. Ate a delicious lunch of shrimp omelet rice at OmutoTomato. Went back to the hostel to drop Min's stuff off and pass out for another hour.

When we finally decide to pick our asses up off the bed, we walked around the college town area near my hostel and scoped out different restaurants. This place is super trendy (the area near Hongik University), well trendy, hipster, artsy, punk all mixed up. There were lots of bars, lots of street vendors, lots of college kids with great looking hair and even better looking accessories. We saw this rock band perform in the park.

For dinner we had noodles cooked in a giant pot. Then we roamed the streets looking for Krispy Kreme (my idea). After stuffing our faces, we decided to eat more, so we ate deep fried squid and drank beer at a street stall. Then we met up with Min's cousin Andrew and went to this bar called Ta (in Chinese characters, it's Da). Saw some cool kids perform, and some not so cool expats dance shamelessly. Then Min and I migrated to Con Bar and I had a little "Iced Tea" action. Made it home at 3am. Sounds like a great first night in Seoul.

DAY 2

Slept in till 10:30am. Woohoo! Picked up some sweet potato raisin bread from Paris Baguette for breakfast. Took the subway over to City Hall. Saw tons of Chinese people waving giant Chinese flags across the street at a concert for the Olympic Torch Relay. Felt oddly comforted. Then Min and I went inside City Hall, took some great pics, and frolicked.

Next, we headed to the National Palace. Walked, a lot, and went into the Folk Museum. Saw parts of a funeral procession. Also got to see the changing of the guards outside the palace. I got really scared by the giant drum. BANG BANG BANG (does a drum go bang?) Afterwards we went to Dongdaemun Market, where we ate this deliciously yummy Korean stew and a soft-serve cone that was at least 8 inches high (no joke. Pics to come).

Soon though, I had to say good-bye to Min since he needed to go back to Ochang to teach tomorrow. So I stayed around the market area and bought myself eyeliner, a cell phone dangly in the shape of a mini-Soju bottle and bottle opener, and charcoal soap (yes, I am equally intrigued). Afterwards, I took the subway (by myself!) back to the Hongik area.

I was in search of food, even though I wasn't hungry since Min and I ate "lunch" at 4pm. I ate an ice cream hot dog (a hot dog bun filled with ice cream, berry sauce, and sprinkles/nuts). It was an accident. I thought I was ordering a regular hot dog. Then to balance the sweet with the salty, I ate some street food, rice cakes and bean curd on a stick. DELICIOUS!

Tomorrow I explore Seoul, solo. I am finally getting over my nervousness about speaking English to people. I mean, I have no choice really, but for some reason I almost feel disrespectful speaking to people in English. As if, I should be making some effort to learn and speak their language. I've been asking Min how to say some stuff in Korean, but I think he gets annoyed with me for getting the pronunciation absolutely wrong. I think he also gets annoyed that anytime he tells me something about Korea, I immediately answer, "Well in China, it's like this...." I feel bad making him my Korean native informant, but I want to know more about the place I'm in, and it seems more efficient to just ask him instead of reading about it online or somewhere.

More updates soon. And in a day, I'm going to visit Min's host family and watch him teach!!!