Adventures in Guangzhou!

I was excited to see that Mr. Faison represented Wesleyan well by showing up to the formal dinner wearing a suit jacket over a plain white t-shirt. Heh. He recounted his life story in brief and was a very captivating speaker. As a reporter in Beijing during Tiananmen in 1989, he saw one of the most incredible events of the last twenty years. Anyhow, his book goes into detail about his language training in Xian (the site of the terra cotta warriors), about his life as an itinerant journalist, and about his impressions of being a foreigner in China. Check it out if you're interested.

The book left me with two lasting thoughts:
1. Right now I certainly feel like an outsider due to the language barrier, however I don't feel that people are guarded around me or that they look down on me for being an American. Maybe I'm being naive here but so far people have (at least on the surface) been very friendly and outgoing. Faison talks about being shut out and looked down upon as inferior due to the color of his skin (not to mention the size of his nose). I'm wondering if I will feel the same way once I can converse better with my coworkers and random inhabitants of the city. I thought about it from an American perspective and unfortunately there is some level of the same judgement in the U.S. If someone is born abroad or is not a native speaker, there are a number of people who will judge them accordingly. According to Faison, Chinese people have a difficult time reconciling their culture's past with the events of the 19th and 20th centuries (not to mention little things like the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen). The result seems to be a national consciousness that is fiercely proud, yet also somewhat ashamed. Regardless, they are Chinese above all else.
2. I'm dying to go to Tibet. Faison's descriptions of Tibet are unbelievable and I think Tibet is now at the top of my list for travel destinations. It also breaks my heart to read about the treatment they get in the province from the government (and to some extent the Han Chinese, who think they are barbarians). It really is a travesty but it is unlikely that anything will change in the near future. The picture I have in my head of the Buddhist monasteries and the mountains are straight out of a movie--something that seems too beautiful to be real. The religion major in me is also completely intrigued by the Tibetan faith and practice. I would LOVE to spend an extended period of time in one of the temples there. Jan Willis would be so proud of me...

Besides the book, I also wanted to make a comment about inconsistencies in China. It seems that you simply cannot depend on things staying the same here, on any level. For example, today I went to use the sink in my bathroom and out of nowhere I had ridiculously high water pressure. It had been a solid trickle before this but now I'm getting blasted by the backsplash. What caused the change? I don't know. Speaking of water, it's always a crapshoot whether I'll have hot water in the shower. Sometimes it's scalding and other times frigid. I've actually come to enjoy the colder showers given how hot it is here and how I'm generally completely overheated from playing basketball or football. A few other examples: one of my students early on heard Steven and I say we really like jia zi (dumplings) and he decided to take us to his favorite spot. In true China fashion, it was gone--replaced by a cheesy looking clothing store. One of the take-out spots I frequent is also hugely inconsistent. Not only does the quality of the food fluctuate, but so does the price! While the sign says 5 yuan, sometimes I pay 6; other times 4. Why is this? Got me. At least my basketball game has been pretty consistent lately.

Steven and I ventured out to the Grandview Mall this past weekend (the largest mall in Asia--it's *enormous*) and Steven bought a digital camera. Despite three years of mandarin study, UNC did not prepare my roomate with essential vocabulary he needed such as "memory card," "rechargeable batteries," "megapixel," or "zoom," so it was quite an adventure. He was successful though and has used the camera several times in the past few days. If you're interested in pics of our apartment, in our adventures making jia zi with the Yalies, or in random city shots, check out the following link:
http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=284251127642071670/l=61187536/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB Enjoy!