In contrast to my Hong Kong trip, my time in Beijing was spent with people. My pictures are all populated with my friends. No less than four Swatties came out of the woodwork in this, my favorite city. Although it was perhaps a bit less exciting because of it, and I believe that I will never have the same feeling of discovery again that I had in 2002, I still love Beijing, the way it was, is now, before the changes that will sweep over it in the next ten, five, two years.
Girl on the train took our passports, didn't seem to believe Haw-Wen and I were American. Of course there was no question about Jake. I quite pitied her, though. Just like flight attendants, they leave their homes for many hours at a time. Days, pushing carts of magazines and cold food up and down the cramped aisles. A little room to rest in, but it has a window so you don't have any real privacy. I don't know how you can start a family with this kind of job.
They tried to get us to switch out, but we refused. Man, we bought these train tickets so we could be in the same car. Don't even think that the date we bought the tickets even enters into the matter! The comforts of the soft sleeper (软卧) are overrated. Service is definitely better. The carts come rolling through slower, and you actually have a chance to see what's in them before they're all the way at the other end of the corridor. You can order fancier food, and the people seem more respectful in general. The hardness of the bed isn't really any different from that of the hard sleepers. But the privacy a closed door adds is a definite bonus. Conversation topics: Taoism, Magic: The Gathering, painting figurines, Physics, relativity. Seems to come up often when riding trains. Made some instant rice noodles, which is a three-step process - first you must cook the noodles, then drain the water, and add more water when you mix the spices and other ingredients in. Ate oranges. Lovebirds napped.
Haw-Wen was feeling sucky for most of the first day, even after having some great lamb skewers (羊肉串儿) and other great stuff at an Uyghur restaurant. Pouted and deflected displays of affection. The trials of finding a place to stay, and irritation of dealing with the sneaky woman who never ceased to lie to us? Or the argument about nothing? It was a cold day. But sunny. This, a welcome change from Hunan. Nary a person at the temple fair, which was disappointing, but the flags flapped and flailed at us, cheery and undeterred. How could I not be happy, to be back in my real home in China?
But Haw-Wen's dour mood and unflappable unhappiness worried Jake. A bit selfish, I thought, and was peeved myself and wanted to make Jake feel a little better.
Felt like just another day, returning to Jose's place from a day's work at Modern English. I trusted I could find the place, but when I got to the building I was suddenly unsure of which 单位 we were supposed to go to. My intuition pointed me toward an imposing cold green steel door which did not look at all familiar, so we dragged our bags to the workgroup to its right. It felt completely wrong, but I knocked on the door nonetheless, and asked for 郭旭. Of course, the elderly woman pointed us back towards the other door. I felt simultaneously vindicated and cheated. Jose was as hospitable as ever. Red lights, red curtains, a wonderful kitchen setup. New TV, new computer, bar lights and stools, a wine cabinet. We chatted about his place. He make yummy cappuccino for us, and we tasted some wine. Compared cell phones. Played with the only remaining cat, 花.
Service wasn't the greatest, but things were looking up because Haw-Wen's spirits were improving. Maybe Jose's energy has that effect on people. He's excitable. Around new people or people he hasn't seen for a while (or perhaps just people he likes!), he is convivially talkative. Maybe that's why we click: we're all interest driven, always waiting for something to turn us on, a spark to ignite our imaginations. Hotpot was good, but really spicy. Of course we ordered much more than we could stuff down. Wintermelon, lamb, beef, mushrooms, cabbage, tofu, rounds of purple rice congee (紫米粥), and fried sesame balls, vermicelli noodles. Eat eat eat. I think Jake was lovin' it, and we sure weren't eating at McDonalds.
Met up with 陈述 at Jose's place the next day, and went down to Starbucks where Jose's connections got us free drinks. I pranced nonchalantly in, stuffing my face with an egg pancake (蛋饼). Not classy enough? It's alright; I'm forgivably foreign, and American to boot. Had lots to catch up on, and reflections about our teaching experiences to exchange. But no record here of all that because I stupidly forgot my camera at Jose's place. For dinner, we headed to the place Haw-Wen and Jake were staying at near the Tiananmen front gate (前门) for Beijing duck. After meandering through the alleyways (胡同) for a good half hour and receiving lots of misleading information about this traditional courtyard (四合院) turned duck house, we stumbled upon the place, huge shining sign welcoming foreigners from every corner of the world. Kitschy. It was so good to see 陈述 again. Felt like no time had passed. Next next day, went to ACC to check out mah Swatties. One of the women at the front desk was the same as before, Miss Hong, although the girl who I didn't recognize gave me a quizzical look. The feeling of home, all the way from the bus stop at 万惠 to the ACC office door on the 2nd floor. I stepped in. Who was left from my days? 王老师, 李老师, 王菲老师, and of course 陈述. But I was mildly surprised that they didn't seem very shocked to see me, only disturbed from their work. Swatties present: Derrick and Andy, with Scott an imposter from Williams.
Our Chinese host family moved into their new home, very close to their old one, on the first floor of building 36, room 102. Man it was freezing when we made our way over, and late too by the time I met up with Jake and Haw-Wen. No light in the corridor, so we just knocked and hoped. And were welcomed in as warmly as ever, to wood panel floors and sea white sofa, tidy tiled kitchen and a futuristic transparent shower. The piano held its own in the living room, and we contemplated the comfort of physical and spiritual warmth over tea and dumplings. And 张觅's favorite art.
And professionally sliced and cored apples.
Pigging out at the restaurant down from Jose's place. After lunch at 3 o'clock, is dinner even possible? The sweet and spicy potatoes were a mass of crunchy hair, stacked into a bulbous tower. Hands off, Jake says. Stay away. No touching. Keep your distance. I think it's moving.
Jose's friend Chipeau, a quiet and attentive guy who struck us all as being very nice. His one foible: being addicted to this computer game slightly reminiscent of Snood, if only in its addictive quality. I'm almost done. Just one more game.
Manta ray graduation. Jose also bought a stuffed spider, ostensibly for 花 to play with. From Ikea, his favorite store. I took one look and told him, Now that's something I would never buy. You'd think a spider wouldn't make a good stuffed animal. But I couldn't help bursting out laughing whenever Jose used the octopedal menace to taunt the cat. It scrambles up, legs flailing furiously in all directions, and runs smack into her face. She usually winces, but doesn't lash out. C'mon Jose, she sighs rolling her eyes, you know this is more fun for you than it is for me. With enough temptation, though, or irritation, she begins to strike out a little, albeit with none of the vigor and agility of Ollie.
We met up with Shasha at the Starbucks, and proceeded to get academic. Talked about movies and such, then onto Buddhism and physics, logic systems and theories of wholeness. The trouble with finding a job in China. She said she would go to Shanghai to look, hoping for better prospects there. I think Chipeau felt a bit left out, because his English isn't great, nothing like Jose's. Then Jake and I snuck into the back room, where we discovered a ping pong table, and played a few rounds before we had to go. Coffee for the real athlete; Gatorade what?
Tried to decide whether to try out the bathhouse first, or eat dinner first. After a long deliberation, we decided just to have dinner at this Sino-Korean restaurant. I was hoping for some scrumptious Korean barbeque, but the food excelled only in its mediocrity. Still, we wolfed it down like hungry hungry hippoes.
It's frissing. Shasha kindly let me borrow a nice thick comforter and a towel, because we decided to do the Great Wall the next day. The hat Ay Jy sent me, tipping to the left as it always does. A picture for posterity, of when Swatties meet.
Without a bit of organization, the Great Wall trip might never have happened. We had enough trouble finding our way back to the place Jose had arranged for Jake and Haw-Wen to stay at the night before. I took a look at the map which Jake had. A great map, outlining all the bus routes in the greater Beijing region, whose main shortcoming was being completely in Chinese. Found a bus that wound up to Huairou (怀柔) that we could catch not far from the new apartment. This is when I started to get sick. We got up really early, took showers, then set off on the road. Caught the bus up to Huairou, but had no idea where to get off, and how to make the connection to Mutianyu (慕田峪). Fortunately, the ticket lady was very helpful and told us where to get off, and also helped us bargain with the minibus driver for the trip there and back. Frustratingly, even though I specifically asked him to stop somewhere where we could get a cheap brunch before arriving in the tourist trap, he didn't. We ended up having to pay RMB 30 for a plate of dumplings, and RMB 20 for bowls of noodles. Little stinker.
Alpine slide. Gaudy and expensive, but very fun. On the way down, I still beat the other two who took the slide on foot.
It's more tiring than it looks. Still, the views were as magnificent as ever, midday shadows making most camera angles perfect, and the slight haziness of distance contributing a magical aura. Fresh air. Jake and Haw-Wen were taking most of the photos, and I enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves. We bought some water from a nice man who charged us RMB 5 a pop. Oh well, we were tickled by the goat he had led up the wall which him, which was chewing some grass or some such foodstuff.
I love this picture. Jake had just purchased some trinkets for friends and family at home, and was zipping up his money.
We'll never forget the bountiful splendor of Jose's friend's apartment. Though we felt we could add little to the abundance, we decided to make a humble gift of instant noodles to add their overflowing storehouses. Yes we'll never forget that place. Eating pastries and drinking water after the long hard day. Packing up and heading someplace better. Man, we should'a left those noodles there, and not felt stupid bumming around in the Trader's Hotel with a stash of Ramen. Ah, but the shower there ...
I didn't think I'd have Indian again, but I did. We did. And it was ex-pen-sive. Jake said it felt weird seeing all those foreigners around. We all thought it was weird how they made one dish spicier, after we complained about its lack thereof, by planting a huge chili pepper on top.
Jose, what are you doing?!
Sent Jake off to the airport in the morning. It was sad to see him go. I told him he was a good traveler, and he said, Thanks, Bino! I hope we can travel again together sometime. Then Haw-Wen moved from the Trader's Hotel to live with our Chinese host family. I showed up feeling sicker than ever. 张觅 was hard at work, studying for her upcoming art exams.
This cat. What a nice life you have, 花. Just wait until the next arachnid attack.
"Last night's bathroom". The most disgusting bathroom Jose's every been in, apparently: I had to pee on through the grate on the floor! It stunk alright, and I wasn't inclined to try to flush the overflowing urinal. Good thing I didn't have to go. That restaurant's lamb skewers (羊肉串儿) weren't very good either. Just in case anyone was wondering.
Two days of sickly, feverish enervation later, I met up with Feng. I didn't think it was going to happen, but luckily he gave me a call the day before I would leave Beijing. We met up at the GL Cafe at the World Trade Center (国贸), and mostly had tea. Many many cups, and nobody ever came to make us order anything. Which was really, really nice. Not to be pressured into ordering, for a change. I tried some hot cola with ginger, which was sensational, and good for my cold too. Reminded Feng of something his mom used to make for him when he was sick. We also tried fish 'n chips. And chatted it up like the old times. It was really great to see him again, and made me miss Swarthmore terribly. He told me that he discontinued his studies at Rice because he just didn't feel it was right for him, and that he's not sure what direction he's headed in right now. His parents were very unhappy with his decision. And thus the turmoil and indecision of our generation is revealed. I think we are all in the same state.
Bundled up in our winter coats, a parting picture. I'm wearing five layers, though it doesn't look it because I'm too thin. The outer jacket really helped. At first, I felt stupid wearing two jackets, one over the other, but I was surely grateful for their warmth. At this point my head was still spinning every day. My body was recovering at a steady pace, but the dizziness remained for quite a few days, even after I left Beijing, which was worrisome.
And back to ACC for the last time. I saw Zheng Laoshi, which was a surprise. She was very happy to see me, and I was pleased by her excitement, having been a little disappointed by the somewhat lukewarm interest shown by the other teachers, who seemed too caught up in their own work or lives to really care. Maybe they were just too busy. But it was really nice to see her too. For some reason, I didn't even think to check the other office on the 2nd floor. Then again, I was pretty much the same way when I was a student at ACC.
陈述 treated me to dinner at this wildly popular restaurant whose name I can't recall right now. Talking and eating, resting, talking, snacking. All cycled together. There's something special in our interactions, the magic of understanding. We talked about teaching, life at ACC, her roommate, something in an email I once sent her that stuck in her mind. Different shades of green. Pessimism and passivity. Contentment. Anything and everything, tea priming the words. Until nearly midnight, when we took a final picture and parted, without really knowing how to say goodbye.