I booked my plane ticket to Lijiang yesterday, an ancient town in Yunnan province. There is something about an upcoming trip. When you know you are going to another place. A place you have never been before. There seems to be a quiet anticipation that comes over you. You feel as if you are about to be let in on a secret.
All I need is my journal in my hand, my good friend at my side and my camera. I love that I live in a country where new places are at my back door. I'm looking forward to the trains we will be taking, the villages we will be seeing, the air we will be breathing there.
I hope I can take it all in.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
i want to travel here...
I just watched a documentary program on the Yi people in Yunnan province in China. I have been researching this mysterious place over the last couple weeks. Firstly, I must say that whenever I watch documentaries, I always feel so anxious and I can feel my heart starting to beat quickly. I want to be there. I just want to impulsively drop everything and go. Documentaries are dangerous that way.After numerous conversatsions with students and people giving me some adivce, I am desperately hoping to travel here in a few weeks, as I have some holidays coming up. Yunnan is known to be one of the more unique areas of China where minority culture is still present. The more I learn about this province, the more I want to explore its territory.
Yi people are known for their open hearts, their beautiful minority songs, and their large glasses of alcohol and their overwhelming hospitality. Part of my intrique to travel here is the unique style of dress worn by the women in this area. Its hard not to be captivated by such beautfiul colours and the mysterious landscape and culture of this area.
I sometime forget how large this country is, and that the culture can be SO varied from one place to the next. Students reminded me yesterday that in China there are over 56 different dialects, which obviously lends itself to nuances in both commmunication and culture. This is one of the most fascinating things about living here. To be able to learn its history, walk on its ground and learn about its people.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
full and running over...
Over the last two years that I have been living abroad and travelling, I sometimes feel like time can easily stand still for a while. Some days it feels like I'm living in this alter reality where I have control over the things I do, the places I go and how I spend my time. This is what I focus on from day to day. I find out the things I place priority on, and the other things I don't. I find out the things I value and find myself paying attention to things I never noticed before. Somedays I find it difficult to catch up with my experiences here. I often struggle to take in its significance. Just when I catch up, things change again or my perspective is challenged. Maybe I just feel behind all the time.
After pouring over pictures my Auntie sent me of my cousin's wedding, seeing family members and children grown up, I realized how much time has actually passed. It feels like so many things have happened in my family and friends lives over the last two years. My two best friends getting married, now 2 more good friends getting married in just a few weeks; my grandfather passing away; cousins getting married; my family coming to visit me when I was in Japan; friends having babies; other friends of friends geting married and having babies; people changing jobs; people moving; people changing; people staying the same.
Its strange when you step out of your familiar environment, and you see things from another side...you SEE all this happening. Sometimes I feel sad not being at home. Life is literally flashing before your eyes. But, I am realizing what an incredible gift it is to watch how life unfolds, changes and becomes something. This gets me so excited. I have begun to look for patterns that emerge, or new roads that are being travelled down. Both for myself and for the people I care about. My attention has changed. I want to know what drives us all. What motivates us. What teaches us.
Living first in Japan and now China, I feel like I have had to sacrifice so many things. Too many to count. But, I have begun to not take life for granted. To not take people for granted. I'm trying to listen to others better. To be a better friend. To learn as much as I can. Perhaps, learning to even speak less, and listen for different things.
I'm glad this whole experience still teaches me something almost every day.
After pouring over pictures my Auntie sent me of my cousin's wedding, seeing family members and children grown up, I realized how much time has actually passed. It feels like so many things have happened in my family and friends lives over the last two years. My two best friends getting married, now 2 more good friends getting married in just a few weeks; my grandfather passing away; cousins getting married; my family coming to visit me when I was in Japan; friends having babies; other friends of friends geting married and having babies; people changing jobs; people moving; people changing; people staying the same.
Its strange when you step out of your familiar environment, and you see things from another side...you SEE all this happening. Sometimes I feel sad not being at home. Life is literally flashing before your eyes. But, I am realizing what an incredible gift it is to watch how life unfolds, changes and becomes something. This gets me so excited. I have begun to look for patterns that emerge, or new roads that are being travelled down. Both for myself and for the people I care about. My attention has changed. I want to know what drives us all. What motivates us. What teaches us.
Living first in Japan and now China, I feel like I have had to sacrifice so many things. Too many to count. But, I have begun to not take life for granted. To not take people for granted. I'm trying to listen to others better. To be a better friend. To learn as much as I can. Perhaps, learning to even speak less, and listen for different things.
I'm glad this whole experience still teaches me something almost every day.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
keeping my eyes open...
I has been a long time since my last entry.
I guess the last few months, I have been attempting to come to turms with my experience here. Its different from my time in Japan in so many ways. Living in a city like Guangzhou has been an even more eye opening experience. At times, I don't know how to express to people at home what I see on a daily basis or what I feel. I seemingly can't give a voice to what I experience here some days. What inspired me to write this entry is a book I have been reading lately, called River Town by Peter Hessler.
Peter spent 2 years living in the remote town of Fuling, in Sichuan province in China. He speaks of his students and how he came to know Fuling throug them. He also speaks of his experiences of being amoung the few foreigners living here.
"...This was intimidating, because never in my life had I been watched so closely that every actions was replayed and evaluated. Everything we did was talked and written about. Every quirk or habit was laid bare. Students spoke about that way I always carried a water bottle to class; they spoke about how I paced the classroom as I taught; they spoke about my laugh, which they found ridiculous. They wrote about my foreign nose, which impressed them as impossibly long and straight, and many of them spoke about my blue eyes. This was perhaps the strangest detail of all, because my eyes are hazel - but, my students had read that foreigners had blue eyes, and they saw what they wanted to see. Mostly they wanted to see all of the outside world condensed into these two young waiguoren, which was what foreigners were called in Fuling."
He later described how he could not judge the students for their thoughts at the beginning of his experience there. Their background was too far removed from his.
As I read this book on my way to work most days, I feel as though I'm beginning to find my voice again. Realizing that the sometimes all consuming, ever present reality of living in China is not meant to be experienced in isolation. But, it is sure easy to feel this way. Many of Peter's experiences echo my own. Its sometimes impossible to camoflage yourself when living in China. You walk down the street and you feel peoples eyes on you. You drink your tea, and peoples eyes are on you. You make a mistake, and people will laugh. Sometimes, you just want to hide.
One thing recently that I have learned, is that every moment of my time here is a teachable moment. I am learning that China has opened its doors only recently, and being a developing country has its and signs and symptoms. I'm learning that China really is in fact and ancient country, full of mysteries and beautiful traditional culture. And I am just beginning to realize what an incredible gift it is to participate in this ever changing country. Now, the men who walk while rubbing their bare bellies, the elderly who do taichi in the park every monday, the workers who walk with the bamboo sticks on their back, the man who sleeps outside the train station and the men with the impossibly large loads on their bicycles...are beginning to teach me something valuable.
This realization also came after watching the opening ceremonies for this years Beijing Olympics. To sit amoung my students, as the ceremony was happening, in China, brought this culture to life. To see students stand as the national athem played and cheer at the Chinese team entered I began to see what I was participating in. All of a sudden, China was brought to life and put on display. The scope of this country, the minority culture, the art, the history...I want take it in. Allow this experience to wash over me, and continue learning and keeping my eyes open.
I guess the last few months, I have been attempting to come to turms with my experience here. Its different from my time in Japan in so many ways. Living in a city like Guangzhou has been an even more eye opening experience. At times, I don't know how to express to people at home what I see on a daily basis or what I feel. I seemingly can't give a voice to what I experience here some days. What inspired me to write this entry is a book I have been reading lately, called River Town by Peter Hessler.
Peter spent 2 years living in the remote town of Fuling, in Sichuan province in China. He speaks of his students and how he came to know Fuling throug them. He also speaks of his experiences of being amoung the few foreigners living here.
"...This was intimidating, because never in my life had I been watched so closely that every actions was replayed and evaluated. Everything we did was talked and written about. Every quirk or habit was laid bare. Students spoke about that way I always carried a water bottle to class; they spoke about how I paced the classroom as I taught; they spoke about my laugh, which they found ridiculous. They wrote about my foreign nose, which impressed them as impossibly long and straight, and many of them spoke about my blue eyes. This was perhaps the strangest detail of all, because my eyes are hazel - but, my students had read that foreigners had blue eyes, and they saw what they wanted to see. Mostly they wanted to see all of the outside world condensed into these two young waiguoren, which was what foreigners were called in Fuling."
He later described how he could not judge the students for their thoughts at the beginning of his experience there. Their background was too far removed from his.
As I read this book on my way to work most days, I feel as though I'm beginning to find my voice again. Realizing that the sometimes all consuming, ever present reality of living in China is not meant to be experienced in isolation. But, it is sure easy to feel this way. Many of Peter's experiences echo my own. Its sometimes impossible to camoflage yourself when living in China. You walk down the street and you feel peoples eyes on you. You drink your tea, and peoples eyes are on you. You make a mistake, and people will laugh. Sometimes, you just want to hide.
One thing recently that I have learned, is that every moment of my time here is a teachable moment. I am learning that China has opened its doors only recently, and being a developing country has its and signs and symptoms. I'm learning that China really is in fact and ancient country, full of mysteries and beautiful traditional culture. And I am just beginning to realize what an incredible gift it is to participate in this ever changing country. Now, the men who walk while rubbing their bare bellies, the elderly who do taichi in the park every monday, the workers who walk with the bamboo sticks on their back, the man who sleeps outside the train station and the men with the impossibly large loads on their bicycles...are beginning to teach me something valuable.
This realization also came after watching the opening ceremonies for this years Beijing Olympics. To sit amoung my students, as the ceremony was happening, in China, brought this culture to life. To see students stand as the national athem played and cheer at the Chinese team entered I began to see what I was participating in. All of a sudden, China was brought to life and put on display. The scope of this country, the minority culture, the art, the history...I want take it in. Allow this experience to wash over me, and continue learning and keeping my eyes open.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)