One of the first things someone asked when we I got to China was, “Can you feel the communism?”
I thought it over for a second and decided that no, I really couldn’t. It’s true that Chinese people use a lot of red in their decorating, but for the casual visitor Beijing seems like a capitalist’s paradise. Coke and Oreos exist in near perfect harmony with Honey Tea and Bamboo Rice Cakes, bargaining in the market places is always at a fever pitch, and someone will stab you with a chopstick to grab that 5 yuan bill on the ground.
After having been here for nearly 3 months I feel equally comfortable saying, yes, you can feel the communism. Two weeks ago I was informed that my computer had been placed on a “Forbidden” list, effectively cutting me off from the Internet. At first I was sure it was because I am single handedly responsible for the propagation of the term Crasian (we also have Invasian now, an Asian who gets all up in your personal space), but later I found out the school cracked down on our Proxy connections. In typical Chinese fashion, we can still illegally access international websites, but only if we pay to use their proxy number.
In Chinese class our teacher asked “Did anyone go to a foreign country over break”. Not thinking, one of my classmates said Hong Kong. After a beat Professor Wang gently corrected him saying, “Hong Kong is a part of China”. Don’t even touch the topic of Taiwan, if you accidentally refer to it as a Country and not a Province of China you are going to get some nasty or confused looks.
(Editorial: If China wants Hong Kong to be a real part of China, it should lift it’s re-entry visa requirements. I had to shell out a sweet US $50 to get back into China).
The most amazing thing is how Chinese people view their own history. Foreigners understand (recent) Chinese history as something rather inhumane and coercive, but mention these events here and you will be told that “Your American government is wrong, you have your facts all wrong”. Of course this is not true of all Chinese people, and a lot of information leaks in from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, but it is a very different political / historical consciousness that has developed here. They haven’t just blocked things from Google, they are blocked from conversation and memory.
In lighter news, I finished midterms. This dorm turned into a pressure cooker of stress and gossip during exam week, I’m just glad to have made it out alive. We leave for Guilin in two weeks. I have been promised beautiful scenery, mud baths, cheap pizza, coffee and rafting. The only downside is the fact that Guilin is famous for gigantic spiders. Gigantic spiders that like to cuddle. Overall I’m glad China has incredibly strict gun-control laws, but I’m gonna be packing a bazooka during this trip because if I wake up spooning a new eight-legged friend I’ll probably just die. If God is truly merciful, he will choose that moment to take me home.
Halloween is coming up, and I need a costume. To continue my semester long theme of being an insensitive asshole, I was considering going as a Korean person (Korean people are so hot I can’t stand it, I am thinking of asking a group of Korean girls to buy all my winter cloths for me), but now I am trying to convince Jack that we should go as each other. I’ll wear his t-shirts with mistranslated English and give myself the Asian Poof (poofy, Aqua Net hair), and he’ll wear my button-down and make his laugh sound fake and like a foghorn. I think it has potential.
I feel the need to reciprocate some digital love by pointing out the excellence of JR's Peace Corps Blog. I am incredibly flattered that he imagines me as a Discovery Channel travel guide, I have always dreamed of having a little globe rotate in the lower-right-hand corner of my field of vision. I doubt JR realizes what a talented writer he is, or how much we all admire him for what he is doing. It blows my mind that our favorite knee-sock wearing, Narwhal loving friend is busy doing what most of us can hardly dream of. Bien hecho!
“And like a boner in scrub pants, I’m out!”
I thought it over for a second and decided that no, I really couldn’t. It’s true that Chinese people use a lot of red in their decorating, but for the casual visitor Beijing seems like a capitalist’s paradise. Coke and Oreos exist in near perfect harmony with Honey Tea and Bamboo Rice Cakes, bargaining in the market places is always at a fever pitch, and someone will stab you with a chopstick to grab that 5 yuan bill on the ground.
After having been here for nearly 3 months I feel equally comfortable saying, yes, you can feel the communism. Two weeks ago I was informed that my computer had been placed on a “Forbidden” list, effectively cutting me off from the Internet. At first I was sure it was because I am single handedly responsible for the propagation of the term Crasian (we also have Invasian now, an Asian who gets all up in your personal space), but later I found out the school cracked down on our Proxy connections. In typical Chinese fashion, we can still illegally access international websites, but only if we pay to use their proxy number.
In Chinese class our teacher asked “Did anyone go to a foreign country over break”. Not thinking, one of my classmates said Hong Kong. After a beat Professor Wang gently corrected him saying, “Hong Kong is a part of China”. Don’t even touch the topic of Taiwan, if you accidentally refer to it as a Country and not a Province of China you are going to get some nasty or confused looks.
(Editorial: If China wants Hong Kong to be a real part of China, it should lift it’s re-entry visa requirements. I had to shell out a sweet US $50 to get back into China).
The most amazing thing is how Chinese people view their own history. Foreigners understand (recent) Chinese history as something rather inhumane and coercive, but mention these events here and you will be told that “Your American government is wrong, you have your facts all wrong”. Of course this is not true of all Chinese people, and a lot of information leaks in from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, but it is a very different political / historical consciousness that has developed here. They haven’t just blocked things from Google, they are blocked from conversation and memory.
In lighter news, I finished midterms. This dorm turned into a pressure cooker of stress and gossip during exam week, I’m just glad to have made it out alive. We leave for Guilin in two weeks. I have been promised beautiful scenery, mud baths, cheap pizza, coffee and rafting. The only downside is the fact that Guilin is famous for gigantic spiders. Gigantic spiders that like to cuddle. Overall I’m glad China has incredibly strict gun-control laws, but I’m gonna be packing a bazooka during this trip because if I wake up spooning a new eight-legged friend I’ll probably just die. If God is truly merciful, he will choose that moment to take me home.
Halloween is coming up, and I need a costume. To continue my semester long theme of being an insensitive asshole, I was considering going as a Korean person (Korean people are so hot I can’t stand it, I am thinking of asking a group of Korean girls to buy all my winter cloths for me), but now I am trying to convince Jack that we should go as each other. I’ll wear his t-shirts with mistranslated English and give myself the Asian Poof (poofy, Aqua Net hair), and he’ll wear my button-down and make his laugh sound fake and like a foghorn. I think it has potential.
I feel the need to reciprocate some digital love by pointing out the excellence of JR's Peace Corps Blog. I am incredibly flattered that he imagines me as a Discovery Channel travel guide, I have always dreamed of having a little globe rotate in the lower-right-hand corner of my field of vision. I doubt JR realizes what a talented writer he is, or how much we all admire him for what he is doing. It blows my mind that our favorite knee-sock wearing, Narwhal loving friend is busy doing what most of us can hardly dream of. Bien hecho!
“And like a boner in scrub pants, I’m out!”
posted by Tim | 3:06 AM
1 Comments:
hey, i don't really understand all about the computer bit, but i always use http://anonymouse.org to get to sites blocked and it is free....but maybe you've already tried it, i don't know. jackie heard from someone that you were coming to hangzhou....is it true?
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