(no subject)
A lot of times it's easy to forget what I like about china. Day to day my life is pretty much the same as anyone's life: I get up, I go to work, I do a job that is really less fulfilling than you figure it ought to be, I go home and I either amuse myself in my home or call a friend to go out (it's almost inconceivably rare that a friend will call me to go out). Day in, day out my interactions with people is in general limited to "HALOOOOO!!!!" or "Laowai!" (gringo?)
However, my parents came over this vacation, and I got to remember why I really like this country. The quickest thing to notice is language. In Sichuan and Yibin especially people just don't listen to you because 'they can't understand what a foreigner is saying.' And if you're with a Chinese person they won't understand anything you say. But just getting out of Yibin causes a huge huge huge change in the amount people understand me and talk to me. I feel like I really speak CHinese when I'm not in Yibin.
The other part, the main part, is the part that's really what is amazing about China. And that's China itself. Not the filthy hellhole of a town I live in, but the country and the culture that this place makes me forget about. Being on a 2 week crash course on "China" with my parents I got two weeks of experiencing that again.
In general, my parents had a very "Welcome to China" [lion dance] [gong] experience. here are some very indicative pictures:
My parents in Chengdu with Carol, who they absolutely adored.
my mom at the bamboo sea near Yibin
also the bamboo sea
some images of China at night.
But also I had an amazing time in Wuhan.
One day Alice and I decided to paint her room, just completely randomly. This led to me getting to wear a TOTALLY SWEET painting outfit.
we went out to karaoke with a bunch of students from the music conservatory, and it was the only time in China I've had FUN at karaoke. Also, later that night, on the phone two of them just casually referred to me as their "friend." not a "foreign friend" or a "friend from another country," just a goddamn Friend. It caught me offguard and really made me realize how little that had happened this year. They may have thought I was mocking them when I seemed shocked and kind of touched, but it was actually genuine.
my parents, as well as I, are completely amazed by this woman right here. She is, incidentally, the only Chinese person I've met all year who has used analogies and metaphors in either English or Chinese. THis seems odd to me, as much of the simple Chinese vocabulary is somewhat metaphorical, but no metaphor or analogy is really used ever for logic or anything. Odd. Except Alice. She's just amazing.
Then there's this girl, who is almost without a doubt my best friend on this continent. We just get along unbelievably well. I wish she lived in Yibin, but I wouldn't really wish that on her.
These two weeks with my parents were amazing because it was two weeks of really feeling like a real person. Being treated like a human being. I felt confident in my understanding of this place by helping them do stuff and organizing stuff. I remembered that China is, in fact, a beautiful and culturally amazing place. I started to really wonder again about the strange love for contradictions in this continent: there's no respect for strangers and no courtesy dealt to them, it's all in-group out-group, but people really do want to know about you and what yo uthink about stuff. WTF? etc. Mom and Dad, i love you. Thanks so much for your visit. You helped put one of the finishing touches on making this year feel like a success.
I'm not going to hotlink it, but http://static.flickr.com/28/145634053_4d099985c7.jpg?v=0 this might be the greatest picture of me ever taken.
Good to be me. Here's to the here and now.
However, my parents came over this vacation, and I got to remember why I really like this country. The quickest thing to notice is language. In Sichuan and Yibin especially people just don't listen to you because 'they can't understand what a foreigner is saying.' And if you're with a Chinese person they won't understand anything you say. But just getting out of Yibin causes a huge huge huge change in the amount people understand me and talk to me. I feel like I really speak CHinese when I'm not in Yibin.
The other part, the main part, is the part that's really what is amazing about China. And that's China itself. Not the filthy hellhole of a town I live in, but the country and the culture that this place makes me forget about. Being on a 2 week crash course on "China" with my parents I got two weeks of experiencing that again.
In general, my parents had a very "Welcome to China" [lion dance] [gong] experience. here are some very indicative pictures:
My parents in Chengdu with Carol, who they absolutely adored.
my mom at the bamboo sea near Yibin
also the bamboo sea
some images of China at night.
But also I had an amazing time in Wuhan.
One day Alice and I decided to paint her room, just completely randomly. This led to me getting to wear a TOTALLY SWEET painting outfit.
we went out to karaoke with a bunch of students from the music conservatory, and it was the only time in China I've had FUN at karaoke. Also, later that night, on the phone two of them just casually referred to me as their "friend." not a "foreign friend" or a "friend from another country," just a goddamn Friend. It caught me offguard and really made me realize how little that had happened this year. They may have thought I was mocking them when I seemed shocked and kind of touched, but it was actually genuine.
my parents, as well as I, are completely amazed by this woman right here. She is, incidentally, the only Chinese person I've met all year who has used analogies and metaphors in either English or Chinese. THis seems odd to me, as much of the simple Chinese vocabulary is somewhat metaphorical, but no metaphor or analogy is really used ever for logic or anything. Odd. Except Alice. She's just amazing.
Then there's this girl, who is almost without a doubt my best friend on this continent. We just get along unbelievably well. I wish she lived in Yibin, but I wouldn't really wish that on her.
These two weeks with my parents were amazing because it was two weeks of really feeling like a real person. Being treated like a human being. I felt confident in my understanding of this place by helping them do stuff and organizing stuff. I remembered that China is, in fact, a beautiful and culturally amazing place. I started to really wonder again about the strange love for contradictions in this continent: there's no respect for strangers and no courtesy dealt to them, it's all in-group out-group, but people really do want to know about you and what yo uthink about stuff. WTF? etc. Mom and Dad, i love you. Thanks so much for your visit. You helped put one of the finishing touches on making this year feel like a success.
I'm not going to hotlink it, but http://static.flickr.com/28/145634053_4d099985c7.jpg?v=0 this might be the greatest picture of me ever taken.
Good to be me. Here's to the here and now.