field observation substitute
well this morning i was planning on going to the Mosque in NE olympia, but apparently it wasn't open to the public so that will put a delay on my trip there and my post. Meanwhile, as a substitution I will post a small journal entry of mine while visiting Tienanmen square in Beijing, China.
5/8/2007
We went to Tienanmen Square today, and afterwards the Forbidden City. When I first set foot on the Square, it was larger than i had expected it and from my memories of the countless documentaries we had watched in class on the massacre of June 4th, 1989. I could picture the masses of students, the violence that erupted and the many lives that were lost in the protests. I stood in a daze, then a Chinese man stopped me and said "ooh! what a big t-shirt you have!" in English with a a heavy accent. I tried to muster a laugh and say thanks and it is large isn't it, in broken Chinese; but it was hard to even relate that small comment on how i was feeling at that moment. It was strange to me, to look around a see a tiny monument with no remembrance of the students who gave their lives. It was almost still tried to be kept low key by the government. I noticed that Mao's palace had no windows, it looked like a giant square warehouse of secrets, a tomb of darkness. It was also rugged seeing the camera shops and people running around trying to sell things to the tourists. I felt uneasy about the whole situation.
When we entered the Forbidden city, the picture above the main gate of Mao Zedong seemed to be the size of my house it was so huge. The faces of the Chinese inside the city told so many stories. For so long they were forbidden to go inside, and finally now they are able to, it was swarming with tourists as well; I wondered how many of the tourists were familiar with the history of the structure and what it meant to the culture. I took a second to stand and notice all the concession stands inside, with English plastered on the walls saying Kodak, charge cameras here, cold beverages, etc.
The colors were amazing. The roof tops lined with gold shining in the sun. The red everywhere, symbolizing power, the purple symbolizing wealth. The structures were enormous, it truly was a city with walls enclosing it. It made me cringe to think of the 1 million worker's blood and sweat that went into the making of it all. We went into each section, nearing the garden. It seemed to go on forever until we reached the garden of the Emperor. The garden was beautiful. The trees seemed to drape over and reach out horizontally for farther than i thought possible for the support given by the branches. The rocks at times looked like gigantic blocks of swiss cheese; and the fountains ran water through their holes. I walked around on my own thinking of the beauty and of my girlfriend. So i asked a classmate for a brief moment with her ipod. I placed the ear phones in my ear, and put on "no woman no cry", and wandered aimlessly thinking of where i was, how i had got there, and in which way humanity is going.
5/8/2007
We went to Tienanmen Square today, and afterwards the Forbidden City. When I first set foot on the Square, it was larger than i had expected it and from my memories of the countless documentaries we had watched in class on the massacre of June 4th, 1989. I could picture the masses of students, the violence that erupted and the many lives that were lost in the protests. I stood in a daze, then a Chinese man stopped me and said "ooh! what a big t-shirt you have!" in English with a a heavy accent. I tried to muster a laugh and say thanks and it is large isn't it, in broken Chinese; but it was hard to even relate that small comment on how i was feeling at that moment. It was strange to me, to look around a see a tiny monument with no remembrance of the students who gave their lives. It was almost still tried to be kept low key by the government. I noticed that Mao's palace had no windows, it looked like a giant square warehouse of secrets, a tomb of darkness. It was also rugged seeing the camera shops and people running around trying to sell things to the tourists. I felt uneasy about the whole situation.
When we entered the Forbidden city, the picture above the main gate of Mao Zedong seemed to be the size of my house it was so huge. The faces of the Chinese inside the city told so many stories. For so long they were forbidden to go inside, and finally now they are able to, it was swarming with tourists as well; I wondered how many of the tourists were familiar with the history of the structure and what it meant to the culture. I took a second to stand and notice all the concession stands inside, with English plastered on the walls saying Kodak, charge cameras here, cold beverages, etc.
The colors were amazing. The roof tops lined with gold shining in the sun. The red everywhere, symbolizing power, the purple symbolizing wealth. The structures were enormous, it truly was a city with walls enclosing it. It made me cringe to think of the 1 million worker's blood and sweat that went into the making of it all. We went into each section, nearing the garden. It seemed to go on forever until we reached the garden of the Emperor. The garden was beautiful. The trees seemed to drape over and reach out horizontally for farther than i thought possible for the support given by the branches. The rocks at times looked like gigantic blocks of swiss cheese; and the fountains ran water through their holes. I walked around on my own thinking of the beauty and of my girlfriend. So i asked a classmate for a brief moment with her ipod. I placed the ear phones in my ear, and put on "no woman no cry", and wandered aimlessly thinking of where i was, how i had got there, and in which way humanity is going.