At the Center of the World, V. 14
Hello, and many, many greetings.
Today marks one week until my birthday, in which I will be a proper Chinese citizen, able to maintain responsibility and deserve much respect from the people I work with. There is a difference between the ages of 22, 23, and 24. 22 is still young, and the person is fresh, excited, but lacking in wisdom. 23 is a crossing, in which the 22 year-old begins to learn some of the basics of how to act like an adult. And at 24, you are ready to enter the world, many times given the responsibilities of telling others older than yourself what to do. Or so I have felt and observed. And on December 14, I will be 24 (in China, 23 in the United States).
The Winter Palace
Winter is more than a season here to the Chinese. It is more than a change of scenery. It is a change of philosophy, and a change of, most importantly, food.
On Saturday, I ate frozen fruit, sold off a sidewalk stand. The fruit was much like the little pieces of fruit you find in asian cracker snacks, but larger and put out into the air, so that it would freeze. Everywhere in this city, are stands with the same types of foods, frozen and icy.
Also, many of the shopkeepers put out their ice cream snacks to the sidewalk. This isn't difficult to imagine, as it would save on the electricity, but seemingly as a result, ice cream is a hugely popular snack here, and I know I'm not the only one who pays a little extra after a cold walk to eat some frozen vanilla ice cream buttered with chocolate and sunflower seeds. Another popular food here are tiny, candied apples, and tiny candied bread. Both are put onto a stick, and then dipped into honey, which hardens into a sugary coating.
Christmas Tidings
The school is preparing to celebrate Christmas. To ready themselves, they bought three Christmas trees, strips and ribbons for dressing, paper hangings for the walls, and ornaments for the plants in the school. Outside in the playground, a giant snowman with an oversized stomach and a round, Chinese hat watches over the school, and in the morning when the children play, they throw snowballs at it.
The children are being trained in two dances. They will dance at the Christmas celebration, which I suppose happens at the same time as Chinese New Years. I am preparing the students to sing several medlies of songs for this celebration, to show off the English they have learned.
The Authority
I witnessed a special event at the beginning of last week. One afternoon, after I had rested for about an hour, I walked back into the school, only to find that the teachers had all changed their clothing, and wore matching uniforms, of pleated skirts and sharp, folded jackets, with mock ties and mock scarves. That, and they were all standing in two lines, from the entrance of the building, to the hallway of the school.
This would not have looked so strange, had I not remembered that these girls usually wear jeans and bland sweaters to their classrooms, and are usually busy within their own classrooms at this time, trying to calm their children down.
About twenty minutes later, a van arrived carrying some officials from Mudanjiang. The girls were still standing in position when the van came. The authorities smiled at the gesture, and then briskly walked through the line into the hallway, without giving even one of the girls any kind of look. And then in two single lines, the girls followed the authorities into the hallway, and I remained in the lobby, my mouth symbolically held agape.
Packages
I received a package from my mother today. In the package was a CD, a disk, and a letter. The package took about 9 days to arrive in Mudanjiang, with all the proper papers.
There is something interesting that I have experienced in China, with anything official. Twice now I have shown my passport on articles which belong to me that I was claiming from an office (buying a cell phone and picking up a package at the post office), and both times my passport has been declined and the official asked for the identification card of someone traveling with me. After looking at the identification card, they copied down the numbers and name of that card, and gave me my package. And with that, they smiled at me, and I was on my way.
Oh well.
A Response to Response
I want to thank all of you who have responded to my letters. Your notes have given me a lot of happiness in the past few months, and now whenever I check my e-mail, I am thirsting for any new information I could read on how your own lives are moving along. I have enjoyed your stories, and especially your prayers and concern.
I try to make each letter work on its own, and provide a little of the culture over here. My meaning is to broaden the perspective that we have on life. So often, we become embroiled in our own affairs, and we have little time for much else, especially little time for trying to understand what lies outside of our own culture. And the fact that you may never meet these people in your entire lives is somewhat alarming, so I try to pick out a little bit of the world and send it on.
Until next time,
Benjamin Seeberger
http://cultured.fishspeaker.com
The People's Republic of China,
Heilonjiang Sheng, Mudanjiang Shi,
Fuminjie dong xiao liu tiao Lu,
Jia Mei You Er Yuan
Cell: 011-86-1384-539-6271
-------
If you are going to reply with a request to be removed from my friend's list, then please read my user info first.
Today marks one week until my birthday, in which I will be a proper Chinese citizen, able to maintain responsibility and deserve much respect from the people I work with. There is a difference between the ages of 22, 23, and 24. 22 is still young, and the person is fresh, excited, but lacking in wisdom. 23 is a crossing, in which the 22 year-old begins to learn some of the basics of how to act like an adult. And at 24, you are ready to enter the world, many times given the responsibilities of telling others older than yourself what to do. Or so I have felt and observed. And on December 14, I will be 24 (in China, 23 in the United States).
The Winter Palace
Winter is more than a season here to the Chinese. It is more than a change of scenery. It is a change of philosophy, and a change of, most importantly, food.
On Saturday, I ate frozen fruit, sold off a sidewalk stand. The fruit was much like the little pieces of fruit you find in asian cracker snacks, but larger and put out into the air, so that it would freeze. Everywhere in this city, are stands with the same types of foods, frozen and icy.
Also, many of the shopkeepers put out their ice cream snacks to the sidewalk. This isn't difficult to imagine, as it would save on the electricity, but seemingly as a result, ice cream is a hugely popular snack here, and I know I'm not the only one who pays a little extra after a cold walk to eat some frozen vanilla ice cream buttered with chocolate and sunflower seeds. Another popular food here are tiny, candied apples, and tiny candied bread. Both are put onto a stick, and then dipped into honey, which hardens into a sugary coating.
Christmas Tidings
The school is preparing to celebrate Christmas. To ready themselves, they bought three Christmas trees, strips and ribbons for dressing, paper hangings for the walls, and ornaments for the plants in the school. Outside in the playground, a giant snowman with an oversized stomach and a round, Chinese hat watches over the school, and in the morning when the children play, they throw snowballs at it.
The children are being trained in two dances. They will dance at the Christmas celebration, which I suppose happens at the same time as Chinese New Years. I am preparing the students to sing several medlies of songs for this celebration, to show off the English they have learned.
The Authority
I witnessed a special event at the beginning of last week. One afternoon, after I had rested for about an hour, I walked back into the school, only to find that the teachers had all changed their clothing, and wore matching uniforms, of pleated skirts and sharp, folded jackets, with mock ties and mock scarves. That, and they were all standing in two lines, from the entrance of the building, to the hallway of the school.
This would not have looked so strange, had I not remembered that these girls usually wear jeans and bland sweaters to their classrooms, and are usually busy within their own classrooms at this time, trying to calm their children down.
About twenty minutes later, a van arrived carrying some officials from Mudanjiang. The girls were still standing in position when the van came. The authorities smiled at the gesture, and then briskly walked through the line into the hallway, without giving even one of the girls any kind of look. And then in two single lines, the girls followed the authorities into the hallway, and I remained in the lobby, my mouth symbolically held agape.
Packages
I received a package from my mother today. In the package was a CD, a disk, and a letter. The package took about 9 days to arrive in Mudanjiang, with all the proper papers.
There is something interesting that I have experienced in China, with anything official. Twice now I have shown my passport on articles which belong to me that I was claiming from an office (buying a cell phone and picking up a package at the post office), and both times my passport has been declined and the official asked for the identification card of someone traveling with me. After looking at the identification card, they copied down the numbers and name of that card, and gave me my package. And with that, they smiled at me, and I was on my way.
Oh well.
A Response to Response
I want to thank all of you who have responded to my letters. Your notes have given me a lot of happiness in the past few months, and now whenever I check my e-mail, I am thirsting for any new information I could read on how your own lives are moving along. I have enjoyed your stories, and especially your prayers and concern.
I try to make each letter work on its own, and provide a little of the culture over here. My meaning is to broaden the perspective that we have on life. So often, we become embroiled in our own affairs, and we have little time for much else, especially little time for trying to understand what lies outside of our own culture. And the fact that you may never meet these people in your entire lives is somewhat alarming, so I try to pick out a little bit of the world and send it on.
Until next time,
Benjamin Seeberger
http://cultured.fishspeaker.com
The People's Republic of China,
Heilonjiang Sheng, Mudanjiang Shi,
Fuminjie dong xiao liu tiao Lu,
Jia Mei You Er Yuan
Cell: 011-86-1384-539-6271
-------
If you are going to reply with a request to be removed from my friend's list, then please read my user info first.