Shanghai Saturdays

Before I left home, I published a top ten list of things I predicted that I would miss most in China. I think now is a good time to revise the list. Unfortunately, the old list is on my other blog, www.rantsandcravings.blogspot.com, and I cannot access it from China. So I can't do the comparrison that I orginally intended. Nevertheless, revising this list will be theraputic to me. Note: people are not included in the list, but friends and family are most definetely what I miss the most. Also, food is not included since I plan on doing a seperate top ten food list soon.

10. Sportcenter
9. My Mercury Sable
8. My cdplayer alarm clock, it's the only thing that has been able to wake me up in the last three years.
7. Major League Baseball
6. Sunday naps on the couch while watching the NFL
5. Ole Miss football, the Grove
4. Not having class on Sunday (thankfully that's over now)
3. Being able to go to church (which I couldn't do since I had class on Sunday afternoon)
2. English
1. Being able to flush the toliet paper/ sit on the toliet instead of deficating while in a catcher's crouch.

I have a midterm tomorrow, pray for me please.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone knows the stereotype of bicyles and Chinese people. After living here for a month I've found that having a bike is pretty useful. It makes going to the bank, the supermarket, or dinner near campus pretty easy and very efficient. Bike lanes are just about everywhere, and while traffic is absolutely horrible, drivers are extremely attentive to bikers and always give bikers the right of way.

There are some less than pleasant aspects to bikiing in Beijing traffic. For instance, cars whizzing past you on an 8-lane highway is a little scary. And inhaling the exhaust of 3 or 4 stopped busses as one passes them is murder one the lungs and throat. Overall though, I've found biking in Beijing to be an enjoyable, affordable, stress relieving means of transportation.

My bikes on the other hand, have had to endure a much stress. I'm not sure why, but I can't seem to keep bicyles in good shape (I assume this is because they are incredibly cheaply made). The first bike I purchased was brand new. It was the cheapest new bike I could find at the bike shop, and as my new Russian/Bellarusan friend Sergi told me yesterday, "cheap is cheap."

This bike clearly wasn't meant for a person of my weight. Let's face it, I am just a little bit bigger than most of these Chinese men (and by a little I mean 60-80 lbs.). Couple that with the fact that this was just about two inches bigger then the bike I learned to ride on in the 3rd grade, and you've got a serious recipe for disaster.

After only riding this first bike once, the seat buckled under my weight, collapsed, then locked itself in the full upright position inspiring me to nickname this bike the raper. However, I (like I assume all of you) try to avoid any type of pain or injury to the region of the body that is directly supported by bicycle seats, so sitting on the raper quickly became a non-option. To avoid sitting on this broken seat, I adapted my American childhood biking style of standing on the bike petals while I rode.

I think this picture paints a fair representation of what happened next. You may wish to note that the screw is broken in half. Luckily, after only 2 days the raper was still under warranty. So I had it repaired and then sold it wo de peng you xiao (my little friend) Guy.

Later I went to used bike shop and bought my second bike. I named her after the bicyle brand name: The Flying Pigeon.

Pictured here in front of my favorite neighborhood restraunt, the Flying Pigeon done a much better of a job supporting my body mass, and she's very comfortable to ride around. But, as the picture shows she's seen better days. Recently, the front brakes popped out of place, and last Friday the kickstand fell off.

I'm also quite positive that the Flying Pigeon will be stolen before I make it home to the states. I hope I'm wrong, but apparently stealing bikes in China is about as common as breaking the speed limit in the states. Everybody does.

Hopefully I'll be able to hold on to the Pigeon for a while, if not it's no big deal. Buying two bikes has only cost me a little more than 23 dollars U.S. Beat that price Tangy!

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 12:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a picture of me and my tutor, Wang Xia outside of the Hardrock Cafe Beijing. Wang Xia has been a really good tutor; she's patient, helpful, speaks English well, and easy to schedule with. We spend at least one hour together every weekday, usually a little longer. She helps me with Chinese and I help her with English.

But language is still a barrier, and we often find ourselves saying things that would be offensive if a native speaker said them. Luckily for me, Wang Xia has a pretty good since of humor and we are usually able to smooth over any would-be-awkardness with a good laugh. Last night, we had our most humours/insulting/awkward exhcange so far. I thought I'd share it with you.

Wang Xia, my friend Guy, and I were eating dinner in a very crowded dining hall full of Wang Xia's classmates. Our conversation was of the social nature of Chinese and U.S. quarterlifers, so Guy asked Wang Xia if she liked beer.

She said that she didn't, and I immediately stated that I didn't either. She looked at me inquizitively and then said, "No. I don't believe you."

Being somewhat shocked, I responded with, "You think I like beer? Why do you think that?"

As she gestured to her stomach she responded, "you have, how do you say it, beer fat."

I started to laugh my deep, gutteral bellow-of-a-laugh that most of you have heard many times. Wang Xia's face turned red, she started to kick me under the table, and then she got up and ran out of the dining hall in a panic. This made me laugh even more.

She later told me that it is extremely impolite to laugh loudly in China, and that my laughter was was greatly embarressing her. Then she apologized for her beer fat comment.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other day I recieved an email from my good friend Bart Smith. Bart is a bit of a Star War's nut, and in the email he asked me if I had seen a pirated copy of "Revenge of the Sith." I hadn't yet, but one of my friends in the program bought a bootleg copy and we watched this weekend.

The video and sound quality were good, and the movie was just as good as the first time. I know it wasn't a favorite of the critics, but I really liked it. So watching it here in China reminded me a lot of home.

But this was an extremely special copy of a Starwars film, or more specifically an extremely special set of English language subtitles in a Starwars film. When we started the dvd, we were pretty mad that we were unable to turn-off the subtitles. But as soon as the opening written explanation was off the screen, we realized the value of there value.

It seems that the bootleggers that made this copy found it necessary to translate the Chinese version of the script back to the English. The problem is who ever did this translation reads/writes english about as well as I read/write Chinese, and I most definetely would not try to translate a movie script into this Asian language.

These often mistranslated subtext added a new, humourous aspect to the film, and actually made George Lucas' writing look good. I thought I'd pass some of my favorite character names and quotes from these subtitles on to you.

THE TITLE:
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Spread Before III The Vengance of the West

CHARACTERS:

Padme

Translation: Is Virtuous and Beautiful

Anakin Skywalker

Translation: The Gold day Go

Obi Wan Kenobe

Translation: Europe Compare Prosper

Yoda

Translation: Particullarly Reach the Elder

Chancellor Palpatine

Translation: D Speaker

And my personal favorite...

Count Dooku

Translation: Data Cool the Count
For some reason, Dooku was the only villans' name they bothered translating.

STAR WARS TERMS:

The Force
Translation: The orignial Tent

The Dark Side
Translation: The Dark noodle (this makes since since the word for noodle and side is mian).

Jedi Knights
Translation: Hopeless situations warriors

Sith
Translation: The West

And my two personal favorites:

The Jedi Council

Translation: The hopless situation Presbyterian Church.

The Jedi Temple
Translation: The hopless situation Presbyerian Church Saint's Palace

I've got some good quotes I may post later, but I think this is enough for now. Sorry if you're not Star Wars fan or Presbyterian, but since I am both this was really eventful for me. I guess if the air quality was better, I'd actually want to go outside ont the weekend. Oh well, but I think it's starting to clear up now.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beijing is one of the most polluted major cities in the world, and although I knew that before I arrived in here in China's Capital, it is so much worse than I imagined.

Within seconds of walking into the parking garage at Beijing Capital International Airport my eyes started water and my lungs started to burn. It took my lungs the better part of a week to adjust to walking in the city, and I developed a sinus infection (from all the dust in the air) within my first 48 hours here in the city.

There have been mornings when visibility is so poor that I can't even see the building spire about a block away. When walking or riding a bus downtown, sometimes it's impossible to see the tops of buildings no more than 200 ft away.

After about two and a half weeks of living here, we had an unsually clear afternoon and I realized for the first time that there is small mountain range outside my window. It was last Friday, the 2nd. I took the picture below that afternoon. (note that I zoomed in a little to get a better view of the mountains).

The smog stayed away for about a week, but it began to return last night. This morning the smog proved to be victorious; on a bus trip into the older part of town this morning, I felt like I was driving through a fog bank in the Bay Area. I took the picture below this afternoon (after some of the smog cleared out) to highlight the difference.

But if this is the worst of my problems for the semester then I guess I'm doing alright.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We all know that Americans that lived through their quaterlife during the 1980's are refered to as America's Me Generation. Over the weekend I tried to watch a film that explores these people and their time, St. Elmo's Fire. I had computer problems, and decided it would be more beneficial to study anyway so I gave up on the movie.
But all week I've been turning over the idea of the Me Generation in my head.

Every morning as I walk to class I pass Chinese young men and women who have grown up in a completely different environment than what we see as young people in the states. Clearly these kids are different from me, but I don't think now that they are as much different as I expected them to be.

During the late 1890's and 1900's China experienced all sorts of inner turmoil. They went from a fuedal system led by an emporer, to a semi-colonial period. Then a tumultuos period of constant regional conflict erupted; from this turmoil rose a national multi-party democracy. Almost simultaneously, Japan invaded and brutally plunder the people and the country. After that conflict abated, a civil war ensued between the communist and the republic leaders. And all of this was before 1950!

Once the Communist Party established itself as the governing regime of the country, it led the country through attempts to implement many different radical policies; these policies failed more often then not, and usually resulted in the loss of many Chinese lives.

But while our Me Generation was driving Delorean's, investing in junk bonds, watching the Brat Pack and going to Duran Duran concerts, China's economy, political system, and international relations were begining to stabalize. The result is Chinese quarter-lifers are the first generation in over a century to live in relatively stable country, are the first generation of Chinese ever to live most of their lives under atleast some form of a market economy, and are the first generation to live all their lives thinking "To Get Rich is Glorious" (Communist Leader and Reformer Deng Xiaoping).

It seems to me that the kids I walk past everyday going to class are China's version of the Me Generation. Their excesses may not be as extreme (instead of driving deloreans, they ride motorized bicycles, they still study hard instead of partying hard, etc), but their attitude and demeanor show me a focus on self that is much greater than traditional chinese ideas on self obligation.

This leaves me with only one question:

What is with the Me Generation and clothes? Look at the girl in the middle; her outfit, bag, and hair are tamed compared to what I see on most girls. There are hair salons all over this town; it's unreal.

Sorry Tangy, but they don't listen to Duran Duran.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I woke up at 4:00 AM this morning to listen to the Rebels play Memphis in the first game of the "Coach O" era. However, I was quite disappointed to find that Olemisssports.tv and Chinese broadband don't get along well. Apparently, neither does sports.yahoo's gamechannel. I am most definetely orbiting the Earth somewhere outside of the Ozone, no wonder the air quality is so bad.

Needless to say, I was unable to hear the comforting voice of David Kellum or insightful commentary of Richard. But, I was able to follow the progression of the game on yahoo sports gametracker; this provided little detail though, and I have a few questions I wonder if my readers can help me answer.

First, our O line gave up 6 or 7 sacks. I know there are a lot of questions about the Ole Miss O line, but I wonder where the pressure came from. How did Traxler play with his sore sholder? Did the lack of running yardage come from poor deciscions from the RB's, or where there just no holes? What play did Spurlock score on?

Thanks in advance for the information; I know we couldn't have looked that good, but a win's a win. May there be many more for Coach O and his boys. Hotty Toddy.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is me sitting on top of a tower of an unrestored section of the Great Wall of China. It was pretty darn amazing. The Chinese countryside is very different here in Beijing; the air is clean, the scenery is majestic, and the living is simple.

On the other hand, living in Beijing is much like I expected. There are people everywhere and they are always working; pollution is awful, andI often can't see the building across the street from my window in the morning; and life is extremely fast paced and vendors are extremely aggressive.

The talk about two America's, but I assure they are atleast two different Chinas.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought it would be nice to write about some of the people I've become friends with while in China. Ok, maybe I stole the idea from Clint Rosenblatt, but I've found that people that study Chinese language are an interesting bunch with a very diverse educational background. I've found talking with these people interesting; I think you will too.

The first person I'd like to introduce you to is Mr. Zhou Shuchun. He is deputy editor of the Xinhuan news agency (the Chinese version of the AP), editor of the Beijing Reference Newspaper, and one of the teachers of my government class.

This man is a thoughtful, articulate (in english) observer of U.S., International, and Chinese politics. In just two classroom discussions, he has begun to change the shape of my perspective of the Chinese system. As of now, I'm still formulating opions so I won't go into any diatribe on the Chinese system.

What I've found most interesting so far is his incredible grasp of western intellect and culture. He constantly cites well-known western writings and philosophies, and he uses this knowledge to clearly highlight the similarities and differences in our two countries.

Tonight we had a long discussion on the differences between Chinese and Western society. The highlight was differienciating between the Western system's focus on individual rights, individual motivation, and individual reliance; and the Chinese system's focus on obligation to society and family over obligation to the individual.

More than once Zhou Laoshi had stressed the point that China is in the middle of a massive social transition. He seems to see the positives associated with a more individual-centric system, but he worries that if wide spread individual focus occurs too soon, then the entire development of China could suffer a serious blow.

With the growing gap between the Chinese rich and poor could signify the beginnings of this happening already.

I'm very pleased to have this talented dude as a teacher, and I'm looking forward to watching the class progress. I'm also looking forward to meeting the second professor in the class.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trying to figure out to blog around the Chinese filtered internet has been somewhat tricky. Although I could post on my blogger account, I could not view the post; therefore I had no real way of knowing about my post's existence. And worse, I could not respond to any comments that posting may have generated.

But, with the help the blogfather "cool" Drew Snyder (nobody ever called me cool; or in chinese cong mei you wren jiao wo ku)I'm back in the blogoshpere baby. And boy to I have a lot to say.

I'm starting my third week in Beijing. Already I've hiked an unrestored section of the great wall, rode my bicycle on an 8 lane freeway, visited the Forbidden City, and had over 20 hrs of class, 5 hours of tutoring, and 8 hours of phone conversation with sara hart (actually I don't know how long sara and I have talked on the phone but 8 hours sound reasonable).

I've had some interesting experiences, and over the next three or so months I'll be sharing them with you, oh loyal ranters and cravers, through the Snydernews Network.

Expect more soon.

Posted by Gordon Fellows at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)