Cultural behavior is formed in countless ways, that is to say, we can never fully understand the effect on the psyche of different stimuli. We cannot eliminate variables to run proper tests, which is why we speculate, guess and conjecture (hence the respected scientific status of Anthropology). I like to wonder about an often overlooked environmental influence; I wonder about how the view from your window effects your outlook on life.
I've heard from my friends who grew up in Montana that they could never live in a place without mountains. They claim they are reassuring, comforting. Friends who grew up by the sea claim the same thing. I can't help but wonder what growing up next to something so big, something which dwarfs all human beings equally and completely, does to a person's mind. While I doubt that it increases religious beliefs, I feel like it must impart the feeling that we are all just smaller pieces of a larger world, that there is something (society, humanity, a deity) bigger than ourselves. I have no proof, and I wouldn't dare speculate that people who spent their childhood surfing or hiking are better people, but I can't help but wonder if there is an effect.
Which is why I'm fascinated by how a young Chinese person is influenced by the scores of apartment buildings, one after another, fading into the horizon. Knowing that each window of each building is a family, I feel a person would certainly have an understanding of a bigger society, but is it the same reaction as a child of the sea? I fear that it would cause people to be less humane, showing no empathy for others because they are simply aware that there are too many to realistically show empathy for. Does the skyline create socially conscious and aware individuals, or does it create self-centered, greedy me-first types?
As it is the Chinese are not prone to these philosophical wonderings, so I struggle to locate answers when I ask direct questions, and the culture is still distant enough from me that personal investigations reveal all too little.
Not that I'm one to throw stones, I'll admit I've never considered the mental effects the suburbs make on impressionable youths. But gathering how positively the landscape has effected some of my friends, I can't help but wonder if the cityscapes of China have that same positive effect.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sweet Mother of Pearly Off Whites
Americans owe everyone in the UK a big apology - their teeth are really not that bad. The stereotypes of the snarl-toothed Brit are simply fictitious imaginations of bygone days. The reality of the matter is nobody has terrible teeth like the Chinese have terrible teeth.
When I broach the subject of 'dental insurance' with my students, they look at me quizzical wondering what it is. After explaining its like medical insurance but for your teeth, they shrug and say, 'oh, we don't have that'. Some students try to protest they don't have it because its covered under medical insurance, thus proving how superior Chinese health care is, grinning a proud smile which seems to be traveling in 8 different directions. There aren't really any dentists offices here, just hospitals where they'll have a look at your teeth. Plus, I don't think I've seen a kid with braces in 9 months.
I wonder how much pain my students can be in on a regular basis. It isn't uncommon for a students teeth to wander this way and that in their mouth. Others will have disturbing darkish spots above some teeth, which I can only imagine hurt like crazy, especially when twisting their mouths into odd shapes to pronounce English syllables. I had one girl in class yesterday with such a spot that, seemingly unprovoked, began to bleed in the middle of class. This isn't written to be disgusting, but to give a more accurate picture of the dire situation of teeth here.
I'm not saying that everyone has terrible teeth. Many of our students and all of my Chinese co-workers have exemplary teeth, cleaner, whiter and straighter than my own. They do, after all, have tooth paste here, though I dare not use it... if the tooth paste they export has poison I hate to think what the domestic products have in them. No, I brought a years supply of toothpaste with me when I came, deodorant too, but that's a different story.
I guess what I'm saying is, lay off England, alright? When I studied in London, one of my flatmates was studying to be a dentist, when I discovered that (A) dental care in England is quite good, and (B) the British have no idea we mock their teeth. So I ask you to redirect all of your bad-teeth stereotypes to China, because it might not be as bad as the other health problems China has been causing (SARS, Bird Flu), but I still don't want this epidemic to spread!
When I broach the subject of 'dental insurance' with my students, they look at me quizzical wondering what it is. After explaining its like medical insurance but for your teeth, they shrug and say, 'oh, we don't have that'. Some students try to protest they don't have it because its covered under medical insurance, thus proving how superior Chinese health care is, grinning a proud smile which seems to be traveling in 8 different directions. There aren't really any dentists offices here, just hospitals where they'll have a look at your teeth. Plus, I don't think I've seen a kid with braces in 9 months.
I wonder how much pain my students can be in on a regular basis. It isn't uncommon for a students teeth to wander this way and that in their mouth. Others will have disturbing darkish spots above some teeth, which I can only imagine hurt like crazy, especially when twisting their mouths into odd shapes to pronounce English syllables. I had one girl in class yesterday with such a spot that, seemingly unprovoked, began to bleed in the middle of class. This isn't written to be disgusting, but to give a more accurate picture of the dire situation of teeth here.
I'm not saying that everyone has terrible teeth. Many of our students and all of my Chinese co-workers have exemplary teeth, cleaner, whiter and straighter than my own. They do, after all, have tooth paste here, though I dare not use it... if the tooth paste they export has poison I hate to think what the domestic products have in them. No, I brought a years supply of toothpaste with me when I came, deodorant too, but that's a different story.
I guess what I'm saying is, lay off England, alright? When I studied in London, one of my flatmates was studying to be a dentist, when I discovered that (A) dental care in England is quite good, and (B) the British have no idea we mock their teeth. So I ask you to redirect all of your bad-teeth stereotypes to China, because it might not be as bad as the other health problems China has been causing (SARS, Bird Flu), but I still don't want this epidemic to spread!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Yo quiero un burrito
I have found heaven in Shanghai and it is called New York City Deli. After scouring the internet for the best Mexican restaurant in Shanghai, the search ended with most every website agreeing that this was the place for burritos. Due to who knows why, they only sell the salsa lovin' food from Friday afternoon through Sunday night, so its weekends only for this delicious lunch treat. Fortunately they deliver free to our office...
Last weekend was the first experiment and the reaction was both simple and universal (even among those who didn't order but simply gazed upon greatness)... "Woah my gosh!! Real Burritos in Shanghai?!?!!!" These beauties were the size of a Nalgene bottle, filled with all the trimmings: sour cream, salsa, rice, beans and delectable carnitas. Perhaps it's because I'm on the soy saucy side of the world, perhaps because I've inhaled too much pollution, but I wanna say that this was more satisfying (and most definitely bigger) than my beloved Anna's.
This discovery may seem unimportant to most readers, sitting only a short drive away from delicious fajitas, tacos and quesedillas, but to someone eating fried noodles and boiled pork the past 9 months the taste of authentic Americanized Mexican food is worth writing home about. I've found I can find nearly any important style of food here - Italian, French, American, Indian, Thai, Chinese (go figure) - in Shanghai except Mexican, so rectifying that unsightly fact is a major cour in our culinary playbook. We repeated this tradition this Saturday, and again it induced an office of once lively, hardworking people into sitting around staring blankly at YouTube in the clutches of an unrelenting food coma.
On a side note, the more Mandarin I learn, not that I'm learning much, the more I forget the Spanish I spent 7 years learning in school. I was never very good, pretty much all I could ever muster was how much I love eating ham (jamon!), but the fact that it is disappearing is sad. With so many of my fellow teachers from the UK and Australia, plus the heavy emphasis on learning Chinese, there is nobody here to speak Spanish with, let alone anyone who understand the quick slang phrases which have permeated English. When I get home, I can only hope it hasn't all left me. Que Lastimo!
Last weekend was the first experiment and the reaction was both simple and universal (even among those who didn't order but simply gazed upon greatness)... "Woah my gosh!! Real Burritos in Shanghai?!?!!!" These beauties were the size of a Nalgene bottle, filled with all the trimmings: sour cream, salsa, rice, beans and delectable carnitas. Perhaps it's because I'm on the soy saucy side of the world, perhaps because I've inhaled too much pollution, but I wanna say that this was more satisfying (and most definitely bigger) than my beloved Anna's.
This discovery may seem unimportant to most readers, sitting only a short drive away from delicious fajitas, tacos and quesedillas, but to someone eating fried noodles and boiled pork the past 9 months the taste of authentic Americanized Mexican food is worth writing home about. I've found I can find nearly any important style of food here - Italian, French, American, Indian, Thai, Chinese (go figure) - in Shanghai except Mexican, so rectifying that unsightly fact is a major cour in our culinary playbook. We repeated this tradition this Saturday, and again it induced an office of once lively, hardworking people into sitting around staring blankly at YouTube in the clutches of an unrelenting food coma.
On a side note, the more Mandarin I learn, not that I'm learning much, the more I forget the Spanish I spent 7 years learning in school. I was never very good, pretty much all I could ever muster was how much I love eating ham (jamon!), but the fact that it is disappearing is sad. With so many of my fellow teachers from the UK and Australia, plus the heavy emphasis on learning Chinese, there is nobody here to speak Spanish with, let alone anyone who understand the quick slang phrases which have permeated English. When I get home, I can only hope it hasn't all left me. Que Lastimo!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Above the Muck
Ever since my second month here in Shanghai I have belonged to the gym next to my office. Stored away on the top floor of a mall overlooking Peoples' Square, the gym is packed with exercise equipment of all types and even has a pool, dangling precariously over the food court on the floor below (I'd hate to think of all the soggy noddles if the ceiling ever gave way). Though I sometimes swim, I find the headaches of managing the Chinese willy-nilly sense of direction too much to bear underwater, which is why I find myself running on my treadmill (yes, I always run on the same one) more and more often. Not to mention, it has a view too.
Directly in front of me, at the base of the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum stands 'Haribo', the small, blue mascot of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai - he kind of looks like he's made of toothpaste. Shanghai is using the Expo as an excuse to catapult itself into the 21st century, and this little guy is the face of it. To his right runs an official looking boulevard, lined with Chinese flags hanging from every lamp post. The regional government building is at the end of the street, which is why this street offers more pomp than the others. Across the decorated street is the Shanghai Museum, home to more Chinese antiquities than you can shake a stick at. A perfect circle, with odd, vertical loops rising above its entrances, the museum sits like a paperweight in the middle of a park.
As the park's of Peoples' Square fade into the backdrop of skyscrapers, a few holes between the buildings reveal glimpses of the elevated highway system. Here in the heart of the city there are 3 elevated highways stacked one atop the next, with the surface streets running beneath it all. Up close, they are grotesque structures, cleaner than Boston's old central artery, but offering a similar cave like feel beneath. Yet at a distance the traffic glides this way and that, a peaceful diversion to exercise at hand.
Then there are the buildings, with even more oddly shaped hats than the ones I can see from my bedroom. A few of my former roommates were architects, and they told me that the Chinese architectural mindset is to create a standard, mundane building from the ground up, but at the end build the top few floors as crazy, unique or experimental as possible, just to prove that they're good enough to do it. This helps explain the salad fork on top of one building, an oversizes cellphone on top of another, and a Star Wars transport ship on yet another. One of my favorite pastimes is to figure out what it looks like landed on top of the building (and you can't say UFO because it always looks like a UFO).
Finally, rising above it all are 3 buildings so tall, they wouldn't belong in Boston. One of them, though among the 50 tallest buildings on earth, is hardly noticed or mentioned when Shanghai skyscrapers are discussed, because its more famous for the luxury brand mall beneath it, than the tower above. Plus, its name, Plaza 66, sounds more like a cheap Chinese food court than a world class building. Yet that would seem to epitomize China's current image problem, its great things are being overlooked as blase, while the grotesque things are those that catch your eye.
The gym that makes the exercise possible, as running in the streets has too many problems: space, pollution, grimy muck in the streets. I feel that, given the choice of running in muck or looking at the impressive skyline, there is no question I embrace China's recent advancements. It's just that sometimes the muck coming out of China is harder to ignore.
Directly in front of me, at the base of the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum stands 'Haribo', the small, blue mascot of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai - he kind of looks like he's made of toothpaste. Shanghai is using the Expo as an excuse to catapult itself into the 21st century, and this little guy is the face of it. To his right runs an official looking boulevard, lined with Chinese flags hanging from every lamp post. The regional government building is at the end of the street, which is why this street offers more pomp than the others. Across the decorated street is the Shanghai Museum, home to more Chinese antiquities than you can shake a stick at. A perfect circle, with odd, vertical loops rising above its entrances, the museum sits like a paperweight in the middle of a park.
As the park's of Peoples' Square fade into the backdrop of skyscrapers, a few holes between the buildings reveal glimpses of the elevated highway system. Here in the heart of the city there are 3 elevated highways stacked one atop the next, with the surface streets running beneath it all. Up close, they are grotesque structures, cleaner than Boston's old central artery, but offering a similar cave like feel beneath. Yet at a distance the traffic glides this way and that, a peaceful diversion to exercise at hand.
Then there are the buildings, with even more oddly shaped hats than the ones I can see from my bedroom. A few of my former roommates were architects, and they told me that the Chinese architectural mindset is to create a standard, mundane building from the ground up, but at the end build the top few floors as crazy, unique or experimental as possible, just to prove that they're good enough to do it. This helps explain the salad fork on top of one building, an oversizes cellphone on top of another, and a Star Wars transport ship on yet another. One of my favorite pastimes is to figure out what it looks like landed on top of the building (and you can't say UFO because it always looks like a UFO).
Finally, rising above it all are 3 buildings so tall, they wouldn't belong in Boston. One of them, though among the 50 tallest buildings on earth, is hardly noticed or mentioned when Shanghai skyscrapers are discussed, because its more famous for the luxury brand mall beneath it, than the tower above. Plus, its name, Plaza 66, sounds more like a cheap Chinese food court than a world class building. Yet that would seem to epitomize China's current image problem, its great things are being overlooked as blase, while the grotesque things are those that catch your eye.
The gym that makes the exercise possible, as running in the streets has too many problems: space, pollution, grimy muck in the streets. I feel that, given the choice of running in muck or looking at the impressive skyline, there is no question I embrace China's recent advancements. It's just that sometimes the muck coming out of China is harder to ignore.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Out the window
Every morning the first thing I do when I get up is to walk to the windows of my room and, with two hands, throw open my shades in a most dramatic fashion. The sun rushes into my southern facing room (what a luxury!) and I look out upon the city in which I live. Honestly, with shanties and 4 of the twenty tallest buildings in the world within sight, it's a rather astonishing view.
The view unfolds in front of me, growing more and more sophisticated and grand the further into the distance you stare. Directly below me is a small hamlet of old one bedroom houses, full of character and not a place you feel safe walking in after dark. Just beyond is Suzhou Creek, the second biggest river in Shanghai - nothing that'll make you forget the Thames, Seine or Danube, but a river view apartment none the less. Rarely do I see boats on it, and if I do they're barges carrying trash. Thankfully they usually pass by under the cover of night.
Just beyond the river are more small houses, where people live simple lives it would seem, there is a great vegetable and meat market just across the river which I like to visit. The houses here are a little nicer, and a little older I think, but at least when they were built someone cared enough to give them sloping roofs and wingdings of character. The backdrop to this neighborhood is a streaming elevated freeway, common in Shanghai, moving traffic north to south through the heart of the city. The cars, buses and trucks rumble silently in the distance, the only motion in the otherwise fixed and placid cityscape.
Rising behind the highway are the housing buildings, tall for Boston, dwarfed here in Shanghai by other giants. Complex after complex of two or three 30 story buildings, its the presence of these structures that make 1.3 billion people a reality. Dotting the low horizon in every direction as far as you can see, these buildings fill in the depth, they provide the heart of the skyline. Yet when you look at the horizon, you hardly notice them, instead focusing on the uniquely special buildings towering above them.
Bursting upwards from the downtown are a cluster of buildings each with their own character and feel. One looks like a space shuttle landed on top, where as another has bright blue lights and marks the sight of my school. These two buildings would be noteworthy in Boston, landmarks with observation towers, but here they cower beneath some of the worlds tallest buildings, becoming afterthoughts.
Yet in the distance, across the river, appearing no taller than their brothers in the foreground, are the 2nd and 5th tallest buildings in the world. The second tallest building, lovingly called 'the bottle opener' by westerners, just opened officially today. Though soon to be eclipsed by the new building in Dubai (and never taller than one in Taipei), the building towers in the distance marking the farthest thing I can see. I use it to judge the weather and pollution - If I can see it clearly, it must be a sunny day. It's odd to think about how out of place these would be in Boston, then I look down at the shacks in front of my house and realize they might just be out of place here in Shanghai too...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
24
There may be no better passage marker for my life than a list of what I've done to celebrate my birthday each year. Always eager to celebrate myself, when I was a child I loathed family vacations which overlapped with my beloved birthday, yet as I grew, and became more and more accustomed to traveling on my birthday it became a rarity to be home.
Since I turned 12 (or as far back as I can remember) I've celebrated birthdays in a wide variety of styles, states and countries. I've seen Saltzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany on my birthday, seven years apart. I've seen the Declaration of Independence and screamed my way down the largest roller coaster in the world, at the time at least. I went for a singular drink with my parents on the eve of my 21st birthday at midnight, and I've had a massive bonfire party on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. I've earned drivers permits and lost championship baseball games - yes, my birthday is my ultimate time marker...
And now I've celebrated it in Shanghai. Saturday night my girlfriend threw a party for me, attended by all of my friends and co-teachers came. We played a few games, watched some of the last events of the Olympics and generally just had a fun time. It seemed more than fitting, given my experiences here in Shanghai, that my party be mostly westerners playing western games watching basketball on the TV. It may have been in Shanghai, but it also felt like it could have been anywhere.
The next day I went out for dinner and rich chocolate cake before walking down the main shopping street here, yet even that felt so western you might not have known you were in China had you done it. I realize this year is a golden chance to explore a new culture, but unlike most of my life, unlike most of the places I've spent my birthday, I'm not in awe of the world around me. I've created a happy existence with my friends and social circles, but when I was given the chance to celebrate however I wanted, I managed to mix almost none of the local culture into my celebration.
Yet I'll always remember this birthday as the one I spent in Shanghai. A representation of my year spent eating noodles and living among sky scrapers, fighting my way on to subways and throwing small Chinese people out of my way at the top of escalators. China is by far the most unique place I've ever lived, so it may be no wonder I've carved out a living environment which mimics back home. Even though I don't eat Chinese food 7 days a week, I know when I leave I'll notice all the little things that make life... different here. And every year when I think back on where I've spent my birthdays, this would seem to be the most outrageous... so far.
Since I turned 12 (or as far back as I can remember) I've celebrated birthdays in a wide variety of styles, states and countries. I've seen Saltzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany on my birthday, seven years apart. I've seen the Declaration of Independence and screamed my way down the largest roller coaster in the world, at the time at least. I went for a singular drink with my parents on the eve of my 21st birthday at midnight, and I've had a massive bonfire party on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. I've earned drivers permits and lost championship baseball games - yes, my birthday is my ultimate time marker...
And now I've celebrated it in Shanghai. Saturday night my girlfriend threw a party for me, attended by all of my friends and co-teachers came. We played a few games, watched some of the last events of the Olympics and generally just had a fun time. It seemed more than fitting, given my experiences here in Shanghai, that my party be mostly westerners playing western games watching basketball on the TV. It may have been in Shanghai, but it also felt like it could have been anywhere.
The next day I went out for dinner and rich chocolate cake before walking down the main shopping street here, yet even that felt so western you might not have known you were in China had you done it. I realize this year is a golden chance to explore a new culture, but unlike most of my life, unlike most of the places I've spent my birthday, I'm not in awe of the world around me. I've created a happy existence with my friends and social circles, but when I was given the chance to celebrate however I wanted, I managed to mix almost none of the local culture into my celebration.
Yet I'll always remember this birthday as the one I spent in Shanghai. A representation of my year spent eating noodles and living among sky scrapers, fighting my way on to subways and throwing small Chinese people out of my way at the top of escalators. China is by far the most unique place I've ever lived, so it may be no wonder I've carved out a living environment which mimics back home. Even though I don't eat Chinese food 7 days a week, I know when I leave I'll notice all the little things that make life... different here. And every year when I think back on where I've spent my birthdays, this would seem to be the most outrageous... so far.
Friday, August 22, 2008
EF Idol
Although I thought the phenomenon was just in Japan, apparently China too is crazy about singing karaoke. Dotted around this city are hundreds of small (or large) parlors called KTVs (Karaoke Television). On Friday and Saturday night, Chinese people don't go to bars, they go here to sing. My Chinese roommate Andrew had a birthday a few weeks ago and what do you think he did? Yup, rent out a KTV for a giant singing party.
So last night, when my office hosted the Shanghai Regional Finals of EF Idol, the place was going nuts. EF Idol is just like American Idol, but with our students singing English songs and being judged not just on style and singing ability, but on English pronunciation as well. About three representatives from each school in Shanghai were there, vying for a shot in the nationwide finals in Beijing. Those lucky enough to advance to the finals get an all expenses paid trip to Beijing and a chance to win the grand prize, a trip to somewhere or something.
They built a giant stage and had the seats were packed full with people spilling out the sides in all directions. The girls got all dolled up (and so did the boys) and strut out to sing their favorite love ballad - there naturally was a fight over who could sing the Titanic theme, which is so popular many Chinese medalists considered using at the Olympics instead of the national anthem. Everyone competing is a current student, as were the filler acts which consisted of a comedy routine and belly dancing! Hiring professional lighters and stylists for this televised event, our school took on the vibe of a caberet theatre.
We even had mean judges. Each of the three judges was supposed to focus on a specific area; musical talent, showmanship and English skills. The English judge was a fellow teacher from my school and she was relentless, having declared herself Simon Cowell's second coming the afternoon before the show. The music judge was even harsher, speaking only in Chinese the competitors would be visible crushed after he opened his mouth, so whatever he said it was rarely good. There were some better acts who did however merit praise and were rightfully lauded and sent on their way to Beijing.
On the whole, I'm impressed that EF actually pulled of an honest to goodness, professional-looking, talent competition, even if it was a bit intense - it came with all the screaming, crying and harsh judges comments that the real American Idol has. If only China hadn't already chosen ping-pong for a national sport because competitive singing seems right up their alley.
So last night, when my office hosted the Shanghai Regional Finals of EF Idol, the place was going nuts. EF Idol is just like American Idol, but with our students singing English songs and being judged not just on style and singing ability, but on English pronunciation as well. About three representatives from each school in Shanghai were there, vying for a shot in the nationwide finals in Beijing. Those lucky enough to advance to the finals get an all expenses paid trip to Beijing and a chance to win the grand prize, a trip to somewhere or something.
They built a giant stage and had the seats were packed full with people spilling out the sides in all directions. The girls got all dolled up (and so did the boys) and strut out to sing their favorite love ballad - there naturally was a fight over who could sing the Titanic theme, which is so popular many Chinese medalists considered using at the Olympics instead of the national anthem. Everyone competing is a current student, as were the filler acts which consisted of a comedy routine and belly dancing! Hiring professional lighters and stylists for this televised event, our school took on the vibe of a caberet theatre.
We even had mean judges. Each of the three judges was supposed to focus on a specific area; musical talent, showmanship and English skills. The English judge was a fellow teacher from my school and she was relentless, having declared herself Simon Cowell's second coming the afternoon before the show. The music judge was even harsher, speaking only in Chinese the competitors would be visible crushed after he opened his mouth, so whatever he said it was rarely good. There were some better acts who did however merit praise and were rightfully lauded and sent on their way to Beijing.
On the whole, I'm impressed that EF actually pulled of an honest to goodness, professional-looking, talent competition, even if it was a bit intense - it came with all the screaming, crying and harsh judges comments that the real American Idol has. If only China hadn't already chosen ping-pong for a national sport because competitive singing seems right up their alley.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Liu Xiang
It was a lazy Monday morning and I was sitting in my living room watching the Olympics on TV. The swimming events had dominated morning TV for the past week, but yesterday I saw Michael Phelps and friends grab the final swimming gold medal of the games leaving the morning viewing options rather scant. With nothing to do but be lazy, watching the track and field qualifier races seemed like a fine way to pass the time. Although all the announcers speak Chinese the visual feeds and graphics are the same as NBC uses making it easier to follow the events.
The mens 110m hurdle qualifier, which for Chinese people is the biggest event of the entire games, was the best choice among our slim pickings. Their fastest racer, Liu Xiang, came out of nowhere to win the gold in Athens and become a national hero. I mean his face is everywhere - billboards, taxis, TV, magazines. He sells everything from watches to iced tea, Sports Illustrated to health insurance. I don't even know the president of China's name, but I know his... everyone knows his name.
In the qualifying race before this ledgend was supposed to race, an American sprinter went down with a pulled hamstring. We wondered aloud what would happen if Liu Xiang went down with a similar injury as he warmed up. Still in his tracksuit despite the heat, he stretched himself by jumping a few hurdles when he suddenly seemed to stiffen up before our eyes. Limping into the blocks, we shouted at the TV 'He's hurt! He's Hurt!' Which indeed he was, leaving us to regret having wondering what would happen.
I never expected him to win the gold in Beijing; it's difficult to beat a rival who recently broke a world record you set four years ago. Liu Xiang set the world hurdle record four years ago in Athens, but athletes age quickly and this year a Cuban runner broke the records in his national qualifier race. Besides, Liu Xiang came in third last year at the world championships - his best days seem behind him. Yet he, the country and his countrymen didn't want that, so they pretended he was the favorite.
After the race I saw part of the press conference, it was on every channel the way the 'State of the Union' is on every channel. Though most of the press conference was in Chinese, there were a few statements in English. The one that stood out to me was when they asked the coach if he felt the Chinese people would be understanding that Liu Xiang didn't win. His response was, "There was an internet poll a year ago and over half, about sixty percent of the people said they would understand." If only 60% understand that means that 40% don't understand; and in a country of 1.3 billion people - well, that's a lot of people who don't seem to understand that sometimes you loose at sports.
Most of my students seem good natured enough about it, but none of them want to talk about it. They'll look away and admit that it's a disappointment, but not have much else to say. They were eager to talk about him before, even if they put on a modest face and said he might not win, now that that is certain, nobody wants to talk about it at all.
As a country famous for building up its heroes to legendary proportions using scripts and controls, China might not be emotionally ready for fair and open competition with other country's heroes on the world stage.
The mens 110m hurdle qualifier, which for Chinese people is the biggest event of the entire games, was the best choice among our slim pickings. Their fastest racer, Liu Xiang, came out of nowhere to win the gold in Athens and become a national hero. I mean his face is everywhere - billboards, taxis, TV, magazines. He sells everything from watches to iced tea, Sports Illustrated to health insurance. I don't even know the president of China's name, but I know his... everyone knows his name.
In the qualifying race before this ledgend was supposed to race, an American sprinter went down with a pulled hamstring. We wondered aloud what would happen if Liu Xiang went down with a similar injury as he warmed up. Still in his tracksuit despite the heat, he stretched himself by jumping a few hurdles when he suddenly seemed to stiffen up before our eyes. Limping into the blocks, we shouted at the TV 'He's hurt! He's Hurt!' Which indeed he was, leaving us to regret having wondering what would happen.
I never expected him to win the gold in Beijing; it's difficult to beat a rival who recently broke a world record you set four years ago. Liu Xiang set the world hurdle record four years ago in Athens, but athletes age quickly and this year a Cuban runner broke the records in his national qualifier race. Besides, Liu Xiang came in third last year at the world championships - his best days seem behind him. Yet he, the country and his countrymen didn't want that, so they pretended he was the favorite.
After the race I saw part of the press conference, it was on every channel the way the 'State of the Union' is on every channel. Though most of the press conference was in Chinese, there were a few statements in English. The one that stood out to me was when they asked the coach if he felt the Chinese people would be understanding that Liu Xiang didn't win. His response was, "There was an internet poll a year ago and over half, about sixty percent of the people said they would understand." If only 60% understand that means that 40% don't understand; and in a country of 1.3 billion people - well, that's a lot of people who don't seem to understand that sometimes you loose at sports.
Most of my students seem good natured enough about it, but none of them want to talk about it. They'll look away and admit that it's a disappointment, but not have much else to say. They were eager to talk about him before, even if they put on a modest face and said he might not win, now that that is certain, nobody wants to talk about it at all.
As a country famous for building up its heroes to legendary proportions using scripts and controls, China might not be emotionally ready for fair and open competition with other country's heroes on the world stage.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Workers of the World Unite!
Last week I indulged my intellectual curiosity at the Chinese Propaganda Poster Art Museum. The small one room museum, located in the basement of an apartment complex, houses over 100 original posters from the 1950's-1970's. Ever the student of history, I was curious to see what form nationalistic propaganda took in our rival country. I remember seeing an exhibit at the Boston Public Library last summer of US propaganda posters during the times of the World Wars, so I was eager to compare.
Every poster was translated into English on a nearby place-card, and larger plaques explained in more detail the history of the country and its relationship to the poster's content and style. Simply by looking at the posters and their time periods the history of the country comes into better focus; when the Cultural Revolution was, when China began to see itself as an international entity, when the cult of Mao began. The museum certainly gives pause at times to consider what the values of the society are and have been.
There were two sections that fascinated me most: those immediately following the revolution, and those of the mid 60's with a more global perspective. The first posters of the museum belittle and criticize the US more so than any other time period. Calling the US 'paper-lions' and portraying the US as a small, long fingered greedy green man with bombs stuffed in his pockets, the Chinese appeared to be trying to humiliate the US more than I remember the German's ever were in American posters I've seen. Always the US was seen in a generals uniform with bombs standing next to England, a fat man with a suit on it. In one poster, titled 'China must surpass England within 15 years', a Chinese workman is hurdling over the year 1972 while a fat Englishman can barely get over the wall. I guess I was struck by the exactness of the timeline - We will pass the UK in 1972. The poster didn't say in what they would pass them, much less how, but just looking at the image I'd have to agree that at least it seemed like a good idea.
The poster's of the mid 60's championed the causes of Communists worldwide. They showed multitudes of races and ethnic groups banding together, waving guns in the air. This is also unique because most of the other posters always showed China as peaceful, with the Western countries being the aggressors. Yet, these posters of the 60's wanted to show that people everywhere were strong, but tied down by autocratic governments. This ideal even stretched to the rival Americans, with posters showing black men picketing under the slogan 'support the US black man in their fight to gain equal rights'. Another, somewhat humorous poster given the politics involved was one urging people to 'Support the US people who oppose the war in Vietnam'. I couldn't believe that these posters, suggesting that Americans was right about something, existed such a closed time period. And for a stronger contrast, I couldn't imagine a similar poster in America regarding the rights of Chinese workers.
It didn't take long to see the entire thing, maybe 40 minutes, then I was on my way with a short book and some postcards. It was the only thing I've seen in China which seemed eager to preserve any memory of that time period, and was most certainly aimed as a westerners attraction for now. Maybe someday the average Chinese person will be able to grapple with this dark period of their history, but not yet. Most of the students I mentioned it to said they knew what the posters would be about, and were eager to change the subject. Personally, it offers one of the best views of history of any museum I've ever been to.
Every poster was translated into English on a nearby place-card, and larger plaques explained in more detail the history of the country and its relationship to the poster's content and style. Simply by looking at the posters and their time periods the history of the country comes into better focus; when the Cultural Revolution was, when China began to see itself as an international entity, when the cult of Mao began. The museum certainly gives pause at times to consider what the values of the society are and have been.
There were two sections that fascinated me most: those immediately following the revolution, and those of the mid 60's with a more global perspective. The first posters of the museum belittle and criticize the US more so than any other time period. Calling the US 'paper-lions' and portraying the US as a small, long fingered greedy green man with bombs stuffed in his pockets, the Chinese appeared to be trying to humiliate the US more than I remember the German's ever were in American posters I've seen. Always the US was seen in a generals uniform with bombs standing next to England, a fat man with a suit on it. In one poster, titled 'China must surpass England within 15 years', a Chinese workman is hurdling over the year 1972 while a fat Englishman can barely get over the wall. I guess I was struck by the exactness of the timeline - We will pass the UK in 1972. The poster didn't say in what they would pass them, much less how, but just looking at the image I'd have to agree that at least it seemed like a good idea.
The poster's of the mid 60's championed the causes of Communists worldwide. They showed multitudes of races and ethnic groups banding together, waving guns in the air. This is also unique because most of the other posters always showed China as peaceful, with the Western countries being the aggressors. Yet, these posters of the 60's wanted to show that people everywhere were strong, but tied down by autocratic governments. This ideal even stretched to the rival Americans, with posters showing black men picketing under the slogan 'support the US black man in their fight to gain equal rights'. Another, somewhat humorous poster given the politics involved was one urging people to 'Support the US people who oppose the war in Vietnam'. I couldn't believe that these posters, suggesting that Americans was right about something, existed such a closed time period. And for a stronger contrast, I couldn't imagine a similar poster in America regarding the rights of Chinese workers.
It didn't take long to see the entire thing, maybe 40 minutes, then I was on my way with a short book and some postcards. It was the only thing I've seen in China which seemed eager to preserve any memory of that time period, and was most certainly aimed as a westerners attraction for now. Maybe someday the average Chinese person will be able to grapple with this dark period of their history, but not yet. Most of the students I mentioned it to said they knew what the posters would be about, and were eager to change the subject. Personally, it offers one of the best views of history of any museum I've ever been to.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Games they Play
"How's your week been?"
"Good, Chinese athletes are doing very good in the Olympics."
This is a common response I've heard the past few days; the people of China are happy because the Olympics have so far been successful and China is racking up loads of medals. My first reaction was to scoff at them as bandwagon fans (the greatest insult a true sports fan can levy), because they know nothing of Olympic history; however after pondering how many Americans ambivalent to sports every four years get swept up just as my students have I realized there was no need for the usual superior fan snobbery, especially considering I myself don't care about swimming, weightlifting or track save every Olympics. The masses are happy, so why criticize?
I could watch every event live, but who really wants to watch the 10m mens air pistol semifinals? At my house the TV shows almost every event on at every time, but at work I'm left scouring the Internet for feeds. NBC has its US obligations (not to mention the need to surpass the Great FireWall of China), so I've found myself unable to watch its programing. I have discovered a great web page which shows every event China has an entry in, which is great, but obviously the commentators (all in Chinese) are ridiculously biased - no I can't understand what they're saying, but they seem to shout every time something good happens for China. It means that while I'm writing my blog from work I can flip through the China-Angola basketball game happening now (China had been winning big, but I haven't heard much shouting lately so I don't know whats happening). Not since Atlanta have I been in a similar time zone to the games, which was well before broadband internet afforded us with live viewings, so this is the first time I feel I've ever really watched the games instead of getting after-the-fact scores.
I may not be in Beijing, but that doesn't stop the Olympic spirit. Every day on the giant TV screen (see the picture) they show an hour long 'lunch break special' of Olympic programing. They'll show whatever is live on the TV that hour, which can be hit or miss: one day it was shooting, but the next was the mens team gymnastics final which drew huge crowds and massive cheers. Though it stings to watch the cheers, knowing that my squad, my team just lost, its nice to be caught up in the moment. Plus, I can always cheer for Michael Phelps.
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