Bless their hearts and give me patience.
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I went snowboarding in China a few weeks ago. A majority of Chinese people are not in the habit of changing their attire when it comes time to exercise; there just doesn't seem to be a need to do so. Snowboarding did not prove the exception. I saw many people wearing jeans and cotton pants, and they weren't just so great at skiing that they would never fall down. In fact, the opposite was the case.
The facilities were really quite standard, by all means. I will not attempt to hide my surprise.
Maybe I'm just completely desensitized, but it turned out to be one of those rare experiences that didn't have too much of a Chinese flavor to it. The park was quite small, no one was very good (I was one of the better ones on the slope, and that's kind of saying something... kind of), but, for a country with a growing upper class that's slowly figuring out luxury activities, i.e. going places and doing things just for the fun of it, I'd say it was pretty solid.
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I ate dinner with some good Chinese friends recently, 2 girls and a guy, and one of the girls and the guy are dating. One of the dishes we ordered was a soup with a bunch of chicken wings in it. The other guy went to town on those wings. I grabbed one and started gnawing on it until I remember that, yeah, it's just skin and bones. Literally. Skin. Bones. Not bad, just skin. and bones. Anyway, my friend over there had a plate stacked high with all of the bony wings he had de-skinned, and his girlfriend was just in awe of how manly he was for having eaten so many! And I realized/remembered a few things:
I miss straight-up animal protein. Meat.
I have great friends.
You are what you eat. (But dietary fat does not = adipose tissue)
You can't be what you don't eat.
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I have Hulu with my VPN! (It used to be unavailable.) But it takes a hella long time to load...
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I live in a building called 华尔兹广场... "The Waltz Plaza"
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One of my all time favorite things to do in China is to talk to owners of small businesses, and I'm talking small. I used to spend hours talking with a family that owned a little fruit stand place near where I used to live (increasing my Chinese level while I was at it). Anyway, I found myself talking with some guys (two men: about 65 years old and 34 years old) who work at/own a BBQ place (don't think American BBQ) late one night last week, the usual: "Where are you from? What are you doing in Chengdu?" etc. When I told them I had turned down the chance to take a business job and I'm teaching English to little kids instead, they completely agreed with my decision. The first things they said were basically, "For sure- that kind of job will bring more meaning to your life. Being with kids is funner and livelier, and probably healthier." All I mean is, they were encouraging. No other Chinese friends of mine have responded like that, apart from my boss and his girlfriend (skin and bones chicken wings dude).
There is clarity in the simple life. Potential is real, but the notion that realizing potential leads to happiness is an illusion. Didn't anyone ever see Good Will Hunting? "What do you want to do?" Fight Club? "What did you want to be?"
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If everyone in the world understood the difference between "bad" and "different", things would be a lot easier.
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Tonight, I realized this:
"It's never too late
to remember what you wanted
and to start wanting it again"
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方大同-因为你 (Just ignore the crappy synth sound at the beginning, fortunately it only rears it's ugly head at the beginning of the song, and that's it.)
