“[…]we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”
Of all of the reading I have done, of all the movies I have seen or songs I have memorized, I don’t think anything has ever stuck with me the way this one floating bit from a book I didn’t actually enjoy at all has. This quote, or some variation of it, floats though my head at least once a week. It does seem so endless. In fact, when I first opened up Notes to type this little blog entry in, I started with “another weekend has come and gone,” and that just seemed so…
"That’s not it at all. That is not what I meant at all.”
It’s stupid. It’s twee. It’s May 10, 2015. It’s a Sunday evening and I am sitting at my laptop in Beijing with the flavor of Carlsberg beer and durian pouring out of my mouth while listening to Mumford and Son’s new album trying to find a way to document what an amazing, simple, great, dull, and extraordinary weekend I had using only the limited language I have. Impossible. I want to put it in words because I am very much aware that this simple moment is already passing, and my memory is so crappy to begin with…
It rained most of the weekend and was surprisingly cold. Somehow I didn’t pack a sweater for China. I thought I brought my brown Grand Teton zippy, but apparently I thought China would never be cold. Actually, I brought a lot of clothes and have nothing to wear. Awesome. It was maybe 55 today. Come on, Mary. You know May in Asia. COLD COLD COLD then HOOOOOT! My school bought me a bike to I could ride to school S (Xiran! I finally figured out the name!), so yesterday I did a test ride. It’s an easy enough ride, 15 minutes by bike, but there is one kinda intense road with pretty limited visibility. It is literally across a bridge and then some train tracks, and, boy howdy, is the difference in income visible. I returned home, dropped off my bike, and ended up walking six miles down the road toward the west, passed School B (Bexin?), and right into a military housing project. I just wanted to find the Fragrant Hills Park that is supposed to be very nice. Ah well. I also spent a good deal of time yesterday drinking alone in my apartment and studying Chinese. I’ve decided I want to take the Chinese Language Proficiency Test this year. It is only offered twice a year, yesterday and the second Saturday in December. I should have no problem getting to level 1, the lowest level, by then! If I actually work hard, maybe I could get to level 2 of 6? Probably wouldn’t be able to PASS that level, but I should be able to pass level 1 for sure.  |
| I'm a 30-year-old teenager. |
Today four teachers from my school, two of their children, and I went to the National Museum and lunch at the Wanda Shopping Center. Now, one of these lovely ladies speaks okay English. Three of them can say all the stuff you learn in the first six weeks of a language class, which is more than I can in Mandarin!!! The mom’s really want to increase their kids’ exposure to English. Rather than trying to give ya a play-by-play, let me throw some pics at’cha.
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| "David" gave me a present |
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| I spent the day pointing to things of interest and saying stuff in English. The kids learned, "Oh no!," "don't climb," and "no fighting!" |
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| I'm never going to be a ninja. |
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| Things China Does Right #36: Here's some snacks while you are waiting for your table at a restaurant. |
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| I've changed my mind on coconut. Coconut is delicious. |
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| I was trying so hard to avoid the bloody tree fungus, the black thing, but the ladies really wanted to make sure I got The Best all day and put one of the four bloody things on my plate. (I ATE TREE FUNGUS!!) |
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| Kathleen, this cookie is for you. Green grapes and Pink Peaches Oreos!! Is this a thing in America???? |
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| Expectation VS Reality moment. |
Off topic! Let's take a moment to address differences here in China I haven't noticed in other places. Like, at the grocery shop. Okay, you can't just buy an apple. I mean, you CAN, of course, but it's not like you can just grab an apple and head out. Or maybe you can some places. I dunno. I don't know anything, really. At my local market, everything is either weighed, wrapped, and labeled as seen below or...
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| "add caption?" Impossible. There is too much in this one pic. |
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