America, as seen by a Brit

This article sent shivers down my spine multiple times. Justin Webb from the BBC wrote a beautiful, inspiring, yet cutting portrayal of America.

A short section, from the larger article:

The immensity of America, the energy and the zest for life remind me sometimes of India. And as with India, where I spent some time for the BBC many moons ago, America shines a light on the entire human condition

Few other nations really do. Italy reveals truths about Italians, Afghanistan about Afghans, Fiji about Fijians. But America speaks to the whole of humanity because the whole of humanity is represented here; our possibilities and our propensities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8176448.stm

Beijing Nightlife

Above is the result of a ridiculous evening of KTV, or Karaoke TV. Jason and I were jamming out like rock stars to something epic, though I cannot vouch for the actual quality of the singing (My singing has been known to scare little children).

As we walked into the building that housed the KTV, I was disoriented. I commented to my sister, "what a nice hotel." I had thought that maybe the KTV was upstairs, above the rooms.

"This isn't a hotel," she responded, "this is all for the KTV."

Marble floors, marble tables, mahogany wall panels. These are the signs of a high class hotel, not a Kareoke bar. But alas, Beijing loves Kareoke, and so this beautiful building is devoted entirely to rooms and rooms of private Kareoke bars.

Much of the Beijing nightlife felt more extravagant than most places I had been to in the US. In part, this is because I was in some of the nicest clubs and restaurants that Beijing has to offer. One particular night, we went to a restaurant that may be the nicest restaurant that I have ever been to. The dinner was served on large shells and lotus petals, the room was private, and the food was incredible. In America, Europe, or any other nation, this meal would have been entirely unaffordable. In China, my share came out to a little over nine dollars. Nine dollars! You can't buy a meal at Ruby Tuesdays for that!

Summary: treated like a king - cost of being treated like a king + sparkly things = Beijing

Beijing

Beijing is big, modern, and westernized. China is classified as a developing country, so I expected the same from Beijing. A few big, modern buildings in the center with chaotic seas of people, merchants, and horse carts was what I expected. The reality is that Beijing is essentially as nice, orderly, and modern as any western city that I have visited.

I keep using the word modern, it's time I gave some proof. This is a popular mall area in Beijing.

Or is that LA? Nope, definitely China.

Also, while in Beijing I bought some pretty wicked awesome glasses for twenty dollars. Here is a quick video of the place:




My sister always talked about Beijing being nice, but I truly had no idea. What makes Beijing incredible is that my pictures/video here are not unique in Beijing. There are literally miles upon miles of modern city. From everything that I know, Beijing is a vibrant and thriving place. People are moving quickly everywhere, buildings are being raised and business is thriving. Speaking of buildings being raised:

Cranes are everywhere in China.

More to come soon (this time, much sooner hopefully)

China blew me away

I went to China on a mission, a mission to understand China in my own way. Many of the Europeans I met were traveling solely for the experience, but not the Americans. Americans (the ones I met, anyway) travel in a distinct style: we travel as if on a mission. We want to understand and own knowledge about a country that those at home don't have. It's our own special, and often obnoxious, way of understanding foreign lands.

My particular missions were (1) to gain a deeper understanding of traditional and rural Chinese culture, (2) to develop a greater narrative to tell back home about the technological and societal change that is presently occurring in China, and (3) to gain perspective into the cultural divide of young/old and rural/urban people.

The above questions were not insincere. I truly wanted to know more about each of these subjects. But now I see that there my hubris in even thinking these questions. Did I really believe that I could answer questions like these about a country as complex as China in only one month? I must have. I realize now that questions like these deserve deeply complex and rich answers. Any answers that I could create in a month would be shallow at best.

I don't have answers about China. All I have is a number of observations, and some more completely and deeply formed questions. In the next few posts I will offer them to you, so that you too might experience some of the amazing China that I saw.

I'm back

There has been a one month break now from the blog, not entirely by my design. As the last post gestures toward, I was in China for most of the last month. Unknown to me, China blocks everything related to blogspot.com sites. I couldn't get close to the site without the dreaded Great Firewall blocking my path.

I was hoping to do a mini travelogue of my journey with my sister through China in near real time, but no luck. However, over the next few days I am going to try to stitch together a few posts that tell some stories and hopefully clarify, and maybe even answer, some of the questions that I formulated on the trip.

One thing is certain, I am glad to be back in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Forecast for Beijing

Thursday 6/25/2009
Very hot
High: 98 F
Low: 72 F




Friday 6/26/2009
Very hot
High: 101 F
Low: 72 F




Saturday 6/27/2009
Very hot
High: 101 F
Low: 75 F




Sunday 6/28/2009
Sunshine & warm
High: 98 F
Low: 75 F




Monday 6/29/2009
Very hot
High: 100 F
Low: 73 F

That is a lot of fiery thermometers. Uh oh.

My Week

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Back in PA

I'm back in Pennsylvania for 1 day and night. Then off to Austin TX. Then Beijing.

I am psyched.

An incredible thing happened today

My Assistant Principal at Northwest, who I respect deeply, just gave me perhaps one of the most meaningful compliments I have ever received.

He said to me:

"You know, we don't get a lot of people that come through here that would stay if they could. I know that you are one of those people."

He knows that I, as a 24 year old single guy, can't stay in Halifax county. There just isn't a life for me here right now. But he knows that I care about those kids like they care about those kids. That is probably the best compliment he could have offered me.

Surprise

So this morning I woke up thinking about everything I had to do at school today. At home, I gathered up a few (read 30) books that I had been using from school to make sure that I wasn't leaving anything that was the property of Halifax county at home. I also planed my day. Lots of work at school followed by coming home, a quick shower and change, and then off to graduation. The night will be topped off by going to hang out my TFA friends at another house. It is going to be a nice day, I thought.

On the drive to school, I was listening to NPR, like I do every day. First there was a story about Iran's election. Then one about a new head of NATO. Then the announcer mentioned "Today is the day that thousands of Televisions may go blank because of the conversion to digital cable..."

I almost jumped out of my chair. I had forgotten that it was my Birthday!