Stretching, Sunshine, and Nudity

I spent most of this morning scanning over a part of Tim Ferris's 4 Hour Body. I originally purchased it online as an ebook via amazon last winter, making it my first ever purchase of electronic reading material. I would have probably bought the physical made-from-dead-trees book, but I was unable to find it from the cheap booksellers on the streets of Beijing, and international shipping would have cost considerably more than the book itself, not to mention a delay of a few weeks before it would have arrived. Making my first purchase of an ebook was a little bit intimidating (not because of the process, but due to my own caution of doing something that I had never done before). Lacking amazon's kindle device, I am still perfectly able to read it on my computer or on my phone. What do ya know: instant satisfaction! Anyway, to come back to the present, I was scanning through various exercises in the book, and I decided to resume a regimen of regular exercise. I have now composed a list of exercises that I hope to do daily here on the farm. Perhaps only a few times a week in the future, but I have plenty of time during the daily siesta here on Finca Las Morras, so I might as well make use of the time by adding physical exercise to my daily activities. According to my timing of my exercises today, they should take me about 30-35 minutes to complete everything, including a small amount of muscle strengthening, a good amount of stretching for greater hip and leg flexibility, and some random things, such as finger fitness that I learned from Özgür, neck stretching from Matthieuw from Beijing, Nauli and belly rolling, and vertical waving (hip hop style). I think that basking in the sunshine next to the swimming pool will be a good place for me to do these exercises on a yoga mat. After I stick to this routine for the next two weeks, I should be able to feel a difference in my body.

Since I am not really doing any full yoga routines (such as sun salutations), but rather just certain poses and stretched from yoga, I can't really claim that I am doing naked yoga. Naked stretching still feels pretty good, though! Apart from the comfort of the sun and the wind on bare skin, there is a great feeling of naturalness.  

Chinese Restaurants in Spain #1: LiDuFandian (丽都饭店) in Toledo

丽都饭店 – I arrived in Toledo on a Friday, and although Clara had originally planned to arrive in Toledo that afternoon and meet me there, she had some unexpected delays and couldn't make it until the following day. This left me, unexpectedly, with the whole day to myself. Having just been deprived of the internet for two weeks, I spent most of the afternoon and evening sitting in my hotel room, graciously updating podcasts and trying to catch up on the world's recent events. I did, however, make a point not to spend the whole afternoon on my computer but instead to get out the hotel and stroll the nearby streets, though, and in doing so I found what I hadn't even thought I would encounter in Toledo: A Chinese restaurant. And so, it is with pride that I announce the beginnings of a new project for myself: explorations and reflections on Chinese restaurants in Spain.

 

Lidufandian is a small buffet in Toledo situated near the Alcázar in the old section of the city, the casco viejo. When I entered for dinner around nine in the evening the place was completely empty. Granted, having dinner at nine is quite, almost ludicrously, early for Spain, so it wasn't terribly unusual that the place was empty. I was feeling hungry from a lack of lunch, though, so I knew that I wasn't going to be able to wait until eleven or so, a much more reasonable dinner hour according to my experience in Castilla-y La Mancha. As I walked into the restaurant and a little old lady showed me to a seat, I asked her where she was from, and after she responded China I asked which part. She said the south; I asked if she was from Guangdong, and she responded Hong Kong. I find it interesting that she didn't say “I'm from Hong Kong,” but rather she let me know that she is from the part of China that is called Hong Kong. I wonder if it is common for people from Hong Kong to consider themselves from China. Legally/politically it is a pretty tricky situation, and with the mixture of cultural influences from the British, the Chinese, and others, it is a complicated issue culturally as well. But what kind of a reflection on a restaurant focuses on the self-identification of a host rather than the food? I suppose that I should get onto that part.

For € 9.95 I was able to eat as much as I wanted (hence: buffet), but although I got full, disappointing is the word that jumps to mind the most concerning the food itself. It was similar to some Chinese buffets that I have had in the United States, but of even lower quality.

French fries and coconut yogurt are both classic Chinese dishes?

First, some of the food was of a distinctly non-Chinese variety. I have to deny myself being an expert here, since although I have lived in and studied China, I know very little of the cuisine of southern China. In fact, I just learned from a fellow traveler this afternoon that pigeon is a common dish in the south. I lived in China for two years and I had never heard of this before in my life. Just goes to show how humility is a wonderful trait to have when your life involves a country as big and complex as China.

Secondly, the actual quality of the food, and here I mean taste, was quite sub-par. It didn't just leave something to be desired; it left a lot to be desired. What appeared to me as a hard-shelled jiaozi was crunchy and tasteless, some attempts at spring rolls (which I have never actually seen in China), and very sparse stir-fried rice made this meal one of the worst meals of "Chinese" food that I have ever had. I think that is really saying something, since I had one or two really bad experiences of dining on Chinese food with Julie back at Kalamazoo.

The final thing that struck me about the food is that in total is that it was, as well as the restaurant as a  much more similar to Chinese restaurants in the United States than in China. I certainly didn't expect Chinese restaurant in Spain to be completely identical with one in China, but I was shocked at the similarity it held to one in the U.S.. It was as if U.S.-based Chinese food was taken as the model to be emulated for Spanish-based Chinese food. It makes me wonder if Chinese food in Europe and North America in generally similar. I don't have nearly enough experience to make such a claim, but I do plan on checking out a lot more Chinese restaurants here in Spain and seeing what they are like.

Cultural differences, and awareness of them

I have never peeled shrimp before, which caused something of a stir in the kitchen of the WWOOF farm that I stayed at. I guess the Italian girl expected me to be able to peel shrimp. It isn't a horribly unreasonable expectation, but when I told her that I had never done it before, it suddenly became big news. Are shrimp often pre-peeled in the US? I don't know. Over the past few years I got into the habit of eating the outside as well, so I haven't bothered to peel them: when I able to comfortably eat the skin, what is the point?

Sometimes I feel a desire to express something about multiculturalism or different cultural backgrounds in righteous anger, and it is a practice in both humility and self-control to not speak out indignantly at the fact that it is thought to be usual that I have never performed X action which is common in their (sub-?)cultures, but the fact that they have never performed Y action (which is common to other cultures in the world) in not considered. I have never berated anyone for being unable to make 饺子 or to use chopsticks, because I have no expectation that someone not introduced to this things should be able to use them. It would be just as ludicrous for me to expect a random Chinese friend of mine to know what gazpacho is and how to make it; it is culturally specific. Similarly, I have an assumption that they have not been introduced to these things until proven otherwise (maybe I consider people innocent in their ignorance until it is proven that they 'should' know?) Such speech strikes me as inconceivably petty, though, merely indulging in my own desire to feel righteous and express that I have been offended, while not serving any significant goals nor accomplishing anything. In fact, I have few doubts that such a declaration (outburst, dare I say) would insert a decidedly negative air into my relations with people.

Am I just highly aware of this? As a person that has so far entered his third country, I think that I am becoming more conscious of the differences in the ways that people live their lives. Perhaps it is my awareness of these differences that causes me to be so shocked when people assume that other people have had, or should have had, similar experiences to them.

Concerning the people on the WWOOF farm with me, I repeatedly state that I have not done such and such in this way before (because it would be a lie to say that I have not done some of these things before, but it would also be misleading to let them think that I had done things just like this). For instance, I have used a stove before; but I have never used a gas stove before. Another simple example is peeling potatoes. Remi told me that I should peel it toward myself, using my thumbs. For me, this is much slower than cutting away from myself, so I suspect that people observing me extrapolate that I cannot peel potatoes in general, rather than attributing it to the specific context. I see cooking in general as similar; in a kitchen with many unfamiliar ingredients and which is lacking many of my preferred cooking materials I am understandably handicapped. I think that I am the only one who sees it this way, though, which everyone else just thinking that I lack skills and experience, while I think that I have different skills and experience (or to phrase it differently, we lack common skills and experiences).

Should I approach every situation assuming that I lack common experiences with other people until I have reason to believe otherwise? I wonder what Kwame Anthony Appiah would say? All opinions concerning philosophy and religion aside, WWKAAD does not roll off the tongue nearly as smooth as WWJD does, though.

Dreams of Past Lovers

Last night I dreamed of Lili. I have no idea where it came from, since I haven't been thinking of her lately. Indeed, I have been thinking of several other lovers that are far away, rather than this ex that is far away. I don't remember much of what happened in the dream; if it was us talking over dinner, a hot and steamy night, or if it was some strange dream-thing like flying through clouds or eating peanut butter. I don't know if they were memories or fantasies, but it was one of those dreams that seemed oh so real. Regardless, I woke up with an intense and very strong longing to be with her, to hold her close, and to see her smile and laugh. Memories, or perhaps half faded dreams, flooded though my mind of the times we spent together, and I don't know whether they are tears of sorrow at her absence, longing for the past, or tears of sweet remembrance that now form in the corners of my eyes.

Dreams can cause some really powerful emotions. I recall a dream I had about a girl in my high school (it involved something about us driving a van) and I remember that I started to be very attracted to her. Seriously; all initiated by a dream, my view of her suddenly changed from "a nice girl who is fun to hang out with" to ""a nice girl who is fun to hang out with" and with whom I would love to have a close and loving relationship." I find it amazing what strength of emotions can come from dreams, that sometimes seem so real.

This happened once with a dream of Sara last winter, and I was so overcome with emotion that I asked for the day off work and it dominated my thoughts for several hours. Thank god that was a Friday, because I think it took me a few days of distraction to fully get over that. It makes sense to me that this has occurred concerning both Sara and Lili, since were two of my longer and more serious relationships. Lili and I's relationship involved here basically moving in with me for about two months, with added new stresses that perhaps wouldn't have existed if she had stayed in her dorm and if I had had my apartment to myself. Also, both my relationship with Lili and with Sara ended with my getting on an airplane to go to the other's home country. There was still plenty of passion and affection at the end of both of these relationships, and plenty of tears at their ends as we said goodbye; Lili and I at the airport before I had to proceed alone through the security check, not caring about the other people around watching a crying couple exchange their last embrace; Sara and I at Kalamazoo College in front of the library, the bright sun shining down, me trying to cut it off more cleanly and she trying to gain another 30 minutes with me before we said our goodbyes, and then with me laying in the grass trying unsuccessfully to stop my tears and hide my sorrow after she had left, waiting for Julie to come and console me, trying to let go of the past as I tried to focus on the future.

It is strange and emotionally quite overwhelming when this happens, and perhaps if I hadn't decided so clearly and let Lili know so clearly that we were definitely over as a couple, I would send her an email to let her now how I missed her. It is tempting to write something telling her that someday I will have more money and I will go back to Beijing and I will treat her right and be there for her; that we will travel together and explore and laugh. But I won't do that. I remember trying to spend time with her during my second time in Beijing, after we were no longer a couple, and I remember that it was simply far too trying for me. Spending time with her as a friend involved me constantly desiring to be more than that with her. I know that we would quarrel a lot as a couple, though and I remember all the stresses and things I didn't like about us being together. Our clashes, whether they were cultural, personal, or something else, are something that I don't want to repeat. I would be satisfied (happy?) with something more relaxed and casual, but Lili doesn't want something more in-between or more in the gray area between platonic friends and a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. She is basically in the market for a linearly progressing relationship: boyfriend → serious boyfriend → husband. I don't want to make to big of a generalization, especially since she doesn't seem (to me) like a standard Chinese girl, but that is a very common mindset for Chinese girls. Since I don't want to go along with that progression, since I was not willing to commit to the possibility of marriage, there is no room for me there. Although the strong emotions of last night's dream are imbued throughout my mind, but don't want to lead her on to believe something that will not happen. Even when (if?) I go back to Beijing eventually, I shouldn't spend time with Lili. As I said, desires and urges to be a lover of hers made it too difficult to be a friend of hers, so there is no kind of relationship that we are able to have.

Postscript: Thank goodness that faded. I don't need or that distraction. By that evening it wasn't even crossing my mind anymore.

War and Peace

I've started War and Peace again. I have never actually finished it. It makes me think of Olga, just because it is Russian. I remember her saying that "Tolstoy is a beautiful philosopher," while the philosophy professors I got to chat with in Duluth generally and vaguely agreed with the statement that Tolstoy is "less of a philosopher and more of a classical pop-moralist." I have "read" (via librivox) many of his short stories, which I find beautiful and touching, and I have a general agreement with the morals that he has in them, which are normally not subtle. I do find much of his writing beautiful, and it is no accident or conspiracy that War and Peace is often considered among of the best novels ever produced by humankind. I first started War and Peace as an audiobook during the summer before I went to China for the first time, the summer of 2008. I continued to "read" (listen to) War and Peace during my first year in China (2008-2009). My entire time reading it was supplemented by Wikipedia and Sparknotes to deepen my understanding of all the complexities going on in the novel. I was not using these to replace the reading of the book, but rather to help me grasp and keep a mental hold on the multiple plot lines and dozens of named characters of varying important. Many of the names of which were completely foreign to me as well, having never been introduced to the Russian language before. An added complexity was that characters were often referred to by their titles (Count Bezukov) in some i passages and by personal names (Andrei) in others. But I managed to "read" it anyway. It was in intervals, though, depending on motivation and what chapters were available from librivox. At one point during the Spring of 2009 I had to stop for several months due to the fact that the next parts of the book hadn't been recorded and released yet. During the autumn of 2008 and the winter of 2009 I tended to listen to it on the bus while on my way somewhere or before I went to bed, so sometimes I would fall asleep midway through a chapter, missing important information. I would usually try to go back and listen to it again, but sometimes I would just continue on, satisfied with just knowing the general direction that the story was going, without bothering to re-listen to it in order to get all the details of a particular chapter. This was pretty slow going, with more nights in total spent not listening to War and Peace than listening to War and Peace. This was mostly due to the availability of the chapters on librivox rather than my own motivation, actually. There were certainly nights when I didn't feel like it, or when I was too exhausted, or when I had something better to do, but I do recall numerous times both during the fall and spring semester in Beijing that I spent the minutes before sleep listening to the adventures and the lives of Pierre and Andrei, the idealist and the cynic. The small islands of daily (or nightly) listening to War and Peace were surrounded by vast seas of waiting for the next section of the book to be released on librivox. I briefly resumed listening to War and Peace during the beginning of my senior year of college at Kalamazoo, and (spoiler alert) I recall that I got as far as the chapter describing the final moments of Andrei. I think that was about 90% of the way through the book. That is as far as I ever got. To this day I still haven't finished War and Peace, despite my claim that I have read it. As I am finishing Errant in Iberia though, a very mediocre read by my non-professional non-trained judgment, I think that I will replace it's presence on my currently-reading list with War and Peace, and hope to finish War and Peace before I leave Spain. Since War and Peace is apparently in the public domain, and is among the e-books available for free download via kindle, and I just so happen to have download it a few months ago when I started using kindle.

An unexpected trip to Hong Kong

I had originally planned on going to a debate about globalization and a hip hop/slam poetry performance on Saturday, and a translation slam on Sunday evening. But I am in Hong Kong, so it is a touch inconvenient for me to participate in those Beijing-based activities.

If you had asked me on Friday morning on my way to work "Joe, will you leave Mainland China this weekend?" I likely would have laughed. [I expect some god of fate and messed up plans is gazing down on me with a smirk, saying "Look who's laughing now"] Although the company I work for, American House, is supposed to take care of my visa stuff, some combination of a lack of communication within the company and plain old ignorance means that American House apparently didn't notice that my visa was set to expire on March 13th. One way or another, they dropped the ball. I was told on Friday morning that there was a possibility that I would need to leave Beijing in order to renew my visa, and I was told on Friday afternoon that I would have to leave for Hong Kong.

American House is paying for the flight and the visa, but all other costs are to be paid by me. One could look at it as a vacation with free airfare. However, I kind of want to save money for Spain this summer, so I am less than thrilled about a forced some-expenses-paid business trip to Hong Kong. This is gonna put a dent in my budget for the month, since a meal that costs 8 RMB in Beijing costs 25 Hong Kong Dollars in Hong Kong. Lodging is a huge expense, eating up over 200 HK$ a night. If I already had enough money saved up for my trip to Spain this summer, then I would probably treat this a little more like a vacation and less like a weekend in exile, but I still want to save up some more cash before leaving Beijing this summer.

Anyway, back to Hong Kong: I got out of the airport at 9:00pm on Saturday night, I found a hostel at around 11:00pm, and went straight to bed. They put me in a dorm room, which was not what I was planning or expecting. I woke up early in the morning (naturally), and switched hostels immediately the next morning to get a single room. With no visa business that I could take care of on Sunday, I put a book and a camera into my backpack and hit the streets.

Sunday morning was fairly uneventful. I mostly just wandered the streets. I visited the Hong Kong Flower show in Victoria Park (which is right next to my hostel). There were some interesting exhibits and pavilions, but the different flower arrangements could only hold my attention for so long, so I soon wandered off to some streets a little more inland from Victoria Park.

After lunch, I had 21 HK$ in my pocket, and I was desperate for an ATM. I wandered for at least an hour before I managed to find a an ATM. I tried 7-11s, fancy hotels, and random streets, but I couldn't find an ATM or a bank for the life of me. I used the last of my money to order noodles at a little restaurant on a small street. I very proudly used the few Cantonese phrases that I had learned from CantonesePod.com and Lingopal Lite app that I downloaded. Fortunately, the owner also spoke a bit of English and a bit of Mandarin, because I all I can say in Cantonese is "hello," "thank you," and "sorry, I don't speak Cantonese."

After lunch I decided to look at the rest of Victoria park. The biggest thing that struck me about Victoria park was how many South East Asian (Thai and Malaysian) looking women and girls were sitting around on plastic sheets, wearing head scarves. I wonder if there was an enormous women's-only tour group from somewhere in Hong Kong that day, or if perhaps there ladies were all locals and they just hung out in the part. I hadn't expected to see so many (people who from their clothing I assume are) Muslims in Hong Kong, nor had I expected to many South East Asian looking people. A very small minority of the people I saw on the street looked 'Chinese' like most people in Beijing or most other mainland cities.

While strolling though the park I saw a group of Chinese men and one forienger playing push hands, a Tai Chi exercise. After I had sat and watched for a few minutes, a Chinese guy came up to me and asked me (in English) if I wanted to play tai chi with him. I told him (in a mixture of Mandarin and English) that I hadn't done it before, but if he would teach me I would be happy to learn. I ended up playing push hands with this fellow for a while, and then with a few other guys. The guy that spoke to me in English had a really psychotic laugh, but it helped me to laugh as well and relieve the tension that I find naturally builds up in situations that I perceive as confrontational. Doing tai chi it helped me to relax and not tense up too much or focus too hard. Nonetheless, I got some scratches on my arms from the times where people moved quickly and strongly. Undoubtedly, although I hadn't really trained in push hands before, my other marital arts experiences, as well as my general physical awareness, clearly helped me. After just a few minutes one old Chinese guy asked me "how many years have you been practicing taichi?" Later on, another guy asked me "what style do you do?" All my cross-training sure has had benefits, because I can honestly tell them that I have never trained in tai chi, and they respond with amazement, as though I am some kind of natural kung fu savant. There was also a white guy there named Dimitri who seemed very interesting. He said that he trained a lot, and he has also done aikido in the past. I enjoyed pushing hands with him, and I enjoyed talking to him about tai chi a lot as well. As the hours wore on though, I did get fairly tired, so I eventually thanked my teachers and bid them adieu.

As I continued to wander through the park, I saw a group of Hong Kong kids, probably teenagers, just hanging out. One or two of them was attempting some simple hip hop and break dance moves. I was looking for an excuse to do something a bit more entertaining and interactive than just walk around (which I had been doing all day), so I walked over and (through body language) asked if they could breakdance. They couldn't, so I showed them how to do a simple baby freeze (for which I got a HUGE round of applause), a CC and a helicopter. It only lasted a few minutes, as those kids didn't have the strength to actually do the moves. It is interested to reflect on my physical background and how it differentiates me: I could do these moves within five minutes of seeing them. As long as the steps were broken down for me, my body was able to perform the motions. For these kids though, no matter how slowly I did it, they just didn't have the body control to perform the actions.

After grabbing some cheap dinner (cheap by Hong Kong standards is apparently HK$30!) I got a converter for HK$15 so that I could plug in and recharge my computer and iPod, and headed home for an early night to get me rested for taking care of visa stuff the next morning.

Waking up on Monday, I went straight to the China Travel Agency which is less than a five minute walk from my hostel room. I paid for a rush visa, and was told that I could pick it up at 7:30 the same night. The passed uneventfully. I walked along more roads, through more parks, and in and out of more restaurants. Hong Kong Park was very nice, and I spent some time browsing through the selection at a couple English-language bookstores. I also got multiple servings of the delicious Hong Kong-style waffle (like a regular waffle, but covered in sugary honey and peanut butter), although my tummy could have done without the disgusting McDonald's which I settled for for dinner.

In the evening I picked up the visa, and immediately booked a plane ticket back to Beijing for the next morning. An evening which combined various online readings and the documentary film Inside Job left my asleep early and well-rested enough to wake up early for a flight at 8:30. Although I almost didn't find the bus stop to get me to the airport on Tuesday morning, I ended up getting to the airport in time. In fact, the Hong Kong airport was the cleanest and most efficient airport I have ever seen. I wouldn't mind having that airport as my home base.

I still get a great vibe from Hong Kong, and I would be very open to living int he city for a while. I really which that I didn't have to go down there that weekend, though.

Translation #1

Origin: A post on Baidu Tieba, an online forum.

Title: 中国娃come.努力改变自己！加油！/ Come on China dolls! Try hard to change yourself! You can do it!

Original: 外国人就像狮子老虎，主食肉动物。中国人就像山羊，主食草动物。弱不禁风的山羊终究要被强壮的狮子老虎给吃掉...，何时所s中国人才能变成狮子老虎，才卜会被外国德狮子老虎欺负/看不起？

My translation: Foreigners are just like tigers and lions, they are carnivorous animals. Chinese people are just like mountain goats, herbivores. In the end the weak and fragile mountain goats will be eaten by the strong lions and tigers..., when all Chinese people become tigers and lions, only then will we get respect from the foreign lions and tigers.
 
Origin: http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=1019713708