Free Jazz

I gotta be honest, this is really getting me down. The inability to interact with the outside world I mean. For as long as I can remember I've been told how lucky I was to be born in America. About how and why America was great. And I soaked it all in and parrotted it back out. As I furthered my education I learned a little bit more, things that weren't covered in the shiny ad-campaign-education I grew up with, and I became a critic (self criticism is one of my strengths.) I acknowledged those good parts that had been drilled into my head from elementary school, but I asked about those other parts that weren't talked about. I was uncomfortable with the discrepancy between the ideals that we advertised and the realities of our history. And that is pretty much where I stand today; I think it's important to acknowledge those realities, own up to them and take appropriate action to make amends and prevent recurrences. However, (I'm going to end with a quote, of myself from this very blog several months ago when it was still really cold) "I really didn't appreciate central heating until I didn't have it anymore."

I took a trip to Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain) a few weeks back. Here are some pictures. It was bee-yoo-tiful. And a really good time. On the way home we stopped at Hong Cun, a village that has preserved nearly all its old architecture and whathaveyou. I mean, they've wired in the internet and all, but it's as close as possible to visiting a Chinese village of 500 years ago. The Academy Award winning Wo Hu Cang Long (a.k.a. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) was filmed there. Maybe the coolest thing I've seen in China yet (and it'll be hard to top.)

Bodhisattva

Okay so this has gotten totally out of hand. I realize that and so I'm gonna stand up, like a man, and pass the blame to someone else. Or someones else as the case may be. The powers that be, you see, like to control the flow of information so that those unflattering things might be swept under the carpet (as much as possible.) Well it seems several unflattering things have been happening lately so you-know-who has really tightened the screws and battened down the hatches. And in this age of world wide interwebs any Tom, Dick or Harry can be an investigative and/or whistle blowing reporter so just about every outlet available to the people at large has been closed off.

So here are some pictures of myself and a friend at Guiyuan Temple. Its a Buddhist temple here in Hanyang. If I remember correctly my words are in brackets and Jessica's are in parentheses. Or maybe its the other was around, I can't remember. Enjoy. (and hold a good thought for unblocking some internets.)

Showtime

Man it's easy to blow this thing off when I can't do it myself; such a pain in the extreme lower back.

Wuhan is in central China. Cental China gets hot. Really hot. Wuhan gets really hot. "Because of its hot summer weather, Wuhan is known as one of China's Three Furnaces, along with Nanjing and Chongqing. Wuhan is by far the hottest of the Three Furnaces; the average temperature in July is 37.2°C (99°F), and the maximum often exceeds 40°C (104°F)." I hadn't given this much thought before I came. I mean, Dallas is in Texas. Texas gets hot. Really hot. "...the north central Texas region where Dallas is located is one of the hottest in the United States during the summer months, usually trailing only the Mojave Desert basin." (I couldn't find any stats on humidity, but here 75% is low.) So anyway I wasn't in the least worried about the weather and proudly put down any and all Chicken Little's with "I'm from Texas, I'll be fine." Well I now know that there was one variable I had not accounted for: Texas is air conditioned. Everyone and everywhere in Texas has air conditioning, I don't know how many times I've heard "you have to have air conditioning in Texas, you couldn't live here otherwise." Well actually, that's not exactly true. Texas without air conditioning is Wuhan and a whole bunch of people live here. One difference in climes is that Wuhan gets cold in the winter. I got here for the tail end of winter and quickly learned, from its absence, the value of central heat. Well that goes double for A/C in the summer. Its rough. And so of course mine went on the fritz the other day. Actually it had been working at about 50% for the past few weeks but then she leaked water all over the livingroom floor and we had to shut down operations completely until we could get a repairman in for a visit. Well, she's back at full health now, thank goodness, so as long as I don't leave the apartment... (thanks to wikipedia for the weather info.)

So a few weeks back we put on an English show. The English Department, or just the foreign teachers rather, put together a variety/talent-type show to be performed all in English. And I got to host the whole thing. Oh how I cursed this show. This was right around the time when I was having to write finals (one final exam plus an alternate exam for each class, that's 6 exams in total) and grade story analyses, and cram 2 extra weeks worth of material into the rapidly dwindling school year (that one was my own fault). I was stressed out, and the last thing I needed was another task to spearhead. Like a good little time bomb I supressed my rage and did it anyway and after it was all said and done I had a blast. I'm so glad I went through with it rather than unleash a blue streak across central China to rival the Great Wall. We put out the call for students to perform and we got some real talented kids. There was singing, dancing, skits, a one-act play, and the comedy stylings of yours truly. Here are some pictures.

When the Music's Over

Hola amigos. I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya, but things got crazy if you know what I mean. Let’s just see, when were we last together? I believe I was writing finals. I can’t find out for sure because….well that’s a whole ‘nother thing. So, I was writing finals, an arduous task in the least, unnecessarily made a tremendous pain in the donkey by the folks upstairs. I remember my professors complaining about administration. Saying their job was to convince others (and themselves) that they were necessary. I’ll let you know when I find evidence to the contrary. And in addition to writing finals I was trying to cram four weeks of material into two weeks of classes. It seems, you see, I can’t read a calendar. As I was mapping out the agenda for my classes I counted two of the finals weeks as class weeks so needless to say, though I will, we were terribly behind. In addition to that we were trying to put together an English show, some variety of performance put on by the English department featuring teachers and students alike. (And performed all in English of course.) Also around this time our internet went out, and when it came back I was (and am still) unable to access my blog. And I was sick. (Shameless fishing for sympathy.) So, I apologize for the delay, but I am now back. And will try my darndest to stay back. Connected via intermediaries. As some of you may notice there is no musical accompaniment for this post. I thought it best to remain silent for now in observance of my disconnectedness. Regularly scheduled programming will resume next time. A teaser for upcoming episodes: our English show, Guiyuan Temple, exploring Wuhan, and more. So stay tuned. Oh, one more thing, there is a (hilarious) allusion embedded within this post. If you can identify it you could win a prize! Please send all submissions (with proof of purchase) to jmattscott@gmail.com. Tob e eligible, entries must be completed and received on or by the closing date of the draw. Restrictions may apply. Void where prohibited.

Please Excuse Me

Hello all. Unfortunately the purpose of this posting is to ask your forgiveness and patience as I know I am overdue for a post, but I am also beyond swamped and will not have the time to write something proper for a little while. Hopefully a very little while. You see, when I was planning my classes I had counted the finals weeks as class weeks and so I just found out I have 2 less weeks of class than I have planned for so we must kick it into overdrive to fit everything into the shortened schedule. This also means I have 2 less weeks to write my finals. And again I just found out I have even less time than that because I must submit them to the bosses upstairs for approval. And I must provide them with two different finals for each class. So I have to write 6 finals over the weekend, and figure out how to fit 4 weeks of class content into 2. So that's what I'll be up to... have a fun weekend of rest and relaxation! Please accept this song which is actually a poem by the previously mentioned great, and I reiterate, genius, avant garde pianist Cecil Taylor.

Spring of Two Blue J's

Some pictures from around the city... To the sounds of the genius Cecil Taylor...

Hanyang (my part of town), behind the Rainbow Bridge, from the cross-river ferry.

Hankou, from said ferry, with lots of river in the foreground.

Myself, rising up with the farmers and labourers at Walking Street. UNITE!

A lion and a dog, raised together since cub/puppy-hood, at the Hanyang zoo.

A giant panda, napping.

A reindeer, or reindeer-like creature.

A "hippie cow," as my guide explained...

The great beast.

I don't know. Some variety of monkey.

Sweet baby orangutang.

Traditional Chinese garden.

In a traditional Chinese garden.

Back at Walking Street.

On a murderous rampage.

Seasons Greetings! On April 24th. This is a huge neon sign on the side of a building. 6 or 8 stories tall. This was one of the things I first noticed when I got to China, you see Christmas decorations all over the place. I don't know why.

I Saw the Light

One of these days I'm gonna begin a post without talking about how overdue it is. Not because it won't be, I just won't mention it. It is midterm time, so I've been, and still am, really busy. Perhaps that will buy me 30 seconds of understanding amongst the blog hounds out there.

The Great Equalizer

That is a fishbone. A fishbone that, uninvitedly, took up residence in my throat. Fish are rarely, if ever, deboned in China. Or at least everywhere that I have yet eaten. I have been warned over and over to be careful, and ordinarily air on the careless side of caution (that is, carelessly cautious). Well this particular section of endoskeleton had stowed away in an otherwise osseous tissue-free portion of unnamed aquatic vertebrate; part of a fish & preserved egg soup (about as tasty as it sounds). I didn't notice her until she was past the point of no return, so I had to try and force her down. I tried rice, bread, peanut butter, Foaming Pipe Snake (TM), Roto-Rooter, esophogeal bypass, nothing worked. I eventually had to go to the hospital to get it out, a couple students took me. The doctor was thilled at the opportunity to practice his english. I didn't think I was nervous, but the way I was sweating immediately before the procedure would indicate otherwise. Anyway he said he performs about 10 throat de-bonings a day. Common procedure. And a 100 RMB lesson: when eating fish in China, one should probably air on the slightly less careless side of caution.

As I have grown up, at somepoint when I wasn't looking, I started to like dressing up. Dressing up nice I mean. Well, what I think is nice. All my clothes will undoubtedly be tossed once a female enters the picture (they never let us have any fun...or so I'm told). So anyway I take any opportunity to don my snazzy duds and strut about like a chupacabra. Well, it seems this is very jarring, even intimidating, to my students. A necktie, you see, is very formal. And wearing one typically means you are very serious about business. No horseplay, no tomfoolery, no shenanigans, just taking care of business (at an appropriate rate of speed). I've received more compliments from students after seeing me in a t-shirt than all the Easter Sunday get-ups of my childhood combined. In this same vein I am known, among the students, as "The Detective."

Mr. Detective

Of course its too hot now for all those layers, but it seems I have been branded.

I've been working (and not working, its midterm season so I have been really busy,) on this post for over a week now. Thats no good. And what with the constant demands from my adoring public to hurry the crap up and write something else, I have decided to try a slightly different format. Well, not necessarily a new format, but I just figure that I will be able to write less substantial posts more often. So I guess until I start recieving complaints about watered-down content I'm gonna try this new way. But give me a break at first, it is after all, midterm season.

April Fool

Did you get my joke? I didn't write a blog post, April Fools! Oh man, I am hilarious.

A random observation I've been meaning to mention, What do you see a lot of in China that you hardly ever see in America? Buicks. Yeah, the American car company. Maybe I was just distracted but I don't remember noticing a Buick in America in years. I see them all over the place here.

I traveled outside of Wuhan for the first time this past weekend. We had Monday off for a holiday, Tomb Sweeping Day. It comes from the Qing Dynasty and is a time when one gathers with their family, in the mother's hometown if possible, and honor their ancestors. Someone told me that the closest American counterpart would be Memorial Day. Anyway I went, with a fellow teacher, to the small mountain town of Yichang (ee-chong), population 4 million. Yichang is west of Wuhan in the Hubei province. The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world, is right close. And it is also right close to the mountains, it was wonderful. Yichang is a very nice place. One day we drove out into the country and walked along the river for awhile (not the BIG river, a smaller tributary) and got a glimpse of rural life in China. That was my favorite part. And then of course we went and saw the dam. What can I say... it's a dam alright. And big. Sure is big. I had a great time.

And just especially for those who have been hounding me, here are some pictures...

Fields and mountains

Ditto.

The wall of the canyon. Notice the people for scale.

A little pool tucked behind some foliage.

River. More like a stream actually.

Area Girl Crosses Stream

Hubei, China: The mood was electric this past Monday as a local girl prepared to cross a stream while holding an orange. "I'm really excited about [the stunt]," said Huang Hu, 6, "I've been training really hard and I think that I am ready." A successful crossing could be a boost to the local economy said shop owner Ying Yi Ma, "I think people are definitely going to be traveling from afar to witness this historic occasion." When asked what's next for the little adventurer, she replied "Perhaps I'll climb a hill."

Another mountain shot.

Mother and child.

Playing Mahjong.

A tomb decorated for the holiday. I felt guilty taking this picture, I kinda did it on the sly. I didn't know if it might be uncouth.

The blogger thing isn't letting me put anymore pictures so that's all you get for now. I'll come back and post a link to a photo album when I get them uploaded. That is all.

EDIT: Okay, here are the rest of the pictures, with captions.

Cut Your Hair

I don't want to mention anything about how long it's been since the last post since I've started off the last 3 or so like that, but it's been awhile. Sorry. I think part of the problem may be that I'm not drawing a paycheck from this venture. Perhaps if there were some monetary incentive... So if my faithful readers wanna take up a collection I'd be willing to listen to offers. I won't even listen to proposals that don't offer full dental so don't waste either of our time unless you're bringing a hefty package to the table. I'm talkin at least three weeks vacation. Oh, and I don't handle my own negotiations. You'll have to contact my business manager.

(I'm frequently told of new readers to my blog that I don't really know, or barely know, and I wonder how my sense of humor plays to these people. Not that it concerns me, I'm just curious. I crack myself up and that's enough really. No one can make me laugh like I can.)

So I just got a haircut. After grocery shopping, I think, this was the second scenario into which I've entered, all by my lonesome, a zero english environment. It was kinda exciting I must say. Not so long ago I placed a great value on my hair, and was very particular about what it looked like. (This no doubt comes as a shock to those of you whe have known me for awhile and remember the string of "unkempt" hairstyles I have sported throughout the years. But you must understand, that was all on purpose. I wanted to look like I hadn't seen a haircut [or hairbrush] in years.) Anyway as I have become old, a "square" as the young 'uns like to say nowadays, I have become considerably less concerned with my hair. Now my main concern is going the longest time possible before its time to go back for another trim. Not so much that I'm willing to shave it of course. I'm not that square. But the point is I am not near as concerned with the quality of haircut I recieve anymore. More so the quantity I guess you could say. So I walk into the place and they take me to the back for a quick shampoo and then sit me down in the chair. The guy (haircutting is a young man's profession in China. You rarely see a female haircutter person) tries to ask me what type of haircut I want. (I assume that's what he was asking me,) and after a moment of thought I was able to retrieve, from a still-under-constuction corner of the linguistic center of my brain, the Mandarin phrase "I don't understand what you're saying." So he just went to work. And he had an audience. Something I should probably mention, in SAT analogy format, foreigners (especially western foreigners) are to China as celebrities are to America. There is lots of staring, some pointing, when you walk by they talk about you. You can't understand them of course, but they are talking about you. If I had one yuan for every time one person in a small group walking in front of me casually glanced back and noticed me, and consequently, after a quick word from said person, every member of said group also turned to get a good look, I would have 13,743.659 yuan. (I'm not sure where that .659 comes from either, I think it has something to do with the exchange rate.) So he was cutting, and intermittently answering questions from his audience, most of which I didn't catch, but I did understand him saying "He doesn't speak Mandarin," and "He's American." That last one was a little offensive, or, it hurt my feelings at least . Not that he was wrong, I am American, but I didn't tell him that. Which means I must have fit the American stereotype. Which is not real flattering. Well, I shouldn't say that. What I understand to be the "American stereotype," which is almost entirely western European (and Middle Eastern, thank you Main Stream Media,) is not flattering. Neither is it necessarily undeserved, but I thought I would be the exception. I guess I really am a square. How depressing. Well anyway he finished and... it's not bad. It's not quite what I would have asked for had I been able to communicate with the right honorable gentleman, but I'm not unhappy at all.

These pictures are from my webcam, which should explain the quality.

P.S.

To those readers who are interested (those of you whom I really care about,) I beg you, I urge you, take a few minutes, listen to Coltane's My Favorite Things available in my musical playlist apparatus on the right side of your computer screen. McCoy Tyner (piano) is out of control. I mean, obviously, but I've been listening as I write and it blows me away. A spiritual experience.

It Might As Well Be Springtime

I feel like it's been awhile since my last post. Well, I've been busy. As it turns out, being a teacher is a lot of work. I may have to rethink some things. My life goals have almost always involved taking it easy, this whole hard work aspect... I dont't know about that.

Well, the weather has turned. I don't know if it's for good or just for a few days. A native Texan, I've been trained to expect no permanance from the weather. Well anyway its been in the upper 60's and yesterday up to the mid 70's. Yet everyone is still wearing jackets or even coats. On my days off I have gone with just a tshirt and I may have been the only one in the city. I went sans sports jacket yesterday but kept the sweater vest partly just to fit in with the layered populace. I should probably darn convention and go for comfort as it will soon be hot and I will yearn for days past when it was only in the 70's.

So I cleaned my kitchen. I tell you because it was reminiscent of the 12 tasks of Herakles (that's Hercules to you Romans). I don't know when this building was built but I think it's safe to say that my kitchen had never been cleaned. Not really cleaned I mean. Now as you're imagining what my kitchen could have possibly looked like keep in mind that I am, and have lived alone as, a young single male, or bachelor to use the parlance of the times. So I'm no stranger to a mess, or pigsty to use the parlance of mothers across America. That's what I did. Really cleaned. I'm talking hands and knees scrubbing the floor like a pre-fairy godmother Cinderella. I'm talking about cleaning even the surfaces that no one will ever see (perhaps the first time I've done that). And it wasn't easy. There were times when I had to run from the room screaming and hide under the covers until my nerve had returned and I was once again brave enough to go back and face the beast. Not that you could bring yourself to it psychologically, but you could, now, eat off of any surface in my kitchen.

Last week I asked a group of students if they would like to go out to dinner some night to which there response was, in effect, "Let's make dinner! At your house!" So I had a dinner party last night. And I must say it was fabulous. I may become a hostess yet.

Lastly, a special section, to a special audience, a picture of my livingroom wall.

Blue Monk

I know I'm overdue for a post, sorry. But the last one was a little early so we're even okay? Or I guess I could just start posting more often. That's probably the right answer, but I don't know that that's gonna happen. I'm too much a perfectionist to just type up a little something and be posting willy nilly all across the interwebs. I need to work my thoughts over a few times before I'm ready to go public. A process, unfortunately, unavailable during speech and undoubtedly the mainspring behind my aimless rambling and inability to transform my thoughts into words (to my satisfaction, that is).

Anyway its been a productive week, or however long it's been. When I first began to think of the content for this blog post I was in a bad way. My classes were not going well and I was quickly nearing the hair-pulling-out stages of exasperation. The class in question was Tourism English and the problem was that it had no direction. My only guidance for this class was the name, I was completely on my own to decide what that meant and where this class should go. Some of the feedback I received on the first few weeks of class?

"Let's not do [activity] anymore, it's a waste of time."

And,

"I get the impression you never have anything prepared for class."

How about,

"Why don't you teach us something practical?"

So I was feeling real confident in my chosen profession. (<-- Sarcasm.) So on my days off I completely retooled and came up with a whole different format. Much more "traditional" and "structured," i.e. Middle School. The first couple classes went better, but I've still got a few to go. And, too, it will take some time for the kids to figure out this is the new style and not just an abberation. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so...

I went into the city this past weekend with some of my fellow expats. Before we get into that though I'd first like to revisit the "blue" theme (that's probably so convoluted it exists only in my head, but nevertheless). Wuhan is a huge city made of three large cities, like the burroughs of NYC, the example I've been using to explain to you Americans. Wuchang (woo-chong) is the Manhattan of Wuhan. It lies on the east side of the Yangtze River (which flows from SW to NE through Wuhan). Hankou (hahn-koe), west of the Yangtze and north of the Hanjiang, a west flowing tributary of the Yangtze, is Brooklyn (or whatever is the second coolest of New York's burroughs, I don't know. I don't know New York). Lastly, Hanyang (hahn-yong) is Staten Island. That's where I live. I live in the suburbs! I did not come all the way to China to live in the suburbs! I lived in the suburbs in Texas! Oh, by the way, Hanyang is on the west bank of the Yangtze south of the Hanjiang. Back to my rant. I am a little upset about this. In fact I think it's my only real complaint. I mean classes are difficult, but that will get better. Suburbs will not become city unless I stay for a long time. A really long time. But anyway I went into Hankou this past Friday and it was pretty awesome. We walked down Walking Street, a shopping/entertainment district modeled after the much more famous Walking Street in Shanghai. And then we went to the park along the riverbank and sent a lantern into the sky.

Basically a paper balloon with a flammable cube of some waxy substance in the bottom and the whole thing works like a hot air balloon. I gather there's some romantic connotation to the whole process, but its also popular among young children and tourists. That's fellow teachers Dennis and Daniel with the lantern. So anyway I had a great time in downtown Hankou. I will be going back frequently. Or as frequently as I can muster. Wuchang is even better but I've only been there once and that was early on in my being in China so I didn't even fully appreciate it. Here are a couple more pictures from the riverside park. This is looking across the Yangtze at Wuchang. The pictures will improve as I better learn the intricacies of my camera. I didn't want to use the flash because I was trying to get the lights and their reflection in the river, but they came out a little dark.

Summertime

It's a Wuhan winter wonderland!

This is a thing (sculpture?) on campus I've been meaning to take a picture of anyway.

Hanging the laundry out to dry. In the snow.

This is common in the rain too. I don't know how they ever get dry. I've been drying mine in the bathroom. You don't get that "summer breeze" natural scent, or "winter drizzle" as it were, but somehow I'm managing.

Generique

I've been hounded. "Where are the pictures? I wanna see pictures. Take some pictures. Pictures." It seems no one appreciates me for my words. Well fine. So here's a quick look at my situation in Wuhan.

Jiang Han Da Xue. From the front gate.

This is my building. I'm on the sixth floor.

The living room.

From another angle.

The kitchen.

And again.

The Gentlemen's Room/Shower.

Bedroom.

Office.

Reverse angle.

And lastly,

Between classes.