I hope you all had a happy holiday season, had an opportunity to be with friends and family, had fun, and could share food and good will and hope for the new year.
Man, this year went quickly. I know everyone always says that, but for me it’s difficult to imagine it was December of 2009 when Myung and I rented that apartment in Buenos Aires. Maybe it’s a function of being busy, but considering the slow pace of my life in Chongqing, I don’t think that’s it. Getting older? Maybe. In any case, here’s to life and phase two of lumpy gravy.
Now, why did that Frank Zappa reference pop into my head? That one is even more tangential than usual. In the spirit of blogging in one take, I’m keeping it, on principle. Is it just aging or am I leaving the world? For some reason Zappa has been in my head for a little while. Thinking about it… Maybe it’s because I have become quite a news junkie. I look at the developments in the US, a safe distance from Tuscon and Wall Street, and remember Zappa singing in 1973:
It can’t happen here
It can’t happen here
I’m telling you, my dear
That it can’t happen here
Because I been checkin’ it out, baby
I checked it out a couple a times, hmmmmmmmm
And I’m telling you
It can’t happen here
Oh darling, it’s important that you believe me
(bop bop bop bop)
That it can’t happen here
Who could imagine that they would freak out somewhere in kansas…
Kansas kansas tototototodo
Kansas kansas tototototodo
Kansas kansas
Who could imagine that they would freak out in minnesota…
Mimimimimimimi minnesota, minnesota, minnesota
Who could imagine…
Who could imagine
That they would freak out in washington, d.c.
D.c. d.c. d.c. d.c. d.c.
It can’t happen here
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
It can’t happen here
It can’t happen here
Everybody’s safe and it can’t happen here
No freaks for us
It can’t happen here
Everybody’s clean and it can’t happen here
No, no, it won’t happen here
I’m telling you it can’t
It won’t happen here
(bop bop didi bop didi bop bop bop)
Plastic folks, you know
It won’t happen here
You’re safe, mama
You’re safe, baby
You just cook a tv dinner
And you make it
(bop bop bop)
No no no no
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/it-cant-happen-here-lyrics-frank-zappa.html ]
Oh, we’re gonna get a tv dinner and cook it up
Go get a tv dinner and cook it up
Cook it up
Oh, and it won’t happen here
(no no no no no no no no no no no
Man you guys are really safe
Everything’s cool).
Who could imagine
Who could imagine
That they would freak out in the suburbs
I remember (tu-tu)
I remember (tu-tu)
I remember (tu-tu)
They had a swimming pool
I remember (tu-tu)
I remember (tu-tu)
They had a swimming pool
I remember (tu-tu)
I remember (tu-tu)
They had a swimming pool.
And they thought it couldn’t happen here
(duh duh duh duh duh)
They knew it couldn’t happen here
They were so sure it couldn’t happen here
But…
Suzie…
Yes yes yes–i’ve always felt that
Yes I agree man, it really makes it…yeah…
It’s a real thing, man
And it really makes it
(makes it)
Suzie, you just got to town,
And we’ve been, we’ve been very interested
In your development,
Since you first took the shots.
Forget it!
Hmmmmmmmmm
(it can’t happen here)
(can’t happen here)
(can’t happen here)
I may have diverged from the spirit of good will and hope for the new year.
I was going to talk about how it’s going in Chongqing. This is definitely a new phase. I haven’t been so stable in one place for over 4 years. If the first six months of 2010 in South America seemed to go quickly, these last six in China have gone even more quickly. Myung’s cosmetics shop is up and running, though rather slowly here at the beginning. That was keeping her busy and me somewhat occupied. Now, it’s almost on autopilot. At first, Myung was spending all but two hours of her 10-9 open hours there, doing the myriad things you can easily imagine she had to do starting up. In English, you might say I was a “go fer”. Here we joke that I’m a “pang pang”, which is that guy you’ve seen in the travelogues who balances a load in two parts at the ends of a pole across his shoulders. Now, Myung either opens it up and stays till about 1 PM, then comes home until about 7, then leaves it with her employee, Shao Jhang. Or, she lets Shao Jhang open up, then goes in about 11-something, comes home till about 7, then stays till closing time. Any way, it’s quite settled. On Monday’s, Shao Jhang’s day off, Myung goes all day. I make some one pot hot dish for lunch and dinner and bring it to her.
When Myung’s at work or occupying herself at the computer in the the from bedroom, her office, I spend a lot of time hanging out at my computer. I am now the consummate couch potato. There is no heat in this apartment, so it’s about 40-something degrees Fahrenheit in here during the day. I curl up on the couch with a blanket over me and an electric heating pad under me, and cuddle my notebook computer. I cruise the news and all that, do emails and every day do something, however little, at my Mandarin lessons site. I used to cook more, but now that Myung is home more, she cooks, too. I still do most of the shopping. This and lots of other life details get me out of the apartment.
Christmas and New Year’s has come and gone since I last blogged. Christmas is well known in China, and is a minor celebration. The TV has specials on educating people about what it is and showing videos of people singing carols, riding in one-horse open sleighs, decorating trees, giving presents and a few are adoring the baby Jesus. The store, which like anywhere, needed no excuse to have promotions. Myung decorated her place. There is a little gift giving, but Chinese do that anyway. Besides, Chinese New Year of the rabbit is coming up Feb 4. People are gearing up big time for that. Bunny this, Babbit that, everywhere. All kinds of groups are practicing dance routines, traditional dragon parade stuff, singing, etc.. It’s all starting already, almost a month ahead of time. The train ticket offices are stuffed all day beginning at 6:30 AM, selling tickets to people who traditionally return to their hometowns and families at this time. This included the couple of hundred million migrant factory workers who get to have a good long holiday at this time. It’s a zoo, trust me. The crowds at the stations are, as I often say, “real India”.
I’ll be in Myanmar during New Year, from Jan 22 to Feb 19. I go to Kunming on the 12th, two days from now, so I can get a visa into Myanmar at the consulate there. It takes them 5 working days to issue a visa. I haven’t decided on an itinerary for either place yet. Myung and I went to Kunming and Yunnan Province a couple of years ago. We liked it and I have some fairly vivid memories of the city, the countryside, and all the minority people. I booked a bed in the same hostel we stayed in before. When I get there, I’ll play it by ear. Same goes for Myanmar. I booked a place in Yangon through the Lonely Planet website. I’ll figure out what’s up via the backpacker grapevine there, then head out after getting my return visa to China. The general plan is to head north but I might go south. On Feb 17 or 18, I must return to Yangon, as I have a flight out of there to Chongqing on the 19th. For at least several weeks, I won’t be a couch potato anymore.
Learning Mandarin is turning out to be a bit harder than I had hoped. It’s coming along. More and more I’m picking up what is being said around me. When I have the vocabulary, I can translate it. The is that, by then, they are three sentences on and I’m left smiling my nice have pity on me smile. I also talk 98% of the time with Myung in English and I’m lazy about letting her do the talking when we’re out. Also, I can understand her Chinese pretty well, the same way she understands my English. Faced with a Chinese person I struggle mightily, a bit like Myung does when she tries to understand someone else in English. One day, though, I have hope things will coalesce.
You may notice there are no pictures in this blog post. I haven’t taken any photos since last entry.
I think that will do it for now. I will likely write again after returning from Myanmar.
Be well, all of you.