A Letter Home

Hello Friends and Hello Seattle,

I hope you are all doing well amidst the harsh weather, and I hope you all had wonderful Christmases. I’ve been meaning to write you all for a while, but this letter kept on being delayed by distractions and the lethargy of being on Winter Break. Ajla visited for the last two weeks and it was great to have her. It was so nice to see a face from Seattle again. We spent the weeks snacking through Beijing and seeing places like the Lama Temple, Great Wall, and the Forbidden City. Our Christmas was fun—a small party with a white elephant gift exchange, and far too much food. It definitely wasn’t as spirited as the US, then again, as with most western holidays, China semi-celebrates them. This is to say, because many people find things from the US to be really “cool,” they celebrate them or at least create the illusion of celebrating them. Such Christmas festivities include the purchasing of your own “Pre-arranged and authentic Christmas Tree” and decorating your house with pictures of the “Christmas Old Man.” Such were the signs I read posted in stores about Christmas. I even remember walking into a couple of stores and having the salespeople try to persuade me to buy things by saying that it was all the rage in America. I don’t think I give off the American vibe right away. People usually think I’m Korean, Uygur (an ethnic group from the Northwest region of Xinjiang), Malaysian, and on a good day, native Chinese. Usually I just politely reveal that I’m an American after they’ve played twenty-questions with my nationality and continue on my way. Either way, I did my best to get in the Christmas spirit, and did my best to recreate an American Christmas family meal for a bunch of my Chinese friends ( and teachers). This was the first time they had mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, and as Ajla said ealier “Ants on a Log.” Though, I must be honest. When one of my friends suggested that I make “Ants on a Log,” I had no idea what he was talking about. I was introduced to the exotic American custom of celery and peanut butter at the same time of our Chinese guests.

So yes, the Christmas season so far has been fun. Aside from some small inconveniences like my water heater pipes bursting and the flash flood of my kitchen, the high of 0 degrees Celsius on the weather report, the last couple weeks have been a relaxing week of recovery. I’ve conquered my seasonal chronic-hack (with the help of lots of Chinese medicine), and now I have a month of winter break to earn a little English teaching money and time to study.

Since Ajla came to visit, I’ve been thinking of all of you. Things change so quickly in Beijing. Buildings are being constructed left and right. Businesses come and go. It made me think of what SU might be like when I return. It’s strange (and a little sad) to receive all the emails of campus events and see all the exciting things you are all planning and not be able to see them in action. Nonetheless, I’m sure they are all fantastic! I have grown accustomed to reading SU emails as a part of my routine of seeing “good things happening in the US/Outside of China.” I contrast this news with steady stream of horrifying/depressing stories I read on Google News. News in China always seems to always report that the country is doing fine. Of course, I don’t always have alternative publications to compare news reports. What I find most interesting about all of this, is that I am reading the news much more often now that I am outside the US, than when I was in the US. I suppose I am not assigned much reading, so I have time to read what I like, but I have this strange feeling that I am reading more news about the US because the New York Times and Reuters has become my gossip column about life back home. I’ve actually gotten into a habit of loudly exchanging headlines with my housemate as we lazily pass our days. When it is cold outside and I don’t want to go anywhere, I find it nice shout out to my roommate that the CIA is now using Viagra as a negotiation device in Afghani politics (BBC), or that people are willing to pay thousands of dollars for photos of Sarah Palin’s newly born grandson. I have to keep myself entertained somehow. It’s just not very motivating to go out when I need to dress up like a ninja in order to avoid freezing in the street. Hanging around in my heated apartment is much nicer.

I would be inclined to go back out and go find the gay nights in the city again, but I think I should wait for my respiratory system to be at full strength before plunging back into the clouds of cigarette smoke that occupy every social lounge in the city. In the meantime, outside of studying and reading the news, I’ve also starting practicing with a Jianzi (the Chinese shuttlecock/hackie-sack thing). One of my housemates gave it to me for Christmas and I have been challenged and addicted to it since receiving it. It’s so funny to think how humans can be so easily amused and occupied by such inane activities like kicking a colorful weight with feathers attached on top into the air over and over. At any rate, it’s keeping me fit during this time of not wanting to leave the apartment.

Anyway, I’m going to go to sleep now, but I hope you all have a fun time welcoming the New Year!

George