Variations on a Rococo theme, Opus 33
Summer’s current man, think I told you about him before, ‘The Swiss’, plays the trumpet for the Beijing Symphony Orchestra. He got us tickets to see them perform Tchaikovsky Saturday night at the concert hall within the Forbidden City. The park and hall itself were really beautiful. Before the concert started, a long list was read both in English and Chinese to everyone in the hall, about what NOT to do in the auditorium. To retain an elegant atmosphere he tells me. No gum. No plastic bags. Cell phone have to be in the ‘noiseless position’, asking us to turn them off would go too far. Don’t walk about the theater. No children under 1.2 meters are allowed [unless they are white, I saw some very small white kids]. The list goes on and on. Don’t clap between movements [this happened anyway, the Chinese really have no idea]. There are about five orchestra members who are white, and only twice as many whiteys in the audience. The theater is 75% full. We listened to a bunch of Peter Ilyich’s opus’s, including Opus 33, which was Variations on a Rococo theme, which apparently was some period in European history, which the Swiss described as ‘opulent’. I enjoyed the music, it was great. Summer’s first classical music concert. I think she thinks its pretty boring, but she does listen to quite a variety of music, so I assume she got a bit of kick out of it. Would ask her but she hasn’t been home in… a while. Must be at the Swiss’s. His apt is no doubt nicer than ours, especially since a drunk friend of mine ripped off the bathroom light switch [which is just a cord hanging down] and now its rather dark in there. Well the late night construction lights from next door keep me from falling in.
E-Z Money. I got a call from my friend Lee, an American who works at That’s Beijing, the foreign ‘what’s happening’ magazine, who said she has Chinese friend that needs to borrow one of her foreign friends. My job? Pretend I work with this guy in his architecture firm, go with him to a meeting with some potential clients to show the clients that his company employees foreigners. He says its too expensive to actually employ foreigners, so he paid me $60 for four hours of sitting in the meeting looking Caucasian. Not a bad morning. Might even ‘work’ with him again. You know my extensive background in architecture!
Shout out to Kat-o, who is going to Australia at the end of the summer. Way to leave the country girl. I’m trying to figure out just who my audience is, so far I have: my fam, H.O’B, Berg, K&B, Lovely Linds, various 856 18th street-ers, who else?
A country of gape-ers. This morning I stopped my ride to wrok to watch a fight occurring across the street. I just stopped, right there in the bike lane, as did everyone else I was biking with. A crowd had gathered. Traffic was stopped. The fight was not even that good. The Chinese love to stop and watch.
Went back to my high school, or what is left. The main building, the original school building, has been turned into a health club. The gym in that building is the only real remnants of anything physical from my high school. The remainder of the grounds have been torn down, nothing remains. A little sad.
Dinner with the Wu’s, or old couples that don’t like each other. I asked Wu when he was going to retire. One year or more. I asked what he would do, I said, will you stay at home and argue with your wife? He said, “I will kill her and find a better wife”. I shamelessly and without thought retorted, “you should”. Watching what Yangling has done to prohibit her daughter’s independence and turn her into a critical nagging old woman sometimes makes me want to vom. I asked Wu Xia to come out with my friends to go dancing this Wed night because it’s ladies night and the disco is free. When she found out that we would get to the club at 10.30, that would be too late. Her mother grimaced. She would not go because that would make her mother mad. I asked, you are 25 years old, why are you still letting your mother tell you what to do? No response. I guess I just have such an innate reaction to rebel, to be independent, but I guess if I raised by her mother those feelings would quickly be squashed. Or never generate to begin with. It’s too bad that Wu got stuck with such a… person [resisting name-calling temptations]. The horrible family that Wu is currently driving for makes him drive them to Sunday night dinner, so he is not at home when I come over for dinner, which leaves me with Wu Xia’s premature nagging and Yangling’s constant criticism.
The Japan protests were not reported in Chinese newspapers. I didn’t get off my butt to attend neither. The story is, Japan is not admitting its WW2 atrocities, so the Chinese are pissed. Most countries tend to ‘forget’ the atrocities in their history, the US has not yet admitted its atrocities toward the Native people of our country, and China is very close to erasing their past about how much damage Mao caused, the extent of the Cultural Revolution, and there is no one to remind them. More on that later.
Should have more photos up tomorrow. Decided its time to get the ol hunking camera out, show y’all some of China.
Fact: China spends $45 per person per year on healthcare. For the US that number is $4700.
E-Z Money. I got a call from my friend Lee, an American who works at That’s Beijing, the foreign ‘what’s happening’ magazine, who said she has Chinese friend that needs to borrow one of her foreign friends. My job? Pretend I work with this guy in his architecture firm, go with him to a meeting with some potential clients to show the clients that his company employees foreigners. He says its too expensive to actually employ foreigners, so he paid me $60 for four hours of sitting in the meeting looking Caucasian. Not a bad morning. Might even ‘work’ with him again. You know my extensive background in architecture!
Shout out to Kat-o, who is going to Australia at the end of the summer. Way to leave the country girl. I’m trying to figure out just who my audience is, so far I have: my fam, H.O’B, Berg, K&B, Lovely Linds, various 856 18th street-ers, who else?
A country of gape-ers. This morning I stopped my ride to wrok to watch a fight occurring across the street. I just stopped, right there in the bike lane, as did everyone else I was biking with. A crowd had gathered. Traffic was stopped. The fight was not even that good. The Chinese love to stop and watch.
Went back to my high school, or what is left. The main building, the original school building, has been turned into a health club. The gym in that building is the only real remnants of anything physical from my high school. The remainder of the grounds have been torn down, nothing remains. A little sad.
Dinner with the Wu’s, or old couples that don’t like each other. I asked Wu when he was going to retire. One year or more. I asked what he would do, I said, will you stay at home and argue with your wife? He said, “I will kill her and find a better wife”. I shamelessly and without thought retorted, “you should”. Watching what Yangling has done to prohibit her daughter’s independence and turn her into a critical nagging old woman sometimes makes me want to vom. I asked Wu Xia to come out with my friends to go dancing this Wed night because it’s ladies night and the disco is free. When she found out that we would get to the club at 10.30, that would be too late. Her mother grimaced. She would not go because that would make her mother mad. I asked, you are 25 years old, why are you still letting your mother tell you what to do? No response. I guess I just have such an innate reaction to rebel, to be independent, but I guess if I raised by her mother those feelings would quickly be squashed. Or never generate to begin with. It’s too bad that Wu got stuck with such a… person [resisting name-calling temptations]. The horrible family that Wu is currently driving for makes him drive them to Sunday night dinner, so he is not at home when I come over for dinner, which leaves me with Wu Xia’s premature nagging and Yangling’s constant criticism.
The Japan protests were not reported in Chinese newspapers. I didn’t get off my butt to attend neither. The story is, Japan is not admitting its WW2 atrocities, so the Chinese are pissed. Most countries tend to ‘forget’ the atrocities in their history, the US has not yet admitted its atrocities toward the Native people of our country, and China is very close to erasing their past about how much damage Mao caused, the extent of the Cultural Revolution, and there is no one to remind them. More on that later.
Should have more photos up tomorrow. Decided its time to get the ol hunking camera out, show y’all some of China.
Fact: China spends $45 per person per year on healthcare. For the US that number is $4700.
posted by Claire at 2:47 AM
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