Not working is an important detail for vacations. Unless, of course, you choose to work on the canoe you're building, or work on your guitar skills, or even work on your "self".
This summer i didn't do much work, although i did recommence my daily meditations, having almost entirely withdrawn from my meditation practice for the last year or so. i've been struck that my meditations are... good for me! i feel like there's a lot of dirty corners in my brain that have been gathering dust for some time. i still have the usual issues to work on regarding acceptance, forgiveness, craving, desire, anger, yadda yadda. So i'm happy to note that i have rediscovered a few moments of purity, which felt really really nice.
Also over the course of the last couple months, i had a number of tangible lessons about Patience. Relax. Chill out. Don't f'ing HURRY, because even though you want to HURRY, there's no need whatsoever to HURRY. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes you need to HURRY (like when you are overdue to urinate, and there's no back alleys in site). But sometimes you don't. So then you can relax; chill out; and not f'ing HURRY.
Also, from my travels, i would like to share my newly gained wisdom w/ you, fellow readers, whoever you are, and inform you of these things which no trip in China should be complete without.
-38 degree weather
-snowfall and long underwear
-Thanks to the shaggy goatee, being mistaken for Mongolian
-Otherwise, consistently being mistaken for a 25 yr old Japanese dude.
-disturbingly intimate encounters with strangers' feces and phlegm
-baijiu rice wine
-rocking out in a guitar bar, and being asked by staff play again the next night
-jumping off a bridge
-being refused service in a restaurant
-in the washroom outside of the buddhist temple, walking in on a dude wanking it
-trying to slurp down noodles while the restaurant owner stomps on the mouse who was strolling through
-recognizing that too many prayer flags looks exactly like a used car lot sale
-cleverly peeing in a bottle during a fully peopled long distance bus ride. And being rather stressed out beforehand
And then this morning my mom asked me if i'm looking forward to work. Huh? What the hell kind of question is that? Work? Or holiday? Work? Um, i don't think so. But. That said, i feel like my holiday was as epic as it needed to be, and certainly not lacking in any area. Unless you count trying to find coffee in Xinjiang.
Soon i'll put up some pix on Flickr and FB. Peace.
Showing posts with label China Round Trip 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China Round Trip 2009. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Xinjiang
Hm, hardly a riot in sight. Quiet. A little too quiet...
In fact, i was rather surprised that people in Urumqi seemed to be pretty mellowed out, 1 month after people were madly knocking on doors trying to identify the ethnicity of whoever answered in order to decide whether to bloodily bash their skulls apart or not.
The fact that i was able to visit the province at all felt like a slip up on the part of the authorities, and as such i felt like a privileged guest of honor. Not surprisingly, most travelers had thought or decided that the place was off limits, and thus i really was an exceptional visitor.
Xinjiang is pretty rad. You can go places where it really feels like China has disapeared, and that you've landed somewhere in the middle east. Not a "chinese" face to be seen. Lots of skewered lamb, mosques, scarf-veiled women, and fez-topped men.
i felt quite elated just to wander around, largely resisting the urge to snap photos. People getting on with their lives post-violence struck me as both necessary and courageous. Apparently the gov't released numbers were unsurprisingly lowballed. i hear roughly 250 Uighur and Han people were murdered in last months unfortunate riots, as caused by years of stewing resentment from gov't promoted Han immigration, and city infrastructure improvements which didn't affect the original minority group residents. Anyhow, for the 250 recently deceased, there's pbly 2500 very disturbed and angry and depressed city folk out there. No way of knowing if i saw any of them, but i was hanging out in the very limited areas where the riots took place.
Also, i should note that there is a LOT of army and police presence. Riot cops, riot gear, riot-proof vehicles abound. Soldiers stand on circus platforms under circus umbrellas to keep a serious eye over the people buying their groceries and buying lamb skewers. They get all annoyed when you point a camera at them, so you have to be sneaky about it. At any rate, no one grabbed or smashed my camera which was a relief.
Xinjiang is really cool. The city does look like it had a boom 15 years ago, 'cuase all there's lots of big not-so new buildings, mostly in the chinese majority parts of town. Pretty cosmo, but not a McDonalds or Starbucks to be seen, which was very refreshing. Nice markets, happening night market.
The city felt ... open. Xinjiang, i thank you for welcoming me.
In fact, i was rather surprised that people in Urumqi seemed to be pretty mellowed out, 1 month after people were madly knocking on doors trying to identify the ethnicity of whoever answered in order to decide whether to bloodily bash their skulls apart or not.
The fact that i was able to visit the province at all felt like a slip up on the part of the authorities, and as such i felt like a privileged guest of honor. Not surprisingly, most travelers had thought or decided that the place was off limits, and thus i really was an exceptional visitor.
Xinjiang is pretty rad. You can go places where it really feels like China has disapeared, and that you've landed somewhere in the middle east. Not a "chinese" face to be seen. Lots of skewered lamb, mosques, scarf-veiled women, and fez-topped men.
i felt quite elated just to wander around, largely resisting the urge to snap photos. People getting on with their lives post-violence struck me as both necessary and courageous. Apparently the gov't released numbers were unsurprisingly lowballed. i hear roughly 250 Uighur and Han people were murdered in last months unfortunate riots, as caused by years of stewing resentment from gov't promoted Han immigration, and city infrastructure improvements which didn't affect the original minority group residents. Anyhow, for the 250 recently deceased, there's pbly 2500 very disturbed and angry and depressed city folk out there. No way of knowing if i saw any of them, but i was hanging out in the very limited areas where the riots took place.
Also, i should note that there is a LOT of army and police presence. Riot cops, riot gear, riot-proof vehicles abound. Soldiers stand on circus platforms under circus umbrellas to keep a serious eye over the people buying their groceries and buying lamb skewers. They get all annoyed when you point a camera at them, so you have to be sneaky about it. At any rate, no one grabbed or smashed my camera which was a relief.
Xinjiang is really cool. The city does look like it had a boom 15 years ago, 'cuase all there's lots of big not-so new buildings, mostly in the chinese majority parts of town. Pretty cosmo, but not a McDonalds or Starbucks to be seen, which was very refreshing. Nice markets, happening night market.
The city felt ... open. Xinjiang, i thank you for welcoming me.
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