Travel time!

This post is a few days overdue, but they have been a very busy few days.

I arrived in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China at 12:20AM on Thursday morning.  It is currently 6:10PM Monday evening, and I am finally finding myself with time enough to sit down for this.
But all things in good time.

I left Denver International Airport at 7AM on Tuesday morning, with almost everything I own packed thusly..  My first flight was DEN - LAX, about a two hour flight.  About one hour layover preceded the "real" flight, from LAX - PEK, or Beijing.  This was about a 13 hour flight, which I believe is the longest I've ever taken.  For obvious reasons, I sprung a bit extra to get a premium economy seat.  It was the right decision.
Also on the jetway at LAX was...this interesting plane.  I guess if Frontier can have little animals on the tails, there's nothing to say cartoon characters cannot decorate the side of this one.

The plane was unlike any I've ever taken.  The windows had no shades, but instead had adjustable tints that could be changed with buttons.
...well, that was the theory anyway.  In practice, they lowered the tints to minimum as soon as we reached cruising altitude, and darkened the cabin so that it was basically night for 13 hours.  It wasn't unpleasant, but it did feel a bit silly to have adjustable tints that weren't adjustable.  Sort of like living in a mobile home - why call it that if it never goes anywhere?

I believe it was a premium economy feature, but there was a plastic bag of goodies on my seat when I walked up.  Inside were a pillow, blanket, sleep mask, headphones, and these cute little flight slippers.  Obviously, my gargantuan feet made them feel a bit insecure.  Still, they were far more comfortable than the hiking boots I'd worn onto the plane (they took up more space in my luggage than my tennis shoes, so I went with them).

The plane also had meal service.  Included in the fare were this meal (which was...not too bad, though the pasta was cold and I'm not about that life), a 'midnight snack' type thing (a chicken wrap, not pictured as it was dark), and breakfast (which I didn't partake). 

The flight followed the Western coastline up California, along the Aleutian Islands, and down through Russia.  We actually flew over Harbin to get to Beijing.  I asked a flight attendant if we could just stop by for a second.
...ok, no, I didn't.  But it makes for a better story.
Along our flight path was this mountain, striking in its solitary beauty.  All around it, barely foothills.  In Colorado, our mountains are an enormous range; varying heights for different peaks, but nothing quite so stark.  Some googling later, I now know this is Mount Shasta, which I correctly assumed was a volcanic mountain.

Across the ocean, I was greeted by a more familiar sight in that the mountains in northern China/South-eastern Russia are in long, expansive ranges that call in siren song for brave adventurers to explore their secrets.
Not being a brave adventurer, I took a picture from an airplane window and called it a day.

My flight landed in Beijing around 1PM local time, which was 11AM back in Colorado.  My next flight, from Beijing to Harbin, was at 10PM.  Let me tell you, a nine hour layover is pretty awful, particularly when lugging your whole life around with you; I had to claim my suitcases and re-check them 7 hours later.  I started this layover with some food - braised string beans and minced pork, which was delicious.  I also learned that China's bendy-straw game is on point. Makes our bendy straws look almost stiff.  And yes, in case the color isn't a giveaway, that's a coke can.  A kinda tall, skinny one.

I don't remember the flight from Beijing to Harbin, except that rather than peanuts or pretzels they gave out some kind of meat in a bun...like a cross between a hamburger and a calzone.  Hard to describe, but this is a decent approximation.

Reps from my school picked me up at the airport in Harbin and brought me to a temporary apartment.  It was pretty nice, a studio with a nice bed. At that point I'd likely have taken a small couch or even just a blanket on the floor; it had been a long day.

Something I didn't know about most Chinese apartments: the bathrooms are remarkably efficient. The whole bathroom basically doubles as the shower, with a drain behind the washing machine (in my new place, which I'll have pictures for in a few days, the drain is right under the showerhead, which makes way more sense to me).  Space is at a premium here, but I've never seen such a design before.  Every once in a while, when traveling, you see something that makes you say, "now why don't we do that?"  I haven't spent much time in busier urban areas, but I believe even most NYC apartments still have a shower stall.

The next morning (read: mid-day) when I woke up, I finally got a good look at the view from my temporary place.  I'm not usually one for urban sprawl but there's something really lovely about how China manages its space.  Apartment communities are tall, narrow buildings with green common areas between them.  You can't really see any in this image, but my new apartment photo dump will show them more.  My basis for comparison is limited, but when I think of Chicago or NYC I think of dense buildings and suffocating closeness.  Even in the outskirts of Beijing, while flying in, I could see similar structural practices.

The last few days have been a series of visits to the two schools, banks, mobile companies, etc. to get all the things in order for living here.  There have been some challenges along the way there (look into the Great Firewall of China) but so far, I'm managing most of them.  Because there's been so much going on, I'll unpack it in a later post.

I'll leave on this note: two amusing things I've seen in stores.

First, there's something that just makes me laugh

Second, something that was actually surprisingly tasty: Steak-flavored Cheetos

Zaijian,

-L

WiFi woes

Ni hao, friends.

I am in temporary housing at the moment, and as such I have limited access to Internet. So while I have much to say about the trip and am looking forward to continuing the survey of Chinese history, it may be a little while before I can.

Xiexie (thank you) for your patience.

Zaijian,

-L

History Bite: pt 3

Zhou-ly Dynasty, batman!

As mentioned before, the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang in 1046 BC.  They coined the idea of the Mandate of Heaven as a way of justifying their overthrow of the Shang and their rule of China.  The Mandate of Heaven essentially says that just and good rulers stay in power, while unjust or despotic ones are removed.

The Zhou Dynasty stretches from 1046 BC to 256 BC, the longest period in Chinese history.  However, within this dynastic period is an age called the Spring and Autumn Period, so named for the "Spring and Autumn Annals" which historically described the epoch.  The Spring and Autumn period is marked between 771 BC and 476 BC, though some debate continues over the end date.

"Spring and Autumn" is a curious name for the era, as it has a sense of calm, of change and cycles.  The former, at least, is true: the period is a story of the decline of centralized power in the dynasty, and eventually led to the Warring States period as various powerful families claimed more autonomy and defied the king's rule.

As leaves fall from the trees
States move from king to themselves
Zhou's autumn arrives

...yeah, I know, haiku is Japanese.  Just roll with it.

The Spring and Autumn Period begins with the Quanrong invasion of the western part of the kingdom, forcing the king to flee to an Eastern capital. In the process of moving to the Eastern capital in Luoyi, the king lost much of his official control over the feudal rulers of the further reaches of the kingdom.  Many of those smaller regions later broke into their own states; the chronicles for the period list 148 individual states, which would absorb into merely 20 by 476 BC.

In opposition to the declining centralization, the Zhou kings would name the most powerful military state "hegemon," and they would be tasked with defending the king, as well as weaker states.  There arose four primary states: Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu.  These states were often at odds in a power struggle, usually absorbing smaller states under pretext of aid and protection.

That's a nice state you have there, Wei.  Shame if something were to...happen to it.

What follows is a series of hegemonies, which deserve their own post.  However, I'll leave with this thought.  As an American, my country's entire history falls within a span of maybe 240 years, if you mark the Declaration of Independence in 1776 as the 'soft start' of the nation.  The period between the start of the Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou/Spring and Autumn period (which is still part of the same dynastic era) is 275 years.

Myself and others have often theorized that part of the reason American patriotism is so virulent is that it is, essentially, our only binding element.  Our history is remarkably short, and the 'melting pot' aspect gives us several disparate histories and heritages.  One thing above all others unites us, and that is our citizenship.  Patriotism as a national identity, as opposed to the more complex historical elements like the Roman Empire, the Norse expansions and explorations, or the Egyptian or Ottoman empires (of which I know too little to comment on).  While the history of China is a long tale of dynasties coming and going (it's been long reading just for these bites, and I'm not even to AD yet!), it's still a contiguous history wherein most ancestries can be locally traced.  Contrasted with the US and the tendency for geneaology to be a complex international research project...it might explain some of our jingoism as being the main thing to reach across cultural, social, and racial divides and embrace each other as Americans.

Zaijian,

-L

Ruminations on transitions

We interrupt History Bites for this message from our sponsors your blogger.

I've nearly finished the last day at my job.  I've said goodbye to most of my co-workers, and will be sending a farewell email soon.  I'm fully moved out of my apartment, couch-surfing for the two weeks before my flight.  I've scheduled a few lunches/dinners/etc with friends near home, a last chance to hang out before I depart.

There's something surreal about it all. It may well be the last time in my life that I see many of these people, depending on where my life takes me from here.

I think about the things I've thrown away in this transition, or given to ARC or Goodwill or friends or whatever.  The things I've decided I don't want to take with me, and since I don't know how long I'll be gone, I've tried to limit the things I'm keeping here with my brother or parents or whatever.  A painting I made in one of those paint and sip classes, a wall clock with numbers scattered randomly around the face and the words "Who Cares" under the middle, countless pieces of paper (including drawing attempts, old writing, bills, letters, birthday cards...); a coat I've had for several years, a sheet set and bed I bought to be shared...all gone forever.

I've nearly reduced my life to a suitcase and a carry-on.  There's still some work to be done there.

I used to gauge my life by whether I could fit everything in my car, as I used to be endlessly peripatetic.  I never moved far, but I moved frequently.  I settled down substantially about 6 years ago, but part of me has never been content in one place for long.  In some ways, it's rather strange that it took me this long to get into TEFL, if only because I have the personality of a wanderer, a nomad.  My brother recently commented that he wouldn't be surprised if I never settled down.  I am only a little loathe to agree.

The adventure ahead is nebulous, intimidating, and exciting.  And I don't regret any of the decisions that got me here.  But that doesn't mean it's been easy, or that I haven't given up a fair bit along the way.

Wo henhao (I am very well).

Zaijian,

-L