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

History Bite: pt 2

*announcer voice* LAST TIME, on CHINESE HISTORY!!  The Beast from the East was slain and his shoulderblades used to predict hunting results.

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice...

Archaeologists and historians generally divide the Shang Dynasty into two periods: the early and late.  We pay these people for some reason.

The reason for the distinction varies by source, making it difficult to encapsulate effectively.  The capital city of the Shang dynasty moved six times; some sources list the final move in 1350 BC to Yin (modern-day Yinxu, in the northernmost reaches of the Henan province) as the start of a significant era of the dynasty.  Others don't mention this move at all; instead, they use an archaeological shift wherein direct records of the Shang dynasty emerge, rather than later histories.

The gap between histories and physical evidence mostly extends until Emperor Wu Ding, who reigned from 1250-1192 BC.  Of note with this fellow is his most famous consort, Lady Fu Hao; her name is found on hundreds of oracle bone inscriptions and is a renowned military general.  It seems unusual to me for a woman to hold such a prominent place in ancient Chinese politics, which are very patrilineal.  I may dig into that more another time.

The Shang dynasty "formally" ends in 1046 BC, wherein the Zhou dynasty displaced the Shang after the Battle of Muye.  The Zhou Dynasty is the first to establish the Mandate of Heaven doctrine, similar to the Divine Right of Kings in Western civilization.  It is worth noting, however, that while the Divine Right was largely passed down through generations, the Mandate of Heaven specifically allowed for anyone who proved themselves "worthy" by defeating an unjust ruler could theoretically ascend to the throne; should someone displant a ruler, it would be taken as an indication that the Mandate had been removed from that one and conferred upon another. 

What is particularly interesting about this doctrine is that it inherently places a supreme importance on the virtue of the ruler, and the service they provide to the people, rather than focusing on how the people can serve the king. It likely contributes to a tradition in Chinese culture of self-establishing virtue; as opposed to Western thought, which tends to have an external locus of morality, one could argue that the Mandate of Heaven is an early step that establishes the burden squarely on the individual.

Zaijian,
-L

History Bite: pt 1

This is part 1 of my History of China series of entries.

The diviner kneels in front of the king, holding the shoulder blade of an ox.  It has been cleaned and polished, with a groove cut into it.  He speaks aloud two sentences.  "We will have a successful hunt today.  We will not have a successful hunt today."  Then, he presses a heated bronze point into the bone.  As the temperature shifts, the bone cracks.

The diviner examines the cracks.  He looks up to his king and smiles.  "We will have a successful hunt today."  The bone is handed to the Inscriber, who etches into the bone the date, the question, and the answer.

This is some of our earliest knowledge about civilizations in China: Oracle Bones from the Shang Dynasty.

There are two primary river basins in China: the Huang He, or Yellow River, and the Yangtze River.  The Shang Dynasty grew from the An-yang River, north of the Yellow River (Huang He), and defines the period from 1600-1100 BC.  The Oracle Bones, as described above, are one of the earlier written records of Chinese civilization, and due to their meticulous detail, provide some valuable insight into the culture of the dynasty and how that culture has grown, adapted, and shifted over the years.

It's interesting to note, that the inscriptions on oracle bones can be interpreted by modern scientists because the Chinese written language has actually stayed fairly constant across the millenia.

In another life, one where I had more attention to detail and tolerance for minutiae and repetition, I was probably an anthropologist.  The demands of scientific rigor just don't suit me.

Zaijian (goodbye, literally "see again"),

-L

Don't mind me, I'm just Babeling

The New Yorker inquires about Hyperpolyglots

I've long known that polyglots were a thing.  I've known a couple over the years.  I've known that in regions of high cultural exchange (Turkey, for some reason, being among the first examples that springs to mind, though much of Europe also qualifies), it's not only common but almost necessary for people to be polylingual.  A casual example in the article shows a cab driver who speaks to different groups in his social circle in about five different languages total, none of which is the English he uses professionally.

Some small part of me, whenever I hear about this, is somewhat disappointed in America.  A hub of the entire world, culturally and economically, and we're the ones to NIMBY the fuck out of everyone. "You're in America, we speak English."  Linguistic gatekeeping.

It is what it is.  It's one of many things I'm sort of pulling away from by leaving.  And I know, of course, this attitude isn't unique to the US.  Brexit is borne of the same attitude.

This is getting rambly and aggressively political.  Apologies.  I'll try to drift back to the more personal, and positive.

I don't believe I have the discipline, nor the energy, and certainly not the disposable income, to dedicate hours in a day to meticulous and regimented study of language.  Nor do I have the social fluidity to go out and just engage with people like the primary 'source' in the article does.  What I do know is that I pick things up remarkably quickly when I have the right input.  I know that in most of my language classes dating back to first grade, I've outpaced most of my peers and at times stymied my teachers.  Mom told me some years ago that after my first year at a bilingual English/Spanish school, the teachers were struggling to find a place for me that would balance my educational/academic needs and pace with the sheer rapidity with which I was picking up Spanish.

Damned if I remember more than five words of it, of course.

That's the privilege of being American: I learn English and the rest of the world sort of bends around me to meet it.  That's changing as the US becomes less of a dominant superpower, and globalization introduces focal areas and specializations from a wider variety of countries.

I don't remember when I first began dreaming of having a dazzling command of languages.  Of being able to speak to almost anyone in their native tongue, or in a shared additional.  I remember a scene in the book "Left Behind," wherein two characters goes to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.  There, a couple prophets have taken up residence preaching about the causes and results of the rapture and the greatest-ever need for God's presence (or something - it's been a long time).  One of the characters goes to a few different people in the crowd, converses with them in their L1, and learns that each is understanding the prophets in their native language.

And I remember thinking, holy shit I want that.  I want to be able to approach almost anyone and have a conversation fluidly or fluently with them.

In high school, there was a brief period where I was taking Latin, maintaining German, and self-teaching Russian all at once.  And it was pretty satisfying.
But while that interest hasn't waned, my extroversion has.  I'm less comfortable in groups, meeting new people, putting myself out there than I ever have been.  Too many years of comfortable seclusion.

It is my strongest intention to change that.  Not necessarily to become an extrovert - I'm not sure that can be changed.  But to resist that inertial isolation and push myself to engage in foreign ways.

Harbin is, as I believe I mentioned elsewhere, often recognized as one of the best places to learn Mandarin, due to its relatively 'pure' dialect ("putonghua"); as an analogy, consider the "universal dialect" or "neutral dialect" practiced by broadcasters and news reporters - that is essentially the "putonghua" of the US.

What I've also realized, however, is that due to the political history of the region and proximity to other countries, it's entirely likely that Harbin will also be an excellent place to learn both Russian and Japanese.  Atop that, TEFL teachers can come from several different countries - basically any where English is the native/national language.  A quick google search turned up this Quora answer, wherein one can see that English is frequently alongside other languages in many other countries as a 'national language.'  A TEFL teacher from South Africa is not unheard of, despite this reply suggesting they have eleven recognized national languages.

The opportunity to learn is considerable.  And from my conversations with current teachers at the school where I'm headed, there is a reasonable amount of free time during most weeks.

TEFL can take me all over the world.  My desire to learn languages might drive me beyond China; depending on how I like the city (or the country) and how much the actual exposure and opportunity to learn draw my brain out of its shell...

Well...there's a reason I've told everyone who asks, "I have no idea how long I'll be gone."

'Til next time.  Zaijian (goodbye)

-L