A Few "Recountations"

It's kind of funny that since I've been back in the "States" (as of the 7th), I often catch myself saying things like "well, in Japan they..." or "you know, in China they..." I pat myself on the back when this happens, because if nothing else, it shows me I learned something from my trip. Granted, I probably don't know all that much more about China or Japan since the time I left, but it feels like I do, and that's pretty damn satisfying. Plus, I get to say stuff like "in the States they..." when I'm abroad, which is cool in its own right, since I really do know what they do here. Before I left I had the grandiose impression that I was a mini-ambassador for this country, that I had to go out there and show everyone I ran into how damn awesome we are, that whenever I had any encounter, I wanted to leave people with an impression that Americans are good, honest, and cool people. If I accomplished this even on a small scale, than my trip was a raging success. If not, well, then I still had a great time.

First off, I sort of get annoyed when people say stuff like "oh, so you got laid right?" And then when I go, "no, I don't 'get laid' when I go on trips" they kind of roll their eyes at me, tilt their heads, and act as if I'm out of my mind. I don't travel with the intention of meeting stange women and then bedding them (yes, I just said "bedding") like some Jewish 007 (hey, you know what they say about Jewish guys and bedding, and if you don't, than look it up). I don't understand why this is expected of me and why it's such a disappointment to people when it doesn't happen. Yes, I know lots of guys travel with this intention or hope, and while I'm not saying that it's never crossed my mind (at least in the past), I really haven't cared for this approach since I was, I don't know, 19. I'm the dude who goes to Cancun (twice) with the goal of relaxing, on the beach, mudslide in hand, with the knowledge that I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, and that it's all included in the price I paid. Everything else seems irrelevant and, I'll say it, petty. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it doesn't seem to matter to me.

So now that I've got that out of the way, we can talk about my intentions for the trip. I took the Bar, and I wanted to travel to new and exciting places. I have a list, for a while it's been a mental one, and of late I actually put it to paper, of the places I really need/want to visit. China and Japan were at the top of that list, now their crossed off, and all I can think about is the next trip I can take (that is, after I recover from the increased fear of flying I've developed). Why China and Japan? Well, because I'm a history buff and an information fiend, and I love to see and experience all those things I've read about since I was a kid. Sure, I planned a very "touristy" trip for myself, but I don't regret that for a second. I'm not one to be a great adventurer on my own, and I think it's actually pretty damn efficient to go the touristy rout, especially when you have 4 days in each of your major stops. I know I left every city I visited with the feeling that I saw everything I wanted to see there, and actually had too much time left over. I'm very much a mover, and I don't like to be stuck in a place when I feel I've explored it thoroughly, which is why if I have any criticism of the trip, it's that I could have used my 16 days to hit up one or two more major destinations (perhaps Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lampur, somewhere in Thailand), rather than be bored on day four at each of the places I visited.

Still, there's little that could have made my trip better, given the circumstances of travelling on my own, which, while satisfying in its own way, was also relatively draining and prevented me from having certain experiences (such as more thoroughly exploring the night scene at each of my cities). You see, I just can't bring myself to go out on my own. At one point I played with the idea that I'd be going out to bars and clubs at night, meeting the "natives" that way as well as during the daylight hours. But that never really came to be. Once I chilled at a bar in the Roppongi district in Japan, but it was pretty lame, and I got home by midnight that evening. Otherwise I totally skipped out on the at least somewhat renowned Shanghai night scene, and I never treated myself to a fancy dinner at some amazing restaurant. While these things would have definitely enhanced my trip, at no point did I feel like they were a necessity or one of the reasons of my going. But regardless, in the future, I think it would be cool to have at least one travel companion to help me enjoy this aspect of visiting new places. I never intended to go it alone on this trip, but that's just how things worked out, and I'm really happy with myself that I made myself go alone despite knowing how different it would probably be.

So as far as specifics go, I think I talked about Japan enough, so maybe I should mention some stuff that went down in China.

First stop was Beijing which, almost expectedly, I found to be a relatively dirty city. Yes, it has its charms, and since I was staying in a pretty central location, I didn't have to face most of its seedier side, but even 30 minutes from Tiananmen Square, the third-world nature of the place was very apparent. A thick gas cloud hangs over the crowded city, as tons of construction sites run into the night, raising white clouds of dust into the air, like a constant machine feeding the smog. My hotel, more specifically, was about 10 minutes away from the main shopping street, a small strip dubbed the Chinese Fifth Avenue. Walking into a few of the pricey stores there, I didn't see anyting that was really all that affordable. Figuring that most people in China probably don't make enough to buy Rolex and Chanel and Georgio Armani, I kind of realized that this "Chinese Fifth Avenue" was pretty much exclusively for the wealthy and the foreigners that usually stay right around it. Kind of like my hotel, which offered pretty Western prices ($18 for continental breakfast, $5 for a beer at the bar), but then you leave and walk a block away, and you can get a fish dinner for $4.

One thing that did impress me on that first day in Beijing was the hugeness of everything. Beijing is so spread out and so big that they have the room to make their streets highway-size. When I first saw Tiananmen Square I was taken by its enormous scale. We're talking a street, about 12 lanes wide, running right in front of that deified of deified's portrait. Mao stares out coyly at the chaos on that street, as bikers weave alongside cars and honking echoes from every direction, since it seems the smallest offense entitled drivers to pound on their horns. I can't even tell you how many times the driver I was with started honking at pedestrians who were crossing because it was there light. That and, basically, it's driver's right of way, so don't assume it's safe to cross the street jut because your light is green. Also, I found myself cringing at all those bikers, since most of them were parents shuttling around little children who precariously sat on those little racks that old bikes have right behind the seat, feet dangling in the air as they stared at the cars racing past them only a few inches away. The Square itself was also enormous, to the point where I don't know any other open space that big that I've ever seen within a City. I think it is, in fact, the largest city square in the world.

Interestingly enough, that first day in Beijing I got "picked up" by two students who obviously noticed I was a foreigner. I knew of this happening from prevbious experiences of my own and from stories of friends who have been to China. Students that want to practice their English will unabashedly approach you with the hope of engaging in conversation for a near-uncomfortable amount of time. And almost like clockwork, literally minutes after I left my hotel that first time, I was approach by a guy and girl who started chatting me up. At first I was a bit suspicious, because I'm a New Yorker and people don't just come up to you and start chatting because they want to be your friend. But why the hell can't that be the case? I mean I do look pretty harmless, or so I think, so why shouldn't someone just want the great pleasure of experiencing my company, without housing any ulterior motives?

So they started talking with me, and happened to be walking in my direction, so I engaged in conversation, and soon I felt comfortable with them. They were gracious enough to answer all my questions about the immediate area and point me in the right direction for the things I wanted to see. When they first ran into me they invited me to accompany them to an authentic Chinese tea ceremony, but I was iffy about it. Yet by the time they were ready to head their own way, I felt more inclined to accompany them. So we went off, away from the more developed part of the the center to a downtrodden area merely a few blocks away. Suddenly the scenery went from an almost unnatural lack of trash to a place where buildings were abandoned and/or collapsing, where a young girl lay on the street, looking youthful and pretty from the waist up, but having black feet with missing toes and decaying skin, a clear sign of lepersy that I'd only ever imagined from reading about in the Bible or watching "Ben Hur."

Eventually we came to a little tea house, hidden at the back of a candy store. We made our way up and soon found ourselves in the midst of a traditional Chinese tea experience. The three of us had our own room and our own host, who sat behind a large table shaped out of one large piece of wood, and made to look like a table out of a forest king's own dining room. It was basically still a tree, but now also a table.

She started passing around different teas, and explaining to us how to sniff them, how to taste them, how to hold our cups, etc. We went through eight amazing teas and only got marginal quantities of them, enough for about 6 sips apiece. It was like a wine tasting tour, except it ended up being a lot more expensive. When the bill came it was $65 a person! I was like, "what the hell?" Here I am in China, expecting everything to be affordable, and somehow I manage to come across the most expensive thing ever. Who ever heard of $65 tea ceremonies? If you combined all that tea together I'd probably only get about a cup and a half out of it. I also didn't get how these poor students could afford such a price. It was explained to me that this sort of ceremony happens only one every few years and so the price was expected to be on the high side, and therefore not unusual for them. I was forced to suck it up and dish out a credit card since I didn't have enough cash on me. Upon our leaving, I noticed the price list inconspicuously displayed on the entry wall, so I guess I just didn't pay attention to it since I couldn't ever imagine paying so much for tea. In any case, I couldn't help but feel that maybe I had been scammed, but there really wasn't anything to give that indication. When all was said and done, the students invited me to continue on the next leg of their trip, to have dinner, but I determined that I couldn't afford to eat so well that night. We exchanged contact info and headed our seperate ways.

One other thing I found interesting about the whole encounter was the litle discussion I tried to start about culture and politics. I asked them whether they were able to talk about or criticize the government, and with some regret and annoyance (or so I imagined) the guy said that they were only allowed to talk of the government in a good light. He asked how it was back in the States and I told him we could say whatever we wanted about the government, that everyone was entitled to his/her own opinion. He asked if I liked this and, of course, I said I did, that I look foward to lively discussions and debates with my friends over the things we care about. He seemed curious about it, and added that in the country, they only had access to certain types of news channels and that in the hotels, I was able to get things like CNN and BBC that they didn't have access to. I asked him how he felt about that, and he said he was very curious, that he wanted to hear what people in other countries were saying. And so I was kind of impressed by all this. Here was some random dude, living in a country that often suppresses peoples' free speech, and he was telling me about this underlying curiosity to look past the things presented to the people. I don't know how wide-spread this sentiment is amongst the general population, or probably more importantly the students, but it was nice to see. I used it as an example how, wherever you are in the world, whateve rculture or political system you come from, there's always this underlying curiosity to find the truth, to not just trust everything you're told. I don't know if this is an American conception or a natural human approach, but in either case, it was refreshing to see.

So after we left and I made it clear how expensive I thought that experience was, the guy also added that in China, people would keep such sentiment to themselves, that they wouldn't say such comments in the company of others. This kind of frustrated me since I'm all about openly-expressed sentiment, especially when it comes to my displeasure (as those of you who know me and who've read this blog for a few years probably know). I have to admit, I wasn't too enthused to imagine myself living in such a culture. Fine, so maybe I say way too much and don't often have tact about what's proper to say when, but the idea of keeping quiet about stuff like that would really bug me. And so I guess this really is the place where I belong.