One of my favorite discoveries while in Beijing. Sanskrit:
Mandarin:
Incredible. I looked for her album in every music store I saw, but no one knew her. Ok, the truth is probably that I was butchering her name and they just couldn't understand. She has been called the Bjork of Asia..
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
East Bound
Guess who's going to China. One of my clients has a biennial meeting in Beijing from September 24 - 29th. Sonia and I head out next Sunday, so we'll have just over a week to explore the city before "work" begins. Unfortunately, my vacation day cupboard is barren, so it will have to be a very frugal trip to make up for not being paid for a week. I think it's worth it.
While ordering gifts for some of the Local Organizing Committee members I learned something interesting about Chinese culture. Apparently, they don't give clocks as gifts (which is really too bad because the clocks they were going to receive were really quite cool). One of my co-workers who grew up...somewhere in China or in a territory, was kind enough to offer the following advice:
"Here are some interesting things that you may enjoy knowing:
Clocks are definite NO NO for birthdays and as gifts to the elderly. I would just avoid it.
Gifts should never be wrapped on white paper and cards should not be written in red ink on white paper.
In case we do go back to the 80’s fashion, a white head band worn on the forehead is only for funerals (close relatives).
If giving gift cards, try to pick a colored envelope instead of white.
No mention of any type of sad news during someone’s birthday.
The number 4, which is pronounced “si”, sounds like the word “death” and is perceived as not a good number.
#8 is a good number as it is pronounced “ba” which is close “fa” for “fortune”.
When people pour you tea, tap tap the table with two fingers next to the cup. It is a way to say “thank you” (does not really matter how many fingers, but most use two =).
When ordering a whole fish for dinner, don’t flip the fish to get to the other side. Remove the spine/bone from top to get to the bottom flesh.
Do not leave your chopstick standing (i.e. in your rice bowl) as it mimics an incense ritual (done in funerals and to worship Gods). [<-- Same in Japan]
Burping and spitting are acceptable.
Unless you want to try, know that “special meat”, “aromatic meat”, or anything described as such means dog meat. You can tell if you are standing next to a roasted pork or dog by looking at the toes (sorry, don’t mean to gross you out, but I thought I’d tell you).
Traditions and beliefs vary from region to region, but those above are applicable to most. I am sure that most Chinese know not to expect people outside the culture to know all the traditions, some of us, like my mom does not care about most of them. My in-laws have traditions we never heard of, so do not worry about it too much.
Something to try, fresh stretched noodles made on demand. It is an art and it tastes so good!
Hope you have fun!"
Thanks Dina. We'll try!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Drive By Staring
In 9th grade drive by shootings were big. I mean BIG. My high school - no longer in existence today, at least as I knew it - was the school that started the Students Against Violence (SAV) movement nation-wide. I'm not bragging. It sucked. A bunch of kids - regular kids - got shot down for no reason right in front of my school. Gang shit, territory stuff; really stupid, and yet somehow very "normal." American even. Every year on Students Against Violence day, the most outspoken of all the victim's mothers came to our school and cried in front of the entire student body in the big auditorium.
The following summer I went to summer camp. I loved summer camp and had been going for years. It was a dork camp, a camp for smart kids (Psst: It was where all the cool kids went!). It was a camp where we would take classes with soon-to-be movie stars, take "nature walks" with councilors (read: cigarette breaks), and become acquainted with intelligent discourse and independent thought. Where I learned that you could hide wild berry vodka in fruit punch and exhale smoke into a pillow to avoid detection. I loved it. It was also the place that my friends and I (more my friends than I) began to talk about the "Drive By Staring."
It was a period of, what I would categorize as community devolution. Everyone became a potential threat (am I talking about the mid-1990s or today?), and all contact was to be avoided at all costs, even eye contact. What power, we thought to ourselves. Let's harness that shit, we said. Thus, the Drive By Staring was born.
The following summer I went to summer camp. I loved summer camp and had been going for years. It was a dork camp, a camp for smart kids (Psst: It was where all the cool kids went!). It was a camp where we would take classes with soon-to-be movie stars, take "nature walks" with councilors (read: cigarette breaks), and become acquainted with intelligent discourse and independent thought. Where I learned that you could hide wild berry vodka in fruit punch and exhale smoke into a pillow to avoid detection. I loved it. It was also the place that my friends and I (more my friends than I) began to talk about the "Drive By Staring."
It was a period of, what I would categorize as community devolution. Everyone became a potential threat (am I talking about the mid-1990s or today?), and all contact was to be avoided at all costs, even eye contact. What power, we thought to ourselves. Let's harness that shit, we said. Thus, the Drive By Staring was born.
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