Hello and Goodbye...

Well friends, tomorrow is the day! I take off on a train at Friday at 9:30 pm. Technically, tomorrow isn't really the most exciting day, since it will take about 50 hours to arrive in Tibet. Oh my God.

After 2 days of dirty hair and recycled air, we will arrive in pristine Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region. Originally, we were going to travel to Qinghai and Gansu, provinces in Tibet, but we collectively decided that we wanted to spend our 10 day fieldwork trip in Lhasa. Because of all the political unrest in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region), our trip has to be quite structured.  We must enter as "tourists" and are prohibited from doing any sort of research or fieldwork. We also must have a local tour-guide for the entirety of our stay. The one downside to going to Lhasa is we won't be allowed to do any home-stays. We will be staying in "hotels" for the 10 days we are there (based on our "hotel" the first weekend we arrived, I don't expect much!).

I'm sure that most of you are aware of the awful earthquake that hit Qinghai yesterday. It is quite lucky that we had decided to change our destination. A couple of us have spoken about trying to take a trip to Qinghai in a few weeks to help with the relief effort. Absolutely no planning has even been thought about, but it's definitely something we would like to look into. Since Minzu University hosts students from each of the 56 nationalities in China, there are many Tibetan students in the area, and I have many friends from the Qinghai provence. It's a horrible tragedy, so please keep Qinghai in your thoughts.

So, stay tuned for some incredible photos. At an altitude of almost 12,000 feet, my shots should be clear of that Beijing smog ;)

a quick video...

April 1...

Happy April Fool’s Day! In case you were wondering, yes, I have already been fooled. Here, it’s called 愚人节 (yu ren jie). I can’t believe that the month of April has already arrived. I have been in China for about a month and a half now. Time certainly does fly.

It’s been quite a while since my last update I realize. I have managed to keep every moment packed, and when I’m not busy, I’m trying to catch up on sleep. Let’s see where I last left off…

2 weekends ago the group of us headed down to 西安 (Xi’an), a city southwest of Beijing. We took the 12-hour overnight train, and luckily, I passed out right away due to an overly exciting St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We purchased hard sleepers for about $40USD for the journey there and back. Trains here have 4 options: Hard seats, soft seats, hard sleepers, and soft sleepers. In the cars with the hard sleepers, there are 6 beds triple stacked in each compartment (the compartments are all open). The quarters are definitely quite cramped, but surprisingly comfortable.  We arrived in 西安 around 7am on Friday and were picked up by someone from out Hostel.  We stayed at an international hostel just inside the city walls for, get ready for it, $4USD per night.  All 6 of us stayed in one room with 2 bunk beds and 2 singles, and shared a bathroom with 2 other rooms. We also got a complementary coffee in the morning and beer at night.  Definitely worth the splurge ;).  The day we arrived, we rented bicycles to ride around the city wall (one of those “must do” things), and enjoyed the beautiful 80 degree weather. We then ended up spending a long time in the Artist’s quarters, bargaining with local artists and observing artists work.  After our buying spree, we headed to the Sheraton Hotel to meet one of the girl’s dads who was in town on business.  We had dinner with him and his associates- probably the biggest meal I’ve had in my life.  Everything was absolutely delicious, except for the 56% alcohol drink that we were expected to drink for the numerous toasts throughout the evening.  I’m almost positive they ordered one of everything on the menu, and to top it all off, we were served a 5lb birthday cake at the end of the elaborate meal.  We all slept like babies that night.

Saturday morning we woke up and were taken to see the famous Terracotta Warriors.  We first went to the factory where they manufacture authentic replicas and were again reminded of the consumerism that exists absolutely everywhere.  The site of the warriors itself is always mobbed with tourists, so it definitely wasn’t my favorite activity.  Despite the blatant commercialism, it was incredibly impressive to see the warriors up close.  After our tour we ended up by the Big Goose Pagoda, wandering around, bargaining with more street vendors.  We continued our wandering back to the hostel where we picked up our things and headed to the train station.  At the station in 西安, we were definitely the only westerners.  I felt like I was walking around naked, I was stared at so much.  A very interesting experience.  While we waited for our train, we continued to attract attention. At one point, we had about 25 Chinese people surrounding us, trying to speak English, speaking to us in Chinese, and just listening.  We ended up in the same car as a few young men and talked with them for quite some time. Lots of good language practice!

Now that I’m writing about it, it seems like an extremely short trip. I suppose it was, it was definitely a good one J

I won’t bore you with my daily life, but I will share a few more things.  Last week Dan took us to a Tibetan performance.  For those of you who have been to an “authentic” Luau, it was basically the same thing, but Tibetan.  Overpriced, a bit gaudy, but trying to bring a bit of the Tibetan people to mainstream China (the tourist population, that is).  We all wore traditional Tibetan dress (yes, we always want to attract more attention to ourselves), which was quite uncomfortable (socially speaking). Despite that, the food was great and the music, singing and dance were quite entertaining.  A few of us ended up getting some of the performer’s numbers, and our interactions have been quite a trip.  All of the performers are young Tibetans (19-30) and speak very little if any English.  I ended up spending time with one named Lousan, an incredibly talented singer and dancer.  Lousan speaks zero English, so I really had to be on top of my game with my Mandarin.  I should have known to back off when he wouldn’t stop saying, “我很喜欢你。真的真的。我不骗你！(I really like you. I’m not lying!). Over and over I would respond, “对不起，我不喜欢你。我不想要男朋友。我只住在北京四个月。(Sorry, I don’t like you. I don’t want a boyfriend. I’m only living in Beijing for 4 months). Despite my blatant aversion to him, he has continued, for a week, to ask me why I don’t like him, and call me over and over when I don’t answer his text messages.  It’s incredibly frustrating because what I know how to say is very limited, and I don’t know how to tell him exactly why I don’t want to be his girlfriend.  Finally, last night, a Chinese friend helped me write out something to him, and he called me “cheap” and has decided to stop talking to me. Ah well. 

Life is good, dance is good, and my language is rapidly improving.  Now if only we could have some sun… J

March 15th...

I’ve been thinking a lot about how different these 4 months are going to be from most study abroad experiences in, say, Europe.  I don't really have the ability to travel all over the continent, taking wild weekend trips wherever I so choose. The main goal (not necessarily my MAIN goal, but a very big one) and necessity here is to learn the language.  I suppose it is possible to get around and navigate without it, but the pleasure is lessened if you aren’t able to share your experiences or interact with local Chinese (or if you literally can't find where you want to go because no one can understand you).

I find it quite hard to be patient. I know that I have to spend a lot of time studying and building up my vocabulary, but I just want so badly to be able to have a full conversation with the people I meet who don’t speak English.  Last weekend we all went out to see LDTX II perform.  I’m mainly working with the first company so this was my first encounter with these 16 dancers.  They are all college graduates, a few of Minzu Daxue, many of Beijing Dance Academy.  The reparatory was mixed with a few pieces choreographed by the 1^st company dancers.  From what the director, Willy Tsao, insinuated to me, I was expecting a sort of amateur performance from dancers fresh from the classic Chinese folk dance world.  What we received was anything but this.  The dancers held such emotional power on stage and were quite well versed in “contemporary vocabulary”.  There was a huge range of music, theme, and emotion presented, which created a very satisfying and well-rounded program.  My frustration arose when we attended the question and answer segment with Willy and the dancers after the program.  I could understand a few words here and there, but was not able to piece anything together coherently.  I know that I can’t expect to be able to understand, but it’s so hard not to. My wonderful ethnic dance teacher Liu Liu did some translating for me, but it’s impossible to expect someone to translate an entire conversation.  I know it takes patience,…and I am trying to slowly develop it. Slowly… J

I also went to a reggae show last week with a few friends at a great music venue called  愚公移山 （YuGong YiShan).  There is a lot of live music happening around here, it’s just a matter of finding it and translating the information! I thought of you, lovely roommate Ashley, because Peaches is coming to town in a few weeks. 

This weekend, LiuLiu took myself and 2 other girls to a performance at the Poly Theater.  It’s this incredibly grand theater downtown with a stage practically three times bigger than I have ever seen dance performed on.  It was the equivalent of a story ballet, but instead of ballet as the dance form, it was Chinese Folk Dance (Muslim based).  Because the arts (for the most part) are government controlled, the budget is gigantic.  You would not believe the elaborate costumes, set design, music, and lighting (cameras, unfortunately, prohibited).  The dancing was sort of a mix between Chinese Folk dancing and ballet inspired modern.  It was very Busby Berkeley-esque, with what seemed like hundreds of dancers creating mesmerizing patterns across the stage.  The dancers were very technically skilled, especially the principal male.  His movement seemed inspired by a mixture of ballet, acrobatics, martial arts, and Chinese folk dance.  He was incredibly strong and lithe, sprinting across the huge stage without making a sound.  The performance was full of drama and exaggerations, but was incredible to watch.  It reminded me of the value of the corps de ballet.  In my dancing I have been so focused on individual discovery and creating myself as a dancer, I often forget of the wonder that can be created in simplicity through symmetry and unison.  The performance ended with a long set of bows, directors in Chinese official soldier’s uniforms, and enormous bouquets of flowers lining the stage for photos and film opportunities.  It was quite a spectacle!

This coming weekend, we (the 5 other girls in my program and I) are all going to Xi’an!  We are leaving Thursday night, taking the 12 hour overnight train.  I think we arrive around 7am Friday Morning.  We haven’t made specific plans for Friday yet, but we might rent bikes and ride the wall surrounding the city (apparently a really beautiful ride). We’re staying in an international hostel Friday night (the equivelent of $7.50 US per night for a bed, free wi-fi, coffee in the morning and a beer a night), and will spend Saturday visiting the home of the Terracotta Warriors.  We will take the Saturday night train back to Beijing and arrive sometime early Sunday morning.  I’m sure the weekend will have all sorts of other exciting things to share later J

Ah yes, as far as dance developments…I still don’t have a set schedule and probably won’t for the next 4 months.  Whenever I feel that I can skip class, I head down to take class with LDTX (unfortunately not as often as I would like).  There are a few studios around that offer open classes so I’ve been trying to get a good schedule worked out with those locals (again, the language barrier is very difficult), and I have a studio at Minzu that is open to me a few days a week.  I’ve started to give myself class, which takes quite a bit if discipline…but it’s working out alright J.  Along with these open classes, next weekend, a new-ish company, Tao Body Theater, is beginning weekend workshops.  They are offering a set of 3 classes, 1 per weekend, rolling for the next few months.      

Here is a bit of their mission…

         Creation is one of humanity’s most basic abilities. In the face of boredom, creation shakes us; when we lose direction creation points out a new path. In the process of creating, we somehow overcome the barriers that contain us in everyday life, and we overcome ourselves.

         Tao Body Theater was founded in March, 2008, in Beijing and is currently composed of three independent artists. Although three individuals, we are brought together by a shared longing. Art is humanity’s creation! What we long for is to use “the body” to create. Each body has its unique secrets, and through rigorous, sincere, and exploratory corporal research, we hope to stretch the boundaries of the flesh, and in this process of excavation to discover the body’s unknown possibilities.

         This exploration of the body and its possibilities has, for us, a kind of sacredness, because in the process of using the body to create, we have found our own faith. In our pursuit of the corporeal, our spirit becomes free.

         Tao Body Theater has always devoted itself to the exploration of “body education.” Tao Body Theater has been invited to teach at the Central University of Nationalities, Beijing Language University, Shaanxi Normal University, Yan’an University, Henny Jurriens

Stichting, etc. Tao Dance Studio has also offered open classes and workshops at Beijing Nine Theaters, Fanxing Theater Village, Contemporary MOMA Art Center, etc.

Course Type

1: Concepts Class

         Participants: Participants of all ages and professions          welcome.

         Content: Through the use of games, we will open up and          excavate the possibilities of the body, allowing each          participant to experience freedom and creativity.

2: Theater/Performance Class

         Participants: All theater/performance hobbyists and          professionals with some physical creative ability and

         expressive ability are welcome to attend.

         Content: Liberation of natural instincts, voice and          body training, use of words to guide improvisation.

3: Body Technique Class

         Participants: Choreographers, performers and students          with a foundation in professional dance training.

         Content: Development of bodily technique in muscle and          joint movement fluidity.

And the best part about it? These classes are free! This group of dancers is really trying to create a community in Beijing of like-minded dancers. I am incredibly excited to become a part of it. And many thanks to Emily Wilcox for letting me know about this wonderful opportunity! She is a PHD candidate at UC Berkeley who spent last semester doing research at Minzu Daxue.  She happened to know Dan Smyer Yu (my program director) and Sarabeth Burman (the program directory of LDTX). What a small and wonderfully interconnected world.

I’m also going to start working on putting together a piece with LiuLiu (my ethnic dance teacher). She is trained in all the ethnic minority dances of China but is absolutely in love with modern dance.  She wants to create a sort of “East meets West” piece.  We are in the very beginning stages, but I’m sure I will have more to share soon!

If any of you happen to be in Shanhai for the World Expo, look me up! I will be there for 6 nights and performing on the 18^th and 19^th with Beijing Dance/LDTX. 

Take care all J

The dancing begins...

Hellooo friends. It’s Saturday, 4pm, and I am sitting in the internet café again. Our building has been in the dark ages all week, so I must resort to this smoky environment in which I can access the web (Actually, now, it’s really Sunday that I am posting this. The internet café failed me so I couldn’t actually post this online).

I had my first 2 days of rehearsal with LDTX this week.  As a result, I feel like someone just used me as a punching bag. Going 3 weeks without dance class then jumping into 6 hours of rehearsal is definitely not the smartest idea I’ve had. Nonetheless, I had a really great 2 days. On Thursday I left my apartment around 8:30am to brave the long commute to Shuangjing. It takes all of an hour to get down to the studios because of the 3 subway transfers I have to do. Luckily I have my Chinese lessons on CD so I can do some studying while I am packed like a sardine into the subway. Sarabeth met me at the station in Shuangjing and walked with me over to the studios to meet the dancers. She showed me around a bit, but had to get back to the offices (the new LDTX facility is under construction so they are rehearsing at Beijing Song and Dance Troupe right now). I took ballet class with everyone from 10-11:30, then we rehearsed from 11:45 to 5:30 with an hour lunch break.

I am working with the 1^st company right now, which has 13 dancers- 7 male and 6 female. I think there is one 22 year old and the rest are 25 to 40. I’m definitely the baby of the group! And, as expected, the tallest as well. Ah, such is life. When they took my measurements on Friday for costuming, I scanned all of the other female measurements, especially the height, inseam, shoulder width…Let’s just say it’s a good thing they are creating new costumes for this piece! This week we worked with 2 choreographers from Hong Kong on the piece we will present in Shanghai in June at the Expo. The kind of work we did was really familiar to me. Lots of improvisation, creating our own phrases, putting them with other phrases, etc. The only difference was that all communication happened in Mandarin. Just a small difference, really (I hope you noticed that was dripping with sarcasm). I definitely don’t speak Chinese. However, the combination of body language and my small vocabulary made for a surprising level of movement comprehension! Also, very luckily, the 2 choreographers speak English. Though they do speak, the company members don’t (a few can speak a bit, but no one actually uses the language). When the choreographers did translate for me, it was just a few words or sentences, not as eloquent as their descriptions in Chinese. But, despite that little barrier, I really was able to fit myself into the dancing and understand the directions we were all given.

While communication through dance is not incredibly difficult, socializing is quite a different story. Not only have I stepped into a world of an unfamiliar language, I have stepped into a professional company, a family already established. If my observations are correct, the 13 dancers in the main company have a very similar relationship to my dance family at LINES. We are all so close that adding a new body into the mix always calls for a bit of hesitation. Now just imagine not being able to verbally communicate…Mhmmmm, not so easy. Willy Tsao (the artistic director of LDTX, City Contemporary Dance Center in Hong Kong, and GuangDong Modern dance company) introduced me to everyone, but all they know is,

Zhe shi Rachael, ta shi Meiguo ren. Ta zai Minzu Daxue xuexi Hanyu…

(This is Rachael, she is from America and is studying Chinese at Minzu University…I couldn’t understand the rest of what he said).

I cannot expect to become “one of them”. At least not right now.  Maybe when the language barrier is thinner than a concrete wall.  It is really only difficult for social reasons.  If I didn’t care about having personal relationships with these people, it wouldn’t matter.  But that, fortunately, is not the case. 

Despite the tough stuff, I am incredibly impressed with the dancers. I can really see the age and experience in everyone (in a good way). It makes me understand why companies don’t want to work with dancers who haven’t had much professional experience. There is a level of confidence and assurance that these dancers have, and it is noticeable when they are dancing and even smoking outside (yes, all but 1 or 2 smoke in the alcove right outside of the studio. Definitely something to get used to. I have kind of come to terms with the fact that all of my clothing perpetually smells like cigarettes.) There is also a sort of level of natural professionalism that exists within the company. As I mentioned before, they all seem very close, so there is a lot of goofing around and laughter. But even with this, they are always 100% present in their dancing and choreographic task. The dancers are there because they want to dance, not because anyone is making them. I suppose these are all assumptions, but…that’s all I have to offer until I can actually talk to them :P. 

Thursday I went through moments of feeling quite defeated. I really just wanted to talk to the dancers, tell them why I was there, what I wanted to learn from them, what my experience was, etc, and I wanted to hear about them and what their experiences were.  Again, something I have to come to terms with right now- very limited verbal communication. I mostly felt this way during our breaks and lunchtime. I ended up just keeping to myself, writing in my journal, getting come coffee. It’s very easy to be shy when you can’t use your words to express yourself.  As most of you know, I always talk about the fact that words are my most valuable form of communication. Welllllll, too bad for me, I need to find a new way to communicate! No, I shouldn’t say it’s too bad for me; it is definitely a good thing. It’s just hard to adjust to, to not able to ask questions, tell people what I need, etc. BUT, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Friday was much better as far as socializing goes. One of the newer dancers, Li Heng, came and sat with me while I was scanning through my dictionary (pathetic, I know J). He literally doesn’t speak a word of English, but somehow, we had a small conversation. I managed to tell him how old I was and that I couldn’t come to class and rehearsals every day because I have language classes.  He then offered to be my “hanyu laoshi” (Chinese teacher) and I offered my services as his “yingwen laoshi” (English teacher). During our lunch break, he invited me to the cafeteria with some of the dancers and I ate with 4 of the company men and the 2 choreographers. Sigh of relief . It made me feel so much better that someone took an initiave to include me (especially since I couldn’t manage to do it myself).

Though my body is in serious pain, I had a great 2 days of dancing and all of the inescapable exposure to Chinese is really good for my language skills. I am pleased to be bruised and sore again, and feel really good about getting back into the studio. I’m also supposed to be working a bit with Liu Liu, my ethnic dance teacher, creating some sort of piece. Apparently, there is a “competition” between international students, so my program is putting together some sort of program of pieces- from classic Chinese dances to awful American pop culture dance, it should be embarrassingly entertaining.

And now, the evening calls. Take care all J

Update!

I will post some photos later. I just spent a long time setting them up and my webpage crashed. Poo. Enjoy :):)

Hello!

Ok! I've finally gotten access to blogspot. This censorship thing is definitely a challenge to get used to. After struggling to find a free proxy server or vpn (verified private network), I ended up paying $30 to have access to a VPN for 3 months. Basically, it allows me to access a private network based in San Francisco so I can surf the web freely. Thank goodness.

SO

I have been here for one week now. The flight here was incredibly long. 1.15 hr to Newark, then just short of 14 hrs to Beijing. Thank goodness for the in-flight entertainment of on demand movies and tv shows. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I somehow made my way through the Beijing airport, past the disease inspection, visa checkpoint, baggage claim, and customs, and met my 6 fellow CIEE program members. We were all shipped off to drop our things at the dorm, then met Dan, our program director for dinner. I think we had some Tibeten food that first night, but to be honest, I'm not sure. Since, we've eaten out almost every meal. Last night, my dinner cost 2 US dollars. About 16 yuan. It's going to be a rude awakening when I return to the states and have to pay an arm and a leg for my food. Ah well.

We arrived just in time to close out the Chinese New Year and celebrate Tibetan New Year. The fireworks are neverending, and quite frankly, I am very sick of them. They have been set off every night since I've been here, usually right outside of my room until past midnight. In theory, you are only allowed to use them between 7pm and midnight, but no one enforces that. I think the stands are finally beginning to sell out, though. To celebrate the last day of Chinese New Year, we were invited to one of the professor's homes to make jiaozi (dumplings). We spent the evening attempting to communicate in our broken Chinese, learning a bit of Tibetan dance, watching magic tricks with American "bicycle" cards, and preparing the jiaozi. The family was incredibly hospitable and friendly. For Tibetan New Year, we went to another family's home to eat baozi (also dumplings). Delicious :)

We spent Wednesday evening through Sunday doing orientation activities. Registration, campus tours, paying fees, taking the Mandarin placement test. I definitely know MUCH less Mandarin than I thought I did. It's one thing to practice vocabulary words and use them in a sentence, but when a local Beijinger speaks to you, things are completely different. I'm beginning to get used to using the few words I know to communicate, but I am basically illiterate for the time being. Luckily we are all very eager to learn the language and have lots of tutoring and speaking opportunities (along with 4 hours of Mandarin class a day!).

The first weekend we traveled about 2 hours north of Beijing to a slightly quieter section of the Great Wall (Mutianyu). It was absolutely beautiful. The day was a bit hazy and chilly, but with the thousands of steps we climbed, the wind was very much appreciated. We spent about 5 hours hiking the wall, and returned to our tiny rural "hotel" where we slept on a marble slab. Literally. The 6 of us (all women) slept 6 abreast on a big flat piece of stone covered with a few old comforters. And yes, all that you hear about toilets being nothing but holes in the ground is quite true. We are lucky to have real toilets in our apartments, but at all public bathrooms and most local restaurants, you must squat. We also were so lucky to have a photo of a naked asian woman on our bathroom wall. Complimentary, of course.

Now, on to the FOOD. Apparently, people in China don't cook much. At least not students. Like I said before, dinner usually costs around 2 US dollars. For lunch today, I had 2 large servings of jiaozi and baozi for 4 yuan each. Less than 2 US dollars. I have been eating breakfast in my apartment, but we all find something fun for lunch and dinner. We are in a great location, with restaurants and grocery stores lining the streets. We are also just about a 10 minute walk from the subway, which is incredible efficient, clean, and easy. Everything was revamped for the Olympics in 2008 so it's easy for those who don't speak Mandarin to navigate.

Sunday night, I met with a friend from the states who took me around his area of the city. It was quite refreshing to spend time with people who are familiar with Beijing and are bilingual. I definitely would recommend studying some Chinese before moving here! It is possible to figure things out, but unless you are in an extremely touristy or student populated area, you will find very few people who understand any English.

Classes began on Monday, and are going very well so far. At Minzu Daxue (Minzu University), there is a huge school of international education, so all of the international students take Mandarin together. My class has students from the US, Nepal, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, and a few others. Our teacher speaks very little English so we must speak almost entirely in the little Mandarin that we know.

As for dance, I meet with Willy Tsao on Friday. He is the artistic director of LDTX, and we will try to figure out how my schedule will work with the company. Looking at things now, it seems impossible, but after speaking with Dan, we are determined to make things work. Thank goodness for the subway! I will write again once we have had our meeting.

OK, I'm going to cut it there for now. Things are going really well here in Beijing. I am so happy that I was able to make this trip work, and am so excited to spend the next 4 months here.

Again, send your addresses :)