Prisoner of Shangri-la

When all said and done, somehow every journey begins and ends in the same place: home. I have been back in the States going on 3 weeks now, and the transition has not been easy. Perhaps more than a part of me was unwilling to return so quickly; I seem to have left my immune system on another continent. My health can be summed up by a stomach bug followed by a virus followed by a cold followed by a spasming back. How much of health is psycho-somatic?

Certainly there are great things about being back home, being together with family and friends, all the amenities of a comfortable 1st world life, the Wii, organic foods. My job for the next year or more will to succeed my mother in the family land development business, a task to which I have taken willfully as a shouldering of filial responsibility rather than passionate interest. But I have no regrets, it was my choice and the future is always malleable.  

With this last entry, I retire the "Prisoner of Shangri-la," which from the onset was meant to be a metaphor for the seeker who is trapped by his own concepts of the world around him, the thinker who takes his thoughts much too seriously. Although I am still him, I must turn to live in that world of concepts, to engage and dialogue with it, to take it very seriously…though I hope still with a touch of humor and spaciousness. Will the prisoner ever be free?

Indeed it is time for an update. Quite a bit has happened in the last two weeks, I’m slightly at a loss to cover all of it here. Besides, what is memory but a patchwork of sequenced sensory inputs and the accompanying thought fodder? That said here’s the breakdown:

Jason’s Wedding in Hawaii

Beautifully simple and elegant down to the last flower arrangement and table runner. I wonder when the first little Fujimoto’s will be running around….

Camel Riding in Inner Mongolia

Only a 7hr bus ride from Beijing, 2 friends and I braved a cheap tour to bring you this stunning photo from a 4-star tourist attraction desert oasis. It was fun, and lots of it!

The other things I’ve been up to have been taking classes and (now) starting to plan the trip home at the end of this month. There’s one really big thing I want to do before going back to VA, and that’s a few days in Lhasa. We’ll see if it happens.

lake-side Summer Palace, originally uploaded by grimlockq.

6 days in Beijing. Only one more day left. We’ve done and seen it all! Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Lama Temple….and the list continues. Overall its been exhausting but also eye opening, especially for my Dad I think. This is his first time out of the country, finally returning to the land he was born 55 years later. And I don’t think its be easy for him, physically or mentally. At the same time I’m sure a couple weeks from now, I think he’ll realize how important this trip was for him. Until then, I’ll hold my own reflections…

…for more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grimlockq/

Mao’s Mausaleum, originally uploaded by grimlockq.

Dad made it! This is living proof, a picture infront of Mao’s Memorial Hall (i.e. where they keep is shriveling preserved body). T’was rather smoggy today, but nothing new for a Beijing summer day. Oh, and we weren’t allowed to see Mao’s body because of renovations to this museum you see behind. I guess I’ll just have to be content with his staring into his portrait. More photos, just click on the picture and follow your nose….

"Old Beijing", originally uploaded by grimlockq.

While this should not be taken to represent all of Bejing city folk, there are a select and brave few who will take large scissors to their big toe nail. Now here for your viewing wonderment.

Recently I’ve been figuratively banging my head against the edifice of “Classical Chinese” 古代汉语 resulting in headaches and frequent naps. Specifically we’ve been reading the “Spring Autumn” 春秋 by Zuo Qiu Ming 左丘明 (I’m told that this is a very famous history book). Paradoxically, it’s extremely facinating on the one hand, and utterly boring on the other. I suppose its the content that is putting me to sleep: Emperor of such and such place marries princess of such and such place. They have sons of such and such name, one of which was born backwards and thus everyone hated him (yeah, I don’t quite get that either). Then the sons squabble over the throne from which one successfully defeats the other, etc, etc. The facinating part is how each character is so rich with meaning, culture, and history not just in the way it is used, but the strokes that are used to write it.

之 曰 为 以

These are just some important characters that can have many different meanings based on context. (Left to Right: “zhi1″ “yue1″ “wei4″ “yi3″). I suppose my purpose in studying classical Chinese is to strengthen my foundation in the language by building from the bottom, not just adding more vocab, grammer, etc. from the top. The world of Chinese characters is such a vast edifice!

I must have been a farmer in a past life. Or maybe its just the Chinese in me but give me a couple mountains, a little stream, and a vegetable patch and somehow the world is just fine. But it wasn’t just the natural environment. First a little back story.

Ricky’s adopted parents own a house in a small village (population <1000) about 70km north of Beijing. So, to celebrate the holiday (dubbed “wu yi” or “five one” or May 1st ) we headed out there to relax and enjoy the scenery. At times I felt like “this is how it should be,” 10 people (friends and extended family) all living together under one roof, cooking together, eating together (which was most of the day) and generally enjoying an easy, quiet life.

me and someone’s mom

painting in a field.

And finally a day trip the great wall!

At what point do we become so driven by our goals (no matter how noble they may be), that we forget our basic humanity; that we cease to see that humanity as anything worth cherishing. Instead of always laughing at  something, can we laugh just because there is something delightful about life? Instead of always picturing a brighter future, can we just be stand still without feeling the world is passing us by? Instead of merely focusing on the result, can we understand that how we get there means everything?

I suppose I’ve been examining my values in the face of the many seductions of Beijing life - the nightlife, the interesting people and places, the exchange rate. And while I may not be able to say this in the future, I can say it now: only the outer conditions have changed.

Rash healed up nicely a few days after it started. Still don’t know what it was though.

Headed out to the Beijing suburbs with Ricky and his (adopted) parents for a couple days. It’ll be nice to get out of the city for a bit. Will try to take some pictures.

I’m so itchy right now. No seriously. I’ve had this rash thing since saturday…and I have no clue where it came from. Seems like a food allergy I’m not allergic to any foods that I know of. At least this makes meditation a tad more interesting (i.e. tingly).