Where to start! Shanghai Zoo! Panda bears, oh my gosh…. cutest things ever, I wanted to take one home. How many people own pandas….? Only the Chinese government. But I see why they are precious. So here are photos from the the zoo with my son Randy.
Today I am thinking not about our escapades or adventures around Shanghai or Nanjing, but about being single. Are you single? Then you know what I mean, when I say I hate being alone! Those of you that are married, will not understand, unless you have a marriage on the verge of disaster. Alone will drive you crazy. Ten days with Randy kept me so busy and happy I forgot what it was like to go back to just me. Alone, why did God create us as a separate individual? We search for the right one and hope we find that “soul mate.” I look at my friends Ann, Connie and Linda all married to their first love, all these years. I thought that would be me, not hardly. They have the best men ever, funny sweet and caring. So here I sit writing and listening to love ballads by Dixie Chicks and the men that “dun you wrong…” What happened to that dream, the one man that would be there forever. How did you girls do it? Tell me!
My wonderful single friends Joyce and Patti, what the hell did we do to end up single? We are the best catch ever! I know you two girls better than anyone in this whole world and I know your value. Let me tell you the men that let you go, were stupid or didn’t deserve you. And here I am again, single with you, the “Three Musketeers.” Girls where are our kindred souls? I think we must be just too damn good, too smart, and too sweet for what is left out there. Here I sit in the middle of China… and there is no one here to even date, like being purple in a world of yellow. You just don’t fit in, but I would probably feel the same in Texas. I am so different and find that Texas “bubbas” didn’t fill my wishes. Bubbas – the world is full of them. For those of you that don’t understand the definition of a bubba, here is my version. “A man with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other, sitting in a lounge chair, feet up and yelling at the little woman, to bring him another beer and check his steak on the grill, while he watches the super bowl game.”
If you are laughing cause you married one, bless your heart. And if you are one, get your ass out of that chair and go wash some dishes and hug your wife. As far as it goes, I don’t want to marry another one! Thank you very much! I want a man that understands life, is my soul mate (is that even possible?) and is funny… I need some funny in my life. If your not a bubba, give me a call or just dig straight across the world, I am in China.
It is 9 pm and you would think bombs were going off in Nanjing to celebrate the year of the rabbit.
Dinner was great with my colleagues. I took the metro and bus back to my apartment. Although I still had to walk three blocks, the entire way I dodged fireworks. Just imagine you are in New York City, only four times the size and every 3rd store, someone is out front lighting fireworks, roman candles and any thing that goes boom, buzz, whiz, and bang! I was running around them, put my hat on, didn’t know if they would blow up over my head. The amount of red paper trash and ash is unbelievable. Andy, Casey, Randy, Sam where are you, we could go shoot bottle rockets off the roof of my apartment? It’s legal!
I did get a Chinese text today from the government to be careful and not start a fire with fireworks. My neighbor read it to me! This is the best fire works show ever. It is non-stop. Everywhere I look there are fireworks. This is better than any fireworks show CCCCD ever had! One gigantic roman candle just exploded right out my bed room window. I was like all over it, hanging out my balcony window.
Now it is 12:30 and it is still going. At midnight it was like a war! My apartment complex set off those giant exploding dandelion-like balls in the courtyard which shot up to my 28th floor and exploded only ten feet from my glass enclosed balcony. The sound was deafening, the smell like an arsenal went off and the entire building shook. I loved it! Now the town is filled with smoke, car alarms are going off, I hear an ambulance and I just saw a fire truck rush by. This was the best Chinese New Year’s ever.
Today is Chinese New Year’s eve, and I have a dinner to attend downtown. Cabs will be scarce so I may have to take a bus and the metro. This could be another humorous adventure for me. Speaking of humorous, I have a dear friend in Houston that made a comment to me today about love and humor. He says, “the most intimate and successful relationships, he has observed is the “love yourself first to best love another” feature in common.” What a wonderful thought he expressed to me. We both find love and humor walk hand in hand.
I think of my past relationship and I can truly say he did not love himself. I ponder this, and think why was that so? How can someone not love who they are? Such a foreign thought for me, because loving myself is so easy. I so enjoy who I am and I seem to be my best friend. I can entertain, cook and just find things to do all the time to enjoy. I find humor in just the simplest sights and actions. I like to write funny stories about the simple everyday humor I bump into. The camel at the toll booth as we are driving to the Great Wall, oh my gosh how funny is that? Paying 5 RMB to take an old wrinkly Chinese lady’s picture and I had to ‘Jew’ her down from 10! The term “Jew.” I picked up from my dad. He used that expression when be bargained for antiques. He was such an “Archie Bunker” personality! You want to laugh, let my dad talk about diverse populations in his 60’s slang wording? OMG he would embarrass me to death as a teenager. What I would give to sit at the kitchen table and just listen to him, now. He died of cancer some years back.
If you are seeing humor and experiencing it all the time, wouldn’t that make you a happy person? I think so. Smile and the world smiles too, a great expression. I like doing that as I walk down the street. How many Chinese will smile at me today? I of course will smile first, as the sight of a white lady with curly blond hair is so foreign to them. They can’t but stare. So I smile, and then they realize they are staring and shoot you back the biggest sometimes toothless grin, you have ever seen.
Remember Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? “If you can’t be with the one you love, then Love the one your with.” I will put a new spin on this song and say “love yourself, if you can’t be with the one you love!” Learn it is okay to take care of yourself, love yourself and laugh at yourself! Good advice Bill, thanks!
Hey Ruth Ann, I have a panda head!
Lone Star to Red Star!
Patti, my Harbin hats!
Got this one at the Expo in Shanghai– USA pavilion
Chic scarf hat!
Ann, my Colorado hat!
This lady charged me 5 RMB to take her picture–Capitalist!
This is my collection of hats!
Mao says climbing the Great Wall makes one a man. Daisy and I did just that so does that make us men?
This stele states Mao’s comment in Chinese.
I found a driver and a guide and off we went to the Great Wall with a couple from Bintan, Indonesia. Robert is an American hotel owner and his wife Etie is a darling Jakarta native. Robert wanted to smoke his cigar on top of the wall to celebrate his 57th birthday. We had a “hoot and a howler” laughing about all the little mishaps during the day.
First stop the Jade Factory and Market. They wanted to sell us jade out the wazzoo. I took a picture of a giant jade cabbage, one of those auspicious omens. Who needs a jade cabbage in the first place and where would you put it? Then to the wall, as we paid our toll, we passed a two hump camel going the other direction though the toll. Like I said a “hoot and a howler!”
We climbed to the first tower, huffing and puffing. Low and behold look what I found! What are these terra cotta soldiers doing on the wall, guarding?
Robert with cigar in hand passing me up to higher towers. I took a latte break and only climbed two towers.
Next to the Ming Tombs. As it turned out, we were the only tourists there, it is bad Feng Shui to visit a tomb during the holidays. For some reason it riles all the dead emperors! Nothing is more fun than riling up dead Chinese emperor souls! No bad ju-ju here! The guide said it would unbalance the Yin and Yang!
We walked into the entrance and it was totally vacant. The guide just wanted to leave and I kept dragging him on. We patted the butt of a turtle sculpture for good luck. Then the guide made us say something in Chinese as we stepped into the rooms where the ceremonial banquets for the emperors were held. Left foot first for men and right foot for women, he was so superstitious. The picture with the red canopy bed is for the dead souls to lounge in. I thought that was really cool, Daisy about lost it at this point and wanted to leave. I thought if I was dead, what fun this would be to lounge and look at the tourist folk passing by. The Chinese emperor that is seated in the throne shows his traditional garments. It is not a stuffed dead emperor! Well I don’t think so.
Next stop was “China Town!” Yes a China town in Beijing, just like San Fransisco. We experienced the Tea Market and the Silk Market. They are always wanting us to spend more money, sorry I spent all mine at the Forbidden City yesterday. The driver took us lastly to see the Olympic bird nest stadium. Very cool, but I am not into sports so we went in the Boxing Stadium and had a foot massage instead. Absolutely hysterical wonderful day!
I’ve had no strange dreams of Emperors coming to visit me in the middle of the night! The Chinese and their beliefs!
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. Located in the middle of Beijing it was the home of Emperors and their households (including concubines), as well as the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government, for almost five hundred years. The complex covers 7,800,000 sq, ft. consisting of 980 buildings with 8,707 rooms. It was built around 1406. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture. When I walked in I noticed the buildings were brightly painted and rambling to the end of the horizon. One building after another. It was just the most amazing place, I kept imagining myself as a little emperor playing on the stairs, hiding behind walls, and climbing the most delightful shaped trees.
One of the trees had gnarled elbows with long branches hanging downward which looked like dragon claws.
I love this tree and want one in my yard!
I found a couple artisans, one carved me a chop mark that says su san, maybe su shan. Su means family name. San stands for the number three and they seem to prefer Shan which means mountains. Personally it means family of twin peaks, my play on words. Then I meet a teacher from the local art university. He was selling his work along with other professors to help generate money for scholarships. I am a sucker for helping kids go to art school and bought a black and white oil panel with the four children holding red yarn stars and a traditional tiger painting. Love my art finds.
Inside some of these rooms we found mini-museums of pottery, jewelry, weaponry and ceremonial attire.
Then a trip to the hutongs or alleyways of Beijing to eat and shop. I ran out of memory on my card but here is my find at a propaganda store.
My OBaMao T-shirt “Man who serves the people!”
Daisy and I left at midnight by train to Beijing. She booked us a berth. We had the top bunks, above two other twin sleepers. It was quite a climb up and then only two feet in height to sleep, rather claustrophobic and extremely warm. Underneath us was a young officer in the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army), a cute man named Galileo (Wong Zhang Tao). He is the first Chinese army soldier and the first Galileo I have ever met. I couldn’t resist to ask him, “What is your job in the army?” The response was something I never expected. He is a magician, an entertainer somewhat like a performer in Bob Hope’s traveling show. Did he ever entertain us, card tricks and disappearing money. I laughed at his antics as he changed a Kennedy half dollar into an old Chinese coin. My fear of the Chinese army was totally dispelled after meeting him.
Ten hours on an overnight train was interesting to say the least. Next to our hotel, in a typical Chinese neighborhood near Daisy’s university alma mater. We had no tub or shower stall, only a shower nozzle overhanging the toilet, another unique Chinese bathroom! The hotel room was clean and included a buffet breakfast. I keep forgetting toast/butter/jelly and fried eggs are not on the menu. I am not sure I like green steamed cabbage, black hard boiled eggs and porridge for my first meal of the day. Oh well, give it a try, not bad!
Next stop Tienanmen Square. I have heard so much about this place and was delightfully surprised to find a large civilized outdoor shopping area next to an open assembly square surrounded by government buildings. The gate to the Forbidden City was at one end with a humongous picture of Mao over the top. It was sunset and we were fortunate to see the army march out onto the square and take the Chinese red flag down. Twenty years ago, no westerns would have been able to see this. It was an awesome site. I was so excited I bought an army hat!
Tomorrow the Forbidden City and the hutongs!
I have a dream…
a song to sing. a story to tell. a life to live.
Should you really wonder, if I am okay.
My story is unfolding, simply day by day…..
I do not know where I will be tomorrow,
but I do know this, I am on a journey
something not to forget.
I am in a boat sailing on the ocean, looking at the moon light
wondering where I will drift.
It is just my dream….
It is not hard to follow.
Come away with me and see what I have to discover.
You are always welcome.
Take my hand.