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Like many, YJ and I have been following the trial of Liu Χiaobo. That the trial was scheduled for the Christmas holiday so that it might somehow escape notice in the rest of the world is just another in a staggering assortment of evidence that Liu’s persecutors are cowardly and despicable. I’d go on at length, but I will instead urge you to read this erudite and powerful commentary by C. Custer at ChinaGeeks. Go there now. Interesting little post on The Beijinger blog last week. Seems one of our fellow Lao Wai had a holiday gathering which — as these things do — went late, got a bit loud, and thus resulted in an oddly frantic clash with some of his elderly neighbors. I say frantic, because a simple noise complaint degenerated into (sequentially) a verbal confrontation, an awkward fist fight, a blockade, and then a trip to the local paichusuo/police station to sort the matter out. (Skip to the end: 200 RMB to the aggrieved neighbors, bargained down from 500 RMB.) Not exactly an unusual tale in our city. Once when I was at IUP, I recall a similar event which ended with the downstairs neighbor striding into the room in a pink bathrobe and launching into a prolonged monologue on the nature of sleep, culture, and 5000 years of Chinese history. (I wish I was making that last part up…) In any case — actually in every case — it always seems to come down to ‘culture.’ In the Beijinger post, the police offer a semi-serious lecture on “respecting Chinese culture and customs.” Which to me is pretty funny. I live in a hutong, It’s Christmas here in NH and I’ll be enjoying the festivities with friends and family for a few days. I’ll be back next week with new posts but until then…happy holidays to everyone! We’re busy getting ready for our annual trip to New Hampshire. It’s strange that on today, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, that thanks to the international date line our Monday is going to be approximately 36 hours long. But anyway…as I prepare to go back to the United States for a few weeks, I am reminded about what it means to be away from home — what it means to willingly choose to live someplace where the rules are different and life requires a daily practice of acceptance and adaption — and I recall one of my favorite passages from one of my favorite writers. “When a man journeys into a far country, he must be prepared to forget many of the things he has learned, and to acquire such customs as are inherent with existence in the new land; he must abandon the old ideals and the old gods, and oftentimes he must reverse the very codes by which his conduct has hitherto been shaped. To those who have the protean faculty of adaptability, the novelty of such change may even be a source of pleasure; but to those who happen to be hardened |
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Copyright © 2012 Jottings from the Granite Studio - All Rights Reserved
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History museums
Christmas in Montpelier, VT. We’re up here visiting my sister and I have to say…it’s been a nice break from the daily grind of Beijing living. YJ and I are constantly amazed over such commonalities as “pedestrian right of way” and “customer service.”
Having a bit of a break from family to-do’s, we wandered around the downtown area and found ourselves at the Vermont History Museum. $5 per person meant entrance and brochure and as we meandered our way through Abenaki wigwams and farmers cabins, I was struck by how much I had become accustomed to China’s museum culture.
Apart from the obvious (not being reminded every ten minutes to warmly love the Party and the Motherland), I was struck once again how, in the hands of thinking and thoughtful historians, the narrative of history — whether in words, pictures, or artifacts — can give a visitor a greater appreciation for a place and its people even if that narrative includes uncomfortable truths. The entry way to the exhibits is an Abenaki wigwam with information markers describing the horrific fate of those people as European settlers made their way into Vermont during the 17th and 18th centuries. Vermont’s participation in