9/10/15 Tumblr So it's been just over a week here in Beijing. Actually, I'm in an area called Wudaoku (woo-DOW-co), which is where several colleges and many, many technology companies are located. The cool thing is that every day that I go and explore, I find new things and new places. Just found a side street with a couple of cool-looking bars and restaurants where a lot of westerners were hanging out. After I get paid (in the beginning of October!), I will go and explore those. Hard to get used to the idea that I don't have to squeeze everything into a few weeks, that I have an entire year to do and see what I want to do and see. Enjoying having a bicycle! Lets me explore further than I can walk. Yesterday, I went over to a tech area that one of the other teachers, Anthony, told me about. I was going to try to get a Chinese phone but got too intimidated by the fact that I don't speak Chinese to even try. I'll have to get someone to go with me and see if they can help me figure it out. Then I went to find Wal-Mart. That turned into a bit of an adventure. Figured out that I had been right on top of it but it was hidden behind several larger buildings and there's barely any signage. So a huge detour took me through one of the local college campuses, which was cool, and gave me a bit more exercise than I had planned. But I picked up a few more basic things I needed and looked into a few more that I'll pick up when I get paid. <a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/user/Susanlee11/media/image.jpg3_zps52eqa2fz.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss115/Susanlee11/image.jpg3_zps52eqa2fz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image.jpg3_zps52eqa2fz.jpg"/></a> Riding a bike in Beijing is a bit like "Mad Max" meets the "Hunger Games" with bikes, scooters, pedestrians and a few cars and buses thrown in just to make things more interesting. There are theoretical bike lanes but these are filled with bikes, electric scooters, motorcycles and pedestrians, as well as cars that are too impatient to wait in regular lanes, and buses during certain hours, just because. People ride two and three on bikes and scooters, sometimes balancing children precariously in front of them or on barely existing child seats on the back. The first time I saw this when I was here in January in Shenyang, it freaked me out. We would never, ever do that in the states. But here, children are dangling and balanced in the weirdest ways on the weirdest things. I'll try and grab some photos when I can. The main thing about driving or riding a bike here is you have to either show you have bigger balls than whoever is trying to push past you or just completely acquiesce and let them go. I have faced down a couple of cars and even a bus and won. However, most of the time, I let the four wheeled, gasoline-powered guys go first. Oh, and helmets don't really exist here. China is not big on the concept of safety in any way. So I just hold my breath and cross my fingers and head out into the insanity. And traffic here is chaos. I've talked to many of you who have traveled all over the world and this is not unusual. Traffic signals are just a suggestion, usually ignored. During rush hour, there are traffic officers trying gamely to create some organization out of the anarchy, without much success. It's kind of amusing to watch them scream in Mandarin as huge buses just push past them and avoid plowing down pedestrians by mere inches. People here are very unaffected by this, crossing between buses and cars without seeming to worry or care that they are about to be plowed down. My theory is this - if everyone accepts and understands that it is chaos, then everyone is open to the chaos. If you try to inflict order on to this chaos, that's where you run into trouble. Acknowledging the chaos makes you constantly aware that you could die at any moment, so it keeps you on your toes and aware. If you assume order, you're going to die. It's that simple. <a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/user/Susanlee11/media/image.jpg4_zpsabhqqahq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss115/Susanlee11/image.jpg4_zpsabhqqahq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image.jpg4_zpsabhqqahq.jpg"/></a> Trying to get settled in. Finally unpacked everything today and put the suitcases out on the balcony (enclosed) so that it feels more permanent. Realized how much stuff I had to leave behind that I wish I could have brought with me. I should have packed a box to ship eventually with artwork and supplies and books, etc. But, oh, well. I'll figure it out. I do have to fight the urge to rush out and see everything I want to see because I've always been here on a short term basis. Getting used to the fact that I can wait and go see something next month instead of rushing out today. The list of things is pretty long - go back to the Summer Palace, visit the Old Summer Palace, which has a bunch of ruins and looks really cool, go back to the 798, hit my favorite flea market when I have some money, hit the local Drink and Draw, and on and on and on. So much to do. But I have a ton of time. I do love the chaos of this city. It has life, it has energy. Any time I go out, the streets are full of people and bikes and scooters and cars going somewhere. Even my courtyard usually has a bunch of people hanging out, kids running around, old folks doing some funny kind of exercise. People watching is great here and that's why I love walking around and sitting in coffee shops. The downside is that I'm not thrilled with the program where I'm teaching. I thought it was going to be fine art focused, as it was when I was at MR. All the things I saw when I interviewed seemed to point that way and the director was excited about what I was bringing to the table. Well, that's not the case. They have a very haphazard approach to what the kids learn. I'm fine with the fact that everyone creates their own lesson plans, but there's no consistency. The kids are introduced to a concept and then it's forgotten and they move on to something else. Nothing is set up to build knowledge and skills. They want the kids to have fun and create "stories", which means they draw whatever the hell they want and color it in whatever way they want. One of the projects I looked at as I was reviewing what had been done was a supposed color wheel. But all the colors were in the wrong place and there wasn't so much of as a wheel as a bunch of circles drawn around a piece of paper. The other teachers also have that laissez faire attitude and were confused when I talked about teaching the kids how to build their skills. And these are well-educated, experienced teachers. So I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in and make it work the way I want it to work. They say, teach whatever you want. So I'm going to see how it goes. I know, it's only been a week. But it's been kind of a frustrating week. <a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/user/Susanlee11/media/image.jpg2_zpsu656igjn.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss115/Susanlee11/image.jpg2_zpsu656igjn.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image.jpg2_zpsu656igjn.jpg"/></a> So while I'm still excited about being here for a year, I don't see staying beyond that, at least not at this program. And I miss Los Angeles. It's been very gloomy here, which is normal, and I had expected that might be an issue. I miss my friends and my coffee shop. I miss my kitty most of all. But life here is very similar to my life in Los Angeles. I get up whenever because I don't teach until late in the day, which is nice. Spend a lot of time at Twosome, a local coffee shop which has an upper floor and I can look out on to the bustling street while I write or draw. My roommate is lovely and we get along, though we rarely see each other. I do feel a bit lonely and isolated, but I was feeling that back in Los Angeles as well. There's something inside of me that needs to be put back together and it wasn't happening there. I hope it happens here. I have been writing. Started the book I was thinking about, though it's taken a very different turn. Thought it would be about recovering from cancer, but it's actually going to be about trying to get back to being simple. It's just a beginning, but I'm interested in the direction it's going and I'll see if it turns into something. It's called "The Courage to be Simple" and I'll let you know if there's anything to be read eventually. So thanks for checking in. I'll add some pictures when I have some. Need to get an adapter so I can transfer photos to my iPad Mini. That'll be my next shopping trip. Take care of yourself.
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