Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I'm Off

At 10:00am yesterday, I finally got my passport back from the Public Security Bureau. At 3:00pm, I went to a local ticket office and bought a hard sleeper ticket to Nanjing for 279 kuai. At 4:00pm today, I hop on a train, and I’m off!

It was a weird feeling buying this ticket. I thought that it would be a simple task, given that I’ve had this project in preparation for months now. But despite the fact that this trip has occupied my mind continuously for the last two weeks, I still got a shock when I handed over the cash and got a ticket for the day after in return.

A couple of thoughts streaked through my head when he told me that the first ticket was for 4pm the next day:

“ohmygod, tomorrow? too soon. i still have to take care of things.”

Then my rational self kicked in: “No. No more waiting. You’re ready for this. Go.” I bought the ticket and walked out of the office, a bit dazed. It sounds like such a simple thing, I know, but actually putting a firm departure deadline was a big thing.

So there you have it. Lili’s going to see me off from the train station, which is pretty nice of her. It’s gotta be an hour and a half from her school to the station. I’ll arrive in Nanjing early at 8am Sunday morning, check into my hostel, and hit the sights!

On a totally unrelated topic, a quick blurb about Christmas in China. Christmas has become a really popular holiday here. It doesn’t have the religious connotation as much (see below), but I think it strikes a couple chords in Chinese culture, particularly among young people.

First, it’s foreign, which always adds a little something to a holiday. It’s like us celebrating Chinese New Year (good comparison, Ma). But, naturally, with that comes a ton of Christmas kitsch and terrible music in the supermarkets.

Second, it’s all about gift giving, which the Chinese love. Last night, a Chinese teacher, three locals at BeiWai, some Chinese roommates in the dorms, and several my classmates all joined in a White Elephant. This was totally new to them, but they dug right in. While they didn’t go for the stealing aspect of the event so much, they picked out the best gifts; my favorite was an old pair of prescription glasses someone didn’t want anymore. They ended up in the hands of the drunkest among us (a middle-aged housewife), who demanded that I take several pictures. They will be posted soon.

Lastly, I think it’s so popular here because of Korea. There’s a really big Christian community in Korea, and Korea has an enormous cultural influence on China. Korean television and fashion are what’s really hot among young people here. I have to imagine that the intermediate step of ‘Western’ to Korea and then to China makes it much more palatable.

I mentioned earlier that Christmas was largely framed within a non-religious perspective. I encountered a major exception two weeks ago. Lili invited me to a Christmas party held by her friends. I tagged along and took a seat as several girls went up to the stage, microphones in hand. They started singing Christian youth music. I swear, it was just like a southern Christian revival session; people raised their hands in testament of their faith, and sang about “Yesu” (sinocized ‘Jesus’). After the singing was done, a small, shy Chinese fellow got up on stage and introduced himself. I wasn’t listening much at this point, just watching the crowd from the sidelines. Suddenly his demeanor changed from a hardly noticeable middle-aged man in a black button-up to an energetic, active, well-rehearsed orator. It hit me. He was preaching. He carried on for a full hour and a half about the meaning of Christmas from a Christan standpoint, and did it pretty well from what I could make out. It was really strange to see his personal transformation on stage, as well as a whole group of Chinese people listening intently to a lengthy Christian sermon. Interesting stuff.

On that note, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas (or winter holiday of whatever religion to which you ascribe!) Expect updates from me from me soon.

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