Beijing- Random thoughts and musings (or Barbara writes alot more when she is not with Bruce)

Students during a class exercise 

My class ended yesterday, and I am already sad and missing the students. At dinner, after class (a Yunnan restaurant which was very yummy), I was trying to explain why I liked working with these students. First, the are very smart and also motivated to learn- which means that large amounts of time in class ends up being used to answer their very thoughtful and often complex questions. I also love working with students who instinctively see multiple symbolic levels of meaning, no matter what we are doing. Plus, they are incredibly brave and willing to share vulnerable feelings in class and also how to be present and support each other as they explore deeper parts of their lives and beings. Exercises that I introduce as basic skill practicing opportunities also become times to explore and be curious about their own lives and patterns. Even those students new to DMT seem to be present deeply and thoughtfully. I will miss them, even though four 8-hour teaching days in a row can get tiring. 

Typical Breakfast Restaurant- Congee and Bao

Today I slept late and then because it was a clear, sunny, not too hot but incredibly windy day, I decided to explore neighborhoods south of my hotel, heading toward Yu Yuantan Park, about 2+ miles away. Most of the photos are from the park, I wanted to focus on some observations and experiences I have been pondering over the last few days. 

Women’s roles: the first day of class I went with my translator and another student to a Shabu Shabu restaurant, a place that seemed very similar (to my uneducated eyes) to be similar to hot pot places, but with a different shaped pot for broth and more variety in what meats and veggies are cooked in it. A lot of the conversation focused on their experiences as smart strong women in Chinese society. They both seemed to be in their 30s and had a child at home (taken care of by either parents or sometimes their husband) but often they voiced distress at being treated as unimportant in their workplace and also at home. One of them, despite making more money than her husband, had no control over how the money was spent. Another had actually started a business encouraging young girls to do advanced STEM research. 

YuYuenTan Park - river

Their distress over the marginalization of women in Chinese society, was tangible, even though I assumed that they belonged to a more worldly, westernized social group. In other women in the class I also noticed similar patterns:  the one man in the class (who was a gentle lovely soul), always talked first and seemed to have no awareness of sharing talking time with others. Another woman discussed that it is still unusual for married women to not take their husband’s family name. Many also seemed quite angry, although it seemed to focus more toward their fathers, rather than larger cultural patterns. Meanwhile, as I walk around various neighborhood, women always seem to be the ones shopping and or fulfilling other household tasks (usually in addition to holding a job and raising the children), while many of the men seem to be sitting smoking or just watching the events on their street (a large gaggle were standing watching workers take down a tree, no women… just men.).  

YuYuentan - bridge with lanterns

I was also curious about (but didn’t feel comfortable asking about directly) was my translator’s priority for everything having to be the best or most expensively unusual (sometimes I felt like I was in an Amy Tan novel). The first night we met, she selected an incredibly expensive, fancy European restaurant and her subsequent choices were often pricey and fancy (she chose a Peking Duck restaurant one evening, and always insisted on going to the best or most famous places for breakfast).  Since she seemed to have been the one charged with making sure I got food, I felt a bit careful in expressing my needs (especially since she usually didn’t seem to understand or ignored them). When I asked her about where I could find a store to purchase tea, we walked about 40 minutes to a special special store, which had very expensive teas packaged in individual packets (a bit on environmental questions in a bit). The tea was good- but I don’t know that I have a palate that can distinguish between the highest quality unpolluted teas and others that taste just as good to me. (I didn’t buy anything there, mainly because the amount of packaging was overwhelming to me). 

Another thing that I find curious is Chinese environmental practices. On one hand, I see lots of solar panels on roofs and buildings, plus I have read about huge acres of solar panels in other parts of China. I also see lots of recycled trash cans for waste, but I have yet to see one with accurately separated garbage- not sure if that is because it is too much trouble, people don’t care ort if it is an easy way to not follow rules (which seem to be numerous here). Environmentally I am curious how the cultural value for elegant wrapping and packaging fits with environmental concerns. Fruits are wrapped in shrink wrapped plastic, and then put in bags (multiple ones if there are a variety of purchases).  Tea is packaged in foil envelopes, or individual packets,  that are then placed in beautiful metal containers, which are then placed in ornate cardboard boxes, and once the purchase is complete, another carrying bag is used for the purchases. The people at the tea store where I ended up getting some tea, were confused when I didn’t want the metal container and also whipped out my own shoulder carrier for my purchases. What do they do with all of that packaging? Sometimes I feel so uncouthly American when I am buying things, but I keep refusing all the beautifully presented wrapping.  

 

YuYuentan Park Lotus and TV Tower

Kids,  dads, moms and grandparents evening playing 

Finally, there are things here, that I wish we had at home. Food is easily and quickly delivered. Every day in class, during the morning break, students look at their phones to see zillions of food options. They place an order and say what time they want it and like magic it arrives, transported by one of a zillion food delivery men (I have not yet seen a woman doing this) who arrive on motorbikes equipped with a storage box at the rear. Phones validate that they purchase was paid for and they separate- the student coming back upstairs with food to eat and the delivery man zipping off to their next delivery.  One of the students, who had been in the US for school for a few years, said that one thing she missed a lot when she was in the US, was how this didn’t exist, so getting food took a lot more effort and time. It also, appears that these deliveries, provide jobs for many, many men. They usually gather in herds (bevy’s not sure what the group term would be) waiting to hop on their bike for a delivery. They also seem to be able to ride anywhere they want (sidewalks, streets, alleys) and generally have the right of way over anyone else. Another wonderful practice here, is that basically everything can be paid with a cell phone ID. In fact, money exchanges are complicated and take a long time and credit cards are non-existent except in tourist location. Unfortunately, you need a local bank account to do this, so as a tourist it is not an option. 

Music Practice in the Square

OK, it’s been a beautiful day, I will end with some photos from a local People’s Square near the hotel. In the morning there are older folks doing exercises and dancing but in evening families hang out, fly kites, roller skate and even practice music as the shadows lengthen in the setting sun.