moving targets

Yesterday and the day before I had connectivity problems to the Internet, and then, once on, to sites I usually check: my blog, a couple others, and some news sites.

When I checked with others, apparently my blog is hosted by a domain that has been blocked here. There are some interesting sites devoted to proxy servers to allow access to such sites. My choices include trying one of these proxies, not posting any more, moving my blog to another address so that I can see it. Not sure what I am going to do, yet.

I wish that information flowed much more freely in more places in this world. Also, that I was better at learning Mandarin. There are so many ways to speak English, even here. I suspect that it gets easier to force myself the farther afield I go.

That being said, I got to talk to and see my mommy and my husband, last night. iChat's video conferencing is wonderful when it works. The sounds delay was not too bad and it was very comforting to see my family.

tween Thurs and Fri

Light breeze, child chimes
greet another evening in Beijing, Haidan district
the child symphony has been building for a few hours as the day has cooled
last night I woke up twice,
the second time to a cliched wail of feminine pain.
Angry moans of distress in the dark far below
I could not see her in the late night privacy of someone's failure
in the morning, tiny confetti dots of paper surrounded a trash can.
Who knows if they are what is left of her discovery.
A designated janitor has them removed before I can photograph.
faint traditional music, calling people to stretch and prepare their bodies for the day
much nearer, soft coo cooing of pigeons
one came to visit today this afternoon.
minimal sounds from other apartments.
Sometimes my door slams from the cross breeze, but now I check the magnet.

The flow from early morning to early evening
different horns, sirens, tiny angers completely dwarfed by this gargantuan residence
the eastern seaboard megalopolis does not know the meaning of the concept.
The scale of Beijing is miles per square inch on a map,
not .25miles per avenue in NYC

here, every day is a “shift-reload” to a new screen
the physical embodiment of the early progress
I experienced as the internet became the world wide web.
No two observations were ever the same, and there was no manual.
Here, the streets, blocks, trains, apartments do not come with manuals,
though sometimes they do speak to you.....- in courteous English,
confusing, distorted Mandarin, “Have a nice shower”

some smells are good, some persist and I make sure my mask is with me for them.
The dust is everywhere.
My balance is getting practice. The sidewalk is being laid
I climb mini mountain ranges of rubble that will be
the foundation of the next sidewalk erogeny.
I will check to see how long it takes to terraform the earth's crust
from my road to the light rail station.
Has to be weeks, not months
everywhere Beijing is Olympic housecleaning.

The streets are swept, flowers distributed and planted in
instant gardening on a scale that must have the entire state of California
shipping bedding plants in continuous flotillas of cargo ships to meet the demand.
First gas, now roses.
Lots of pinks and reds. The compositions are grand scaled
What will Disneyland do when it can't get it's usual order for love or money?

The internet noise is present, too. There are 5-8 hubs in range all the time, all locked
packets buzz just like the children, still awake at 20:39

the breeze is getting stronger as the evening settles

I am thinking about dinner and wondering
if I can enjoy tonight's music without too much expense.

Mr. O'dell rev's his engines here, too.
I wonder if the overclocking gets him any closer to his destination
at any time. In any hemisphere? Would he recognize his success?

For all the shaving of space between parasoled walkers, bikes and cars,
I've only seen one accident. There was a police man there already
I could not understand the argument, but the meaning was clear-
“You were stupid to hit my car. It is ruined. Who is going to pay? “

The ambulances do not make a noticable noise.
The bikes do. Ching ching bells tell “here I come, move out of my way”
The truck bikes are motorized now.
The wheelchair bikes accommodate those who can not keep up
canes and slumps showing the need.
White hair in one case completely unprotected by helmet

No child has to be coddled by a safety helmet here.
My safety net- check twice before stepping
Keep a bottle of home clean water in my backpack at all times.
Time to practice some more.

Zaijian
jian mian mingtian

this is a test

this is only a test

Ok, so it's more than that,

the pic is a lovely courtyard in the style of a landscape, right in the middle of the Beijing Language and Culture University.

Many of the plants were recognizable, some were not. I wonder what they will do when the Acer palmatum are bigger than the stones? Move them and start all over? It is very hard to plant a garden for future perspectives. I guide looked like a giant in the scene when I asked him to pose on the path. Really did not fit in with my sense of the place.

Wednesday morning- Xing1qi1 san1 shang4 wu3 (zao3shang is earlier)

Yesterday was my first full day in Beijing. I got up early, 4:30 and went through emails, ordered my study materials, and started preparing for my tutors. I used the time to figure out what I had forgotten or misunderstood that I needed. Would you believe the old cliche- toothbrush? Hand cream- now that was just a bad brain drop. I use lots of Eucerin. I also needed to get a bigger towel. I brought my Speedo towel that is essentially a chamois. OK in a pinch, but not for 8 weeks. Last, there is a clothes washer in my suite, reminiscent of the one my husband and I used once in the 14th arrondissement in Paris. My flat mates seem to be hand washing their clothes, but I would like to save my hands, so I got washing powder. The young man who helped me shop looked like a Terry clone, all confused to be in any place that might have detergent or soap. More about him later.

My schedule- arrange for tutoring hours, get a local(?) orientation tour, contact Erik F, work on NJ loose ends, figure out how to communicate enough to be able to eat. ( Since I was doing local chore, I figured out that I could eat up the cheese and crackers from my trip and splurge on dinner) Worked just fine.

Somewhere along the line, BC and I tried to video conference. The video worked just fine, but the sounds was just one way. I could hear him just fine, he could not hear me. As I recall we had much the same problem when we tried to do this with Kestrel on Googletalk a few years ago. Hopefully, we will work the kinks out. It was very nice to see each other real time.

I got and sent my first texts on my program cell phone. Erik F. sent me a test, and then my tutor texted me so that we could schedule our lessons. Her name is Silvia. ( The lady who is sending "Planet Earth" home in a Chinese equivalent to FedEx is called Sophia or Zhou1 Li4 Fei- FeiFei for short) Quite the flowery name choices in English. No one has offered to call me anything in Chinese, or asked. not sure of the point- like an Appalachian Trail handle? Something you get called like a nickname- retlo the word killer?

I also wanted to go to the ATM, post office, and school library, and train station with my orientation guide.

Things I don't want to foget but don't have the time to chat about:

Roses, persimmon trees?, heat and dust, relative lack of cigarettes so far, smells in subway stations, the mysterious spa bath, suite chores, wearing out the student who was my guide, dinner choices, meeting up with Erik, acquiring one more city, I can navigate in- Beijing is really much bigger than it looks on a map, taxi rides at night can be lovely- so many lights, the Olympic buildings are quite striking- especially the pool building- It looks like a rectangle of solid water.

Today is Beijing arrival day

I have nodded off a couple of times already, but I want to get my first impressions down before I give myself over to Mandarin. Beijing has made great changes since I was last here. I am in an apartment complex in Haidan District(NW) between the 3rd and 4th ring road. It is a mixed use building, with families, students, and foreigners living here. The street level is full of shops. There is everything from what looks like a sex show to a a traditional grocery with a small dry goods area and fresh produce and made sandwiches, etc.

The airport I arrived in is, I think the same one I landed in 10 years ago. Customs was fine. Just like any other country. Pick up was a little delayed, but There was a tour counter where the ladies called my contact number. 2 minutes later I was in the back of a taxi that had ruffled seat covers.

The ride in was quiet, but I looked at lots of new landscaping( people were still planting as well ) ddddddddkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk I have to go to sleep. thanks for reading. ddddddddddddddddddddddddddkkk