K: Stereotypical

We had our third (weekly) Ping Pong Club meeting today. Yup, that's right. Ping Pong Club rocks! About four weeks ago, one of N's senior students approached him and asked if N and I would be interested in joining a Ping Pong Club meeting every Saturday from 3-5 at the school gym. Doing something active on a day off? Regular time with students? Where do we sign up? I must say though that I did hestitate for just a moment. I mean, while I know the rules to ping pong and I've won a game or two in my life, I do live in China. Isn't it required to be good at ping pong to be Chinese? Whatever. Activity? Time with students? I'm there.

Like I said, Ping Pong Club rocks. There are eight of us. Four Chinese. Four Americans. Four Guys. Four Gals. We play rounds, doubles, and single tournaments and as our program says, the objectives are to get to be friends, have some fun, and be prepared for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We're meeting at least two of those objectives and I can edit the third one to be gaining an appreciation for the ping pong players who actually will compete in the '08 Olympics.

I realized after the first week that I'm supposed to be the massive underdog because I'm a.) American and b.) female. Let it be known that they underestimated me. A moment to toot my own horn - I have learned to play holding my paddle upside down (Chinese style) and I find that I have much more control over the ball. I'm even getting a little tricky and can play an evenly matched game with my hubby... who's good by the way. He still usually wins, but I make him work for it and I beat him from time to time. I think realizing that I was pegged for the underdog made me a stereotypical American. "I'll show you underdog!" It fuels rather than discourages.

All of that to say, today was a stereotypical Saturday here in Yinchuan. We went to fellowship this morning, ate autumn colored food at the themed potluck after fellowship (we took shepherd's pie), and met the Ping Pong Club. We like Saturdays. 

K: Smart and Funny?

On our very well balanced team last year, we had a running joke. (Actually, we had many, but it's only one I'm focusing on right now or I'll just sit here at my computer and laugh for the next hour instead of writing which is what I'm supposed to be doing.) At the beginning of the 2006 academic year as we were working through our team building materials, I had to answer a question: What do you wish more people knew about you? I said that I wished more people knew that I can be funny. The other two members on the team, who are funny, looked at me and smiled pityingly... apparently, a person cannot be smart and funny and I'm already pegged. I said that I didn't think that was fair because I consider both A and N incredibly intelligent as well as funny, and they explained that one characteristic must outweigh the other and it is the heavier characteristic by which people are known. In the end, because my wish involved the opinions of others and I had two others with unalterable opinions, I begrudgingly acknowledged my intelligence and they conceded that I have funny moments.

It's probably because of this alleged gap between intelligence and humor that I admire so much people who can simultaneously write intelligently and humorously about China. It's a delicate matter to write about China at all from the outside in - being in and among the culture but undeniably and irrevocably separated from it by the state of being foreign. Delicate because it's undesirable to trivialize or misrepresent the issues and experiences that happen here, especially to an audience of other foreigners whose input about this place already comes from the skewed or at least incomplete viewpoint of other outsiders in forms of media, movies, impressions of Chinese abroad, etc. Ironically then, it takes a certain amount of courage to write because it takes a willingness to be wrong, inappropriate, and/or misleading. That's not to blast the information we have, it's just to say that I am reluctant to contribute to a misrepresentation of this intriguing and complex country, and that seems almost unavoidable if anything is going to be written at all. At the same time it is compelling to write because there's just so much fodder. So, while I try to develop the courage and delicacy to write about what I see, hear, experience and perceive, I'll refer you to a couple of articles I read this morning that meet my criteria for admirable writing about China because it's intelligent and humorous. The first from That's Shanghai is an accurate parallel between playing golf and being a foreigner in China, China Handicap. The second is an observation of the effect the approaching 2008 Olympic Games are having on the foreign population especially in Beijing, Mean Streets. If you have time and interest to follow these links, I guarantee you will be entertained, and you'll probably learn something too because like I said, they're smart and funny.

K: Liberation Week and a Note on the Knives

This past week was a holiday week. Imagine the equivalent of a cross between the Fourth of July (minus the fireworks, plus crowds) and Thanksgiving (minus the turkey, plus crowds). October Holiday is a celebration of the Liberation by the Communists in 1949 to form the new People's Republic of China, and it's the only weeklong holiday in the fall semester. While we don't necessarily celebrate the liberation by the Communists, we certainly celebrate the liberation of students and teachers from classes for a week. In the past, we spent the holiday making trips to the desert (see the banner picture) and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, but this time we stayed at home and spent time with friends, N got and is recovering from a cold, and we worked at that very comfortable work/rest holiday pace. The weather has been gloomy so we've spent most of the days inside or poking around the city, but one day we did make a trip out to the mountains northwest of the city for some hiking.    

I realized after posting pictures of the apartment last time that I really need to comment on the knives. Most of you may know that N is the cook in the family, not because I can't or won't cook... coming from a heritage of Lancaster County, PA goodness and growing up with southern comfort cooking, I've picked up a thing or two... but as long as I've known him, N has loved cooking (and kitchen gadgets) so I've taken that as a gift and gotten out of the way. That said, our last apartment came equipped with a block of knives, so we just had them sharpened and called it good. This apartment didn't have any such convenience so having the opportunity to choose our own block sent us hunting for that perfect set. We knew we had found them by the brand name: Good Husband. The set included a "knife for cutting bones", a "more used chef knife", a couple of smaller knives, a pair of kitchen shears, a sharpener and a "watermelon knife". I don't know about needing a knife especially for cutting watermelons, but having a block of knives that affirms my good husband's presence in the kitchen might be as good as it gets.