Yick’s Yin and Yang

      It looked like a beautiful day outside. I was wrong. Although the sun seemed to be joyously casting down its warm rays, the wind was somehow sweeping them all away. The cold penetrated through the layers of clothes I was wearing, but still, I refused to go back indoors.

      Originally, I had planned to go and purchase dance shoes, but when that didn’t pan out, I started to wander around Shanghai instead. I think I’ve taken a few such excursions over the four years I’ve lived in this city. Normally, I forget to bring a camera. “Thanks” to my old phone expiring, however, I always have a camera with me due to it being integrated into my new phone. Of course, I don’t ever remember to use that function, so I only got one snap on my 1.5 hour walk. At one point, I honestly had no clue where I was, but a series of unplanned turns led me right back to the subway station. Before I arrived there, though, I took the following picture. I’m not entirely sure why it caught my attention, but take a look. It’s a set of buildings that lie by an on ramp to the highway. Pastel-coloured paints cover the sides of the buildings, depicting a calm, little scene. Between the towering stories, poles extend outwards carrying wet garments, bedsheets, and blankets. In the distance, some apartments appear to be undergoing renovations. Amidst everything going on around me, that one particular area just caught my eye!

Click on the thumbnail for larger picture.

      When the blood started to flow through my entire body again, I decided that perhaps I should spend some time within the confines of an enclosed area. What else to do, but… shop. ;) 

      What I like about shopping in Shanghai is that a lot of the time, you can bargain. What I don’t like about shopping in Shanghai is that if you’re bargaining, sometimes you get yelled at. I always presume that vendors jack up the prices when I come along. Many of the salespeople will make the following statement: “Come on, just give me the price that you want it for. Don’t worry about it. If we can agree on a price, then we’ll do business.” We can joke and laugh about the process, and be on good terms with each other. But, there’s always a flip side. I felt such a wrath as I (unintentionally!) low balled a little too much on a garment. The lady totally turned on me, and although I am not good with Mandarin or Shanghainese– whatever it was she was shouting at me– trust me, you know when profanities are being spit in your face. I just walked off quite quickly as the curses continued to be spat on my back. So, a word to the wise: if you’re going to bargain for 1/4 of the original price, make sure that the person selling looks like they have a sense of humour!

      “Alright, let’s go,” I told my friend as he got stuck talking to some friends. We were on our way out to go to another venue. I sauntered off ahead and sat on the stairs to wait as the conversation behind me continued. A few minutes later, my friend caught up, and we went outside into the cold, windy night.

      Once we got outside, we bumped into more friends, and stayed chatting in the Shanghai winter weather for another ten minutes. During this time, the friends we met outside got their things ready to go on their motorcycles. I looked apprehensively at them since I was completely terrified of Shanghai traffic as it was, let alone imagine what it was like on a bike! My friends seemed happy with the mode of transportation, however, and rode off down the somewhat populated streets. I slowly maneuvered over to a line of waiting taxis. My friend wasn’t following me, so I turned around to see what he was doing. Oh NO, I thought to myself as I suddenly realised what was happening. He was pulling a set of keys out of his pocket, and heading towards a white motorcycle nearby. Oh, please, no…

      I must have looked rather silly as I stood beside the motorized vehicle, my mouth opening and closing trying to form coherent words:

      “Uhh…” I started. “Ummm…” I tried again. “Uhh…” I repeated, in yet another botched attempt.

      “What?” my friend questioned. “What’s wrong??”

      “Uhh… It’s just that… Well, I’ve never been on a motorcycle in Shanghai,” I answered.

      “So?” my friend retorted. “Is that a problem?”

      “Ummm… It’s just that I don’t find them… Well, very safe,” I ventured. My friend looked back incredulously at me.

      “I’ve been driving for 15 years. Trust me.”

      I gulped as I made baby shuffling steps towards the white vehicle. He positioned himself on the seat, and steadied the bike. He pointed to where I should put my feet, but my feet remained stubbornly on the floor. I smiled sheepishly as I took a deep breath and attempted to get on. Have you climbed onto the back of one of these bigger motorcycles before?? I ask because it’s a little difficult to get your legs around it due to its size. Three tries later, and using my friend as support, I managed to get myself onto the bike. The last time I had ridden one of these things was in Thailand. At that moment, I remembered quite clearly that although it had been enthralling whizzing down the streets of Phuket, I had been holding on to my friend so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. I made a mental note to try to act more relaxed and calm this time.

      Before I had time to “abandon ship,” we were off. I think I may have let out a little shriek as the motorcycle jolted to life, leaving the sidewalk, and joining other traffic on the street. We went very slowly at first (30 km/h– yes, I was glancing fervently at the speedometer), but gradually built up more speed. I was getting chilled to the bone: the cold air on my face and no headgear only made it worse. I felt so frozen that someone could have licked me like a popsicle and I swear ice particles would have come off! We traversed down one-way streets, going in the opposite direction, and the bright headlights from oncoming cars only made me inadvertently yell like a broken record: “Please don’t kill us!” That, combined with a few (almost) screeching halts at red lights, more or less put me over the top.

      20 minutes later, we reached our destination, and I almost jumped off the bike in anticipation. Oh, safe solid ground, I thought to myself as I landed. The hard, concrete sidewalk greeted my jittery legs, providing stability and balance. My friend laughed at the relieved look on my face, and I could only grin. I had survived my first ride on a motorcycle in Shanghai traffic. To me, it was an accomplishment, even if it was a normal everyday occurrence for my friend!

      So, it’s been a pretty quiet holiday over here in Shanghai. The past couple of days, I’ve been hibernating due to the wet weather going on outside of my apartment. It’s not that I haven’t been out, but I’ve been trying to avoid getting soaked by the pouring rain.

Yesterday, I managed to drag myself out of bed to meet my friend at Superbrand Mall for brunch. I met my friend four and a half years ago when we both came to Shanghai to work at SMIC School. Since then, my friend has gotten engaged, married, and has a one-year old child!

And, that brings me to the point of this post. You see, my friend and her husband both work full-time. They are like most married couples that I know, except for one big difference: their child doesn’t live with them. Since the baby was pretty much out of the hospital, the little bundle went straight to living with my friend’s mother-in-law and father-in-law. When my friend first told me about this arrangement, I was stunned. What about the bond between mother and child? What about not being able to see her baby every day?? What shocked me even more was that my friend informed me that she herself had been brought up that way. When she was a baby, she lived with her grandparents, and not with her parents. She says that she is close with her mother now, despite her living arrangements as an infant.

This concept really made me think. Is it really important to be within close proximity to your new-born baby? I’ve heard of daycare, and grandparents coming to live with couples when babies are first born, but this was the first time I had ever known anyone who had sent their child to their parents’ place to be raised. I can see the advantages and disadvantages of the situation, but perhaps I have a more “traditional” view in this respect.

If it were you, would you truly feel like a parent if you were away from your child, and just travelled to see her for a couple of hours twice a week? Wouldn’t you feel like you were missing out on all the “firsts” as she was growing up? How well would you know your child– down to her mannerisms, likes, dislikes, and temperament? I just couldn’t imagine it, but I know it happens. There are circumstances in which children may need to live with their grandparents. However, I am inclined to believe that if you could be with your child, you would choose to have her live with you… Wouldn’t you?

      I had a pretty uneventful Christmas. I went to see my friends play at Raffles City again; their last show was at about 8:30pm. There were some small children (about 4 years old) who got really into the songs, and joined my friends up on stage! My friend’s aunt, who I was dancing next to, thought it would be funny to literally throw me up on stage, too. I ended up dancing with a 3 year old girl for a few minutes. She was loving the audience attention and made it up there for maybe four songs throughout the set!

      What made me smile at the end was when my friends decided to sing a Chinese Song. It’s really well-known: “The Moon Represents My Heart” or “???????.” My friend is from Cuba, but she sang the song in Chinese beautifully. I was really impressed, and I think everybody in the mall was absolutely captivated by her voice! For the duration of the song, looking around at the masses crowded around the stage, surrounding the balconies on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors, and those huddled around me, it felt just like what Christmas ought to be.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to you all!

      Christmas seems very commercial in Shanghai. There are lights, there are sales, there are decorations. But, what is it that we’re celebrating? For most, shopping, giving and receiving gifts, and having some time off work is enough. What about the spending time with family portion? Or, the original reason for Christmas?

       Since I am not going to be home for Christmas this year, it’s been a time for reflection instead. It’s Christmas Eve now, and I have been with some friends this afternoon and evening (karaoke and Korean barbecue). Normally, I would be watching TV/DVDs at home with my family, eating food, singing Christmas carols, and just enjoying the time of the year. 2008, I’m sitting in my apartment alone, not really in the mood to go out on my own. The majority of my friends are with their families, and the rest work tomorrow or don’t celebrate Christmas. My MSN list is sparse of contacts, and my phone is unusually quiet. All I’m thinking about now is to crawl into my warm bed and wake up early tomorrow morning to talk to my family on Skype. 

 Christmas at Home, 2007

      On Tuesday, I went to see The Nutcracker. It was playing for only two nights in Shanghai (23-24 December), so I joined my friend for the show on the first night. It was performed by the Russian National Ballet Theatre at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. I had high expectations going in, and I’m not so sure that they were completely satisfied by the time I got out…

True, I’m no expert, but I am a theatre major. I dance for fun, but I have friends who do it professionally. I don’t play any instrument very well, but I can tell when someone connects to the music that is playing. It’s impossible to notice everything that happens on stage, but I have an eye for detail. So, here’s my brief and personal review:

Set design. I enjoyed the use of the scrim at the beginning of the show. To me, it felt like it was framing the scene, setting up the backstory for the events to come. I liked the simplicity, and how the light shone through. It was a nice, illuminating start. After it was lifted, we were taken into a humble abode. From where I sat, the backdrop looked painted onto cardboard, but I was pleasantly surprised when it was drawn up like a curtain to reveal yet another scene change of the outdoors. Pillars, trees, and the small Christmas tree that was in the background from the house, “grew” another third to match the rest of the surroundings. Overall, I thought that the set was well-made. The only thing that was slightly distracting to my friend and I as we watched on, was the bottom third of the fully grown Christmas tree. It seemed that parts of it were “missing,” but perhaps the unseen portions were supposed to be covered by other surrounding trees or snow?

Costumes. Elegant, and seemed indicative of the same time period. I liked the choices in colours for the most part, but there were some combinations that I didn’t quite fully enjoy. On the whole, pleasing and flowed well with/matched the dance movements.

The choreography. A mix of simple and complex. Going by the music, there would have been quite some repetitions within the different pieces playing. Still, I expected something more. I’m not saying that it wasn’t beautiful to watch, but at times, some of the same counts were very cyclical and easy to predict. Again, it made sense, but I was wanting just a little more. Overall, nice use of the whole stage, and group framed poses.

The dancers. No one can deny how much strength and stamina it takes to dance, especially for ballet. The lifts, jumps, pirouettes all take a lot of energy to pull off gracefully. I really liked the lines and poise of the dancers on stage. My favourite are the leaps. I’m always astounded not by the height or distance travelled, but by the time that seems to momentarily stop when a dancer is just traversing in the air. It’s quite possible that I’m holding my breath at the time; I just love it. I was enjoying such moments Tuesday night, but then I realised that I was hearing “thud”, “thud!” upon the landings. Many of my dance teachers have told me that you can’t give the illusion of grace if you end by hitting the floor like an elephant (I’m paraphrasing somewhat). I know the difficulty of landing quietly when you are doing many consecutive jumps or when they are really high up or when you are landing with different footing, etc., but I really felt as though I shouldn’t have been able to hear anything from 18 rows back, and over the blaring music of Tchaikovsky. Technique-wise, the dancers on stage were crafted in their profession. They had no difficulty following the music, and whether it was one or twelve on the stage, they brought a very captivating show.

The only thing I didn’t really “see?” Heart. I saw the movements being carried out. I saw some of the facial expressions. I saw the connection to the music. However, the blazing fire of the piece seemed absent. It was crackling, there were flames, but it only gave me a luke-warm Christmas feeling inside.

      5VY, I said that I would try to post everyday, so here goes! My random adventures in Shanghai during Christmas…

      I have some friends who are in a band, and they were playing at Raffles City for Christmas. I thought that it would be fun to go and watch them perform, and try to get into the “Christmas spirit.”

       I was appointed as “photographer” for them, although it was a job without pay (which turned out to be fine since I didn’t get that many great photographs anyway) . I was told to go up to the 2nd floor to take photos from above so that I could get some clear shots. When I got up there, the stage seemed so far away, and I wasn’t so sure that I would be able to capture much, especially facial expressions. My camera is quite archaic in terms of electronic age, so it was definitely a challenge!

      Before my friends went on, there was this one performance: the Human Slinky. I was awestruck! It’s basically as it sounds: there is someone inside a “slinky suit” that has arms, legs, and a body. It was one of the most bizarre, yet captivating things I’ve laid my eyes on in a while! I spoke to the woman who had mastered the rainbow-coloured set of coils, and I had a very nice discussion with her. If you’re in Shanghai, you had better run down to Raffles soon to see this show because it ends Christmas Day! Click on the slideshow below to view enlarged photos and to watch the short clip of the show. Unfortunately, the quality isn’t as good after I uploaded it through Picasa!

      My friends in the band came on after the Human Slinky, and did well entertaining the crowd. They come from Argentina, Cuba, and Peru, so when they all talk to each other in Spanish, I just sit there with a blank look on my face. I know, I have to learn Spanish… 5th language, here I come… Hablas Espanol?

      Perhaps the most amusing thing to happen was when I was hanging in the “VIP” section with the band. (Read: behind the sectioned off area where the performers were waiting to go onstage.)  After one of the sets, everyone dispersed, and I was just left with one of my friends. After a while, we left the “VIP area” to go to a store. We hadn’t gotten very far before two girls ran up and blocked our path.

“Please, can you sign your name?” a hopeful fan asked my friend.

“Sure, of course!” was the cheerful reply. As he held the pen in his hand, he wasn’t exactly sure what to write. The girl offered some suggestions, and my friend scribbled some words down on the page. He handed the notebook back to the girl, who handed it straight to me.

“You, too, please?” she asked with a shy smile.

“Uhhh, yea, sure…” was my hesitant reply. I took the pen and thought how this must be my 15 seconds of fame. The process was repeated with the other girl before we left the mall on our merry way. My friend didn’t think anything of it, since he’s quite accustomed to fans wanting his autograph. For me, though, it was quite funny, especially since I hadn’t even been up on stage at all!

      What an incredible day! Students started off with demonstrating their learning of the tribes they studied by sharing their knowledge with students, parents, and teachers at the Open House. Then, they broke off into smaller groups to participate in activities such as Inuit games, cooking, pottery, beading, face painting, and weaving. We had a delicious lunch (Thanksgiving all over again!), and finished off the day with a Grade 5 House team game. Thank you to all the teachers and parents for making this day happen; students I’m sure that you appreciate all the time and effort the adults put in to make your day so special! Below are a few pictures (it’s mostly 5VY and pottery since I was heading those sessions!)

      Every day, I acknowledge how lucky I am: to be who I am, where I am, and to have the people I know in my life. As I was on the long ride home from school on Friday afternoon, a list formed in my mind. When my list started getting too long for me to remember (it was 4pm at the end of the work week!), I typed up the points on my phone. I may need to update and modify, since it was compiled rather quickly, but for now, this is what I believe to be true. It might be interesting to see what changes there might be in a year or two, though…

Things I will never tire of, regardless of my age…

1. Watching a sleeping baby.

2. Seeing the “lightbulb” go off for someone understanding something for the first time.

3. A clear, blue sky. Warmth radiating from the sun, and a slight, gentle breeze.

4. A genuine, heartfelt hug.

5. Curling up somewhere comfortable with a good book.

6. Looking through old photos of memories of the past.

7. Dancing.

8. Performing unselfish acts of kindness/giving honest words of encouragement to brighten someone’s day.

9. Having my parents take care of me.

10. Smiling.

 What would be on your list?

Grade 5’s, it started weeks and weeks ago, but next Thursday, it all comes to a close. Our Global Natives Open House will take place over two days: for teachers and students on Wednesday, December 17th, and for parents on Thursday, December 18th. It will be a final demonstration of what you’ve learned this term about your tribe. Below is a checklist of items to cross off so that you feel confident and ready to share your expert knowledge with the rest of the world!

My Wiki:

* I have organised my page in a neat format so that visitors can view information easily.

* I have cited three or more different types of sources properly in my annotated bibliography (remember to use Easybib.com for assistance!).

* I have made thoughtful contributions to the discussion pages of my tribe.

* I have included general information about my tribe in the space above my annotated bibliography (text, videos, images, etc.).

My Artifact:

* I have made something that is connected to my cultural area studied (food and cooking, religions and beliefs, etc.).

* I can explain how my artifact reflects the culture of my tribe (how it was used or was an important part of the tribe’s cultural identity).

* I have a write-up that includes a description about my artifact (what it is made of– and I don’t mean model magic! — , how it was used, when it took place, labelled areas, what’s going on in the scene if it’s a diorama, etc.).

* I have thoroughly researched my tribe, and the artifact I have made is an accurate representation of their culture.

My Speech:

* Is 1 to 2 minutes long.

* Has been rehearsed and practiced so that I have it almost memorized.

* Tells the listener some important information about my research and artifact.

* Answers some of the big questions that I had at the beginning of the project.

Have you met all the expectations of this project? Check the rubric and your planning sheets this weekend. We will be practicing our speeches and doing final touches next week. Can’t wait for it to all come together!