A Week Slipped By (Part II)

Tuesday, the day after Christmas: Pocket of Bolts was feeling better. We had a quiet day nonetheless, and spent most of it in the café across from the library, doing work. I briefly stepped out to grab some books at the library, and meanwhile PoB used his Chinese to order coffee and also tell a girl who approached him with some survey that he didn't understand what she was saying. I was so proud. His Chinese is getting to sound really good if, as his teacher, it's not immodest for me to say so! One learns so fast in immersion conditions.

We had a good conversation about my dissertation also. We often bounce thoughts and ideas off each other, despite the almost total lack of overlap between our fields. We're both patient, eager to help problem-solvers. And even knowing next to nothing about ancient Chinese literature, Colin was able to help me a lot in clarifying my thinking. Also, the girl doing the survey tried to approach us again and I told her we were too busy right now. Felt bad doing it, but I think straightening out my dissertation topic should get priority.

Wednesday dawned clear and bright. Pocket of Bolts was feeling well, and, conscious of time slipping by, we decided to make it a Great Wall day. Things went pretty smoothly. To save time and energy we took a taxi to Deshengmen, then caught a tourist bus to Badaling. It was quite a cold day, which concerned me, but we got pretty thoroughly bundled up.


Up on the wall, there was a chill wind. That definitely cut down on the crowds though. We were warm enough from the exertion but Pocket of Bolts had to hold on to his hat!


We were happy to get some instant noodles just before "Brave Hero" point (which requires quite a steep ascent).


There was some haze, but we could still feel how much cleaner the air was up in the mountains. The haze actually made for some beautiful photos of the multi-layered blue hills fading off into the distance.


At one of the guardhouses, we had a brief apple and cookie break. The particular spot we stopped was impressively steep! A kind Aussie girl took our picture for us.


I liked this tangle of wall. Doesn't it look almost heart-shaped in a strange way?


Colin looking too sweet.


We took a shortcut down off the wall, one which didn't require us to climb back up to the "Brave Hero" point again. We did, however, have to pass a couple of fierce black bears who were NOT especially well-contained, and some even fiercer vendors who were not contained at all.


We had done several hours of brave hiking in the chill wind, and were really tired. It was some time, though, before we managed to locate a bus that had room for big Colin on it. The downward buses were mostly packed! And while I can squeeze in wherever, an hour plus ride is too much to expect some poor little Chinese person to be squashed by Colin in a seat built for somehow half his size. Poor brazil nut in among the peanuts. I explained our problem to the drivers when we needed an excuse to get off the bus we'd just boarded, and they thought it was really funny, but reasonable.

Finally we found one with generous seats and got on gratefully (we were half-frozen from standing still!). Unfortunately, it turned out to be the local! Hours passed… rush hour traffic... We hopped off at the fourth ring road and cabbed it home from there, where we had huge steaming bowls of pulled noodles.

Thursday was going to be another work day, but after only a couple hours in the café at school, we both decided to come home. I wasn't feeling too well either. I spent the whole afternoon in bed with one of my new Christmas novels (thanks Mom!), Ilium by Dan Simmons. After a while, it was my turn to get a fever and Colin was really impressed by how hot my head got.

One thing I did accomplish, though, was to call LGs, the elderly professor I had been working with until he began to suffer from heart-trouble. I had been hesitant to bother them, but it seemed that, almost a month having passed, I really ought to check in and see how he was doing. Actually I talked to his wife, who said that he is basically all right but they are running some tests. They would let me know how things were in mid-January or so. I was glad to get some news on this front, as I had been sad and concerned about him.

I spent almost the whole of Friday sick in bed, stomach bug plus fever. Pocket of Bolts got a lot of work done. I got a little work done and read a lot of Ilium. We played a lot of Rummy 500 too--a great game. We've really gotten into it the past couple weeks, alternating among the three decks of cards I have acquired thus far: scenic Oregon, nudies, and Generals and Ministers of ancient China.

In the evening, we had dinner with HJ. This was more awkward that I'd envisioned...certain lack of common ground, though it wasn't a language problem…but at least it was done for form's sake, and I managed to keep my dinner inside me, the first real meal I'd felt like eating in two days! It helped that it was vegetarian food--I'd have had no chance otherwise.

Saturday I was feeling better--not one hundred percent, but good enough. Also, it snowed. Cold dry snowflake snow. Beautiful.

We did some work in the morning, and then had lunch at Farm Garden. I had bebim bap and couldn't finish it (appetite not totally back yet), but at least ate most of it. Colin, in line with the all-noodle diet he has been pursuing, had pulled noodles. I found the very thought of more noodles horrifying!

Then we walked to the old Summer Palace, which was destroyed by the eighth Lord Elgin in 1860. It was a beautiful day for seeing it, a light coating of snow over everything. Ruins are so interesting. These particular ruins were of European-style buildings that Emperor Qianlong had built. (I took the first picture and Colin the second.)



One of the main attractions of the old Summer Palace was a restored labyrinth with a marble pavilion in the center. The walls were short enough that Colin had no trouble solving the labyrinth, but it was enjoyable anyway. I especially liked the graceful little trees in the four corners.




Pocket of Bolts took this picture of me, which I like very much, and here are a couple of pictures of him too.



In a shivering little snack-stand, we found actual salty popcorn--such a coup. It was the first salty popcorn we had managed to find. I didn't like it (too much artificial butter) but Pocket of Bolts proclaimed himself tolerably satisfied.

We took a cab home because it was cold and we were so tired. Then I stayed up until 1:30 reading Ilium!

Sunday, New Years Eve, my stomach was finally better and we spent most of the day cleaning the apartment in preparation for the new year. It goes so much faster with Pocket of Bolts to help! Also I finished Ilium, which was a little clunky in places but definitely a page-turner--all 725 of them. Yep, my first Christmas book did not even last until New Years. But it came close! Fortunately, there's a whole sequel of approximately equal length....

In the evening we dropped by the bookstore to get some books I needed, and then took a cab down to have dinner at the vegetarian restaurant in Qinghua Science Park. It was good, though not quite perfect somehow. I was also a bit offended that, as we were ordering our New Years Eve feast, the waitress insisted several times that three dishes would be plenty enough. Not helpfully, but in a snotty way. And she wasn't even correct--it was just barely enough, and we could happily have had a fourth to pick at. I made sure that we ate every scrap of everything, just to show her... although that's petty. She's just not used to big Western appetites.

Pocket of Bolts and I talked about the future, mostly about his spring break, and that we should spend it together whether in Chicago or on some new adventure.... We just need something to think about other than the fact that he will be leaving in only a few days....

At home we drank sketchy liquor and lemon Tang, played Rummy 500, and hated on Sex in the City. It's one of those rare and wonderful things we have in common, that we both dislike that show so much. I won't even get started on the reasons, because that's probably a whole separate post of its own. But suffice it to say, they have nothing to do with prudishness or moral inhibitions!

Instead of watching the ball fall in Times Square, we watched Chinese TV (featuring boring speeches by each and every member of the Beijing Olympics Committee) and then a super countdown with brownish digital numbers flashing out of the side of the ancient Bell and/or Drum Tower. At midnight they started beating on the huge old bells! Bong! Bong! Happy 2007!