The Adventures of the Morning Joggers

Although it took a long time, Tara has finally convinced me to start jogging in the mornings. Two years ago, I wouldn't have considered joining her early morning jogs but I came around to it once we came to Xiamen. So, Tara, myself and one of our neighbours started to jog in the mornings. I have come to realize that the mornings are the best time to exercise although trust me...I don't sound this enthusiastic when the alarm goes off. Quite the contrary actually, most of the time I try to make up excuses to get out of the jogs...I'll say, "I'm sick", "it's raining" or "didn't we run yesterday?" in an effort to thwart the impending doom. All in all, the morning jogs have become an integrated part of our life here and something interesting always seems to happen on the foggy streets of Xiamen just before dawn. Let me fill you in on The Adventures of the Morning Joggers.

1/2 marathon

One of the most significant moments we have achieved since we started running was the completion of a 1/2 marathon (around 21km). The initial motivation was to participate in the Xiamen International Marathon but we eventually realized that the dates conflicted with our Christmas trip to Cambodia. So, my running partners being the enthusiasts that they are, suggested we should map out and run our own 1/2 marathon. At first my impulse was to say, "you're on your own guys" but I finally came around to the idea. So, after about 3-4 months of running 3-4 times a week we successfully ran our 1/2 marathon in about 2 hours 20 minutes.

The Dead man

The most scary adventure as of yet was our encounter with the dead man on the side of the road. We we're running our favourite route along the south-western coast of Xiamen where depending on the fog, one may not be able to see Gulang Yu Island just off the shore. Eventually, when we reached a construction area behind the club district, we found an older man who was lying down just outside of a gate to a construction site. It was one of the coldest mornings that Xiamen ever experiences. The dampness and humidity present settles within your bones and you struggle to stay warm. As we slowed our run to a walk, we noticed that this man wasn't moving and although his eyes were open, the pupils didn't seem to be responding to our approach. We flagged down the only other person on the road, a Chinese man, to see if he could help more than we could, seeing as our Mandarin was pretty minimal. When he came over, he immediately and without hesitation moved in very close to the man on the ground and tried to wake him up. The man didn't move. Our hearts were already thumping fast due to the jog but at that moment they all sank. The man didn't respond. We all looked at each other not knowing what to do. A taxi approached and we flagged him down. At this point the Chinese man went in even closer to the man on the ground and shook him in effort to try to wake him one last time. Just then, we saw his head move slightly, his eyes glanced upwards at the crowd surrounding him and he struggled to move his feet. He was noticeably cold and although we don't really understand the language, we could tell that by the sound of his voice, he was considerably weak. Why was this man here? Did he collapse drunk sometime before we found him? Did he have a home? We had many questions but never got any answers. All I know is my heart stayed in that sunken position for the next couple of hours. I tried to move on with my day but I couldn't forget that blank stare that seemed so distant it wasn't even part of this earth anymore.
Star gazing on the road
Like always, we were on our favourite jogging route in the early morning and we were approaching an area called Zhong Shan Lu. As we got closer we saw a SUV parked diagonally in the 3rd lane of of 4 lane road. The little traffic that was awake that early, could only pass by in the 4th lane because the 1st and the 2nd lanes were occupied by two people. One was kneeling next to the other who was lying down on her back, ankles crossed and hands under her head. She was in the typical star gazing pose but in the atypical environment seeing as she was on the road. What was she doing? At first I thought someone was hit but as we got closer, I realized that wasn't so considering her comfortable posture. Finally, as we passed them, I heard her say, "Hey look. There's the big dipper!"
Zombie Man
One of my favourite experiences during our jogs is the daily encounter with another jogger we call Zombie Man. Since I am still somewhat of a beginner I am probably not the one to talk but Zombie Man's form is terrible and scary to watch. His elbows are raised up and outwards while his wrists and his hands seem to flap uncontrollably meanwhile his breathing pattern consists of a rhythmic huff - pant - wheez. To top it all off, he is always wearing a three piece suit. Honestly, he'll be out there jogging every morning in dress shoes, suit pants, collared shirt and a vest. So, I guess a combination of the foggy mornings, the splaying arms and the Frankenstein inspired outfit has earned him the Zombie Man nickname.
Botanical gardens, a Buddhist temple and a free lunch
We set out once again for a morning run. It was a beautiful and clear Saturday. Our plan was to explore the mountain region behind the university and then we stumbled upon a back entrance to the Botanical Gardens. Cacti, trees, bushes, flowers and more all co-existed in well maintained gardens upon this mountaintop on the southern part of Xiamen. We could see Gulang Yu island just off the coast and mainland China a little further west. Due to the late start of our run and the energy exerted running and hiking these trails we all started to get hungry. Coincidentally, at the base of the mountain is the Buddhist NanPuTou temple that offers a wonderful vegetarian lunch, for free. If we were going to make it to this delectible feast, we realized there were two problems...we didn't have much time to desecend the mountain since the lunches start at 11am and we were low on cash. Yes, the lunch is theoretically free but first you have to pay entrance into the temple and then you should also make a donation after your meal. So, after quick deliberation we decided we would sneak into the Temple (what's the buddhist word for blasphemy?) and then use the little money we had for the donation. We set out quickly down the stairs and within 15 minutes we had made it to the bottom of the mountain, had snuck into the temple through a back entrance and found seats with the hundreds of resident monks while they chanted they're "let's eat" mantra. The food was a wonderful blend of vegetables, seaweeds, tofu and rice that we devoured after the long morning adventure up and around the mountain...

The 3 T's...

I guess I just can't get enough of the politics. Everyday I read more and more that reminds me I am in a different world over here. You learn about oppression, domination, tyranny, authoritarianism and dictatorships in school but you always feel distanced from them. We'll now I feel that for the first time, I am realizing what it's like to live in such a place. Now don't get me wrong, I would not compare present day China, to Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany or even China 30-40 years ago during Mao's reign but I would say outright that things like freedom of speech and basic human rights are neglected, denied or prohibited in so many instances that I feel a dramatic disparity between here than to my native country.

In my last blog I explained a little about some of the major issues that China is currently facing. In a recent article of a English Newsletter in Shanghai, I learned that the Sloan concert I was planning to attend, was in fact cancelled. The article, ever so gracefully implied that the reason is likely due to one of the 3 T's (1). Of course, I was wondering what the 3 T's were but thankfully someone posted a comment on the article describing that one of the T's was an island off the south-eastern coast of China, one is a province in south-western China and the other is a square in the middle of Beijing. It turns out that Noel Gallagher played at a Free Tibet Concert in New York in 1999. Wow, now that's what I call holding a grudge. To make the matter more interesting, the show in Hong Kong was still scheduled to proceed, yet another example of how different Hong Kong is to China. To top it off, the advertised reason that this was cancelled was because, in our current financial crisis people cannot afford tickets. This, I know is false and simply a cover up story since I saw how many of the tickets had already been sold for the event.

If you thought the 3 T's were interesting check out the new committee called 6521 (2). 6521 is a secret committee of government appointed agents in charge of dealing with the potential unrests and protests expected this year. This year should be quite a year because it marks the anniversaries of many important dates. The 60th anniversary of The Peoples Republic of China, the 50th anniversary of the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet, the 20th anniversary since the anti-communist protests in Tiananmen Square, and finally the 10th anniversary since China banned the practice of the Falun Dafa movement. Put these anniversaries together and you see what a numerology crazed nation can create. Some of the actions put forth by the Chinese government or this 6521 committee has been by sending thousands of troops to Tibet and by cutting off phone and internet connections in some areas. This unofficial Martial Law is part of President Hu Jintao's measures to ensure the "building of a Great Wall for combating separatism and safeguarding national unity" (3). The Great Wall is symbolic to strengthen stability, something that the Dalai Lama and his folllowers don't want, says

Shall I continue??? Why not right? Although some of this research is still unverifiable, I have read two articles lately about how citizens have the constitutional right (4) to petition their complaints and grievances in Beijing to try and rectify the wrong done unto them or their families. Depending on the type of issue and the nature of the petitioner will depend on how they are treated. Some times, people will make up to eight trips to the capitol and still receive no help or rectification but other times these people are taken to so called "black houses" (4) which is a code word for secret jails and detention centres. In an effort to avoid blame or fault, plain clothes security guards are abducting these petitioners from the street and taking them to one of the many "black houses" where they are insulted, beaten for an undetermined amount of time until they are sent back to their home province. I guess they're hoping that if they rough them up enough, they wont cause a fuss in the future and try to file a petition again.

Wow right? As a result I am constantly reminded of how lucky that I am being from a country that doesn't commit such human rights violations. Just wish me luck that these blogs don't get me into trouble. Ooops.

Check out these websites for some more information on the topics:
(1) http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/articles/blogs-shanghai/shanghais-nightlife/oasis-concert-cancellation-reason-revealed-nixed-due-to-the-three-ts/
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/asia/10china.html?emc=eta1
(3) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/asia/11tibet.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
(4) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/world/asia/09jails.html?emc=eta1

You never know...

You never know what will happen next in (please insert country name here)... As a foreigner in a new culture or in a new land, certain behaviours or routines of the local life can be eye-opening, shocking, laughable, or unfathomable. Things can be so contrary to our norm that we end up noticing them immediately and compare them to what we are used to. I have come to realize that this is just part of the integration and acceptance of the new culture and meanwhile, it can also be an opportunity to bond with other ex-pats who are in the same position.

I've been thinking back to all of my abroad experiences and there seems to be a coping method in all the places I've been so far. I remember a phrase that some fellow travellers and I created in India while dealing with the frustrations of living and adapting to the ways of the people - F#&*ing India! Yes, I agree this is harsh. Maybe it is arrogant. But I ask you to please take this last comment lightly as we created this phrase when we we're walking through a field that was full of human shit and we were feeling particularly frustrated by the plumbing or lack of plumbing system.

Onward to Mexico, there is a phrase called "Ni Modo", this literally means without mode or basically, just let it go...there is nothing you can do to change it.

Finally, to catch you up to our present experience - China. During the first couple of days that we arrived here we realized that there is a new term that can help us deal with the differences that are present between our native country (Canada) and this new, vast, populated and contrastingly different country. The acronym T.I.C., we learned is used to help remind you that... "This is China". Allow me to fill you in on some of the issues we might have to remind ourselves that "This is China..."

Hhhhooccckkkk...I have something in my throat. Alright, alright, I know this is a bit overplayed but for good reason - Spitting, Horcking, Hawking and all other synonyms to refer to the projection of saliva from the mouth are a serious hazard when you walk down the street. This, may sound exaggerated or even intolerant but when I see someone gearing up for a farmer's blow I take cover. I purposely watch the sidewalk as I walk because you never know if some green or yellow mucus spit is waiting to attach itself to your shoe. Is is too much to ask, to hold your spit until you see a bush, the base of a tree or grassy spot??? But the worst in my opinion is the sound, the ever so violent throat clearing sound that rises above all other sounds. We will be walking by the ocean, listening to the waves and then hhhhooooccckkk!!! We may be walking through a park, listening to the crickets and the birds and then hhhhooooccckkk!!! I can't run from it, it follows me, I try to ignore it, but I end up thinking about it more. I have seen people spit next to the fruits they are selling, people spitting on the floors of restaurants and I have even seen someone in my building spit on the floor of the elevator in my building. Serenity now...

Those pants have a hole in them. The babies here do not have clothing or cloth that covers their bottoms. It's like someone just took some scissors and cut the bottoms right off. So, their cheeks and their cracks are out there for everyone to see. This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "cute as a babies bottom". I can see a very practical logic behind these pants but my fear would be, "what happens when they need to go?" Well, let me walk you through this one...The mother kneels down either on a curb or the sidewalk and they hold the baby with one arm under the knees letting the babies bottom face the ground. Now I know you're thinking, "this is a baby were talking about...you can't command them to go." Truth behold, if you teach your baby a special whistle, yes a special whistle, they will go on command. I guess the worst thing about this whole thing, is that along with dodging the spit on the sidewalks, you now have to dodge the babies doodoo...

Watch out for that fishing hook! Yes, seriously. There are many pleasant walkways along the lakes and ocean here in Xiamen but a very serious danger as you walk, is getting hooked by one of the fisherman casting his line into the water. One friend told me he saw a man's cheek get snagged by the cast of a fishing hook. Ouch! The other day we were walking over a pedestrian bridge and then all of the sudden, a man fishing off the side, caught a fish and lifted his pole over the railing and the fish on the end of the line swung about 2 feet from our heads. The really coincidental thing about this man, is that when we walked by an hour later, he had caught another fish but this time we were about 10 feet away. Not close enough to feel the splash like the first time.

Let me just leave you with a funny video...