Friday Night Lights

Last night my have been one of my favorite Friday nights "out" in Beijing yet.
I went with Zhu to the neighborhood hair salon in an attempt to work out something decent looking for the progressively wider (in humidity, my hair grow out not down) mess of blonde things on top of my head. My second haircut in Beijing, worse than the first, though bearable because I sort of new what was coming. The haircut was okay, though I miss the days in the States when I could say something really obscure like, "I don't really know what I want, maybe something a little funky, thin out the back, and and sprinkle some slightly conservative pzazzazz because, you know, the way my hair is textured." Who even knows what that means, but it usually works. This time, upon entering the shop every haircutting "teacher" (its whats there called just stared. Zhu had buzzed his hair there last week, and as there was nothing left to cut on his head, they were thoroughly puzzled. "She wants to cut her hair? Is she sure?" Probably should have left after that.

Afterwards I was feeling a little tired and a little homesick. Zhu has brought his new book, a cartoon explanation of "金刚经“ (the Buddhism book）with him to read and was dying to explain some new things that he had just learned about Buddhism. So, we parked under a street lamp near the subway station and talked about Buddhism for a few hours. Here is a time where I need to make a shout-out to my Lewis & Clark education. My freshman year I took a class called “Intro to East Asian Religion.” I was brand new on campus and very intimidated by the class as well as the professor, who was also, coincidently my advisor. I think I maybe spoke once in class full of pretentious and wiser than me seniors. At the end of the semester, I was sort of left thinking, “did I even learn anything about East Asian Religion?” Well, if we are talking about religion in practice or what people do, I didn’t learn much at all. My original intention in taking the class was to learn why Tomb Sweeping Day was celebrated or what all the statues that I saw in Buddhist temples meant. But I’m now realizing a class like that would be a total waste. I’m going to a Liberal Arts school after all. So what that class did prepare me more that adequately to do was to have intellectual conversations about Chinese religion and beliefs. It made me a good, inquisitive Liberal Arts student, giving me a basis of understanding and a knowledge of how to ask questions on the subject. Incidentally, it also taught me the crucial things that most Chinese know, and that art good for me to know, like who Huineng is, without me even knowing it. What’s even better, is the fact that now my Chinese is at the level to have these conversations, too.

A few weeks after I arrived in Beijing I went with Zhu and Johnny (if I’m not with my roommate, I’m with these two) to one of Zhu’s friend’s houses for a small gathering. Eventually a Buddhist poet/musician showed up and did some performing and reciting and chatting and some deep conversating with Zhu about Buddhism. I sort understood. In China, people always ask me what percent I understand. I estimate that that conversation, I understood 60 parts out of one hundred, nowhere near being able to contribute.
Suddenly now, I can understand conversations that are out of the daily norm, “What do you want to eat?” “Megan, what do you think about the American education system?” and talk about Buddhism!

That’s not to so that my Chinese is perfect though. Last night we took turns reading to each other from the book. (Its called a 漫画(cartoon), but really, its all text and excerpts and poetry). I could read it, but every line or so there would be a character I didn’t recognize and my pacing was off. (Though I high moment was when Zhu asked me what “涅槃” meant). But I really do sometimes read out loud awkwardly. To make me feel better about it, Zhu shared with me this story.
In elementary school, everyone in the class (just like America) often had to read outloud. He read this sentence:
不知不觉中学的知识 (“the knowledge learned unconsciously” ) as
“unconscious middle school knowledge.”

He said his teacher made him read it maybe five or ten times before he figured out where he was wrong. I’ll try to explain it, though if you don’t know Chinese it could be tricky. I’ll put lines where should have paused, 不知不觉中｜学｜的知识 but this is what he did： 不知不觉｜中学｜的知识. The problem was the 中, which means middle. He paired it with the 学 (study) to mean middle school instead of the 不知不觉 (subconscious) which would be the correct meaning, “in the middle of unconsciousness
” which I’m saying is “unconsciously.”

The more you know.