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| Young Again |
I’ve come to find that being in Beijing is a lot like being a child again. Moreover, it’s like being a very adorable child. My explanation and an anecdote will follow.
To begin with, everything is new again. This has been very refreshing, actually. I wouldn’t exactly call my life in the States boring–in the past months I’ve found time to take trips to Boston, NYC, DC, SF, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, but none of these places have been so new as Beijing. I’ve of course developed the toddler-like trait of asking my roommate, advanced classmate, teacher, shopkeeper, or waiter: “那是什么？“ every minute or so.
Next, in Beijing I have been essentially been incapacitated in a number of ways. Basic adult abilities, such as navigating myself from one place to another (I’m planning to take the bus by myself for the first time Tuesday!) and holding intelligent conversation with other adults have been stripped. Fortunately, these two fallbacks are getting easier every day.
Third, in Beijing, you are constantly told “no.” “No going on the grass,”* “no climbing,”** “no going upstairs,” “no spitting,” “no entry,” “no exit,” etc. The city is a “you must be this tall to ride” sign, and though I am 6 feet and well above the population’s average height, I’m still not tall enough.
Now, to explain the "adorable" part. I say this because people are constantly looking at you. Mostly old folks. If you're lucky, they may even ask to have their picture taken with you (it's happened).
The last similarity to the fountain of youth that I have encountered in Beijing is that my mom is probably constantly worrying about me. Hopefully not too much, I am nearly 21 after all. Which reminds me that as childish as I occasionally feel here, I can still engage in the oh-so-adult activity of drinking a beer, even though by one U.S. standard I’m still a minor for a month ;).
*My anecdote is spurred from this. There are not only a lot of “no’s” here, but also, people take them seriously! On a recent trip to the Olympic forest, where I was hoping to lay out on the grass and get a little tan in, but (surprise!) there was a “no going on the grass” sign. As we walked along the not-so-beaten, concrete path, our attention was drawn to a pair of little kids that were running through sprinklers that were watering the grass. Absolutely adorable. Needless to say, their mothers were not pleased. They came up to the edge of the grass, yelling and screaming at their children, but would not even so much as set one foot on the grass.
**”No Climbing was written on a wall topped by barbed wire. I think, in this case, the sign may have been a little redundant.
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Posted by smccampbell on 2009-09-13 20:16:48 | Rating: | Views: 50
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