Om

What I refered to in a previous post as "crazy news" is perhaps better termed "stupid gossip" but I will nevertheless share. Apparently, I am the object of another teacher's rather substantial emnity. She has repeatedly posted about me on her blog, refering to me as "asshat" and detailing my transgressions against the greater good. These include:

1. Using big words like "proactive" to show off


2. Not shaving


3. Drumming arythmicly on the table during a meeting


4. Talking too much


5. Bragging about my Chinese abilities


6. Not combing my hair


7. Saying "om" when I'm trying to think of one of those big words

All in all, I've been uncertain of whether or not to respond to this. The funny thing is that the point that offends me the most the reference to my drumming as "arythmic." Accuse me of arrogance and I'll cop to it, call me disheveled and I'll concede, but to say I'm stupid or untalented is to risk my wrath. I guess that's part of my arrogance. That's all I'll say about that, no cheap shots and certainly no defensive remarks because I will say this: when I do something wrong, I appologise and try to improve my behavior. Ok, one cheap shot: when people are harshly critical of others's behavior, it's often because they are insecure about their own; when they are critical of others' appearances, it is often because they are unhappy with their own.

Enough of that. I've changed my mind about my vacation for the umpteenth time (for those of you who are counting). I'm not going South. I'm not going to Shanghai. I'm not going to Hangzhou. I'm not going North to Manchuria. I'm going West again, this time to Southern Gansu and Northern Sichuan. If that doesn't take the whole month, I may head somewhere else as well. The reasons for this change are several: I'm ultimately most interested in the relationships between Han and non-Han Chinese (this is what I increasingly plan to study when I return to school) which I can better observe in the West, Manchuria is really cold, the Ice Festival in Ha'erbin is supposedly mobbed by tourists, I still haven't been to Sichuan despite longstanding plans. Ultimately, the reason I decided is the reason I make all my best decisions: my gut feeling was not great when I thought about going Northeast, but I was excited about the prospect of heading West (again).

This part of China should be really interesting, I hope. Gansu is home to a moderately large number of Hui (Muslims), and the area between Lanzhou and Chengdu (the capitals of the the two provinces) is supposed to be home to some incredible scenery, pandas, and a relatively large population of Tibetans. Xiahe (pronounced S
"shiyahuh") is supposed to be particularly cool, being, as it is, home to the most important Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. This area also has the advantage of being somewhat less accessable than other parts of China and relatively unknown to the Chinese. None of the people in the FAO or the English department have heard of Xiahe, although some of the foreigners have. This means that unlike Beijing, unlike Hangzhou, unlike Shanghai, unlike Ha'erbin or Guilin or Kunming or Sanya or any of the other over-touristed spots, it will be unlikely that I will have to battle hordes of same-color-hat-wearing chain-smoking line-cutting Chinese nouveu-riche climbing off the bus so that they can all take snapshots at the same statue.

Also, a Buddhist temple seems like a pretty good place to hang my "om"-saying asshat for the holidays.