Today I woke up a bit late because it was quiet and very dark. I checked my email and had my morning tea as well as headed downstairs to have breakfast. This morning at breakfast, Clare, my waitress taught me how to make a crown out of a paper napkin. Now I can make a crown for the kids, the bra for some laughs and the rose for my girlfriend (sorry I haven't created one for you yet). All in all... Good origami skill learning this morning.
Our morning excursion consisted of a small village which had a huge pagoda that we could climb. The foggy setting set a mystical and spiritual ambience appropriate for this location. This was the first day of bad weather and I certainly couldn't complain. I am glad I didn't take a shower this morning because climbing up this pagoda caused me to sweat up a storm.
Once again while getting off the boat, the tourists were bombarded by sellers mostly yelling "You like?" and "1 dollar!" There was a Buddhist band playing some music and dressed up in traditional wear as we walked off the ship. There were a whole slew of tent sellers on both sides of us as we walked on uneven ground up a hill toward the steps of the pagoda. We were told these tent shops would have items suitable for the friends you "just don't like." Ironically, all of these shops will be washed away from the Yangtze river when the dam is completed in 2009. It will become a large island then with just the pagoda preserved.
So we made our way to the start of the stairs. This particular pagoda was used for prayer and was built along the natural wall of the mountain. Originally there were no metal nails used, just indentations that hung it from the 90 degree mountain edge. The pagoda is older that the United States.
We made our way to the top and I climbed to the highest point... the super heaven. I gave my camera to Levi and he took good photos of me. Once we were finished seeing the top of the temple and I had stepped over the tall bridge in three steps for good luck, I spoke with a Chinese man who looked about my age and asked if he was from China and the next thing you know.... He and his three lively friends came to practice their English. Zhou Wang, Liu Tong, Zhou You and Yvette were very very very nice and I had such a blast explaining American culture and learning about Chinese tradition. After talking about things like dangerous Detroit, a very difficult to pronounce for the Chinese Christina Aguilera, their school, American movies and music and a ton more, we took a photo together and I gave them all postcards from Michigan. I asked them if they would come shopping with me and so we headed down to the tents. I told them that I might be looking for something for my girlfriend (if I could find something nice in these shops). They pointed out many different kinds of items suitable items for a woman. But we mostly got distracted from shopping by goofing off and having great conversation which in turn turned me off from the shopping. Half way down, I taught the guys how to greet someone in America. I taught them the important greeting of "What's up?" I have been teaching all of the Chinese this important and critical greeting, because it is essential in being cool in the US. Next, Liu Tong ended up buying a purse to give to Susan. It is a culturally looking native purse which says "Three Gorges Culture" in Chinese characters. Also Yvette gave me a hat that women use as a gift. In return I asked Liu Tong her Chinese Zodiac and then I found a rock that had her sign carved in it.... knowing that she likes rocks it was a perfect gift to return. In the end I took a final video of them to say goodbye and I headed back on the boat.
From 10:30 until lunch I showered, organized stuff and talked about my experiences interacting with the locals. I might have played some Mahjongg as well; my activities are blending in more and more on this leisure cruise.... For sure I know I am on vacation though.
After lunch, a healthy American burger, I saw some scenery outside, learned some Chinese in a class and painted a snuff bottle. A snuff bottle is used to carry snuff obviously, but these artists buy crystal and glass snuff bottles and paint on the inside of it with great detail. It is quite popular throughout China and we learned how to tell the difference between the fake and real ones. Essentially the bottles are painted upside down with a paint brush.
After the discussion about the craft, they asked for volunteers to try to paint to inside. Me, being the outgoing one (last night being in a skit and who an hour ago was haggling a seller in Chinese as a volunteer) decided to volunteer for this activity to paint the inside of the bottle. The artist had initially begun a tree branch with pink blossoms and when I unveiled my artistic skills.... I extended his branch where it was missing a spot and I also painted a crappy looking bat, an ugly moon and I disgustingly signed my beautiful artwork with "The Dave" (assuming I would buy it off him and give it to Susan). After about 10 minutes of trying to get my point across that I had ruined his bottle and that he would have to throw it out anyway, I gave up because he didn't know what I wanted. The translators later told me that I only temporarily ruined it and that he didn't have to throw it away after I was finished.
After all that, Stamps and I had an hour long conversation about China and about the things we were witnessing as the boat passed by. It is really hard to explain what I witness everyday here. I can capture very few moments on my video camera, but there are things that I cannot explain in words or capture in any other medium. I guess if I sat down and thought about it I could capture it for others to read or see, but much of what I experience out here just sits in my heart as a feeling and an understanding; a first hand experience to the complex Chinese life.
Before dinner at 7, I had made plans to fly a kite with Steven (the local kite maker on the boat and a good friend I have made so far). We play Mahjongg a lot and talk a bunch as well. He gave me the large dragonfly kite and I took it up on the top deck. It was tough to get up high, but was very beautiful while in flight. Somehow a friend got some pictures from his balcony on the starboard side of me and the kite..... That guy gets some great photos of the most random stuff. It was tough to get the kite very high in the air, but it was still very neat to see flying.
I headed to dinner and already had a buzz from the 1994 Great Wall of China wine that Les gave me and during dinner I continued to consume more alcohol than I had to eat. It was fun and I could tell people were giving me a "shit" because I was drinking. But regardless, I was the conversation starter at dinner and mostly spoke with our national guide Rocky about his personal life and other things of interest about him. I might have been a bit loud, but that is standard operating procedure. Mary commented on how I called the "captain" of the boat a "driver" and how I shouldn't have called him that because I am an educated man. But I am just not proper in many ways.
Anyway after dinner we took a group photo and Stamps reserved the room for a lecture. I declined because I wanted to get my picture taken in an imperial gown as well as other things going on. After my hilarious photos, I paid Steven for an "under the table" business transaction that would benefit him instead of the boat company that profits off his artwork. I paid him upstairs in the balcony and we met up with our friends Travis and Levi. Somehow we got on the conversation of Qi Gong (An ancient practice to become closer to the heavens through meditation) While doing this I felt an energy I have never felt before in my hands and stomach. It was very relaxing listening to him speak about how we should breathe in. It was totally breathtaking and was so amazing.
We finished the night playing Mahjongg and then I packed for the following morning. All-in-all it was a wonderful day of becoming more aware of Chinese life.
