Eastern Love vs. Western Love

Well, for the past few days, I have been watching chick tv shows. And, since they are all about love, I have found that there is a distinct difference between the english speaking ones, and, the chinese dubbed, korean speaking ones. On a side note, Korean and Japanese cultures both embody, in a MUCH fuller form than what China has at the moment, elements of what chinese culture used to be. Korean being the more recent past. This was a part of my museum education by the way. So, if you want to understand traditional Chinese culture, they are probably good places to start. Ironically.

Anyway, what is different, is in the words of a Yao Ming video biographer, that "sweet, lingering eastern love". Versus the brash, brief western version. Let me elaborate a little. In trad. E culture, a girl and a boy is more love at first sight. They are supposed to talk to each other, get to know each other, the boy is expected to do good things for the girl and their family. Gifts, errands etc. The girl on the other hand, is supposed to act shyly, accept gifts grudgingly and be absolutely innocent of the boy's intentions. Well, I'm talking about love, not arranged marriages. This can drag on for YEARS with no action, before they get married. Thereafter, she cooks, breeds and looks after the children, and he goes on with his career, plus some one to cook, clean and breed for him. She then tries to live her life through him and her children. Quote from a movie I saw this morning : " Men conquer women through conquering the world, and women conquer the world through men". It's so....waste of time. Inefficient even.

Brash western: meet, like ea other, stay together, don't like each other anymore, separate. Split everything down the middle and find a new situation to be in. Maybe in a developed economy, one can afford to do such a thing more. But con: perhaps through years of trials and tribulations, emotions run deeper.

Anyway, I've been meaning to write some long, irrational post about if for ages, but then, after some slow, lingering music that I fell half asleep to, it hit me. We are all looking for the same thing in different ways. Someone to cross that wide, wide ocean with, and through mutual feelings of terror, find comfort. And also for one to catch the other in case we fall.

I've always told myself that no matter whether or not I'm scared, I have to cross it. Being not scared will improve my performance and minimise chances of falling. What is there to be scared about anyway?

What my life might have been:

5.00 Wake up, brush teeth, early pre-reading

6.00 Breakfast, walk to school, tie hair on way there

6.15. Start school.

• No of subjects: 9
• Papers needed to be completed per day: 2-3 per subject
• Time needed for one paper: avg. 30-45 mins
• 9*2.5*37.5=843.75mins ~14 hours
  

12.00 Lunch (one might want to use this opportunity to skip lunch and do a paper)

12.30 Finish lunch

21.00 Class finishes, Night revision

23.30 Let out, go home

00.00 Sleep.

True schedule. In small town boarding (and non-boarding) high school such as my father's old school. With a 95% University entrance rate. This is how it happens folks.

Now I'm scared. But I don't know where to start! Do you really expect me to redo 2 years worth of math? I mean, my cousin's stuff is, I think mostly covered by Math250. But our questions were really easy....unlike hers. What do I do? I'm not a B student!!!! I refuse to be a B student. >:-(

Media bias: Concrete evidence and contra-evidence.

Oh yea, found this on Economist forums by a certain "Maeglin". Yea, I'm totally addicted to Ex-communist v West discussion boards:

". . . But I have to ask you this - gentlemen, why do you trust your media? It has lied to you about WMD, it has lied to you about Kosovo and about 1st war in Yugoslavia.

We do not trust our media. We have learnt it the hard way. Why not take a piece of advice and not learn it the hard way yourself." :-) Lmao.

There are different approaches to the matter, the kinds of people are:

Ex-communist:
1. Trys to tell the truth as it is! (Yea! Go go go!)
2. Rebutts every comment (has gotta be a i-bank analyst, who else is smart, educated, able, interested in politics and also has so much forced screen time to spare?)
3. Trys to reconcile the truth and what is written from the two points of view.
4. Writes in non-English to tell everyone to chill. The westerners are a cult, they will never believe you
5. Writes about how disappointed in the economist they are (as if it has ever been any different)

Pro-western:
1. Arrogant American
2. Righteous American
3. The "understanding" American (I have lived in xxx for so many years.......)
4. The debater: dude, seriously, you could not scream "high school geek" louder if stuck a tag on your forehead and posted your picture along with your melodramatic, far too long, unoriginal, so-called ideas.
5. The historian. Speaking from his/her high and mighty pedestal of(biased) history textbooks. As if who won in the past matters.
6. Special case: Tibetans exiled, Georgians killed etc.....

Now....if only the wsj has a discussion board....sigh.


OMG. UNBELIEVEABLE! This from the WSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121876874842643523.html?mod=djemITP

"Using the past week as a guide would indicate that the worst fears might be overblown. A combination of favourable winds, rain and strict government pollution controls have managed to keep Beijing's air quality below the government's threshold for safe air since the games began Aug. 8."

Damn, I'm becoming a western media watchdog. I need to read some Chinese media and post some translations of the "Chinese truth" on my blog.

Media bias

I've wanted to talk about this for ages now. I don't know if I have said it and am repeating myself, but seriously, please, don't believe the crap they feed you. I mean, I think I have understood why AMUNC was not that pleasurable an experience for me beyond the fact that I didn't stay up all night drinking with everyone else. It's because actually despite all that "debate" crap, most of them just parroted the western media line.

I mean, when I hear someone gushing about Al Jazzera, I just feel pity. They actually believed all the lies they have been told. I mean, Chinese people do to, but we have been obviously lied to so much, we leave room for doubt. A lot of people in the West actually believe that the media does their best to report the news. The free speech BS, and democracy BS. Newspapers are a business. Now I understand William Randolph Hearst: "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Power, power, power like no other. Money is not power. Politics is not power. Broadcasting rights are power. Think about it. If on a BBC commentary was outraged at a foul or a PK in favour of the opposing and England loses....riot. On the other hand, if BBC commentator didn't mention, or said something to mollify the crowd, perhaps smaller riot.

Hmm...is that why the church was so powerful in renaissance europe? It is the ability to fool people into believing in you to make their lives better. But not so much, that, when they almost inevitably get disappointed, they will not be so disappointed that they want to revolt against you.

Is that why Obama is falling now? Like I have always maintained, he is way too n00b. I mean, there are avenues of getting things done. The Clinton camp, before their connections were torn by Obama's popularity, had them. Now...somewhere in between. I don't think America need new, better ideas. Bush's were not all that bad. Education reform, endless supply of oil secured, trade tarrifs to protect the mid-western industry so that they may have some time to change to other industries where the US has a comparative advantage even bio-fuel, while not good, is still a solution to what is probably the biggest question of the 21st century. Energy.Yea, what America needs, is someone to implement and fix up the irregularities in the system. NOT someone to think up brand spanking new ideas and try to layer them on top of the old ones...ergh......

Oh well, it's a democracy, so, if he gets elected and screws up, it means that the people has spoken, and they obviously want a president that can screw everything up further for the next four year, so it's alright. Right?

On the subject of bio fuels, I mean, we used to spend more than half our income in food. Now I think, in NZ at least the average is less than one fifth. So what if we spend more if the price to pay is to be able to run our cars? I mean, economic growth is a miracle. As Robert E. Lucas so vividly illustrated for us. Resources are limited. It just gets recycled, I mean there must be a physics law, energy conservation? That means that economic growth must stop at some point. Oh yea, the steady state rate of income in economics. Haven't reached that yet, but, it's getting closer and closer right? Because it has to be finite.

Btw, if you are heading towards something that is infinitely far away, can you say that you are getting closer to it?

In closing, take the media as a bit of a guideline to the situation. Don't naively think they are telling the truth. Like I used to. I actually used to read every sentence like it was a literary masterpiece or something. Now I scan the first two sentences of each paragraph and if it doesn't interest me i skip.

Aurum Est Potestas

Gold is power。In this trip, I am understanding why people do a lot of the things that I thought was bad and swore that in my generation, I and my fellow peers would never do. Ha ha, was I quite the young visionary? If my family were lower-class or upper-class, this kind of thinking may have manifested itself into revolutionary and idealistic behaviour at my age. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my family is middle class. So I am currently trying my best to play the game and earn money. Sigh. Such is fate.

Oh yes, those things that I didn't understand were, among others, war and love of gold. War I now believe is absolutely necessary. World peace really is trapped in the minds of beauty queens and stoned hippies. Oh yes and young idealistic souls that know no better. I mean, there is no incentive for either party to settle without war. Think about APEC and Doha and WTO and UN and ASEAN and CER and EU and AU whatever abbreviations that people give them. Think of all the taxpayers money that has been eaten or drunk at these places. Result? NIL. Nada. Why? No incentive. You need to fight. To blackmail. You see? The Americans are perfectly correct. Invade ze weak country for oil. No way they were getting it any other way. The Chinese are walking a tightrope with the African countries. We are not No. 1 so lack the kind of military and political weight to actually invade. One day, I think a revolutionary will arise and fight against this digging of natural resources. So actually, in a way, as China develops Africa more for resources that are under their feet, we are creating our own enemies. Oh well, leave that problem to later.

Anyway, this is something that I loved at the museum:

http://www.njmuseum.com/ware/images/big/treasure/100.jpg

BC 202 to AD 8 years. 2000 years of history. It is the cutest thing. I totally fell in love with most of the little gold things. So shiny and pretty! So, that is why I think there must be some kind of inbred love that humans have for gold. They beat out the wood painting, pottery etc totally.

I also loved this big bronze vase (maybe 63cm high) with some kind of inlay from the BC 476-221. Even earlier. Absolutely gorgeous.

http://www.njmuseum.com/ware/images/big/bronze/06_20021010.jpg

My first open-eyed introduction to chinese historical objects. It just shows that the human ability is limitless.

Have you noticed how I haven't been on for a while? Been addicted to Sex and the City. It is like, all the problems every woman faces in her life. The thing that really scared me is that.....do women really become Stepford wives once they marry and breed? I don't plan on marrying, but the idea of a Mini-Me is just too good to pass up. Sob sob. Life is hard. And I should consider these things later. But....there is the body clock problem.

Dr Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum 中山陵

Went there today and looked at Nanjing's premier tourist spot. The remains of the nationalist uprising, and also a Ming Dynasty tomb. Nice architecture.

China 0, Belgium 2

Ah, I knew I shouldn't have watched it but....its like being on a high peak. You know you shouldn't look down but.... So bad. It's not even the fact that they suck. It's the attitude. Did you see that person's face when he missed right in front of the goal in the 8th minute? Not a scrap of apology. Not a hint of "omg, this is so humiliating that I missed something like this in front of everyone". No "I wanna sink into the ground this is so embarassing". Just "oh. My bad". S.O.B.

The country with the most football fans can't beat a third rate Euro team with two of their best players missing. I'm never watching another game again. Ok, I shouldn't say that, I wanna see Ronaldinho play.

Did anyone watch Brazil v NZ? 5-0. Expected I think. No offence, but due to the fact that noone watches the beautiful game in NZ, the standard is amateur at best. There is only one strategy: get the ball forward and hope someone can out run the defence and get the ball in. Actually, the Belgium team had that kind of attacking strategy, but they had better planning and defence. More accurately, they know how to be brutal without violating the rules. Italy and Greece are masters at this. This kind of training NZ team lacks. They are still pretty much play a clean game. Which means Brazil gets a lot of space to maneuver, which basically means that the little flightless birds are screwed.

As for Brazil v China. Well, since China only has this game before they can stop losing face internationally and go back to losing face nationally and amongst the asian and middle eastern football audience, and the fact that no one expects them to be any kind of challenge to Brazil, especially themselves, I expect the first 15 mins to be alright, with some opportunities, but of course, due to the fact that our strikers go out of their way to miss the goal, even if the goal is right if front of them, we cannot possibly get a goal unless one of the Brazilian defence takes pity and decides to do it for us.

You see, this is a place where statistics goes out the window. There are 1.3 billion people in China. There are more men than women. 103:100. That makes approximately 659 million males. out of that 659 million males, there is not a single one that is a playmaker. Like Russia's Arshavin. The rest of the team is unspectacular. But with Arshavin, it's a done deal. World-class. Of course, Spain has any number of play makers so they are really good, but China really only needs one at this point.

I think the system is to blame for this. I mean, how many kids in China are a part of a football team? Apart from the ones in sports academies, maybe 1%? Study is too intense. There is just no culture of team sports. You can tell by the crappy chinese commentary. Because I have listened to the BBC ones, there is a comparison. I mean, those people understand the game. Chinese commentators just talk about random stuff that is unrelated to the game. Like how tall everyone is. They have an obsession with height. But in football, height is not all that crucial. Versus say, basketball or volleyball. At the very least, at the Chinese national team's level, height is the very least of their problems. They should start with the fact that they can't pass to save their life. Then move on to the fact that they actually can't kick the ball into the goal at point blank range.

Sigh. If I ever have kids, they are going to grow up playing football. For the good of the world.

总统府 Presidential Palace

Went and had another fancy lunch today. But luckily, it was with family, so we took everything we couldn't eat with us. Made us look a little cheap, but it was for the good of the environment, the poor etc etc. I have always wondered, do they really just throw away food that we haven't eaten? It's such a waste! But I really don't want to think about the things that one may do with restaurant leftovers. I suppose it is one of these things that only the ones inside know. This is very likely to be the last one. Thank god. We are going to the Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan) on Monday to lose weight lol. I'll be glad of the exercise opportunity.

Anyway, on to the title of this post. We went to this place that was a Qing dynasty summer house, then, when the Tai Ping Army (first peasant revolution) suceeded, it became the palace of the new king. Unfortunately, the non-imperial force was not strong in this one, and he wanted to become emperor, add some in-fighting amongst the lower levels, as well as some usurpting I think (not good on history sorry) failed after 11 years. And the old Emperors moved in again. Then, through many revolutions and random fighting, Sun Yat-sen (孙中山) suceeded in freeing us from the imperial past, then the rest is history. He died, Japs invaded further, Communists and Kuomingdang slight infighting and KMT and CCP both needs to fight the Japs, Japs left, civil war, Taiwan (KMT) and Mainland(CCP). Until the new warming of relations today. Ah, such is history.

Anyway, we saw all of the buildings that they lived and worked in, some relics, some old pictures, their revolutionary struggles, the little gardens with the little lake and the fish. Really nice.

Outside, there was a line of stalls selling various traditional craft works. We spent quite a lot of time and money there. All really worth it. Firstly, I bought a little bottle with a little picture and my name written in it. So cool.

Then, dad noticed a stall with minature carving (微雕). Bought one with a famous ancient poem carved onto it.

Also, there was paper cutting (剪纸), had a look at that.

Then, we were caught by some wood carvings. After a long and arduous negotiation, choosing etc, we bought some. A chicken, some mythical animal that looks like a lion but noone has figured it out yet, my cousin a really pretty mountain sheep (because she is a sheep), cicada and a lobster. Ok, you really have to see it. Pretty, only NZ $6 ea. I'm taking the random mythical creature with me. I wanted a Qi Ling (麒麟) like the one on the Nanjing logo, or the statue on the roundabout near the city entrance. But they only had this really ugly one. It's ok, I can go to 夫子庙 (Confucious Temple) to find some. Plus, the random mythical creature can protect me.

Next, we went to "1912" named after the year that Sun Yat-Sen moved in by liberating the country from the imperialism. Anyway, it is a entertainment place, bars, KTV, wedding photos, restaurants, tea-houses etc. Oh, yes, because we were there kinda early, 7.30 or so, there were all these places that were doing morale work on their staff. Dancing outside the wedding photo place, and something that looked a lot like a military gathering outside somewhere called A8 Music Bar. About getting customers. Extract: "I'm not saying that you guys performed badly at getting customers, all I'm saying is that it is essential that you realise how important it is for the club.....do you understand？ YES, SIR". Ha ha. Life is hard.

All in all, fun day in Nanjing.

Rain

It has been raining superhard for the past 24 hours, which has resulted in the little street outside of our house being flooded! There is about mid-calf height water just outside, that we kinda had to wade through carrying our purchases yesterday afternoon. It is currently just after midnight, and due to my excellent life of endless food, my multitudes of mosquito bites from visiting my ancestors' grave, I am experiencing a bit of insomnia.

Went to a interesting place today, charcoal fish. Good stuff. I especially liked the bean curds underneath the fish.

Will try to sleep now, I don't think this endless minesweeper is going to do me much well.