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Every once in a while people from the US find themselves in Beijing for this reason or that reason, so it’s fairly often that i’ll get an email suggesting i should meet them for dinner or, god forbid, take them to the Forbidden City.  I’d much rather take someone to a delicious dinner than to the Forbidden City.

Just a few nights ago i found myself in this very situation.  A friend of a friend from the US made their way to Beijing for one reason or another and so i had the chance to go to dinner with them and a few others.  We talked about life in America, mutual friends that we have, China, politics, religion, and world economics.  Fairly interesting for me, but probably bored my new friend to tears.

Let me set up the dinner for you:  there was me, 2 Americans and 2 Chinese.  I knew one of the Americans and the other was her friend that she was traveling with.  The two Chinese were friends of the friend.  Is this making sense?  It doesn’t matter.  It was four girls and me.  That’s what matters for this next part.

At the tables next to us was a group of about 20 business men who were at some sort of business dinner together.  Those of you who know China well just rolled your eyes and mumbled something like, “Oh no!”  That’s right, it quickly goes downhill from here.  These 20 men were so loud and drunk that we could barely talk at our table.  We were literally shouting across the table just to have a simple conversation with each other.  It’s a Chinese custom that men are loud and drunk at business meals.  They drink more rice liquor than you or i can imagine and their faces turn red like tomatoes and their clothes are often soaked with sweat.  And they shout.  Loudly.

About halfway through our meal, the guy who i had noticed to be the most drunk of them all suddenly appeared at our table with his arm around one of his colleagues who was obviously a bit younger and eager to meet the foreign women at my table.  They didn’t come empty handed either, they showed up with two glasses of rice liquor to offer their new friends.  The younger drunk guy goes around the table pointing at each girl and saying through a drunken slur, “YOU are beautiful.  YOU are beautiful…”  while the older – and extremely drunk guy – is simultaneously yelling, “Where are you from?? WHERE ARE YOU FROM??”  It’s at this point that i’m trying to figure out how we’re going to navigate our way out of this ugly situation.  I looked at my two American friends and pointed to the glass of liquor sitting in front of them and said, “Good luck.”

Then, just as it was getting intensely awkward and i didn’t know if i could handle it anymore, the older drunk guy put his arm around the younger drunk guy.  Leaning over our food, uncomfortably close to our faces, he pointed to the young guy and said through a thick slur and a thick Chinese accent, “SHE IS A VERY GOOD BOY!!”

That’s when i lost it.  This was now the funniest thing i had seen all night.  But i still wanted them to go away.  And they eventually did and everything went back to normal.

The end.  Just another night at dinner in China.

As i live and work in China – particularly in the area of education – i can’t help but get excited when thinking about the possibility of instilling a culture of creating thinking in the education system for Chinese students.  If you know anything about the Chinese education system then you know it’s a long way from this idea.  Chinese education is mostly known for its rigorous memorization method of learning and intense testing system that dates back to the beginning of Chinese history.  However, as i read these websites i think of China and i wonder if there’s anybody else dreaming of a better way.

• Schools Kill Creativity
• Being a Creative Leader
• Transforming Education
• Why Creative People Need to be Eccentric
• And how it might look if we rethink “normal” :: The Future of the Library

Disclaimer: I heard this story second-hand through a mutual friend of whom the story is about.  If the story isn’t true or the facts are wrong then, well, it’s still hilarious.

A few days ago a friend walked into a breakfast gathering looking stunned and awed.  Seeing the puzzled and distraught look on his face another friend asked where he had just come from and what was wrong.  My friend said he had just come from a school performance on the campus where he teaches.  Being that it’s a primary school, all of the students are between kindergarten and sixth grade.  School performances are not uncommon in China and actually occur quite often throughout the year.  My friend said that during the performance one of the classes sang a song and danced a dance and they were all dressed as pirates.  Seeing a bunch of Chinese kids dressed as pirates has to be a hilarious sight in and of itself, but i can understand my friend’s confusion.  Not understanding the song and, therefore, not understanding the purpose of the pirate costumes left him a bit confused.  After the performance he went to one of his Chinese colleagues and asked why all the students were dressed as pirates during that particular song.  The colleague replied, “Oh, their class was representing Somalia.”

In the last few days i’ve seen several news reports, photos and videos of people all across America celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden so i just thought i would weigh in with a few thoughts. When i saw photos of students at Penn State University throwing parties and celebration riots over his death i knew something wasn’t right. Because, in other reports that i saw on BBC Television there were Islamic leaders mourning his death, cursing America, and burning our flag. Why can one side of the ocean mourn the death of someone and the other side throw wild parties of celebration?  America, you have disappointed me. There is a wide gap between seeking justice and celebrating the death of a man. Seeking justice for wrongdoers seems right to me, but rejoicing while others are mourning seems cruel. In our quest for global peace and unity among the nations i don’t believe the celebration of death is the way forward.

Martin Luther King Jr. is greatly respected across multiple generations and belief systems. If nothing else, he stood for peace. In light of America’s celebration of the death of bin Laden, i resonate with this:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I just returned from a long weekend in Harbin, China.  It was an incredible weekend to getaway and enjoy time with Jenn and many of our friends from around China.  It was a national holiday here in China so we were able to enjoy a couple of days off from work, but that also meant we had to contend with huge crowds of people everywhere we went.  I’ll try to post some photos on another post, but i want to reserve this post for one thing: this crazy video that Jenn shot.  She had her eyes closed most of the time and then she started crying toward the end, but the rest of us were mesmerized by what we were seeing.  I’ll admit that this is crazy, inhumane, and disturbing.  If you love goats or have a weak stomach then i don’t suggest watching this video.  Otherwise, enjoy!

My friend Daniel has been a great friend to me since college.  We were roommates for a year and our friendship has continued for quite a long time.  He had the opportunity to take a week off of work and come visit me in Beijing this past week.  It was a whirlwind of activity, food, and fun.  We started in Beijing, went to Shanghai for a few days, then back to Beijing to wrap up the trip.  There are a few things about Daniel’s visit that make it distinctly different than other guests i’ve hosted, here are some of those reasons off the top of my head:

• He’s a down-home Southern boy so he wasn’t so interested in our cuisine. He loved going to places like Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Fridays to get a good burger. However, i did convert him to a couple of dishes, the best of which was eggplant.
• He’s hilarious.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a really long time.  The term “side-splitting comedy” is a true statement. There were several times that i was laughing so hard my body hurt.
• I asked him what the most shocking or difficult thing was about China and he said it was the smells.  Understandable.
• We actually built in some time to relax.  Usually when people visit we go nonstop for several days until everyone feels like passing out from exhaustion.  But with Daniel it was fairly normal to go home in the middle of the day and just sit around for a few hours.  Kind of unnerving for me as i don’t want to bore my guests, but he seemed to enjoy it.

Here are some photos to tell a better story than these words:

My favorite mexican restaurant in Beijing is run by a guy named Ray.  It’s down a fairly obscure alley in the city and if you didn’t know it was there then you’d be highly unlikely to merely stumble upon it.  Ray is a cool guy in his mid-20′s.  My first time eating at his restaurant i quickly figured out that his English skills were far above average.  He used phrases like, “take it easy” and “how’s it going”.  Those aren’t typical phrases taught in China’s English courses.  I asked him about his English skills and why in the world he owns this restaurant.  His answers were simple and matter-of-fact, but far from a normal story.  He told me that he’s always dreamed of owning a restaurant and then he went to America on a basketball trip with his team.  While they were in San Diego their coach took them on a day trip across the boarder to Mexico.  While in Mexico, Ray discovered his love for Mexican food.  Who can blame him?  If you’ve ever been to Mexico and tasted those authentic chimichangas then you know what i’m talking about and you know how it so easily captured Ray’s heart.  After that life changing trip to the US, Ray returned to Beijing and fulfilled his dream of opening a restaurant.  He runs a lean and mean staff; usually no more than one waitress for the whole restaurant.  You can usually find Ray in the kitchen slaving away over delicious taco meat and tostadas.  And if you’re lucky, Ray’s beautiful white Alaskan husky will be hanging out on the bottom floor.

I won’t tell you the name of this restaurant because i consider it a hidden treasure, but if you ask me nicely maybe i’ll take you there someday.

I have creative tendencies.  I think in pictures and i can see the unseen.  But i think i’d argue that we all have creative tendencies somewhere inside of us.  You don’t have to be a wild-haired, ripped-jeans painter to think creatively.  There’s creativity in us all.  But i digress.  The point here is that today my creative tank feels empty.  I wanted to write something witty or compelling.  I wanted you to smile when you read whatever it is that i was going to write.  Or maybe, just maybe, i’d write something that would slowly pull a tear out of your eye.  You’d leave a comment about how moving this was and how much you learned.  Or, if i wrote something funny, you’d write about how funny i am and then i’d feel good about myself.  The good news for you is that none of that is going to happen because my creativity tank is empty.  A lot has happened in my life, but i don’t know what to say about it or how to say it.  I did just remember, as i was writing that last sentence, that today i was supposed to go buy a new-used bike.  The guy selling the bikes sits on this old alley near my house.  He sits there everyday and as my roommate would say, “He’s always there pushing, selling, stealing, wheeling and dealing.”  From what i gather, the guy steals bikes and then sells them.  You can’t judge me.  My bike was stolen a long time ago and now i’m just buying it back – sorta.  Anyway, i need something to help me cruise the streets of Beijing now that it’s starting to warm up a bit.  Speaking of which, today was in the 70′s and yesterday was too.  It’s a holiday here (Tomb Sweeping Day) so there are hordes of people out and about.  Tomb Sweeping Day basically means everyone is off paying homage to their ancestors and burning stuff on the side of the road.  All over the city you can see people lighting up their miniature bonfires to send necessary goods to their ancestors in the afterlife.  I digressed again, but for a long time that time.  And just as i wrote that last sentence i caught a guy taking my picture here in the cafe with his fake iPad.  Yes, a fake iPad.  He looked like he was holding up a clipboard to take my photo.

So how do you find fresh creativity?  Usually for me it comes when i’m listening to music and walking through the city.  I can feel the thoughts brewing inside me like coffee in a percolator.  First a few bubbles and drops, then more and more and more.  Then before long i’m overflowing with fresh ideas and i better write them down quick or else they’ll all fall to the floor and be trampled on by everyone’s dirty shoes.  They’ll go forgotten and they’ll dry up to never be seen or used again.  Lately the percolator has been off and i’m trying to get it back on.

So, where does your creativity come from?  When do you feel most inspired?

I got to Hanoi, Vietnam a few days ago and am working on a new project that’s going to help bring new teachers to Vietnam.  Even though i’ve been here before it was hard to know what to expect until we got our feet on the ground.  So after our arrival i started to get really excited for what we’re going to share with the world.  Vietnam is a special place.  The food is unlike any other i’ve ever had, the traffic will make your head spin, and the people are so kind with a special love for smiling and a love for foreigners.  I’m looking forward to sharing more glimpses of what life here is like and why we believe it’s important for us to educate the future leaders of this beautiful country.  Here are a couple of photos:

Shooting photos around Beijing and on university campuses hasn’t been an easy task with the recent boost of security around the city.  Although we aren’t journalist or foreign media, we are still greatly looked down on when the camera comes out to take pictures.  We were rejected entrance to a university campus where we were supposed to shoot a few teachers teaching in their classes.  So, we tried to make the most of our day by shooting various scenes around the city that remind me of China.

Here are some more of the random/fun shots from around Beijing. Again, click the image to see the whole thing: