If you will forgive me for a moment, I need to jot something down so I don't ever forget it. (You don't have to read these next couple sentences if you don't want to, but it might serve you well one day. I'm just saying...) Ok, here goes. Note to self: Landlords are nowhere near as frightening as Landlord's wives. End of note.
--There. That will do. I need to remember that for all time. My schedule for Sunday was thus:
8am: Wake up.
9am: Arrive at school (hereafter known by its proper name, B.A.S.E., or BASE for short.)
9am-5pm: Futz around making the BASE website/kill time.
5pm-7pm: Fret nervously about my upcoming meeting/film showing/film approval with Landlord.
7pm-8pm: Wait outside corner market for store owner to finish dinner so he can take me to see Landlord.
8pm: Find that Landlord's wife is home instead of Landlord.
8:00:01pm: Crap pants.
8:00:01-8:07pm: Listen to Store Owner, Guy Who Works at School (via phone), and Landlord's Wife have violent three-directional argument.
8:07pm-8:08pm: Catch phone hurled at head by Landlord's Wife. Hear GWWaS tell me that she does not approve. Does not approve at all. Wonder where my life went so wrong. Beg. Plead. Clutch at skirt hem of Landlord's Wife.
8:08pm-8:10pm: Jump out of way of Landlord returning home. Listen to another angry argument between Landlord, Landlord's Wife, and Store Owner.
8:10pm-8:20pm: Show film to the three from laptop. Try to figure out whether their utter confusion is good or bad. Suddenly get thrown out of house by Landlord and Landlord's Wife.
8:25pm: Have Store Owner point expectedly at the balcony.
8:25pm-10pm: Have GWWaS translate Store Owner's gestures. Project approved by Landlord and Landlord's Wife. Run back to BASE. Gather truckload of equipment and carry it back to balcony on bicycle. Set up rig with help from Store Owner. Frantically press play (on computer), then record (on camera). Watch as people marvel over the spectacle. Wonder where it all went right. Don't ask questions.
--Yep. Hectic day. The townspeople loved the project because it was weird and funny-looking and they recognized people in the film, and recognized where the film was made, and enjoyed looking down on everyone's morning rituals in the square. The Landlords loved it because they could stand down on the ground telling everyone who would listen that it was their building, and thus their project, and thus their idea, and be the centers of attention for a full hour (Parades were thrown in their honor. We'll get to that later). My professors loved it because the event makes all kinds of statements about the nature of time and space, and can cure cancer and make whales more plentiful. And I loved it because it's finished.
--So that's one completely interesting facet of Chinese culture I ran into this week, the other took place just this night. I wasn't kidding about the parade. Today was a Chinese holiday. It's the first time this holiday has ever been celebrated. If you're wondering how they can just invent holidays, I would like to tell you a secret. I personally saw the head of Hallmark leaving out the back door of the Forbidden City just a week ago. Coincidence? Anyway, I was leaving BASE to find a cab, and happened upon a large throng of people cramming their way down the tiny alley that leads to Place to Pick Up Cab. I followed slowly, listening to the amazing horns and watching everyone talk and laugh and follow what I thought was a paper dragon, but turned out to be a life-sized paper horse-drawn carriage. We all stopped at the intersection and I began filming the spectacle: horns, dancing, laughing, horse. When suddenly, to my astonishment, horse burst into flames, and in seconds horse and carriage were engulfed, collapsed, and turned to large burning embers in the sky. Right there on the street. And I got it all on tape! Cool. I'll upload the file to flickr soon. That's all for now. I'm exhausted. Also, go Lakers. Sigh.
-c
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