New Year 2006
Just a few days before Chad left, on New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the Solar New Year with Nina and Damian at a small bar called The
Long Bar, which was located behind the American Pie Bar, the first bar in Hefei I had ever went to with Jackie, Summer, and Nathan
months earlier. The Long Bar had very low ceilings in some places where people would actually have to duck to move through certain
areas that were around two spiraling staircases in the center of the bar. There were two different platforms on the second level where
there were seats and private lounge areas. The place was very quiet, mostly a sit down and have a drink type bar, and not one of the
wild disco bars like usual. Nina and Damian rarely ever went out. They preferred to stay at their apartment and watch DVDs most of the
time. But there was quite a large selection to choose from. Most DVD shops had multiple stacks of DVDs of American films, new and old,
and also Chinese and Korean films. They were very cheap too, which made it very convenient for them to buy dozens at a time to keep
them from running out of entertainment. But Nina and Damian always came out on special occasions.
We were all drinking beer and red wine, and when midnight came along, we raised a toast to each other. I said to them, “To the best
year yet!” and Damian said, “But seriously. What is the best? I don’t know.” He had his own objective view about it, but I was indeed
determined to make the next year the best in my life so far.
It was now the beginning of January of 2006. All schools were closed because of the Spring Festival holiday, and most of the teachers
and students reunited with their families and began their one-month holiday. Summer was on her way back to China from Korea, first by
ship to a border town called Qingdao, and then by train back to Hefei. Both of us had been through many changes since the last time
we saw each other, both of us having lived in foreign countries for almost the same time period. However, the differences between
China and Korea were not as severe as China and the United States. People tell me that Koreans are generally more laid-back and
more quiet than Chinese. They also have different kinds of food than the Chinese such as kin ba, which is similar to Japanese sushi, and
kim chi, which is a spicy cabbage that I liked very much, and it is said to be a great source of physical strength. I had the opportunity to
try these foods several times while I was still teaching at Candy’s family’s university dorm using Korean-style chopsticks that were more
difficult for me to use than ordinary chopsticks because they were made of strong, but very thin metal pieces that were easy to slip out of
my hands. I was sure there were other cultural differences that I hoped to see someday.
Summer was back
I have to admit that my heart was beating a little faster than usual while I was waiting for Summer to meet me at the San Xiao Kou
walkway bridge. For some reason, that circular bridge that was hovering over the intersection in the center of the city made one of the
best places to meet someone, probably because it is conveniently located where buses coming from all directions in the city come to
meet. I was looking around at everyone carefully that came up the stairs onto the walkway and circled around to get off on a different
side of the street. I wanted to make sure Summer did not surprise me. While I was waiting, standing up against the side wall that was at
about waist level, a little girl came up to me and asked, “Are you waiting for your girlfriend?” I didn’t know exactly how to answer that
question because Summer was no longer my girlfriend by title, but I said to her, “No. I’m just waiting for my friend.” She said, “OK.” and
then disappeared down one of the four walkway staircases to go wherever she was going to. As I continued to wait, I saw someone I knew
who used to work at the Internet bar I used to go to near my home before it closed down. He couldn’t speak English, but I caught his
meaning by the way he jumped a little and then smiled when he saw me unexpectedly in another part of the city after not seeing me for
a while. That short meeting distracted me just long enough for someone to slip past my vision and stand next to me partially unnoticed.
After I saw from the side of my eye that someone was standing there looking at me, I knew she had arrived. I slowly turned my head and
looked at her, and she looked back at me, though she wasn’t looking directly at me, but she had her eyes on me. Neither of us knew what
to say, so we just looked at each other for a moment without speaking. Then she presented a gift to me, but I had no gift for her. It was a
multicolored scarf. David had already bought Chad, Damian, and me matching scarves and hats for Christmas, but I  didn’t dare not
accept the gift from her. She told me she had to buy an English book from a bookstore down the way on Jingzhai Road and asked me to
come with her, so we went there on foot. As we walked on Jingzhai Road, we had a conversation, but she seemed a little withdrawn. It
always bothered me that she always seemed to be able to speak more freely to other people than to me. She always explained to me
that she was shy to talk to me, but I never understood it.  After searching around in the bookshop for a moment, she chose a book full of
American idioms, and asked me to take a look at it. When I opened the book, the first thing I noticed was what someone wrote that said,
“The path to true love is not easy.” I agreed completely with that. Summer and I were not a couple anymore, but there was still a lot of
history between us. It wasn’t so comfortable for me to just be friends and pretend that nothing ever happened between us, but I had no
other choice because I could no longer express to her what feelings I had inside of me.
My father was coming to visit me soon. He was going to take an airplane and meet me in Shanghai and spend a little more than a week
with me in Shanghai and Beijing. I wasn’t sure how we would be able to make it with just the two of us, so I invited Summer to come
along to be our guide. My boss David told me that I would soon have two new roommates who were friends of Nina and Damian, and
were also from Slovenia. One of them was going to join the company and take Chad’s old job at the kindergarten. On the day before I
left for Shanghai, David came to my apartment and cleaned up Chad’s old room and turned on the heater to prepare the place for their
arrival.
My father, Summer and I
Summer and I took the train from Hefei to Shanghai. I hadn’t been there since when I first set foot in China. I had already had a lifetime
of new experiences since then, but I was starting to become more familiar with the culture now. But just when I thought I had everything
figured out, everything would suddenly shift around and leave me guessing what was really happening with the people because I still
had to guess much of what they were really thinking and doing since their culture and ways of doing things were so different.
My father arrived at the Pu Dong Airport in Shanghai in late January, and the first thing he did was get taken by the airport taxi service.
He paid nearly two or three hundred more yuan than was necessary to take a taxi to the center of the city. Summer negotiated for the
driver to bring the price down a little. My father was not used to the Chinese prices yet and left himself wide-open for someone to keep
pulling the dollars from his pockets.
When we arrived at the center of the city, we had a four-star hotel, Oriental Riverside Hotel, that was waiting for us next to Huang Pu
River. The shore on the other side was lined with tall buildings that were beautifully lit up at night. That hotel would be our base while
we were exploring Shanghai. Over the next few days, we went to several places within walking distance. There was an underground
tunnel with a tram system that could take us to the other side of the river where there was a large walking street, Nanjing Road, where
many people from different companies tried to sell us on food and products. This road was similar to the one in Hefei, but it was more
modern and stylish, and there were more people and taller buildings. My father was running all over the place with his digital camera
taking pictures of everything. Summer said to me, “Your father is like a little boy with his camera.” We went to the new “King Kong”
movie in a large movie theater, and there was a landmark building just down the way from our hotel called Pearl Tower that we went up.
The building had the most unique structure of any building that I ever went into. There was an elevator that would stop on each level
where the visitors could get off and see the city in a 360-degree viewing range. The different levels were not stacked one on top of
another like most buildings, but there were many levels of space in between them, and each observation level looked like a giant ball
which was connected by a framework of support mechanisms leading up into the sky from the ground. The balls, or pearls, were hovering
over each other vertically, and there were about three of them, some larger than others. Pearl Tower was one of the tallest buildings in
the area overlooking the river and surrounding areas, and we could see far away to the horizon over the largest city in China.
Summer and I had our misunderstandings during the trip, but we both also expressed that we still had feelings for each other, but then it
was time for my father and I to continue on to Beijing, and for her to go back to Hefei by train. I foolishly forgot to bring my passport with
me, so it was difficult for me to get on the plane, but they allowed us through and said we would certainly need it for the way back. We
made a plan that Summer would take my passport from my apartment and send it to us by mail to our hotel in Beijing once we arrived.
In Beijing
Beijing’s atmosphere was slightly different from Shanghai’s from what I could tell. It seemed like less of a contemporary metropolis than
Shanghai, and more like a very large and very old city that developed gradually with time. Our hotel, Crowne Plaza, had some of the
most pleasant people I had ever seen. They should have won awards for their smiles. I had heard that only people with the best people
skills work in the customer service department in Beijing. So kind they were that I forgot whether I was on earth or in Heaven. Our number
one plan was to see the Great Wall while we were in Beijing. The Chinese say, “You are not a man until you have seen The Great Wall.”
The Great wall was about an hour north of the city; but, technically, it was still part of the city. There were three places we could choose
from, and we chose to go to a place called Mutianyu. It was great, and even greater than I thought it would be. The Great Wall
stretched across the hilly landscape like a Chinese dragon, and I could not believe the amount of labor that must have went into the
construction of it. Similar in achievement to the Egyptian pyramids, though considerably less mysterious.
We also went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City while we were there. Though the Forbidden City was in the middle of the
city, once inside, the large walls protected the palace and created a self-contained atmosphere that put us back in another time before
the cars and skyscrapers and electricity. Everything was old in the place, except for the Starbucks Coffee that was situated near the
entrance.
While we were walking down one of the main streets at night, a young woman stopped us and asked us if we wanted to have a look at her
art gallery. She was an attractive, but serious-looking student  from Bei Da, the University of Beijing, and she had an untarnished
friendliness about her. She brought us to a building nearby and took us into a room where there were many paintings and drawings,
some of which she had done herself. I have always appreciated great works of art, but my money and luggage capacity were very
limited, so I couldn’t take everything that I wanted. She had some beautiful paintings of mountains that didn’t look very bold and
detailed and extremely realistic, but more sketchy and abstract, giving the paintings a very delicate quality about them. There was one
painting of bamboo that I was interested in that I asked her about. She said, “Bamboo is strong. And the people represented by bamboo
are strong, honest, and they work very hard and never give up, like you.” I was very touched by her comment, and also wondered how she
can say something like that about me, a complete stranger. Her words were like finding the oasis in the desert, inspiration and
sustenance to continue on with the journey through the desert. I had to buy that one.
A law had just been made to permit the use of fireworks in Beijing after a long period of non-use, so I saw many people lighting off
fireworks in the street very happily. I even saw full-fledged adults lighting off rocket boxes and running away just as small children do.
When Chinese New Year finally came at midnight, my father and I walked through the dark city streets and saw and heard big fireworks
launching from what seemed like everywhere in the city, and not just in one organized area. I was very glad that my father was able to
come to China to celebrate Chinese New Year with me.
Summer got my passport and sent it to us just like she said she would, though there was a bit of a problem. My new roommates had
already arrived in the apartment, and they were surprised when someone entered the apartment unaware by them. She told me that a
girl came out from the other bedroom and asked her what she was doing, and when Summer told her that she was getting my passport
from my room, she said, “I’m not letting you take anything from that room!” Summer pretended to leave, but then went into my room very
quickly and grabbed my passport, and everything went OK. When my father and I went back to Shanghai, he met a woman named
Ingrid whom he had met years ago in the United States. (She was then an intern with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.) They talked
next to the river where cargo vessels and barges cruised through on their way to and from the port of Shanghai. He interviewed her about
growing up in Shanghai, and she also treated us to an expensive restaurant, which I never have a problem with.
Then it was time for my father to go back to the United States, and I was left alone in Shanghai as the new year was preparing everyone
for new action and new energy to push ahead and make 2006 a year to remember, for better or worse.
China Dispatch/Andrew Gramling

A lovely January with Dad and Summer