Green

green as Othello's gaze
green as rolling glades
regal jade green
true love green
green as contented seas
green as fresh mint leaves

Finding the Muse

Photos:
BJ Update Misc - The Cool Collection
Week 38 - Finding the Muse

Spring has truly sprung and I can now look at my winter photos without shuddering so I've posted an album of miscellaneous photos. It includes mine and Tashs' excursion to the famous 798 Art District (lots of old factories now turned into art galleries), some great Chinglish signs, a bar with a glass floor/celiling, Beijing's best snow day, Beijing's best cup of coffee, my favourite dog, work events (our annual party and Meng Yan's farewll karaoke do), The-Night-My-Coke-Froze-Before-My-Eyes-As-I-Walked-Home, and my first ever published article! It's an article on the impact of disposable chopsticks on China's environment and I submitted it to "Exchange", the Youth Ambassador newsletter. Not a very discerning publication (they'll take contributions from anyone) but I was proud nonetheless.

But more importantly since I've been back, the game is afoot!

Firstly I've been totally inspired at work, with (literally) jumping back on the work wagon. a few weeks ago, we ran our first Antelope Van activity for the year. The Antelope Van is a mobile classroom, taking environmental education activities to schools around Beijing. We went to a primary school in West Beijing, and Zhang Siying asked me to help out with one of the games. I called out numbers between one and five in English and the kids had to get into groups of that size to show they really understood (the kids were five years old). It was a precursor to getting them into pairs for the next game, but I just appreciated Siying involving me. She mentioned that there would be some journalists there, but as my organisation have quite a lot of press coverage I didn't think much of it.

Until I received a call from a rather senior guy at the Beijing "Ao li pi ka" organising committee thingo (for ease, I will refer it as BAOCT) asking me for details about the event. I told him as much as I knew, and mentioned that there would be some reporters too. Yes, he said, he knew, and he was about to send out the info to all his media contacts so there would be even more. How many more? I asked. Lots, he said. Riiiight, I replied, ok.

So there will be someone to talk to them? he asked.
Well, yes, I said, there will be.
In English?
Yes, in English.
And you'll be there?
Yes, I will, but I'm not there for that.
Well, you might have to. They'll want to talk to you.
Oh crap.
(I may have paraphrased that last bit)

So, as it turns out it was a media event for the the BAOCT to showcase their partner environmental organisations. I had to brush up on what the BAOCT were doing to "green" it up (not many), what was planned for the future (nothing concrete) and what of the day's EE activities were relevant to the Ao li pi ka (none whatsoever).

So I went and it was a media circus! I did indeed have to talk to people because the foreign media were drawn to the only laowai there. From an American radio journalist to a gorgeous Japanese tv reporter who, in her own words, had been "looking for someone to follow leading up to it, and... I've found you!" Bless her she looked so happy, but I was relieved when I explained that I would be leaving well before the riot, sorry Games. There was a slight drop in her smile at that news, but she brightened again when I told her I was there til June, which she insisted was fine. So, you never know, I might end up on Japanese TV.

And, most excitingly, for the last week I've been busy volunteering for the Beijing International Literary Festival. With big names like Nury Vittachi ('The Feng Shui Detective' series and HK's most famous English language writer), Anna Funder ('Stasiland'), Justin Hill ('The Drink and Dream Teahouse'), Christopher Kremmer ('Carpet Wars', 'Inhaling the Mahatma'), Christopher Koch ('A Year Of Living Dangerously'), Liz Niven ('Buring Whins' and 'Stravaigan') and Ouyang Yu ('On the Smell of an Oily Rag: being Chinese, speaking English, living Australian'), it has drawn huge crowds and is a roaring success. And by the way, if you're looking for something great to read all those authors are fantastic and have written the most interesting books, so pick them up if you can.

It has all cemented something I've always known but have only recently realised: I really want to be a writer. Well, I am a writer, I've always written. For one things, I keep bombarding all of you with my egocentric thoughts on a roughly weekly basis. This festival has been my muse, and being around so many great creative minds (and all genuinely amazing people) has inspired me to a whole new level.

Speaking of amazing people, I had the very very great honour of being Nury Vittachi's assistant during his time in Beijing. Anyone from HK will have heard of Nury Vittachi and I knew his lovely wife while studying Theatre Studies at high school in HK. I took him to and from his events, helped with his workshop, and helped organise his (as it turned out) very high-brow literary dinner! For example, the Literary Editor of The Observer was there! I know because he gave me his card!

And I can say with total shamelessness that I have a serious case of hero worship. He is an amazing man; quiet and unassuming, but with such wit, warmth and wisdom. I enjoyed every minute I had with him and he gave me such great advice. I grinned like a little kid when he said we were buddies! The four glasses of wine I'd had at the dinner may have added to the embarrassingly childish pleasure at the compliment...

I also did a brilliant Travel Writing Workshop with George Dunford, a writer for the Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Wanderlust and the Australian Traveller magazine. Lots of tips and ideas, I'm now I'm preparing to do my first "pitch" to an editor. I don't know what I'll pitch, or to whom, but I at least now I know how to do it :)

I've been to talks and discussions with the above mentioned authors which have all been enlightening, and have quite a few new books signed by the authors too. And today I assisted Liz Niven (a wonderful Scottish poet) at some poetry workshops which was a fantastic experience. I love working with kids, and learned some really great exercises to get the creative juices flowing. I'm not a poet, it's definitely not a form I'm any good at, but I think even I could have a crack at some of the activities Liz did. It's all just so exciting at times I thought I would actually burst!

Leavin' Laos and Culture in Cambodge

Photos

At the end of the last update Nishara, Yvonne and I head further south through Laos. We made our way to our final destination before crossing the border to Cambodia, the 4000 Islands. I'm highly dubious that there are in fact 4000 islands (maybe if you count every clump of plant sticking up out of the water) it was nonetheless a paradise of islands, Indochinoise style.

Two of the largest islands sit comradely together. Don Dhet and Don Khon are the most popular place for visitors to to the islands to lounge. There are probably hundreds of riverside bungalows, especially the North side of Don Dhet where we stayed. Its wall-to-wall huts for several kilometres! After being ferried to Don Dhet, we found ourselves staying in "Paradise"; that is, Paradise Guesthouse. It was everything we wanted; hammocked, quiet, overlooking an especially picturesque part of the Mekong and cheap as woodchips (I can't remember exactly but it was in the order of US$2 a bungalow a night).

Walking along the riverside road we noticed the oddly frequent reoccurrence of the reference to "happy" food, and it started to make us wonder. As it turns out, the island was full of "happy" people, eating "happy" food and smoking "happy" cigarettes. I had a charming conversation with the rather "happy" Swede in the neighbouring bungalow one evening in which we talked about how the constellations here were apparently upside down, and how if after his night out he came home at 3am and burst into our bungalow butchering "She's Electric" by Oasis, I promised to only throw a plastic (not glass) bottle at his head.

The electricity on the island gets turned off at 10pm every night which was a delight, because it really maintained the ‘feeling groovy’ ambiance of the island (I has Simon & Garfunkel playing on my iPod). Personally, I had a great time in my hammock, reading my book, seeing the stars come out, overlooking the Mekong, and watching all the lights on the islands go out. The next day, we took a bike ride to Don Khon, swam in yet another waterfall and a spent a long afternoon in a "Hammock Lounge". We spent our last night in Laos on the West side of the island, chatting away for hours as we watched the sunset of a lifetime (told you Laos was big on sunsets).

Onwards to Cambodia our next stop was the ancient wonder of Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples. There are no words to describe the beauty of them, they are mystical and ancient and if you can find the spots that aren't wall-to-wall with tourists, you really do feel like you're stepping back in time.

The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap. The most famous temple is of course Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. A huge pyramid temple, it's surrounded by a moat nearly 100m wide and over 6kms in total circumference. It has amazing bas-reliefs, including a bas-relief mural on all four sides outside of the main courtyard, each 200m long!


We saw many more temples but the highlight was definitely Preah Palilay, a small temple away from the main track which had glowing silver trees around it and had such a feeling of peace. We also went to Ta Phrom which has the famous "Tomb Raider" tree that Angelina Jolie picks a Jasmine flower off. There was a huge queue of people wanting to take their photos with it, and we had to get one each too, just for fun!


We ended our first day's tour by watching the sunset from the best seat in the house (atop a pedestal on the edge of a tall temple) and hitting a funky little restaurant called "Deadfish" with its excellent Khmer/Thai menu, barn-like interior, psuedo-American motif, and complete with live crocodiles. Yee ha!


On our second day we explored some of the temples further away from the city. I had great fun running, jumping, climbing trees á la Indiana Jones at the ruins of Beng Melea. We also strolled the beautiful Bantei Srei which is made of pink sandstone and had most of the most intricate bas-reliefs I've ever seen. Continuing our mission to gorge on otherwise-unaffordable French cuisine and to leave no dessert unturned, we also went to the Red Piano bar at Brett's advice for a "Tomb Raider" cocktail and to farewell Siem Reap.

Finally, Phnom Penh was a city of such highs and lows. The Cambodians, like the Laotians, were warm and kind but also jumped at any chance to laugh (even at you) and have a good time. An amazing attitude when you think about the violent history of the country, and the resulting poverty means a huge reliance on foreign aid. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge (KR) ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and killed nearly 2 million people. That’s over 20% of the population and they died of starvation, disease, torture, or execution. In 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and eventually defeated Pol Pot but many years of war and political chaos still followed. A coalition government and a Senate were both established in 1998, but the KR leaders responsible for human rights abuses during their rule are yet to be brought to justice. Pol Pot and many other KR leaders have already passed away so will never be brought to justice, but I did read in the news last week that a tribunal has just been established and proceedings are under way.

We went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (also known by its KR code name S-21) which was a harrowing experience but one you can't shy away from. Originally a school, the KR converted it to a prison for thousands of victims, of which all but seven died. The first rooms you enter were the torture chambers and in each one is a bed and a photo of what was found after the KR were defeated; you can't hold back tears when you walk into those rooms. They also had an exhibition of prisoner mug shots, which included children as young as two years old. The tiny wooden and brick cells are still there, previously classrooms but then divided into inhuman-sized holding spaces. As you walk around you can't help but imagine the ghosts of victims crammed into those tiny cells looking at you with wide empty eyes. According to traditional Cambodian beliefs, if a body is not properly buried the soul remains trapped, and I hope to whatever omnipresence exists out there that they would not be so cruel as to still not allow those souls to be free.

Having walked through the museum I walked out on shaky legs to the benches in the courtyard between the buildings. There were many people there, all feeling the same way. A man and his friend sat on the bench near me and they could find nothing to say to each other. I pulled out my notebook and started to write; they pulled out cigarettes and started to smoke. We were all trying to cope with what we had just witnessed.

Afterwards, the need to do something good and wholesome was paramount. Cambodia has many many aid organisations, and many shops are actually shop fronts for local and international NGOs. Made locally and often by the victims of the cause they are supporting, these shops selling goods to raise funds and awareness for issues such as child trafficking, sex slavery, gender equality, domestic violence, poverty, landmine victims, and HIV/AIDS. I donated to and bought items almost entirely from NGO shops, which I know is really nothing in the grand scheme of helping, but short of staying and volunteering in Cambodia (which I was close to doing) that was all I could do.

On a lighter note, there was so much beautiful colonial architecture in Phnom Penh to admire and we also visited the Royal National Museum and saw many of the pieces that had been removed from the Angkor temples for preservation and protection. It was a beautiful building and it was great to see the smaller treasures from temples we had been to (hint: if you ever go, see the temples first then go to Phnom Penh and see the museum. What you see means so much more that way).


But too soon it was time for us all to say goodbye. It was a sad farewell; we’d covered a lot of ground and shared so much (including a bathroom most of the time and since we all had various moments of Indochina ingestion issues. That really makes it a special kind of friendship). But reality called and we all regretfully went home, though I was in great spirits about it as I saw that Beijing was averaging 5 degrees ABOVE zero.


And one final note: if like me anyone has ever foolishly considered putting something delicate in their luggage, thinking “How much do the bags really get knocked around?”, think again. I was on the bus to shuttle us between the air plane and the terminus, watching the man unload the baggage from the belly of the plane. He pulled out golf clubs and, alarmingly, a dog carrier. Placing the golf clubs ON the poor dog, he started to pull out the backpacks and one fell out, ricocheting off the raised platform he was standing on before plunging to the tarmac below. You guessed it: it was mine...

Laos

Hammock swaying,
sun setting,
coffee sipping,
lull.

River floating,
cycle coasting,
feet resting,
mull.

Street strolling,
fruit peeling,
road rolling,
roam.

Temple trekking,
ruins climbing,
glasses clinking,
home.