Trip out of Town

This weekend I must say I got a little homesick for the mountains! We went "camping" in a little mountain farming village about two hours north of Beijing (but between the bus and taxi, it too almost three). But the way there led us through a winding mountain road. It reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but with way less traffic rules. :) There were actually stars!!! I could see many constellations and the great rock faces of the surrounding mountains looked like snow in the moonlight. I arrived with the "second shift" and our friends there were already well into some intense games of "A**hole" (it's a card-game, Mom). We had an incredible dinner and went back to playing cards into the wee hours and I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time. The next morning we went hiking through some amazing gorges and more stairs than I would ever care to climb again at one time. but it was a brilliantly beautiful day and we hung out on the rocks surrounding a small pool. I can only imagine how cold the place must get in the winter, because there were large sections of ice that looked like tiny glaciers surrounding the pool. I think the boys slid down one of them. My friend Willy (a beautiful Dutch girl) and I had a wonderful talk while sunbathing on the most comfortable rock I've ever had the pleasure to sleep on. What a great weekend!

This Wednesday I'm singing at the club, so, keep your fingers crossed. But I got the most amazing shoes in the universe, so it will be a good time regardless!!!! :)

I finally got an apartment- it is ridiculously cool and I feel like I'm in a movie! So, I walk around the house singing jazz tunes I'm learning and at night sit on the little "balcony" listening to Ella Fitzgerald and looking down at the tiny park outside my window, singing along and watching the shadows of the trees move through the little pool of light from the streetlamp.

The weather is finally getting warmer, but the sky is filled with little white puffs of fuzz- not sure if they are from trees, or some pillow fight of the gods, but it looks like snow. So continues my surreal and amazing experience in Beijing!!!

Comments

芋头 said…
I wasn't in that picture. What a pity! :( I must go outside for the chilly air at that time and missed the picture time.
June 28, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blue Betty Rides Again

Image
My dear friends who are sweet enough to read this blog, I have just had one of the most amazing days of my life! If you were to just look at it on paper, it might seem rather ordinary, but it was/is pure magic. You know that feeling when you get your first apartment after college? Or that first job? I feel like this is the first time in my life that every single aspect of my life is my own, and absolutely new. It's just brilliant. Maybe because basic things are challenges here, but yesterday I got a phone (for $20 yeah!) and today I got a bike and an apartment!!!!! Whoooo Hoooo! Thank god my friend Tommy was with me for the bikes, because my Chinese is totally Bu Hao! He got a black bike and I got a powder blue bike with a sticker that says, "Betty". So, I took Blue Betty out on the town and rode for miles (i LOVE that Beijing is flat :) and it was truly amazing. I really felt like I was part of this town today, riding around either dodging cars like Frogger, or cycling
Read more

Black Coffee

Image
So the sore throat was indeed tonsillitis! But, happily, my gig went great last night, and I am working for a hospital. some of my best friends in Beijing came to hear me sing last night, and it made it that much more special. I learned a new song called "Black Coffee" and man, does it throw down the blues. There just isn't anything like being onstage singin' that song with a trumpet, sax and stand-up bass behind you (and having on fabulous new shoes!!!). It was great. I rode Blue Betty to and from the club through the warm Spring night and it was just magical. Now I have to go take my antibiotics and get to bed. But this weekend is a train adventure to some new town...so, more soon!!!! xoxoxo
Read more

Our Welcome to Country

Image
After 36 hours of traveling (three planes and lots of layovers) we have arrived at Uluru.  The tiny Ayers Rock airport was the last vestige of air conditioning before stepping out into the 98 degree heat.  The stillness of the landscape is juxtaposed with a palpable vitality and living history, and our first stop from the airport was Anangu homelands of Uncle Bob Randall and his family.  Driving along the red track Uncle Bob was telling us the hopes and dreams for his family's land.  "The marker starts here, and then goes for as far as your eye can see." We then arrive at the spot where I learned how to cook a kangaroo tail three years ago, and now they've added to toilets and a little shelter for Grandmother Barbara to use when she comes out to teach.  Johnny, Uncle Bob's son, has been clearing  insidious non-native grass and the place looks amazing.  This is the spot where hopefully more groups will have the chance to experience the Anangu stories and ways
Read more