Time to rub how great my job is in all of your faces again.
Yesterday, I got to teach a class on dodgeball. The timing of the event couldn't have been better, either, thanks to that Iraqi guy. President Bush's surprisingly good ducking skills were very helpful in illustrating proper technique:
White Goodman: "Hmm. Oh, I don't think I'm a lot dumber than you thought that I think that I thought I was once."
It was pretty weird how nonchalantly everyone's been taking this. Most of us in the office reacted to the video with a shrug, as though we were all thinking "I wouldn't mind doing that, myself." But I was more surprised that my students, having grown up in an authoritarian society, didn't really find it surprising to see objects being hurled at our President. I expected them to treat the situation with some severity- what if shoes had been thrown at Wen Jiabao or HuJintao?- but maybe Bush really is just that poorly regarded.
Anyway, the actual dodgeball was activity was great. If you're curious, I proved to everyone that sidearm totally dominates.
For many years, my friends and I have joked that sequels always seem to be called "Blah Blah 2: The Reckoning." We looked it up once and found out that there has actually never been a sequel with this moniker. Regardless, we've gotten a lot of mileage out of this joke. People are always talking about the Great Depression these days; even I've been trying to get a copy of "The Grapes of Wrath". So it's only natural that we might consider this current financial crisis, now officially a recession (retroactive to one year ago), a sequel of sorts. People playing fast and loose with their money leads to people losing their homes. An inept president unable to solve the problem, with a charismatic, visionary successor. It's all there.
So it was only natural today that, upon opening up the New York Times this afternoon, I could not help but burst into laughter seeing the title of a story.
That's right folks, Great Depression 2: The Reckoning is here.
Or, at least, there. I've yet to actually meet someone really worried about the effects of the crisis here in China. We read in the news of the big steps the government is taking to spur domestic spending in the face of declining exports, but nobody seems to really be too nervous. People here are pretty big savers, and using a credit card is rare. From that side of the crisis, people here are in good shape. The bigger problem is simply the wake from other economies, and even that will affect other parts of China much more than Shanghai.
So, anyone looking for an escape... I've got a spare bedroom.
With Christmas rapidly approaching (Pearl Harbor Day!) and the deadline for getting packages off to me in time for the holiday almost here, I figured I'd make a little list of things that would be nice.
Before I begin I should note that, despite the title, Burt Bacharach related things are always, always appreciated. Having said that, here's another totally neat list to check out.
1. A world-wide indoor smoking ban. I know my reasons for this are rather selfish- I'm tired of coming home reeking from cigarette smoke- but I think it could only be beneficial to our society at large.
2. Some winter wear. Shanghai is cold and windy.
3. New York Jets, do your thing. Wouldn't hurt if the Spiders kept it up, too.
4. Throw pillows, and maybe a little living room rug.
5. Maybe a road bike. Then again, it's really cold and a bike would be awful.
Walking down the street at any given time here in Shanghai, you're bound to hear music blaring from a stereo outside of a small shop. Subway stations, malls, offices and more all play music constantly. Normally, I would love this. I mean, a world saturated with music should be nothing but awesome. Should be, I guess.
Music here in China is pretty much awful. Going through the evolution of music, as we Americans chart it out at least, China apparently skipped bebop, the blues, Chuck Berry, and Elvis. They've started immediately in the 1990s, just after grunge died. Celine Dion and the Backstreet Boys rule here, and Chinese pop stars all emulate this nauseous sound. Talking to my students about what they listen to, they always reply "soft" music. When the Chinese media criticized the new Guns N' Roses album on the sole basis of its name and title track, they mentioned that many people think [rock music] is noisy, and thus don't like it. That reviewer was talking about old men who sit on their porches shaking canes at youth and pretty much anyone in China.
One of my explicit goals in coming to China was to spend two years teaching people how to rock. With that in mind, I went out to ZhiJiang Dream Factory on Saturday with some friends to see SUBS, the preeminent Chinese punk/rock band, and made a point of pulling random people into the mosh pit. Like basically all of the good Chinese rock bands, they come from Beijing, and they managed to skip all those early rock elements, too. Luckily, they somehow found the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, not to mention the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Video From an Earlier Shanghai Show
As great as this band is, and as fun as their concert was, I still insist that the best method to teach these people about rock is not total assault. Remember when Jimmy Page played in Beijing at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games and it was dead in the arena? Hard rock doesn't fly here, not yet. Thinking back on the evolution of rock, I think that the best approach is to take it slow. Show them more melodic, and less noisy bands, like the Beatles or the Beach Boys. It's rumored that Eagles are coming to Shanghai next year, and they'd be perfect for this task, too. (That goes to explain "Hotel California's" presence in almost every Filipino house band's set) I think if we break them in slowly, they'll get there one day. We can worry about the Guns N' Roses controversy all we want here, but let's remember that there was a time when Elvis was rebellious and controversial, too.
So, let's go, Shanghai. Let's bring out the golden oldies. I'm sick of hearing Christmas songs all year long just because people think the melodies are "nice."
Recently graduated from college and moved abroad, headed from New York to China as an expat in Shanghai. I'm really into music, movies, and politics, all of which will make appearances here.
White Goodman: "Hmm. Oh, I don't think I'm a lot dumber than you thought that I think that I thought I was once."
