At this point I have been back from Beijing for a little over a month and what a whirlwind of a month it has been- touring the western United States, an amazing Cornerstone Festival, and moving to my new home in West Helena, Arkansas.
I have been asked a lot do I miss China, and yes I do. I miss the students, my coworkers, my church, Peking Duck, the Saddle Cantina (but not their prices!), my small apartment, the excitement of the big city...
A couple months ago my longtime friend Luke Kunefeke asked me what three things God had taught me living in a foreign country. I wasn't sure at the time but now think I am ready:
1. You can be friends with an atheist- most Chinese people are atheists just like most southerners say they are Christians, that is just the way it is.
2. Conversation and building relationships is the key to breaking down barriers and misunderstandings between cultures. Be a friend just for the sake of being a friend and great things will happen.
3. When interacting with another culture, try to put yourself into that culture and become a part of it. I must admit I failed miserably at this due to my American roots but the times I did become a part of the culture were amazing and some of the most memorable times of my year in Beijing.
So there you go, I mainly did this for me to reflect on the experience and bring some closure. This will be the last entry on this blog but it will still be up for awhile for reading. I will continue blogging on my experiences in Arkansas but rather than a blog they will be posted as facebook notes. Look for one some time tomorrow.
"It's difficult to say goodbye..."- Plankeye
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Last Things...
Last night in my apartment...
Last day at EF...
Last class at EF...
Last service at COGS...
Last gathering with friends...
Several "Last Things" have occurred over the past several days. I have been tempted to write about each of them but thought I would wait and gather my thoughts into one entry.
Early Wednesday evening, my coworker Lloyd came by my apartment to pick up my chair and mattress that I bought over the year. It made the apartment look empty, especially since everything else was packed in my bags. Then I was left at the mercy of the mattress that the landlord provided- I had forgotten how bad this thing was. After a restless night the landlord appeared to do the walkthrough and discoverd that the mattress was actually broken which had led to its discomfort. It was the way it always had been though; i thought it was supposed to be like that! After some bargaining, my realtor got her down to a charge of 200 kuai, leaving me a good refund of 3800. It was time to leave.
On Saturday, it was my last day at EF. EF has its problems and I am sure I have contributed my share of complaints over the year, but truth be told, EF is a fun place to work and one I will miss greatly. My coworkers and students have more than made up for any of the company shortfalls; I can't believe how many cool gifts I have gotten from students. (How will I get them all home? hee hee) I only had three classes that day: 2 face to face, and one game club- here is a view from the 2nd floor of my final class:
Games club is just what it says it is- we play games. This week we played Taboo, the game where you have to describe a word without using the five common words listed on the card. It is really fun but you have to modify the rules somewhat. Since they are not native speakers of English, you gave to get rid of the rule that requires losing a point for every word you have to pass on. How many Chinese people do you think know who George Burns is (or American kids today for that matter) or what a pressure washer does?
With My Last Class
Sunday morning was one of the moments I was dreading the most- my last church service at Congregation of the Good Shepherd (COGS). After spending almost three years searching for a church in Corinth, I finally found one. Then the opportunity to go to China arose! Would I find a church anywhere near what I had here? Do they even have churches there?
Several searches of the internet proved that churches do indeed exist here. There are house churches which meet in secret (which I knew about but for obvious reasons never got to attend (they are secret and hidden well in addition to being illegal),government approved churches that have complied with all laws and meet openly, and churches led by foreigners for foreigners. I perused the websites of 2 of the foreign churches and finally decided to email Pastor Dan Sandifer-Stech at COGS. It was a smaller congregation and their worship description sounded like my Corinth church. This church has been a real blessing. It is so different to worship with people from all corners of the world each week. Christianity should have a global focus but often does not except for sending money to missions overseas. Here we are involved in service projects to help the local Chinese and we are a "house of prayer for all peoples" Racism does not exist in this church. Neither do we argue or focus on the divisive issues of the western Church- we are about worshipping Jesus Christ and representing him in our daily world.
I was given the departing gift of a peace candle holder- every other Sunday we pray for peace specifically and light a candle to symoblize God's light of peace. This will be a great reminder to me in the future to stay globally focused.
I am very thankful for the friendship of my fellow COGS parishoners and Pastor Dan and his family. Pastor Dan had me over his house for Christmas dinner- he will probably never know how much that simple act of kindness meant to me to have a family to spend that special day with here in Beijing.
One special friend at COGS has been Sue from the U.K. Sue also works for EF in another school and each Sunday before the service we have attempted to solve all the company's problems:
At 7:30 lastnight I headed out with a group of teachers and students for my going away party. We started out near the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium where they have opened a carnival. At first we rode this swinging pirate ship thing that went completely upside down. My former student Aaron lost his phone with it falling out of his pocket. He found it later, in working condition but with a broken screen. Sorry Aaron! I am sure that new salary you are making at the bank will get you a new one though! After that it was time for the big ferris wheel, unfortunately it was too dark so my pics of the spectacular views of the Beijing cityscape didn't turn out. Ending up this part of the evening, my friends Karen, Nadine, and Aaron joined me for a ride through Demon Castle, a haunted dark ride with spring loaded monsters popping out of coffins and mannequins being tortured. It was very cheesy, which is the point of dark rides, but still fun.
Karen and Fred Waiting In Line
Closing the evening out, we headed to Jin Ding Xuan Cantonese restaurant for dim sum. We ordered so much food but somehow managed to eat it all. We had a lot of fun playing games led by our Chinese students (okay let's go around the table and share one adjective that describes Tim- charming, cute, chubby, teacherly, and on and on) Later one of my students, Cooper, the former singer of a punk rock band and whose English name is based on Alice Cooper serenaded me with a going away song. After all the students left, the teachers stayed around until around 1 in the morning (the restaurant is one of the few in Beijing open 24 hours) talking and enjoying just being around each other.
And while I don't enjoy beer, it is customary at a Chinese banquet to consume large quantities of the libation. While I stuck to Kekou Kele (Coca Cola) I am glad to say we kept with tradition as well:
100 bottles of Yanjing on the wall, 100 bottles of Yanjing...
Today is my last day in Beijing so I am gonna get up from the computer and go out to enjoy the city one last time!
Last day at EF...
Last class at EF...
Last service at COGS...
Last gathering with friends...
Several "Last Things" have occurred over the past several days. I have been tempted to write about each of them but thought I would wait and gather my thoughts into one entry.
Early Wednesday evening, my coworker Lloyd came by my apartment to pick up my chair and mattress that I bought over the year. It made the apartment look empty, especially since everything else was packed in my bags. Then I was left at the mercy of the mattress that the landlord provided- I had forgotten how bad this thing was. After a restless night the landlord appeared to do the walkthrough and discoverd that the mattress was actually broken which had led to its discomfort. It was the way it always had been though; i thought it was supposed to be like that! After some bargaining, my realtor got her down to a charge of 200 kuai, leaving me a good refund of 3800. It was time to leave.
On Saturday, it was my last day at EF. EF has its problems and I am sure I have contributed my share of complaints over the year, but truth be told, EF is a fun place to work and one I will miss greatly. My coworkers and students have more than made up for any of the company shortfalls; I can't believe how many cool gifts I have gotten from students. (How will I get them all home? hee hee) I only had three classes that day: 2 face to face, and one game club- here is a view from the 2nd floor of my final class:
Games club is just what it says it is- we play games. This week we played Taboo, the game where you have to describe a word without using the five common words listed on the card. It is really fun but you have to modify the rules somewhat. Since they are not native speakers of English, you gave to get rid of the rule that requires losing a point for every word you have to pass on. How many Chinese people do you think know who George Burns is (or American kids today for that matter) or what a pressure washer does?
With My Last Class
Sunday morning was one of the moments I was dreading the most- my last church service at Congregation of the Good Shepherd (COGS). After spending almost three years searching for a church in Corinth, I finally found one. Then the opportunity to go to China arose! Would I find a church anywhere near what I had here? Do they even have churches there?
Several searches of the internet proved that churches do indeed exist here. There are house churches which meet in secret (which I knew about but for obvious reasons never got to attend (they are secret and hidden well in addition to being illegal),government approved churches that have complied with all laws and meet openly, and churches led by foreigners for foreigners. I perused the websites of 2 of the foreign churches and finally decided to email Pastor Dan Sandifer-Stech at COGS. It was a smaller congregation and their worship description sounded like my Corinth church. This church has been a real blessing. It is so different to worship with people from all corners of the world each week. Christianity should have a global focus but often does not except for sending money to missions overseas. Here we are involved in service projects to help the local Chinese and we are a "house of prayer for all peoples" Racism does not exist in this church. Neither do we argue or focus on the divisive issues of the western Church- we are about worshipping Jesus Christ and representing him in our daily world.
I was given the departing gift of a peace candle holder- every other Sunday we pray for peace specifically and light a candle to symoblize God's light of peace. This will be a great reminder to me in the future to stay globally focused.
I am very thankful for the friendship of my fellow COGS parishoners and Pastor Dan and his family. Pastor Dan had me over his house for Christmas dinner- he will probably never know how much that simple act of kindness meant to me to have a family to spend that special day with here in Beijing.
One special friend at COGS has been Sue from the U.K. Sue also works for EF in another school and each Sunday before the service we have attempted to solve all the company's problems:
At 7:30 lastnight I headed out with a group of teachers and students for my going away party. We started out near the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium where they have opened a carnival. At first we rode this swinging pirate ship thing that went completely upside down. My former student Aaron lost his phone with it falling out of his pocket. He found it later, in working condition but with a broken screen. Sorry Aaron! I am sure that new salary you are making at the bank will get you a new one though! After that it was time for the big ferris wheel, unfortunately it was too dark so my pics of the spectacular views of the Beijing cityscape didn't turn out. Ending up this part of the evening, my friends Karen, Nadine, and Aaron joined me for a ride through Demon Castle, a haunted dark ride with spring loaded monsters popping out of coffins and mannequins being tortured. It was very cheesy, which is the point of dark rides, but still fun.
Karen and Fred Waiting In Line
Closing the evening out, we headed to Jin Ding Xuan Cantonese restaurant for dim sum. We ordered so much food but somehow managed to eat it all. We had a lot of fun playing games led by our Chinese students (okay let's go around the table and share one adjective that describes Tim- charming, cute, chubby, teacherly, and on and on) Later one of my students, Cooper, the former singer of a punk rock band and whose English name is based on Alice Cooper serenaded me with a going away song. After all the students left, the teachers stayed around until around 1 in the morning (the restaurant is one of the few in Beijing open 24 hours) talking and enjoying just being around each other.
And while I don't enjoy beer, it is customary at a Chinese banquet to consume large quantities of the libation. While I stuck to Kekou Kele (Coca Cola) I am glad to say we kept with tradition as well:
100 bottles of Yanjing on the wall, 100 bottles of Yanjing...
Today is my last day in Beijing so I am gonna get up from the computer and go out to enjoy the city one last time!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hotel Ibis...
After moving out of my apartment yesterday, I moved in to the Hotel Ibis in Chaoyang district, an area I spend a lot of time in so wanted to spend my last few days there. Here is a review in the style (and sarcastic wit) of the guys over at the Cheapo Travel websites:
It's like a Motel 6- on a space station!
From Accor Hotels, the same people that bring you Motel 6, comes Hotel Ibis, a budget friendly European style hotel with sufficient service. Not much about it makes it special but it is a clean place to lay your head at night and is cheap considering all the Hiltons and Kempinskis in the same area.
Room Quality- Basic, small rooms. Rooms are done up in a modern IKEA style that seems to be so popular these days. They really do make good use of the size of the rooms proving that its not the size that matters but how you use it! There is a big bed, a small flat screen tv, desk and chair and wardrobe built into the wall. Lights can be turned on from beside the door or beside the bed, making things very convenient for when you want to do a little late night reading and don't want to make the 4 foot trek back across the room to turn the lights off. Very comfy bed but it takes up most of the space in the room so don't plan any big parties here. The bathroom looks like something you might find on the space shuttle (or a porta john with a shower) small, compact and convenient. They are an enviromentally conscious chain (read: cheap) so they have lo flo toilets for using less water but after having their breakfast buffet I needed more than one flush to get rid of the evidence so that sort of defeated the purpose.
Service Quality- Very basic, they expect you to take care of yourself for the most part. There is a vending machine for basic supplies but it doesn't work so you will have to get the desk clerk to open the machine to get your tube socks, shower caps, underwear, razors, and Jissbon brand condoms. Laundry service is available but you have to turn it in and pick it up at the front desk yourself. You won't wait long at the service desk as the manager makes sure those waiting in line get waited on by opening up additional counters quickly, he must have studied management under Mary Weeks from Bruce!
What you get in the bathroom- toothbrush and toothpaste, mini soap and shampoo. There is no sewing kit so if you see me walking around Sanlitun with holes in my pants you know where I am staying.
Clientele- budget travelers from overseas and Chinese business types, mostly a younger type crowd who are constantly broke like me.
How's the pool?- What pool? I did see a big pothole down the street that was collecting rainwater but I wouldn't swim in it unless I wanted tetanus or herpes.
The food- They have a decent but gutbusting breakfast buffet for 20 kuai (about 3 bucks) that includes things like noodles, steamed buns, fruit and cereal. Expect to spend some time in the space age porta john after eating here. There is also an overpriced bar serving food and beverages. Walk down the street to 7-11 for your drinks though, 25 kuai for a bottle of water is exorbitant when the 3 kuai water is just as good. Besides, 7-11 is Japanese owned and they will bow when you come in making you feel like a king, well at least you'll feel a little better about being a cheapskate.
Entertainment- there is a game room with a dart board and a computer area or bring your own computer to watch bootleg dvds on in your room or use their free internet service. If you want really funny entertainment get into a cab and listen to the driver cuss in Chinese as he tries to find this hotel, has to be in one of the hardest to get to spots in Beijing!
Overall, not a bad place to stay, just don't expect much.
It's like a Motel 6- on a space station!
From Accor Hotels, the same people that bring you Motel 6, comes Hotel Ibis, a budget friendly European style hotel with sufficient service. Not much about it makes it special but it is a clean place to lay your head at night and is cheap considering all the Hiltons and Kempinskis in the same area.
Room Quality- Basic, small rooms. Rooms are done up in a modern IKEA style that seems to be so popular these days. They really do make good use of the size of the rooms proving that its not the size that matters but how you use it! There is a big bed, a small flat screen tv, desk and chair and wardrobe built into the wall. Lights can be turned on from beside the door or beside the bed, making things very convenient for when you want to do a little late night reading and don't want to make the 4 foot trek back across the room to turn the lights off. Very comfy bed but it takes up most of the space in the room so don't plan any big parties here. The bathroom looks like something you might find on the space shuttle (or a porta john with a shower) small, compact and convenient. They are an enviromentally conscious chain (read: cheap) so they have lo flo toilets for using less water but after having their breakfast buffet I needed more than one flush to get rid of the evidence so that sort of defeated the purpose.
Service Quality- Very basic, they expect you to take care of yourself for the most part. There is a vending machine for basic supplies but it doesn't work so you will have to get the desk clerk to open the machine to get your tube socks, shower caps, underwear, razors, and Jissbon brand condoms. Laundry service is available but you have to turn it in and pick it up at the front desk yourself. You won't wait long at the service desk as the manager makes sure those waiting in line get waited on by opening up additional counters quickly, he must have studied management under Mary Weeks from Bruce!
What you get in the bathroom- toothbrush and toothpaste, mini soap and shampoo. There is no sewing kit so if you see me walking around Sanlitun with holes in my pants you know where I am staying.
Clientele- budget travelers from overseas and Chinese business types, mostly a younger type crowd who are constantly broke like me.
How's the pool?- What pool? I did see a big pothole down the street that was collecting rainwater but I wouldn't swim in it unless I wanted tetanus or herpes.
The food- They have a decent but gutbusting breakfast buffet for 20 kuai (about 3 bucks) that includes things like noodles, steamed buns, fruit and cereal. Expect to spend some time in the space age porta john after eating here. There is also an overpriced bar serving food and beverages. Walk down the street to 7-11 for your drinks though, 25 kuai for a bottle of water is exorbitant when the 3 kuai water is just as good. Besides, 7-11 is Japanese owned and they will bow when you come in making you feel like a king, well at least you'll feel a little better about being a cheapskate.
Entertainment- there is a game room with a dart board and a computer area or bring your own computer to watch bootleg dvds on in your room or use their free internet service. If you want really funny entertainment get into a cab and listen to the driver cuss in Chinese as he tries to find this hotel, has to be in one of the hardest to get to spots in Beijing!
Overall, not a bad place to stay, just don't expect much.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Ba Nian School...
Ba Nian School is a school in downtown Beijing for children of migrant workers. Being a migrant worker poses some unique challenges: your children are too far away from their home towns to go to school everyday and not having a Beijing hukou (residence certificate) means you can't attend the Beijing schools. This is where migrant schools come in; these schools are sponsored by various groups.
Ba Nian School is located in a hutong alley neighborhood a little off the beaten path. Once inside the school is bright and modern despite its rather dismal surroundings. There is also the sound of laughter coming from the hallways and an enthusiasm for learning like you have never seen!
I volunteered tonight as an English tutor there. The English program is run by an American lady. We started in one large group where the students sang songs. After that they split up by age group. Myself and Vasmarca (a fellow church member from the island of Fiji) were assigned to a high school class. Under the leadership of their teacher, a Chinese lady who spoke English and Chinese, we began by telling them about ourselves. One student asked if I had been to the Great Wall. I was able to pull up my blog and show them some pictures on the big screen as well as pictures of my dogs, Clark and Chloe. Clark and Chloe are now celebrities in China!
Afterwards the students were divided up into groups to work on their talent acts that they will be presenting in a video conference with a school from Inner Mongolia next week at the American embassy. My group was rehearsing an English drama of the three little pigs. I listened as they read through it, helped with pronunciation, and helped them learn appropriate movements to use on stage. The teacher picked them as best performance of the evening!
I wish I could have been doing this volunteering all along, but otherwise am glad to have had this experience. Hopefully I will get to go back next week. I will save my preaching for another time and just say I hope my American students in Arkansas have half as much enthusiasm for learning as these kids did. (Although I am not holding my breath as my Arkansas students will probably be spoiled Americans like me!)
Ba Nian School is located in a hutong alley neighborhood a little off the beaten path. Once inside the school is bright and modern despite its rather dismal surroundings. There is also the sound of laughter coming from the hallways and an enthusiasm for learning like you have never seen!
I volunteered tonight as an English tutor there. The English program is run by an American lady. We started in one large group where the students sang songs. After that they split up by age group. Myself and Vasmarca (a fellow church member from the island of Fiji) were assigned to a high school class. Under the leadership of their teacher, a Chinese lady who spoke English and Chinese, we began by telling them about ourselves. One student asked if I had been to the Great Wall. I was able to pull up my blog and show them some pictures on the big screen as well as pictures of my dogs, Clark and Chloe. Clark and Chloe are now celebrities in China!
Afterwards the students were divided up into groups to work on their talent acts that they will be presenting in a video conference with a school from Inner Mongolia next week at the American embassy. My group was rehearsing an English drama of the three little pigs. I listened as they read through it, helped with pronunciation, and helped them learn appropriate movements to use on stage. The teacher picked them as best performance of the evening!
I wish I could have been doing this volunteering all along, but otherwise am glad to have had this experience. Hopefully I will get to go back next week. I will save my preaching for another time and just say I hope my American students in Arkansas have half as much enthusiasm for learning as these kids did. (Although I am not holding my breath as my Arkansas students will probably be spoiled Americans like me!)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
On a (Dragon) Boat...
Today was the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival holiday. There are a couple of activities that are special to this day:
eating of zongzi- a sushi type dish consisting of sweet, sticky rice wrapped around various fruit, nut, or meat fillings. A student brought plenty of them to work. They are quite good and very filling!
Dragon Boat Racing- this I didn't get to see
Remembering of the story of Qu Yuan- We did this at EF through a drama in which I was chosen to play the guard.
The Drama Team
Accepting Poison Wine To Kill Qu Yuan
Arresting Qu Yuan
Here is an explanation of the story from Wikipedia:
"The best-known traditional story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.[4] A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason.[4] During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.[4] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing."
Even though I didn't see a Dragon Boat race, I did buy a dragon boat. Last Sunday a Chinese woodcarver was at my church. His carvings combine Christian traditions and stories with traditional Chinese art and culture. I fell in love with the Noah's Ark Dragon Boat that came with animals that represent the years in the Chinese calendar. Imagine being a Chinese child and hearing the story of Noah's Ark, this is probably what you would picture in your mind:
After a relaxing day that consisted of exchanging money, massage, and Mexican food, I met up with teachers from several EF schools for a delicious dinner at the Golden Peacock Yunnan Restaurant. Everything was wonderful: fish, chicken, fried potatos, various vegetables including a strange mashed potato dish with spices and chunks of peppers. The spices gave it a brown color and with the veggie chunks it looked like something my dog puked up one time but tasted awesome!
One of the house specialties is pineapple rice, cooked and served in a hollowed out pineapple- delicious!
The next holiday I celebrate will be fourth of July in the U.S. There is more to come, so don't stop reading!
eating of zongzi- a sushi type dish consisting of sweet, sticky rice wrapped around various fruit, nut, or meat fillings. A student brought plenty of them to work. They are quite good and very filling!
Dragon Boat Racing- this I didn't get to see
Remembering of the story of Qu Yuan- We did this at EF through a drama in which I was chosen to play the guard.
The Drama Team
Accepting Poison Wine To Kill Qu Yuan
Arresting Qu Yuan
Here is an explanation of the story from Wikipedia:
"The best-known traditional story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.[4] A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason.[4] During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.[4] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing."
Even though I didn't see a Dragon Boat race, I did buy a dragon boat. Last Sunday a Chinese woodcarver was at my church. His carvings combine Christian traditions and stories with traditional Chinese art and culture. I fell in love with the Noah's Ark Dragon Boat that came with animals that represent the years in the Chinese calendar. Imagine being a Chinese child and hearing the story of Noah's Ark, this is probably what you would picture in your mind:
After a relaxing day that consisted of exchanging money, massage, and Mexican food, I met up with teachers from several EF schools for a delicious dinner at the Golden Peacock Yunnan Restaurant. Everything was wonderful: fish, chicken, fried potatos, various vegetables including a strange mashed potato dish with spices and chunks of peppers. The spices gave it a brown color and with the veggie chunks it looked like something my dog puked up one time but tasted awesome!
One of the house specialties is pineapple rice, cooked and served in a hollowed out pineapple- delicious!
The next holiday I celebrate will be fourth of July in the U.S. There is more to come, so don't stop reading!
Monday, May 25, 2009
An Evening With MxPx...
Friday night May 22 will undoubtedly be one of my most memorable evenings of the year in Beijing. After work, myself, Carol, and Alana met up at the roast fish restaurant (I had the chicken.) before heading over to the Mao Live House music venue for an evening of punk rock. (I really wanted to eat at the Philly Pizza Company, but at least we did have hot tea!)
You and Me Punk Rock Girls!
The show was opened by Chinese band SKO and Japanese band Secret 7 Line. Both did a good job of getting the rather sparse crowd (about 200 folks) warmed up for the main attraction.
It was really cool to see MxPx perform in this small setting. I have previously seen them perform on Cornerstone's Main Stage where they perform for around 10,000 people and have seen them in 2 rather large venues in Nashville and Memphis. At all of those shows, they had crews of people who set up and took down their gear. Here with the help of one guy, MxPx did it all themselves. They played a good mix of songs from all of their major albums except for Pokinatcha (their first), and included a couple covers from their latest album "On The Cover 2", an album of 80s songs that influenced the band. MxPx live never disappoints.
A few shots of MxPx prepping for the show.
After the show I was fortunate to be able to sit down with bassist and singer Mike Herrera for an interview. Here it is:
What are some of the challenges of touring in a foreign country?
Well this is our first time in China. It’s kind of a poor man’s Japan. It’s obviously an Asian country, but it’s a little more relaxed actually, not quite as like crazy detailed. In Japan everybody’s very much on schedule and here it’s a little bit more like "Ahh you know we’ll get there" which is fine for us, no big deal. I thought it was gonna be a lot more crowded. There’s a lot of people here obviously, but in my experience most big cities are much more crowded.
Are there any interesting or funny experiences from the tour so far?
Let’s see, of course we’ve only been here like two days. Tonight's show was really fun, we had a good time. We love bargaining anywhere we go whether it's South America or that kind of culture where you can negotiate prices, that’s what we really enjoy doing. We always walk away and come back, you know do that whole thing. So that was probably the coolest thing we’ve done here in China. We just kind of bargain and shop and get stuff for really cheap. I know its pretty inexpensive here anyway but that is not even necessarily the point, the point is whatever the price is, get it lower!
Did you pick up any interesting deals today?
Our tour manager got some, what does he call them? Fauxkleys, five pairs of sunglasses for 200.
How was the show in Shanghai?
Shanghai, yeah, it was less people, but we had heard it's not as good for punk music there.
When you do these shows in foreign countries, is it mostly locals or the foreigners who come?
In Japan its mostly locals, in most countries its mostly locals, except for when we’re in Korea. I guess if you had to count each person there would still be more locals but there were a lot of Americans from the army base there. Here a lot of white people, not necessarily from America, I wasn’t expecting that actually. In South America it's all locals, very few white people or westerners there.
On the Cover 2 just came out, great album by the way. What has the response been so far?
I think they like it and it’s a fun record. All the reviews we’ve seen have been really good. Its funny because doing a cover album, you can’t really play all the songs, so we’ve really had to force ourselves to learn Linda Linda and some of the others.
Can you tell us a little about the process you went through of choosing the songs?
Well we started off with a bunch of songs and then narrowed it down to some that sounded a little bit better. We had a few more punk songs that people wouldn’t necessarily know as much. We wanted there to be a theme to the record and we ended up with a lot of songs from the 80s and started gearing our choices towards that once we had a bulk of songs that were from the 80s. We were like okay let’s not do a few of these that we were gonna do and just do 80s songs. That way we kind of had a story to tell and it was a little more cohesive. Even within that there is punk songs, pop songs, new wave songs, rock, you know hair metal, but a good mix.
Has the reunion with Tooth and Nail been a good so far?
Yeah yeah, most definitely.
Are there any other bands on that label that might be possible tour mates in the future?
Yeah, there is always that possbiliity. We end up playing with Underoath a lot. We don’t fit with that music at all but we will end up in some weird country with them. We played a show with them in Mexico city and in Belgium. We have played with Anberlin and of course we’ve played with The Classic Crime.
Are there any plans to tour with your other band, Tumbledown?
Yeah, we just finished up a tour, we did SXSW in Austin, TX. The full length record just came out and it’s also available in Japan on an indie label, then we can start coming to Asia which will be great.
What does the future hold for MxPx?
MxPx is actually going to go into the studio soon. I am not sure if we’re gonna do an EP; it's hard to say with music changing a lot and the industry changing, it doesn’t seem like you necessarily have to do a full album, people just want songs and download individual songs so it's hard to justify the time and expense of a full album, so we may go in and do half records more often. That will be easier on me too songwriting wise. We are gonna make sure the next thing we do gets out quicker.
For my personal curiousty, do you think we will see you at Cornerstone in the future?
You know I would love to, our booking agent now isn’t as tuned into that scene. It's not that hard for them because we’ve played there a lot. We are doing Joshua Fest, which is cool. Cornerstone would definitely have us but it hasn’t worked out scheduling wise. I would love to do it again and it’ll happen when the planets align!
Well thanks Mike for sitting down with us.
Thanks Tim, of course. Cool.
You and Me Punk Rock Girls!
The show was opened by Chinese band SKO and Japanese band Secret 7 Line. Both did a good job of getting the rather sparse crowd (about 200 folks) warmed up for the main attraction.
It was really cool to see MxPx perform in this small setting. I have previously seen them perform on Cornerstone's Main Stage where they perform for around 10,000 people and have seen them in 2 rather large venues in Nashville and Memphis. At all of those shows, they had crews of people who set up and took down their gear. Here with the help of one guy, MxPx did it all themselves. They played a good mix of songs from all of their major albums except for Pokinatcha (their first), and included a couple covers from their latest album "On The Cover 2", an album of 80s songs that influenced the band. MxPx live never disappoints.
A few shots of MxPx prepping for the show.
After the show I was fortunate to be able to sit down with bassist and singer Mike Herrera for an interview. Here it is:
What are some of the challenges of touring in a foreign country?
Well this is our first time in China. It’s kind of a poor man’s Japan. It’s obviously an Asian country, but it’s a little more relaxed actually, not quite as like crazy detailed. In Japan everybody’s very much on schedule and here it’s a little bit more like "Ahh you know we’ll get there" which is fine for us, no big deal. I thought it was gonna be a lot more crowded. There’s a lot of people here obviously, but in my experience most big cities are much more crowded.
Are there any interesting or funny experiences from the tour so far?
Let’s see, of course we’ve only been here like two days. Tonight's show was really fun, we had a good time. We love bargaining anywhere we go whether it's South America or that kind of culture where you can negotiate prices, that’s what we really enjoy doing. We always walk away and come back, you know do that whole thing. So that was probably the coolest thing we’ve done here in China. We just kind of bargain and shop and get stuff for really cheap. I know its pretty inexpensive here anyway but that is not even necessarily the point, the point is whatever the price is, get it lower!
Did you pick up any interesting deals today?
Our tour manager got some, what does he call them? Fauxkleys, five pairs of sunglasses for 200.
How was the show in Shanghai?
Shanghai, yeah, it was less people, but we had heard it's not as good for punk music there.
When you do these shows in foreign countries, is it mostly locals or the foreigners who come?
In Japan its mostly locals, in most countries its mostly locals, except for when we’re in Korea. I guess if you had to count each person there would still be more locals but there were a lot of Americans from the army base there. Here a lot of white people, not necessarily from America, I wasn’t expecting that actually. In South America it's all locals, very few white people or westerners there.
On the Cover 2 just came out, great album by the way. What has the response been so far?
I think they like it and it’s a fun record. All the reviews we’ve seen have been really good. Its funny because doing a cover album, you can’t really play all the songs, so we’ve really had to force ourselves to learn Linda Linda and some of the others.
Can you tell us a little about the process you went through of choosing the songs?
Well we started off with a bunch of songs and then narrowed it down to some that sounded a little bit better. We had a few more punk songs that people wouldn’t necessarily know as much. We wanted there to be a theme to the record and we ended up with a lot of songs from the 80s and started gearing our choices towards that once we had a bulk of songs that were from the 80s. We were like okay let’s not do a few of these that we were gonna do and just do 80s songs. That way we kind of had a story to tell and it was a little more cohesive. Even within that there is punk songs, pop songs, new wave songs, rock, you know hair metal, but a good mix.
Has the reunion with Tooth and Nail been a good so far?
Yeah yeah, most definitely.
Are there any other bands on that label that might be possible tour mates in the future?
Yeah, there is always that possbiliity. We end up playing with Underoath a lot. We don’t fit with that music at all but we will end up in some weird country with them. We played a show with them in Mexico city and in Belgium. We have played with Anberlin and of course we’ve played with The Classic Crime.
Are there any plans to tour with your other band, Tumbledown?
Yeah, we just finished up a tour, we did SXSW in Austin, TX. The full length record just came out and it’s also available in Japan on an indie label, then we can start coming to Asia which will be great.
What does the future hold for MxPx?
MxPx is actually going to go into the studio soon. I am not sure if we’re gonna do an EP; it's hard to say with music changing a lot and the industry changing, it doesn’t seem like you necessarily have to do a full album, people just want songs and download individual songs so it's hard to justify the time and expense of a full album, so we may go in and do half records more often. That will be easier on me too songwriting wise. We are gonna make sure the next thing we do gets out quicker.
For my personal curiousty, do you think we will see you at Cornerstone in the future?
You know I would love to, our booking agent now isn’t as tuned into that scene. It's not that hard for them because we’ve played there a lot. We are doing Joshua Fest, which is cool. Cornerstone would definitely have us but it hasn’t worked out scheduling wise. I would love to do it again and it’ll happen when the planets align!
Well thanks Mike for sitting down with us.
Thanks Tim, of course. Cool.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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