I'm off to Beijing today! A direct 13 hour flight from Newark, NJ. I am psyched. I am invited by Sharon Crain, a lecturer in China, to speak at Shanxi Normal University about my book,
365 Daily Affirmations for Creativity. To see a short video of the story of how I met Sharon through a professor of Chinese history, my long time friend Vera Schwarcz, click on
www.youtube.com/janetluongo3.
Scroll down to
CHINA: Transformation in Education to see Sharon's photographic exhibit, Balancing Change, documenting the momentous growth China has undergone in the past 30 years, particularly in education. The Chinese are seeking ways to be more creative in education, business, and in solving the major problems a new superpower faces.
You can see the
combination of old and new in my beautiful traditional style hotel room, recently modernized. I found it through Matthew, a friend of a friend I never met in Vera's network of contacts. It's the Courtyard 7 Hotel just north of central Beijing, a walk to the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.
My traditional modernized hotel, Courtyard7, Beijing I can't wait to hike up to the Great Wall. I'll be videotaping, and i
nvestigating the way of life here, from the holistic perspective - food, activity, work, relationships, the spiritual and cultural dimensions.
Some things I expect to be
similar to what I know. For instance, there is talk about the great crowds of people in Beijing, but I have experienced in Times Square, NYC, on a Saturday night the sidewalk so thick with pedestrians we all became one unmoving pulsating mass in awe of the sounds and lights blinking around us.
The
differences will surely be stark and stimulating I imagine. First of all the Chinese characters - so different from the alphabet I know will be daunting and I will be relying on the kindness of strangers who hopefully will want to practice their English.
I will of course be exploring the food -
a major world cuisine with incredible variety - from the mild steamed vegetable dumplings to the exotic dishes of scorpion and grasshopper.
I will be aware of etiquette, family traditions, how people fit into their communities. I am eager to see the park near the Temple of Heaven, where people of all ages stay fit and flexible doing tai chi, slowly, as much a part of the life flow as the swaying grasses. Then the park fills up with people who love the Tango and Western style ball room dance steps. What contrasts!
My biggest question is how Chinese people are managing this incredibly rapid change in their country. How will they keep the balance between old and new, East and West, tradition and innovation?
I will be posting on Facebook, and possibly my blog. You can reach me by email, and I will try to send news next week, if all the technology works.
