Day 367 Kissing the War (and the Japanese) Goodbye!

China was on display for all the world to see this week, as they celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the defeat of Japan in the Anti-Fascist War- that's V-Day for the rest of us folks.  

Or as this AP photo was affectionately called
on September 3, 1945, "Kissing the War Goodbye."

Because of the planned festivities, we got an extra three days of 'summer vacation', and the start of our school year has been extended to Sunday, September 6th.  (That's what happens in China; when you get a day off, you 'give it back' in your weekend time. We'll have to work Saturdays or Sundays many, many times each school year. So dumb.)   They shut factories down as far as 120km away from the city weeks ago, and two weeks ago they cut all car traffic by half (driving on alternating days based upon your license plate number).  It's worked!  

We have had GORGEOUS blue sky days ever since
I landed in Beijing over a week ago.  This is the
Beijing National Day School campus.

The nineteen newbies on staff are getting incredibly spoiled with AQI's in the teens and 20's.  I remember when I landed a year ago in August. Our first week here had the AQI in the 300's.  Most of my colleagues promptly got sick with upper respiratory infections, and some stayed sick off and on the whole first semester of school.  

So, the good news with the military parade? Clean air and some additional time off from school :) 

Now, for the bad news?

The GFW (Great Fire Wall) and internet service
has been all but shut down entirely.  It has been
EXTREMELY frustrating trying to contact
loved ones back home, do lesson plans, watch a
movie, read a book, or do much of anything
without the internet. SO FRUSTRATING. This
is the message we'd receive on our iPhones and
iPads when we tried to connect our VPNs.

More bad news?  The subway was
shut down, too. At least the #1 line was closed
which is on our side of town, and it connects
us to the rest of the Beijing world.  Line 1
was closed for two days.

The day before the parade, the subway shut down, and martial
law went in to effect.  Several of us attempted to go out for lunch
on Wednesday (the day before the three day holiday) but
everything was closed up.  I ended up going to the grocery on
my lunch hour (thankfully it was still open).  For the next two
days, I felt like I was stuck in a blizzard in our log cabin
in the woods back in Indiana.  And no internet to boot?!
It was cabin fever, extraordinaire, y'all.  I didn't even have
a 1000 piece puzzle to build :(

It was difficult trying to get any information about the parade itself.  Many of us were thinking we could ride our bikes, get somewhat reasonably close to Tiannanmen Square, and see the festivities. By the end of the work day on Wednesday, we learned that the parade was set to begin at 10am, and the flyovers could be easily viewed from our soccer stadium.  Other than that, we were encouraged to watch the parade on television (it was broadcast every channel), because (click here) Ordinary folks are not allowed to view the parade. We fell in to the 'ordinary folks' category.  

So all of Tiannanmen Square, and the surrounding area for several miles, was shut down and the streets were being patrolled by the military.  Only a few hand selected 1700 'fine folks' could actually see the parade up close.  It was nothing like the Middletown Lion's Club Fair Parade where you get to bring your own lawn chair to line the streets and a bag to collect all of the candy that gets tossed. These people need to take a lesson from our local Lion's Club; THEY know how to do a parade now! Shoot, people in buildings surrounding T Square were given bulletins with warnings that they were NOT to be on their balconies or rooftops watching the parade, nor were any cameras allowed.  Let's be real, this was not a parade; it was a CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED POLITICAL EVENT.

And this is how I watched the event, live on TV.

My friend Eric, along with a few of his buddies, rode their
bikes afterall, and did get close to the tanks and heavy artillery
that made their way down the road toward Tiannanmen.

Where's the horses?  Where's the Shriners in their little
dune buggies?  Where's the marching bands?
Nobody is throwing tootsie rolls?!
Instead we get missles, tanks, and such.

I got a text from a friend saying that some teachers were beginning
to gather on the soccer field for the flyover, so I left my TV,
hopped on my bike....and only made it to the corner of the street.

This is on the route I walk to school everyday.

It was pretty cool, I must admit.  I also took a video of the
40+ helicopters that were flying in formation across the
city, but sadly, it did not turn out.  

 

What I learned after the fact, was that the entire parade could
be viewed from YuQuan Lu and Fuxing, which is our subway
stop- not a 10 minute walk away.  Instead, I was watching
it all on TV like I had been told to do.  A few folks ventured
out to take pictures, but all in all, the streets were deserted.

After being 'snowed in' in my apartment for two
days, I was all too eager to get out and see if I could
could find anything open.  By V-Day evening, many
stores and restaurants were reopening, as martial
law was lifted.  I treated myself to some Chinese
takeout- cabbage and noodles, and my favorite,
spicy Szechuan green beans! After the first
couple of bites, your mouth just goes numb :)

With the military parade over, everything went back to business as usual.  In fact, the pollution started climbing by midnight that night.  By Friday morning, it was pouring down rain ALL DAY and the AQI was hovering around 200.  Apparently,President Xi controls the air and the weather :( 

Since we had been housebound without public transportation for two days, a group of us decided to venture to the east side of town, in spite of the rain.  Have umbrella, and mask, will travel.

We took a small group of new teachers to the
Sunlitun village on the east side to show them their
Western options for dinner and shopping. We
shared some laughs about Chinglish signs and
other curiosities, such as "Blissful Nomnoms".

The iron fence was interesting with it's wine bottles propped
upside down.  Behind the fence was a sign and storefront
for "Yolanda's Secret Wine Bar", which really isn't much of a
secret when the fenced in property is lined with wine bottles, lol.

New friends and old, gathered at the Home Plate for burgers
and fries, and BBQ and fried pickles...it was hysterical seeing their
happy faces bite in to some real western food.  Nobody said
a word for several minutes- this was serious eatin' business!
L to R is Jason, Jade, Alejandra, Eric, Jeanette, Stephen, Tom & Ricci.
I think our administration did a bang up job with this year's new
hires- fast friendships are forming already :)

G'nite, y'all!