Seagulls, Hiphop, and Latkes

All last week the weather was beautiful, which meant that I went for some nice walks.  It also meant that the Siberian Black-headed gulls chose last week to reach the Green Lake Park on their annual migration route south, just in time for me to happen upon them.  What were always considered a nuisance visiting the Jersey shore while growing up, in Kunming seagulls receive a grand welcome.  Their North American cousins may have to swoop down to snatch that piece of Mack’s pizza or Steel’s fudge right out of your hands on the boardwalk, but the seagulls here are hailed by Chinese locals and tourists as honored guests.  Local vendors set up shop right in the park, selling pieces of bread, which locals toss up into the air and onto the water for the gulls to feast upon.  No wonder they still include the relatively small Green Lake on their migration route.  What’s more, statues around the park honor the seagulls—a year-round reminder that they’ll be back each winter.  One statue even depicts an old man covered with the birds and a plaque below, which explains how he came to wait for the birds each year till he died, spent a good deal of his lifesavings buying bread to feed them, and became their lifelong friend.  “They would even come to him when he called them,” it says.  It goes to show you, one country’s lonely crazy person is another country’s local hero.  What can I say?

Last week was also Hanukkah.  The package from my parents significantly delayed by the incompetent Chinese UPS system, I fashioned myself a menorah out of tin foil on a metal tray.  I bought red candles by the Buddhist temple, cut them in half, and lit them each night.  I also hosted a Hanukkah dinner party last Thursday night, and invited 8 friends.  For my first dinner party, I think it went well, although the preparation (and cleanup) was certainly work-intensive.  The menu included a Curried Sweet Potato Soup, Stuffed Mushrooms, Bruschetta, Braised Eggplant (红烧茄子), potato latkes accompanied by homemade applesauce, and a rotisserie chicken.  For dessert, I bought jelly doughnuts and gelt-like chocolates.  The chicken was certainly the most labor-intensive menu item.  I bought a small electric oven last week, and realized that it had a rotisserie built in, inspiring me to give it a shot.  I picked up a chicken at Carrefour, made a spice rub, and let it marinate overnight.  While in the States, the chickens come ready to stick in the oven, this one was far from it.  It included the head, feet, and all the internal organs.  I googled “how to butcher a chicken” (http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ if you’re interested), and went at it.  In any case, almost everything came out delicious.  The latkes, which I made the night before, were expectedly a little soggy and the eggplant was too salty, but other than that it was great.  My friends brought some pasta, tofu, and a couple bottles of wine, and it was a good night.

On Saturday, I went to a local hiphop concert with a friend.  The band, called the Yaco Music Union, is composed of a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist, 5 rappers, and a synth/keyboard player.  Most of their songs are in the local dialect (昆明话), and I didn’t understand a lot of it, but it was still an interesting experience.  A large portion of the crowd in the bar was high school students.  At a break in the performance, my friend and I ‘snuck’ (really openly walked) backstage, which turned out to be the inside of a shopping mall.  When they were done their set, we sat and talked with them for a couple hours.  They’re all college students around my age, and a few of them also collaborate on a band called PirateRadio (they were a bit upset about the recent movie of the same name).  They said that Yaco had only been together since June, and they’ve written over 50 songs since then.  Some of the songs are interesting fusions of traditional local and ethnic music with American-inspired rap.  They said they were thinking about writing songs in English, because that seems to be the popular thing to do.  I went on a rant about how with all the up-and-coming Chinese musicians today, and the huge Chinese audience, they should write the music that comes naturally to them in Chinese, eventually defining their own genres as modern Chinese music, instead of merely American-inspired music.

I’m going to Beijing this Wednesday to follow up on some research leads, and to spend Christmas and New Years with friends.  My friend Ben is also flying in from New York City, and I’m sure it will be fun exposing him to China for the first time.  I’m having a few pairs of jeans tailored and my shoes repaired, and can’t wait to have clothes that fit well again.  After Beijing, I’ll be flying back down to Kunming with a friend, and then she and I will spend spend a couple weeks traveling from Kunming south into Laos by land and down into Cambodia, crossing into Thailand, and probably finishing up somewhere in Vietnam before crossing back into China.  I’m excited to travel again and to see friends, and I’ll try to post when I get the opportunity!

[I’ve posted photos from last week, and also a photo tour of my house.]