As it is very very hot here, at this time of day we lie in our air conditioned rooms and look out onto the city. It feels so wrong, which is the wrong word, it feels so unfair or injust, again wrong words, to be sitting here in such comfort when I look down and see twenty brown buildings just below rotting from the inside where hundreds of people live in one room. I had the blinds closed all day today and I realised when I opened them just then that it so easy to shut out things that aren't quite right, that we don't agree with or don't know what to do about. I feel like I'm in a differing Beijing to the people down below. But the world is changing, and I really hope it is for the better.
All of these thoughts remind me of Just A Girl who always thinks about issues and actively does something about them. I feel like a bad person. On the streets walking down, I'm a bad person because I don't know what to do. I always wonder about the wealthy natives here. There some amazingly expensive and fancy places to eat, live and shop here. It really is two different worlds in adjacent streets.
There is so much going on in this country, so much complicated, unknown and misunderstood stuff, so I sit at my window and I look out.
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9 comments:
Oh Gem. You flatter. I had to smile when I read that. =)
But - you are not a bad person! It's all the little things that count, like buying a Big Issue. Give, be who you are, help, smile, and you make a difference. Recognition is the first step, you know.
BTW Sara directed me to this facebook group, lol.
much love,
JAG
Also - you are becoming quite the blogger, my friend! All this linking, updating, renovating (so to speak) - you're a pro! I'm so proud!
1. Nice layout :)
2. I cannot believe you're in China In Beijing! "ni wei shen me mei gao su wo?" (I wish my computer typed Chinese, grr :P)
3. How on earth are you able to get onto this site? When I was in Beijing this past January, the Great Firewall had blocked the entire Blogger site off... wtf?!
4. I completely agree, China as a whole is very much two different worlds. It's even more extreme when you compare the city to the countryside - the poverty there is so much worse (if you can imagine that). The stories Mum has told me, especially the ones about farmers coming to the city in search of wealth, and doing all this hard labour for the equivalent of something like AU$2 a day (which most of them don't get paid anyway coz of their scungy bosses) is just gutwrenching. Makes you feel horrible, but also really lucky for what you have... But yeah, the divide is massive. And really in-your-face, wherever you are in Beijing.
xx
Good morning my dear Gem! Guess what? The iPhone is coming out in 1 month minus 1 day and I'm mega excited!! =)
Also, on this bright and unusually sunny morning in Melbourne, Down Under, a ray of sunlight is shining through my blind and landing of a photo of us from the Valedictory Dinner last year (you, me, and Miss CM), but, more specifically, it has landed on your beautiful and smiling face! It made me smile. :-) <- see?
And I just thought I'd mention that I've started up a LiveJournal blog where I'll publish all the stuff I write; poetry, prose, etc. Feel free to read and comment &tc!
x
JAG
*big hug*
I ♥ you chica.
Siempre.
JAG.
1. What is your name: Gemini (aka Gem)
2. A 4 letter word: game
3. A vehicle: GM (General Motors)
4. A city: Geneva
5. A boy's name: Gerald
6. A girl's name: Ginny
7. Beverage: gin and tonic
8. An occupation: GP
9. Something you wear: gumboots
10. A celebrity: Gael Garcia Barnal
11. A food: grapes
12. Something found in a bathroom: gel
13. Reason for being late: got lost
14. Something you shout: GO AWAY!
15. An animal: goat
16. A body part: gastro-intestinal tract
17. Word to describe yourself: gutsy
I did it for you. =)
x
JAG
So good you're updating. You know what your post reminded me of...? I don't know if it was intentional but:
I SIT AND LOOK OUT
I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be hid—I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill’d, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.
Walt Whitman
I heart you and think that you are brilliant! You do recognise these things which is better than riding through the world with your eyes shut.
Sunny
Hey Gem,
Yes, yet another comment, sorry, I'm probably becoming a bit spammy. Just wanted to let you know I've tagged you. Not sure if you know how that works, cuz when I was the new kid on the blog, I shure didn't. Basically it's like an email forward - but cooler! It means that someone has written something, answered some questions or filled in some kind of quiz and they think you should do it, too, so they 'tag' you. Like, tag, you're it. So, I just did one, and I think you'll like it, if you want to do it (you by no means have to, it's just for fun), I enjoyed it.
Also, I think you should get email notification of your comments (go to settings, then comments) so then you can publish them regularly! And reply! And not fall off the roll!!
Guess who I saw today? The man who will run the Great Wall of China! Ha ha, he's kinda unfit, was complaining about all the walking we were doing and it TOTALLY WASN'T THAT FAR. Lol.
hope china kicks ass!
xoJAGxo
OMG my word verification is wowcvack, and when I first read it I thought it said wowcrack, and I was like, yeah, wow alright! ha ha.
Hello Chicken,
Sorry I didn't get a chance to call you before you left for China! Hope you're having an ace time over there, and I miss you terribly! Anyway, I have lots of goss to tell you, my life have suddenly become very complicated and awkward so I think I need to have a good vent some time. Send me an email and I'll reveal all...
Love you to the ends of the earth
P
XOXOX
So exciting guys, I'm back! Thanks for your comments! Sorry I haven't replied until now, I couldn't get on for ages in China!
P.S. JAG - I was so excited about the whole linking thing!
P.P.S. Sara - I loved your China comment! We'll have to catch up when we are both there next!!!
P.P.P.S. I totally was thinking of the Whitman poem!
xoxoxo
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