I also have some (much shorter) stuff to say about The Hill Sunday, but I'll save it for another day. Maybe I'll post it on the next Stirewalt article thread on The Dispatch, whenever that is.
Today, had to jump back on the copyediting work (and must do more tomorrow). Not complaining. An hourly work-from-home gig is nice to have.
Meanwhile, I have an unexpected "Liz Report" which I will title
THE RESISTANCE MAY BE TELEVISED.
(Don't mean to shout, but it needed a headline.) I was hoping to find a relevant Dispatch piece to post it on. I may take it over there if such a piece is forthcoming once everybody else is done with their extended holiday.
Over the weekend, my TiVo brought me an interesting program on C-SPAN. I had to do some digging but it apparently was recorded shortly before Thanksgiving and took place at the Historic Synagogue at Sixth and I in Washington. (This is a synagogue that according to their website hosts a lot of cultural events and talks. Good for them.)
I don't know who thought of doing this, but the purpose of the program was for Liz Cheney to interview Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is the House minority leader, about his new book for all ages, titled "The ABCs of Democracy" (sorry, Substack doesn't let me do italics, but by golly I know I got the punctuation right). They talked about a lot of things in addition to, though not unrelated to, his book.
Hakeem Jeffries talked about how the "guardrails" will work and the role he expects the House Democrats to play. The idea seems to be that the opposition's role will be to explain publicly why certain "nominations, policies, violations of norms" are "not in the best interests of the American people." In this connection he spoke of the important role of public sentiment, something I've been thinking about lately, because it can be helped along by leaders, and it can have a decisive effect under the right conditions.
On the topic of bipartisanship, Hakeem referred to his experience with "coalitions of the unusual suspects" that manage to get bipartisan things done. And he said a bunch of other stuff that made sense to me. Of course he probably has some opinions that I would not agree with, but this is about the meta level of keeping the government operating sanely and constitutionally when there are players who don't want that. The fact that the Republican majority in the House is so narrow means that bipartisanship may end up being the thing--with a lot of ifs, ands, or buts, I presume.
Liz also expressed herself on similar topics in the course of the conversation. It occurred to me that she can take on an interesting role, a sort of independent watchdog, given that she's earned the right to say what she sees and how it stacks up against what she knows to be right and constitutional. And she may have an open though informal channel to mainstream Dems like Jeffries who seem to be on the same general page with her. I don't know a whole lot about him, but I get the sense that he's the type of Dem that would be. And then of course there's the fact that he wrote a book about how democracy is supposed to work.
So maybe this is one form the resistance will take--and it has already been televised! I hope there is more. These two really know how politics and the House work, when they're working!
Here are a few specific bons mots from Liz.
She refers to proposals being made that are "unconnected to reality."
She spoke of "the results of a lack of civics education, I think is the best way to put it." She referred to members who have gotten up on the House floor and said things like "We don't have to let the courts tell us what to do." In connection with the topic of civics education. Hakeem is looking forward to the [whatsit]ennial that's coming up in 2026.
And what has Liz been up to? She's been doing some teaching at UVA and William and Mary. She talks to young people who are worried about the future. She tells them "the struggle goes on, and it's incumbent on all of us to be a part of it."
I'm not sure what Liz's main platform will be going forward. Maybe it's best that she doesn't front her own organization, but rather uses a reputation and connections that will get her heard when she has something to say. At any rate, I am keeping my TiVo programmed to bring up any show she appears on.
The full C-SPAN program with Liz and Hakeem can be found at:
Now I can come back and say that it’s a wonderful piece, Kurt. What else do you do? I know you paint, you build, you garden, and you write. I’m sure there’s more. Did you take any photos during that time? I wish you would have included a photo of the painting over the back of your couch.
I am one of very few people that has figured out the complex relationship between alternating bites of a pastrami on rye sandwich and bites of the accompanying dill pickle so that there is the perfect amount of pickle left after the last bite of pastrami.
Thanks. I don't know what the actual percentages are, but my guess is about 900,000 people in China are on the margin. Percentage wise, it's a big chunk of the population.
One of the benefits of going to China is upon return to the US, it all seems so easy....it's all gravy.
The most glorious book is Richard Halliburton's 1930s "Book of Marvels". It has small chapters on the Orient and Occident from his personal travels. I got the book age 9 in 6e from my step-grandmother in Indianapolis where she was a proof reader for the publisher, Bobbs-Merrill
Good morning. Another moderately freezing cold morning here in OH, made colder by the debacle in the 'Shoe Saturday (note to Cynthia: sportball reference), and the melee that followed.
The mothership is reporting on the long-running Syrian civil war, which heated up when rebels recently retook the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.
Thanks for taking us on your adventure. Very interesting and well-written. I pictured you wearing a beret and smoking a pipe. Am I the only one who didn’t know this blog was converting to Today’s Special Artist Friend? ;)
A lovely story. I enjoy the level of detail, it paints a picture.
I'm not surprised about credit cards. It wasn't until the teens that they were ubiquitous in Europe's major cities. We used to have to explain this to students, and teach them how to retrieve cash from a bank (ATMs were not common then either). My favorite were students who didn't understand exchange rates even after we explained them. Now, most of the small shops take plastic, although they tack on a 1 Euro service charge for doing so. My students pay it.
This year, you can link your WeChat account to a foreign credit card, so stuff got a lot simpler. It is literally impossible to live in China without WeChatPay/Weixin. There's still limitations on how much, and the limits are humorously low, but it's progress.
On Saturday, our youngest decided to eat lunch with us, so we drove to B-Dubs in Richmond for The Game. The week before, B-Dubs was jammed with Hoosiers fans, but OSU-FUM, plenty of tables. We stayed for the first half, then went shopping. We watched the last 7 minutes of the game at home. My son muttered “gotta go for it on 4th and 1, but they punted…and lost. When it was over, he was angry, He blamed it on the OSU kicker, who choked on two field goals. He called a friend and they met at the HS to…wait for it… kick field goals to let out their frustration. He asked if a 50 yard kick was worth $20, I said yes. He hit 10 for 10 between 40 and 45 yards, but missed his one 50 yard try (he’s made them before).
His friend played soccer in 9th grade, but now kicks for the HS. He’s been recruited, and has an offer from Clemson. He was on a recruiting visit to OSU last week, was on the sidelines for the OSU-IU game. He’s made several 50 yarders in HS, but he missed his one 50 yard try with my son.
Katie and I visited my Mil Janet in the hospital yesterday. She’s in a lot of pain, but her vitals all look pretty good. She isn’t resting well, and it is affecting her mentally. She actually got angry while we were there (Katie has never seen her angry in 27 years). We were there for four hours.
A nurse tech came in, and asked Janet questions about family, how long ago did I marry her daughter? She replied she wasn’t sure since I married two of her daughters. The nurse tech didn’t question that, but the line made Katie smile. Janet often tells people she adopted Katie, but she also often introduces us as her son-in-law and daughter-in-law. That confuses people who don't know the Pam backstory. We’ll go back on Thursday and check on her. Katie is gonna cook up some food to freeze for them, I promised to make some deviled eggs.
Janet's youngest daughter texted us an hour ago that Janet slept through the night and had a good morning.
My MIL had never been in the presence of a foreigner before me. She'd seen "them" on TV, but rarely, and it was politicians being disparaging white devils. Initially, she was...shall we say...nervous.
Mothers in law tend to unfairly have a bad reputation because the “mother in law from hell” stories are so outrageous and ubiquitous in advice columns.
I was fortunate, both of my mother in laws have been wonderful. Katie's Mom (now deceased) took to my oldest from the 1st time she met him, and made him feel loved. Janet has always been good natured and easy going, very supportive of us. They cooperated with each other.
When Katie and I got married her Mom wanted Janet (and her husband Bob) in the family wedding photos, and seated Katie and I, Janet and Bob, Bob's parents, and my parents at the head table. Our son was off playing with cousins! Everyone saw the bigger picture--it helped.
It's tempting to blame the loss on the 2 missed FG attempts, but there were multiple miscues, and (according to an online buddy of mine) mediocre play calling.
The Buckeyes have been uneven this seasons, blowouts against some strong teams but unexpectedly close contests in games against weaker opponents.
Originally a Michigander I LOVED UM taking out Ohio in their home turf. The flag plant at the end was déclassé, utterly unnecessary. I don’t blame the Ohio fellows being pissed.
I loved this story. I can relate to the local people’s excitement over an American being among them.
The Japanese are unique, but there is some similarity.
In 1997 my husband and I were invited to participate in a huge Japanese balloon festival on the southern island of Kyushu, outside Saga City. There are a few cities, but it’s mostly farms and rice paddies.
People would come up to us and want their pictures taken with us--on our cameras. Once a group of six school girls about 10 years old all rushed up to my husband on the street and I have a photo of them all clustered around him with their hands, all raised giving the peace sign (which I think also was originally the V for victory sign).
It wasn’t easy to find your way around because all the signage and street signs were in Japanese characters. But if one of the local people saw you scratching your head and trying to make a decision, they would come up to you to help. Even if they had been walking in the other direction, they would take your arm and guide you by foot to the place where you wanted to go, then resume going wherever they had originally been going.
One time it was a woman tending a market stall in the train station who left her stall to take us out of the station and to the correct road we needed to go to. Another time it was a salary man walking down the street with his briefcase.
I was amazed and and impressed by their exquisite politeness. It’s not something I could ever expect to find in America.
I’m sure as a comparison it fails more than it hits, but from what I’ve heard and observed, the differences between Hong Kong Chinese culture and Japanese culture are similar to the differences between French culture and German culture. In French culture, when friends or family come to visit, they immediately help themselves to the kitchen implements to start cooking something with whatever fresh items they’ve brought. In German culture, it would be completely shocking for your guests to help themselves to your kitchen, although it’s fine for you as the main resident to prepare something to snack on or eat.
Years ago, a Hong Kong raised person described a similar thing in your family’s cramped apartment: visiting friends or family open cabinets and the fridge and start prepping some shared meal—you’re welcome to participate, too. It’s all rather impromptu and ad hoc, spur of the moment.
The German and Japanese variants require you to be a good host—or a docile, polite guest to be served and hosted relatively passively.
I think the culture around these parts is closer to the German version, at least in the sense that you’re not rummaging around someone’s kitchen. But there’s not much hosting going on, either.
The only “crowd” experience we’ve had while traveling was years ago when we took our young son to MX. He had very blonde curly hair and the locals were always asking if they could touch it.
Hispanic ladies in San Antonio, where my two oldest children were born, used to come up to Son A in his stroller and stroke his blond curls and coo over his blue eyes.
Yeah, you've been here. There's a level of frantic-ness that, after a while, is infectious. At first, it can grind you down. When you get in tune with it, it's fun.
Indeed. In 1983, my shopping experience in Shanghai was restricted to the official China Arts and Craft store. Where I bought my textile artist maybe 3 dozen exquisite brushes. All types of hairs, sizes, handles, carvings. And a dozen amazing ink stones with good and silver leafed letterings. This was 6 years before the growing ban on Ivory in 1983 and US ban in 2013. My prized possession from that trip are 2 small amazing figures. A fisherman with sticks and fish and another happy peasant.
The then maybe 50 yr old hand knotted silk carpet I got when I arrived in Hong Kong. A lengthy negotiation and a quality receipt for customs.
I was young and athletic then. I'd wander some streets late at night. Sitting down on carpets and negotiating for beads and works with folks there from China, Nepal, maybe Tibet and elsewhere. Sometimes hot tea offered in the buying negotiation.
You got to see it when it was still exotic and few tourists. I'm jealous. I can still find that sort of thing out in the countryside, but it's rare nowadays. Tourism is big business, and if there's anything for sure about China, it's they're all about business.
I love to travel. I was very fortunate to work for division at BigCorp that was strong in global activities. And I'm pretty adventurous and thrilled to meet folks all over and have those experiences.
This does a great job of illustrating what it means to be in a place where the optimism about the future is palpable. It’s a decided contrast to how things have felt here for a long, long time.
I also have some (much shorter) stuff to say about The Hill Sunday, but I'll save it for another day. Maybe I'll post it on the next Stirewalt article thread on The Dispatch, whenever that is.
Good evening. Had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.
Today, had to jump back on the copyediting work (and must do more tomorrow). Not complaining. An hourly work-from-home gig is nice to have.
Meanwhile, I have an unexpected "Liz Report" which I will title
THE RESISTANCE MAY BE TELEVISED.
(Don't mean to shout, but it needed a headline.) I was hoping to find a relevant Dispatch piece to post it on. I may take it over there if such a piece is forthcoming once everybody else is done with their extended holiday.
Over the weekend, my TiVo brought me an interesting program on C-SPAN. I had to do some digging but it apparently was recorded shortly before Thanksgiving and took place at the Historic Synagogue at Sixth and I in Washington. (This is a synagogue that according to their website hosts a lot of cultural events and talks. Good for them.)
I don't know who thought of doing this, but the purpose of the program was for Liz Cheney to interview Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is the House minority leader, about his new book for all ages, titled "The ABCs of Democracy" (sorry, Substack doesn't let me do italics, but by golly I know I got the punctuation right). They talked about a lot of things in addition to, though not unrelated to, his book.
Hakeem Jeffries talked about how the "guardrails" will work and the role he expects the House Democrats to play. The idea seems to be that the opposition's role will be to explain publicly why certain "nominations, policies, violations of norms" are "not in the best interests of the American people." In this connection he spoke of the important role of public sentiment, something I've been thinking about lately, because it can be helped along by leaders, and it can have a decisive effect under the right conditions.
On the topic of bipartisanship, Hakeem referred to his experience with "coalitions of the unusual suspects" that manage to get bipartisan things done. And he said a bunch of other stuff that made sense to me. Of course he probably has some opinions that I would not agree with, but this is about the meta level of keeping the government operating sanely and constitutionally when there are players who don't want that. The fact that the Republican majority in the House is so narrow means that bipartisanship may end up being the thing--with a lot of ifs, ands, or buts, I presume.
Liz also expressed herself on similar topics in the course of the conversation. It occurred to me that she can take on an interesting role, a sort of independent watchdog, given that she's earned the right to say what she sees and how it stacks up against what she knows to be right and constitutional. And she may have an open though informal channel to mainstream Dems like Jeffries who seem to be on the same general page with her. I don't know a whole lot about him, but I get the sense that he's the type of Dem that would be. And then of course there's the fact that he wrote a book about how democracy is supposed to work.
So maybe this is one form the resistance will take--and it has already been televised! I hope there is more. These two really know how politics and the House work, when they're working!
Here are a few specific bons mots from Liz.
She refers to proposals being made that are "unconnected to reality."
She spoke of "the results of a lack of civics education, I think is the best way to put it." She referred to members who have gotten up on the House floor and said things like "We don't have to let the courts tell us what to do." In connection with the topic of civics education. Hakeem is looking forward to the [whatsit]ennial that's coming up in 2026.
And what has Liz been up to? She's been doing some teaching at UVA and William and Mary. She talks to young people who are worried about the future. She tells them "the struggle goes on, and it's incumbent on all of us to be a part of it."
I'm not sure what Liz's main platform will be going forward. Maybe it's best that she doesn't front her own organization, but rather uses a reputation and connections that will get her heard when she has something to say. At any rate, I am keeping my TiVo programmed to bring up any show she appears on.
The full C-SPAN program with Liz and Hakeem can be found at:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?540194-1/the-abcs-democracy# (the C-SPAN site)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UewhnHTZUu0&ab_channel=electronmediagroupinc. (the YouTube version)
Now I can come back and say that it’s a wonderful piece, Kurt. What else do you do? I know you paint, you build, you garden, and you write. I’m sure there’s more. Did you take any photos during that time? I wish you would have included a photo of the painting over the back of your couch.
I am one of very few people that has figured out the complex relationship between alternating bites of a pastrami on rye sandwich and bites of the accompanying dill pickle so that there is the perfect amount of pickle left after the last bite of pastrami.
🤣 And, you are also funny!!
I try.
@IncognitoG...Perfect paragraph layout and emphasis fonts. Nicely done. Thanks. That stuff makes a difference.
You’re welcome.
Kurt, that was a really interesting story. Told me a lot about how the other half lives, as they say.
Thanks. I don't know what the actual percentages are, but my guess is about 900,000 people in China are on the margin. Percentage wise, it's a big chunk of the population.
One of the benefits of going to China is upon return to the US, it all seems so easy....it's all gravy.
I’m late getting to this, Kurt. Thank you so much!! I haven’t had time to read it yet, but plan to read it this evening.
Busy day, and it’s really cold out there!!
I just woke up. I thought about you when I was transcribing it into this column. With your substantial artistic abilities, I think you'll enjoy it.
You add so much to this group, and very glad you joined. ❤️
Wow. Fascinating. So much to think about, to say.
I will be sharing it with the three framers in my life, two of whom have strong Asian connections. All three started at Michaels.
I am an introvert: I enjoy being around people but they wear me out.
Lots to think about. Thanks.
The most glorious book is Richard Halliburton's 1930s "Book of Marvels". It has small chapters on the Orient and Occident from his personal travels. I got the book age 9 in 6e from my step-grandmother in Indianapolis where she was a proof reader for the publisher, Bobbs-Merrill
https://archive.org/details/richardhalliburt00hall/mode/1up
A young persons imagination was lit by stories of the Incas, Pyramids, Eifell Tower, and dozens of "marvel"ous places across the globe.
I think it's a great gift still for young people.
Albeit sigh, it may be on the outs due to Halliburton having typical 1930s views of people.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Halliburton
Good morning. Another moderately freezing cold morning here in OH, made colder by the debacle in the 'Shoe Saturday (note to Cynthia: sportball reference), and the melee that followed.
The mothership is reporting on the long-running Syrian civil war, which heated up when rebels recently retook the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.
There was unsportsmanlike conduct by NC State players on the field in Chapel Hill after their victory over Carolina. Sigh.
Thanks for taking us on your adventure. Very interesting and well-written. I pictured you wearing a beret and smoking a pipe. Am I the only one who didn’t know this blog was converting to Today’s Special Artist Friend? ;)
Eclectic topics!
It's what I like about this joint. Home made, unique products only available for a limited time.
This story made me smile all day.
This comment made me smile all day. So, between the two of us and the 14 hour time difference, we hit somewhere >24 hour smile.
A lovely story. I enjoy the level of detail, it paints a picture.
I'm not surprised about credit cards. It wasn't until the teens that they were ubiquitous in Europe's major cities. We used to have to explain this to students, and teach them how to retrieve cash from a bank (ATMs were not common then either). My favorite were students who didn't understand exchange rates even after we explained them. Now, most of the small shops take plastic, although they tack on a 1 Euro service charge for doing so. My students pay it.
Yes, beautifully written, and he paints actual pictures, as well!
Thanks much. It was a vivid experience.
This year, you can link your WeChat account to a foreign credit card, so stuff got a lot simpler. It is literally impossible to live in China without WeChatPay/Weixin. There's still limitations on how much, and the limits are humorously low, but it's progress.
On Saturday, our youngest decided to eat lunch with us, so we drove to B-Dubs in Richmond for The Game. The week before, B-Dubs was jammed with Hoosiers fans, but OSU-FUM, plenty of tables. We stayed for the first half, then went shopping. We watched the last 7 minutes of the game at home. My son muttered “gotta go for it on 4th and 1, but they punted…and lost. When it was over, he was angry, He blamed it on the OSU kicker, who choked on two field goals. He called a friend and they met at the HS to…wait for it… kick field goals to let out their frustration. He asked if a 50 yard kick was worth $20, I said yes. He hit 10 for 10 between 40 and 45 yards, but missed his one 50 yard try (he’s made them before).
His friend played soccer in 9th grade, but now kicks for the HS. He’s been recruited, and has an offer from Clemson. He was on a recruiting visit to OSU last week, was on the sidelines for the OSU-IU game. He’s made several 50 yarders in HS, but he missed his one 50 yard try with my son.
Katie and I visited my Mil Janet in the hospital yesterday. She’s in a lot of pain, but her vitals all look pretty good. She isn’t resting well, and it is affecting her mentally. She actually got angry while we were there (Katie has never seen her angry in 27 years). We were there for four hours.
A nurse tech came in, and asked Janet questions about family, how long ago did I marry her daughter? She replied she wasn’t sure since I married two of her daughters. The nurse tech didn’t question that, but the line made Katie smile. Janet often tells people she adopted Katie, but she also often introduces us as her son-in-law and daughter-in-law. That confuses people who don't know the Pam backstory. We’ll go back on Thursday and check on her. Katie is gonna cook up some food to freeze for them, I promised to make some deviled eggs.
Janet's youngest daughter texted us an hour ago that Janet slept through the night and had a good morning.
My MIL had never been in the presence of a foreigner before me. She'd seen "them" on TV, but rarely, and it was politicians being disparaging white devils. Initially, she was...shall we say...nervous.
What a lovely mother in law you have.
Mothers in law tend to unfairly have a bad reputation because the “mother in law from hell” stories are so outrageous and ubiquitous in advice columns.
I was fortunate, both of my mother in laws have been wonderful. Katie's Mom (now deceased) took to my oldest from the 1st time she met him, and made him feel loved. Janet has always been good natured and easy going, very supportive of us. They cooperated with each other.
When Katie and I got married her Mom wanted Janet (and her husband Bob) in the family wedding photos, and seated Katie and I, Janet and Bob, Bob's parents, and my parents at the head table. Our son was off playing with cousins! Everyone saw the bigger picture--it helped.
One might suspect that crappy sons-in-law have enjoyed disproportionate control of the media levers for a long time….
It's tempting to blame the loss on the 2 missed FG attempts, but there were multiple miscues, and (according to an online buddy of mine) mediocre play calling.
The Buckeyes have been uneven this seasons, blowouts against some strong teams but unexpectedly close contests in games against weaker opponents.
Originally a Michigander I LOVED UM taking out Ohio in their home turf. The flag plant at the end was déclassé, utterly unnecessary. I don’t blame the Ohio fellows being pissed.
I'm glad Janet had a good rest. I hope she's able to go home soon.
Great story, Kurt. Not at all like going to “Michael’s” to get your art framed. 🤓
Not at all. Nowadays, it's normal. I go to the framer, and it's like a frame shop you'd recognize.
I loved this story. I can relate to the local people’s excitement over an American being among them.
The Japanese are unique, but there is some similarity.
In 1997 my husband and I were invited to participate in a huge Japanese balloon festival on the southern island of Kyushu, outside Saga City. There are a few cities, but it’s mostly farms and rice paddies.
People would come up to us and want their pictures taken with us--on our cameras. Once a group of six school girls about 10 years old all rushed up to my husband on the street and I have a photo of them all clustered around him with their hands, all raised giving the peace sign (which I think also was originally the V for victory sign).
It wasn’t easy to find your way around because all the signage and street signs were in Japanese characters. But if one of the local people saw you scratching your head and trying to make a decision, they would come up to you to help. Even if they had been walking in the other direction, they would take your arm and guide you by foot to the place where you wanted to go, then resume going wherever they had originally been going.
One time it was a woman tending a market stall in the train station who left her stall to take us out of the station and to the correct road we needed to go to. Another time it was a salary man walking down the street with his briefcase.
I was amazed and and impressed by their exquisite politeness. It’s not something I could ever expect to find in America.
I’m sure as a comparison it fails more than it hits, but from what I’ve heard and observed, the differences between Hong Kong Chinese culture and Japanese culture are similar to the differences between French culture and German culture. In French culture, when friends or family come to visit, they immediately help themselves to the kitchen implements to start cooking something with whatever fresh items they’ve brought. In German culture, it would be completely shocking for your guests to help themselves to your kitchen, although it’s fine for you as the main resident to prepare something to snack on or eat.
Years ago, a Hong Kong raised person described a similar thing in your family’s cramped apartment: visiting friends or family open cabinets and the fridge and start prepping some shared meal—you’re welcome to participate, too. It’s all rather impromptu and ad hoc, spur of the moment.
The German and Japanese variants require you to be a good host—or a docile, polite guest to be served and hosted relatively passively.
I think the culture around these parts is closer to the German version, at least in the sense that you’re not rummaging around someone’s kitchen. But there’s not much hosting going on, either.
I've heard that about Japan. China, it's more like people minding their own business, but if you ask, there's almost always someone helpful.
Superb Kurt!!
A lovely experience. I totally relate to the 'crowd' experience there.
The only “crowd” experience we’ve had while traveling was years ago when we took our young son to MX. He had very blonde curly hair and the locals were always asking if they could touch it.
Hispanic ladies in San Antonio, where my two oldest children were born, used to come up to Son A in his stroller and stroke his blond curls and coo over his blue eyes.
Yeah, you've been here. There's a level of frantic-ness that, after a while, is infectious. At first, it can grind you down. When you get in tune with it, it's fun.
Indeed. In 1983, my shopping experience in Shanghai was restricted to the official China Arts and Craft store. Where I bought my textile artist maybe 3 dozen exquisite brushes. All types of hairs, sizes, handles, carvings. And a dozen amazing ink stones with good and silver leafed letterings. This was 6 years before the growing ban on Ivory in 1983 and US ban in 2013. My prized possession from that trip are 2 small amazing figures. A fisherman with sticks and fish and another happy peasant.
The then maybe 50 yr old hand knotted silk carpet I got when I arrived in Hong Kong. A lengthy negotiation and a quality receipt for customs.
I was young and athletic then. I'd wander some streets late at night. Sitting down on carpets and negotiating for beads and works with folks there from China, Nepal, maybe Tibet and elsewhere. Sometimes hot tea offered in the buying negotiation.
You got to see it when it was still exotic and few tourists. I'm jealous. I can still find that sort of thing out in the countryside, but it's rare nowadays. Tourism is big business, and if there's anything for sure about China, it's they're all about business.
This is as good as the Travel Channel!
I love to travel. I was very fortunate to work for division at BigCorp that was strong in global activities. And I'm pretty adventurous and thrilled to meet folks all over and have those experiences.
This does a great job of illustrating what it means to be in a place where the optimism about the future is palpable. It’s a decided contrast to how things have felt here for a long, long time.
Good observation. It's not like this so much anymore. At that time, it felt like the future was limitless.