|
I noticed today that some of the motorcycles here in Ganzi have spoke covers which I haven't seen in Kangding, Litang, or elsewhere. I joked to Haw-Wen that maybe prayers were inscribed on the covers, and that the number of prayers amassed could be huge, one for each revolution of the tire! We concluded that a huge market exists for such novel implementations of the automation concept in the domain of prayer offering. Look in stores not only for motorcycle tires with prayer treads (they not only offer prayer, but leave prayers behind whenever it rains), but also prayer pinwheels, which utilize clean, green, wind energy to enrich your spirit. |
|
I noticed today that some of the motorcycles here in Ganzi have spoke covers which I haven't seen in Kangding, Litang, or elsewhere. I joked to Haw-Wen that maybe prayers were inscribed on the covers, and that the number of prayers amassed could be huge, one for each revolution of the tire! We concluded that a huge market exists for such novel implementations of the automation concept in the domain of prayer offering. Look in stores not only for motorcycle tires with prayer treads (they not only offer prayer, but leave prayers behind whenever it rains), but also prayer pinwheels, which utilize clean, green, wind energy to enrich your spirit. Now, where's the patent office? |
|
Lots of interesting stuff has happened since I last felt like writing a reflection. Perhaps most important was the convergence of Haw-Wen, Luk, Viv, Hannah, Cameron, and me at Litang and subsequent minivan adventure and Kangding retreat. Games learned: Word Association, Mexican, Spades (more than 4 people), Chinese Chess (well, I had the rules refreshed), Bridge, "The Name Game", Mafia (with the doctor rule), Shithead, and maybe others I'm forgetting now. And I nearly learned Backgammon using Luk's nifty travel set, if it hadn't been for the seduction of Chinese Chess, which is an addictive game, lemme tell ya. I don't think I will ever waltz past a roadside game again without taking a gander. Speaking of which, "If it's sauce for the goose, it's sauce for the gander." Ah, gotta love those idioms, obscure to me, so typical for others. |
|
I've had my world somewhat thrown into a tizzy by that eccentric, super-charged bloke in Litang, the owner of the Tian Tian restaurant (天天饮食), Zheng Xueyou (郑学有). The consummate entrepreneur, afraid of no failure, able to spin his culinary art wherever he goes, he made the comment that my competitiveness or however you translate 奋斗精神 is severly lacking. Let the translation remain as "FDJS" for now. Actually, now that I think about it, "Fighting Juice" might very well be appropriate. I like it. |
|
To continue the story: In the 1980's at the tender age of 14, Xueyou's father gave him 20 yuan to start his own business. Let it be known that in those days, 20 yuan was no laughing matter, and that a salaried worker could at best be expected to take home around 1.5 yuan a day. He decided to try his luck with selling fruit, and chose to give peaches a shot. The first day, to his unfettered excitement, he earned 2 yuan! This opened his eyes to the possibilities that existed in business. In his lowly trade of fruit, he was able to rake in more money than a salaried worker, as a teenager! He went out to sell more fruit the next day in high spirits. To his shock and disbelief, he made a loss of 4 yuan when the day was out, leaving him with a paltry 18 yuan, compared with the 20 he had started out with. He went home tired and upset. That was his first experience with the bitter taste of failure. For some reason, I think the Chinese expression 受了打击 is infinitely more appropriate than any similar English expression, because it succinctly conveys the feeling of being physically struck by defeat. That taught him that in business, one must ride the current of success as well as of failure; that with hope and Fighting Juice one can persevere, move beyond one's losses and reach for the next dream. Having learned such an important lesson at such a young age, Xueyou, who constantly refers to himself as "uncultured" (没有文化), grasped some essence of the human spirit that most Chinese college students, and apparently even I, have yet to attain. |