Thursday 13 November 2008

山东

我要描述山东那一趟旅游!

山东是个小型的FUSSA秋游。我是和Leon,Zhengjun,Sixi,Jiaming,Ivana,Julia,Weiming和Zhipeng着八位同志一起去的。
All in all, we visited 3 places. 曲阜,淄博and济南. This time, I did not get cheated, traumatised or overly horrified and appalled at the terrible excesses and inherent evil of human nature.

Come! Enjoy some strange photos of my fellow companions!

Amusing JuliaGlorious Ivana

A strangely bashful JMThe awesome girl that helped us loads with regards to bus tickets...

I would say that a definite upside to this trip was the interesting company. Personally, i draw my delight during traveling from the beauty that surrounds me. I loved the Chinese gardens, the slanting autumn light, the iridescent pearl on the petals of the chrysanthemums. I love the seeming mundane quality of the long roads, the hours spent traveling with total strangers. I love waking up in the morning and brushing my teeth next to some snorting old man spitting into the metal wash basin. I love meeting fellow photographers and exchanging tips with them. (I learnt something awesome from an old man in 济南! :D) I can go on and on... but i'm sure that i have made myself quite clear.



All that aside, i begin to realise that perhaps its not enough. My companions were schooled in chinese literature and thus had an acquired ability to appreciate the culture and history that surrounded us. They drew their enjoyment from a different source. The genuine excitement that flashed upon Sixi's face as he walked through 李清照’s former residence struck something within me. I am inadequate. Therefore, this time i took something different away from my trip. I took away greater self knowledge, and a drive to become more informed about chinese literature which will thus teach me about chinese history and culture. For that, I picked up a book of Tang and Song poems! Yes. I did look up 李清照’s work and yes... now,to a certain extent, I understand Sixi's delight.

The trip also brought other flurries of new revelations. I learnt more about some people and am determined to continue filling the tank.

That's Sixi.

2 comments:

hairygorillaz said...

:D

Where is your tagboard?

Alison said...

GONE. haha! I found it too jarring