Kristin Bair O'Keeffe: Writer. Mom. Teacher. Traveler.

St. Patrick's Day in Shangai: Parades, Pints, & Irish Poets

And so goes another Paddy's Day in Shanghai...complete with the wonderful, weird, cross-cultural parade that is half-Irish/half-Chinese and (thanks to the Shanghai International Literary Festival) a couple of terrific Irish poets straight from Cork.

It was grand.

I'm often more entranced by the folks watching the parade in Shanghai than the parade itself. Take this pajama-clad attendee, for instance, much more interesting than the green dragon.

And this woman in the window...obviously wondering, just what the heck is going on out there on Yandong Lu?

 

Love this picture with the Irish flag.

And Tully's shamrock...  Billy Ramsell...kick-ass Irish poet.

Alan Titley reading at the Glamour Bar.

  And poet Liz O'Donoghue singing a beautiful Irish tune.

We Pause in the Regularly Schedule Programming for...A TRIP TO BORNEO

Whoop! Whoop!

Those of you who've been looking for the regularly scheduled blog entries (Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life, Women Rock Wednesday, etc.) and my normal musings on writing, China, life, etc., thanks for checking in.

But...right now I'm lying on the beach in Borneo (well, actually, right now I'm in my hotel room, but a few hours ago, I was on the beach, and in another hour or so, I'll be on the beach again. And, of course, with a two-year-old there is much "lying on the beach" going on...mostly I'm chasing Tully, digging in the sand, chasing Tully...get the picture. It's lovely.)

Last week we were in China suffering a case of "too much, too many" (too much noise, too many people, too much traffic, too much smog, too many ____). So before one of us (hubby or I) began to exhibit bad expat behavior, we did what it takes to love our second home (China) again...we got out. It's like that sometimes.

Nothing a week in Borneo won't cure. :)

Here's a peek at our current digs.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.

The South China Sea.

Ooh, this is gooooddddd.

Who's ready for the beach?

Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life (Chinese New Year: The World's Largest Human Migration)

What are we doing in China this week?

Writing?

Always.

Practicing our characters?

Heck no! We're getting ready for Chinese New Year...the national holiday when nearly every single person in China travels to her home province for the celebration of the lunar new year...yep, nearly every single person...which makes this holiday the world's largest human migration. (I'm going to head up to the train ticket office up my street tomorrow and take some photos...the line is crazy long!)

Even though the New Year doesn't officially begin until Saturday, February 14, folks have already started to leave Shanghai by the trainload. Believe it or not, something like 25.63 million passengers will leave or come to Shanghai this year by rail, plane, bus, or ship (Shanghai Daily). 

25.63 million people.

Want to join them? Maybe by train? Here...try this one. Looks comfy, huh? You know, for a cross-country trip in China.

 

Or maybe this train?

While you absorb those numbers and stare at those photos, let me remind you writers out there that holidays, festivals, and rituals are terrific fodder for articles, essays, and stories. If you're writing about a far-flung place, investigate.

Here in China, as we move closer and closer to the Year of the Tiger, I'll be sharing a good bit about the celebrations, rituals, and traditions go along with it.

But right now, I'm going to go hang my New Year decorations (including a tiger on the door). Photos to come.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Far-flung writers: Where are you living? Traveling to? What rituals, celebrations, traditions take your attention?

Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life (Me + New Place = ?)

Okay, all you far-flung writers, need a jumping off point for a new essay? Here goes:

When you:

• are transplanted in a new country
• are launched out of your comfort zone
• are separated from those you love by expansive oceans and thousands of miles
• are incapable of communicating with those around you because you don't speak the language
• spend minutes/hours/days pantomiming even the simplest nouns (and feel like a cross between an intrepid explorer and a complete ass every time you do it)
• struggle to interpret new cultural cues

you inevitably ask the question...

Me + (New Place) = ?

You can't help it. It's human nature. We're driven to define ourselves in relation to our surroundings. Especially those of us who are writers.

The first time I asked myself this question was back in October 2006, about six months after I'd moved from the United States to Shanghai, China. I was back in the U.S. on my first trip home and was feeling completely overwhelmed by the number of choices I faced in the cereal aisle at the grocery store and a number of other things. I wrote about it here (at my old blog).

Since then, I've mulled over this very question again and again...verbally and in my head...but I haven't yet (re-)tackled it on the page. It's time...I feel it coming. The distillation of who I am in China.

And you? Have you tackled this question in your writing?

Me + (New Place) = ?

If not, give it a shot. It has all the makings of a great essay.

If so, what was your answer?

Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life (Shoe Leather Express)

Whenever I asked my mom for a ride when I was growing up and she couldn't (or wouldn't) swing it, I always followed my initial question "Can you take me to _________?" with the inevitable "Well, how am I going to get there?" (often accompanied by a whine and a preteen foot stomp).

To which my mom always gave the same answer: "Shoe leather express" (in other words, start walking).

Back then, that often meant that I walked to my best friend's house via the trolley tracks, the mall via the road that went past our church, and the swimming pool along one of the most commercial streets in our town. Along the way, I learned a lot. I always knew who was getting ready to have a yard sale, where the best wild blackberries grew, and how to avoid the biggest potholes. The long, solitary walks also helped me learn to pay attention...to the little things...to the aspects of a place that helped to tell its story.

So while my mom had no idea that one day I'd be living on the other side of the world writing about my far-flung life and helping others learn how to do the same, her solution to my travel woes--Shoe Leather Express--has become an important part of my writing process.

Whether I land in a new place or a place I've been many times before, I always put on my most favored, mostest comfortable walking shoes (in my case, Keens...those are my "winter" Keens [above] and my "summer" Keens [below]) and start walking.

During my first two years in China, I estimate I walked 1.75 million miles (give or take a few). In Shanghai, I walked on major thoroughfares, down old lanes, and through funky neighborhoods. I walked through the panda reserve in Chengdu, wandered about the Muslim quarter in Xian, and hiked on the Great Wall. Along every step, I paid attention to smells, colors, sounds, and the old woman selling knobs of ginger on the corner. I noted what I saw up close and what I noticed in the distance. I noted facial expressions and gestures. I gathered bits and pieces for the stories I would tell.

Sure, sometimes walking is not the easiest mode of transportation. (In Bali, I ran into so many not-so-friendly dogs, I ended up toting a big stick, and in Vietnam, dodging the scooters is not always fun.) But walking gets you up close and personal to people, food, language--the essence of a place.

So my advice to far-flung writers?

Next time you're deciding how to get from your hotel to a museum or your B&B to the beach, skip the taxi or the shuttle. Take my mom's advice and go for the Shoe Leather Express.

Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life (Finding Your Own Chicken Man)

When you're writing about a far-flung life, your job is to get readers to see what you see. Remember, many readers have never been to the place or had the experience you are describing...and many never will. So...lure them in. 

How?

The #1 Way to Lure Readers In...

• Write About The Things That Interest You: Don't worry about trying to figure out what readers want to know. Follow your own heart...your own eye. If you're intrigued, your readers will be intrigued. If you're not intrigued, readers will close your book/article/essay halfway through and not pick it up again. Horror of all horrors.

(Example: If you're traveling in Milan, Italy, you may be captivated by the spires on the Duomo. Lots of folks are. If so, dig in and have at it. But maybe you don't give two hoots about the spires [or anything else] on the Duomo. Maybe you're more intrigued by the wacky folks who like to get the 1.22 million pigeons in the piazza to land on their heads for photo opps or the cranky old woman who sold you a strawberry tart. If that's the case, write about the pigeon people or the cranky old woman. Forget the Duomo and its spires.)

As for me, I'm rarely intrigued by the "big stuff." Sure, Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower is cool and interesting, and yup, the World Expo is coming to our fair city in May, but I'm drawn to smaller moments. Like the Chicken Man! He's one of my favorite characters in my neighborhood, and just this morning, my daughter and I ran into him on our street. (Okay, okay, I admit it, we were out looking for him...as we often are.) We were lucky enough to happen upon him just as a customer was picking out his chicken. Check it out.

The Chicken Man on the left. A discerning customer on the right.

"How about this chicken?" says the Chicken Man.

"No, I like this chicken," says customer, taking matters (and a chicken) into his own hands.

"Why does this crazy laowai (me) follow me around Shanghai taking pictures of me?" says the Chicken Man. "She must have thousands of pictures of me now."

And the Chicken Man kills and defeathers the chicken right there and then.

I tell ya what...he's good at it, too. He can kill and defeather a chicken faster than I can pick out a package of drumsticks at the grocery store.

This is the hard part...friends looking on.

Ta-da! Dinner!

WRITERS CHALLENGE: I haven't yet written a formal piece about the Chicken Man, but I know that eventually he will work his way into an essay or memoir. Your challenge this week? Find your own Chicken Man. In whatever place you're writing about, choose a person who intrigues you. Then write about him/her. A paragraph...a page...whatever it takes to see him/her clearly.

Travel Tuesday: Writing the Far-Flung Life (Definitions)

Okay...since I'm going to be yakking with you every Tuesday about how to write about travel and a far-flung life, I figure I better start with a couple of key definitions. That way, all you writers interested in writing about your own far-flung lives will be on the same page with me.

Here goes...

DEFINITIONS

far-flung life

• a life in which you travel to different places on a regular basis (ex: I'm an American. My husband is from Ireland. Our daughter is Vietnamese. We live in Shanghai, China. We get around.)

• a life that jolts you out of your comfort zone

cultural spelunker

• one who arrives in a new country (state, city, etc.), looks around at unfamiliar people & places, smiles, & digs in

• fearless explorer (or perhaps explorer despite fear)

• one who is compelled by odd smells, strange glances, dark alleyways, wacky foods, cultural conundrums, language barriers, & so on

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (I'm anticipating...)

Q: Do I have to travel out of my home country in order to have a far-flung life?

A: Nope. Everyone's definition of far-flung is different. Perhaps you travel from Chicago to Japan twice a year...yep, that's far-flung. Perhaps you divide your time between Montana and New York City...yep, that's far-flung. Or perhaps you stick close to home but cross into a neighboring county twice a week...yep, that's far-flung (as long as--and this is the key--the journey throws you out of your comfort zone in some significant way).

Q: Do I have to be an expat like you?

A: Oh, god, no. If you travel & get out of your comfort zone, you qualify.

Q: Is cultural spelunker a real term?

A: It is now. I made it up.

All set?

Good. Spend the week thinking about your far-flung life and meet me back here in a week.

Happy travels.

Travel Tuesday: Place (Sacred Ground...Temple Hound)

Welcome to TRAVEL TUESDAY: PLACE, a new weekly addition to "My Beautiful, Far-Flung Life."

If you've read this blog in the past, you know a few things about me:

1. I'm an American. My husband is from Ireland. Our daughter is Vietnamese. We live in Shanghai, China. (That's me...the far-flung writer.)
2. I travel...a lot...often very long distances...often to pretty cool places.
3. I take a lot of photographs.
4. I am deeply inspired by place, so much so that much of my writing--both fiction and nonfiction--begins with a place. Not a character or a plot line or an object. A place.

Because writing about place (and journeys) is one of my writerly passions, I've decided that every Tuesday from here on out, I'm going to yak with you about that very thing: place.

Sometimes I'll introduce you to a favorite spot in Shanghai or another place to which I've traveled. Other times I'll talk about craft...how to weave a place into a novel so that it becomes a character or how to write tight, vivid descriptions that leave your reader wanting more. I'll give writing prompts. Talk about inspirational places. Review travel memoirs (which I absolutely love!). Share personal essays about places. Interview cool writers who really know how to work a place into their writing. Ask questions of you. Offer contests with fun giveaways. Look at maps. Etc.

So here we go. Grab your passport and your pen. Welcome to TRAVEL TUESDAY: PLACE!

TODAY'S PLACE: THE LONGHUA TEMPLE (SHANGHAI, CHINA)

I love temples. And monks. And Buddhisty colors: ocher & red. And chanting. And statues of Buddha and the arhats. And meditation. And incense. And that oh-so-peaceful feeling that washes through me as soon as I pay my meager RMB 10 ($1.50) at the gate and pass from the chaotic streets of China onto temple grounds.

My favorite temple in Shanghai?

The Longhua Temple. It's the oldest Buddhist temple in Shanghai, built (at least the original parts though much has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since) somewhere around 247 A.D. It's always a crazy-busy place...with lots of devotees burning incense, making offerings, and saying prayers (and yes, lots of tourists snapping photos), but even so, it's peaceful. There aren't any scooters trying to run you over; there aren't any hawkers trying to sell you a fake watch or DVD; there aren't any car horns blasting in your ears. (Shanghai is a lot of cool things, but peaceful isn't one of them...finding a bit of that in a city this big is a gift.)

Many times each year, I head to the Longhua Temple to people-watch, take photographs, meditate, and "peace-out," but I always make it a point to visit during the New Year holiday.

Why?

To add my wishes to the "wishing tree," a big, beautiful, golden/reddish (fake) tree that is erected just outside the entrance to the temple. For a small fee, you buy a red silk pouch filled with four ribbons (two gold, two red). Once you buy them, you write a wish on each ribbon, then you hang them in the wishing tree, along with the thousands of other red/gold ribbons others have hung. It's a lovely tradition. (Supposedly, the higher you lob your ribbons into the tree, the more likely it is that your wishes will come true. Lots of folks--like me--simply tie their ribbons in the lower "branches," but watch out...there are folks who do some serious lobbing.)

WRITING: IMPETUS

When I want to write a piece about a place I visit frequently (and write about frequently), I look for a unique story inspiration. Two things inspired me on this particular trip to the Longhua Temple:

1. wishes
2. the two small, roughly molded monk sculptures in the last photo in this blog entry (This is what I look for when I visit a place...the unexpected, the unusual. I always see the beautiful golden Buddhas, but I've never seen something like the two roughly molded monks. I found them in a back corner of the temple where few visitors go. This is the kind of thing that tweaks my storytelling vibe...the thing that starts me writing.)

The Wishing Tree

Wishing Tree Ribbons...One Wish Per Ribbon

Cool, huh?

Gate at The Longhua Temple

Main Hall

Incense burning.

  Up close to the incense...

Buddha

Monk.

Buddha

Monk

Small discoveries