| Friday, January 11, 2002 |
From: Meg Thomsen meginchina@yahoo.com
Subject: Looking for Banqiao
Hello Friends and Family!
It sure is nice to be back in Dengguan. Yes, it's grey, and I can't see more than ten feet in front of me thanks to the fog. Yes, when I peek my head out from underneath the warm blankets in the morning, my breath is a long puff of steam in the cold cement apartment and it takes all my willpower to get up. And yes, it was really hard to come back from being Medevacked. Seeing a glimpse of all that I love so well in the States, and having to let it all go again has hard. Having to say goodbye a second time was awful. But somehow coming back to the U.S. made me realize that I've built something here.
On my way to the United States, I had a four-hour layover in Beijing. I've never been to Beijing before. I was on my way to the international terminal when I saw a bus. Instead of sensibly walking over to the terminal, and buying a newspaper and some tea, I decided to see where the bus went. So, I hopped on and travelled all over Beijing! I went to the Forbidden City, Tiannanmen Square... I saw history there, the faces of students crushed by tanks in the 1980's, the faces of Qing dynasty soldiers in the 1680's. I made my plane with a few minutes to spare.
On my way back through, I decided to explore Beijing again. Wind whips through that northern desert land so that you can feel it in your bones. I went to a student art exhibition and rode the Beijing subway. I was a long way away from the bus stop to bring me back to the hotel. I asked a man on his bicycle where to go, and he said, "Hop on!" So I jumped on the back of his bicycle, and off we went, whizzing through the new and beautiful streets of Beijing.
When I arrived in Chengdu this summer, I felt paralyzed by fear when I left Sichuan Normal University, the place where we spent our first few days of training. I couldn't ask for directions, couldn't tell a taxi where to go, couldn't order fried rice at the restaurant. Six months later, I came to Beijing and was able to see it. I've built something here, something beautiful. And I want to see where it goes.
Thoreau once wrote that you can find infinity within twenty square miles of where you were born. I feel that there is a lot of truth to this theory. Boston is a series of endless universes to me. There are always new people to meet, new places to go, and yet it retains the quality of the old. Part of the reason that I wanted to join Peace Corps is that I wanted to see somebody else's infinity. I wanted to see who I was in that world. And guess what? It's just the same! There are always new people to meet, new places to go.
Next week, I will walk to Banqiao, a small village about fifteen miles from here. I just want to see what's there, and what I can find along the way. No one from Dengguan has ever been to Banqiao, and no one from Banqiao has ever been to Dengguan. Neither place has anything more than the other; they are both small country towns. Yet they are small and separate universes unto themselves. Who knows what I will find as I spend the day walking through endless hills and fields full of farmers picking oranges and lettuce? Maybe the walking itself is what I will find. Maybe more.
The semester is nearly over, and I'm looking forward to some good exploring. First Erin and I will head down to Caohai Lake in Guizhou for a week of bird-watching, and then Julie and I will go down to meet Rachel and Josh in beautiful, sunny Thaiiiiiland. I can scarcely wait.
Hope that you are all well. May you find something new today.
Love, Meg