Road Trip! (9/3)

In other circumstances, I might have woken up this morning and shouted “Road trip! I’m going with my boys!” And it’s true—but not exactly. “My boys” are my host Tonny and a college music student. I enjoy Tonny’s presence, having been with him a lot both these last two weeks and also two weeks last year when he hosted me for some other courses. He’s a businessman working for the Sonor Orff instrument company, so it’s a different vibe from a fellow music teacher. But he is not a businessman’s businessman. He is lighthearted and amiable as well as extremely efficient and organized. He is wholly dependable in getting whatever I need for the course, with a “no problem” attitude and a twinkle in his eye. After all this time together he still calls me “Teacher!” in an endearing sing-song voice. In short, he takes excellent care of me, always rushing to open car doors, grab my suitcase and lavish me with way too much food over and over again, all the while taking care of the complexities of running a course for some 50 to 60 teachers. 

 

But still it’s hard to wholly enjoy each other with five words of a common language. Last year, he used his Google translator a lot, but now we mostly sit in a comfortable, but not exactly fun, silence. This other companion speaks some English and plays excellent guitar and though I’m pretty good at enjoying a wide variety of people, there simply is no chemistry between us. 

So this prospect of a road trip with “my boys” doesn’t even approach the excitement I would have if it were with, say, my Orff buddies Rick and Paul. 

 

The day began with another long car ride, about 90 minutes out into the countryside heading who knows where. I’ve just resigned myself to put myself in Tonny’s hands and trust something interesting will happen.  And it actually ended up being an impressive morning, as we joined a thousand or more other Chinese tourists to see the wonder of the much-visited waterfall in the Huangguoshu National Scenice Area. It was an 800-stair descent to the viewing platforms and when they suggested we take the escalator, as if this grandpa couldn’t handle it, I made it clear that the stairs were just the thing for me! The falls were indeed impressive and after the required photo shoots, I was fine to begin ascending, but now they had bought tickets for the escalator going back up. Oh well. I was just so happy to be out walking instead of touring the countryside by car.

 

Perhaps I should mention here that between the falls and our next tourist attraction, we walked amongst some one to two thousand tourists. And as far as I could tell, every single one, without exception, was Chinese. I can certainly testify that I was the only Caucasian in the throng and of course, not a single person made me feel weird about that. A few gave me an extra smile and one couple I passed twice said hello both times. Americans, take note. 

 

We returned to where the bus had dropped us off and then got on another bus to another scenic area—Tiangxingqiao. This was a series of stepping-stone paths through streams and intriguing rock formations and root growth. Reminded me a bit of a canyon hike my family—wife, daughter and grandkids— and I take each year in Palm Springs and wished they could all be with me. I kept counting steps and when we got to the restaurant area close to the bus parking lot, I was up to almost 1800! After these weeks with so little exercise, it was just the ticket. 

 

However, it was quite hot and humid and by now, we were all hungry, so it was a relief to get back to the town and have lunch. My usual greens and other vegetables with a bit of rice and a pleasant beer with a bit of a fruit flavor. There was a park across the street and I had assumed we would be staying in this town and I was eyeing it for a possible afternoon of delicious solitude in the shade of some of its eye-catching trees. That was when the college student informed me we were heading back in the car to drive for 3 ½ more hours to go to our next place. Aargh!!

 

So no road trip with the top down, the music blasting, the boys hootin’ and hollerin’ and laughing and talking about the things old buddies talk about. Indeed, I just decided to get out my computer and do some little project like compile how many workshops I’ve done since the pandemic. (Though I know no one cares, the answer is that mostly starting in 2022, it’s some 74 courses/ workshops in some 48 cities in some 16 states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada in some 18 countries on all 6 continents.) 

 

Then treating the ride like I was on the plane, I did my ritual Crostic puzzle, then back to the computer to write this and thinking of seeing if my hearing aids have enough charge to listen to my Audible story. 

 

Of course, I’m okay—and should be— with just looking out the window at the hills and mountains and small towns. But without a little music and shared spoken conviviality, it’s not quite as delightful as it might be. Still happy to get a taste of China beyond the big cities. And apparently our destination is the territory of the Miao minority group. We got a sneak preview at a restaurant the other night back in Guiyang where they performed a bit of music and dance. Perhaps I’ll be lucky enough to get a glimpse of the real deal, some festival in its natural habitat. 

 

More to report soon from your man in China.