A Weekend in Beijing

Tony told the taxi driver how to get to the JW Marriott in Chinese and watched as Emily and I crawled into the back of the dark car. After the driver nodded in agreement that he knew where we were going, Tony shut our back door and looked on as though a concerned parent might as the taxi took off into the building-lit Beijing night. In only a short 20 minute ride we would be at the China Salsa Congress!!! Talk about exciting!! The best salsa dancers in China were all gathered together in one room to perform and then dance afterwards, and I just happened to be in the same city that weekend. This event could not be missed. Of course, not everyone on my team was as excited as I was to watch Chinese people step-back-and-forth to the beat of Latin music, especially at the rate of 30 US dollars; not yuan, US dollars. Earlier, in the Pearl Market, as Emily and I sat in a booth surrounded by fake Polo's, Abrocrombie shirts, and Chinese people watching us I begged her to go with me. "Please, please come with me! I know it is a lot of money, but I can't go on my own." Maybe it was the look of desperation in my face or of hope, or more likely just because Emily is just a solid, awesome friend already and decided to come with me.
Whatever the reason, there we sat riding through the city looking out at all the skyscrapers of Beijing. We passed the "pants" building, it basically a building designed so that it has a hole in the middle and looks like pants. Emily got really excited about it, which made me happy, at least if she didn't like the salsa dancing later, maybe she would like the pants building. The taxi slowed to a stop at a light. I noticed the diver reach his hands underneath the steering wheel and he pulled himself up and to the left very close to his open window. Before I had time to think of all the possible things this could mean, "BLAAAUUUUTTTT" came out of this Chinese man's body. It was such a loud fart! Should I react? Was this normal? I mean is this something that just happens all the time in China. These thoughts passed through my head, much like the gas that was just passed as I looked over to Emily to help me find the answers. Her face was contorted into a tight ball and completely red as she tried to prevent the free flow of laughter that was sure to happen. Eye contact and we lost it. It was just too much for us....we laughed and laughed the whole rest of the way to the hotel. A glance in the direction of the taxi driver or Emily and I my belly began to shake like Santa. The next morning, as we sat in Starbucks drinking glorious coffee talking with Tony, Newt and Claire we told them about the taxi driver. We asked, "Tony, is this common in China?" He replied, "No, (and shook his head) no, this is not common." Then after a beat of time, with a child-like innocence Tony looked up at us and asked, "What is fart?" We let Newt explain it to him and then he really told us it was not common. I guess the taxi driver thought more than language couldn't be understood.
Even though we had a stinky ride over to the Salsa congress it certainly didn't put us in a crappy mood. In the front lobby of the hotel there was only one booth for the Salsa Congress. "Is this where we buy tickets for tonight?" I asked the two ladies manning the table. "No, take the escalator downstairs and buy them down there." As we descend to the bottom floor, more and more salsa gear came into view and I couldn't help but feel a little flutter in my heart. To me this was like having a little piece of home, of something familiar with me. This is one of my favorite things about salsa dancing, no matter where I go in the world I can always find a place to dance and people who love it just as much, and many times more than my self. It is comforting and brings people together. Without knowing the language of another person, all their culture, their past, their future, or anything about them we can still come together and communicate in this completely different and beautiful way. It is one of the blessings in life. After reluctantly turning over our 200 yuan we went were able to watch all the performances of the night.
The basic layout of the night was 8 couples were competing to be the Chinese Champion Salsa couple and go on to compete in the World Competition in Orlando later this year. After they had the 8 couples dance, then there are many special performances by people from around the world and also from around the area. My favorite dance of the night was from these performances. It actually was not all salsa dancing either (maybe, you are a little surprised?). A dance company from Shanghai performed a dance which was mix between tradition Chinese dancing with fans and salsa dancing. The fans added an element of visual and auditory excitement as whenever they opened the fan it made a loud noise and the red flashed in front of your eyes in an intriguing way. After the performances, they cleared the floor and had a live band and everyone who came could dance. They were all really good dancers. We only stayed for a little bit of this time, because we knew it would be wise to get back (much to my dismay though). At the bottom of the post I have three videos of some of the dances from the night.
Overall, the whole weekend in Beijing was really amazing besides just salsa dancing. The whole IECS team was FINALLY together. We were able to encourage and hear one another's stories. We also celebrated Peter's, Tony's, and Tony's little one's literal birth day (well to be in a day or so). In the Pearl Market we all were able to get the items we were in need of for the winter, like nice warm coats! Emily and I also bought jeans. This is of course after we tried them on in the back of a small open booth as the Chinese worker held up two white shirts while we dropped drawers. It was a little humbling and drafty. The weekend was a great finish to a holiday to get us ready to teach and be with our students again!