In April, the printmaker Gordon Novak flew into Beijing to work with my friend and artist Wang Xin. Gordon established the art residency that I visited with Wang last October. I went to watch them work one afternoon. It was fun to see a different part of the outskirts of Beijing where some artist studios have settled. Xin rented a print making studio, and it was so interesting to see how they were making the prints. It was more of a group dance than any printmaking I’ve seen before – so much directed improvisation with many people around the large screens being directed by Gordon and Xin but also being given leiway. They reached a snag when they realized a couple of the screens were printed backwards, but eventually the prints turned out beautifully.
Celia had her first birthday without us. We sent digital birthday signs – waking up to a kitchen full of silly birthday signs are a Fischer family tradition. Unfortunately it was her finals week at college – but she went out to dinner with a group of friends and had a really nice time.
Two days later she finished her first year of college. She packed up her belongings and Uncle Elon came twice, picking up her stuff and schlepping it to his house to store for the summer. Celia then jumped on a train to go visit her cousin Zach and his girlfriend in Rochester for 5 days or so before heading to NYC for the summer.
Morton and I played squash in the clubhouse by our house. On our way out I ran into a guy who works at the spa there. They are always trying to get me to try their “Anti-aging body self repair health cabin”. He told me they were giving free trials. A couple days later, feeling very achy from over tennising, and having a little time, I decided to try it. I went over that day. They put me on to the flat bed and, like an MRI, the bed moved into the “cabin” with my head sticking out. The machine started warming my leg. The technician – whose English was very limited – explained to me that I was being warmed by the inside and it wasn’t sweat coming out from me but someother kind of liquid (that I didn’t get). At that point I became a little concerned I had just agreed to be microwaved. Was it crazy I was allowing them to put me in this machine which I have no idea what it does? The technicial looked at the screen and told me the machine says my health was excellent but my energy level is extremely low – maybe from poor sleep? With multiple visits, the machine can fix that. After 20 minutes or so, I got out of the machine. They then hooked my nose up to breathe higher concentration of oxygen and drink high oxygenated water (?). On my way out they really wanted to sell me a package to use the machine but I wasn’t immediately feeling the healing powers or understanding the science, so I thanked them and left. A Chinese scientist I play tennis with explained to me the “Health Cabinet”has something to do with the magnetic field around the earth and harnessing that power -but I still don’t get it. He sent me an article. I think I still need to read it but often translated Mandarin into English is confusing when you get beyond, “Do you have that in a smaller size”.
A couple days later Dan, Morton and I went downtown to meet friends for an early birthday dinner (mine). They live in a newish highrise building right by the old hutong areas of Beijing. Their apartment is lovely and our friend Michael showed us some of his artwork before we left for dinner at a quaint restaurant in the nearby Hutong. After dinner we strolled though the old windy streets on our way to their apartment for dessert. It was a lovely evening.
Mother’s Day was the next day and I had decided I wanted to go out to an area called Shouyuan – an area which old industrial buildings were repurposed for the Olympics. I ordered a bike rack for our car and I drove us about an hour to this area where we spent the next few hours biking around. The architecture was amazing and it was so funny to see the Big Air Ski ramp. I always picture it on a mountain – but here it’s just in the middle of this developed area with stands for the fans built all around the base. Hard to believe the skiers don’t regularly go into the stands.
We found a fancy over priced brew pub open and went into eat. Just as we were sitting down Dan and I got texts from his assistant saying we had to move the car. Apparently I was parked illegally. Hard to understand who saw the car, looked up the license plate, called the school – which was closed – somehow got hold of someone there who got hold of Dan’s assistant who texted us to move the car. . . Crazy. I ran over to where I parked the car. There was a yield sign but no indication that I couldn’t park the car where I left it – and there were other cars.
That evening was mother’s day in the U.S. I put onto my mother’s digital screen a slide show of her from her entire life. Apparently she loved it.
The next day was my actual birthday. A friend asked me to play tennis. When I showed up many tennis balls came raining down from the court behind ours. A whole bunch of my tennis friends came running over to wish me a happy birthday. It was lovely. They donned me in a tutu and a special teeshirt and then We played a few hours of mixing doubles (where we change courts and teams every 4-5 games) and then they took me out to a lovely Chinese restaurant for lunch – with a fantastic cake that was only beat by the cake my friend Su-en bought me last year.
That evening Dan took me out to what he believed was, “the second best vegetarian restaurant in Beijing”. I complained about the “2nd best” but was assured we already went to the what’s considered “The Best”. Our driver took us downtown to a hutong where we had to continue on foot. We came to an almost non-descript door with the address on it. We paused but decided to go in. A non English speaking woman met us just inside the door. We thought maybe, possibly we were at the correct place. Luckily I had just been listening to a Chinese book where the dog was playing in the “yuanzi” – the yard. The woman was asking if we wanted to see the “yuanzi”. I didn’t really know where we were but thought, “of course”. She walked us into this beautiful old traditional home with a yard in the middle. We walked up onto a small viewing deck and looked over the neighborhood of the Forbidden City.
She then asked if we wanted to eat and she led us into a room with one long table set for two with a “Happy Birthday” sign on the wall. We were their customers for the evening. On a blackboard was written what they’d be serving us that evening. Ends up it was not the “2nd best vegetarian restaurant in Beijing”, as it wasn’t vegetarian, but they were willing to adjust the menu to exclude meat. Dan and I decided that restaurant, Black Sesame Kitchen, is the “#1 restaurant in Beijing”. The chef cooks just beyond our table, with mirrors from above pointing down at him so we can watch all the action. Beverages are included in the price, so they just kept our glasses full. The food and service were lovely. Ends up the restaurant was established by a California born Chinese woman who is a food writer and relocated to Beijing for a while. She wrote a book about food influences moving back and forth along the Silk Road that I coincidentally read last year.
A couple days later Dan was invited to the local visa/immigration bureau to present them with a banner of appreciation. Morton left school a little early to join them. In China they love the banners of appreciation.
Later that day Lu Siqing, China’s premier violinist, came to ISB to preform with the kids. In China, being a classical musician means a lot. People know who the all stars are and it was a big deal to have him at the school. He had two sons who went through the school.
The following weekend we invited some friends over for a long over due dinner. It was a lovely evening with a great mix of interesting people. The weather cooled just enough that we sat outside for drink and hors d’oeuvres. One of our guests is Ukrainian. The Ukrainian ambassador had visited the school the day prior and given Dan a lovely candle for peace, so with our guest we lit it.
The next day was the school Spring Fair. The opposite of last year when it was very cold and windy, this year the heat was intense. Dan always has to do the dunk tank – where kids throw balls at the lever and if they hit it, Dan gets dropped into a pool of cold water. Last year I was worried as he turned purple from the cold. This year hitting the cold water was a pleasure!
The next night a friend invited us to his company party on the eve of the big Beijing Yoga convention – a three day event with over a thousand participants. Dan tried out the Chinese version of the exercise “Mirror”.
As Spring moved forward, my tennis friends and I had a number of going away lunches for tennis buddies who were leaving Beijing.
And I got some momentum in my studio.
Celia finally made it to NY, rented a room from her best buddy Cody’s mom, and got herself a job as a waitress at a movie theater/restaurant. And then she cut her hair.
The big Beijing Art Fair/Art Weekend opened. I went first to the main fair with a few friends and ran into a number more at the show and then we went to a satalite fair at a crazy fun and upscale department store. It was fun to walk around and look – but as at all fairs, lots of artwork that I’m not interested in, but you find some gems.
heading to the Art Fair (above) and below – crazy installations at the mall.
Graduation came a few days later. Not as sad for me as the last one, but Dan of course was fabulous and handsome.
The end of May I went with a couple friends to see a show of Yan Ping’s art. It was so uplifting and inspiring. Reminded me of keeping my focus on joy in my artwork.
On the final day of May, friends invited us to see a theatrical performance the Chinese Acrobats were putting on – the first performance for them of this kind – wiht a story and dancing. Visually it was amazing. The sets, the lights, and of course the acrobatic feats! The story was in Mandarin and we had trouble fully comprehending the details but it was based on a true story celebrating the lives of a father and son who were police officers and the father was killed during what we believe was a minority uprising of some sort. It was surprising to see.
Next morning we headed up to friend’s country home by the Great Wall. Dan and I went up early and hiked along the wall, which was a lovely way to start the day. Then we headed to our friends’ home to shower before the party started. They have an unbelievably lovely home that was built in a traditional style. They had a house full of mostly foreigners, many of whom have lived in China for decades, and have lived interesting lives. They told interesting stories of the quirks of living in China all these years. – even just of dealing with the house: the property next to the house is town land and a farmer decided to start grazing his pigs on that land. The stench was so terrible our friends couldn’t open their windows. They eventually went to the town magistrate to negotiate a compromise with the farmer. They finally agreed to buy all the pigs and rent the land from the township so no other farmer could graze their pigs there and that’s the small piece of land on which the party tables sat.
Before leaving for the summer, we headed down to see the artist James Turrell’s skyscape which is down next to the Forbidden City. It’s next to an old traditional temple. When we arrived early we found by the temple is a lovely tea house and wine bar with mats outside for visitors to recline and relax and a misting awning to keep away the intense heat. It was a lovely place to sit. we got drinks and enjoyed the serenity.
After our drinks we crossed the path to the James Turrel install. We entered a half hour before sunset, as instructed, into a smallish open rectangular room with yoga matts on the floor and woven pillows on the outer edges of the room. We choose two, and lied down, looking at the rectangular opening in the ceiling out to the sky. The room was dimly lit and the lights would slighly alter color. Looking at the ceiling as dusk fell, with the interior lights changing color slightly, our eyes perceive the sky as crazy intense and different colors depending on the interior light. It was mind blowing! It felt like a trick but every once in a while a bird would fly across the sky – stunning us into the realization that we were actually looking at the sky.
When it got dark we walked to a restaurant nearby a friend recommended. Ended up being in a traditional hutong hotel with an open courtyard. It was lovely.
A couple days later Morton left on a four day trip to Inner Mongolia. I don’t remember having trips like that when I was in high school! He went with three buddies (and another 40 or so high school students (picture below).)For the second to last week of school ISB offers experiential trips and events for the week. Pretty amazing. They had a great time hiking through grasslands, checking out old temples, and playing poker in their hotel room.
When I returned to the US in February, threatening letters awaited me for not filling out my jury duty questionnaire. I called them on the phone and explained that I live in China. They need very specific things officially translated for me to prove I live in China. Unfortunately almost all of the documents they need, we don’t have in China. A bank statement is something I do have but no idea how to get one so I went to the bank. After a half hour wait they printed out this long dot matrix document with the hole pulls on side from the 1990s. (Picture below). Even officially translated -there is no way this will be accepted as proof of my residence! Hopefully I won’t be sent to jail when I’m back in the States!
Just before school ended I joined a meeting with the Chinese artist Wu Jian’an. His work is really interesting – and varied. One interesting project he has proposed to do at the school is have many of the community members (up to 2500!) make brush strokes. He then will cut the brush strokes out and collages them. This may not translate in words – but it’s really amazing. He had a couple of us at the meeting try it out.
A couple other big things worth noting: my niece and nephew graduated highschool. She in Half Moon Bay, CA. He in Washington, DC.
We flew out of China after school on the last day of school. Been here a couple days – dealing with Brooklyn house flooding and quickly catching up with friends. Morton signed up for three pingpong tournaments while in NYC. I am currently on a train heading to my mothers. Hoping to get her to the beach.
And a final tennis party as Irma is an amazing cook and to say, “goodbye” to Su-en and Jingyu who are moving to Singapore and Australia. We’ll miss them!
ADDENDUM: wrote this on the plane to U.S and on train to pick up my mom in PA. Finally getting this up. Will work on the summer probably on way back to China in a couple weeks.
