Beijing! Ahh! It's like music to my ears! Sounds like the ringing of sleigh bells in winter!
The first time I stepped into Beijing, I had the most wonderful opportunity to visit the popular tourist sites. Great Wall of China, Forbidden City and Summer Palace. I even visited the National Theatre to watch Chinese Opera! It was a great experience and I loved it! It was summer then. July - I still remember the month. The temperature was around 25 degrees Celsius , and raining all the time. In Dubai, the temperature was twice of Beijing's! So it was a great relief to enjoy the cool weather.
This time around, my boss issued a last minute invitation to attend yet another meeting in Beijing. She even inserted a post script at the end of her letter. "Please take note. The weather in Beijing is very cold now, ranging from 7 to 15 degrees Celsius. Pack thick clothes to keep warm."
Wow! I was touched! On the day I was scheduled to fly, I hurriedly went to the mall to buy a thick duck feather jacket. Then I flew, all the way from Abu Dhabi to Beijing.
Now, as soon as I stepped out of the airport, cold breeze brushed across my cheeks. Colour returned. I was refreshed! I am so glad I am in Beijing! Had it not been for the company of my Canadian-Iraqi colleague, I would have been leaping for joy (literally)! All the way, I did not even feel a hint of fatigue or exhaustion! In the office, I was freezing. I had to hug myself to keep warm. I even wore the duck feather jacket indoors, which seemed strange in the eyes of my Chinese colleagues. They just couldn't stop laughing over their sides as soon they realized I was was feeling super cold. The Chinese, had, after all, donned only a T-shirt or an overcoat. If you were watching this scene from South East Asia, you would have thought it was about 35 degrees Celsius too!
One of my long-time colleagues then taught me a trick. "Wear two more layers. A woolie with long sleeves, and a thermal wear, so that it sticks to your body, effectively insulating your body from the cold. If you just wear the overall coat, it is lose, it moves. It's not efficient in trapping a thick layer of air around your skin."
I got one of thoose woolies 4 days later. My! Never doubt the power of that small item. It helped, but I still felt the chill in my bones. On the 4th day, I wore a scarf around my neck. On the 5th day, I decided I needed gloves. So I went around the shopping mall, looking for wool gloves, and ended up buying two pairs of socks, 5 centimetres thick on each side. One pair for my hands, and one pair for my feet. That was because I couldn't find any gloves in the mall.
I wanted a pair of pajamas too, because my room didn't have a heater, and an air-conditioner which puffed out cigarette smoke. The sales promoter however, told me the largest size was with the waist of 26-27cm, 6cm smaller than my waist. As a result, I had to forfeit this purchase and wrapped myself in 4 layers , with a scarf, socks on my feet and hands and one really thin layer of quilt, in a freezing cold bed. I felt I was in the chiller every night!
Whenever I watch scenes of homeless people in the movies, warming up their hands by drums of burning fire in winter, rubbing their hands together when it's really cold, or huddled up in a ball, lying by the pavement in the night, shivering even though they're wearing a jacket, I didn't feel for them. It's just a movie and it's not real. It didn't strike a chord in me.
Yet, for 6 nights, as I lay on my bed, at seven degrees Celsius, pulling up my hood over my head and woolen socks up my limbs, tying the scarf around my neck, I began to think, "Oh my gosh! So this is how the homeless feel when they're staying on the streets! It's so cold! How do they take it? How do they survive?"
The thing is, they can't! That's why so many people who are out on the streets have a short life span. On my 7th day, I began developing chest irritations. On my 8th day, mucus dripped down my nose. On my 9th day, I coughed and started splurting out green-yellowish phlegm. On my 10th day, I began feeling feverish and dizzy.
Then I knew, why there are many citizens who cough in countries with four seasons. To survive in these countries, one had to wear really warm clothings and live in heated accomodations. What if you could afford neither, or only one of the two? Do you think you can survive?
As I lay between the covers during those 6 nights, I knew, I can't. To survive in winter, both have to go hand in hand. Even if you're all wrapped up in insulated thermal wear, you'll be breathing in cold air! Your lungs will not be able to take it. Humans are meant to live in temperatures around 15-35 degrees Celcius. Beyond that, our bodies just cannot take it.
In Harbin, where the temperature reaches negative 40 degrees Celsius, teachers ensure their students swallow a daily pill which prevents swellings of joints in their limbs. It's so cold that even dew turns to ice in the morning.
As my stay in Beijing lengthened, so did empathy for my fellow humans. I got a taste, there and then, of what it felt like to be cold and not have any thermal wear or heated rooms; of what it meant to eat left over dishes in winter, even if your body yearned for hot food and all you could afford and find were these cold and pickled dishes; or why people smoked so much in winter, probably because breathing in hot smoke was cheaper than getting gas for heaters; or why some had serious body odour, because it's freezing out there, hot water is hard to come by, the bathroom is cold and you'd rather not bathe as the instant burning, soothing water pours down your neck, cold air around you turns it to ice immediately.
So, can I blame some people for being crude? That day, I learnt that I can't. Because a lot of people out there are fighting for survival. They are doing all they can to live for just one more day. Because life - it's the only thing we know. Who knows what happens after we step out of the circle of life?
"Jean!" I reminded myself. "You've got to start opening your eyes to the environment that these people are living in. It's not their fault that they're cold, conceited, demanding and dictative. Learn to feel for them. Start thawing the frost from the outside and melt the ice on the inside!"
Can I do it? Somehow, the attempts seem futile. Throw a starfish into the sea, and the waves wash it ashore yet again. I often wonder, "Why do I even bother!?! I just want to give them a taste of their own medicine!"
But you know what? They've been given the same medicine over and over again. They're immune to it by now. They need to be injected with something new. Something that the bacteria in their spirit does not identify. Something that they're confused with and are at a loss on how to respond. Infuse with love, sincerity, dignity and respect. That's the cure. Douse them, drip them, immerse them and live them. One day, they will melt, in and out, and recognize what it truly means to be alive.
With God, all things are possible. Never doubt that. You've experienced it. Others will too! It is just a matter of time. Keep your hopes up and trust in His everlasting, steadfast love for all mankind.
I wanted a pair of pajamas too, because my room didn't have a heater, and an air-conditioner which puffed out cigarette smoke. The sales promoter however, told me the largest size was with the waist of 26-27cm, 6cm smaller than my waist. As a result, I had to forfeit this purchase and wrapped myself in 4 layers , with a scarf, socks on my feet and hands and one really thin layer of quilt, in a freezing cold bed. I felt I was in the chiller every night!
Whenever I watch scenes of homeless people in the movies, warming up their hands by drums of burning fire in winter, rubbing their hands together when it's really cold, or huddled up in a ball, lying by the pavement in the night, shivering even though they're wearing a jacket, I didn't feel for them. It's just a movie and it's not real. It didn't strike a chord in me.
Yet, for 6 nights, as I lay on my bed, at seven degrees Celsius, pulling up my hood over my head and woolen socks up my limbs, tying the scarf around my neck, I began to think, "Oh my gosh! So this is how the homeless feel when they're staying on the streets! It's so cold! How do they take it? How do they survive?"
The thing is, they can't! That's why so many people who are out on the streets have a short life span. On my 7th day, I began developing chest irritations. On my 8th day, mucus dripped down my nose. On my 9th day, I coughed and started splurting out green-yellowish phlegm. On my 10th day, I began feeling feverish and dizzy.
Then I knew, why there are many citizens who cough in countries with four seasons. To survive in these countries, one had to wear really warm clothings and live in heated accomodations. What if you could afford neither, or only one of the two? Do you think you can survive?
As I lay between the covers during those 6 nights, I knew, I can't. To survive in winter, both have to go hand in hand. Even if you're all wrapped up in insulated thermal wear, you'll be breathing in cold air! Your lungs will not be able to take it. Humans are meant to live in temperatures around 15-35 degrees Celcius. Beyond that, our bodies just cannot take it.
In Harbin, where the temperature reaches negative 40 degrees Celsius, teachers ensure their students swallow a daily pill which prevents swellings of joints in their limbs. It's so cold that even dew turns to ice in the morning.
As my stay in Beijing lengthened, so did empathy for my fellow humans. I got a taste, there and then, of what it felt like to be cold and not have any thermal wear or heated rooms; of what it meant to eat left over dishes in winter, even if your body yearned for hot food and all you could afford and find were these cold and pickled dishes; or why people smoked so much in winter, probably because breathing in hot smoke was cheaper than getting gas for heaters; or why some had serious body odour, because it's freezing out there, hot water is hard to come by, the bathroom is cold and you'd rather not bathe as the instant burning, soothing water pours down your neck, cold air around you turns it to ice immediately.
So, can I blame some people for being crude? That day, I learnt that I can't. Because a lot of people out there are fighting for survival. They are doing all they can to live for just one more day. Because life - it's the only thing we know. Who knows what happens after we step out of the circle of life?
"Jean!" I reminded myself. "You've got to start opening your eyes to the environment that these people are living in. It's not their fault that they're cold, conceited, demanding and dictative. Learn to feel for them. Start thawing the frost from the outside and melt the ice on the inside!"
Can I do it? Somehow, the attempts seem futile. Throw a starfish into the sea, and the waves wash it ashore yet again. I often wonder, "Why do I even bother!?! I just want to give them a taste of their own medicine!"
But you know what? They've been given the same medicine over and over again. They're immune to it by now. They need to be injected with something new. Something that the bacteria in their spirit does not identify. Something that they're confused with and are at a loss on how to respond. Infuse with love, sincerity, dignity and respect. That's the cure. Douse them, drip them, immerse them and live them. One day, they will melt, in and out, and recognize what it truly means to be alive.
With God, all things are possible. Never doubt that. You've experienced it. Others will too! It is just a matter of time. Keep your hopes up and trust in His everlasting, steadfast love for all mankind.
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