New Blog

Because Blogspot has been blocked by the Great Firewall of China, I have created a new one here:

http://billnature.blog.com/

...it is slightly experimental, so please bear with me. Comments are always welcome! Enjoy!

Billlllllllllllllll

Finding Frisbee Part II

After Jen and I returned from Bangkok, an old spark had reemerged deep inside of me. It was the spark of exercise, or more specifically, the spark of Frisbee. Staying up in the mountains, I had played basketball a few times, but it was too damn cold to throw a Frisbee. Staying in Chengdu, I had fewer excuses. March was just beginning, the weather was getting better in Chengdu, and I would not be allowed to go back up into the mountains any time soon. Thus, the time was ripe for Frisbee in Chengdu.

With Gareth and Jim, both of whom we met in Bangkok, as allies, Jen and I got to work. We had plenty of Frisbees, but we needed people and we needed fields. Jen did her best to recruit from her school, initially getting some fellow teachers to join us and, ultimately, getting many of her students to play as well. Jim had played quite a bit of rugby in Chengdu and invited Gareth and I to check out the scene. One fateful afternoon we met Peter. It was a very fortunate occasion because Peter was a primary organizer for many of the sports in Chengdu. He knew what it takes to make a recreational sport work; from fields to email lists. He had even tried to organize an ultimate team before, but had limited success in the past.

Once we had Peter on our side, we arranged to meet at Taipingsi, a field a little ways outside of town. Jen and I sent out text messages to as many people we could think of in an attempt to draw anybody we may have missed. That Friday evening we were off to the fields and did not quite know what to expect. We showed up and found five or six teachers from Jen's school, Meishi, Gareth along with three co-workers from Huaxi, and Peter and Jim from rugby. We had a game!

We started by doing our best to explain how to throw. Forehands, backhands, and, of course, the hammer. The Kiwi gym teacher from Meishi became very fond the hammer, teaching all of the kids how to throw it in gym class. After a brief discussion of the rules, we started playing.

Not everybody really knew what was going on, but I think a fun time was had by all. We were playing Frisbee, after all, and I was elated. Eventually, a weekly Sunday game would accompany our weekly Friday game until people may have gotten over loaded. We tried different fields and eventually settled on having a small practice session on Fridays and big games on Sundays.

Over time, we began to have more and more people show up. As I mentioned earlier, Matt began to teach Frisbee at school and nearly a dozen of Meishi students joined the games, making numbers no longer an issue. We also encountered another small group of local Chinese players who had been playing independently for some time. We were excited to have them join us. They really added quite a bit of skill to the games. A friend from the Southwest Nationalities University got in touch with me and said that his friend would like to play. Eventually he and many more friends started to come. At one practice, I remember, five languages were being spoken on the field at one time: English, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Urdu. Something had really started! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267714&id=1505459&l=4982f858f0

We continued to play every week. I was very happy. I had also begun to take Taiji (Tai Chi) classes three times a week, so every Sunday I would practice Taiji for two hours and then race home on my bike to make it to Frisbee. Sometimes I would even go straight to Frisbee and bring my Taiji sword. By the end of those days I was always very tired, but I would feel excellent. Biking and Frisbee would tire me out quite a bit, but all of the stretching and calisthenics of Taiji helped me stay balanced and healthy; gradually growing stronger and avoiding injury.

Eventually it was time to go. My old friend, Spike, was getting married at the beginning of June and I would be the best man at the wedding. Chinese Nationals (http://chinaupa.fiveultimate.com/?q=en) would be in the middle of May in Beijing. Thus, I made a plan. I would go to Beijing, stay with my old teacher for a week, see sights, and play frisbee. After it was all done, I would go back to the States and attend College Nationals (http://college2009.upa.org/) the following weekend. Night Train of my alma mater, UVA, would be attending for the first time in UVA Ultimate history (as a 4th seed, no less!). I was very excited for all of this.

I left Chengdu Ultimate, unsure of whether it would still be there when I got back. After all, Jen, Gareth, and I all would be in Beijing and then Gareth would be traveling a bit afterward. Without the initial group present, would the games still go on? Fortunately, after a wonderful week in Beijing, experiencing life as a Tibetan house guest, seeing the Great Wall, Summer Palace, and Forbidden City, playing in Chinese Nationals with the Shanghai team, flying back to the States, attending College Nationals with many fellow UVA alumni, starting a project at the Library of Congress, studying for the GRE (I've yet to take it), and attending Spike's wedding as the best man; I am happy to say that, from what I've been told, Chengdu Ultimate still lives.

Having returned to the States and played some out here, I am reminded of where I come from and why I play. In the past two months I have played in pick-up games in Chengdu with good friends, played at a national tournament in Beijing with new friends, watched a national tournament in Ohio with old friends, played in a D-league tournament in Washington DC with my father's team, played summer league in Charlottesville with old friends, and thrown a lot in my front yard with my little brother. I love this game and I love these people. Thoughts and stresses of work and money, of inadequacy and survival, shrink and fade until all that is left is that lovely plastic disc floating in space and dancing with my fingertips.

Finding Frisbee

What do you do with your time? If you asked me this question, at different times, I would give different answers. As a young man, I would listen to punk rock music and play frisbee. As an older young man, I would go to parties and play frisbee. As a college student, I would practice Buddhism, study chemistry, and play frisbee. When I first came to China, however, I did many things, but playing frisbee was rarely one of them. It was not a lack of interest; I brought ten discs with me from the States. It was not even a lack of opportunity; I lived with Jen most of the time and she was just as eager to play as I was. For whatever reason, I could not find it in me. I did not play frisbee.

As you can see, I have not written in a while. I had three sequential New Years this year, starting with the Gregorian New Year on January 1st. I wrote a bit about this, so I will save the details. This was followed by the Chinese New Year on January 26th and the subsequent Spring Festival. I had a crazy trip in the snow, hitch hiking up into the mountains of western Sichuan and meeting some exceptional human beings. When I came back, Jen and I hopped on the train to Lhasa. It took two days of living like a sardine to get there, but I would argue that it was certainly worth it. We visited many monasteries, bought many souvenirs, and made many friends. Here is a photo summary:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2254762&id=1505459&l=f8824ba809
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2254752&id=1505459&l=cb70d55c2f
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2254754&id=1505459&l=dc84342ce0.

Shortly after we came back to Chengdu and Jen returned to work, there was a frisbee hat tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Jen and I impulsively decided to go and hopped on a plane. When we arrived in Thailand, I could not believe the flight attendant who was speaking on the intercom, "Welcome to Thailand, the local time is 2:45pm, and the temperature is approximately thirty-two degrees." Now, of course, she meant Celsius. Thirty-two degrees Celsius. That's nearly ninety degrees. In February. After the coldest few months of my life up in the mountains.

We got off the plane and walked through security. Even the airport had grand statues of wrathful deities; probably to scare those without proper documents. We took a taxi into the heart of Bangkok. The highway was beautiful. There were rows of what probably were Thai Bodhisattvas and deities with pointy hair and folded hands greeting us on our way in. What a beautifully decorated infrastructure. I was very impressed.

Because of the impulsive nature of this adventure, we did not get a hotel room in time to get a cheap room near the fields with air condition. We got a "fan room," which sounded reasonable at the time, but turned out to be very hot. We went downstairs from our room and indulged in one of the main events of the weekend: Thai food. It was great. Thai food is usually great in the States, but something about the freshness or the flavor just made these meals stand out. Afterward we made our way to the tournament registration party at a local Irish pub. We signed up, got our gear, got some good beer, and starting making friends. We met many new characters but one encounter was particularly serendipitous.

I was complaining to someone about how Jen and I live in such a big Chinese city, but there was no frisbee to play. They asked what city I lived in and, having replied Chengdu, they said "that guy right behind just said the same thing to me!" I turned around and there was Gareth. Shaggy hair and needing a shave, he said that he has been editing essays for a journal based in the Huaxi Hospital in the center of Chengdu for the past few months. He had played Ultimate in college in St. Louis and was itching to get some frisbee started in Chengdu. I chatted with him some more, gave him my email, and thus it began.

Saturday morning Jen and I made our way to the tournament. We were playing on pristine fields in the middle of a military complex surrounded by Thai guards with wide smiles and big guns. When warming up in the morning sun made me sweat and wheeze, I got a bit nervous of the games to come. It was hot. And I was out of shape. Go here for some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2257400&id=1505459&l=756e52c483
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/bangkokhattourney.

After many games, thai iced teas (they were sold in 7-11s like slurpees!), and a thai massage, the tournament was over and it was time to go home. It was a short weekend, but life would not be the same after we returned.