Lazy Weekends

Lately in Xi'an, the weather has been very, very hot (see recent post), which makes it pretty hard to get motivated to do much of anything on the weekend during the daytime hours. Especially when a short walk will leave you feeling absolutely exhausted.

This weekend, I decided I had to do something; no more sitting inside and hiding from the heat. So yesterday, I biked out to the old school to hang out with some friends and play frisbee. I've discovered that biking is actually the best form of transportation in the heat. That is until you actually get to where you're going. While your biking, the breeze keeps you nice and cool, but as soon as you stop for about 10 seconds, the sweat just flows as if there was someone turned on a faucet (I'm gross). By the time I got out to my friend's place in the afternoon, everyone was too tired from the heat and drinking to manage to get outside to toss the frisbee. But I managed to drag one friend out with me so I was able to enjoy the nice sunny weather.

Later on, when we were going out to dinner, something happened that made me realize just how cynical I've become. The two girls we were with complimented me on my arms (yeah, I'm huge now after going to the gym) and my first thought was that they were just taking the piss. I can't even hear a compliment without first thinking that the person giving the compliment is being sarcastic. Maybe it's from always being the skinny guy, but more than likely it's because I'm a cynical bastard, really have to work on that.

Woke up again this morning to a beautiful sunny day and again, nothing to do. Decided I had to get out again or I would go crazy in this little apartment. I tried to convince my friend to come out and bike around the city with me but nothing doing. It seems everyone is suffering from the no motivation to do anything syndrome. I felt the urge to bike around the city wall, always a nice view and I've never been all the way around before. Strange how I wait until I'm just about to leave a place that I decide to appreciate it. Actually, not too strange, people do this all the time, not just with places, but with everything. The ride around the city is actually really nice, there are parks lining the outside of the wall all the way around. It would be really nice if you could ride your bike in the park, but they are pretty narrow and full of old people so perhaps it's better that they don't allow it. In a few spots, the roads on the outside of the wall get really congested or have some construction, so I had to duck inside the wall a few times and ride on the narrow streets just inside. It's amazing just how quiet these streets are compared to the rest of the city. One minute it's cars, buses, motorbikes and horns (lots of horns), the next it's like riding your bike in a library, these little streets are empty except for a few bikes and occasionally a single car will drive through (meaning no use for horns).

Whenever I ventured out on my bike, I always take my camera with the best intentions to capture something interesting the city. Never works. Xi'an is a pretty hazy city, and everyone knows that midday haze makes for poor photos (unless you're really skilled, which I am not). Some people are very good at taking photos of people doing there everyday things, but it's not something I really feel comfortable doing. I just feel kind of guilty doing it, being intrusive and making someone's daily life some sort of tourist attraction. I know that I would feel uncomfortable if some Chinese guy came up to me while I was working or hanging out with friends and asked me if he could take my picture. So, not a lot of interesting people pictures. I did manage to get a couple, one of the Southeast corner of the wall and another of a really interesting building I passed by.

Then again today on the way home, another thing struck me. I passed a guy on my bike and he looked over, smiled and said hello. Seems like a simple gesture, but here in China foreigners are constantly bombarded with mocking 'hellos' from everyone on the street. Because of this, our natural response is usually something unpleasant or just ignoring the person. Today, I was lucky enough to catch myself and quickly give him a smile and hello back before biking away. I just wonder how many times we fail to recognize the genuinally friendly 'hellos' and in the process give people the impression that all foreigners are assholes. Really something else I need to work on, at least for the next month and a half.