Chi and Signs of the End

Although we have talked about the end of this program since the beginning of the program, there are signs that the end is fast approaching.  Yesterday, we got an email from the director, saying he's kicking us off the google group so he can make a new list of the fall students.  Well then!  Today at lunch, the academic director mentioned there are only ten days of class left.  My sister said something about only two weeks to go.  We're even talking about our end-of-the-term events; certainly we will give a demonstration of our tai chi class. We're so close to knowing all 24 forms, I can taste it. 

Finally, the most telling sign that the program is about to end is that I'm starting to see my speaking improve.  My reading and listening got a big jumpstart at the beginning of the program, but now, when I'm comfortable, I can communicate without much trouble with X and E.  Maybe it's because they have both learned to listen to me. 

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Speaking of "chi" (Chinese people like to spell it "qi"), I know what it is now.  The feng shui people like to say that it's a mysterious energy that no one understands, but really it's the flow that every Chinese person can see and understand. 

When I stand in a line, Chinese people can see the chi flowing right past me, and they catch the chi and move through it in a way that makes it look like I was never in line at all, meaning they can step in front of me.  Chi is when you're at the intersection, and everyone from every direction goes in all at once, and nobody gets killed.  It's not a mysterious energy, it's the way they think about movement and space. 

Americans have the mentality that their bodies are cars, and like their traffic laws, they obey certain conventions so that a) no one ever touches, and b) communication about movement is minimum.  When we get on an elevator, we follow the convention of waiting for everyone to get off first, and then when we get on, we try as best as we can to preserve personal space bubbles without actually talking about it.  If we approach a counter, we follow the convention of standing in line, and if it's not clear who is in line, we tend to implicitly assume that the people are, indeed, standing in line, only asking if the people in the line do not seem to be moving. 

Chinese people do not have these conventions.  Their philosophy of movement, i.e., their "chi" is more like salmon.  They either swim down the river with the current, or swim up the river, driven by desire.  There are no conventions about standing in line or preserving your personal space or touching other people.  They have to be the first ones in, first ones out; if they can't be first, they strive to at least not be the dreaded last.  If they are not moving, they are dying.  If you want to see a Chinese person panic, block the elevator buttons so that they can't press the 'close door' button.  Waiting for the doors to close automatically is dying a little inside. 

I do not have this chi.  I'm trying to learn to see it, and I often fantasize about disrupting their chi.  In Shanghai last weekend I wanted to knock people down when they wouldn't let me off the train as they wiggled and pushed their way in like salmon spawning in a river, driving by fish lust. 

I think I can learn to see and direct this chi, with some observation and practice.  What's hard is helping other Americans see the chi, just getting them on the same page.  When we're competing for a cab, we all have to wiggle up to the car, get in and sit down; we can't let the lady step in front of us and then call her friends over quick and take the cab from us.  When we walk into KFC, we can't look for the end of the line so we can go stand there, we have to make our way to the counter, stepping in front of everyone else.  When they want to order, they will step forward. 

The only time that this fish lust chi mentality is replaced with an American-style convention is when there's a uniform and whistle, directing traffic, forming a line, etc.  I'm thinking about carrying a whistle around my neck.  Chinese people seem to obey the whistles.