I am a famous international artist...but seriously...

12/11/07



I spent last weekend as a famous international artist. Yeah, you read right. My American friend here in Guizhou who is a very talented artist was invited to go to an International Art Exhibit event in Hunan province (the province just east of Guizhou) and was all set to go, but at the last minute found out he had classes he was unable to change and he couldn't go to the conference. Problem was, he had already sent his paintings there. Enter…me. He asks my friend Adam and I on Sunday if we want to go to Hunan. Adam's got commitments, but it just so happens I have the weekend free, so I accepted. I left on Wednesday night and took an overnight train and arrived Thursday morning. No one was at the train station to pick me up, but we got it figured out and an hour later I was registering for the event (as my friend). Although I was supposed to register as my friend I had told the translator to call me Jake and thus she then found "my nametag" (which was in Chinese characters). Problem was, this was not my name tag because I didn't register as Jake, but I let it pass and the next day met the man whose identity I stole, he didn't mind, of course he didn't know all the details, but either way, it worked out. The weekend continued to go like this, several more small miscommunications which I found extremely amusing and occasionally stressful, but they always worked out.



On Friday, I even had the honor of sitting at the head table at lunch on Friday with government officials. Seeing as how I was just a poser, I really didn't want this "honor," but still being the lone white male, I received it. The chair of the weekend event introduced me to the officials. After being introduced a man from Malaysia who I had met earlier and told my story said, "wait, I thought you were from America." I confirmed to him I was and he said to me, "oh, she said you were from France." And that is what it was like all weekend. The people who spoke English knew I was just there because my artist friend could not come and I was to return his painting, but the Chinese people…(if they didn't speak English) they had no idea.



The translators were a lot of fun and my situation created some awkward moments for them, but all in all it went well and they helped me out a ton. I had been planning to take a train back Saturday night and arriving Sunday morning, but in order to get the painting I had to wait until Sunday and fly back that night. It was nice. They paid for everything and I completed my task…I got the painting back. They carted us to different tourist attractions and events, but it wasn't too crazy. I was left with a lot of free time and I was able to rest and read a great book. I was even on the front page of the local newspaper.


Yeah, really, not a bad weekend. Amazing hotels, great meals, and oh! The best part…I met a lot of cool people. They were all amazing artists. My favorite were the artists from Malaysia. They all spoke English and we talked for a while. It was great to learn more about Malaysia (a country I knew practically nothing about) and Malaysian people. They were very friendly and we had a lot of fun laughing together. Which was great because often when you meet people from China, they seem to be more serious or have a different sense of humor and there isn't much laughing. But I also met an artist/professor from Texas Tech, a French artist who has studied calligraphy for 20 years and used sarcasm amazingly well, a very kind Israeli/American woman who is currently living in Shanghai, and my translators-Cappuccino, Strawberry, and Sophia (students from a local college with great names).



But I made it back safely. Much to the relief of my friend's wife, a Chinese woman, who was concerned I would encounter the forest people of Hunan and things would get ugly, or maybe just concerned I don't know that much Chinese and I was traveling to another province. Either way, back teaching safe and sound.