greetings from beijing!
last night we prepared an email list for the us delegates, chief among them one for Hillary Clinton: hrclinton@wcw.apc.org. she will all come to huairou & speak wednesday at 9:30am & then will be in a panel discussion with betty friedan, among others. i'm so excited!
after prepping the email list, i finally was able to read my own email. all of a sudden a screach was heard in the computer room (& it wasn't the bat)--eva isaksson of finland had sent me an email, telling me that she had translated all of "greetings" into finnish & she had put them up at a web site: http://www.helsinki.fi/~kris_ntk/uut.html (and her home page as well)--i can't believe that my first presence on the web is in finnish! please check it out! eva has also included other posts on her beijing web page posts from two other finnish women. these women happen to come by the computer room today & i was so happy to meet them. we will try to get together in beijing so i can participate in a kitting cirlce/call to finland. may i also take this opportunity to send my love to this circle of friends in finland!
after the stars in my eyes dimmed a bit so i could see again, i then tried returned to BEIJING95-L administration--this was interrupted when some chinese staff from the business center came to check out the computer center. i got up, greeted them, sat them down in front of a macintosh (performa 580cd), and gave them an impromptu netscape demo. first we called up the jet li home page (a prc kung-fu star who then went on to hong kong to act--he's great!) and they were delighted. then i showed them the jackie chan home page (luk-warm response). then i showed them the apc beijing web page and afterward kodak. they had alot of fun experimenting with the mouse & getting the hang of point/click/drag. since i can't speak any mandarin & they seem not to able to speak english, the entire demo was done by me pointing to the computer screen with my finger & them working the mouse. a good time was had by all.
then i really got down to beijing95 admin business & finished approx 2am. got up slowly & went to breakfast at the moslem coffee shop (which has good tea & no coffee & i honestly wonder if the food is parve). it seemed that the indian women were holding a meeting and singing this song in english & hindu:
become aware, my sister, if you can awareness time has come
it's an age of awareness.
become aware, my sister, if you can awareness time has come
children ask for bread you will have to work spread love & unity among yoursleves you will have to make groups, you will have to maintain togetherness women friends together
become aware, my sister, if you can awareness time has come
if you go begging the government for work all all become your enemies; work hard yourself do not think you will not manage, come, let us shake off misery, we will have to come forward.
become aware, my sister, if you can awareness time has come
awareness of one or two even happened before, but it made no difference; when a few more women became aware just a little difference came in; if all the village women become aware the whole world would be turned upside down!
become aware, my sister, if you can awareness time has come!
i'm sorry i can't describe the melody. i then finished my breakfast and started walking. as i approached the entrance of the ngo forum, there was an anti-abortion demo/march going on. i turned right & headed towards the dept store. i was actually looking for a chinese version of japanese o-senbei (rice & seaweed crackers) & ended up getting a peanut-butter flavored rice cookie with a sliver of chocolate. as i was coming out of the dept store, the lesbian & bisexual women were rallying under the rainbow arch on the main road going to the ngo forum. there was a zillion camera men there & i couldn't even get close to see who was marching, but i could hear the drumming & chanting "we are lesbians! we are everywhere!" women were streaming down the stree to join the march. i stepped to the side where people had laid their wares out on blankets & was distracted by some paper cuts. i picked out a papercut of the conference symbol: a pin-wheel figure of eight women & the merchant gave it to me for free (but we did exchange business cards--i thanked him profusely).
as i approached the gate, women demanding an end to rape were rallying. as i entered the gate, women demanding the liberation of east timor were marching. by the time i had got up to the computer room & started working, the lesbian procession marched under our windows, and we all crowed at around & called out encouragement to them. that afternoon, i met several hong kong BEIJING95-Lers & one fella WWIREling, ann simson from washington. also worked with jan bogstad from wisconsin & sabine stampfel of WOMAN germany. during a break, i did a bit more shopping, picked out a chinese scroll for a friend, secured some chocolate, and ran into a women & food march that rallyed at mc donalds, the chanted: "women take charge!" "food not bombs!" "support the local economy!" "get back big mac!" ronald macdonald was ripped from the chair & was being passed overhead of the crowd--i don't know what became of him. i felt conspicuous with my bag of m&ms.
after a long day, the apc staff played an info roll playing game, we divided up into teams with an ambassador, country representative, donor, & gate/visa keeper. we then drew for info sites (library, university, community center, special resource center--what? no internet service provider); composed a list of facts about our made-up culture, & then bargain for info from the other teams. we were a matriarchal culture & my favorite fact was "shopping is our national sport".
i plan to go to bed soon--tomorrow, perhaps, hillary will come into out computer room. send her some email. more soon!
jennifer jennifer@wcw.apc.org moderator BEIJING95-L & BEIJING-WOMEN