Home, Where My Thoughts Escape

Time for another random assemblage of flotsam and jetsam from China:

I fly back home to NYC tomorrow.  This is, in all likelihood, the last chance I will have to blog before then.  It's surreal to think that I will leave Wednesday afternoon, fly roughly 7,000 miles, and arrive at my destination ... on Wednesday afternoon.

A curiosity on the streets of Beijing: same-sex couples holding hands, and nobody giving it a second glance.  Actually, I observed on several occasions mostly pairs of young women, walking hand-in-hand.  (On one occasion, though, I did see a woman who was holding the hand of a man who was holding the hand of another man.)  Now, I concede that these PDAs were probably nonsexual and can probably be chalked up to simple cultural differences.

But why is it that such displays elicit a much more overt and hostile response in supposedly liberal democracies?

Speaking of the gay press, the New York Blade did an interview with me about gay NYC bloggers.  It will supposedly run in this week's issue, which begins appearing Thursday.  I hope I don't come off like as much of a jackass as I usually do.

Anyone who has information to cast doubt on the heterosexuality of Guy Pearce (aside from that one movie) is encouraged to send it my way.  (This has nothing to do with China, but I thought I would sneak it in.)

This will probably be the first time that I literally kiss American soil on my arrival back home.  China has been a mixed bag for me.  On one hand, it has obliterated many of my deep-seated stereotypes.  On the other hand, it has taken a strong will not to fall to the siren song of a country that still has a few political issues to work out, to say the least.

To be honest, I'd gladly suffer the sneers of those who don't cotton to my desire to hold my husband's hand in public (like any other married person), while also knowing that I can also call my president an asshole for his efforts to legally invalidate our union, without fear of reprisal.

Several of you have sent me wonderful emails about this travel blog, and I appreciate it so much.  It has been challenging to keep in touch in a country that erects so many barriers to my Internet experience, while also trying to draw profound conclusions about my short time here and simultaneously doing my day job.

Every time I leave the USA, I become just a little more tuned in to why so many people tout the benefits of international travel.  The sum total of my experience with China before now has been a week in Taiwan, which is not exactly the same thing.  I am glad that my one-dimensional view of the PRC has been rounded out, to an extent.

It also more than a little frustrating that it would amplify my desire for freedom and democracy around the world.  I say this with the full knowledge that greater liberty for the Chinese will mean an even more able and fearsome competitor for the United States.  (And it is coming, mark my words.)

But all people, everywhere, deserve nothing less.

Comments

[Roy]

Yes, going to Taiwan is not like going to China...Can't wait til you are back here in the US! Travel Safe!

[The Malcontent]

I'll be sure to wave as I go over the Left Coast. ;-)

[Aatom]

great stuff! have a safe flight.