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A question that comes up quite a bit in my emails is, “Tom, what do you do for entertainment in China?”
I tell them I enjoy singing old karaoke tunes. That was
something I enjoyed doing in the U.S. as well. Karaoke is extremely
popular in China just like in America, and throughout the rest of the
world, which I was glad to see when I arrived here.
Karaoke technology was first invented in Japan in the 1980s.
In 1992, I discovered the Karaoke rave in Malaysia, Australia, and
believe it or not India. It has been nearly thirty years since I
traveled to those places and technology has advanced quite a bit since
then.
In today’s world, hundreds of thousands of songs can be
stored on a 2TB portable hard drive. A person running a Karaoke event
can easily locate songs from a laptop computer. If a Karaoke DJ still
cannot locate your favorite tune, they can easily download the karaoke
version from the internet in a matter of seconds.
Singing is one of my favorite pastimes and I have discovered
many locals here with extraordinary musical talents. I wish today’s
technology were around when I was a teenager. I would have discovered
earlier that I could actually, belt a tune.
American music is having a huge influence on China’s culture,
you can hear the western tunes everywhere you go, and the youth cannot
get enough of it. American music and films are popular throughout the
world, especially among children and teenagers.
American films are also having a huge impact on Chinese
pocketbooks. The Chinese are willing to spend 200 RMB (approximately
$29.00) to watch an American movie in an IMAX movie theater. I have gone
to an IMAX theater here in Suzhou and I must say it was a great
experience.
I like telling Children here that when I was their age, I was
able to see a movie in my hometown in America for 25 cents. I then
explain that 1 RMB is now worth 14 cents in American money. They always
reply by saying “Movies are expensive in China.”
I mostly download movies from the internet and watch them on
my computer. It does not give you the same bang for the dollar as an
IMAX movie theater, but it can still be quite enjoyable.
In the apartment building where I live there is a lobby with a
couch, chairs, a coffee table, and end tables. The lobby is a great
place to project movies for the kids that live in my apartment building.
A couple of weekends a month I show an American Children’s movie there
to entertain the kids.
The last time I showed a movie in my apartment lobby was a
few weeks ago and the entire area was filled with children with beanbags
to sit on. They always reserve a chair for me because I’m not a beanbag
person. Bowls of cut watermelon and other fruit will miraculously
appear for everyone to munch on too.
I showed them the 1978 movie version of Superman which they
never have seen before and now they cannot wait to see the sequel which
came out nearly forty years ago. The children here are extremely cute,
and they all clapped their hands every time Christopher Reeves turned
into Superman.
Our school’s Chinese art teacher lives in the same apartment
building where I live, and her daughter is in the third grade. The
third-grader always invites her school friends over whenever I treat
them to a movie. I enjoy the time I spend with those kids and I find
that when I entertain them, I am also entertained in the process.
In the City of Suzhou, there are various amusement parks with
many fun rides. If that is not your cup of tea - you can always take a
boat ride along the city canals. The canals run throughout the city of
Suzhou and into an ancient part of the city. It’s a great tourist
attraction for an old foreigner like me with all sorts of shops and
ancient buildings. The ancient buildings give you a glimpse of the
city’s ancient past. In one of the ancient buildings, there is a large
rug on the floor with a board game in the middle of the rug with human
wax figures playing the game. The Chinese have been playing that game
for thousands of years and it is still a form of entertainment for many
of the Chinese elders.
The streets in the ancient part of the city are very narrow -
much too narrow for cars to drive on. Some of the buildings and gardens
were built around 2000 years ago. I enjoy taking the tour and I once
told a Chinese tourist that the buildings we visited are older than
America. He then excitedly said, “I have been to America, I enjoyed your
country very much.” His knowledge of the city was more in-depth than
our tourist guide and I learned quite a bit from him.
There are also plenty of western restaurants and bars in
Suzhou that serves a variety of western-style foods. I enjoy going out
to eat with others and meeting new people in those places. You can find
all sorts of ethnic foods from around the world in the city and you can
take your time enjoying the various ethnic tastes.
The internet is also a form of entertainment for me because
today’s technology enables me to stay in touch with people in various
parts of the world. On Skype, Facebook, and Zoom I can have face to face
conversations with people without leaving the comfort of my home. I
also use the video phone feature on WeChat to communicate with former
students of mine who are now studying in Canada and the UK.
One of my former students asked me last week, “Tom, what
makes you happy?” I told her true happiness is a state of being and you
experience it more fully when you share it with others. The same can be
said for those who seek joy in life. Joy is simply a state of mind and
the more you share it with others the more joy you experience throughout
your day.
Our ancestors did not have the technology we have and yet
they found their entertainment through simple games and by conversing
with one another. A simple conversation and the telling of great stories
to children are truly richer than today’s computers and IMAX movie
theaters. Our imagination can be a marvelous tool to develop,
especially, when it comes to the art of entertaining.
I get great enjoyment in telling children, and my students,
stories that make them laugh. The telling of a great story does not have
to be left to Hollywood these days. I like to remind others that
storytelling was a great form of entertainment for those who came before
us. Those who possessed such talents were sought out and held in great
esteem. Storytellers were entertained too by simply taking the time to
unweave a great tail. Adults and children alike who are the recipients
of these great gifts - passed down through the ages - are truly enriched
by the experience.
Most of my entertainment comes through the interaction with
the Children here. When I hear their laughter, it reminds me of how
things used to be when my Irish Grandfather (Red O’Neill) told me the
entertaining stories of old. He too inherited the gift and talent from
his ancestors and hopefully, those same gifts are being passed on to a
new generation by this old American foreign teacher here in China.
Thomas F O’Neill
Phone: (800) 272-6464
U.S. Voice mail: (410) 925-9334
China Cell: 011-86-15114565945
Skype: thomas_f_oneill
WeChat: Thomas_F_ONeill
Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
Blogspot: http://thomasfoneill.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thomasf.oneill.3/
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of other works published by Pencil Stubs
Online.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
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