Temple Temple Bike Wall

This is my kind of conference. The first evening, we just have a big meal together at a five-star hotel. No talks. Second day, we climb the Great Wall, then eat another big meal together at the five-star hotel. No talks. Tomorrow we'll go to the Summer Palace, and finally have our first keynote in the evening. After eating a big meal together at a five-star hotel. I can get used to this...

Climbing the Wall was fun, and also funny to watch a group of ~100 philosophers who (how shall one say?) are not quite used to exerting themselves physically struggle up the steps to the top. It was a hazy day, as most summer days here, but I think I managed to get some good shots. Everyone's seen pictures of the Wall anyway...it's just to prove I was there! Then (and this was the best part) thanks to the generous sponsorship of our conference by the John Templeton Foundation and the willingness of certain professors to utilize said sponsorship in delightful and secret ways, he bought a bunch of tickets for those of us hiking with him to ride toboggans down the side of the mountain from the Wall. It. Was. Awesome. They were one-man plastic sleds with a small lever between your legs that controlled your speed. I was a bit timid at first (seeing as my last experience going down a mountain on a toboggan-like vehicle ended in one broken rib, three cracked ribs and a puncture in the plural lining of my left lung). But at the first turn I saw skid marks on the chute at the very top of the curve, and I thought, "If they can do it, so can I! Heck. Yes." and went full throttle down the rest of the way. Every 100 yards or so there'd be a Chinese guy sitting near the chute under an umbrella who'd yell (in poor English accent) "Slow DOWN!" but I paid them no heed. Maybe I was German. Or Danish? At any rate that particular phrase isn't in my vocabulary.

The rest of the day was awfully touristy, and my poor roommate got motion-sick on the bus ride back to Beijing. Poor girl. But she ate a lot tonight so she must be feeling better. Oh~ I should tell you about my day yesterday. On Sunday, a group of 5 of us visited a Tibetan Buddhist temple (I won't ever get the smell of incense out of my hair), and a garden/temple devoted to the one and only ÕÓ‹˝Ì≠, aka Kong-fu tzu, aka Confucius. What an amazing man. It's a real tragedy that Western philo students hardly study him or his work. He really lived what he believed and did a great deal to make life better for the common class in ancient China.

After an awesome lunch at a small cafe near the temple, the five of us rented bicycles and rode through the alleys, away from tourists, past many old-style Beijing homes. It was absurdly crowded, but a lot of fun. And the guys renting out the bikes got a good laugh when I adjusted my bike seat all the way to maximum height and my legs still touched the ground.

When we all got back to the hotel, took wonderful cool showers, and had dressed up nice and neat, we headed out to the 5-star hotel where all the professors are staying (ha!) for the first conference dinner. I was sad to see that the only other Domer-- Al Plantinga-- hadn't yet arrived. But by now I am friends with many of the Chinese students, so none of that first-day-of-an-academic-conference awkwardness. Which is nice.

Afterwards it was such glorious weather that Sumin (my roommate), myself and two guys from Wu Han University walked around Peking University's campus, which everyone agreed was really beautiful (though secretly I think ND is much prettier...). All told, another marvelous day. But now I've gotta finish writing out my talk, which I give Friday afternoon.

Oh, and Bub, you'd be so proud of me: I am increasing my Chinese vocabulary by leaps and bounds. I know 5 words now! (I learned "NO!" today at the Great Wall after being repeatedly accosted by peddlers lining the steps to the top) And my roommate Sumin says I have good pronunciation. She's too nice to tell me the truth, though :)

Pictures: the one with my face and another guy's face is of me and Hong Hao (who was at ND for a year) as SOON as we'd gotten to the top of the Wall (note copious sweat. To prove that we'd climbed it. Fast.). The sunset pictures are from Peking U's campus, the little boy was by the Buddhist temple, and he was vert excited to show me how his wind-up mouse worked. In one of the pictures I'm having an argument with Confucius about political theory (he won). The building with the three ladies sitting on the bench is part of the Buddhist temple. And so are the monks. Oh yes-- and then there are a few shots of me being ginormous. The obligatory tall-person photos. There is seemingly no end to the amount of amusement this brings the Chinese people. And who am I to refuse attention? *wink*