when Sceviours attack

"Nobody cares about me," I said countless times. Melissa visited Tim. Dan visited Emily. Bethany's parents visited her. Me? No one missed me, I thought. Just when I thought for sure that I was forgotten; when I thought I was forsaken, forgone, forsworn, the Sceviours came. Greg and AJ cared. They braved the treacherous drive to New York; they sat snuggly and patiently on a 14 hour flight to South Korea for a "short" layover. Then when the word "delayed" donned the electronic departure board, they didn't snicker or mope! No, they strolled right up to the Korean Air desk and were promptly rewarded for their optimism with an offer for a free night in a four star hotel in Seoul. They turned to one another and with grim faces said, "Jon would have wanted us to," and they acquiesced, begrudgingly, "Alright," they said to the beautiful Korean desk attendants with the red scarves around their necks, "if we have to," and they took it for the team, for me. The next morning they boarded that last flight beleaguered with exhaustion from their unfortunate extended layover and they sat, once again. They endured the jet lag, the staring, the donkey burgers, all for me...

Greg is an old friend, one of my dearest. But AJ had always been Greg's brother and over the years it was impossible for me to look beyond their similarities. I had always seen AJ as a Greg clone, another strapping young heart-breaker who might at any moment invest your money or take a nap on your bed. I learned more about AJ during this trip than I would care to mention to you. Let me just say this: AJ has read The Hobbit (more than once) and he listens to Sigur Ros. While he does have some of Greg's admirable qualities; ie, Greg's looks, and the desire to save rather than spend, (which resulted in his ability to purchase his own Macbook Pro and travel to China at the ripe age of 16, something Greg might not have even been able to pull off) AJ is his own man. Don't be fooled.

It was great to be able to take them to my favorite places and show them all my favorite foods. We got massages, which they loved, and the fire cups, which Greg abhorred. They loved the Coke Chicken and the dumplings, but they didn't really enjoy the Donkey Burgers and the cow tongue (but who did?). They were able to appreciate the cafeteria that's only a two minute walk from my apartment and all the different foods there: the gai fan (dish over rice), the dishes, the knife-cut noodles, and the fried rice; all for under or around $1. They met my close friends, like Ken, Vince, and Robert. They got whooped by Sophie in Ping Pong, as we all have (she plays on the school team and is my student). We held a special "English Corner" for the two of them, which was attended by about 20 girls, not surprisingly. A few of them joined us for dinner and it was such a delight to share Sophie and Ivy, two of my students, with them. Unfortunately, for about 4 days straight I was sequestered to my apartment, grading exams. It was a frustrating time for me, but AJ and Greg were able to find their own fun in the city, which was special (I hope) for them.

For the final week of their stay we decided to travel. It might have been counter-intuitive, given how cold it already was in Baoding, but we traveled even further north to Harbin, a city near the northeastern tip of China, bordering Russia. Our intention was to see the famous Ice Festival, entire buildings and replicas chiseled out of ice and lit by florescent lighting. As it turned out, our favorite part was a surprise to most of us: the Tiger Park. We spent an entire morning in a van with barred windows driving around snow covered landscapes, dripping with bengal tigers. "This is like Jurassic Park," someone said joyfully as we drove into the park and the massive fenced gate closed electronically behind us, locking us in with the tigers. Most of us held each other even tighter after that comment. The tigers were massive and sometimes they would come up to the windows and sniff us. "AJ!! Keep your hands in this car!!" Bethany would scream at AJ as he grinned back. At the final section of the tour, we were presented with a verbal menu of animals to feed the tigers, alive. So, we purchased the pheasant because it was cheap. An armored jeep drove out to the middle of the park and, as the tigers were crawling all over it, someone tossed a live pheasant out of the sun roof. One of the tigers leaped and grabbed it and it was over. So, we decided to step up and buy the lamb. It was the most revolting and mesmerizing spectacles I've ever seen. For about thirty minutes several tigers held the lamb in their mouths (don't worry, the lamb died early), each of them holding it still but gently pulling in their own direction; they each wanted it for themselves. One of them tore a leg off and ran away with it. Eventually it was pandemonium and the lamb was in pieces. The three girls in our group at this point were looking away, their cheeks streaked with tears, as the guys remained engrossed. The whole time the driver kept stupidly driving into the gathering of tigers to break them up. At one point our van was stuck and he kept backing up and pulling forward to get out with no luck. We all trembled at the thought of being stuck in a park of feasting bengal tigers. Overall, it was incredible and it was definitely my favorite part of Harbin. Well, that and Cameron riding an electronic bull in a sketchy mall.

Finally, the Sceviours had to leave and, while it was bittersweet, as parting always is, I was so happy that they had come. Certainly, as close as Greg and I are, there were moments of strife and we had to deal with them, but it felt good to be close enough to him to have to go through those moments, to apologize and to forgive. I truly felt loved by their visit, and sometimes that's a hard thing for a person to accept: another man's gracious love. It's hard to know what to do with it. I accepted it this time and can't wait to see those guys again. Maybe next time we can experience something a little less disgusting together.

(see left for more photos)