I am seated on a carpet of geometrical patterns and looking around at luggage trolleys passing by, people staring off into space and the blurred images of duty free brand names which are too far for me to read. The announcements are made in Cantonese and English. My flight leaves at 10:30am, it's 6:30am now. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long, long blog post. You ready?
Burning of the Temple at the Burning ManRight now - the Burning Man, the Canyons of the West trip, chilling out in San Francisco, the museums and skyscrapers in New York, the conference and the beautiful city that is Boston - they're all swirling in my head and I want to pin everything down. I don't know where to start. I know that I won't be able to do the experiences justice, but I need to put everything down before I forget. Especially the Burning Man. Maybe I'll start with the Burning Man.
Read up what Burning Man is. To me, it was a giant playground for adults, a wonderful example of gift economy, an opportunity to learn so much more about myself, and a venue for people to be the best people that they can. In the span of about a week, I was removed from worldly concerns such as the need to be connected to the Internet or my phone. There was no need to use money because there is strictly no vending in Black Rock City, except for ice, coffee and the shuttle bus ride to the nearest town. I did not see my wallet for a week. Can you imagine not needing your wallet for a week?
I added Xiao Hui to the wallAnd the experiences! Oh the experiences. Surreal happenings were the norm. I will do a mini-series of Burning Man experiences after this, because I don't want to breeze through all the precious and often bizarre things that happened to me. One of the stories involves naked ladies. A story that could have been involves an orgy tent. The man in charge of the tent invited me to come later, which I politely declined. Absolutely no pun intended.
Barbie Death CampFor my first year at the Burn (because it's so good that I am seriously considering on going back if I have the opportunity), I didn't really run around to catch all the performances and artwork, nor take too many pictures. I think, for me, Black Rock City was about the people. The kindly man operating a stall giving out free freshly squeezed orange juice. The person who granted my wish at the wishing well. The lady who gave me a sandwich upon seeing my "If you can read this: Make me a sandwich" t-shirt (It finally worked! After all these years of wearing that shirt!).
Black Rock DesertThere's something about the Burning Man that makes you want to give. I mean, receiving is great, I got many gifts to bring home, but giving is even better. And goodwill on the playa returns to you almost instantaneously. The more you give, the more will come back to you. For instance, I offered some extra masks that I had to this random couple who were sitting beside me during a dust storm. They declined, and gave me a mask instead. A beautiful maroon one with The Man and "Burning Man 2009" embroidered on it.
Giant Rubik's Cube operated by three control stations. For scale, look at that little light on the bottom right and there's one person operating the controls.I have more to say about the Burning Man. But right now I need to go check the gate that I'm supposed to wait at. Wouldn't be fun to be stranded at Hong Kong when I'm practically broke, as much as I dread the arrival at Singapore. Check back soon.
