Absurdity, Allegory and China

The airspace over my neighborhood is loud with helicopters. Haven’t seen so many in one place in a lot of years. Their mission is, as all things are here, not entirely clear. I live, literally, across the street from an Olympic venue, the Tianjin Olympic Center, a new purpose-built football (soccer) stadium that was christened last September when it hosted several Women’s World Cup matches. It will also be the site of a dozen group stage and quarterfinal football matches in the days leading up to, and the first week of, the Olympics. It’s a pretty safe bet that the racket has something to do with important security business and/or the running of a specialty shuttle service between Beijing and the boonies for the very well-connected. The last thing you’d want to do is take a car to Tianjin, then get caught in traffic jams that are swelling around the newly unveiled, Olympic-sized security checkpoints project. The Great Wall, next-gen. Better to know someone and get a thrilling ride over the very un-thrilling coastal factory sprawled and disappearing countryside, rather than muck about in it. So, we have helicopters engaging in what appears to be nighttime touch and gos on the practice field next to the stadium, outboard the eastern moat beside the Sports Hotel, which may very well be one of the only venues in Tianjin that will be hanging out the no vacancy sign when the Moment is, finally, upon us.

There was one more scenario I entertained for just a moment, though, in retrospect, it was a critical moment, as well as an uncomfortable revelation. I can almost dismiss it as nothing but fun speculation but, truth be known, I actually, seriously considered it as a legitimate option, which is what living in a world without proper news allows – rumors, speculation and the following of any light, dim as it may be, to lead us through the fog and blur. Let me explain: the only other bit of Olympic news concerning Tianjin I have managed to remember is that the Jamaican Olympic team was planning to harden off to the Olympic environment by coming early to practice in Tianjin. (Nobody asked me, so I wasn’t telling.) So, as all this whirring racket began on Thursday afternoon, my initial thought was, “Maybe they’re bringing the Jamaican Olympic team in on helicopters, giving those folks something to really remember.” And then I thought, “Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute. If you’re going to really consider that as an option, you’ve been here way too long.” But whatever the reason, the helicopters are a real deal. And last tonight they were doing touch and go’s across the street, thwacking and thwonking about until after 9 PM.

Some of the passes were so close I was sure they were prepping to land on our roof. We live on the tenth floor, the top floor of our building, and landing on our roof would be easy enough to do, on either a dark night or a dull, smoggy morning. But if they actually were to land on my roof I’m not sure what I’d do. Perhaps, like Thomas’ Miss Prothero, I could offer them something to read.

At the moment I feel the need for a Master Po/Grasshopper moment, though even if the Master were to grace me with a bit of firecrackered wisdom, for the life of me I can’t come up with any single question to ask that would generate a very wawa-ed parting of the present veil to reveal the greater purpose hidden within the day-to-day mysteries of this unfolding historic moment. And I’m not sure that the Master could even deal with the notion of night helicopter buzzing. But I’ve got to believe that somehow, somewhere - even in a Kung Fu rerun - this all makes sense. And that shows you how much I know.