Page 2-Sunday, November 20, 1977-The Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily-Sunday, Novem
RA IRLINS/george lobsenz
china
W ELL, it's all over now. The last
cheer has been cheered. The
last seat wrangled over. The last
joint toked. The last warm beer,
sloshed down. No longer will I make
the long pilgrimage out to Michigan
Stadium, for an afternoon of hedon-
ism. This senior has seen the last
half-time show of his college career.
A sentimental part of me sighs
wistfully. Golly gee, I think to
myself, no doubt those fall Saturdays
will one day be cherished memories
of my grand old college days.
Something to savor as I lean back in
my rocker and sip my gin and
Geritol.
Still, even as the roar of the crowd
fades in my mind, the smug all-
knowing voice of Conscience, that
schoolmarm of the mind, begins to
assert itself.
"So Mr. Fun-lover, look at the
pickle you've got yourself into now.
So you didn't listen to me when I said
you'd regret frittering away your
Saturday afternoons.
Now look at you. A nervous wreck.
Four papers, three tests and an oral
presentation due soon and you're in
quite a tizzy. Now, when it's all but too
late, now maybe you'll do something
productive."
All of which leaves me rather irri-
tated. Mainly because it's obnoxious-
ly obvious that rhy little tormentor is
right. Going to football games is a
colossal waste of time, money,
energy - you name it. It inspires no
particularly commendable emotions.
It doesn't physically exhilarate. It is
often boring. The sport itself calls for
no extraordinary athletic talents.
Practically speaking, football spec-
tatorhood isn't really defensible.
S O, YOU might be grumbling to
yourself at this point, why does
this wishy-washy mug go to the damn
games anyway? The answer is
simple. I am a Jock Fallen From
Grace. You see, as a lad, I spent a
goodly amount of time collecting
bruises, bumps, scrapes and dirt
stains from countless dusty fields.
However, the time came when my
athletic career was cut short by an
incurable case of mediocrity. And
like many other American males, I
suspect, this lamentable fact led to
the addiction in question here.
A brief look back at my past ath-
letic 6xploits might help with the
whys and wherefores of my present
condition. Perhaps if I had never
tasted success, I might have dropped
the whole jock shtik. But, alas, it
seemed I was destined to be a Star.
For one glorious year, I was the
Bronko Nagurski of my elementary
school playground.
Ah, I still remember it well. The
bell for recess would ring. I would
nonchalantly saunter out to the ole
concrete in my snazzy red Keds with
a look of conscious superiority on my
face. I pooh-poohed handball and
kickball. My game was tackle
keep-away. Two teams roaming the
playground, waging a life-and-death
struggle to "keep" a large rubber
ball for the lion's share of the recess.
I loved it.
When my team had the ball, I could
flabbergast 'em with my footwork or
dazzle 'em with daring pitches to
teammates. When "they" had the
ball, I was aggression incarnate,
hurling myself at enemy ball-car-
riers. But while I was quite the hot
tamale in action, my true forte was
strategy. My tactical piece de resist-
ance was the "swing set" gambit.
This called for my team to corral the
opposing ballicarrier so he had to run
through several swing sets. As he had
to slow down to avoid both swings
and swingers, we could. easily pounce
on him. Little did I realize, the
swaggering sixth grader, that this
was to be the pinnacle of my career.
Y SECOND year in junior high
I joined the football team,
cockily confident of my talents. After
one broken bone, assorted sprains
and a near-separated shoulder, three
facts became clear to me. First,
there were people bigger and strong-
*er than me. Second, there were
people faster and quicker than me.
And third, and most important, there
were people measurably meaner
than me. Equipped with this basic
knowledge, I quickly realized why
things were going so poorly for me in,
say, the "nutcracker" drill. The
proverbial writing was on the wall.
Oh, yes, then there was high
school. Not much to say here I guess.
In a last show of machismo, I went
out for the team and my stay was, uh,
uneventful. However, I did get to run
See RAMBLINGS, Page 7
Sunday Imagazine i9CHRSTIC PUZZLE
A.Talisman; fixation
8. Reverts; moves backward
C. Measurement of randomness
ordisorder in a system
D. Open; not kept bock
E. Self-destructive
desire (2 words)
F. Something for
something (3 words)
G. Without awareness or
sensation
H. Draw out; bring forth
I. Corroborate; supply
J. Treatment;
tension reliever
K. Visionary;
impractical one
106 10 140 1 31 126
645 83154 68 15 50208 123
14 44.113 209 29 56 202
13 143 30 33 22 115 101 95 193 171 160
82 152 11 207 54 85 35 28 70
12 147 86 186 122 38 162 203 168 196
5 71 132 43 98 36 180 105 142 117 176
64 134 17 27 141 166
53 109118 153 4 184 175
37 93 173 206 185 156 144
94 92 165 133 87 190 64 67
N. Gol; purpose
O. Odd; strange
P. Once popular brain
surgery
Q. Enchroachment;
inroad
R. Philistine; barbarian
S. Total disregard of
external reality
T. the Graduate director
U. Forgetful; oblivious
V. Dormant; not apparent
W. "She was just seventeen-"
The Beatles, I Saw Her
Stending Ther.
(5Swords)
X. Of minor importance
Y. Elephant hunters
(2 words)
Z. Experience;
know-how
181 102 167 138 69 161
194 100 112 178 42
75 18 151 78 183 129 172 3
205 99 170 195 63 9-149 72 51 182
24 135 89 48 127
177 146 104 26 61 34
174 131 188 23 145 80 136
7 197 120 155 62 187 73
128 157 150 55 77 189
107 97 103 49 21 119 52 79 32 74 16
8 163 198 121 41
59164125 90 50 179 40 201 39
20 110 191 158 124 147 200 19
25 111 88 2 76 65 57 46 91 116 169
BY
STEPHEN J.
POZSGAI
Copyright 1977
INSTRUCTIONS
Guess the words defined at the
left and write them in over
their numbered dashes. Then,
transfer each letter to the cor-
responding numbered square
in the grid above. The letters
printed in the upper-right-hand
corners of thesquares indi-
cate from what clue-word a
particular square's letter
comes from. The grid, when
filled in, should read as a
quotation from a published
work. The darkened squares
are the spaces between words..
Some words may carry over
to the next line. Meanwhile,
the first letter of each guessed
word at the left, reading down,
forms an acrostic, giving the
author's name ant the title of
the work from which the quote
is extracted. As words and
phrases begin to form in the
grid, you can work back and
forth from clues to grid until
the puzzle is complete.
Answer to Last Week's Puzzle
Due to a iix-up we don't
have the answer to last
week's acrostic puzzle as
of yet. As soon as we figure
it out, or place a call to
our puzzle master in Cali-
fornia, we'll bring you the
answer. Watch the Today
Column.
-We're sorry.
(Continued from Page 5)
China, where women work the same
jobs as men-whether field, factory, or
office. Most important, they receive
equal pay.
American feminists would no doubt
take proud note of the status of women
in China. Married women even keep
their maiden names now. That prac-
tice, though, is probably as much a fun-
ction of expediency as it is of equality.
China's teeming population, now at
850 million (compared to 200 million in
the U.S.) has multiplied so quickly that
the government now strongly en-
courages couples to have only one child.
Two-child families are acceptable, but
a third child will not get any coupons.
Permitting the mother to keep her
maiden name enables the government
to circumvent the Chinese tradition of
hoping for sons to carry on the family
name. Now the child-can choose his
name-Mom's or Dad's.
Shanghai, the most populous city in the
world, according to the most recent
statistics, attests to the burgeoning
population problem.
A stroll along the sidewalks-any
time of day-teaches the pedestrian
techniques in artful dodging. Though
the walkways are wide, the crowds
always overflow into the streets.
Chinese women sport navy blue Mao
jackets even when temperatures climb
into the 80s and shun dresses and skirts
for pants on almost all occasions.
Whether their hair is shortly cropped
and pinned back or plaited in long
braids, it is always neatly fixed.
Women can only have their hair
curled at the beauty salon if they are
performers; and then, they must
present proof of their profession.
Since even the slightest variation in
the "uniform" was conspicuous, we
Chinese-Americans were the objects of
much staring and curious giggling.
One young fellow, so taken with our
"flamboyant" dress, barely missed
smashing his nose into a tree as he
peered over his shoulder in passing us.
Another time, when my mother
waited patiently inside a three-wheeled
motorbike as the driver tried unsuc-
cessfully to start it, some 30 onlookers
gathered four and five deep to cop a
glance at her Barbara Walters-style
haircut, her make-up and her casual
summer clothing.
OTHER BEHAVIOR struck us
oddly. For instance, while
men and women never
touched one another in public, it was
common for older women to hold hands
or for younger boys to wrap their arms
ramblings
(Continued from Page 2)
extensive taste tests on the soil of the
practice field. And the team doctor
said I set a school record for splinters
in my posterior.
Looking back over this checkered
career, one might assume that I
would be pretty disenchanted with
football. Yet, strangely enough, even
as I sat squished in among 104,000
other souls, I could still feel that old
playground exuberance as I
watched. And I imagine that when I
plunk down in front of a TV set some-
where on New Year's Day and watch
Harlan Huckleby sweep left end, I
might mutter to myself, "Way to go,
Harlan bab 1jyst ,o101 p for the
swings."
around each other on the street.
Hoping to explore Shanghai a little bit
on my own, I found it necessary to
disguise myself as a
"comrade"-everyone is called a
"comrade"-by plaiting my hair and
borrowing clothes and black plastic
shoes from an aunt.
Walking the streets incognito, my fir-
st stop was a Chinese snack bar. Pulling
out the necessary coupons (provided
at the hotel) and the right change, I
.bought cake, a "brick" of ice cream,
and a drink vaguely reminiscent of an
ice cream soda.
Leaving no tip, for it is not an accep-
ted practice, I left the quiet of my
Chinese ice cream parlor for the noise
of the streets. Part of the city's hustle-
bustle atmosphere can be traced to
horn-blasting cars and buses and bell-
clanging bikes in the streets. The horn-
honking is as much a part of driving in
China as is accelerating or braking.
The main street of Shanghai has four
lanes: two lanes for bicycles, two for
motorized traffic. Bicycles dominate
the scene.
But for those with weak stomachs,
riding down the street can be a
terrifying experience. Like a needle
and thread, the drivers and their cars
weave precariously in and out of on-
coming traffic.
HE HORNS START tooting
Tabout 5 a.m. when the city
begins to rise andshine. We
were aroused each morning at 5:15 by
music from a nearby park where the
Chinese practiced Tai Chi.
By 6:30, the bellboy would knock
briefly and then walk right into our
room to pour hot tea. The hotel rooms
do not have locks.
To be an early-to-rise society, the
Chinese naturally were early-to-bed
folk, too. After sundown, the streets
were very dark-perhaps to conserve
electricity-and the crowds thinned out
considerably. There seemed to be a
dearth of nightlife except at the
moviehouses.
The agricultural society of present-
day China is gradually making advan-
ces in technology and industrialization,
but the ground to be 'covered is still
quite expansive.
Yet, a mere 100 years ago, China was
still very much a feudal society, not
dissimilar to the Middle Ages of
Europe. In a side trip to Peking and
Hangzhou we were like time travelers
in a science fiction story as we visited
palaces and pagodas preserved from
centuries past.
Peking, the national capital in nor-
thern China, is the center of the coun-
try's rich and turbulent history as well
as the heart of its current political
developments.
Bouncing in a tour bus north of the
capital for two hours, we passed
bicycle-drawn carts, horse-drawn car-
ts, people-drawn carts. Then suddenly,
mountains cloaked in green velvet
loomed before us; snaking along the
ridges was the Great Wall.
Built 2,000 years ago, completely by
hand, it was the only man-made struc-
ture that could be seen from the moon.
Climbing the ancient relic and
clinging to the railing specially built for
tourists, I found the wall and the view
from the top a powerful experience,
more overwhelming than any man-
made wonder in a natural setting I had
ever seen.
Approaching more recent history of
only a few centuries ago, the riches of
emperprs aid: .ptses ,wre -laid
beforeus- Their palaces dripped ofgold
and finery. The intricate painting of a re
walls, inside and out, revealed the pain- our
staking patience of dynastic artists. cou
kille
And finally, we were returned to F
modern-day reality as our guides took stuf
us into a city shirt shop. tic c
to oF
HE INNOCENT-LOOKING shirt acux
store was run by an innocent- dish
looking shopkeeper, who, not Ai
so innocently, pressed a magic button say
that activated a sliding floor, revealing emo
steps leading down into a secret expe
passageway. A
Forbidden to take pictures, we were sitti
told by a military officer the Chinese watc
were in the process of completing un- tear
derground catacombs primarily for feeb
defense from air attacks. They hoped to ting
build entrances from all homes and prid
shops in that particular section of form
Peking. W
Eight meters underground, the hard- were
packed dirt and cement blocks of the. A
tunnels were molded by people working I
at night after leaving their diverse fath
daytime occupations. Traipsing Knot
through the cold and damp agai
passageways for nearly an hour, we wav
emerged convinced that the sub-
terranean system was quite extensive.
The Chinese also eargerly took us for
another underground adventure-a
visit to the subway. Describing in detail
the features of their new subway, of-
ficials led us to an underground
meeting room adjoining one of the
stations. There we learned the stations
were constructed completely of mar-
ble, each color-coded for those unable
to read.
We moved on to cuddly panda bears
and more temples and pagodas until at
last arrived at the famous Tien An Men
Square, the site of frequent rallies,
parades and protests.
M UCH TOO SOON our stay in
this strange land was draw-
ing to a close. We returned
to Shanghai to spend the last precious
days with our relatives.
Fo idinner.on the last ; night,-, .M e
brought four seafood dishes-seafood is
elatively sc
hotel restau
ant to 17 dish
ed chicken.,
iling our tae
fed our suite
hina, scenic
pen our own
punture nee
,ay).
nd then, the f
? It had t
otional, enli
erience.
flash in my
ng in a train
ching an eld(
s with anger
ly waved go
across fron
e, he finally
n, dropped hi
e suffered i
e not alone, I
gain, we emt
shall alwal
er as he le
wing he wot
in, he cour
ed good-bye.
o
Pagoda in ph
Hangzhou, China
L. All through; across
L. All through; across
M. nsne asylum
(slang)
108 199 60 139
192 114 96 47 66 204 137 81
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