Since Thanksgiving I have either been traveling out of town or hanging out with family (or both), which means that I did not get to get work done. Not only did I not get work done, but I also didn’t get to do the kind of activities that I do to relax myself. These disruptions to my usual life, while pleasant, have slowly accumulated into an undercurrent of stress that one day explodes in my face.
That one day, is about Monday.
Yesterday, I finally get my Tango fix (not since Thanksgiving). When I entered the room, my usual tiny-Asian-female partner greeted me enthusiastically with “ANNA!!!!!!”. All the familiar faces of dancing friends. As I tangoed around the room with C and N and R to the old-time-black-and-white-movie kind of movie, I felt at home, and calmed.
What’s the point of this post? Just to say here that I am DETERMINED to be back.
Tonight I had the most sumptious dinner at a restaurant named Graham Elliott (which claims to be Chicago’s first “bistronomic” restaurant). Reading the menu and listening to the description of the serve already took me to heaven. I have to say, this is the first time I felt the food screaming at me, telling me, “EAT ME! LOVE ME! APPRECIATE ME! See that I am special!” The moment I looked at the menu, I was confused — confused by the exotic and innovative combination of ingredients. We tried 5 courses:
1. a duck fraqua lollipop amuse bouche — the border of this lollipop is glued with those orange candy pieces that burst like fireworks in your mouth; As those candies were bursting in my mouth, the stuff that the lollipop was made of which is a mousse of duck fraqua melted and sept into every corner of my teeth! Crazy crazy crazy!
2. Tuna Sashimi — you think that this is just tuna sashimi in any Japanese restaurant? So wrong. This was my favorite dish. On top of the tuna sashimi is a passion fruit sorbet. Under the sashimi are slices of melon. Other things on this dish is fried crunchie stuff (I have no idea what it is) and chives and avocado cream. All I can say is — MAGIC. The best way to describe this is that all these different flavors work like instruments in an orchestra and together they played a magnificent symphony in my mouth.
3. Sea Scallops — I vaguely this dish is cooked with butter sauce and the menu mentioned something about caramel. Anyway, my mind was still with the Tuna Sashimi dish when I had this dish.
4. Salmon — this salmon was cooked to rare. I have to say I never had salmon so delicious — the taste is a combination of salmon sashimi and cooked salmon. Salmon sashimi is always my favorite, and combined with cooked salmon, it was great. The side is 4 different kind of carrots, and the bottom part of artichoke hearts.
5. Waygu Steak — this steak was cooked to rare. Under it is a layer of cold potato cream salad. The waiter mentioned a lot of other ingredients but at this time my mind and tongue have lost its senses due to the wonder of the previous dishes.
6. Dessert — a polenta with macerated blueberry/lemon sorbet. My stomach was trying to digest all the spices from the previous dishes.
7. an Egyptian chamomile tea (a pot which has all these gigantic sperm like leaves floating on top, served with those old fashion sand timer…waitress said I have to wait until the sand has completely dropped to the bottom for the tea to be served).
I never was a foodie — but this meal, was ART.
Tonight was another great night of Tango for me. I went to the Summer Dance outdoor milonga in downtown Chicago. The venue was almost next to Millennium Park, and there was a life band, comprised of 2 violins, a bandoneon, a bass, and a piano.
THE MUSIC WAS PHENOMENAL. Dancing on that lighted outdoor dance floor with the live band on stage was such a different and wonderful experience.
When I got there, the whole place was already crowded. A lot of people were just bystanders. Somehow whenever there is tango activity a lot of tourists would standby and watch and take pictures. Similar situation here. The new thing for me here is that I know several of my tango friends are already dancing, and I know that if I find them, I will be dancing as well — I also was wearing a tango shoes. This marked me as an “insider” — in other words, NOT a tourist or bystander.
And immediately when I was there, I danced with Pat, a classmate — swirling around the dancefloor, people taking pictures….when there is a huge crowd looking on, somehow it creates this stronger adrenaline rush to …”perform”…and when you do the embellishments, somehow I felt slightly more graceful. (To think that a month ago I was dancing like a piece of shit) After that, I danced with Nina, and then Richard, and then Curtiss, and then Mike, and then a random guy, and then was approached by a completely drunk guy whom I said no to, and then with Tim.
It is so nice to be among friends + wonderful music. And that bandoneon is simply heavenly. THE MUSIC WAS AMAZING.
Filed under: Lifestyle
Here is a picture of my back during the guerilla tango I went to last Sunday.
Filed under: Lifestyle
I know, another Tango post! But today I have my regular beginner class in Argentine Tango (I also went to the intermediate one on Monday), and one of the organizers of the club is leaving the area. At the end of the class, we had this “goodbye dance.” It is actually a tradition in Argentine Tango (I am learning more and more about these many traditions) to give a “goodbye dance” to the person leaving. How this dance proceeds is that first, somebody announce this person (today she is a girl), and she would begin to dance with a guy. Then another guy would cut in to dance with her, and then another guy would cut in to dance with her….this goes on until a song ends.
For some reasons, it actually feels sentimental to watch this dance unfolds. The Argentine Tango music sounds like those music you hear in a black and white movie, and then the girl is swirling around the circle, while different guy takes her hand. There is something very sentimental about this. I don’t know.
I am making several fast friends in this club. I am also being very hardworking about Argentine Tango because, to think that I could have had 4 years of Argentine Tango instruction now but did not, that thought just further fans my eagerness for gathering knowledge and experience about Argentine Tango.
After that goodbye dance, a bunch of us, classmates, drove to a Greek restaurant in the North side, and proceeded to have a milonga. The dancing continues until the restaurant closes at 12:30am.
It had been a fun evening.
There is so much to learn until this:
In the past few weeks, I had experienced several moments of happiness of which I was keenly aware of and of which I would reminisced on, as I did last summer when I sailed or windsurfed. However, the moments of happiness this summer are completely different from last year. Last summer, those moments were related to the thrill of an activity. This summer, those moments which I savored are related to interaction with people. To my surprise, this summer my moments of happiness were with interacting with the little people….children.
1. On a Sunday night last week, I attended an Argentine Tango milonga in an abandoned commercial shop in Hyde Park. Most other attendants are affiliated with University of Chicago in one way or another. One couple brought their children: age 2 and 4. I found myself continuously winking at the 4 year old kid and playing slapping hands with him. In time he grew a bit attached to me. And when the milonga started, all the adults (including me) were seriously dancing around the space, while these two little kids circled around the legs of the adults and at some point, even mimicked the tango dance of the adults. So in the end, I found myself tango-ing with the 4 year old kid, following the counter clockwise flow of the seriously dancing adults. Dancing with such a short partner was indeed problematic. I almost had to lift him up! It was a joyful experience.
2. My friends, B and C, had a little girl earlier this year. This summer when I went to visit, I found little V very interesting. She is now 6 months old. She smiles at me whenever she sees me. I played “jump” with her: I would lift her up in the air and make those “woooooo” sounds, and somehow she would anticipate my lifting and would crook her leg in expectation or in encouragement for me to repeat the movements again. But I love to see her smile! (she smiles a lot, and she clearly smiles because she is seeing a face she likes)
3. Today in sailing, my classmate brought her 11 year old sister along. This reminds me of my little brother when he was at that age, clinging along to me as I meet my friends. Apparently I enjoy talking to little kids, spoiling them, and teaching them new experiences.
As Michael Jackson once sang, we are the world….we are the children…children bring so much joy.
Filed under: Lifestyle
A series of events lately have forced me to ask myself what I want in life. So here is a quote from Emerson on what it meant to have succeeded:
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Filed under: Lifestyle
Today is the first time that I ever felt a sense of community in Hyde Park. Recently I started going to Argentine Tango classes, and tonight was my first Argentine Tango Milonga. (I crossed the psychological boundary of 4). They had a pot luck before the Milonga begins. The space of this event is an abandoned shop in Hyde Park. I got to make friends with the people I normally see in the Tango class. A couple even brought their kids (2 and 4 yr old). The kids are a mix of Japanese and American. The older one was pretty attached to me and I played games with him. And it was actually very funny to be dancing Argentine Tango when little kids are running around you mimicking the movement of the adults. At some point, I was dancing with the older little kid. Very funny. There is just this atmosphere of community in it. And I got to chat up with a female grad student in psychology who is at the same stage as me. It just felt RIGHT. As if I belong in this group.
I found out about this group at University of Chicago call “Guerilla Tango”, which is that a group of the tango dancer would sweep in masse into a public space and start doing Argentine Tango in it. Here is a clip of the Guerilla Tango group at Millenium Park! (I actually dance with several of these people tonight) Very Cool Idea! I got to do it sometime this summer.
Every Wednesday and Saturday during the Chicago Summer, Navy Pier has fireworks at 9pm. Today, I happened to be driving on lakeshore as this happened. My windows were down, and I was enjoying the night breeze.
Although I was very tired (after non stop tutoring in the afternoon and tango dancing since 7pm), I thought that this is the first time I felt like I am falling in love with Chicago.
In my 4 years in Chicago, I have not felt as relaxed and soft as I am now. Although the reasons for stress still exist, I felt relaxed. Friends have been remarking how changed I am this summer. I felt the difference myself. I have not felt more myself or more pleasant for a long, long time.
After 4 years, I am only starting to enjoy Chicago now.
Filed under: Lifestyle
This summer I finally got to consistently attend the Argentine Tango lessons at my school. And what can I say, like the piano lessons, so far they make me really really happy. Today’s lesson lasted for 2.5 hours — the people there are super super friendly. The demographics range from my age to 65+. The most wonderful thing about these lessons is that many of them are actually advanced dancer — and for every partner that I have, I learned something new.
Several of them have been commenting on how fast I learn. (hint: I am a genius at dancing). There is Richard, a kindly 60+ man who was very patient and has been helping me learn the steps these 3 lessons. There is Tony, a black man probably 40-50 who is very strict and precise about the dance steps and has been correcting me along the way. There is Chris, 20-30, who is also a very passionate dance and giving me instructions from time to time. There is Nina, 20-30, a girl who dances the man’s part (she asked me to dance), and in fact is the manliest dancers of all of them; there is Pat, 40-50, who is also very patient with me. And finally, there is Mike, 20-30, who is a patient and gentle partner.
It’s been wonderful! I want to be dancing tango in the streets of Argentina RIGHT NOW!
And my favorite interpretation of Por Una Cabeza thus far:
That lady is really really really elegant
