Taking Li Home

Flash Quote Reporting at the Laoshan Velodrome was supposed to get really intense today. It was supposed to be crazy. Today, the “big-shot” athletes were supposed to arrive for their first scheduled training sessions on the wooden track. By noon, it was apparent that many of the favorites and powerhouses were skipping out on day one for one reason or another. For those of us that were gung-ho about getting some real cycling action for the first time, it was quite a bummer.

In the latter parts of the day, a few athletes from China, Cuba, Uruguay and Colombia finally made it to the track to get some laps in. A group of us sat up in the spectator stands to witness the madness as we chatted and got to know each other a bit more.

I was fortunate enough to have some serious bonding time with one of the Chinese FQRs Li Lihuang, a CUC student and Olympic volunteer. Lihuang is his given name and Li is his surname, but everyone just calls him “Li” for short. Li and I shared some pictures of his hometown in the northern foothills of the Himalayas in the southern part of China. He lives in a small mountain town in the Yunnan province, just southeast of the Tibetan plateau and touching the northern borders of Mayanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is near his home.

Yunnan province in southern China

Li’s ethnicity is Nakhi, which belongs in the 5% of Chinese minority, as 95% of Chinese citizens are descendants of the Han ethnic group. Due to Li’s Nakhi heritage, his family is exempt from the Chinese government’s policy limiting families to one child. Li has an older brother who works as a journalist in their hometown. Someday, Li plans to return home to take care of his parents in their elder years. Before then, though, he wants to work in Beijing or Shanghai.

Li and I at the velodrome today

We got into a pretty in-depth discussion with Li about his plans for school, work, and traveling around the globe. Despite living just a stone’s throw from Mayanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, Li has never traveled outside the country. He expressed serious interest in traveling through Europe, a place many of us have been, so we all enjoyed sharing our travel stories. Through the natural progression of conversation, we decided that it was a must for Li to come visit us in our natural habitat of West Lafayette. As it goes, the discussion immediately turned to what sorts of things we would do if Li were to visit Purdue.

Being the time of year that it is, football is fresh on our minds. Li would definitely need to see an American football game at Ross-Ade Stadium. To start the day off right, though, he would need to first witness the spectacle that is Breakfast Club. At said event, Li would get a fast-forward lesson in American collegiate culture and probably make about 300 new best friends. Two hours before kickoff, we would be off on the next adventure.

The “All-American” Marching Band’s concert at Slayter Hill would be a great place for me to teach Li the vitals. “Hail Purdue,” “Purdue Hymn,” and the simple “Go Purdue” cheer definitely make the short list of important things to know. While trailing the AAMB around Ross-Ade in the gameday parade, I would introduce him to the world’s largest, fastest and most awesome collegiate mascot, the Boilermaker Special V. If we’re lucky, we could convince the pilot to let us ride from the hill to the stadium in the train’s passenger-bearing coal car.

After battling our way through the student gate atop the northeast side of the stadium, Li and I would hustle to our seats in order to catch the pre-game show. For the record, the crowded ridiculousness of the student gate at Ross-Ade is the closest parallel I can make to the Beijing subway at rush hour. Both are crazy, crazy and smelly, smelly. Before the show starts, Li and I would review our in-game cheers. The third down hammer, “Boiler Up!” and “1, 2, 3, 4… First Down!” should be simple enough, right? I must not forget the key flashing/shoe waving at kickoff, the wave, the “Boilermaker Special Time” motion, or, everyone’s favorite, “Shout!” This is starting to be a lot to handle for my buddy Li.

Just as I’m thinking he’ll never catch on… the band takes the field in dramatic fashion to kick off their traditional pre-game show, which happens to be my favorite Purdue tradition. Li and I watch in awe of the grand perfection of the marchers. In my opinion, the floating Purdue is the best move, but the Block P and the Boilermaker Special formations are very close seconds. I explain the significance of the Big Ten Flags and the Boilermaker Strut to Li, as well as the band’s military background and history of excellence. I hope he’s not getting overwhelmed, but it might just be inevitable.

Li, of course, is completely obsessed with the World’s Largest Drum and the antics of the Big Bass Drum Crew. Despite nearly 600 pounds and 8 feet in diameter, a crew of six manhandles the drum with precision accuracy. Li finds it to be the best thing yet… until he notices the Golden Girl high-stepping her way in and juggling three batons with ease. I explain the history behind the strange tradition dating all the way back to the days of Lenny Dawson, Purdue’s “Golden Boy.”

The World's Largest Drum and the BBD Crew with the American flag

By the time Roy Johnson settles in for his majestic rendition of, “I Am An American,” I’m starting to feel a bit nostalgic. Li no doubt notices, as the Chinese are innately in tune with all things personal. His visit thus far has indeed seemed as strange to him as my visit to China has been to me. Just in West Lafayette on seven Saturdays per year we exhibit:

• Bars that open before 7:00 a.m. and people waiting for hours before dressed like hooligans
• A university-wide “fight song”
• A parade march to a stadium
• A really huge drum that can’t be handled by less than six persons and is played by striking the heads with a giant mallet
• A girl marching around in a metallic gold uniform throwing sticks in the air followed by a whole entourage of copycats
• A 10,800 pound train on wheels and a miniature replica that lets out a ferocious horn
• A band of instrumentalists stomping around like an army making shapes and dancing
• Two huge flags (one Indiana flag, the other a USA flag) that take upwards of 40 people to handle
• 65,000 people dressed in black in the heat of the summer screaming their heads off
• And last but not least, a massive herd of giant men wearing tight, tight pants and shiny hats that run around and knock each other down

Today we agreed that while China seems to have some peculiar customs, we’d be much too quick to judge based on a logic of simple contrast. However, the most precious lesson learned is that even the things near and dear to us have a tendency to appear fundamentally bizarre when experienced without regard for context and culture.

It’s been fun; see you next time!

XOXO