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life essay: part 10
Beginning in 1976, we started doing international goodwill tours again. The team performed in cities all over Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Lots of fun things happened in every country we visited. The time we went to Iraq, it was unimaginably hot--like 50 degrees Celsius. The heat was really unbearable; we just couldn't take it. It got so bad that in the midday, before taking our afternoon nap, we would get buckets of water and pour them onto the beds, because the bedding was too hot to lie down on. We would go to sleep on the damp sheets. After an hour or two, the sheets would be baked dry and we would get up to do it all over again. Naturally, the hotel didn't know about it--we did it secretly, telling each other, "It's simply too hot" as we poured water on our beds. Just think--if we'd never experienced this kind of lifestyle, we never would have learned about this unique method of temperature control!
In 1977, the team went on a tour of Africa, where the heat also became an issue. All of our performances were scheduled for nighttime, starting around 10pm. Daytime performances would have been impractical for athletes and spectators alike, because most of the countries didn't have enclosed gymnasiums. We performed out on the soccer fields, and nobody in their right mind would sit out in the sun during the day. And even the nighttime temperatures were far higher than we were used to. I remember that they would set out lots of big barrels of drinks for us off along the sidelines; they were filled with big slabs of ice to keep the soda pop cool. One night, it was so hot that I reached deep into one of the barrels and grabbed a bottle. It was too dark to see the label, so I didn't know what flavor it was, but I didn't care--all I knew was that I needed to drink something cold. I guzzled it straight down--drank about half of the bottle in one gulp. The icy liquid felt so good going down my throat. It wasn't until I set the bottle down that I started to feel a little dizzy and lightheaded.
They soon discovered that I'd just chugged half a bottle of champagne! I was no good to perform after that, so they had to find somebody to replace me that night.
During that trip, we travelled between the countries by airplane. One particular African nation, I remember, only owned two airplanes. One of them was a small passenger jet--the one that the president and officials usually flew in. Originally, we had been scheduled to use this plane, but when our group arrived at the airport, we were informed that the president was using it, so we would have to use the country's other plane--a cargo plane.
Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there? It was just like in the movies--the cargo plane was big and hollow. In its landing position, the rump of the plane rested on the ground, to facilitate loading. That's how we entered the plane--from the back end, filing up the ramp. Boys on the left, girls on the right. Inside the plane, there were no rows of cushioned seats as one finds in passenger planes--only two long metal benches running along the sides of the plane, so we sat down facing each other in two rows. It looked just like the planes that parachuters jump out of. We thought it was great fun. What a curious airplane! What funny metal benches! Then somebody remarked on the stout ropes strung a few feet in front of both benches. What were they for? Surely they couldn't be seat belts. There were only two long ropes and they were too far away from us.
The puzzle was solved soon enough.
The back door of the plane had not yet been closed. From outside, we heard a loud CLUMP-clumping and soon we saw...a herd of cows and sheep being driven up the ramp to occupy the middle of the aircraft.
We were all going to fly together! What a strange cargo that was: the Beijing Wushu Team lining the sides, livestock in the middle. The cattle and sheep crowded up right next to us. We sat, they stood, and we looked at each other across the rope for the duration of the flight.
There's one other thing about that flight that I should mention. Passenger planes are built with sound-dampeners and shock-absorbing material to make the ride as comfortable for people. Cargo planes, of course, usually carry cargo, so they had nothing of the sort. As a result, the ride was terribly loud and violently bumpy. Fortunately, it wasn't a long flight--so we only had to endure about 40 minutes of this deafening, chattering ride. And actually, it was like getting a massage. By the time we landed, everybody's muscles were very, very loose!
TO BE CONTINUED...
