Sunday, November 21, 2010
What was that?
last Friday, Zhongshan had a small earthquake. Something like a 3.5 I hear. I missed it, being in Guangzhou for a softball game. A native told me that this was the first time he knew of an earthquake here, then another gwailo told me there was another small one 6 years ago. No damage noted anywhere.
The trip to Guangzhou was odd. Because of the Asian Games, the city banned half of the cars (even license plates one day, odd the next), planted flowers and trees everywhere, and has done a lot to make the place cleaner and less of an eyesore. It seemed almost livable. I mentioned this to someone visiting ZS from GZ, who assured me that locals don't expect that to last. Still, a clean and pleasant GZ seems unnatural
Movember
Growing a moustache to raise money to help fight cancer or some such thing. What do I know? Someone told me if I grew a moustache, the world would be better and I'd be slightly shaggier.
This is a cause I feel strongly about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to me. To help, you can either:
- Click this link http://au.movember.com/mospace/1293262/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
Right now, Zhongshan has three teams, and mine is dead last. yay moustache!
This is a cause I feel strongly about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to me. To help, you can either:
- Click this link http://au.movember.com/mospace/1293262/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
Right now, Zhongshan has three teams, and mine is dead last. yay moustache!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
holding pattern
Haven't had too much happen over the last month.
visited Thailand and Xiamen. Thailand is a weird place, particularly if you go on a Chinese tour. Some people go there for bizarre sex shows, some for the ancient culture. Chinese tours try to cater to both groups, which creates a schizo feeling. We skipped the naughtier events, but still found ourselves watching a lot of singing transexuals. The temples are more attractive to me, despite us normally arriving at 8:00. If you ever go to Thailand on a Chinese tour, I highly recommend making the effort to skip the endless Chinese buffets and find Thai food. Much better than lukewarm Cantonese cuisine.
Xiamen is near Taiwan, and was a pleasant place to visit. K really wanted to go, and I'm still not sure. Saw a few other places, including Hakka communal homes, which were more interesting. There's something funny about a Chinese girl being entranced by rice and tea farms. You'd think she'd have seen those two things before.
Beginning to work full time at the Friend's Bar. When I first moved here, it was the first place I went where people really worked to make me feel at home. I've never forgotten, and have tried to do the same for new people since. Now I get paid to do it, and free drinks. Of course, free drinks lose something when you have classes at 8:00 in the morning.
Still plan on leaving in February. My school is good to me, but the pay is pretty low. More importantly, I have a strong desire to see somewhere new. Not sure where, just want a change. Since I'm dating someone who shares that desire, seems a good time to explore. Most likely, we'll be movin to somewhere north and east of here in China, though it is possible we'll go the opposite direction and wind up in Singapore. So far, there is some interest from potential employers with jobs I'm interested in. Looking to see who makes the best offer.
visited Thailand and Xiamen. Thailand is a weird place, particularly if you go on a Chinese tour. Some people go there for bizarre sex shows, some for the ancient culture. Chinese tours try to cater to both groups, which creates a schizo feeling. We skipped the naughtier events, but still found ourselves watching a lot of singing transexuals. The temples are more attractive to me, despite us normally arriving at 8:00. If you ever go to Thailand on a Chinese tour, I highly recommend making the effort to skip the endless Chinese buffets and find Thai food. Much better than lukewarm Cantonese cuisine.
Xiamen is near Taiwan, and was a pleasant place to visit. K really wanted to go, and I'm still not sure. Saw a few other places, including Hakka communal homes, which were more interesting. There's something funny about a Chinese girl being entranced by rice and tea farms. You'd think she'd have seen those two things before.
Beginning to work full time at the Friend's Bar. When I first moved here, it was the first place I went where people really worked to make me feel at home. I've never forgotten, and have tried to do the same for new people since. Now I get paid to do it, and free drinks. Of course, free drinks lose something when you have classes at 8:00 in the morning.
Still plan on leaving in February. My school is good to me, but the pay is pretty low. More importantly, I have a strong desire to see somewhere new. Not sure where, just want a change. Since I'm dating someone who shares that desire, seems a good time to explore. Most likely, we'll be movin to somewhere north and east of here in China, though it is possible we'll go the opposite direction and wind up in Singapore. So far, there is some interest from potential employers with jobs I'm interested in. Looking to see who makes the best offer.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Snooty
Someone sent me this to see if I'd do better than English or French people. Doubtful.
1. Can you talk about "Mad Men?" no
2. Can you talk about the "The Sopranos?" no
3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right?" yes, due to a n unfortunate resemblance to Drew Carey
4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? no
5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga?Nope.
6. How about pilates? Nope.
7. How about skiing? Nope.
8. Mountain biking? Nope.
9. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? no clue
10. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? Mixed Martial Arts. I don't enjoy it, but at least this rings a bell
11. Can you talk about books endlessly? there are a few people that will attest that it seems endless.
12. Have you ever read a "Left Behind" novel? read the first one and was appalled. I thought Christianity was based on loving God through embracing your fellow man, not this callous, hateful diatribe against humanity. Read the slacktivist for more detailed analysis.
13. How about a Harlequin romance? I immediately think of the Batman character everytime the word harlequin is used. I haven't read one
14. Do you take interesting vacations? interesting to me. My last few involved elephant rides, transexual conga lines to techno Christmas carols, watching my gf eat scorpions, Chinese minority fortresses and eating hot peppers to try to win a bet. So kind of dull
15. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? nope
16. What about an exquisite B and B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? I'll have to admit I couldn't say where Boothbay harbor is.
17. Would you be caught dead in an RV? I don't see myself ever being in one, but I don't have any objection to them. I suppose if I'm dead, I don't have much say in the matter.
18. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? again, no real desire to go on one, but no real objection. I'm also only attrracted to girls with weak stomachs
19. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? yes, but I'd prefer Bronson
20. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? no, but I'd go for the peanuts
21. How about the Rotary Club? Nope.
22. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? By Chinese reckoning, yes, but I'd be in a large town or possibly small city by US standards. That I live outside the US seems to disqualify me from being a real American anyway. I don't hate foreigners; I am a foreigner
23. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? I believe son, though I never went around asking for diplomas.
24. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? i guess so
25. Do you have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian? maybe not real clos, but a few who sort of count
26. Have you ever visited a factory floor? yes, often when I was younger.
27. Have you worked on one? no
28. Did you go to public school? no
29. Did you go to public university? yes
30. Did you go to public graduate school. didn't go to grad school yet
31. Do you follow college football? no
32. Do you follow association football (soccer)? no
33. Do you eat at fast food restaurants? very rarely here, unless we're leaving a club and I'm outvoted.
34. Do you eat fried chicken? no
35. Do you eat meat? no
36. Have you ever visited Europe? Yes. Wow, is this really make me un-American?
37. Do you own a gun? No. Maybe it should be noted that it is impossible where I live, as private gun ownership is outlawed. It's generally held I owe my life to that fact. I suppose I should be in fear all the time, as I can't shoot intruders, but instead feel far safer than I ever did in my home town
1. Can you talk about "Mad Men?" no
2. Can you talk about the "The Sopranos?" no
3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right?" yes, due to a n unfortunate resemblance to Drew Carey
4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? no
5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga?Nope.
6. How about pilates? Nope.
7. How about skiing? Nope.
8. Mountain biking? Nope.
9. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? no clue
10. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? Mixed Martial Arts. I don't enjoy it, but at least this rings a bell
11. Can you talk about books endlessly? there are a few people that will attest that it seems endless.
12. Have you ever read a "Left Behind" novel? read the first one and was appalled. I thought Christianity was based on loving God through embracing your fellow man, not this callous, hateful diatribe against humanity. Read the slacktivist for more detailed analysis.
13. How about a Harlequin romance? I immediately think of the Batman character everytime the word harlequin is used. I haven't read one
14. Do you take interesting vacations? interesting to me. My last few involved elephant rides, transexual conga lines to techno Christmas carols, watching my gf eat scorpions, Chinese minority fortresses and eating hot peppers to try to win a bet. So kind of dull
15. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? nope
16. What about an exquisite B and B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? I'll have to admit I couldn't say where Boothbay harbor is.
17. Would you be caught dead in an RV? I don't see myself ever being in one, but I don't have any objection to them. I suppose if I'm dead, I don't have much say in the matter.
18. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? again, no real desire to go on one, but no real objection. I'm also only attrracted to girls with weak stomachs
19. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? yes, but I'd prefer Bronson
20. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? no, but I'd go for the peanuts
21. How about the Rotary Club? Nope.
22. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? By Chinese reckoning, yes, but I'd be in a large town or possibly small city by US standards. That I live outside the US seems to disqualify me from being a real American anyway. I don't hate foreigners; I am a foreigner
23. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? I believe son, though I never went around asking for diplomas.
24. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? i guess so
25. Do you have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian? maybe not real clos, but a few who sort of count
26. Have you ever visited a factory floor? yes, often when I was younger.
27. Have you worked on one? no
28. Did you go to public school? no
29. Did you go to public university? yes
30. Did you go to public graduate school. didn't go to grad school yet
31. Do you follow college football? no
32. Do you follow association football (soccer)? no
33. Do you eat at fast food restaurants? very rarely here, unless we're leaving a club and I'm outvoted.
34. Do you eat fried chicken? no
35. Do you eat meat? no
36. Have you ever visited Europe? Yes. Wow, is this really make me un-American?
37. Do you own a gun? No. Maybe it should be noted that it is impossible where I live, as private gun ownership is outlawed. It's generally held I owe my life to that fact. I suppose I should be in fear all the time, as I can't shoot intruders, but instead feel far safer than I ever did in my home town
Thursday, October 28, 2010
photos
photos are still being posted at zsrenn.com (or zslenstuff.ning.com if you feel like typing more). Click on me and then go see the photos. Thailand, Xiamen/Meizhou and a friend's wedding are there. It may change soon toa site you need to register to use, but at the moment it should be visible to all
woo hoo
I seemed to finally have access again. Shame I need to walk out the door in a minute or two instead of posting more about classes, my new gig at the bar, upcoming Halloween events, various farewells, and other goings on
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thailand
Thailand was great fun. We got back late last night and got a call this morning that the trip to Xiamen on the 4th was canclled, but two spots had been saved for us on the 2nd. So today consists of washing clothes and packing again. hopefully, karen will find time to post photos on zslenstuff.ning.com for the world to enjoy. If not, give it a few days, and one of us will do it when we return.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
the not so distant future
It seems I will not begin work until after the National Day holiday, so early next month. Before the holiday, K & I will head down to Thailnd for about a week. After it, we will probably head up to Xiamen for a few days. I know it's kind of near Taiwan, and that's about it. That, and she really wants to go. And for the first time, I will watch two friends get married via webcam in the US. Neat
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
flu 3
The treatment is to have someone take a glass ball with an opening, run a flame across it to heat it, and stick it on your back, where the heat creates some suction. Supposedly, negative energy will be drained. I'm unsure if it helped, but my back does seem to have pepperoni slices on it.
If someone had aksed me what I expected of my first week back, being sheared and covered in pepperoni was not high on my list of expectations.
If someone had aksed me what I expected of my first week back, being sheared and covered in pepperoni was not high on my list of expectations.
flu 2
Since my back hurt, Karen decided we should go to a massage parlor for the glass ball thing. We had tried it previously, but it didn't work because of my hairiness. So she informed me of her decision by plugging in a razor and beginning to shave my back. Of all the ways I've been woken up, that is perhaps the most disorienting.
flu
woke up really sick Friday, and pretty much stayed sick through Sunday. So my plans changed from "go out and see friends" and "go out and see Karen's friends" to "stay in bed and feel lousy." Karen's plans changed to "watch movie and take care of a gigantic baby."
My back was very sore from this, and that kept me from sleeping. The lack of sleep in turn made me sicker, which made the back hurt more, etc. Medicine eventually knocked me out and broke the fever.
My back was very sore from this, and that kept me from sleeping. The lack of sleep in turn made me sicker, which made the back hurt more, etc. Medicine eventually knocked me out and broke the fever.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
hmm
seems I can post short things. Also seems I can't post pictures, videos, etc, or embed links. Whatever criticisms I have of China, I will give their censors a hat tip. Kudos
home again 4
We also have a new plan for taking attendance and disciplining students who don't come. My students don't receive a grade, so now I will be forced to deal with 100 students in a class, many of whom don't wish to be there. Probably best i focus on bookkeeping and discipline, instead of wasting my time on students who want to learn to speak English.
On the other hand. it's nice to see Karen again. She's cool
On the other hand. it's nice to see Karen again. She's cool
home again 3
I'm also being hounded about writing a syllabus, with no idea what classes I'm teaching, what textbooks we're using, how many classes we have, or any other vital information.
home again 2
My school is off to a frustrating start. No one knows when we begin, what my schedule is, or whether I have anything to do on campus for the next three weeks. We have a holiday coming, but no one can tell me when it begins or ends. This is putting a crimp in my travel plans, though I suspect I'll just make the plans and then tell the school.
Monday, August 30, 2010
plans I make
I'll be inChicago for 2 more days. Wednesday I'll be out, meeting up with people and saying goodbye.
Thursday I'll be heading to New Jersey to see one of my favorite people get married.
Sunday I head back to China, arriving Tuesday afternoon (time difference and a long trip).
Wednesday Isee the girl who wants to make me forget that today I divorced someone I thought I'd be with until I died. I was wrong. I was fortunate to be with The Bear for 8 years, and I'm fortunate I'm with Karen now.
Thursday I'll be heading to New Jersey to see one of my favorite people get married.
Sunday I head back to China, arriving Tuesday afternoon (time difference and a long trip).
Wednesday Isee the girl who wants to make me forget that today I divorced someone I thought I'd be with until I died. I was wrong. I was fortunate to be with The Bear for 8 years, and I'm fortunate I'm with Karen now.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
FAQs
1. Are you and The Bear getting a divorce?
Yes
2. When did you decide that?
November
3. Is there any chance that will change?
no
4. Are you two still friends? Do you still love her?
yes. Yes
5. S0...you and Karen...?
yes
Yes
2. When did you decide that?
November
3. Is there any chance that will change?
no
4. Are you two still friends? Do you still love her?
yes. Yes
5. S0...you and Karen...?
yes
Lollapalooza-Sunday
Me "We have a lot of time to get there"
Bear "We are not missing the Cribs. I'll leave you if we do"
Ok, maybe too soon.
I had never heard of Mumford & Sons until I was flying home and heard them on the plane. I guess they have a hit (of sorts) but this is the song I heard, and it blew me away. Everything else was godo too. One of the best surprises of the weekend, and not just because it gave me an excuse to say "Mumford" a lot.
Always wanted to go to the dj part, and my nondancing spouse never wanted to. She made an exception for a few hours, in part because there was no one else she really wanted to see, and partially because she's a wonderful person. She seemed to really enjoy it.
Going to see MGMT, we had to make a choice; fight through the massive crowd to try to get somewhere that the 4'11 Bear could see, or head across the field where the sound was terrible but where we would be right in front for the National. We chose the latter, but tried to enjoy MGMT.
The National were way better than expected. We thought they'd be good, but they blew us away. Definitely the right decision about where to stand. The singer was right in front of us at the beginning, before climbing a wall and heading out into the crowd.
Finally, the arcade Fire. Simply put, one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Words fail me. The video doesn't quite capture how awesome it was, but you get the idea.
Bear "We are not missing the Cribs. I'll leave you if we do"
Ok, maybe too soon.
I had never heard of Mumford & Sons until I was flying home and heard them on the plane. I guess they have a hit (of sorts) but this is the song I heard, and it blew me away. Everything else was godo too. One of the best surprises of the weekend, and not just because it gave me an excuse to say "Mumford" a lot.
Always wanted to go to the dj part, and my nondancing spouse never wanted to. She made an exception for a few hours, in part because there was no one else she really wanted to see, and partially because she's a wonderful person. She seemed to really enjoy it.
Going to see MGMT, we had to make a choice; fight through the massive crowd to try to get somewhere that the 4'11 Bear could see, or head across the field where the sound was terrible but where we would be right in front for the National. We chose the latter, but tried to enjoy MGMT.
The National were way better than expected. We thought they'd be good, but they blew us away. Definitely the right decision about where to stand. The singer was right in front of us at the beginning, before climbing a wall and heading out into the crowd.
Finally, the arcade Fire. Simply put, one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Words fail me. The video doesn't quite capture how awesome it was, but you get the idea.
Lollapalooza-Saturday
I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but I keep showing up to watch Canadians. I only encourage them. Still, I really like the new Stars album, so what could I do?
Against Me was good enough to make us leave The stars early. Might be my favorite album fromt his year. Might not. But maybe. The Bear was perplexed by the decision to do this song and "babe, I'm an Anarchist" as I guess it seems inconsistent. She did approve of the idea of fires.
Any chance that arises to see Gogol Bordello should be seized. Amazing again.
man, we walked a lot on saturday. We darted acroos the park to catch the beginning of Metric. One of the bands I didn't expect much from, but we almost stayed for the whole thing. really good.
Instead we went back to the South side to catch Social Distortion, and our lives are richer for the experience.
then darted over to catch Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic eroes. I never heard of them, which made me in the minority. We're somewhere in the midst of this giant crowd which was singing along like maniacs. it was unreal. Bittersweet to hear the Bear sing this, as home is apparently not wherever I am
Then went back over to see green Day. What can I say? they were huge. They were great. Wish we could have seen Phoenix too, but definitely the correct call was made.
Against Me was good enough to make us leave The stars early. Might be my favorite album fromt his year. Might not. But maybe. The Bear was perplexed by the decision to do this song and "babe, I'm an Anarchist" as I guess it seems inconsistent. She did approve of the idea of fires.
Any chance that arises to see Gogol Bordello should be seized. Amazing again.
man, we walked a lot on saturday. We darted acroos the park to catch the beginning of Metric. One of the bands I didn't expect much from, but we almost stayed for the whole thing. really good.
Instead we went back to the South side to catch Social Distortion, and our lives are richer for the experience.
then darted over to catch Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic eroes. I never heard of them, which made me in the minority. We're somewhere in the midst of this giant crowd which was singing along like maniacs. it was unreal. Bittersweet to hear the Bear sing this, as home is apparently not wherever I am
Then went back over to see green Day. What can I say? they were huge. They were great. Wish we could have seen Phoenix too, but definitely the correct call was made.
Lollapalooza-Friday
Lollapalooza, probably for the final time for me. A great chance to smell your fellow man and take in music.
The walkmen underwhelmed me. Hearing the new songs was ok, but when they did their old stuff, it just showed why I've lost interest. Still, it was worth coming to hear the Rat.
Rapahel Saadiq was the first of many pleasant surprises this year. Had heard good things, but neither of us had ever heard a song by him. Enjoyed every second.
The Drive By Truckers weren't really a surprise. We had high expectations, and they were met. Really not the sort of band either of us would like, but they are too good not to be liked.
We had left the south side of the fest to hear the New Pornographers. 4 years ago, they blew us away, and had made 2 really good albums since. This was the first act we saw that had excellent whistling and the first one that left with us wanting to ehar a lot more. Damn, I have been forced to say good things about a bunch of Canadians.
I'll admit, I had no desire to see Matt & Kim, and no real idea who they were. I wouldn't say they were the most fun to watch, but it was clear they were having the most fun out of everyone we saw that day. It would be tough not to enjoy them, since they clearly were thrilled to be there. The decision to stand on the crowd and dance is to be applauded.
Hot Chip, on the other hand, we both wanted to see. They were a bit more energetic than expected, though they did not dance on the crowd. Halfway through their set, we became obsessed with whether it was the guy from the Eurythmics and the singer from the Hold Steady going undercover. Doesn't sound like either band, but the resemblance was uncanny. we may have had heat stroke.
Chromeo was our dinner break. We were sitting dowen far away kind of watching, and thus kind of enjoyed them. Probably more fun up close.
Ok, going to see Lady gaga was a mistake. Not enough of a trainwreck to be entertaining in a bad way, and way too slow and drawn out to be entertaining in a good way. Should have gone to see the Strokes. The video clip below features a long, pointless break before she starts, which gives a good indication of what it was like. Still, it's one of my girlfriend's favorite songs, so I kind of enjoyed it. the Bear enjoyed it much less.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
life lessons
1. A startled look and yelled curses are one response to vehicles almost hitting you when you cross the street. So is looking in the street to see if there are cars. I recommend the latter.
2. when teaching kindergarten, always choose songs with dances. try to choose dances that involve them falling down.
3. If your girlfriend falls down more than 5 times at a party and you don't persuade her to leave, it is a huge mistake to assume I will keep an eye on her. Except to possibly laugh if she continues to fall down.
4. People falling down=always funny
5. apple wine is sweet, delicious, and refreshing, but a poor substititue for water on sunny days in the tropics.
6. kindergarten students hug their teachers more than college students.
7. If you have a cheerful, helpful foreing Enlgihs teacher and are entered into an English speaking contest, it might be wise to practice with that teacher.
8. if you're in n Englihs speaking contests and choose to speak about the environment, learn how to say the word "environment." It will help a lot.
2. when teaching kindergarten, always choose songs with dances. try to choose dances that involve them falling down.
3. If your girlfriend falls down more than 5 times at a party and you don't persuade her to leave, it is a huge mistake to assume I will keep an eye on her. Except to possibly laugh if she continues to fall down.
4. People falling down=always funny
5. apple wine is sweet, delicious, and refreshing, but a poor substititue for water on sunny days in the tropics.
6. kindergarten students hug their teachers more than college students.
7. If you have a cheerful, helpful foreing Enlgihs teacher and are entered into an English speaking contest, it might be wise to practice with that teacher.
8. if you're in n Englihs speaking contests and choose to speak about the environment, learn how to say the word "environment." It will help a lot.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Something I learned today
The new motorbike is quicker and more agile than the last, making it safer and more fun to drive. The gauges are also slightly different, and it uses power faster than the old one. Leading to learning that it is lighter and easier to push home than the old one, should I run out of power
Monday, June 21, 2010
Now my heart is full
Except for a few episodes that didn't load, I have now seen every episode of the Simpsons. Thanks simpsonsepisodes.com!
Pretty much sums up my holiday
Pretty much sums up my holiday
Thursday, June 17, 2010
timing
post that i'm feeling ill, and ten minutes later, someone calls and offers to cook for me. Tuly is awesome.
A day with nothing to do, other than grade a semester's worth of homework. sigh...
A day with nothing to do, other than grade a semester's worth of homework. sigh...
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
vacation
little new going on.
got the physial for a new visa. I lost about 50 lbs sine i first moved here. Sadly, still a ways to go.
Bought a new electri bike. This one is a bit faster than the last one, and is new, making it even faster. Apparently, crashing a bike sometimes slows it down, so I'll attempt to not hit things with this one.
trying to find part time work for the summer. since i already work here part time, i'm focusing on looking for something here, which narrows the field considerably.
Apparently, the number of vegetarians here is rising. I was interviewed by someone regarding why foreigners are veg and the challenges it presents. Of the four vegetarians I've known here, we ha 4 different reasons for not eating meat, which makes for long answers. I suspect I will be quoted regarding vegetarianism and weight loss. My normal response when people ask how I can be a fat vegetarian is to poin out that tigers are thin and elephants are fat. I hope they include my statement that my weight dropped noticeably 2 months ago, when i attempted to eliminate cola (and all other forms of high fructose corn syrup) from my diet.
I suggested a cooking show called "Knives and Fire" where a gwailo wanders China and people attempt to teach him how to cook. Keep checking your fall schedule to see if I'm there.
Woke up at 8:00 for the Dragon Boat Festival. Saw it was raining and deided the beach was not the place to go. My travel ompanions went back to sleep. I cooked. We ate. Then everyone in the apartment went back to sleep. Woke up around 1:00. Went shopping for jeans and came home. Cooked another dinner of fresh veggies, watched some Battle Star Galactica, then went to sleep early. So after d ay of eating right, sleeping, and staying away from alcohol and second hand smoke, I woke up with a sore throat and slight cold. I'll try treating it with sleep deprivation, bourbon, and fast food.
Up for the weekend: Club 8's one year anniversary and Tom's birthday. lub 8 is a fairly standard disco near my favorite bar, and hey are giving free beer to ertain people, such as me. Tom is an Aussie, who is not giving free beer, but is arranging and evening of enchantment and whimsy (ok, beer and vodka). I suspect this will be a rough weekend
got the physial for a new visa. I lost about 50 lbs sine i first moved here. Sadly, still a ways to go.
Bought a new electri bike. This one is a bit faster than the last one, and is new, making it even faster. Apparently, crashing a bike sometimes slows it down, so I'll attempt to not hit things with this one.
trying to find part time work for the summer. since i already work here part time, i'm focusing on looking for something here, which narrows the field considerably.
Apparently, the number of vegetarians here is rising. I was interviewed by someone regarding why foreigners are veg and the challenges it presents. Of the four vegetarians I've known here, we ha 4 different reasons for not eating meat, which makes for long answers. I suspect I will be quoted regarding vegetarianism and weight loss. My normal response when people ask how I can be a fat vegetarian is to poin out that tigers are thin and elephants are fat. I hope they include my statement that my weight dropped noticeably 2 months ago, when i attempted to eliminate cola (and all other forms of high fructose corn syrup) from my diet.
I suggested a cooking show called "Knives and Fire" where a gwailo wanders China and people attempt to teach him how to cook. Keep checking your fall schedule to see if I'm there.
Woke up at 8:00 for the Dragon Boat Festival. Saw it was raining and deided the beach was not the place to go. My travel ompanions went back to sleep. I cooked. We ate. Then everyone in the apartment went back to sleep. Woke up around 1:00. Went shopping for jeans and came home. Cooked another dinner of fresh veggies, watched some Battle Star Galactica, then went to sleep early. So after d ay of eating right, sleeping, and staying away from alcohol and second hand smoke, I woke up with a sore throat and slight cold. I'll try treating it with sleep deprivation, bourbon, and fast food.
Up for the weekend: Club 8's one year anniversary and Tom's birthday. lub 8 is a fairly standard disco near my favorite bar, and hey are giving free beer to ertain people, such as me. Tom is an Aussie, who is not giving free beer, but is arranging and evening of enchantment and whimsy (ok, beer and vodka). I suspect this will be a rough weekend
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Why does God mock me?
11:15: explain to a friend that I want to stay in Zhongshan another year, as it makes me happy.
11:30 go outside and find scooter has been stolen
11:30 go outside and find scooter has been stolen
Thursday, June 3, 2010
finals?
Finished my final exam today. Each department apparently has a different ending date for classes, so I'm in the odd position of having finished my final exams, but may still have classes. Though I might be finished. I'm kind of tempted to quit next year and see how long it takes anyone torealize. I think I might not be replaced until November. They are amazingly disorganized.
Songs they liked
This one, maybe not as much
Songs they liked
This one, maybe not as much
Sunday, May 30, 2010
exam week
Friday, a student in my business English class asked if they had an exam. I said yes, but didn't know when. They then told me that it was our final class. My boss confirmed this 20 minutes later, and suggested i give an exam then. When offered a choice between a surprise final and an additional week of class, they voted to have exams this week. Good choice, as several weren't there.
So today we had an exam. It's my first time talking to a few of them, and it's sometimes nice finding out that they ave learned something. For a few, it may have been there first time attempting to speak English. Each exam is 2-3 minutes of speaking to me, and for some it was an eternity.
As it's entirely oral, I didn't want everyone listening, so I had music playing with pictures of me and my friends as a slideshow. The music and pictures were randomly chosen by a socail network site (similar to myspace or facebook).
They liked this and this
and really liked this
This they didn't like
and one ran up and skipped to the next track rather than hear this
foreigners+wigs=comedy gold
So today we had an exam. It's my first time talking to a few of them, and it's sometimes nice finding out that they ave learned something. For a few, it may have been there first time attempting to speak English. Each exam is 2-3 minutes of speaking to me, and for some it was an eternity.
As it's entirely oral, I didn't want everyone listening, so I had music playing with pictures of me and my friends as a slideshow. The music and pictures were randomly chosen by a socail network site (similar to myspace or facebook).
They liked this and this
and really liked this
This they didn't like
and one ran up and skipped to the next track rather than hear this
foreigners+wigs=comedy gold
Monday, May 24, 2010
dust settles
The last year was chaos, though sometiems entertaining and rewarding chaos. Now things have calmed down, and i'm settling into a routine. Blogging about stabbings, quitting jobs, etc=moderately interesting. Blogging about gong to the gym and teaching adult classes=dull.
Did an exercise where the students are given a group of people and asked to choose 5 to put on a spaceship before an asteroid kills everyone on Earth. Like many of my activities, this one isn't about the right answer, but about explaining your reasoning. It didn't go well in the first 2 classes, but today was awesome.
"I would leave the little girl, because she might cry."
"I would take the mechhanic so we can try to build a PS3"
"I can't decide. I want to take the best looking men."
"Who will pay me the most?"
"Can I choose 6 people and I stay here? This sounds like it would be more fun to die"
Did an exercise where the students are given a group of people and asked to choose 5 to put on a spaceship before an asteroid kills everyone on Earth. Like many of my activities, this one isn't about the right answer, but about explaining your reasoning. It didn't go well in the first 2 classes, but today was awesome.
"I would leave the little girl, because she might cry."
"I would take the mechhanic so we can try to build a PS3"
"I can't decide. I want to take the best looking men."
"Who will pay me the most?"
"Can I choose 6 people and I stay here? This sounds like it would be more fun to die"
so...
The proxy hasn't been working quite right, so I haven't been posting.
Thought of moving to Burma,but will not be going now. Perhaps later. I still love China, but kind of want to seeing more of the world. Unless something amazing comes along, I'll be in Zhongshan another year. After that, I might leave, then return again. Or not.
Things are fairly calm and stable, whih makes for a happy life and boring blog
Thought of moving to Burma,but will not be going now. Perhaps later. I still love China, but kind of want to seeing more of the world. Unless something amazing comes along, I'll be in Zhongshan another year. After that, I might leave, then return again. Or not.
Things are fairly calm and stable, whih makes for a happy life and boring blog
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
back
Vietnam was good. Not a big fan of the people, who are blatant gougers and con men, but the country was beautiful. It was a lot of fun watching karen and Ying adjust to being foreigners, and a real nice feeling being her translator and spokesman (I don't speak Vietnamese, but can translate broken English to standard English. That, and a tiny bit of French)
having some computer issues again. Hoping for a new proxy soon, and more photos
having some computer issues again. Hoping for a new proxy soon, and more photos
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Vietnam
I'm getting more excited about Vietnam. I haven't left China in something like 8 months, so it will be nice to go somewhere else. My semi-endearing sidekick karen will be leaving her home country for the first time in her life, so she's a bit more excited. neither of us can say anything in Vietnamese, and we have a vague idea of where we are going.
Photos and pointless stories to come next week. Still have a few days of teaching first
Photos and pointless stories to come next week. Still have a few days of teaching first
PSA
For all Chinese students of English; past, present and future, note that "Can you introduce me to foreigners so i can practice my English?" is a request that will be met with a "no" every time. You are asking me to impose upon my friends, asking them to work for free teaching you. Not going to happen.
There are a fair number of foreigners here, and we aren't hard to find. W e stick out in crowds. If I ask you what you did this weekend, and the answer is "nothin" "Computer games" or 'studied" then it seems we found ths source of the problem. Stop asking me to ask my friends to do boring stuff, find something interesting to do, and offer to include us. it's reallly that simple.
Note that you will be penalized further if you do think of stuff that sounds interesting, but don't offer to include the foreign friends you wish to make, instead wanting them to meet and help you practive English.
i have Chinese friends, and happily practice English with them. I actually prepare things to teach a few. But if they had introduced themselves by asking for a time consuming favor, they'd be a distant memory at best.
There are a fair number of foreigners here, and we aren't hard to find. W e stick out in crowds. If I ask you what you did this weekend, and the answer is "nothin" "Computer games" or 'studied" then it seems we found ths source of the problem. Stop asking me to ask my friends to do boring stuff, find something interesting to do, and offer to include us. it's reallly that simple.
Note that you will be penalized further if you do think of stuff that sounds interesting, but don't offer to include the foreign friends you wish to make, instead wanting them to meet and help you practive English.
i have Chinese friends, and happily practice English with them. I actually prepare things to teach a few. But if they had introduced themselves by asking for a time consuming favor, they'd be a distant memory at best.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
tripping
Bought tickets today for Vietnam. It's a bus trip, and should last a few days. I should not be contacting anyone for cash
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sunshine
A few good friends work with a group called Sunshine, which works to provide medical assistance and other support for familes with disabled members. The group is legit and 100% of the people are volunteers, so there is alittle overhead.
One of the sad things about life in modern China is that the social safety net is shrinking, and looks pretty threadbare. Medical coverage is far from universal, and people do die because they can't afford treatment. My experiences have been positive, but that's in part because foreigners are assumed to be able to pay. If i have no money, presumably someone else will pay. Chinese are not afforded that same concern.
Anyway, I think I'll be more active with that group soon. It's about $30 a month (something over $300 a year) to sponsor a disabled person, which provides better medical care and basic foodstuffs. I don't plan on harping on it here, but if anyone would like to help out, please let me know (billbarlo at gmail.com).
And again, my thanks for those who sent e-mails asking about me (and others. ) here after the recent earthquake. We didn't notice it at all here. I was in more danger from hurricane katrina in Chicago than I was from the Qinghai earthquake here. No one needed to dig me out, and I didn't need to scramble for food or water. That said, some people did. While I tend to send money to the AFSC, the Red Cross is one of the things that makes me think there's hope for humanity. With the planet falling apart, help us third worlders out.
One of the sad things about life in modern China is that the social safety net is shrinking, and looks pretty threadbare. Medical coverage is far from universal, and people do die because they can't afford treatment. My experiences have been positive, but that's in part because foreigners are assumed to be able to pay. If i have no money, presumably someone else will pay. Chinese are not afforded that same concern.
Anyway, I think I'll be more active with that group soon. It's about $30 a month (something over $300 a year) to sponsor a disabled person, which provides better medical care and basic foodstuffs. I don't plan on harping on it here, but if anyone would like to help out, please let me know (billbarlo at gmail.com).
And again, my thanks for those who sent e-mails asking about me (and others. ) here after the recent earthquake. We didn't notice it at all here. I was in more danger from hurricane katrina in Chicago than I was from the Qinghai earthquake here. No one needed to dig me out, and I didn't need to scramble for food or water. That said, some people did. While I tend to send money to the AFSC, the Red Cross is one of the things that makes me think there's hope for humanity. With the planet falling apart, help us third worlders out.
there goes the neighborhood
Last night was a friend's birthday. Len's a pretty popular guy, so a lot of people turned out. It was also reggae night at the busiest expat bar, so a few people were there who don't know Len at all.
At one point, a few of us who came here a decade ago took a head count and realized there were more foreigners in the bar on Saturday night then there were in the whole city back then.
Most of the other old timers seemed to have no idea who most of the new people are. being kind of a new person in some ways, I knew more. Still, there were plenty of new faces.
It was kind of cool having this brought to my attention. It made me realize how weird and mixed the community of expats is. people who have lived in larger Chiense cities tell me there are different groups. Business people don't talk much to teachers, Germans, italians, and others have their own cliques, etc.
So last night, I started off with a group of English speaking teachers, then drifted over to hang out with some Russians. I then fell in with the old timers, wandered off with a few French people (mes amis, c'est vrai. Je n'ai jamais etudie le francais. Je parle, mais c'est parce que je suis tres fute. un genie), and wound up back with Americans and Aussies. We then went off to the club, where the lines continued to blur.
There is an odd sort of tension for expats here. I think many of us kind of dislike being lumped together as "foreigners." A canadian who has lived here for 10 years is very different from an Aussie in his third week. For french, germans, Italians, Russians and the various Arabic speakers, it must be tiring to constantly need to speak English, as very few Chinese study your language. No one likes being lumped in with the Americans, and we, in turn, deal with constant misconceptions about our country (two of the biggest gripes we have is that we are criticized for only speaking one language, and for knowing nothing about the rest of the world. While those criticisms have some merit when applied to Americans as a whole, it rarely applies to Americans here. There's generally not much difference between Americans and other expats in our knowledge of Chinese, and I'd respectfully say that if you made a list of the most knowledgable, well educated, cerebral expats in Zhongshan, Americans would be overrepresented. Of course, we left the States behind :) Still last night I got to see the foreign community as a community. A large, diverse group of people where language, religion, nationality, gender, and race don't matter. it's not always the case, but when things align right, it feels good..
At one point, a few of us who came here a decade ago took a head count and realized there were more foreigners in the bar on Saturday night then there were in the whole city back then.
Most of the other old timers seemed to have no idea who most of the new people are. being kind of a new person in some ways, I knew more. Still, there were plenty of new faces.
It was kind of cool having this brought to my attention. It made me realize how weird and mixed the community of expats is. people who have lived in larger Chiense cities tell me there are different groups. Business people don't talk much to teachers, Germans, italians, and others have their own cliques, etc.
So last night, I started off with a group of English speaking teachers, then drifted over to hang out with some Russians. I then fell in with the old timers, wandered off with a few French people (mes amis, c'est vrai. Je n'ai jamais etudie le francais. Je parle, mais c'est parce que je suis tres fute. un genie), and wound up back with Americans and Aussies. We then went off to the club, where the lines continued to blur.
There is an odd sort of tension for expats here. I think many of us kind of dislike being lumped together as "foreigners." A canadian who has lived here for 10 years is very different from an Aussie in his third week. For french, germans, Italians, Russians and the various Arabic speakers, it must be tiring to constantly need to speak English, as very few Chinese study your language. No one likes being lumped in with the Americans, and we, in turn, deal with constant misconceptions about our country (two of the biggest gripes we have is that we are criticized for only speaking one language, and for knowing nothing about the rest of the world. While those criticisms have some merit when applied to Americans as a whole, it rarely applies to Americans here. There's generally not much difference between Americans and other expats in our knowledge of Chinese, and I'd respectfully say that if you made a list of the most knowledgable, well educated, cerebral expats in Zhongshan, Americans would be overrepresented. Of course, we left the States behind :) Still last night I got to see the foreign community as a community. A large, diverse group of people where language, religion, nationality, gender, and race don't matter. it's not always the case, but when things align right, it feels good..
Friday, April 16, 2010
Teaching: the Musical
Had a week of teaching songs to classes. I use them to teach grammar points and cslang, but mostly to talk about culture. Ok, I also do it because it's fun.
My advanced English class was exposed to my favorite musician, Bob Mould. The basic theme of the song is nostalgia, and pining for the good old days. Lead to a discussion on changes in China, and what era they regarded as a high point. Most chose now or the late 90s for entirely personal reasons
My other English classes at the college got off easier, hearing Big Star. A song about young awkward love wouldn't seem to resonate well with young adults aged 19 or 20, but most of them act like they're 12, so it went fine. It's awesome when someone argues passionately that the line "would you be an outlaw for my love?" suggest a form of madness, as partners are far less important than family; while their boyfriend or girlfirend is in the same class.
At my nighttime job at the other college, they were exposed to the magnetic field's. Some were suitably grateful, and it was requested that more magnetic Fields songs be played, or that the songs be shared with the students who can then marvel at their greatness alone. This would be sort of the opposite of a love song, and lead to discussions of love, romance, and dating. As a general notice to furtue classes, when there are 20 women in the room and 3 men, the teacher is not necessarily on your side. I'm far from the door, and need to get out alive
My advanced English class was exposed to my favorite musician, Bob Mould. The basic theme of the song is nostalgia, and pining for the good old days. Lead to a discussion on changes in China, and what era they regarded as a high point. Most chose now or the late 90s for entirely personal reasons
My other English classes at the college got off easier, hearing Big Star. A song about young awkward love wouldn't seem to resonate well with young adults aged 19 or 20, but most of them act like they're 12, so it went fine. It's awesome when someone argues passionately that the line "would you be an outlaw for my love?" suggest a form of madness, as partners are far less important than family; while their boyfriend or girlfirend is in the same class.
At my nighttime job at the other college, they were exposed to the magnetic field's. Some were suitably grateful, and it was requested that more magnetic Fields songs be played, or that the songs be shared with the students who can then marvel at their greatness alone. This would be sort of the opposite of a love song, and lead to discussions of love, romance, and dating. As a general notice to furtue classes, when there are 20 women in the room and 3 men, the teacher is not necessarily on your side. I'm far from the door, and need to get out alive
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Earthquake
Apparently, western China was hit by a bad earthquake today. Im nowhere near Qinghai, and we didn't notice a thing here. I asked a few friend about it, and they had no idea what I was talking about it. No doubt this will be a huge story soon, butwe're completely fine in Guangdong.
The internet is rather slow at the moment, as everyone is on-line before lights out soon, so i didn't really read much. I'd assume that the Red Cross will be helping out. They're good that way. Since the Earth is having an earthquake every few weeks, I can only assume someone at some point will be suggesting people donate to dig out Zhongshan.
The internet is rather slow at the moment, as everyone is on-line before lights out soon, so i didn't really read much. I'd assume that the Red Cross will be helping out. They're good that way. Since the Earth is having an earthquake every few weeks, I can only assume someone at some point will be suggesting people donate to dig out Zhongshan.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
new home
The new home is pretty nice. It's on campus, but so far I've been freet o come and go and have visitors as I please. No curfew, not harassing of people the guards don't know. I planned on staying here part time and spending most of my time at the other place closer to the city, but i'm finding myself here more and more
one reason is this. The school provides a computer and it works. Hence, this post has photos. When I transfer old vacation photos to here, there will be good photos.
Contrary to all expectations, the bed is comforatble. This puts them ahead of every other school I've worked at in China
Living room
The kitchen is ok, except for the electric stove. The stove itself is fine, but if there's no power, there's no way to cook. not a huge problem so far.
one reason is this. The school provides a computer and it works. Hence, this post has photos. When I transfer old vacation photos to here, there will be good photos.
Contrary to all expectations, the bed is comforatble. This puts them ahead of every other school I've worked at in China
Living room
The kitchen is ok, except for the electric stove. The stove itself is fine, but if there's no power, there's no way to cook. not a huge problem so far.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
new job
Yesterday was the last of my introduction classes, so I've seen every student I have. There are many. I think close to 1000. I will not be learning names. I'd be surprised if I remember faces.
So far the school is fine. The apartment is nice enough, the other staff reasonably friendly, and my workload is very light. I am still teaching at another college in my copious free time, so money is not an issue. For now, I have nothing to complain about.
I teach 9 classes a week, all double periods. Each class is one and a half hours. Twice a week (including a little later today) I teach Business English students. The rest of the time, I am teaching non-English majors, many of whom don't really want to learn English. Some are wildly enthusiastic. About what I'd expect. The 7 non-English classes are every other week, so I have 14 classes of them. These students do not receive a grade, so I only need to grade one class, and homework is not necessary. So I teach them if they want to learn, and ignore them otherwise.
I went exploring the area around my new home last night for a while. I was looking for, and found, a market, the supermarket, restaurants (preferably one with pictures, so I can point at what I want), a convenience stores, bike repair shops and places with pool tables. I was also hoping to find a bar or club and a dvd shop, but oddly enough failed at both. There are guys selling dvds off of carts, but they only have Chiense. Still, how can you have a large college and no bar in walking distance? Stranger, I found a few tattoo places. Tattoos are not very common in China, and while there are a few tattoo parlors in Zhongshan, I have no idea where there are a few here in the middle of nowhere.
I've gotten better at calculating how much power my scooter has, so trips to and from the center of the city are getting quicker as I am now able to go over 20 kph. (must remember to remind Michelle and Karen that if they want me to drive them around, it is important to mention that before I drive around a few hours. Those last few blocks home, it's more fun to ride the scooter than to push it)
last night, set up the Wii and decided to play to make sure it was working. Somehow, 5 hours disappeared. I think I know what will eat up a lot of my time soon.
So far the school is fine. The apartment is nice enough, the other staff reasonably friendly, and my workload is very light. I am still teaching at another college in my copious free time, so money is not an issue. For now, I have nothing to complain about.
I teach 9 classes a week, all double periods. Each class is one and a half hours. Twice a week (including a little later today) I teach Business English students. The rest of the time, I am teaching non-English majors, many of whom don't really want to learn English. Some are wildly enthusiastic. About what I'd expect. The 7 non-English classes are every other week, so I have 14 classes of them. These students do not receive a grade, so I only need to grade one class, and homework is not necessary. So I teach them if they want to learn, and ignore them otherwise.
I went exploring the area around my new home last night for a while. I was looking for, and found, a market, the supermarket, restaurants (preferably one with pictures, so I can point at what I want), a convenience stores, bike repair shops and places with pool tables. I was also hoping to find a bar or club and a dvd shop, but oddly enough failed at both. There are guys selling dvds off of carts, but they only have Chiense. Still, how can you have a large college and no bar in walking distance? Stranger, I found a few tattoo places. Tattoos are not very common in China, and while there are a few tattoo parlors in Zhongshan, I have no idea where there are a few here in the middle of nowhere.
I've gotten better at calculating how much power my scooter has, so trips to and from the center of the city are getting quicker as I am now able to go over 20 kph. (must remember to remind Michelle and Karen that if they want me to drive them around, it is important to mention that before I drive around a few hours. Those last few blocks home, it's more fun to ride the scooter than to push it)
last night, set up the Wii and decided to play to make sure it was working. Somehow, 5 hours disappeared. I think I know what will eat up a lot of my time soon.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Hacked
If you received any strange e-mails from me; no, I did not make an unexpected trip to Europe, get robbed, and ask you for money. I have lost access to facebook and my hotmail accounts. If trying to reach me, I guess you can use the same name at yahoo instead of hotmail.
Hopefully, that gets resolved soon.
Hopefully, that gets resolved soon.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Birthday
I aged another year. 36 is aooarently a moderately interesting birthday here, as it means it's the same zodiac year as when I was born. In other words, I'm a tiger, and it's the year of the tiger. Seems a flimsy excuse to celebrate, but flimsy excuses are better than no excuses.
Spent Saturday at work. hardly exciting, but useful, as i tend to spend money on things like food, rent, and toothpaste (need to buy toothpaste, preferably mildly offensive toothpaste, later today).
At night, a friend came by to cook. Of course, being a female friend of mine generally means you can't cook, so I cooked for us and a roommate.
After that, went to Friends Bar. A night of drinking was planned, but kind of derailed by Karen. her gift to me was to buy tickets for some wargaming thing Sunday. She didn't think to ask the time, which led to us having to be there at 8:30 on Sunday. Good news for my liver, as most people opted for the simpler "let me buy you a beer/shot for your birthday" plan. Kudos to Robert for successfully making Dr pepper using booze.
Sunday started early. Karen popped up to make sure i could get there. coincidentally, she arrived hungry as i was cooking. Christ says to feed the hungry. he never said there'd be paintball involved as a result. More people probably would if he had.
Due to her expert guidance and detailed knowledge of her hometwon, we arrived only 25 minutes late, missing most of the safety demonstrations and other useless nonsense. We were not there too late for the pre-shooting activities:
first, climb a tower about 7 meters high. Once there, jump out and catch a trapeze bar. This does require a harness, as most missed the bar. This was awkward, as I am deathly afraid of heights. Climbing up 20 feet or so seems like torture to me, much less leaping out into the air. having travelled with me and been on mountains and cable cars, karen is well aware of this, so she set out to explain the problem. Or rather, tell the guy in charge i was too fat and would probably not be able to climb up. I can recognize shameless manipulation when i see it, so I'm not sure how i wound up on top of the thing. Making the leap was easier for me than for some I guess in that I did it with insane laughter, while some cried.
Next up was wargames. Well, not exactly the wargame part. More like dividing into teams and choosing a captain. This was followed by choosing a name, a slogan, and a competition to see who could sing revolutionary songs better. I was at a slight disadvantage, in that I had never heard most Chinese revolutionary songs before, but really, it was a slight disadvantage, as no one else seemed to know any either. Once my suggestion i teach Clash songs was rejecte, i kind of tuned out.
next up would be the killing, except it was lunch time. karen has a slight speech problem, in that she told the team I'm a good cook, so i wound up doing about half the cooking. Inexplicably, I was able to give good advice on fish steaming. I have never cooked a fish in my life. the veggie stuff was ok.
After lunch and a brief nap, our fearless band headed over to the staging area, where we .... played some sort of game that involved standing is a circle spouting gibberish. losers were required to sing songs mocking their own posteriors. I swear every word of that is true.
from there, we moved to place involving an odd balance challenge. trying to move the entire tema through a filed stepping on little stones and not touching the ground. Karen has unusually small hands and feet. I'm about 8 inches taller than her and don't have unusually small feet. She thought this was challenging. I may have used bad words more than once.
next we headed over to the building where the guns were stored. we went there to use the rope tied toa tree to o something where you need to swing the team from a platform to a tire. First step was getting the rope, which was hanging in the middle. I suggested we tie our shoelaces together and tie them to a shoe, then swing the shoe until it cathes on the rope and pull it in. karen refused to translate, as it was a dumb idea. which in the end is what we did. Uncoordinated people + rope swing=comedy gold. The easiest thing to do was have someone lift people up on the rope, then they get flung acroos, where someone on the other sidecatches the rope and they hop down. This leads to the tallest and strongest person needing to swing over near the end, when the tire is packed full of people. My first attempt was not too different from bowling
Finally, we went out on the field and shot each other. Being the biggest target leads to getting shot a bit. Karen earned a timeout by removing her mask, and we both got one for shooting our team. repeatedly. in her case, at close range. I at least had the decency to snipe at her from behind a tree for a while. In the end, we lost at capture the flag, which i believe is because the team rejected my suggestion that we dig trenches and scrounge for barbed wireOr maybe it was that the other team had a few cops and our team was mostly salesman. Or maybe the ammo we wasted shooting each other would have been better spent onthe other side. Who knows.
So, 8:30 -5:30 had roughly an hour of actual fighting, and I got to cook three times for other people, including a group of ten. it was a lot of fun, though k was worried I'd be annoyed by all the non-shooting stuff. She took me out to dinner, and continued her amazing streak of choosing awful restaurants. Do not ever go with her to try somewhere new. I think she was served cat food.
The highlight of that day? Going to sleep around 8:45 at night
Spent Saturday at work. hardly exciting, but useful, as i tend to spend money on things like food, rent, and toothpaste (need to buy toothpaste, preferably mildly offensive toothpaste, later today).
At night, a friend came by to cook. Of course, being a female friend of mine generally means you can't cook, so I cooked for us and a roommate.
After that, went to Friends Bar. A night of drinking was planned, but kind of derailed by Karen. her gift to me was to buy tickets for some wargaming thing Sunday. She didn't think to ask the time, which led to us having to be there at 8:30 on Sunday. Good news for my liver, as most people opted for the simpler "let me buy you a beer/shot for your birthday" plan. Kudos to Robert for successfully making Dr pepper using booze.
Sunday started early. Karen popped up to make sure i could get there. coincidentally, she arrived hungry as i was cooking. Christ says to feed the hungry. he never said there'd be paintball involved as a result. More people probably would if he had.
Due to her expert guidance and detailed knowledge of her hometwon, we arrived only 25 minutes late, missing most of the safety demonstrations and other useless nonsense. We were not there too late for the pre-shooting activities:
first, climb a tower about 7 meters high. Once there, jump out and catch a trapeze bar. This does require a harness, as most missed the bar. This was awkward, as I am deathly afraid of heights. Climbing up 20 feet or so seems like torture to me, much less leaping out into the air. having travelled with me and been on mountains and cable cars, karen is well aware of this, so she set out to explain the problem. Or rather, tell the guy in charge i was too fat and would probably not be able to climb up. I can recognize shameless manipulation when i see it, so I'm not sure how i wound up on top of the thing. Making the leap was easier for me than for some I guess in that I did it with insane laughter, while some cried.
Next up was wargames. Well, not exactly the wargame part. More like dividing into teams and choosing a captain. This was followed by choosing a name, a slogan, and a competition to see who could sing revolutionary songs better. I was at a slight disadvantage, in that I had never heard most Chinese revolutionary songs before, but really, it was a slight disadvantage, as no one else seemed to know any either. Once my suggestion i teach Clash songs was rejecte, i kind of tuned out.
next up would be the killing, except it was lunch time. karen has a slight speech problem, in that she told the team I'm a good cook, so i wound up doing about half the cooking. Inexplicably, I was able to give good advice on fish steaming. I have never cooked a fish in my life. the veggie stuff was ok.
After lunch and a brief nap, our fearless band headed over to the staging area, where we .... played some sort of game that involved standing is a circle spouting gibberish. losers were required to sing songs mocking their own posteriors. I swear every word of that is true.
from there, we moved to place involving an odd balance challenge. trying to move the entire tema through a filed stepping on little stones and not touching the ground. Karen has unusually small hands and feet. I'm about 8 inches taller than her and don't have unusually small feet. She thought this was challenging. I may have used bad words more than once.
next we headed over to the building where the guns were stored. we went there to use the rope tied toa tree to o something where you need to swing the team from a platform to a tire. First step was getting the rope, which was hanging in the middle. I suggested we tie our shoelaces together and tie them to a shoe, then swing the shoe until it cathes on the rope and pull it in. karen refused to translate, as it was a dumb idea. which in the end is what we did. Uncoordinated people + rope swing=comedy gold. The easiest thing to do was have someone lift people up on the rope, then they get flung acroos, where someone on the other sidecatches the rope and they hop down. This leads to the tallest and strongest person needing to swing over near the end, when the tire is packed full of people. My first attempt was not too different from bowling
Finally, we went out on the field and shot each other. Being the biggest target leads to getting shot a bit. Karen earned a timeout by removing her mask, and we both got one for shooting our team. repeatedly. in her case, at close range. I at least had the decency to snipe at her from behind a tree for a while. In the end, we lost at capture the flag, which i believe is because the team rejected my suggestion that we dig trenches and scrounge for barbed wireOr maybe it was that the other team had a few cops and our team was mostly salesman. Or maybe the ammo we wasted shooting each other would have been better spent onthe other side. Who knows.
So, 8:30 -5:30 had roughly an hour of actual fighting, and I got to cook three times for other people, including a group of ten. it was a lot of fun, though k was worried I'd be annoyed by all the non-shooting stuff. She took me out to dinner, and continued her amazing streak of choosing awful restaurants. Do not ever go with her to try somewhere new. I think she was served cat food.
The highlight of that day? Going to sleep around 8:45 at night
change
I haven't been much, as I've mostly been looking for work. finally worked out a pretty good deal with a university here. i'll get a place to live, decent money, a fairly light work load, easy classes, and can continue teaching elsewhere, so long as it doesn't interfere with their classes. so i'll be making pretty good money by continuing some of the part time gigs. it's moe hours than i worked before, but i like most of my classes a great deal, so i don't mind.
one of the best things about the job is that it's in Zhongshan. The last frustrating month or two was made way better by friends. In particular, people like Wendy, Lucy, Norm, Mark and probably a few others tried to help me find students, while Karen, Yolanda and Sandy helped by tracking down people at schools where no one spoke English. It was encouraging watching people try to keep me here. Thanks
one of the best things about the job is that it's in Zhongshan. The last frustrating month or two was made way better by friends. In particular, people like Wendy, Lucy, Norm, Mark and probably a few others tried to help me find students, while Karen, Yolanda and Sandy helped by tracking down people at schools where no one spoke English. It was encouraging watching people try to keep me here. Thanks
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
confusion
I've had a few people over the last few months suggest I move on. Apparently, when you get stabbed, it seems like life isn't going according to plan.
I initially rejected the idea for a simple reason. This is my home, and the place I waited years to come back to. One person was able to arrange for a group of men to attack someone, with the end result that I was hurt, and left with some scars. Not much I can do about that now.
I didn't lie to my emplyer, and they chose to go the route of dishonesty and confrontation. Not much I can do about that now either. I decided to leave instead of battling them all year, which was expensive, but good for my mental health.
What I need to decide is whether or not I want to lose the good parts of my life here. I don't see much danger here, so that's not a reason to leave. I planned on transitioning to freelancing, and wound up doing it way ahead of schedule. I expected it would be difficult, and it is. One thing that's helping so far is the support of friends. People are trying to help me find students and part time work, and buying me drinks or food in order to lure me out of my house.
I expect I'll leave ZS at some point. I haven't seen most of the world, and would like to see a bit more. But I want to leave when it feels like time to move one, not because i'm being chased out. With the various headaches I have, I still am generally quite happy when my alarm goes off and it's time to begin my day, because I love my life and love what I do. I've known very few people who make that claim. I couldn't imagine putting a price on that feeling.
When I was in Hunan, Karen and I bought a kite to set on fire. It's an odd custom. You write wishes on the kite, then light a candle inside it. The flame heats the air, and it takes off like a small blimp. Ideally, it burns up, sending your wish into the next world. I don't know what she wished for, but I was kind of stumped. There seemed to be nothing I really wanted.
So I'm confused by the suggestion I should move on. I'm confused as to why others don't come here. It wouldn't work for everyone, but knowing what I gained, I'm surprised more don't try it.
I initially rejected the idea for a simple reason. This is my home, and the place I waited years to come back to. One person was able to arrange for a group of men to attack someone, with the end result that I was hurt, and left with some scars. Not much I can do about that now.
I didn't lie to my emplyer, and they chose to go the route of dishonesty and confrontation. Not much I can do about that now either. I decided to leave instead of battling them all year, which was expensive, but good for my mental health.
What I need to decide is whether or not I want to lose the good parts of my life here. I don't see much danger here, so that's not a reason to leave. I planned on transitioning to freelancing, and wound up doing it way ahead of schedule. I expected it would be difficult, and it is. One thing that's helping so far is the support of friends. People are trying to help me find students and part time work, and buying me drinks or food in order to lure me out of my house.
I expect I'll leave ZS at some point. I haven't seen most of the world, and would like to see a bit more. But I want to leave when it feels like time to move one, not because i'm being chased out. With the various headaches I have, I still am generally quite happy when my alarm goes off and it's time to begin my day, because I love my life and love what I do. I've known very few people who make that claim. I couldn't imagine putting a price on that feeling.
When I was in Hunan, Karen and I bought a kite to set on fire. It's an odd custom. You write wishes on the kite, then light a candle inside it. The flame heats the air, and it takes off like a small blimp. Ideally, it burns up, sending your wish into the next world. I don't know what she wished for, but I was kind of stumped. There seemed to be nothing I really wanted.
So I'm confused by the suggestion I should move on. I'm confused as to why others don't come here. It wouldn't work for everyone, but knowing what I gained, I'm surprised more don't try it.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
D&D
Seems this thing is acting funny again...
Most gaming groupd struggle with scheduling conflicts and a lack of players. Meanwhile, I've had to start a second game in order to satisfy player demand. I'll probably be coaching a new DM soon, as ours is getting too big and we might split in two. Which means i might be a player.
4th edition is growing on me. Netw players seem to like it. Every round people seem to have something cool to do,which was generally not the case with low level spellcasters in older editions. I still prefer 3rd (or pathfinder) but 4th is definitely better than I first thought.
I'm running Keep on the Shadowfell and just beginning Age of Worms, which is being adapted from 3rd edition. The group is happy they have stuff to kill. They were hired to map old ruins as part of a project by a young king. They promptly began making plans to ambush other surveyors to steal their maps and sell them. Then one seduced a surly elf (that's when the guy rolls a natural 20?) who has since turned againsthem, and they wish to kill all the kobolds. Apparently they see the kobold ability to shift a square as a personal affront.
If using the D&D character making program, make sure to equip items before printing. Characters do better with weapons and armor.
Choice quotes
R: Shift back here and let me stab you!
C: I'm happy to work for the king
S; Or kill him
C; Both are ok
R; I can't believe I got that elf chick.
S; Now we should kill her.
stunned silence
R: Is that your policy at the clubs here?
B; Would explain the screams at night
C: and the smell here
M; Being the Dm seems like a lot of work. Why does anyone want to do it?
S; For the ladies
M&K: We want to join
R: I think there's a rule against women gaming
S; They don't have the hand eye coordination to roll dice
K: I'm gonna stab you in the neck!
H: Kobold? like bald? like where you're losing hair?
R" dude, you are losing hair!
5 minutes later
S: Why are the kobolds attacking me? Those two called you bald
B; so because they can shift around easily, you feel the need for genocide?
all: YES!!
Most gaming groupd struggle with scheduling conflicts and a lack of players. Meanwhile, I've had to start a second game in order to satisfy player demand. I'll probably be coaching a new DM soon, as ours is getting too big and we might split in two. Which means i might be a player.
4th edition is growing on me. Netw players seem to like it. Every round people seem to have something cool to do,which was generally not the case with low level spellcasters in older editions. I still prefer 3rd (or pathfinder) but 4th is definitely better than I first thought.
I'm running Keep on the Shadowfell and just beginning Age of Worms, which is being adapted from 3rd edition. The group is happy they have stuff to kill. They were hired to map old ruins as part of a project by a young king. They promptly began making plans to ambush other surveyors to steal their maps and sell them. Then one seduced a surly elf (that's when the guy rolls a natural 20?) who has since turned againsthem, and they wish to kill all the kobolds. Apparently they see the kobold ability to shift a square as a personal affront.
If using the D&D character making program, make sure to equip items before printing. Characters do better with weapons and armor.
Choice quotes
R: Shift back here and let me stab you!
C: I'm happy to work for the king
S; Or kill him
C; Both are ok
R; I can't believe I got that elf chick.
S; Now we should kill her.
stunned silence
R: Is that your policy at the clubs here?
B; Would explain the screams at night
C: and the smell here
M; Being the Dm seems like a lot of work. Why does anyone want to do it?
S; For the ladies
M&K: We want to join
R: I think there's a rule against women gaming
S; They don't have the hand eye coordination to roll dice
K: I'm gonna stab you in the neck!
H: Kobold? like bald? like where you're losing hair?
R" dude, you are losing hair!
5 minutes later
S: Why are the kobolds attacking me? Those two called you bald
B; so because they can shift around easily, you feel the need for genocide?
all: YES!!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Timing
Since moving back to China, I have missed one day of work do to illness. I missed a lot of work due to stabbing, but, again, injury and sickness are different. So now that I'm freelancing and have no sick days, i came down with the worst flu I've had in ages. The last time I was this sick was wehn I had the whooping cough.
The good news is that my schedule is relatively light, so I've been able to make every lesson. i think I've even done an adequate job of teaching, though they were far from my best classes. The bad news is that I've been too ill to hound people about more hours. This could be an expensive illness.
For those who have never heard my frequent complaint, most conversations i have with schools follow a similar pattern.. they ooh and ahh at finding out I'm experienced. When they see I'm a certified teacher, they're in rapture. They say they're thrilled, as i'm the most qualified applicant they've ever had. Then they offer me the same salary they'd offer a high school grad who has never taught a class in his life. When questioned, they explain that this is the starting salary they pay everyone.
The two exceptions so far are the Radio and TV College (no connection to the one in GZ) and Capital, both of which seem willing to pay more for someone who seems a good teacher. So they are my priority. Th downside with Capital is that they charge the same rate to students irregardless of what the teacher is paid. So if i am paid more then someone else, it makes sense for them to use the cheaper guy.
It's the first month doing this, and Iexpected it to be slow. That I'm spending most of my time on the sofa coughing and drifting in and out is making it worse. but it seems my fever has broken and i should be able to resume talking to schools today. More to come...
T
The good news is that my schedule is relatively light, so I've been able to make every lesson. i think I've even done an adequate job of teaching, though they were far from my best classes. The bad news is that I've been too ill to hound people about more hours. This could be an expensive illness.
For those who have never heard my frequent complaint, most conversations i have with schools follow a similar pattern.. they ooh and ahh at finding out I'm experienced. When they see I'm a certified teacher, they're in rapture. They say they're thrilled, as i'm the most qualified applicant they've ever had. Then they offer me the same salary they'd offer a high school grad who has never taught a class in his life. When questioned, they explain that this is the starting salary they pay everyone.
The two exceptions so far are the Radio and TV College (no connection to the one in GZ) and Capital, both of which seem willing to pay more for someone who seems a good teacher. So they are my priority. Th downside with Capital is that they charge the same rate to students irregardless of what the teacher is paid. So if i am paid more then someone else, it makes sense for them to use the cheaper guy.
It's the first month doing this, and Iexpected it to be slow. That I'm spending most of my time on the sofa coughing and drifting in and out is making it worse. but it seems my fever has broken and i should be able to resume talking to schools today. More to come...
T
Thing i learned in Suzhou
Suzhou has a museum devoted to firefighters. Chinese people should not be allowed unsupervised access to a bell. one month later, my ears are still ringing
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Suzhou I
Suzhou is famed for it's canals, much like a dirtier venice. So we rode around in a boat
Suzhou is famous for traditional Chinese music. Apparently, their dialect sounds prettier than most. I don't have the knowledge to evaluate, but these two were good
Friday, February 26, 2010
by comparison
I have yet another insight into myself, based on things I've been compared to. according to Tuly, Karen and Alina in separate conversations, I am dumber than the following.
a rock
the homeless guy playing the harmonica
a monkey
a baby monkey
"a very stupid man who is also drunk"
an apple
an orange
a carrot
not a banana (apparently the dumbest fruit)
most other foreigners
curling (the sport)
a weight (at the gym)
a chicken
a rabbit
eels
a fish (we were near a place where you pick the animal you want to eat, and most of the animals seemed smarter than me)
a tree
two dogs having sex
in other news, people suck
a rock
the homeless guy playing the harmonica
a monkey
a baby monkey
"a very stupid man who is also drunk"
an apple
an orange
a carrot
not a banana (apparently the dumbest fruit)
most other foreigners
curling (the sport)
a weight (at the gym)
a chicken
a rabbit
eels
a fish (we were near a place where you pick the animal you want to eat, and most of the animals seemed smarter than me)
a tree
two dogs having sex
in other news, people suck
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Love in the Time of Cholera
waiting for love hurts
fifty years is far too long
but might be worth it
by Andy
Love in the Time of Cholera
waiting for love hurts
fifty years is far too long
but might be worth it
From Andy
WuXi II
Karen inside the temple. Because no batch of photos is complete without her smiling face
a few stories of Buddha there
behold the glory of the multi-colored temple ceiling!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Moby Dick
years ago, a group of us were trying to rewrite classic books as haiku. The idea was abandoned when we discovered that a book of such already existed. I've decided to repost some of them here.
Moby Dick
Call me Ishmael
Ahab hunts the white whale
Vengence is not good
by Adam, i think
Moby Dick
Call me Ishmael
Ahab hunts the white whale
Vengence is not good
by Adam, i think
Friday, February 19, 2010
slave to the wage
all good things come to an end, and my holiday is no exception. I'll be working on Monday it seems. I'll just be doing a small amount of tutoring next week, with classes beginning at a few places the following week.
it just struck me that i might be tutoring Monday to Saturday, and i bartend Sunday nights, so i somehow have a seven day work week. I expect that will change rather quickly.
I might be switching my bartending day to Monday. So if you're a Zhongshan resident, consider joining me for discount wine Mondays instead of half price appetizer Sundays. Please come save me from the same introductory conversation with Chinese strangers I have every week. if you won't do it for me, do it to save betty and Judy from the hassles of trying to have a conversation with me for a few hours.
it just struck me that i might be tutoring Monday to Saturday, and i bartend Sunday nights, so i somehow have a seven day work week. I expect that will change rather quickly.
I might be switching my bartending day to Monday. So if you're a Zhongshan resident, consider joining me for discount wine Mondays instead of half price appetizer Sundays. Please come save me from the same introductory conversation with Chinese strangers I have every week. if you won't do it for me, do it to save betty and Judy from the hassles of trying to have a conversation with me for a few hours.
Wuxi
Wuxi is a place I'd never heard of. Of course, that describes most of China. It's a big place. It's famous for great views of lakes, which we skipped, as it was near freezing, and a temple, which wasn't skipped. One of the biggest temples i've been to. very nice
inside the pillar was a baby Buddha, which is born every day and washed by dragons.
the temple from the outside.
Karen described the serene temple and the beautiful surroundings as "one of the most boring things I ever saw. Easily one of the most boring."
For whatever reason, I can't upload any more photos right now. I'll see if the site cooperates tomorrow or Monday
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Karen
A natural question might be "Why is that girl in so many pictures?" Easy, because most of the pictures have her in them. She has some sort of sixth sense that tells her when I'm considering taking a picture of something, and it causes her to leap in front of it and strike a pose. No way around it. I either had to ditch her or take endless photos of her.
She makes up for it by being fun to travel with and translating for me, so i can be lazy and not speak Chinese as much.
Still, if anyone wants to photoshop her out of some photos and send them to me, I won't object
She makes up for it by being fun to travel with and translating for me, so i can be lazy and not speak Chinese as much.
Still, if anyone wants to photoshop her out of some photos and send them to me, I won't object
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is one of the canal cities, famous for sceneries. It was a pleasant trip, but not a place you definitely need to see before you die. Come back after and feast upon their brains.
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