After surviving our trip to Suzhou, John and I decided we were ready for a bigger challenge. According to weather reports, Beijing is supposed to be stunning this weekend– high 70’s and low 80’s. So earlier this week, we started researching our travel options: plane, train, and bus. Now is peak travel season (we are nearing the national Labor Day holiday which occurs May 1-7), despite the frequency of sandstorms in the capital. Travel fares are much higher than usual. The prices were 930, 500, and 250 yuan, respectively for the three modes of travel. Several of our books indicated that the bus (sleeper) was the same duration as the train (14 hours), thanks to the completion a few years back fo the Shanghai-Beijing Expressway. So we’re gonna do the trip on the super-cheap and cram the essentials into a three-day trip.

Most natives I’ve spoken to say we’re crazy. I guess white-collar natives aren’t fans of the bus. Oh well, we’ll try it out and then figure out how we’re gonna return to SH. That’s right, living on the edge. Winging the itinerary left and right. Well we’re not totally roughing it. We’ll be staying at a two-star hotel… we draw the line at having a private bathroom. But we will forego the laptops for the whole trip. Yes, a true killer for computer addicts like us but I suppose the break will be good for us. I just hope I have all the information I need on my palm pilot. 🙂

Had my fourth SABIC class tonight. I love teaching business writing. Still a ton of work but so much fun. I’m starting now to plan recruiting more work, because my current projects end in June. I’ll try distributing some Move the Brain brochures next week. Wish me luck!

Thursday through Saturday were beautiful– sunny and in the 70’s. Unfortunately, John and I spent most of those days running around town for computer equipment. His new ShuttleBug PC, brought back from the USA, had a bunch of problems. After days of troubleshooting, John finally determined that the hard drive was bad. We spent several hours at a smoky, nearby internet cafe (so he could hook the unit up to a monitor). I was suprised to see that it had a diverse set of patrons, ranging from high school kids to adults, hanging out on a Saturday night. Thankfully, John repaired his problem and the ShuttleBug is now up and running.

On Saturday night, John and I watched Lost in Translation. I didn’t like the film. First, no character was particularly likeable. Second, I found Bill Murray’s wisecracks and “humor” insulting. The film also had this American arrogance air to it. I dunno. I was annoyed after watching it.

On Sunday, John and I made our first out-of-town solo trip. Unfortunately, we slept in and got a late start. We took the ching gui (elevated rail) to the Rail station. That place was so packed (and I don’t think it was because of Easter Sunday), John guessed this is where most of SH’s 15 million people are. I was a littel stressed, being in such a hurried environment, unable to read any signs. Fortunately, we had no problems getting the ticket and we were able to figure out our waiting rooms and the boarding doors (by matching up characters on our ticket with those on the lit signs). The train ride was only 60 minutes but I was disappointed. Yes, I guess I was foolish enough to expect the roominess of Amtrak for the paltry sum of 13 yuan. 🙂 The seats were very small and crammed. The people standing in the aisle were often pushed into the seating when vendors came through with their carts of ramen noodles, drinks, etc.

Suzhou was really different. A small city of 5.5 million. Had a quaint feel but the air was notably dustier. Unlike SH, Suzhou doesn’t restrict the use of motorcycles and two-stroke engines. We went to a silk museum but it was really lame (and dead). Then we rented bikes and dropped by the Humble Administrator’s Garden, one of two very famous gardens in Suzhou. It was really beautiful but all the people running around really lessened the effect. I wish we were there early in the morning. The experience would have been much nicer. After that, we walked around some and then headed back to the train station. Public transportation is extensive here, but the waiting game is very inefficient and tiring. And since the Chinese never wait in line like normal orderly people, the experience can really grate your nerves. When I was buying our return tickets, an old grandma (who hadn’t waited in line) kept saying to hurry up when I was asking about the different trains. I got so irritated, I started an exchanged. I mean, go wait in line like you’re supposed to and then you can hurry when it’s your own damn turn. The mentality here is so odd. People push and shove to get through gates but then all the train seats are assigned. I guess people don’t trust that the number of tickets sold match the capacity, because while we were waiting outside, people kept asking the guards if the train would depart without all the people (with tickets waiting in line) aboard.

On the ride back, a sugar daddy and his gal sat in front of us (facing us). Figures. It was a little uncomfortable, because I didn’t want to stare at them (they probably get enough of that) so I had to keep looking up, down, or out the window. And the woman was young– late teens or early 20’s. She was really obnoxious too. The guy was American, probably in his mid 50’s. All white hair. I thought it was kinda gross, but who am I to judge right? The journey back ran into some snags–at one point we were stopped for 15 minutes. No explanations given. We were just glad to get back into SH– for the dogs. I didn’t want to be stuck on a train overnight.

All in all, a decent first trip. We’ll have to look into ways to streamline the process. Maybe buy tickets at satellite offices in advance.

Thursday through Saturday were beautiful– sunny and in the 70’s. Unfortunately, John and I spent most of those days running around town for computer equipment. His new ShuttleBug PC, brought back from the USA, had a bunch of problems. After days of troubleshooting, John finally determined that the hard drive was bad. We spent several hours at a smoky, nearby internet cafe (so he could hook the unit up to a monitor). I was suprised to see that it had a diverse set of patrons, ranging from high school kids to adults, hanging out on a Saturday night. Thankfully, John repaired his problem and the ShuttleBug is now up and running.

On Saturday night, John and I watched Lost in Translation. I didn’t like the film. First, no character was particularly likeable. Second, I found Bill Murray’s wisecracks and “humor” insulting. The film also had this American arrogance air to it. I dunno. I was annoyed after watching it.

On Sunday, John and I made our first out-of-town solo trip. Unfortunately, we slept in and got a late start. We took the ching gui (elevated rail) to the Rail station. That place was so packed (and I don’t think it was because of Easter Sunday), John guessed this is where most of SH’s 15 million people are. I was a littel stressed, being in such a hurried environment, unable to read any signs. Fortunately, we had no problems getting the ticket and we were able to figure out our waiting rooms and the boarding doors (by matching up characters on our ticket with those on the lit signs). The train ride was only 60 minutes but I was disappointed. Yes, I guess I was foolish enough to expect the roominess of Amtrak for the paltry sum of 13 yuan. 🙂 The seats were very small and crammed. The people standing in the aisle were often pushed into the seating when vendors came through with their carts of ramen noodles, drinks, etc.

Suzhou was really different. A small city of 5.5 million. Had a quaint feel but the air was notably dustier. Unlike SH, Suzhou doesn’t restrict the use of motorcycles and two-stroke engines. We went to a silk museum but it was really lame (and dead). Then we rented bikes and dropped by the Humble Administrator’s Garden, one of two very famous gardens in Suzhou. It was really beautiful but all the people running around really lessened the effect. I wish we were there early in the morning. The experience would have been much nicer. After that, we walked around some and then headed back to the train station. Public transportation is extensive here, but the waiting game is very inefficient and tiring. And since the Chinese never wait in line like normal orderly people, the experience can really grate your nerves. When I was buying our return tickets, an old grandma (who hadn’t waited in line) kept saying to hurry up when I was asking about the different trains. I got so irritated, I started an exchanged. I mean, go wait in line like you’re supposed to and then you can hurry when it’s your own damn turn. The mentality here is so odd. People push and shove to get through gates but then all the train seats are assigned. I guess people don’t trust that the number of tickets sold match the capacity, because while we were waiting outside, people kept asking the guards if the train would depart without all the people (with tickets waiting in line) aboard.

On the ride back, a sugar daddy and his gal sat in front of us (facing us). Figures. It was a little uncomfortable, because I didn’t want to stare at them (they probably get enough of that) so I had to keep looking up, down, or out the window. And the woman was young– late teens or early 20’s. She was really obnoxious too. The guy was American, probably in his mid 50’s. All white hair. I thought it was kinda gross, but who am I to judge right? The journey back ran into some snags–at one point we were stopped for 15 minutes. No explanations given. We were just glad to get back into SH– for the dogs. I didn’t want to be stuck on a train overnight.

All in all, a decent first trip. We’ll have to look into ways to streamline the process. Maybe buy tickets at satellite offices in advance.

Who knew I’d fall into the drama of celebrities like Becks and Posh. It’s so out of character. 😉 Ok, so I spend some time every day surfing EOnline and Yahoo Entertainment News, so what? I need something to balance out the horror of Bush’s reign of terror…

So the latest news apparently (and I honestly didn’t follow these two royals until now) is that Becks had an affair with his personal assistant– Rebecca Loos, the daughter of a Dutch diplomat (as if that matters? what, upper crust people always have morals?). Anyway, the setting is described in most stories as this: Becks signed on with the Madrid soccer team and relocated to Spain. Posh and the two kids stayed in England. He had only been there a few months and then voila, the adultry begins. Anyway, I read some article today essentially blaming Posh for David’s infidelity. Yeah, you read me? The writer blames her for being selfish, because she has no reason to pursue her singing career, which is already “dead in the water.” So right, because she’s married to someone who makes lots of dough, she’s supposed to just quit her aspirations and move whereever. Nevermind that England is their home. Oh no. And let’s not forget poor, poor David. Alone in a new city with temptation all around him. “What did you expect Posh?” Well hell yeah, I’d expect my husband to get himself “acclimated” with his little helper too. What the fuck ever. Just another story where, if the affair is indeed true, the guy wrongs his wife; yet, somehow the story gets twisted so that he gets sympathy while his wife gets blame. Such bullshit. Come on! I’m not even a fan of either of them. I mean, the Spice Girls? Sorry, never caught on, but still, this shit put me in a foul mood today. Argh, who are these psychos?

In other news, my legs are totally black and blue. Yesterday, John and I were out walking the dogs. It was a warm night and I thought it’d be great to run Remy around. So I started running and calling her. Well, as has happened in the past, I didn’t see the damn wires stretched out about 15 feet from the nearest tree (to help it grow straight). Like an idiot, I tripped over it and fell on my face. It was a tough fall too. I now have a wire bruise across my shins. Thankfully, I didn’t get a bloody nose, but boy, I got all dizzy afterwards. To make matters worse, today John’s bike fell on me. The handlebar jabbed me in my thigh. Another bruise. Super injury-prone these days.

I had my third SABIC class this evening. Still lovin’ it. The country director actually sat in tonight. I think he enjoyed it so I get to keep the job a while longer. 🙂

Today was gorgeous–warm and sunny with a light breeze. John and I spent the afternoon riding around town. First stop: Ikea. I know, a dreadful starting point, but it’s the ONLY place that sells measuring cups (can you imagine?). And I’m having a killer craving for Alton Brown’s chewy choc chip cookies. I made them last Friday for John’s homecoming, but they were slightly off (apparently drawing measurements on a tumbler isn’t so accurate). Anyway, it was a successful shopping trip: John also picked up a pepper grinder.

In the afternoon, John and I checked out a local park. Beautifully maintained with plenty of trees, a large lake (chock full with tadpoles), and charming stone paths, the New Central Town Park is just a 5-minute ride away. We walked around for about 45 minutes and then it was time again for the Riders of Rohan! Yeah, we’re still riding around like maniacs ringing our bells. John and I were racing down the street and some guy started cheering me on. We’re totally dorks.

The top news of our day? Discovery of a German bakery called Bastiaan. Breads, pastries, cakes, deli meats… we dropped an easy 150 yuan on our carboload of pita bread, apple pie, blueberry pie, soft rolls, and a vegetable quiche. But don’t worry, it’s not ALL for us. We’re picnicking tomorrow with some friends, and we always aim to impress on the food front. 🙂

So much for John’s hypothesis that someone is out to get me (my bike always gets knocked over). Today, as he prepared for a groceries run OHO (on his own), John came upon a flat front tire. Totally busticated. For once, my bike was untouched (with its tires were full of air). 🙂

Good thing for John, we’ve already mastered the art of forming guanxi (relationships). So OHO, he walked his bike to our repairman down the street. Actually, his tire wasn’t slashed by a nemesis, as I was suggesting. He just had run over some broken glass (there’s a lot of construction nearby). Needless to say, the puncture was patched at a native’s rate of 2 yuan. And I wasn’t even there to ensure the local rate. Life is good when you have guanxi.

In the mornings, Bubs has been swinging by his jaozi (dumlings) and dan bing (egg pancake) joints. He’s only given them business twice, but already they greet him like an old customer and welcome him warmly in Chinese. They remember his past orders– that he likes hot sauce on his pancakes and buys 4 sun jian dumplings each time. And this personalized attention exists all over– at the produce market, at the stationery store, at the noodle shop, at the bike parking garage. It’s crazy! But we really love it, and we always go back to our peeps.

I had my second SABIC class last night. Boy, business writing is a difficult topic to teach. It’s really no games. We cover stuff like the difference between using that and which, subject-verb agreement for collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, old-fashioned vs. modern business language…. Some of the stuff still trips me up, and I’m a native speaker. But I’m enjoying this job tremendously, because it really suits my anal writing habits. Regardless of whether I’m teaching this class, I often look up these kinds of details. I even brought my college grammar book to China.

I had my first guzhen lesson today. I have a lot of (re)learning to do: the music book uses completely different notations than my old one. Also, I was taught to extend my ring and pinky fingers while plucking with the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Today, my teacher said that made my hand too tense. Now I’m supposed to curl those fingers instead. 🙁

The sound of my instrument is so beautiful. I’ll have to play it sometime for those of you who are connected (if you have to ask, you’re out of the loop!). I have to say I’m glad I spent the money on my guzhen rather than an electric bike.

It’s been terrific having Bubs back in the fold. The only sucky thing is that we are now on completely different schedules. After suffering from insomnia during the last several weeks (I’m not sure if it’s the excitement of work or the frustrations with Bush), I’ve been staying up until about 3 am every night and then sleeping in. John, on the other hand, has been sleeping about 16 hours a day. Of course, he only returned to SH last Friday so jetlag is somewhat the culprit. Still, John keeps insisting that he has some “condition,” some abnormality that causes him to sleep unusually long hours.

He may have had a breakthrough today though. He got up around 6 am and started working away. By 3 pm, his work day was complete. But he went with me to SABIC tonight in Pudong. We didn’t get home till 10:30 pm. Tomorrow will be the true test.

Hurray! After enduring another 24-hour journey from the US, Bubbey arrived home on Friday night. I met him at the airport (I took a bus and it only cost 20 yuan!). Some Chinese celebrity was on his flight because I was pushed and shoved by journalists and camera people vying for a better position at the gate exit. When we got home, I did a redeux of the meal I prepped several weeks ago with Wang Jian and Ya-Ya came over for dinner: salad, sauteed spinach, edamame, choc chip cookies (Alton Brown chewies). Though he had already eaten on the plane, he willingly crammed in some additional grub.

On Saturday, Bub insisted on getting up early. By 8:30 am, we had consumed egg pancakes and some grease sticks. We were having a blast touring around the city amidst the early morning bustle. However, once we got home, we fell into a coma. Didn’t get up until the afternoon. For dinner, we went to our favorite Indian restaurant Punjabi. Stuffed our faces (I hadn’t eaten like that in weeks) and then left feeling bloated and gross. We then headed down the street to Carrefour. Apparently, it had slipped our minds that it was Saturday. What a nightmare. After we arrived home, we realized we forgot to buy measuring cups. Damnit.

Sunday was another quasi-lethargic day. We got up at a decent hour in the morning and then went to Dynasty for lunch. My uncle had taken us to the Chinese restaurant before… so we went in armed with the old receipt, listing all the tasty dishes. We made some minor modifications with the ordering, but were pleased nonetheless. The thing about Dynasty is they have this lunchtime fruit/coffee/tea buffet. At 12:45, the staff sets up an entire table with all these goodies. The problem is, all the diners at that point storm the buffet table. No line, no order, no courtesies. The winning strategy seems to be someone gets to the table, grabs the tongs, and starts piling shit on the plate. Other family members then grab the loaded plate and give the person a new plate. So the key position is always held. Meanwhile, the rest of us are kept at bay. Fortunately, I am a little taller than the average Chinese kid/woman, so from the second row, I just grab over them. Screw the tongs, I just use my hands. In doing so, I got all this negative reaction from 1) servers 2) front row people, but I had my say back. I mean, after all what am I supposed to do when they stake out their positions and never leave until they’ve hoarded everything?! Originally, I had sent John to get the fruit. After all, he is a giant and I thought the Chinese would be less inclined to push and shove him. Well, he was immediately turned off by their behavior and refused to participate in the mob activity. So he actually returned to the table empty-handed. Hell, the Chinese don’t have a Miss Manners handbook. I was not to be denied. I was determined to get in there and get my fruit. It wasn’t easy, but I returned to the table triumphant– two plates full of peaches, oranges, and pineapple.

Got my instrument today. According to my instructor, my guzheng (Chinese zither) was handmade using wood from Yangzhou (not sure where that is). It’s a beautiful reddish wood, with shell carvings on the sides. The sound is so rich and resonating. Now I just have to get used to the picks. You essentially tape them to your fingertips with first aid tape. I used to play using Lee press-on nails, but they don’t do that here. My lessons start next Thursday. And fortunately for me, my Thursday student canceled class tonight. Now I can attend the guzheng concert at the music conservatory.
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Just got back from the concert. A nice performance hall, and there were many more people than I was expecting. The performers included two women from Japan and a Chinese man and woman. For the most part, the Japanese played really avant-garde, cacophonous stuff. I mean they were like slapping the strings and making all kinds of weird sounds. I felt like they were doing background music for some horror flick. I guess I’m just used to hearing classical music on this instrument, which dates back about 2300 years. The male performer was especially stellar. Apparently, he is world reknown. He did several pieces accompanied by piano. The Chinese woman played accompanied by a drummer. Anyway, it was an enjoyable event (except for the elderly couple behind me who didn’t know how to whisper).

I had my first class for SABIC this evening. SABIC is the company that’s hired me to teach its staff business English writing. I was stressing myself out, preparing for the first lesson. But it went wonderfully. My students are young professionals– in their 20’s and 30’s. I suppose I was expecting a serious, quiet bunch, but they were great– unabashed and lively. I taught the word “Ms.” today. Like my parents, my students thought it meant a divorced woman. Sheesh. But I set them straight and said that I preferred Ms. over Mrs. Hee, hee. The indoctrination begins…. One student said he loved my company name– “Move the Brain.” I was so thrilled, because my mother gave me such grief over it. “Move the Brain” is translated literally from a Chinese Idiom which means to find a way, to think of a way (solution). Yay, a Chinese person got it!

Oh, on Monday I nailed another tutoring job. This time, my clients are these sisters– one is 8 and the other is 14. At first, I was avoiding this job. I guess you could say I’m part of a childless couple and I want to keep it that way. But then my wise friend Em suggested I just meet the girls, just to see. The interview with them and their mother went great. The girls appear very well-behaved and their mother, though native Shanghainese, speaks English really well (as well as Mandarin and Japanese) and actually has a sarcastic sense of humor. She was totally cool, so now I’m really looking forward to starting that gig on Monday afternoon.

So things are going well. I’d almost venture to say that I’m happy. Feels a little weird saying that actually– not because I’ve had a miserable existence or anything, but because for a while, I had resigned myself to a boring life. You know what I’m talking about– life as this slow progression from human to robot. Life as an endless series of immutable tasks, repeated ad nauseum. In so many ways, John and I have snapped out of that cycle. I honestly feel a new liberation. It’s just amazing. Life is good. My brain is churning again. Tomorrow I’m meeting with my guzhen (Chinese zither) teacher to buy an instrument. I can’t wait to start taking lessons again. It’s been years already.

In the evening, I have my tutoring session with Cissy. She’s one year younger and just got an interview to the Fudan/Hong Kong University MBA program. The program application, interview, and curriculum is all in English. I’m helping her prep for the event next week–a group behavioral interview. I had private behavioral interviews when I was applying for engineering firms– they were the new recruiting tool a couple years back. But I can’t imagine having to go through all of that in a non-native tongue. Cissy is inspiring in that sense. She is motivated, confident, and undaunted.

In other news, John gets back in two days. He’ll have been gone nearly three weeks, can you believe it? He’s bringing back some goodies– although I’m disappointed our wedding cake will not be among them. I’m having a real hankering for yellow cake with buttermilk frosting. I don’t think my little oven can squeeze something like that in though. 🙁 I can’t wait for his return. I’ll have a feeding buddy again. I’m gonna take him to La Seine to celebrate (his return, my new gigs, Duke’s victory in the NCAA tourney :)).