Random Beijing Olympic Picture

Just 'cause, here is a picture related to the 2008 Beijing Olympics....

This is the place where events like Rhythmic Gymnastics will be held. It's on the campus of the Beijing University of Something or Another. It's walking distance from my house. (Long walk, but still walkable.)

New Digs

As some of you know, I recently moved.

I promised pictures. So, here you go...

This first picture is the view outside the 3"H x 4"W window of my old apartment.

This is the view outside the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window of my new place.

See the building in the center of the picture? See the top floor? That's where I live.

This was my old living room. It was bigger than the picture makes it seem, but this was the best picture I could get due to angles, etc. This view is from standing at the front door. I actually had it arranged differently, but I put it all back they way it was when I moved in.

This is my new living room. I had the chairs set like that because 10 people were coming over for food. Normally, they are around the dining room table. In this position, I have my back against the "sun room" that has the window which looks at the place in picture number 2.

So anyway.... There are a couple pictures of the new digs. Costs a lot more, and not everything is perfect, but it's worth it to me.

What's not perfect? Well...
-The water is TOO hot. Scalding hot at halfway.
-Paying my bills is more of a pain. I had to open an account at a different bank just to buy electricity.
-Running out for a soda, or ice cream, or a potato is much more involved. I can't just walk across the street anymore.
-The old place was 2 bedroom. Which meant I had one room just to store junk. Now, I don't have as much junk storage as I used to.

Still, overall, a major upgrade in my life. And, I'm very pleased.

Feel free to visit any time.

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This picture is completely unrelated to my apartment.

A while back, we took the kids and their parents on a field trip to an apple orchard. It was one of those Pick-Your-Own places. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. Even me.

Here is a picture of the sign outside the place.

It says "Ping Guo Yuan", which translates to "Apple Garden".




So there we go... My old place, my new place, and a Chinese lesson all in one post.

Happy Thanksgiving, New House, and Bicycle Crashes

Howdy all.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I've been a little quiet recently. Primarily because of dealing with the new house.

Searching for the new place was not fun. Cleaning the old place was not fun. Unpacking at the new place is not fun.

But, I've found, cleaned, and made a huge dent in the unpacking, so all is good.

I'll have pictures in a few days. I just need to get the pictures onto the computer, sort them and post them. You'll see the before and after, old vs new.

One thing about the new place is that I can't walk to work anymore. It's a little too far. So, i ride my bike.

In the previous two years of living here, I'd only had one accident. In the past two days, I've had two accidents.

Accident #1 - I'm riding my bike down Wusheng Lu. Car comes out of a side street and pokes its nose out. I have to swerve to miss the car, and bump off the side of a passing bus. No big deal. Didn't fall, and barely slowed down. Just a little something to get the adrenaline going.

Accident #2 - Happened just about an hour ago. I'm riding along, and one of those tricycle pedalcab things turns left right in front of me. I couldn't stop. Crashed into him, he rolled over my front tire and mangled it all to hell.

Remember the story of when I got accused of shoplifting? How tons of people stopped to watch?

Think about this.... This time, it was the middle of nighttime rush hour. Right at a bus stop. And this time, I know enough Chinese to curse at the guy in Chinese. LOTS of spectators.

To make a long story short... The guys friends moved his pedalcab away, and he took off running when he realized that the cops were coming to sort it all out. One thing about China... The cops will make an on-the-spot decision, and demand that the person in the wrong pay the other person, right then and there.

I'm not really pissed about the cost of the new tire. I am pissed that I let him get away. Oh, well.

At least I did get to use my Chinese cursing in a real life situation :)

I got to use:
-Are you foolish?
-You are foolish!
-Are you blind?
-You are blind!
-You are stupid!

I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have told him that he wears a green hat. This is just about the worst thing you can say to a Chinese guy.

Obviously, Chinese-style cursing is a little different than American-style cursing.

Anyway... Hope all of you have/had a great Thanksgiving! No green hats for you!

Magores

Been back for a week, here's what's happened so far

So... I've been back in China for a little over a week. A lot has happened...

I got in late on Thursday. Had one beer and slept.

Friday...
-I looked for a place to live
-Met a girl from Israel
-Found a great place to live, that I can't live at
-Saw about 8 other places that I wouldn't want to live at

Monday...
-Looked at some other places to live

Tuesday...
-Looked at some other places
-Had a double date. Lynn, her boyfriend, Della, and Me. I took them for Indian food.

Thursday...
-Found a really nice place to live, that I CAN live at

Friday...
-Signed the lease

Today...
-Asked Della if she wants to try German food next week. She said yes.
-Will contact Guo Yang and/or Rain later tonight to see about dinner next week

Tomorrow...
-Going out for a beer with a fellow ex-pat from the Bay Area

Busy me.

--------------

The place I can't live at.

Long story, but to make it really short:
-Illegal apartment. (Kinda like the Mother-in-law apartments people build in SF.)
-Can't get Residence Permit, since its 1) Illegal Place, 2) No landlord to sign the paperwork
-Was/Am kinda bummed. Its a great place. Huge deck with a view of the Main Olympic Stadium (Bird's Nest) and the Swimming Place (The Bubble) Would have been a great place to live, have parties, watch the Opening Ceremonies fireworks, etc

--------------

The place I will move to.

Really nice home.

I'm very pleased that I found it.
-Newly painted, clean, no exposed pipes, an actual shower
-Close to work.
-Close to the foreigner supermarket
-Nice view of city lights
-Sort of expensive, but cheaper and better than some of the other places I saw. It's a steal actually.
-The building across the street, which I have a view of, is a surreal, gothic-like castle. It's a mix of hotel, very expensive apartments, and retail.

I'll take pictures of the current place, and the new place, so you can all see how much of an upgrade it actually is.

------------

The double date...

We went for Indian food. First time any of them had ever had.

Was a good time.

------------

The Israeli girl...

Long story but basically... She's hot. Just sent her a text message about 2 seconds ago. We'll see how it goes.


--------------------------

So, that's a brief summary of my first week back.

I was in the US... And now I'm not.

Hi all.

Been a little while since the last post, and I promised people I would post, so here we go...

As many of you know, I was in the US for a couple weeks. No wine or women, but there was song. And family, and friends, and good food, and clean air... Good times.

---------------

For someone like me, who is basically a Left Coast Kid, the mention of Arkansas brings to mind images of bad teeth, Monster Truck Rallies, NASCAR, moonshine, road kill stew, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised to see it isn't really like that. (At least, not in the parts I saw.)

Lots of trees, lots of animals (road kill and otherwise), and not many people. 2000 census shows 2,673,400 people in the entire state. For comparisons sake... the city I live in right now has more than 13,000,000 people. It was very nice to not see 5000 people as soon as I walked out the door.

And, I saw the Milky Way. I've seen it before, but it's a been a loooooong time.

Had frog legs for the first time ever. Pretty good actually. And fried kale. I liked it. I hear that boiled kale isn't quite as good though.

Went fishing for the first time in years. Huge lake. I saw a grand total of 4 people the whole time. And two of them were me and my Dad. Didn't catch anything, but no problem. Just gives me an excuse to go back.

And, I got to see my parents. Best part, needless to say.

---------------

Did SF too.

Didn't get to see everyone I would have liked to have seen. But, considering that almost no one knew I was coming, I actually saw quite a few people. (Hello to everyone that I did and/or didn't see.)

I timed it good too. If you have a chance, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is a great excuse to visit SF.

One thing very nice about SF that can be easy to forget... I had Indian food, Thai food, Italian food, Mexican food, and, yes, even Chinese food. I miss the variety of food available in the US.

---------------

I got to see LA too. Well, the part of it near the airport, at least.

And my sis and nephew. Good times.

Note to Sis: Let him come for a visit next summer if he wants to. It would be a great learning experience. Stories to tell his friends, kids, grandkids, etc.

Note to Nephew: Stop growing. You get any taller, and I won't be able to find things to fit you.

---------------

Anyway.... There's a brief summary of my trip to the US.

Next time, I'll tell you what's been happening since I got back. For example...
-TSA opening my luggage at the airport
-New house
-The double date
-IDF babe

It's picture day!!

Yesterday, I went to Zhongguancun. I took pictures along the way. Here are some of them.

Forbidden Palace, aka The Palace Museum

There are signs scattered around the city, that show the countdown until the Olympics. Here is one of them.

This is a new sign.
I've ridden past here before, and never seen the sign until now.
Obviously, this is where the Road Races will begin.

The Road Race sign points you to this sign.

Forbidden City, on the way home.

I stopped in a a shopping district.
This was an area where Beijingers with a good amount of cash go shopping.
Cute girl walked by.
I took a picture.

That's all for now. I'll be in the US at the end of September/start of October. See you all then.

The Beijing Museum of Natural History

We took the kids on a field trip to the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

I've been there before. It's kinda cool.

Here are some pictures:






This last one is kinda gross. There was a building set aside from the others called the Hall of Human Bodies. I scoped it out before we took kids in there. After seeing the displays, we didn't let the kids go in that room.

I took a couple of pictures before I left. After I had taken the pictures, I saw the sign that said "No pictures!

Only scroll down if you down mind seeing a kinda gross picture.

Mid-July Update: I got lost in the farmland

Couple weeks since I've posted, so I figured I should update the world on my status.

1. I'm alive. Nothing real special going on. Just basic days.
2. I'm busy. Summer is my busiest time of year.
   
3. I'm a chef. Flower cut tomatoes stuffed with Red Wine cooked chicken salad.
   
4. I'm Sooooooooo ready to visit the US. A bit homesick atm.
   

Right now is just basic days...

Although... I did have an interesting day right after my last post.

Basically, I like to ride my bike. So, I decided to ride south. No particular place to go. Just... South. One thing led to another, and I ended up heading East.

I live near the 3rd Ring. I rode out past the 6th ring. This is a hefty little journey. No idea about distance, but it was around 3 hours of hard, fast riding.

Then I got lost. Even with my maps, and a general idea of which page to look at, I had no idea exactly where I was.

I was in some little piss-ant town. I tried to go home. I went in a circle. So I tried to go home again, in a different direction. I went in a circle. And, I was back in the piss-ant town. So, I tried to go home AGAIN. Yep. I did a circle again. And, I was back in the piss-ant town.

Finally, I got smart. I asked some guys at a toll-booth how to get back home. Apparently, I was SO out in the boonies, they couldn't even figure out how I even got there in the first place.

A few hours later, and numerous stops to ask peasants where I was, I finally got home.

I left my house at 11am. I got home at 8pm. Insane leg cramps. Body covered in dried salt.

Why was this actually kinda cool?

During those 9 hours of riding, being lost, etc. ... I spoke no English. It would have been pointless, out where I was, since no one would have understood me. It was the longest stretch of non-English since I've been here (besides sleep, of course).

I dealt with street vendors selling water, shop keepers selling water, toll booth guys, random peasants, and people at a little restaurant. And I did it all in Chinese. And, the people actually understood me.

Conversations included "Please give me a bottle of water.", "Do you have colder water?", "What road is this?", "Can you help me find this road on my map?", "Where the hell am I?", "I live near the 3rd ring. Can you tell me how to get back there... on a bicycle?", "Yes. I'm on a bicycle. I came out here on purpose, but now I want to go home.", "Are you serious? I have to go NE, in order to get to my home which is SW of here? Damn!"

What was the REALLY best part?

I learned a new greeting. It's actually a form of Goodbye, rather than Hello.

Goodbye in Chinese is "Zai Jian". And, over the last year and a half, shopkeepers have said this to me when I leave, if they say anything at all.

During, and ever since, my "Lost in the Farmland" bike ride, people say something a little different.

They say "Man Dianr", which is essentially "Take it easy." (Literally: "Slow a little")

People at work say it's because I can actually talk a little bit of coherent Chinese.

The shopkeepers are saying the same thing to me, that they would say to any other Chinese person.

It's kinda cool.

Makes me feel like I'm making a little progress on the Chinese Language thing.

---
Moral of the story?

Best way to practice your 2nd language skills is to go out and get lost.

And now for something completely different...

So... After 2 weeks or so, I finally got my internet back.

I was feeling a little homesick for "Western culture", so I did a search for 'internet tv'. The goal was to find SOMETHING in English.

Of course, I can watch AN English TV station here (AN, as in 1). And, of course, I can watch plenty of movies. But, frankly the TV is boring, and I've watched so many movies I'm sick of them. And the selection of English music in Beijing is horrible.

One thing led to another, and I ended up on a Dutch (Norwegian, Swiss, Finnish, whatever) website. They were playing videos of music I've never heard before, so I let that play in the background while I read a book.

All of the sudden, music came out of my computer that made me sit up and say... "Oh my f-ing God! This stuff ROCKS!"

And, I do mean ROCKS!

As in, kick you in the head, burst your eardrums, shatter your teeth, give you a kidney punch, and then stomp on your brain type of kick ass.

-----

This link is to the same video I saw on the Euro-website, but this is the youtube version. BUT WAIT! Don't watch it yet.

Watch this one first. Most of you will probably like this one more than the first one... That is, if you like it at all.

If you like the 2nd one, then check out the first one. Keep in mind, that they are different types of songs/videos. So you might like one, but not the other. Or, maybe you won't like either. Or, you will like both. Who knows?

---
Very "heavy" stuff.

!@$%@!&&)(&!!! internet!

2 weeks, no internet.

But, it seems to be back again.

Cross my fingers.

It's picture time

Here are some random pictures that I thought I would show for no particular reason...

Sometimes I curse at the tangle of wires behind my computer and my TV/DVD/CD player. You think Chinese utility workers do the same?

I like phone booths.

Stereotypical Beijing bus stop sign.

The Baiyun ("White Cloud") Taoist Temple

Inside the Baiyun Temple.
Living quarters for the monks. A monk.
And two pure white doves overseeing it all.

I actually passed my test

I mentioned a month or so ago, that I took a "Test of Chinese Proficiency".

I just found out today, that I passed. I'm actually a little surprised that I did.

The test is the HSK. It's THE test for foreigners trying to learn Chinese. There are 3 levels, and within each level there are 3 sublevels. (There is actually a fourth level that is new, and supposedly super easy. But, by everyone's opinion that one doesn't count.)

I took the level 1 test. I passed with a "C" (lowest possible) grade.

As I said, I'm actually surprised I passed, for a number of reasons...

• The test makers suggest the test for people that have studied Chinese in a classroom for 200-300 hours. I've studied in a classroom for 0 hours.
• You should know 1200-3000 characters/words. I know maybe 600.
• I did best on the reading section, worst on the grammar, and middling on the listening. Not quite what I would have expected before the test. But, reasonable enough based on what the test was actually like.
• It's graded on a curve. In the room where I took the test, there were 3 white guys like me, an African girl, a Russian girl, and 30 Koreans. I expected to be the one guy to boost the curve for everyone else. Of course, there are thousands of people across the world taking this test, all on the same day. Apparently, some of them knew less than I did.

I don't have the actual piece of paper certificate in hand yet. And, I won't celebrate until I do.

But, for now, it's enough to think that maybe I actually AM learning something over here.

So there I was, minding my own business...

So there I was, minding my own business...

I was just walking to work this morning, just like any other day.

When, all of the sudden, a spooked out horse pulling a flatbed cart full of watermelons crosses four lanes of traffic, right at the intersection, during morning rush hour, and decides to head right to the corner that I, and 50 other people, are standing at.

Everyone did a little shimmy to the right or left, and the horse and cart passed by without hitting anyone. It went by me with 2 feet to spare.

I caught a look at the horse's eyes as it came towards me. It was definitely spooked about something. You could see it in it's eyes. Was freaky.

---

That's one thing about living in Beijing... People appear clueless to everyone else around them.

People will step in front of you, stop in front of you, spit in in front of your next step, and generally ignore your presence. People ignore traffic laws and other things which I would call "common courtesy".

But, when push comes to shove, people seem to have a "sense". Cars don't hit people, people snake their way around cars, the lines at stores seem to keep moving, and people don't step in the spit.

Like I said a long time ago, when I DID get hit by a truck... it's like a dance.

The horse forgot his steps, but everyone else covered for it. We all shimmied, and went on our way.

As if it were all supposed to happen exactly the way it did.

Very interesting read

A little old, but worth taking a look at.

You can see what I go through every day. (Everyday that I have internet, that is...)

Happy Children's Day!!

Friday June 1, 2007 is International Children's Day.

I wasn't aware that this existed until I came to China. Apparently, it's a reasonably big deal around the world though.

Click on the title of this post to see more information.

Beijing Aquarium

I went to the Beijing Aquarium today.

It was a school field trip, I was told that I just had to go - not work. Of course, we know how that worked out.

--

The link for this post goes to the Frommers travel guide review of the aquarium. I linked to it, not because of its review of the aquarium, but because of its brief mention of the nearby zoo.

What Frommers says about the zoo is true.

--

So, you ask... How was it?

Not bad actually.

Riding herd over 24 kids aged 3.5 to 6 isn't easy, but I've done the field trip thing before, so I know what to expect as far as that is concerned.

There were some cool looking fish, and some nice displays.

We went through the place fairly quick, so I didn't have time to actually look at the fish AND the descriptions. Of course, the descriptions were in Chinese, so that didn't really matter.

The seal and dolphin show was okay. Of course, I'm spoiled. Having lived in San Diego, I've done the Sea World thing a number of times.

My review: If Sea World is a 9, and the actual ocean/lakes/rivers are an 11, then the Beijing Aquarium would be a 5. Review might have been a little lower, but there were no crowds. When you spend time in Beijing, you really come to appreciate the time without people.

But... the Zoo. Avoid at all costs. I mentioned this a year ago when I went there. It's depressing. Do NOT visit the Beijing Zoo. Aquarium is okay though.


---

Here are some pictures of the Beijing Aquarium. Taken today. Hot off the press, so to speak...

#5 - What I did in China with no internet for 6 months

I studied Chinese.

-Flashcards while walking to work.
-Practice tests
-One day a week at work with no English.
-Grammar books
-Vocabulary lists

And then I took a Chinese language proficiency test.

I haven't got my results back yet, but I know I did pretty bad.


Basically, here's how it works...

-The HSK is the major Chinese language test.
-There are 3 primary levels: Basic, Elementary/Intermediate, Advanced
-Within each level, there are 3 breakdowns -A, B, or C

Passing the Advanced test means you have studied Chinese, in a classroom setting, for YEARS. Working knowledge of 8,000+ Chinese words (written, spoken, and listening). Nit-picky grammar rules are tested. To put this in perspective, you really only need 2000-3000 words to read a newspaper, and even less than than to have a spoken conversation with a native about almost anything.

(Also, keep in mind that you need to know WORDS, not CHARACTERS. You can know all of the characters in a sentence, but only know 1 or 2 words.)

The Middle level assumes you know somewhere around 3-4,000 words. Plus the associated grammar.

Basic level is around 1-2000 words, plus grammar. General rule is 300+ hours of in-class instruction.

Recently, they announced the "Threshold" test. Less than 200 hours of instruction, 600 words. All instructions in English. This is the test for dumbshits like me.

Boss lady called for me. Threshold test costs 4x the other tests. The person at HSK actually recommended that I NOT take it. Okay. I'll do the Basic test in December. Boss said she would pay for it, if I took it in April. Uhhh.. Okay.

This gave me one month, to increase my reading skill from 200 or so words to 2000 words. I needed to increase my grammar knowledge from that of a 2 year old to that of a high school kid.

On top of that, the Basic test is graded on a curve. So, even if I got 87% correct, if everyone else got 97%, I would still fail.

I won't bore you with details right now, but suffice it to say, I'm not feeling real good about my chances.

I DID increase my reading skill by triple what I could do before I started cramming. (But, 600 words out of the necessary 2000 isn't too good.)

And, I CAN actually speak in reasonably not bad grammar if I have a chance to think before I talk. (But, this test doesn't have a spoken section.) My pronunciation is still absolutely atrocious though.

And, if people talk slower than usual, and if I have a chance to translate it in my head, I can usually understand the general idea, even if I don't understand each individual word. (Unfortunately for me, the test is timed. No real chance to think about what you just heard.)


So.... We'll see.

#4 - What I did in China with no internet for 6 months

Studied Linguistics, as well as Methods and Approaches to Teaching Foreign Languages,and English Grammar.


Pretty geeky, huh?

There is a WIDE variety of material on these topics available at any of the larger bookstores in Beijing. And the books are cheap, even by Chinese standards.

For example, an English Language version of any Harry Potter, in paperback, will cost you 160RMB or more. But, I picked up "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading" for 9RMB. "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Writing" was 10RMB. "English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course" was 25RMB.

I'm at the point where I could, if required, talk reasonably sensibly about:
-the Audio-Lingual Method
-the Silent Way
-TPR (I've know about this one for quite awhile actually.)
-The Direct Method
-Neuro-Linguistic Programming
-and others

I just did a Google search for something on this topic. Here's a link that appears, at first glance, to give and overview of some of these topics. I haven't looked at it closely, but for an overview, it seems okay.

Damn. I scare myself sometimes.

#3 - What I did with no internet for 6 months

Watched tons of movies, and listened to music.

-Watched some Kurosawa films.
-Some Clint westerns, and Dirty Harry
-Lots of old Kung Fu movies (harder to find than you might expect).
-Lots of Hitchcock
-Lots of music DVDs - Live concert DVDs of Deep Purple, Elvis, Pink Floyd, GWAR, W.A.S.P., the GooGoo Dolls
-I'm in the middle of Season 2 of 24 right now.

If you don't know how China works, you might be surprised at what is available. In the West, everyone hears about censorship, etc. But, it's not really like that. All the new stuff from the US, Russia, Japan, Korea, France is easily available. And, TONS of older films are sitting on the shelf as well.

Good music is hard to find though.

Not because of censorship, but because China likes crap music. Stores stock crap CDs, because thats what the people want.

People in China like bubble-gum pop. No actual bands with musical instruments in front of them. Just people lip-syncing songs they didn't write, while a drum machine blurts out pablum in the background.

Best music store I have seen was a shop in Inner Mongolia when I was there last September. GREAT selection! Too bad I haven't found the same in Beijing.

I have found a really great Chinese band though. English name is "Cold Blooded Animal". Main dude is XTX. Really good stuff, if you like loud guitars, drums, etc. Only problem is they have only released one album, and one solo album by XTX. I have them both. Good stuff.

Here is the website for XTX if anyone is interested: http://www.xietianxiao.com/index_en.swf

#2 - So... What else have I been doing without internet access?

So, I didn't have internet for 6 months. What did I do with my time?

2) Became a vegetarian.

When I was back in the States last year, I (half-)jokingly mentioned that I was thinking of becoming a Muslim, just so I wouldn't have to eat pork anymore.

Well, I'm not a Muslim. But, I don't eat pork anymore. Or beef, or lamb, or anything else that walks on four legs.

Starting February 18, 2007 no more meat.


It was sorta hard to explain to the cook at work why I did this. I can't just tell her that its because I'm sick and tired of the way she cooks meat. I especially dislike the way she makes pork. Boiled pork is not good food.

If China had ham and pork chops then I might still be eating it. But, they don't, so I don't.

China has a serious tendency to chop meat into small pieces. Whereas, in the US, we tend to like our meat in big slabs. Give me fried slabs of meat, not boiled pieces, and I might go back to my flesh eating ways.

I decided to cut out the other four legged animals while I was at it. Might as well.

Of course, China doesn't do chicken quite the way I like either. Basically, in China, people take a whole chicken, and then swing a cleaver at it until its in small pieces. Tiny pieces of meat, tiny pieces of bone, it's all good. Ummm... No. It isn't. I don't mind chicken bones, as long as I can see them before I bite into them.

The cooking in Chinese restaurants in the US, and the cooking in Chinese restaurants in China, is NOT the same.

Maybe I'm just a little homesick for plain old Western food. Steaks on a BBQ, fried chicken, Sourdough Ranch burgers from Jack in the Box, nachos, chicken chimichangas, five rolled tacos with gauc and sour cream, tuna casserole, a donut, a Spicy Dog from 7-11...

Sigh... That's good food.

#1 - So... What have I been doing without internet access?

So, I didn't have internet for 6 months. What did I do with my time?

1) Learned to cook real food.

Recently, I invented a recipe of my very own.

-Chicken breast
- in a bed of veggies (Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, etc)
- soak all in cheap Chinese red wine.
- spice as desired

Bake in toaster oven for 20 minutes or so.

Very tasty stuff.

---
I eat a lot of chicken these day. I'm a vegetarian now.

Whoa... long time

It's been forever, and some of you know why.

How about we just start from scratch?