2008 Beijing Olympics - Boxing Preliminaries

A few pictures from the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Boxing, 2008.08.09, 1:30 - 5:00pm, China Standard Time

Yes, this means I got to go to this event :)

This is the guy from NBC. Don't know his name.

Surreal Applause

Very odd thing happened last night.

The two bosses had invited the GF and I to have dinner with them.

They had met the GF two times previously. Once, over dinner. And the other time while she waited for me to finish a class. Many of the other teachers saw her briefly at that time.

The bosses said they wanted a chance to get to know her better. Okay. Fair enough. So, last night was the night for us to go eat.

Due to a convoluted reason, all of the teachers were in one room. And, I went into the room to tell the bosses to "get a move on". So, I asked the GF if she wanted to meet everyone.

(I figured it was only fair to ask her first. Probably a little disconcerting to walk into a room and have 10 pairs of eyes look at you. And not just "look", but look and judge/rate/size up.)

She said, "Sure". So, we walked in. I said, "GF this is everyone. Everyone, this is everyone."

And, then, all of the sudden, all of the teachers started to applaud.

WTF? What in the hell were they applauding?

The GF is cute and everything, but its not like she just finished reciting Shakespeare or something.

It was very surreal. Hence the title of this post.

In Beijing: Shoplifters will be hog-tied to the fullest extent of the law.

About a month or so ago, I walked into my closest Carrefour Shopping Mall. (The French version of Walmart. Fairly commonplace in Beijing.)

This is what I saw when I walked in.

I grabbed my phone as quick as I could and took this picture.

Guy was hog-tied with this plastic string stuff that people use here. I was going to take more pictures, but the security guys yelled at me. So, I beat a hasty retreat.

Chinese Workplace Safety Posters

Been a long time since I updated, and I had a couple of minutes to spare today, so I thought I would post a few pictures of something that has nothing to do with anything....

The following five pictures are of posters in the lobby of the building where my girlfriend works.

Pretty standard style of artwork for these types of posters in Beijing. The "message" in each poster is pretty much the same type of thing you will see everywhere in the world. And, the message is pretty clear, even if you can't read the language.

But, for those of you that are interested, I have translated the posters for you...

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"When you are drunk driving,
never hang your bottle of booze out of the window."

"5 years old = 5 points"

"Little snot is crossing on the red light? Fair Game!"

"Trucks carrying snails turn left here.
Then hang a right and go straight."

"Christians are allowed to drive a maximum of 16789km at 140kph"

---

Like I said... Pretty much the same message you'll get from any safety poster anywhere in the world.

I'm pretty lame at updating aren't I?

It's been awhile. I know. My mom has already read me the riot act, so there is no need for anyone else to do so.

So.... Why has it been so long? Well, a few reasons.....

1) Winter is always a bad time for me.... The brain synapses seem to misfire in winter
2) Winter is busy for me at work.... Kids don't have public school, so they come to my school
3) Another reason is buried is this story I will share. It's kinda personal, but I am sharing, so don't give me too much shit, okay?

Story time...

There's this girl. Beautiful, kind, etc, etc.

We hung out together. I knew I wasn't Mr Right for her, but thats cool. She didn't blow me off, so I chose not to worry/think about it.

Well, there comes a time where its time to "shit or get off the pot" as my Dad might say. End result was/is: We are still friends, and we still see each other all the time, but thats it.

Fast forward a little while....

Last night, I went to dinner with a couple good friends (engaged to each other) and my girlfriend. It was a great time. The girls talked about girl stuff (in Chinese). And, me and the other guy, in English, talked about the Tibet situation, Taiwan, the possibilities of war between the US and China, etc.

As it turns out....
-The other guy and I solved all the problems of the world. (Isn't that what all guys do when they have a beer and talk politics?)
-The girls talked about me. (It's not ego... They told me that they talked about me. Besides, I understand more Chinese than anyone thinks I do. Not much more, but a little more.) I've known the girl since the day I came to China. The girlfriend is a bit newer. We're approaching 2 months. This was the first time they had met. Girlfriend had met other friends who are girls, but this is a closer friend who is a girl.

I think I owe the girl who is my friend money. She told the girlfriend that I am an extremely Nice person (capital N). I'm Patient, Polite, and Kind.

I know all of you are doing a 3 Stooges "Spit-Take" right now, but thats okay. Girlfriend believes it.

As of last night, we are now in the "next stage" of our relationship.

I get to meet her friends. woohoo and shit. (um. I mean.... WOOOHOOOO!!!)

Girlfriend is a little bit traditional. According to another friend of mine, this is the pattern...
-I passed muster with her.
-My friends passed muster.
-Now, we see if I pass muster with her friends.

Not much different than in the US, but the timing seems to be more structured here.

So anyway... There's the story.

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Now that I've typed it I realize I wasn't very subtle. I gave away the theme, the plot, and the conclusion almost at the very start.

But, just in case you missed it, here is the point of the story.....

A Chinese guy and I solved the problems of the world while our girlfriends chatted about stuff.