While in China, my brain has been very confused. Not the normal type of confused, like how CSI hasn't run out of crimes to solve or what bone is connected to the leg bone. No, my brain doesn't know what language to speak. In about 7th grade, it started to learn that if it didn't here English being spoken, it should turn to its french quarter, conveniently located in New Orleans or the Humor House and start speaking or translating to french. Because of this, I have often found myself wanting or actually responding to Chinese questions in French out of sheer habit. The good news is, I haven't forgotten as much French as I thought I had. The bad news, no one understands me, not even other English speakers.
Traveling around China, there are 5 modes of transportation available to me; Walk, Bike, Taxi, Bus, Subway. Walking and biking are for fairly local endeavors like going to the supermarket or work, but if you want to get most places fun, public transportation is your only option. Each option has increasing amounts of English with decreasing amounts of utility. The taxis can go anywhere at anytime, but speak little to no English and you better know your address in Chinese or you aren't going anywhere fast. Buses, go most places, but only run until 10pm. The bus stops are labeled in Pinyin on the buses but not on the stops, so if you aren't sure about a bus stop, it can quickly become a guessing game. Also, because there are sooooooo many bus stops and bus lines, it is not something to use without first looking it up online. Which brings me to the greatest website that sounds like a porn website but isn't. BJBUS.COM. Seriously, that is how you check buslines online. When Brian told me this at first, I thought he was just messing with me, but it's real. Finally, there is the Subway. Very English friendly, but doesn't go many places besides the popular locations and often you need to use a bus or taxi to get to the nearest location.
Work has been going by quicker and quicker these days. Everything has fallen into place and the routine becomes more and more second nature. I am now in charge of the Global Leadership curriculum for the school, which is great for my ever expanding resume. Also, I have been put in charge of our school's Halloween party, which should be fun, leading me to what I've learned.
1) Being from America makes you an expert on all things American even if you know little to nothing about said topic
2) It's a real good thing Germany and USSR didn't stay allied in WWII... All I have to say is PAN EURASIAN EMPIRE
3) I feel special being white here, and coincidentally, angry when I see other white people stealing my thunder
4) Doing things that could be construed as social taboos is the only way to live
The last comment, is in reference to my Halloween costume idea. I haven't made it official yet but I am hoping to dress up like a Chinese Security Guard for Halloween. They are basically like psuedo military here. I am hoping to rent a uniform from our door man with the help of some Chinese friends. Let's just say, this will either be a really good costume or one where I'm spending 5-10 years behind bars. But just remember, pushing the envelope is the only way it'll move.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Live Action Video Games
China is considered by many to be the land where you can get anything you could possibly want in the material realm. Even those things banned by the government can be had for a price and knowing who to talk to. There are large market areas geared towards westerners that sell literally everything under the sun in the consumer world. The one I've been to so far is called The silk market and even though it has its fair share of silks, it has so much more. It is truly a site to behold. Hundreds of Chinese employees speaking fairly good English all shouting at you to come into their shops to buy their products. This is in sharp contrast to shopping most other places in China where very few if any employees speak English and what they do speak is very very limited. Think back to your first month of learning a foreign language and that is the amount of English you are getting on a day to day basis from people. However, in the silk market, everyone speaks English to lure you into a false sense of security. Make no bones about it, they are trying to get as much money from you for as little in return. In contrast, you are trying to get the most for as little money. It's capitalism in its purest form. However, that isn't the most fun that can be had with human interaction in China. The true game of China is Frogger! Walking anywhere in Beijing requires you to cross streets and a cross walk is not always convenient or close so J-walking becomes the thing to do. Back home, in most places J-walking is a pretty tame activity. Maybe one or two lanes and a few cars that will slow down if you don't make it across in time. NOT IN CHINA. Here the average lanes to cross is no fewer than 4, usually 6 or 8 is very common and cars don't slow down and hardly ever switch lanes. If you are timid and wait until their is little traffic that can be a 5-10 minute wait in some cases which is no fun. So you are left with the option of crossing the road frogger style, one lane at a time and standing in the middle of lanes waiting for cars to pass. At first, it is a bit daunting, but I can officially say I am a frogger king now.
School has been very interesting this past week. Because of the national holiday, our schedules have been in flux so much that we still aren't back to our normal cycles and I have spent a few days in the office without Brian, Joel, or Hannah. Making me the only one in the office at times that doesn't speak Chinese. However, we also had reduced personnel over this period so I did get to spend some time getting to know members of the Chinese staff and that was very cool. Also with work, I have been working on improving their business model in recruiting kids for the school and that work has started to pay off and my boss has been very receptive to my work. They have been very open to new ideas and we definitely feel like a part of the team. What we have learned this week:
1) Dating procedures in England just require you to get really drunk and hook up a few times and that is pretty much the only way to get a girl there. Teetotalers need not apply!
2) Bank of America staff is more than useless
3) Beer with less alcohol content but more volume does the same trick.
4) I should have brought my STATA companion book with me and not the Ben Franklin Bio.
As it turns out, the one book that would have been super helpful in China, was a book I never thought I'd use again. Or at the very least, for a very long time. STATA is a statistical package program for the computer that helps in data analysis. It's a program that is like excel supercharged. Anyways, I have been using this program to help analyze the company's approach to bringing in new students with some fairly good results. However, I don't remember how to use all the aspects of the program even though I learned it 6 months ago, because I haven't been using it during that time. So remember, when traveling to far away places, bring things you might not need, but would hate to be without.
School has been very interesting this past week. Because of the national holiday, our schedules have been in flux so much that we still aren't back to our normal cycles and I have spent a few days in the office without Brian, Joel, or Hannah. Making me the only one in the office at times that doesn't speak Chinese. However, we also had reduced personnel over this period so I did get to spend some time getting to know members of the Chinese staff and that was very cool. Also with work, I have been working on improving their business model in recruiting kids for the school and that work has started to pay off and my boss has been very receptive to my work. They have been very open to new ideas and we definitely feel like a part of the team. What we have learned this week:
1) Dating procedures in England just require you to get really drunk and hook up a few times and that is pretty much the only way to get a girl there. Teetotalers need not apply!
2) Bank of America staff is more than useless
3) Beer with less alcohol content but more volume does the same trick.
4) I should have brought my STATA companion book with me and not the Ben Franklin Bio.
As it turns out, the one book that would have been super helpful in China, was a book I never thought I'd use again. Or at the very least, for a very long time. STATA is a statistical package program for the computer that helps in data analysis. It's a program that is like excel supercharged. Anyways, I have been using this program to help analyze the company's approach to bringing in new students with some fairly good results. However, I don't remember how to use all the aspects of the program even though I learned it 6 months ago, because I haven't been using it during that time. So remember, when traveling to far away places, bring things you might not need, but would hate to be without.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
60 years is a good start, but its no 233!
Sorry for the lapse in posting. It's been about three weeks since my last entry and so much has happened I'll try to fit it all in. First things first. Today is National Day in China. It is the anniversary of communist rule in China. Today was extra special because it was the 60th anniversary and man-kind's unnatural affinity for numbers ending in zero can not be curbed. So in the spirit of celebrating, the country has been on very high alert for seemingly as long as we have been here and probably before hand. As a consequence of this heightened sense of security, things have been a bit touch a go for everyone, especially us foreigners. We all had a considerably harder time getting visas before we got into the country. Once in the country, our registration and setting up of bank accounts has all be very touch and go because the country wanted absolutely nothing to go wrong with this celebration and obviously it was going to be foreigners who were gonna screw it up. Hopefully, now that this day is over, things can go back to some form of normal less heightened state of national awareness and we won't be warned not to travel. As for the day, The Chinese government planned an orchestrated a show that put the Olympic opening ceremonies to shame. The event was mostly held as Tienanmen Square, site of the infamous 1989 student uprisings and why the government was not messing around with this event. In order to get into to Tienanmen for this event, you needed a government invite, and because I don't know anyone with those sort of connections(YET), I watched on a big screen out side my local mall. The event featured 300,000 people and 60 floats on top of countless fireworks displays across the city skyline at night. The entire thing took all day and was a new level of pomp and circumstance that would make Sir Edward Elger piss himself. It is truly fascinating to be here and experience a country emerge onto the world scene and still struggle with so much history.
As for my life, the reason I have been delinquent on posting is because this holiday has thrown our work schedules for a loop. We worked two weeks straight at FirstLeap in order to have eight days off for holiday. This is something most places apparently do, at least schools in order that the break isn't broken up, you work part of the weekend before and after the holiday in order to have a longer holiday in the middle. It makes so little sense that I can hardly understand it, never mind explain it, but suffice to say, I worked alot to get a longer continual break. School has been going great, I am getting more comfortable with the staff and curriculum and have started to increase my contributions to the school. I have actually been using my data analysis background from my political science to degree to help them become a more efficient company as a whole. It's always surprising when you use the things you know. Away from work, we have spent some nights hanging with friends and enjoying the nightlife as we also try to find new ways to navigate the city. Things I've learned on these adventures include,
1) Never get into an unofficial taxi cab
2) Sometimes nice restaurants are hidden down dark, scary, mugging-inducing alleys
3) Never hand a Taxi driver a 100 Yuan bill, you will get fake money back.
4) When you want to go home at night, you should make it known, otherwise bad things can happen.
This last one occurred last week, while out with my flatmates Joel and Hannah and our friend and co-worker Rachelle. She had had a rather tough week, and is English, meaning her drinking consumption for the evening would put most American girls her size in a coma. So off we were to the bars. We found a really nice bar that I have been back to since called Nanjie Bar with a terrace over looking the street. After spending a better part of the night there drinking, more like being fed drinks after I said I didn't want to drink anymore, because we had work the next day. As a side note, I now know what it is like to be a girl at a bar and have your drinks paid for you and its not bad, I can see the appeal, but back to the story. At 1 o'clock, Joel, Hannah and myself had all expressed interest in going home but not in a forceful enough manner, so two bars later and 2.5 hours later, we finally made our way home, severely drunk or pissed as my English friends would say. On the way home however, while in the taxi, I was on the unfortunate end of Rachelle's reversal of fortune to neither mine or the taxi driver's delight. So when you want to go home, say so forcibly because it's probably the right choice.
As for my life, the reason I have been delinquent on posting is because this holiday has thrown our work schedules for a loop. We worked two weeks straight at FirstLeap in order to have eight days off for holiday. This is something most places apparently do, at least schools in order that the break isn't broken up, you work part of the weekend before and after the holiday in order to have a longer holiday in the middle. It makes so little sense that I can hardly understand it, never mind explain it, but suffice to say, I worked alot to get a longer continual break. School has been going great, I am getting more comfortable with the staff and curriculum and have started to increase my contributions to the school. I have actually been using my data analysis background from my political science to degree to help them become a more efficient company as a whole. It's always surprising when you use the things you know. Away from work, we have spent some nights hanging with friends and enjoying the nightlife as we also try to find new ways to navigate the city. Things I've learned on these adventures include,
1) Never get into an unofficial taxi cab
2) Sometimes nice restaurants are hidden down dark, scary, mugging-inducing alleys
3) Never hand a Taxi driver a 100 Yuan bill, you will get fake money back.
4) When you want to go home at night, you should make it known, otherwise bad things can happen.
This last one occurred last week, while out with my flatmates Joel and Hannah and our friend and co-worker Rachelle. She had had a rather tough week, and is English, meaning her drinking consumption for the evening would put most American girls her size in a coma. So off we were to the bars. We found a really nice bar that I have been back to since called Nanjie Bar with a terrace over looking the street. After spending a better part of the night there drinking, more like being fed drinks after I said I didn't want to drink anymore, because we had work the next day. As a side note, I now know what it is like to be a girl at a bar and have your drinks paid for you and its not bad, I can see the appeal, but back to the story. At 1 o'clock, Joel, Hannah and myself had all expressed interest in going home but not in a forceful enough manner, so two bars later and 2.5 hours later, we finally made our way home, severely drunk or pissed as my English friends would say. On the way home however, while in the taxi, I was on the unfortunate end of Rachelle's reversal of fortune to neither mine or the taxi driver's delight. So when you want to go home, say so forcibly because it's probably the right choice.
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