Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

I have now been in China for about 6 months. Well, to be more specific, I have been in Beijing for 6 months, and although Beijing is the same size as Belgium, it still isn't much of China. So Brian and I decided to set off for Nanjing. Beijing meaning the Northern Capital, while Nanjing means southern capital. Interesting side note, they call Tokyo, Dongjing, meaning Eastern Capital. So anyways, Nanjing was decided as our first foray into China beyond Beijing because there is another FirstLeap school down there and we had a free place to crash with one of the teachers down there that I am friends with, David. The reason I am now able to travel is I got two weeks off from work for the Chinese New Year, but more on that later. So to mix things up a little, I am going to start with the things I've learned.

1) Last week was international Cory can't find a taxi week. I waited for at least 30 minutes for 6 different taxis
2) Apparently being white, precluded me from the security checks that everyone else at the Train station went through.
3) Being on a train where no one speaks English, a little daunting at first and involves a lot of pointing and nodding, much like sex for the first time.
4) It's very interesting being in a group of 5 people, all with varying degrees of ability speaking English, Chinese, Japanese, French and Spanish.

I spent 9 days in Nanjing and I had a great time. Nice to finally start traveling around the middle kingdom. Here is an itinerary of some of the things we did.

2/7 - Worked at FirstLeap Nanjing, Dinner w/ the staff, nightcap of Beer Pong w/ My boss Vincent and others. Very Drunk and Fun.

2/8 - Relaxed, slept in. First day off in 13 days. Got lost on the bus.

2/9 - 1937 Massacre Museum. 300,000 dead, very powerful. Strange to see people taking happy photos here. Great sculptures and design.

2/10 - Went to Firstleap on Vacation to do work, the job never ends, but I love it. Renamed Beer Pong, Pi-jiu Pong (Pi jiu means Beer in Chinese). Lily and Zoe cooked us a fantastic dinner, while Brian and I conquered Europe

2/11 - Snow, Lightning, Thunder...Enough Said! Visited Sun Yat Sen's Offices and the Headquarters of the Taiping Rebellion. Look it up, coolest rebellion EVER!!

2/12 - Hurt Knee, stayed in. Tried to beat this Stupid Virtua Tennis Game for the Wii, but it was never ending.

2/13 - Nanjing Zoo, most depressing zoo I've ever been to visit. Chinese New Year's Eve. Fireworks everywhere, It felt like a warzone.

2/14 - The only note I have from today is, "Catfight in Mcdonald's". That's all that needs to be said.

2/15 - Hot Pot and goodbyes, flew home. Saw Fireworks from above, pretty cool.

So now I am back to work, We have hired three new teachers, but more on that later. For now, just remember, Nanjing is NOT the city of pretty women, they LIE!!!

Happy Birthday Myles!!!

First off, I want to wish my little brother a happy 20th Birthday! It's really strange that he has joined me in the two decades of life category. As weird as it sounds, it makes me feel older even though it's his birthday. He really has grown into a great young man that I am proud to call my brother, my friend, and my inspiration. (insert sappy awwws here).

Onto Beijing news, I now work in the world's largest mall. Yes, that is right, in all the world, there is not a bigger mall square footage wise than the Golden Resources Mall in Haidian District in Beijing. It is absolutely surreal how large this building is. As an example, I know I am not in the best shape of my life, but walking with friends of mine from one end to the other, we had to stop, because we got tired. It has everything. There is an entire floor of restaurants. Now, when I say floor, what I really mean is about 40 football fields worth of restaurants. If you can't find something to eat here, please go home. It truly is awe inspiring. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming when they estimate that more than 50,000 people enter the mall everyday.

As for work, we are in the home stretch this week. I go on vacation this Sunday, so we are crossing all of our Is and dotting our Ts in the R&D department which is very fulfilling. We had a celebration lunch for the New Year this afternoon and it was very warming to hear all the kind words spread around and see everyone's joy. I really do like working for this company and with these people, it is so wonderful. I had a little surprise last week when my picture became part of new advertisements. It was quite shocking to see it up in and around Beijing, but I think it is funny.

So onto what I've learned this week,

1) The difference between 1BR and 2BR in Beijing is like 200RMB. (it's unfair being single)

2) Keeping secrets used to be way less soul destroying.

3) Not putting your e-mail on your resume should automatically disqualify you from a job.

4) The Chinese staff has gotten way to comfortable making fun of me.

The last one is in reference to conversation with some Chinese co-workers. They were talking about which wedding dress style would make them look the best, and me being my sweet self chimed in with,"you'd you good in anything". She quickly retorted, "of course compared to you". OUCH. So that goes to show you, women don't want to hear nice things.