Now, FOUR Years in China

I just listened to Lisa’s sweet voice on the answering machine in Atlanta. It was no different than a “local” call because of my Vonage box. The problem is that it had an unbelievably high crackling and static RF interference on the line and I would never be able to have a real call with someone. But my instinct tells me that a line- filter on the telephone line will solve it. Now, if I could just figure out where to find one. I was inspired when I met another guy from the US whose having no problem at all with his box. I’m motivated.

The lack of freedom and easy mobility is killing me. After paying $8 the other night for a round-trip to the school to reset a piece of computer equipment, I became hell-bent on getting myself behind the wheel. The problem though is that you cannot “finance” a car here unless you are married to, or a permanent, native resident here. My dreams of having a Jeep Grand Cherokee were squashed with this news (it might have also been the $45K price tag due to demand and imported parts).

But there’s a really interesting alternative here called the “Great Wall SAFE”. This is an identical knockoff, part-for-part with a Toyota 4 Runner. Best of all, a brand new one costs $11K and good used ones (leather, power etc.) are available for about $6K-$8K. I might need to start an entirely new category dedicated getting a license and buying a car here. It’s pretty crazy. The bottom line is that the school will provide interest free financing of up to $6000 which is deducted from my paycheck for 6 months. Hopefully I can find one under $6K so I don’t have to top it up with cash.

Getting a license is a whole other can of worms. There are two options…the first is to take the state-administered test which very few westerners have ever passed this because the english version of the computerized test has lots of confusing “Chinglish”, double- negatives and downright incorrect scoring. Don’t bother complaining either. The second option is to pay $100 US at an insurance company to take a different version of the test which was written in clear english but the logic is not very typical. One question involves what to do if someone’s small intestine is hanging out. The choice of answers are just as entertaining but the correct answer involves covering the exposed entrails with a bowl and tape it to the person…if you happen to have bowls and tape.

Some of the mother’s of students in Maddy’s class organized a lunch at the Agrilandia italian restaurant. It’s a restaurant on a working farm that produces all things Italian including a grape orchard, winery, italian herbs, and just about everything else under the italian sun. They have play areas, basketball and sand volleyball courts for the kids. In the states, their insurance company would shut the place down due to the swimming pool filled 1/3 of the way with brown muck…but that’s something to either like or hate about this place…there’s not a huge amount of lawsuits floating around to take the fun out of things.

The lunch was very good. We had a variety of pizzas, pastas with fresh pesto, antipasto with fennel, and bbq ribs which were really pretty good by US standards. We finished and headed home with Mr. Lu behind the wheel of his black Laibao We gave Madeline’s teacher a ride home.

Along a long stretch of road near the construction of the new airport, Maddy’s teacher, looking out the window said “uh oh”. Lisa and I had just enough time to look and see the feet and legs of a person off the side of the road, face down. Madeline was too focused on her Kim Possible game-boy game to even acknowledge the conversation but it became clear that we were looking at a dead guy. Oddly, there were tons of people on bicycles nonchalantly passing by too and pretending not to notice. Maddy’s teacher claims that during her time teaching in Tanzania, it was not uncommon to see this and that she would see it almost daily in Egypt. It’s a fact of life for countries who don’t have a huge public infrastructure for dealing with this.

I’m sure the guy will be picked up by health officials. If you stop and think about it, it’s not that weird. He probably got hit by a car and was tended to until he died. Those assisting probably had to get to work…”nothing to see…keep moving along…fact of life…no big deal”. But stuff like this is what really messes with the western mind. In some regards, it seems like a lack of civility by the locals yet on the other hand it makes sense from a practical standpoint. It makes us question why we (westerners) respond so differently to things like this. There’s not a darn thing that anyone can do for the guy except maybe make him easier to spot by the department of health truck. In the states, I would tend to the person until he was retrieved because there’s something in my mind that says “he might be dead but he still deserves some attention (humanity, respect or something like it). I guess in the western mind, life ends when the person is ceremonially acknowledged as dead rather than when the physical act occurs…until that time, we extend the same respect that we do to the living.

Ironically, strangers here are way more willing to lend you a hand with things without any motivation for remuneration. I bought some heavy consumer electronics today and a clerk from the store carried and loaded it into the taxi, the driver carried it into the apartment. Nobody held their hand out for a tip and they seemed to derive a pure sense of happiness from helping. If mutually exclusive, I think I’d rather be treated better/nicer/kinder while living than have any attention when dead.

We live near the Wenyu (mandarin for ’stinky’ ) River which feeds water to various areas through smaller canals. One of which is about 50 meters from our apartment. The photo is looking out the window of the spare bedroom.

Besides being excessively pungent at times, the lush, riparian areas alongside have given birth to an abundance of mosquitos. Thankfully, these bugs are pretty slow, easily visible, and non-aggressive which means they are easy to kill before they land on you. But if they follow the same pattern as the ones in Atlanta, they will become more skillful as winter approaches.

Fortunately, Lisa and I ventured down to HKI - Hong Kong Intl. clinic in an office tower near the Swissotel on 2nd ring road in Beijing to begin the immunization process for hepatitis a and b. The process begins with a blood test for the existence of hepatitis but we were hell-bent on being actually immunized for something, anything after such a long drive. So after drilling the doctor for 20 minutes about various diseases that we’ve already been immunized for, the doctor, in his best english mentioned Japanese encephalitis but said “most people in the city don’t need this…there aren’t many mosquitos in the city”. Lisa and I looked at each other with excitement. “Set us up doc!…arm or ass? “

So we’re happy to say that Japanese Encephalitis is officially one out of about 20 diseases we don’t have to worry about catching. Joy.

Corona is everywhere here but we haven’t found any mexican food to speak of. I’m starting to crave a few things…but mostly I’m craving food that isn’t drowning in oil. Even Dominos pizza and KFC is waaayy greasier than it is in the states. It’s amazing these folks stay so thin….maybe they have tapeworms or something. We can order delivery orders from the local restaurants and they deliver for free within 15-30 minutes but it’s all high on the oil. Don’t get me wrong…some of it is really good. But if I heard that a shipment from Chuys (tex-mex) was nearby, the bodies of the truck drivers and anyone else in the immediate vicinity would be strewn about and the cargo area would be ripped open like a tin can. Inside would be me with a Chimichanga in one hand and a cold Corona in the other.

The Great Wall Bicycle Festival is coming in a couple weeks. It will feature world champion MTB racers Sue Haywood and Gunn Rita Dahle along with members of team Discovery. Saturday will be for the roadies and Sunday is for the mountain bikers. They will be hosting fun races and an “elite” race. But at 12k, I don’t really think it would be too terribly difficult. I’m sure I’ll get spanked by some hotshot riders but it will be 100% speed…endurance isn’t a factor for a 8 mile race.

Anyway, I better start riding a little. Finding the time is very difficult because family time is critical here.

In a very popular neighborhood for westerners called The Lido, there’s a cluster of shops, restaurants, apartments and hotels that cater to foreigners and xpats. In the heart of this neighborhood is Eudora Station which is a casual dining restaurant which serves typical western fare.

I had a cream of asparagus soup and Lisa had a cream of mushroom soup in a bread bowl Both were excellent. I ventured for a burger which is a really risky proposition here. Sadly, my risk didn’t pay off…I still haven’t found a good burger here in China. They make the patties similar to meatloaf…slightly dense, over-marinated, and full of little extras. For the price, the burger was disappointing..I should have ordered something else. The service was great and the ambiance made you feel like you were not in China. Sometimes you need that.

China gets a couple national holidays per year. From what I’ve been told, you don’t want to be hanging around Beijing because everyone from all the other cities in China visit Beijing to tour the sites just like American’s might visit DC during memorial day. Secondly, everyone we know is bailing out to various vacation spots in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia or to their home countries like New Zealand or Canada.

So, we are digging deep into our pockets to explore some spots. We bought tickets that will take us to Bali through Singapore for 4 days and then return us to Singapore for 4 days before we return to China. Singapore is apparently “the place” to go if you want to get away from the things that annoy you here. People speak english, the air and water is clean, and the shopping is great. Bali was a last-minute decision because we really need some R&R and it will be fun doing things with Maddy like visiting the Elephant park and volcano. I’ve booked a day trip to an island off Bali for snorkeling and other activities. Should be cool.