Now, FOUR Years in China

It has been very difficult to keep this blog fresh lately. Why? This is a tricky and complex question which will require a deep study into human, no, MY psychology and an understanding of my motivational triggers.

If I were a real geek, I would create a colorful 2d chart representing my blog frequency vs. topic. I could then overlay another chart representing my state of mind and there would probably be some correlation. So, without this chart, try to visualize the following…

Neutral blog entries
There’s probably only a few of these such as “We’re OK…we didn’t get blown up in Bali”. Sometimes I just have to get the word out about where we are and what we are doing. It’s easier than sending an email to the grandmothers etc.

Positive blog entries
Think of this akin to aspirational marketing or dressing for the job you want etc. When I’m glowing about the magic of Chinese New Year, I’m really saying “I wish I had gone to a beach in Thailand but because I’m here with 1.3 billion friends, I’ll make an extra effort to find something nice about the place.

Negative blog entries
These represent the times that I’m relatively content with life here. When China-life stinks, and the pollution stinks, I’m not going to feel like writing anything. I’m going to be at the clubhouse getting an $8 massage followed by a positive post about how great it is to be able to get an $8 massage.

Frequency
Imagine tossing a stone into a pond, or in this case, a whole family. There’s a splash, followed by diminishing ripples equal to the inverse square of…never mind…you get the point. The diminished frequency of this blog is an indication that we are basically living here the same way we would in any other place in the US. Life is not much different than if we moved to Omaha (though that might be just as difficult).

We now have enough command of the language to go into the city without the “critical” tools - phrase book and mobile phone and flagging a taxi is no big deal. I’ll be doing a “Year in Review” page where I go into more detail about this.

In previous posts, I mentioned that we see things on a daily basis that surprise, shock, or gross us out. These things are still here but they don’t seem to make an impression anymore. I’m a bit sad about this because it made us feel like we were really living in a “foreign” country. Now it just feels like we are living in a city with a bunch of Chinese people. I’m looking forward to having friends visit so I can see this place through their eyes.

Only a handful of my friends know that I’m a sucker for electronic club music and despite Beijing being a bit behind the west in some ways, this city has a more to offer in terms of nightlife than any city I’ve lived in.

Last night I went out with a group of friends to one of the many “mega-nightclubs” near Worker’s Stadium in the Chaoyang District to see one of my favorite club DJs - Paul Oakenfold. He is one of only a handful of techno/trance DJs who has crossed over to the mainstream. You may not know the name, but I’m sure you’d recognize some of his music from movies, commercials and TV shows like Alias.

The clubs adjacent to Worker’s Stadium are crazy (but that describes a lot of things here). In front of them is an endless row of Porsche Cayennes, BMWs and Mercedes belonging to the “little emperors” - an extremely wealthy (or seemingly wealthy) group of 30-somethings. Parking lot attendants direct the nice cars to the front and the rest are relegated to the back. Ironically, a black license plate (which indicates a foreigner ) on a $7500 Chinese vehicle must give it enough stature to park next to $120K BMW - yes…they let me park my Soldier up front and when I left, I had to wait for a $600K Maybach to move out of the way. Well, enough about cars.

Once inside the club, the first thing you will notice is the great sound quality and light show. But you will also notice that the clubs have lots of private VIP areas akin to skyboxes at an arena. The large groups of Chinese usually share a bottle of cognac which they mix with a popular, sweet ice tea beverage that you get for 2 RMB at any corner market. Last night’s event was sponsored by Hennessy and the logo was glowing everywhere. China appears to be a battle ground for beer and liquor companies and it’s rare to see a bar without logos everywhere.

Anyway, I was really worried that last night was going to be a big disappointment (living here makes you a bit pessimistic). But for once, my expectations were blown out of the water. The show was incredible and the crowd was really well mannered despite being shoulder-to-shoulder. This particular show drew a large number of western foreigners (like myself)…probably about 30% non-asian. The staff were abundant and very professional. Even the bathroom attendants would give you a a shoulder rub as you washed you hands ;-).

At 3:00 am, Paul seamlessly handed off to the local DJ and we decided to leave then. I’m not sure what time the clubs close but we seemed to be the only ones leaving. I think I’ve answered the question about all the people who sleep on the sofas in Ikea.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mommas around the world. China celebrates it as well.

Today, Lisa, Maddy and I went to the Kempinski Hotel for an amazing champagne brunch with 2 other families. It was excellent.