Day 3 Summer Palace

Sibling Visit Day 2 Lama Temple

From the Olympic Village we went to Lama Temple. Here are some pictures.

Lama Temple. Blogspot and Youtube are presently banned in China so I am writing stories to post later. I am lucky to get a few picutes up.

John Burning Incense

Someone took this forbidden picture.

I took this picture. I didn't think it was forbidden. It's another of the many gods.

It was hot and this bit of shade was pretty cool.

Sibling Visit Day 2

Day 2 Olympic Village

May Holiday

The Sibling Visit April 24-May 7, 2009
Day 1 The Great Wall Mutianyu Beijing
Friday afternoon, April 24th, John arrived from LA. This marked the start of May Holiday. I'm not clear on the details, but at least part of it has to do with Labor Day. We had no school at Beanstalk the following week so it was a perfect time for the "Sibling Visit". Sandee and Melissa arrived Sunday night and by Monday afternoon, the 5 of us were off to The Great Wall Mutianyu. Here we are from left to right: Melissa, John, Sandee, Bill, and Me.






Me...I like this shot because it shows how steep the way is and has great depth. I also think the French guy in the cowby hat is interesting the way he is looking back.

Bill looks like its time to catch his breath.
Attacked by Huns...Looks like John has gone over to the other side.

American Shorthair

Over by the 10 kwai DVD store, near Wendy's Shop where I often pick up a few groceries, including some pretty decent Chinese cheddar and excellent natural yogurt, is a cute little pet shop. Last night some of us went to Pete's Tex Mex for dinner, always a good choice, in honor of Sophia and my birthdays; I had a chocolate malt. Around 10:30, we decided to walk home to burn off some calories. That's when we noticed a crowd gathered around the brightly lit pet store window. On display for all to admire were mama and papa cat with their litter of what looked to be about 6 week old kittens. The large male was perched on the top tier of a fancy cat tower. His fur was marbed like that of the cat in the picture above, and he looked like he knew he was an extraordinarily striking animal. The mother was a tabby with strongly marked stripes. The kittens were beginning to show signs of developing distinct markings but otherwise looked pretty ordinary; most people at home would have had a hard time giving them away. "How much for one kitten?" we asked. 2,000 RMB ($300) came the answer. We left in shock, and I said in a not too loud voice, "Back in Minnesota some people would put those kittens in a gunny sack with a few big rocks and throw the bag in the river." Cathy pointed out that one of our students was standing close enough that she might have heard my remark. I don't think so.

Today I showed Jane the kittens on our way to Wendy's. She's from California, and needless to say, she was in complete disbelief when I told her what they were asking for one kitten. She had to confirm it herself. I decided to try to learn if the cats were some exotic breed that they should cost so much. Yes, the owner said...American Shorthair. Aha! That explains everything.

BTW...today is Mother's Day. Thanks, Celeste, for the hand-drawn, computer assisted card...complete with 2 beautiful American Shorthair cats...below.
Two famous American Shorthairs. On the left, Brita, renowned for her hunting ability; and Spencer, "the puppy cat" renowned for his lounging ability... he's a Garfield Wannabe. Celeste and Dave are on the lake...where many American Shorthairs have been known to disappear.

Dealing with IT

Two days ago I put my debit card into an ATM at the Holiday Inn Lido and asked for 2,000 RMB. The machine acted like it wanted to give me the money. Three times it tried to spit it out. I heard the sound of bills being counted, followed by a grinding sound. But no bills came. Then a message flashed across the screen, "This machine is OUT OF ORDER." Sandee and Melissa were standing there with me, so they stood guard over the sick ATM while I went to the bank. They were just locking the door. I checked my balance on another machine, and my balance was 2,000 RMB less. I called the Customer Service Number. Come back tomorrow with your bank book, they said. We also found the assistant manager of the hotel and reported the problem, gave him my name and telephone number and asked for his help.

When I returned the next day a bank employee made a photocopy of my debit card and told me several times that maybe they would check the machine and maybe they would redeposit my money. I suggested that she should not use maybe. Maybe is not a good word in this situation. "Don't worry," she said. "If the story is true, maybe we will put the money back." They needed to check the machine. Come back tomorrow. I called Customer Service again. This tiime the person I spoke to assured me that if the money wasn't back in my account the next day I should call them and IT would get to work on IT. IT can check all the machine records. IT can look at the camera. (There WAS a camera...I hope IT was working.) Once IT takes over they are required to resolve the problem within 5 working days. This sounded good to me. I felt better.

I returned to the bank today. This time I learned that the person whose responsibility it is to check the machine was "resting". Maybe she would be able to check tomorrow. I asked if she was resting at work or at home. That wasn't a good question. I was told that there was no way to know how many days it would take to check the machine. But I shouldn't worry; if the story is true my money will be returned to my account. I said, "The story IS true, but how does the machine know it's true?" At that question the woman said something I didn't understand and walked out on me. She reappeared after a few minutes later but wouldn't look at me. I called Customer Service again. This time, I was asked several times if I had verified my transactions. Were they up to date. Several times I replied in the affirmative. I couldn't get past this question. Finally, I was told the machine would check itself and my money would be returned to my account after 3 working days...that is, IF the machine that was out of order in the first place works well enough to not be out of order when it is time for it to check itself. I will go back tomorrow. Who knows what will happen next.

Mr. Wu and the Air Conditioner

Last month Mr. Wu replaced Miss Summer as the Chinese librarian at school. The HR director brought him to the library and introduced him as Mr. Wu. She added that as of this morning he will be using the English name, Edward. Edward is 37 years old, but if you told me he is 47 I would believe you. Many years ago he majored in English at Beijing University, but as he says with a modest chuckle, he hasn't had any reason to use it since then. At first Edward was very quiet. "The new librarian doesn't make any noise" I heard one of the students exclaim to his teacher. Over time he has become quite assertive. He watches over the books like a bank guard. And his mannerisms are a bit odd. When he walks, he shuffles and leans his body first to the left and then to the right as he half runs, half walks to his destination, while his arms and legs fly off in all directions like they are on springs. Mr. Wu is a good worker and I really appreciate his efforts.

We have had a string of exceptionally hot weather here lately. It was 96 degrees today, so I put the air conditioner on early in the day. When I came back to the library from teaching a class around 2 o'clock, it was scortching hot in there and I noticed immediately that Mr. Wu had opened all the windows. "Mr. Wu," I asked. "Is the air conditioner still on?" It took him awhile to understand my question, but finally he replied, "Oh yes. It's open. I think we need some air to move." Open is the Chinese word for everything that is currently running--lights, motors, classes, etc. That did it. I had lived through 6 months of winter with all the doors and windows in the school open. I had worn a coat, leggings, and scarf for the better part of 5 months, along with all the other teachers, just to keep from freezing to death. I had run around shutting windows in the bathrooms whenever I could sneak in to do it. I had complained about the waste of energy, renewable resources, money...all to no avail. I was fed up with this Chinese disregard for energy conservation, or was it ignorance? "No!" I said loudly, with more than a little exasperation in my voice.

Then I proceeded to deliver a lecture. I'm not sure Mr. Wu caught everything I said, but it did me a lot of good to get it off my chest. "It's 96 degrees out there. It WAS cool in the library when I left. Now it's extremely hot. Hot air expands into cooler spaces. All that hot air from outside has filled the library. Go ahead and fill the library with hot air if you must. BUT, we are NOT going to run the air conditioner at the same time. We are not going to waste money, energy, and non-renewable resources trying to cool the outside. The hot air is rushing in here at a rate many times faster than we could ever possibly cool it. Either you shut the windows and leave the air conditioner on or you turn off the air conditioner and leave the windows open. I don't care what you do! But, we're not going to do both!!!

Poor meek little Mr. Wu. I hope he isn't too traumatized. As soon as he was free to do so, he closed all the windows. He didn't say anything more about it. He's a good soul.