I am learning that later and tomorrow are common by-words here. So is Worker Man Coming.
I have also learned not to expect anything good to happen when Worker Man comes, whether it's sooner or later. Bill thinks that most workers don't know how to fix anything. They just wear the uniform. I'm thinking he's probably right.
There are many workers. Workers everywhere who get paid very little. You see them in the morning and in the evening, dressed in their uniforms, most of them very young, lined up for the daily pep talk given to them by their superior worker. Usually that person is reading from a little book or piece of paper...something inspirational, I hope. Once I saw them singing. They look very serious, but yesterday, the girl who works at our front desk saw me and got so excited she broke out into smiles and waves. I've never seen that before.
I had a short list of items that needed to be taken care of in my apartment--a broken light bulb, the water cooler boils the water, and the kitchen sink doesn't have cold water. I asked the person in charge of communicating with the building management to have them fixed and she told me that a worker would be at my apartment after school to meet me, so I hurried home. He was there--Worker Man. He no speak English. Me no speak Chinese. It was quite a comedy. Finally Agent Girl came. She managed enough English to be useful. She says the water meter is broken (which one?). It turns out that there are three water meters: hot, cold, and recycled which is used for the bathroom. None of it is drinkable. We buy that. That's what is boiling in the water cooler. Agent girl says they will bring new water meters tomorrow. She will also buy a new water cooler and a new light bulb. That's good. As for the broken light bulb, the worker leaves and comes back with a ladder. Then he takes a good light bulb out of one lamp and replaces the broken one. It's now fixed! How about that? What next?
This was my first experience with Worker Man, as they are called. Jane's air conditioner didn't work, so she contacted management about it. They told her they would send a Worker Man right over. He came, looked at it, and said (in Chinese, I think she was making a deduction) "It's broken." Right! Apparently he is just the Advance Man. He doesn't even pretend to fix things. A half hour later Worker Man #2 arrives. He fiddles with something and it starts to work. That was good, because usually they don't know what's wrong so they tell you they'll replace it. They must fix toilets though because Jane says she has often seen worker men running around with little plungers in there hands.
Wednesday，September 17, 2008
No water again today…also no working water meter. Also, no shower this morning again. Actually, the “agent girl” says that if I buy more water, everything will be fine, but I can't get a new meter until later. She is trying her best to do a good job for me, and she is, bless her heart. She wrote an almost indecipherable note to explain the situation. I think I caught her drift. Unfortunately for me though, it was too late to buy water last night and they don't open until 9 or so in the morning. Josie, who has lived here a few years, says that if you bang hard on the door, someone will come because they live in the building. Maybe so. I only hope that it gets fixed and that I finally bought enough water.
On the bright side, I finally got to the fitness center after school and used my trial membership. Turns out the trial does not include, guess what? Water—as in swimming pool, which is one of the main things I wanted. So I paid 200 kwai to use the pool every time I go, swimming caps required. I haven't worn a cap since who knows when. I understand they are easy to find. Aside from the guaranteed hot water shower (twice—once before entering the pool and once after), another benefit of the fitness club is I can watch English language TV, mostly all news like CNN from England I guess. Most of the news right now is about the AIG bankruptcy and other financial woes. The other big news today was a bombing at the American Embassy in Yemen and the catastrophic poisoning of mostly Chinese babies by the formula makers. Thousand of babies are seriously ill and 3 have died.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Simaitai
Around 13 of us went to Simitai Saturday, the 13th. Our Beanstalk school bus didn't drop off a mountainside or anything like that, but numerous gasps were to be heard as we narrowly missed one accident after another. It's stunning the way some drivers enter the road (slowly) without any regard for the presence and speed of other vehicles that are already occupying the same space. Yikes. Don't know how they do it.It was another hot, steamy day, and it seemed to me that we climbed up and up and then up some more. First, though, we took a chair lift that Cathy said would never pass inspection in Canada...she didn't have to convince me. Next came a wild little train ride;the train resembled a crazy ride at Valley Fair. Then we started the climb up and up into the hot, hot sun. We were accompanied all the way by helpful little farm women who contributed tidbits of information and waited for just the right moment to open their bag of goodies to sell. My helper pointed to farmland in the distance and told me that was where she lived. I finally bought my I Climbed the Great Wall t-shirt. Paid a little extra for the services.
Alicia brought Bella, her little baby, who got packed all over the Great Wall; she even had her diaper changed there. She needs a little T-shirt that says, I My Diaper Changed on the Great WallI. She's amazing, Alicia, that is. Bella is too, actually.
When it was time to get down the mountain, we had two options: go back the way we came (No way!) or take the Zip Line. Most of us chose the Zip Line; it was actually short and sweet. The Zip Line is run mostly by gravity and a little by pulley when necessary. You climb into a harness and hope the thing doesn't break as you zip across the river below. See pictures.
We ate dinner back in Beijing at Mt. Hannashan, a Korean Bar-B-Q restaurant where they bring hot coals to your table and you grill your own meat. Yes, the food was delicious! And we had a great time.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Paralympics, Parent's Night, Water
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Are the networks broadcasting the Paralympics in the States? The venues here are all filled; the average citizen can afford a ticket. The Paralympics have become the people's Olympics. CCTV has one station that is doing a very thorough job of showing us as much as possible. Often I see a story about the athletes on the Chinese language station and later they same story is broadcast in English on the English language station. I have been watching swimming just now. The competitors are amazing, some of them in particular. The Chinese swimmer has no arms and his abdomen is badly mangled. He won the bronze medal. As the announcer said, he had to swim faster than the other swimmers; since he has no arms he had to touch the wall with his head. The race was won by Roy Perkins of the USA who has no hands or feet.
The women's 100 meter was won by Heather Fredricksen of Great Britain. Long of the USA took second, and Marian Vestbostad of Norway took 3rd. When they raised the three flags during the medal ceremony, I thought, “Wow! That's my heritage up there.” Heather was so excited to win gold, I could feel her emotions surging through me over the air waves.
Thursday September 11, 2008
The 7th anniversary of 9-11. Tonight is Parent's Night Open House at school. I sit near Aaron Kupchella, related to Rick Kupchella. Aaron is around 6’4” and looks a lot like Super Man. I think maybe he really is Super Man. Just once I want to get a good look under his shirt. Aaron is married to a Chinese woman and speaks unbelievable Chinese.
LuLu the Chinese music teacher is teaching the kids to sing Beijing Huan ying Ni, Beijing Welcomes You, one of the Olympics songs. She gave me a copy of the words in pinyin and characters. I can't stop singing it. The other Olympic song is One World, One Dream, both are very good songs.
It's really hot here. We have a 3 day weekend coming up for Mid-Autumn Festival. A bunch of us are going to Simaitai, a section of the Great Wall on Saturday; it should be an fun time and a chance to get to know each other. The library is desperately in need of organization and upper level books. Hope I can find time to tackle that in the middle of ESL and day-to-day running the library. I worked here until quite late last night and when I went back to my apartment I was really thirsty, so I stopped at the little store and bought a Coke…WOW…I haven't had caffeine in a lo-o-o-n-g time. Only drank half of it but was awake most of the night.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I'm in my apartment with no water again, no gas for cooking, and I have a splitting headache. It's hot and I'm really tired. Most of the teachers went out together after school, but I'm stuck here waiting for the "repair" and destroy man. Yesterday I had to rush home to meet the worker and show him what was broken. Today I have to be here so they can fix it. I had a burned out light bulb that was supposed to be replaced. So, Worker Man takes a good light bulb out of a different fixture, replaces the burned out light bulb with that, and voila, it's fixed! Meanwhile, I have no light in the entry. Fortunately, Agent Girl has her head screwed on right so she took the broken light to the store the today to buy a replacement which she brought tonight. Or, that is, I thought she knew what she was doing, but no, while I'm not looking she has the new worker man take the good bulb out and put the new bulb in its place. Now I have 2 good bulbs but only one working light, so as the worker is about to leave I grab him and point to the empty light socket. Surprise! Now, these are halogen lights in canisters and it actually takes some thought to put them together properly. After several unsuccessful attempts, he gently pushes the parts together, smiles and waves, and leaves. So, I get a chair and a few pillows, take it apart and do it right. My first experience with the way things get fixed here.
Oh, and the water? They say the meter is broken. They'll bring a new one tomorrow.
Are the networks broadcasting the Paralympics in the States? The venues here are all filled; the average citizen can afford a ticket. The Paralympics have become the people's Olympics. CCTV has one station that is doing a very thorough job of showing us as much as possible. Often I see a story about the athletes on the Chinese language station and later they same story is broadcast in English on the English language station. I have been watching swimming just now. The competitors are amazing, some of them in particular. The Chinese swimmer has no arms and his abdomen is badly mangled. He won the bronze medal. As the announcer said, he had to swim faster than the other swimmers; since he has no arms he had to touch the wall with his head. The race was won by Roy Perkins of the USA who has no hands or feet.
The women's 100 meter was won by Heather Fredricksen of Great Britain. Long of the USA took second, and Marian Vestbostad of Norway took 3rd. When they raised the three flags during the medal ceremony, I thought, “Wow! That's my heritage up there.” Heather was so excited to win gold, I could feel her emotions surging through me over the air waves.
Thursday September 11, 2008
The 7th anniversary of 9-11. Tonight is Parent's Night Open House at school. I sit near Aaron Kupchella, related to Rick Kupchella. Aaron is around 6’4” and looks a lot like Super Man. I think maybe he really is Super Man. Just once I want to get a good look under his shirt. Aaron is married to a Chinese woman and speaks unbelievable Chinese.
LuLu the Chinese music teacher is teaching the kids to sing Beijing Huan ying Ni, Beijing Welcomes You, one of the Olympics songs. She gave me a copy of the words in pinyin and characters. I can't stop singing it. The other Olympic song is One World, One Dream, both are very good songs.
It's really hot here. We have a 3 day weekend coming up for Mid-Autumn Festival. A bunch of us are going to Simaitai, a section of the Great Wall on Saturday; it should be an fun time and a chance to get to know each other. The library is desperately in need of organization and upper level books. Hope I can find time to tackle that in the middle of ESL and day-to-day running the library. I worked here until quite late last night and when I went back to my apartment I was really thirsty, so I stopped at the little store and bought a Coke…WOW…I haven't had caffeine in a lo-o-o-n-g time. Only drank half of it but was awake most of the night.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I'm in my apartment with no water again, no gas for cooking, and I have a splitting headache. It's hot and I'm really tired. Most of the teachers went out together after school, but I'm stuck here waiting for the "repair" and destroy man. Yesterday I had to rush home to meet the worker and show him what was broken. Today I have to be here so they can fix it. I had a burned out light bulb that was supposed to be replaced. So, Worker Man takes a good light bulb out of a different fixture, replaces the burned out light bulb with that, and voila, it's fixed! Meanwhile, I have no light in the entry. Fortunately, Agent Girl has her head screwed on right so she took the broken light to the store the today to buy a replacement which she brought tonight. Or, that is, I thought she knew what she was doing, but no, while I'm not looking she has the new worker man take the good bulb out and put the new bulb in its place. Now I have 2 good bulbs but only one working light, so as the worker is about to leave I grab him and point to the empty light socket. Surprise! Now, these are halogen lights in canisters and it actually takes some thought to put them together properly. After several unsuccessful attempts, he gently pushes the parts together, smiles and waves, and leaves. So, I get a chair and a few pillows, take it apart and do it right. My first experience with the way things get fixed here.
Oh, and the water? They say the meter is broken. They'll bring a new one tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My Box
Tuesday, September 9. 2008 My box came today. Fifty pounds of stuff, mostly warm clothes, that I'll need to make it through the year. One of the US Embassy drivers brought it to me after school. It arrived last week but was held up in customs. Since I sent it to Bill at the Embassy, it shouldn't have gone to Chinese customs at all. I finally have my curling iron!
Cathy and I had dinner together tonight at the little café/bakery in our complex. It was fun to get to know each other. It's Cathy's birthday on the 19th, so I think we need to have a party. Since she is from Canada she speaks French fairly well, we decided that sometimes when we're together we just need to talk French so we don't forget how. Jane and Patty both studied French for several years but they say it has been too long ago. I could teach French after school but I am going to need the time for myself I think. While we were at the café, Janice came in. Ryan and Michael have been taking Janice and Holli all around the area so Janice told us about all these places we should see. The one that interests me above all is the two hour foot and body massage for only $15. I still haven't had a foot massage yet! Darn.
Cathy and I had dinner together tonight at the little café/bakery in our complex. It was fun to get to know each other. It's Cathy's birthday on the 19th, so I think we need to have a party. Since she is from Canada she speaks French fairly well, we decided that sometimes when we're together we just need to talk French so we don't forget how. Jane and Patty both studied French for several years but they say it has been too long ago. I could teach French after school but I am going to need the time for myself I think. While we were at the café, Janice came in. Ryan and Michael have been taking Janice and Holli all around the area so Janice told us about all these places we should see. The one that interests me above all is the two hour foot and body massage for only $15. I still haven't had a foot massage yet! Darn.
School
Monday, September 7I teach 2 ESL classes--Mr. Dave’s way. Dave is the full-time ESL teacher, and he does a super job. I am sticking close to his side to pick up as much as I can from him. We zip through 4 books in 2 months basically. I can't be Mr. Dave, but I'll develop my own style in time. Basically, though, ESL just gets in the way of what really needs to be done here, and that is, first and foremost, to organize the library so that it serves the educational needs of the teachers, students, and curriculum. A realistic description of the library at this point could be: finding a book is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Other descriptions could include: no long-range plan;
no thought put into collection development; no understanding of the purpose of school library; no concept of information media, etc. Some other concrete descriptions would include: no call numbers on books, no card catalog, limited database capability-- all in Chinese. For any librarians out there, imagine not being able to read any of the data about a book--but hey, in this case it hardly matters because THERE IS NO DATA! I have learned, however, how to check-in and check-out a book, which is about all the system is capable of. The Follett rep is coming today. I hope to get funds for a real management system. In the meantime, I am sorting the fiction 
into reading levels and putting call numbers on the books. Then I can at least teach how to find fiction titles and authors.At today's staff meeting we learned about all the fun stuff that is planned for the year—several field trips, some of which are a really big deal, like Qingdao, Xian (home of the terracotta warriors), and Hongzhou. (So,that's where the money goes. ) The Christmas program is a big deal; International Week; Chinese New Year; Science Fair; Book Week/Fair; etc, etc. Next Monday is Mid-Autumn Festival when everyone buys/eats Moon Cakes. At the end of the month is a week off for Harvest Festival. What to do with that, I wonder. I'm still hoping/waiting to play tennis. It costs $3/hour at our court, not bad, but I need someone to play with. I have Cathy, Janice, and Xiaohong, the beautiful assistant principal at the middle school, but getting it arranged seems to be not so easy.
Day 2
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Second day in my apartment. The day is overcast and a bit stormy. It's a struggle to figure out how to make the gas burners work on the cooker. I only get hot water in the pipes. Bought a jug of drinkable water for the dispenser that is supposed to dispense hot and cold water, but its specialty is boiling water, so the hot is boiling and the cold is warm. Still cleaning “yuk” from surfaces, some not very nice. A jackhammer sound wakes me around four each morning; actually it is someone's water pipes. Don't know how or where to pay for water or electricity which goes on a credit card that I put in a meter, or meters, someplace. Who is supposed to help with these things? I don't know. It's not because I missed the first days, because those were here on time don't know either.
By afternoon the weather cleared and I went out in search of groceries and supplies. I found my way to the Upper East Side through an apartment complex that makes me envious. Located Paris Baguette, so I knew that Vanguard, the grocery store, had to be near. Didn't bring enough money with me, so I had to put a couple things back in the end. Just as I was about to leave, Jane Harris showed up. She was out exploring too. Great to see someone I recognize. Jane is close to my age and teaches 2nd grade. She is is from northern California, has a daughter, is divorced, and left her boyfriend behind to give the Beanstalk experiment a try. She's pretty cool. We had a snack at Paris Baguette, and I discovered they have free internet, or so it seems.
Second day in my apartment. The day is overcast and a bit stormy. It's a struggle to figure out how to make the gas burners work on the cooker. I only get hot water in the pipes. Bought a jug of drinkable water for the dispenser that is supposed to dispense hot and cold water, but its specialty is boiling water, so the hot is boiling and the cold is warm. Still cleaning “yuk” from surfaces, some not very nice. A jackhammer sound wakes me around four each morning; actually it is someone's water pipes. Don't know how or where to pay for water or electricity which goes on a credit card that I put in a meter, or meters, someplace. Who is supposed to help with these things? I don't know. It's not because I missed the first days, because those were here on time don't know either.
By afternoon the weather cleared and I went out in search of groceries and supplies. I found my way to the Upper East Side through an apartment complex that makes me envious. Located Paris Baguette, so I knew that Vanguard, the grocery store, had to be near. Didn't bring enough money with me, so I had to put a couple things back in the end. Just as I was about to leave, Jane Harris showed up. She was out exploring too. Great to see someone I recognize. Jane is close to my age and teaches 2nd grade. She is is from northern California, has a daughter, is divorced, and left her boyfriend behind to give the Beanstalk experiment a try. She's pretty cool. We had a snack at Paris Baguette, and I discovered they have free internet, or so it seems.
Exploring
Monday, Septermber 15, 2008-9-16
Today is a national holiday—Mid-Autumn Festival. Most people don't have to work. We don't have school either. I got up early and washed clothes by hand. Then hung them out to dry. It was a scorcher so they dried quickly. Then I took out my maps and tried to figure out
where we had walked yesterday. Also, tried to learn the names of streets. Speaking of which, “lu” means street; “qiao” means bridge. That's helpful. I'm picking up a little language here and there. These are pictures of the canal that runs through the Upper East Side. I can see my apartment building if I turn 45 degrees to the right of this shot.
Once I had a pretty good idea of the geography I set out to explore. I began by re-tracing the route we took yesterday, having heard there is great little place where I can get a 2 hour foot and body massage for $15 in that area; finding it becane one of my goals. But before I could do that I stopped in at Ozone Fitness Center in the heart of the Upper East Side and only a few minutes from the school. It is excellent. Has just about everything one could ask for: treadmill with satellite TV so I catch the news from around the world, etc; big rooms full of all kinds of weight machines, elliptical machines, bikes, etc.; swimming pool; aerobics room; personal trainer; classes, massage. The price is pretty spendy, but I think we will be able to get a corporate discount. Either way, though, I think I'm going to have get a membership for both my mental and physical health.
Finding the foot and body massage place was not as easy as I'd expected. Not only did I find one in that location, there were three and they all appeared to be closed. I guessed that everyone was taking the holiday off. I'll have to go back next week. The fresh fruit vendors were not on vacation though, so I bought a backpack full of apples, tangerines, kiwi, and grapes. I have learned enough Chinese to understand the woman who sold me the tangerines and kiwi when she told me that they had gone to the US before being shipped to China. I could tell from her gestures and facial expressions th at she thought that was ironic.
No good walk through unchartered territory would be complete without getting lost at least once, so I made sure I did that too. Actually, when we were exploring yesterday, Patty pointed down a street and said, “If you follow that street, it takes you to Jingkelong.” Jingkelong is a supermarket where you can also buy all kinds of stuff including food. It's in the basement of a small mall. The other levels are department stores and a Super 8. I needed to go to Jingkelong and I knew how to get home from there, so I set out in that direction with 5-6 pounds of fruit on my back.
The route took me along a residentiral street, maybe 6 blocks long, pretty much like the hutongs we saw in Hohai--all one-story brick dwellings, most of which had a little shop of one kind or another fronting the street. As it was a holiday, the streets were full of people having a good time. I was the only foreigner in the bunch, and I suppose people wondered what that was all about, but they were very friendly, and I enjoyed being a part of their day for a few minutes.
I came out on Liangmaqiao Lu, or something like that, but Jingkelong was nowhere in sight. Straight ahead was a MacDonald's and a big local market called Sunny Something. I took this to be the famous (in my mind) MacDonald's market that I'd heard so much about from other teachers. I was going to explore it, but first I walked a few blocks to my left and found a street that I recognized as leading back to where I had started. That was good to know, so I turned around and went back to "MacDonald's Market".
I was looking for a squeegee. (How the heck to you spell that?) My shower and bathroom are the same room. That is, there is no shower stall, just the four walls. Fortunately, the walls and floor are made of nice clean, bright white tiles, but it sure would be nice to have a squeegee to make short order of cleaning up after a shower, and did I find one! This is not just any ordinary squeegee, by the way. It is two-headed—one side rubber, the other cloth with buttons on it that allow it to be turned and bent every which way for getting into really weird spaces. The handle is adjustable; it can be long for washing window and floors, medium length for smaller spaces, or very short-handled for the shower.
I had been assured by the sales girl at MacDonald's Market that I'd find Jingkelong 3 hundred meters down the road, so I started out in that direction. A long time later, when I was just about to give up, I spied it. When I got there, the "guard" wouldn't let me take my fancy squeegee past the turnstile. He pointed to Customer Service where they gave me a tag, like a hat check, which I put around my wrist in case I should forget to pick it up when I left.
I had been searching unsuccessfully all over Chao Yang Distsrict for a small kitchen knife; apparently many stores had pulled them off the shelves during the Olympics and Paralympics--maybe this was due to the death of Mr. Bachman. I don't know. I didn't expect to find a knife at Jingkelong because there weren't any there last week, but this time I had a choice of three. I picked the multi-purpose one. It also is two-side, one serrated, the other not, and it is the best cheese slicer I've ever owned. To top it all off, the blade end nearest the handle is bottle opener. I'll add a picture when I get a chance.
I'd been out for over nearly four hours and was ready to rest when I finished at Jingkelong. I was hot, tired when I got home a pretty happy camper with a bulging backpack .
Today is a national holiday—Mid-Autumn Festival. Most people don't have to work. We don't have school either. I got up early and washed clothes by hand. Then hung them out to dry. It was a scorcher so they dried quickly. Then I took out my maps and tried to figure out
where we had walked yesterday. Also, tried to learn the names of streets. Speaking of which, “lu” means street; “qiao” means bridge. That's helpful. I'm picking up a little language here and there. These are pictures of the canal that runs through the Upper East Side. I can see my apartment building if I turn 45 degrees to the right of this shot.
Once I had a pretty good idea of the geography I set out to explore. I began by re-tracing the route we took yesterday, having heard there is great little place where I can get a 2 hour foot and body massage for $15 in that area; finding it becane one of my goals. But before I could do that I stopped in at Ozone Fitness Center in the heart of the Upper East Side and only a few minutes from the school. It is excellent. Has just about everything one could ask for: treadmill with satellite TV so I catch the news from around the world, etc; big rooms full of all kinds of weight machines, elliptical machines, bikes, etc.; swimming pool; aerobics room; personal trainer; classes, massage. The price is pretty spendy, but I think we will be able to get a corporate discount. Either way, though, I think I'm going to have get a membership for both my mental and physical health.Finding the foot and body massage place was not as easy as I'd expected. Not only did I find one in that location, there were three and they all appeared to be closed. I guessed that everyone was taking the holiday off. I'll have to go back next week. The fresh fruit vendors were not on vacation though, so I bought a backpack full of apples, tangerines, kiwi, and grapes. I have learned enough Chinese to understand the woman who sold me the tangerines and kiwi when she told me that they had gone to the US before being shipped to China. I could tell from her gestures and facial expressions th at she thought that was ironic.
No good walk through unchartered territory would be complete without getting lost at least once, so I made sure I did that too. Actually, when we were exploring yesterday, Patty pointed down a street and said, “If you follow that street, it takes you to Jingkelong.” Jingkelong is a supermarket where you can also buy all kinds of stuff including food. It's in the basement of a small mall. The other levels are department stores and a Super 8. I needed to go to Jingkelong and I knew how to get home from there, so I set out in that direction with 5-6 pounds of fruit on my back.
The route took me along a residentiral street, maybe 6 blocks long, pretty much like the hutongs we saw in Hohai--all one-story brick dwellings, most of which had a little shop of one kind or another fronting the street. As it was a holiday, the streets were full of people having a good time. I was the only foreigner in the bunch, and I suppose people wondered what that was all about, but they were very friendly, and I enjoyed being a part of their day for a few minutes.
I came out on Liangmaqiao Lu, or something like that, but Jingkelong was nowhere in sight. Straight ahead was a MacDonald's and a big local market called Sunny Something. I took this to be the famous (in my mind) MacDonald's market that I'd heard so much about from other teachers. I was going to explore it, but first I walked a few blocks to my left and found a street that I recognized as leading back to where I had started. That was good to know, so I turned around and went back to "MacDonald's Market".
I was looking for a squeegee. (How the heck to you spell that?) My shower and bathroom are the same room. That is, there is no shower stall, just the four walls. Fortunately, the walls and floor are made of nice clean, bright white tiles, but it sure would be nice to have a squeegee to make short order of cleaning up after a shower, and did I find one! This is not just any ordinary squeegee, by the way. It is two-headed—one side rubber, the other cloth with buttons on it that allow it to be turned and bent every which way for getting into really weird spaces. The handle is adjustable; it can be long for washing window and floors, medium length for smaller spaces, or very short-handled for the shower.
I had been assured by the sales girl at MacDonald's Market that I'd find Jingkelong 3 hundred meters down the road, so I started out in that direction. A long time later, when I was just about to give up, I spied it. When I got there, the "guard" wouldn't let me take my fancy squeegee past the turnstile. He pointed to Customer Service where they gave me a tag, like a hat check, which I put around my wrist in case I should forget to pick it up when I left.
I had been searching unsuccessfully all over Chao Yang Distsrict for a small kitchen knife; apparently many stores had pulled them off the shelves during the Olympics and Paralympics--maybe this was due to the death of Mr. Bachman. I don't know. I didn't expect to find a knife at Jingkelong because there weren't any there last week, but this time I had a choice of three. I picked the multi-purpose one. It also is two-side, one serrated, the other not, and it is the best cheese slicer I've ever owned. To top it all off, the blade end nearest the handle is bottle opener. I'll add a picture when I get a chance.
I'd been out for over nearly four hours and was ready to rest when I finished at Jingkelong. I was hot, tired when I got home a pretty happy camper with a bulging backpack .
Thursday, September 11, 2008
My Apartment
Here are some pictures of my apartment. I was supposed to have a bigger, nicer apartment, but I really like this one. I like the clean white kitchen and bathroom and the hide-a-bed. Maybe people will come to visit. Here's and advantage to being on the 13th floor that I hadn't thought about is that I am further away from the noise of the street. I like that.
DIRT
Saturday, September 5, 2008
The sun woke me early today and the first thing I thought of was the dirt. Me in an apartment full of dirt and no cleaning supplies! Not even a rag. There is a small outdoor area that is exposed to the outside but somewhat protected by louvers. The air conditioner is out there and there is a rod that stretches between the two walls that is meant to be used for drying clothes on hangers. BTW--there is a clever little pole that looks a bit like a cane that you use to lift the clothes hangers on and off the rod. Former tenants had used this area to dump junk, and that stuff was there, caked in dirt. No way was I going to hang clean clothes out there!
What to do? I started by climbing out the narrow little strip of a window, testing the strength of the strongest part of the small air-conditioner, and gauging whether or not I could get back in again. I decided to go for it, so I climbed down and started throwing junk back into my apartment. It was a filthy job. As luck with have it, I found not only a rag in the process, but a really good collapsible luggage/grocery dolly, also caked in dirt. I grabbed the rag and started cleaning. I cleaned until 1:30 that afternoon. Then I took a shower. Hey, the shower is great! What a pleasant surprise.
The sun woke me early today and the first thing I thought of was the dirt. Me in an apartment full of dirt and no cleaning supplies! Not even a rag. There is a small outdoor area that is exposed to the outside but somewhat protected by louvers. The air conditioner is out there and there is a rod that stretches between the two walls that is meant to be used for drying clothes on hangers. BTW--there is a clever little pole that looks a bit like a cane that you use to lift the clothes hangers on and off the rod. Former tenants had used this area to dump junk, and that stuff was there, caked in dirt. No way was I going to hang clean clothes out there!
What to do? I started by climbing out the narrow little strip of a window, testing the strength of the strongest part of the small air-conditioner, and gauging whether or not I could get back in again. I decided to go for it, so I climbed down and started throwing junk back into my apartment. It was a filthy job. As luck with have it, I found not only a rag in the process, but a really good collapsible luggage/grocery dolly, also caked in dirt. I grabbed the rag and started cleaning. I cleaned until 1:30 that afternoon. Then I took a shower. Hey, the shower is great! What a pleasant surprise.
World View
Friday, September 4, 2008
Finally moved into my apartment. Many of the teachers went to a Mexican restaurant in Sanlitun for dinner tonight. I would have got too but I got a late start leaving school and it took awhile for me to get into my apartment. There are 5 or 6 towers in the apartment complex. It's called World View, apparently Beijing is the world. Alternatively the complex is called Cando or Kandu. Here is a picture taken from the school.
I guess I was disoriented at first because I went to the tower next to mine by mistake. I didn't know it, of course, until my apartment wasn't in the place it was supposed to be. Hey, Beijing's a big city. Bill tells me that his European friends say it's as big as the entire country of Belgium!
DIRT. I might say dust, but it's all dirt. My apartment floors and most surfaces are covered with dirt. There are 6 windows that were left open for long enough to let a lot of dirt filter through the screens. I'll have to clean tomorrow but am too tired to think about it. The effects of jet lag, getting up early every morning to ride with Bill or catch a cab, and getting used to new job finally caught up with me. I'm just going to throw some sheets on the bed and got some sleep.
Finally moved into my apartment. Many of the teachers went to a Mexican restaurant in Sanlitun for dinner tonight. I would have got too but I got a late start leaving school and it took awhile for me to get into my apartment. There are 5 or 6 towers in the apartment complex. It's called World View, apparently Beijing is the world. Alternatively the complex is called Cando or Kandu. Here is a picture taken from the school.
I guess I was disoriented at first because I went to the tower next to mine by mistake. I didn't know it, of course, until my apartment wasn't in the place it was supposed to be. Hey, Beijing's a big city. Bill tells me that his European friends say it's as big as the entire country of Belgium!
DIRT. I might say dust, but it's all dirt. My apartment floors and most surfaces are covered with dirt. There are 6 windows that were left open for long enough to let a lot of dirt filter through the screens. I'll have to clean tomorrow but am too tired to think about it. The effects of jet lag, getting up early every morning to ride with Bill or catch a cab, and getting used to new job finally caught up with me. I'm just going to throw some sheets on the bed and got some sleep.
Moving In
Thursday, September 4, 2008-9-11
Tonight is my last night at Bills. After school tomorrow I move into my apartment. Most of the time I can't believe I am here! Jeanny set out some dishes (Sandee's old ones), pots and pans, cooking utensils, and a set of sheets; so I'm all set to go thanks to her. Bill's colleague, Teresa, loaned me pillows, a blanket, and a change of sheets too. Don't have towels and wash clothes yet but am looking forward to exploring shops around here for them. The first day I was here, Bill took me to a shopping mall with Jingkelong market in the basement where I can buy things like that as well as food. Now I just need walking directions!
I brought a carry-on and a book bag with me from home; the rest I shipped to Bill in a box that weighs 50 lbs. There was a note in his PO today saying that it had arrived, but it is at Chinese customs. Since it wasn't supposed to go through customs, he is concerned--so I am too. Guess I won't be seeing my stuff until sometime next week now. I hope everything is OK.
Tonight is my last night at Bills. After school tomorrow I move into my apartment. Most of the time I can't believe I am here! Jeanny set out some dishes (Sandee's old ones), pots and pans, cooking utensils, and a set of sheets; so I'm all set to go thanks to her. Bill's colleague, Teresa, loaned me pillows, a blanket, and a change of sheets too. Don't have towels and wash clothes yet but am looking forward to exploring shops around here for them. The first day I was here, Bill took me to a shopping mall with Jingkelong market in the basement where I can buy things like that as well as food. Now I just need walking directions!
I brought a carry-on and a book bag with me from home; the rest I shipped to Bill in a box that weighs 50 lbs. There was a note in his PO today saying that it had arrived, but it is at Chinese customs. Since it wasn't supposed to go through customs, he is concerned--so I am too. Guess I won't be seeing my stuff until sometime next week now. I hope everything is OK.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday，September 1, 2008 Beanstsalk School
All teachers are called by their first name, so I am Ms. Sue, although some say Ms. Susan. This sounds much more friendly than “Mrs. Benson”. Classes are identified by the first letter of the teacher’s name, so Mr. Michael’s fourth grade class if 4M; Laurie is 3M. For some reason, though, Ms. Amanda’s class is 2M. Some think it was a typo, others say it’s because one of the clerical personnel thinks she is “a Manda”...like a panda. Who knows?
I met with the principal for over an hour today. He filled me in on the history and organization of the school. The director is a parent who began the school in the mid-90s. They moved into this building midway through last year. There is a fiduciary relationship between it and the Chinese government, and there are several public school classrooms in a separate wing. The library is not what we would think of as a public school library. Although there are many books and children can check them out, there is no card catalog and a very minimal organization. Most of the teachers this year are new to the school. At first they came to the library asking questions like, “Do we have any books on….” Now, they , like me, know that it’s not only a crap shoot, by it’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack…only easier because there aren’t that many books.
We do, however, have several hundred Chinese books, all not cataloged, some still in their wrappings…OK hundreds still in their wrappings. Another thing we have is Oxford Learning Tree leveled readers…plus some Scott Forsman leveled readers. I don’t see much in the way of the great children’s books we are accustomed to providing back home though. On Monday the Follett Asia representative came. He tells me this is typical. If Beanstalk wants to set itself apart in Beijing, a state-of-the profession library is the ticket. I hope that we, as a team, can contribute to that goal.
After school today we had a staff meeting. Looks like a very good group of teachers. There is a field trip to Simitai, a relatively unrestored portion of the Great Wall, planned for Saturday, the 13th. I can teach French or some other subject after school if I want to. No school the 15th…it’s Mid-Autumn Festival. The vice principal took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone…on his Vespa. So, on my first day I found myself buzzing around the streets of Beijing, clinging to the back of a little motor scooter (Sorry Ryan, maybe you think it’s big.); down back streets (Where I’d like to hold my nose if I only dared free up a hand.); against the traffic, with the traffic, busses, taxis, cars, bicycles and pedestrians flying past me, all a blur. It was fun, of course!
I bought the cheapest telephone card. Ones with 8’s and 9’s are very expensive (lucky numbers in China.) Ones with 4’s are not. Apparently, 4 is like the kiss of death here. For example, my apartment is on the 13th floor, but I push 16 on the elevator because there is no 4th floor, or 14th, floor, and because they honor our superstitions about unlucky 13…no 13th floor either.
All teachers are called by their first name, so I am Ms. Sue, although some say Ms. Susan. This sounds much more friendly than “Mrs. Benson”. Classes are identified by the first letter of the teacher’s name, so Mr. Michael’s fourth grade class if 4M; Laurie is 3M. For some reason, though, Ms. Amanda’s class is 2M. Some think it was a typo, others say it’s because one of the clerical personnel thinks she is “a Manda”...like a panda. Who knows?
I met with the principal for over an hour today. He filled me in on the history and organization of the school. The director is a parent who began the school in the mid-90s. They moved into this building midway through last year. There is a fiduciary relationship between it and the Chinese government, and there are several public school classrooms in a separate wing. The library is not what we would think of as a public school library. Although there are many books and children can check them out, there is no card catalog and a very minimal organization. Most of the teachers this year are new to the school. At first they came to the library asking questions like, “Do we have any books on….” Now, they , like me, know that it’s not only a crap shoot, by it’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack…only easier because there aren’t that many books.
We do, however, have several hundred Chinese books, all not cataloged, some still in their wrappings…OK hundreds still in their wrappings. Another thing we have is Oxford Learning Tree leveled readers…plus some Scott Forsman leveled readers. I don’t see much in the way of the great children’s books we are accustomed to providing back home though. On Monday the Follett Asia representative came. He tells me this is typical. If Beanstalk wants to set itself apart in Beijing, a state-of-the profession library is the ticket. I hope that we, as a team, can contribute to that goal.
After school today we had a staff meeting. Looks like a very good group of teachers. There is a field trip to Simitai, a relatively unrestored portion of the Great Wall, planned for Saturday, the 13th. I can teach French or some other subject after school if I want to. No school the 15th…it’s Mid-Autumn Festival. The vice principal took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone…on his Vespa. So, on my first day I found myself buzzing around the streets of Beijing, clinging to the back of a little motor scooter (Sorry Ryan, maybe you think it’s big.); down back streets (Where I’d like to hold my nose if I only dared free up a hand.); against the traffic, with the traffic, busses, taxis, cars, bicycles and pedestrians flying past me, all a blur. It was fun, of course!
I bought the cheapest telephone card. Ones with 8’s and 9’s are very expensive (lucky numbers in China.) Ones with 4’s are not. Apparently, 4 is like the kiss of death here. For example, my apartment is on the 13th floor, but I push 16 on the elevator because there is no 4th floor, or 14th, floor, and because they honor our superstitions about unlucky 13…no 13th floor either.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Good Fortune
At Badachu we came upon an spot where people were tying or throwing these little lanterns on huge trees. We purchased the lanterns and wrote the names of people to whom we wished good fortune. You can see all or part of Jesse, Dave, Celeste, and Sue on the lantern to the right. I threw mine up and in stuck on the second toss. If you look hard you can see it there.
Bill and Jeanny put one on the tree for them and one for Angie. Angie's lantern
to the right.
When you rub your hands just right on
this brass bowl, tiny little droplets of
water spray up. It is possible to make 12
separate little fountains spray up, which
separate little fountains spray up, which
is supposed to be significant.
Jeanny could do it pretty well, a sign
Jeanny could do it pretty well, a sign that she should be prosperous. Bill
made the thing spray huge spurts all over the place... a sign of much financial prosperity.I don't think I succeeded to
any extent.
Badachu (Fragrant Mountains)
When we got home, Jeanny suggestedit turned out, up and up. The day was
fantastic, warm but not too hot, crystal
clear. I heard a person who has lived
here for 7 years say that it was the most
beautiful day she had every seen in
Beijing.
From the mountain we could easily make out Bill’s office building. When we were at his office last fall, Bill told me that he usually can’t see the buildings across the street…pretty good indication of improved air quality as a result of the Olympics. Bill's office is near the tall building far left. The tower in the middle is the CCTV building. The name Badachu means Eight Great Sites, and refers to the eight Buddhist temples and monasteries scattered across Cuiwei, Pingpo and Lushi hills at the foot of Beijing's Western Hills Scenic Area. Located along the outskirts of Beijing, it was restored during the 1980's and has since become a famous tourist destination. There are a total of eight former Buddhist temples and monasteries in Badachu Park. From 
Travel China's website.
Travel China's website.Angie and Jeanny
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Shun Yi
The area Bill lives in is called Shun Yi. It's in the NE beyond the 5th Ring Road on the way to the airport. Sunday morning Bill and I went for a long bike ride to explore a bit. We went to Lake View Shopping Center next to Dragon Bay Villas. It is really a little shopping area with several restaurants and is aesthetically laid out along the banks of a pond. The sound of traditional Chinese music surrounded us. We explored a beautiful new Spa where a person can experience just about any type of massage or bath imaginable.
On our way back we made a stop at New Talent Academy which is just opening and appears to be the size of a small university. It was festively decorated and parents were bringing children for registration, etc. It’s a residential academy. Bill told the officials that I was an English teacher and we were immediately whisked away to the personnel office. Since we were curious, this was OK with us. They have an English language program with about 130 students enrolled and they still need 3 foreign teachers. The pay isn’t that great, but the apartments are quite nice and teachers eat in the cafeteria.
On our way back we made a stop at New Talent Academy which is just opening and appears to be the size of a small university. It was festively decorated and parents were bringing children for registration, etc. It’s a residential academy. Bill told the officials that I was an English teacher and we were immediately whisked away to the personnel office. Since we were curious, this was OK with us. They have an English language program with about 130 students enrolled and they still need 3 foreign teachers. The pay isn’t that great, but the apartments are quite nice and teachers eat in the cafeteria.
Beijing Again
We flew 12 hours from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Narita (Tokyo) and the flight arrived exactly on time, but a thunderstorm delayed our departure for Beijing by nearly an hour. Bill was there to meet me at the airport and it was good to be in Beijing again. The city has been busy during the 10 months since we were here, dressing up for the Olympics.
Everywhere beautiful landscaping, banners every hundred feet along the highways, toll booth attendants dressed in costumes, etc., etc. The millionaire mansions that were under construction last fall are now occupied, and the grimy local neighborhoods have been spiffed up. It’s all very impressive…lots of change in short time. And every so often a military style vehicle with guards in camouflage (do they think they can hide on the freeway) and machine guns. Bill says it’s the radical Muslims they are most concerned about.
On the road from the airport two huge new hotels (Crowne Plaza and Marriott) have sprung up, surrounded by several other buildings that weren’t here before. The airport used by Northwest is the "Old Airport" that we used last fall. It is only a side terminal to the new, much larger, Capital Airport.
Saturday morning we drove down to the Upper East Side where the Beanstalk School in Chaoyang District. We managed to connect with Charlotte, the HR director, and so got to tour the school and see my apartment. By some mix-up, which everyone says is normal, so I suppose it’s not really a mix-up, I ended up with the apartment I had rejected. It’s one redeeming feature is the hide-a-bed, so I’m hoping for company to make good on that. The apartment building is called World View or Cando…take you pick. It’s right next to the 4th Ring Road, but my apartment looks to the inner court. There is a tennis court for residents and I hear tell there is a swimming pool. More later on that.
Everywhere beautiful landscaping, banners every hundred feet along the highways, toll booth attendants dressed in costumes, etc., etc. The millionaire mansions that were under construction last fall are now occupied, and the grimy local neighborhoods have been spiffed up. It’s all very impressive…lots of change in short time. And every so often a military style vehicle with guards in camouflage (do they think they can hide on the freeway) and machine guns. Bill says it’s the radical Muslims they are most concerned about.
On the road from the airport two huge new hotels (Crowne Plaza and Marriott) have sprung up, surrounded by several other buildings that weren’t here before. The airport used by Northwest is the "Old Airport" that we used last fall. It is only a side terminal to the new, much larger, Capital Airport.
Saturday morning we drove down to the Upper East Side where the Beanstalk School in Chaoyang District. We managed to connect with Charlotte, the HR director, and so got to tour the school and see my apartment. By some mix-up, which everyone says is normal, so I suppose it’s not really a mix-up, I ended up with the apartment I had rejected. It’s one redeeming feature is the hide-a-bed, so I’m hoping for company to make good on that. The apartment building is called World View or Cando…take you pick. It’s right next to the 4th Ring Road, but my apartment looks to the inner court. There is a tennis court for residents and I hear tell there is a swimming pool. More later on that.
Getting There
Getting there (here) was quite an experience. First, I had all the paperwork to deal with. You can’t apply for a work visa without a letter of invitation and a work permit from the Chinese government. That has to be sent to you, or at least that’s how I got mine. It took a week longer than expected. Then, you have to have a flight itinerary. This is a real Catch-22 if you don’t know how much time it will take to get your application processed and back to you…especially if you are already running on a tight schedule.
I ended up having to change my flight reservation because I didn't get my visa in time. Here’s what happened, and it was all my fault. I used Travisa.com to get my visa. They were great, by the way. I had used them last year and had saved the visa application form on my computer. The form was mostly in Chinese of course. I just printed that form and sent it in (2 copies) not realizing that there was a new version. The next day Travisa called to say they couldn’t take my application to the Chinese
Embassy for processing because I’d used the wrong forms. I would have to overnight the correct forms immediately, and by the way, I needed a new flight itinerary too.
Filling out the new forms was easy, but it turned out that Northwest wasn’t going to let me change my flight because I had used their new Cash + Miles program. No changes. No refund. I spent 2 hours on the phone with them until finally someone agreed to let me change my flight.
By the time I had all the new documents in hand, it was nearly 2 PM. I rushed to the post office and arrived just as the overnight express truck was pulling away. I was told that maybe if I hurried, I could catch it before it left Deerwood (the next town). So, I jumped in my car and sped away. No luck. I missed it there. I finally chased it down at the next town and my application was in Chicago the following day. I had it back in my hands in time for me to fly out on Thursday, August 28th. Don’t think, however, that FedEx didn’t receive an anxious call from me when it hadn't arrived by 1 PM Wednesday!
I ended up having to change my flight reservation because I didn't get my visa in time. Here’s what happened, and it was all my fault. I used Travisa.com to get my visa. They were great, by the way. I had used them last year and had saved the visa application form on my computer. The form was mostly in Chinese of course. I just printed that form and sent it in (2 copies) not realizing that there was a new version. The next day Travisa called to say they couldn’t take my application to the Chinese
Embassy for processing because I’d used the wrong forms. I would have to overnight the correct forms immediately, and by the way, I needed a new flight itinerary too.
Filling out the new forms was easy, but it turned out that Northwest wasn’t going to let me change my flight because I had used their new Cash + Miles program. No changes. No refund. I spent 2 hours on the phone with them until finally someone agreed to let me change my flight.
By the time I had all the new documents in hand, it was nearly 2 PM. I rushed to the post office and arrived just as the overnight express truck was pulling away. I was told that maybe if I hurried, I could catch it before it left Deerwood (the next town). So, I jumped in my car and sped away. No luck. I missed it there. I finally chased it down at the next town and my application was in Chicago the following day. I had it back in my hands in time for me to fly out on Thursday, August 28th. Don’t think, however, that FedEx didn’t receive an anxious call from me when it hadn't arrived by 1 PM Wednesday!
How It Started
The Beanstalk Adventure (or as Dave calls it “Sue’s Big Adventure”) started sometime around the middle of July when I came across an announcement for a librarian at Beanstalk International Bilingual School in Beijing. I posted my resume, clicked “Apply Now” and waited. It wasn’t long before I received an email asking for a telephone interview, and before I knew it, I had a job offer.
What to do? I had been thinking about teaching in Beijing for a few years, ever since Bill moved back there, but that was mostly just building castles in the air. I didn’t really expect it to happen. Suddenly, I was faced with the opportunity and had to decide to go for it or not. When I was thinking practically, which was most of the time, I couldn’t imagine going. I couldn’t leave Dave for that long. I was in the middle of too many projects, especially Dad’s biography. My garden needed me! But in the end I realized that an adventure I didn’t want to miss and now it now has begun.
What to do? I had been thinking about teaching in Beijing for a few years, ever since Bill moved back there, but that was mostly just building castles in the air. I didn’t really expect it to happen. Suddenly, I was faced with the opportunity and had to decide to go for it or not. When I was thinking practically, which was most of the time, I couldn’t imagine going. I couldn’t leave Dave for that long. I was in the middle of too many projects, especially Dad’s biography. My garden needed me! But in the end I realized that an adventure I didn’t want to miss and now it now has begun.
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