Beijing Vacation

I finally got a day off work. I have a three day weekend, It is national Tomb Sweeping day. The decision was made in China to have less week long holidays and to have more three day weekends, more or less on the western model.

I first thought of going to Wuhan and then to the Three Gorges; but I was not sure of the weather. So, I decided to go and spend a few days in Beijing instead. I have only been to Beijing the one time, when I arrived in China. I am often asked if I had been here and I always had to say no.

I do have to say that I came prepared to not like it. Making the arrangements was easy. I wrote to the hostel and told them what days I would be in Beijing and they confirmed room availability. He Zhi Qing then went and got me train tickets. I wanted a sleeper that would leave after school on Thursday and a "D" train to return on Sunday. Surprisingly, that is exactly what she got for me. She even got me a bottom bunk, as I requested.

She was not able to come with me as she is preparing for a retest of the TEM 4. It is shocking to Chinese when we travel alone, as I have said, they are uncomfortable doing things alone. I find it interesting that they see the words, "alone, " and, "lonely," as being synonymous.

I packed and wandered down to get a cab to the train station. Interestingly enough, the cab drive had no trouble understanding my instructions, in Chinese, and we went right to the train station.

You may have heard that there were some localized problems in China recently. I have little else to say on the at issue at this time; however, I saw that it has brought a change to even our small city. The first class waiting room now has a luggage scanner. There was a bit of a row in the waiting room that had the rail police involved; but, it was resolved before my train arrived.

The car was unusually loud and stayed that way most of the trip. However, I did eventually get to sleep. There wasn't much else to note until the next morning, after breakfast. I met some Americans, one was from Arizona, the other was from South Dakota. They were both living in Zhengzhou and were also visiting Beijing for a short vacation. We chatted until it was time to get our bags and prepare to leave the train.

I quickly found a cab and had no trouble getting to my hostel. I am a bit disappointed that this hostel lacks wi-fi. I later rented a bicycle and rode over to Tian'anmen square. I was surprised by the lack of street shops and vendors. It looks like L.A. during the ugly, modern, period of the seventies. there were not many people walking. I am staying in the Hutong district; which is a bit... colorful... but it really is hidden off the main areas and only accessible through narrow, and unmarked, alleys.

I returned to my hostel to find that, while I was gone, He Zhi Qing had cleaned my flat and chatted with Debra for a while on skype. I am also been keeping in touch with people in China by SMS messaging them. SMS is a lot more common here than it is in the states. I was using it as an opportunity to practice my Chinese as I was sending them messages in Chinese; however, to reply, they still need to send the messages in English. I can read very little Chinese; but, as I use it more, when sending messages, my ability to read it improves.

Having scouted the previous day, I was ready for my trip to Tian'anmen square. Getting there was a short walk of about three or four kilometers. To cross the major streets that are near the square there are several pedestrian subways.

At the square the first thing that is noticeable if the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao. It is a huge structure that, really, looks nothing like a mausoleum. on one side is the great hall of the people, there are no tours of this building. On the other side is a building that I was told I could lock up my camera and bag in. no cameras or bags are allowed in Chairman Mao's mausoleum. at the far end of the square is another pedestrian tunnel that leads to the entrance to the imperial city. The imperial city is also known as the forbidden city.

I did not go here first. Instead I went to the ancestral records area. This is a seldom visited section of the forbidden city and is not part of the forbidden city ticket. The ticket itself is very reasonable, at 2RMB. The buildings are part of the imperial city and are in areal photos of the city. The structures are very similar to what one would find in the, more crowded, main part of the imperial city. I recommend this side park to any person looking for the Forbidden City experience without the crowds.

From that quiet park I went to the part of the forbidden city that most visitors see. The first thing experienced, after walking through the large passage tunnels that are visible from Tian'anmen square, is a large plaza filled with people, vendors, ticket scalpers, and plain old hustlers of all forms. At the other end there are ticket booths to enter the main part of the complex.

After purchasing the tickets I also spent 40RMB on an audio guide The guide relies on small transponders throughout the park and frequently got lost (thought I was somewhere that I was not) and required frequent pressing of the buttons I was told to leave alone. An example this was while I was leaving the Louvre exhibit, the guide thought I was leaving the entire Forbidden City complex, instructed me on how to return it and retrieve my deposit, and shut itself off.

These little balls are embedded in the pavement all over the place, I never got a good answer as to what their purpose was.

The Louvre exhibit was one of the first things that I visited. A number of Napoleonic works were on loan and being displayed in the main gatehouse. These were not at all Chinese; but, interesting all the same.

In the side rooms of the entrance plazas to the Forbidden City were other displays featuring the arms and amour of the guards of the forbidden city. Photography was forbidden in these areas and they were watching and barking at people who ignored the rules. As a result I only have a few pictures of these exhibits. (Here I have a minor complaint about the Fiji S5/7/9 series. they have an auto focus assist lamp that is there to assist the auto focus function. It works well; but, it is a visible lamp. This has gotten me yelled at several times, and chased out of a temple once.)

Much of the forbidden city is under renovation; so, I can not comment extensively about these buildings. These buildings include the XXX building, the largest building in the Forbidden City complex.

After entering the inner court yard I was getting a bit tired, it was well after noon by this point. I stopped and took a short nap, only to be awaken by another napper roping his water bottle. I then decided to purchase lunch at one of the overpriced establishments in the complex. There were non any of these so the, typical, Chinese vendor effect was not noticeably, there were just enough of them to be useful.

It just struck me as wasteful to spend the money to enter the complex and then not enjoy it because I had neglected to bring my own water and lunch. I would tell anyone else considering visiting this World Heritage Site (worked that in to attract the search engines; see, I am learning) that they should bring a couple of bottles of water for each person and something to eat. It really is that big. The meal was not really overpriced, having just eaten a meal at the hostel (now, by Chinese standards, those meals are overpriced); but, I ordered beef curry and it really failed to set me on fire.

From there I visited many of the smaller, side, palaces. These were all interesting and worth the visit. I then went through the garden at the north end of the complex, which is also an exit for those who are too tired to continue. And, after having an ice cream (there is a reason that I can walk for 6 hours and loose very little weight), I went to the palaces on the other side of the complex.

Many of these were closed. However, one that was very interesting; both, because it was different than all the others and because it was unfinished for several reasons, was the palace that featured western buildings. unlike the traditional buildings, these were built in a typically western style. as such they were able to house many different programs and displays. they provide the research center for clay pottery preservation and on display are some very valuable, and interesting, examples of Chinese pottery.

From here I was working on my exit and saw several court yards from the other side. I returned the audio guide and there was no notice of my having used the "do not touch" buttons. It then worked my way past the crowd and the tea house scamers. I don't know if I described this scam in any detail in the past; so, here it is. Do understand that my knowledge of this scam is secondhand; however, the stories are plentiful enough to believe it is real (I do sometimes worry that I have brushed off a genuine student, or person trying to be polite; but, this is a "better safe than sorry" decision that I have made [sometimes it is better to miss an opportunity than to invite catastrophe]).

A young Chinese woman will introduce herself and try to make friends quickly. She will then direct the unsuspecting foreigner to a tea house (one of the reasons that I am, generally, leery of tea houses) and proceed to order some unreasonably priced tea. Then, when it is time to pay, they conveniently disappear. They later take a cut from the owner. And, pay note, do not pay with your credit or ATM card. There are plenty of stories of accounts being cleaned out.

The Art scam is a bit more straightforward and I hesitate to call it a scam. It is just a high pressure sales tactic. A person claiming to be an art student will ask you to come and look "just look" at the exhibition from their school or whatever. Then once you are there looking, the high pressure sales attic starts. Like I say, not really a scam, just something to be aware of if you are asked to "look" at a persons art

... Back to the story... From there I walked back and visited several music stores to see what a better violin should cost. I ha some trouble seeing much significant difference between the 4500RMB and the 12,000RMB violins. However, I did see a difference between the ones I was looking at and the one I am currently using.

I made the decision to wait until I have the violin teacher with me before making any purchase. I just wanted to look and see what a increase in quality should buy me. I will also note that the 4500RMB violin dropped to 3500 before I made it out of the shop, there was an indication that the shop owner was willing to go lower.

I then returned to the hostel and finished reading the book that Debra sent to me with a request that I read it. It is titled -MAJOR CHICKLIT WARNING- Sweetness in the Belly. It was a good story and included a lot of detail that I would expect in a book, about contrasting cultures, written by a woman with a PhD in Anthropology.

The next morning (today) I went for a short walk and then took a cab to the train station. Again, having no trouble telling the cab driver where to go. The traffic in Beijing is sane. I noticed lane control , the use of turn signals, waiting for traffic lights, and many other things that are not seen in most of China. I even saw two people get traffic tickets (they were, probably, unimportant people).

The train station was clean and modern and the announcements could be understood. Not only were they in English; but also, they did not sound like "wa waaa wa waaa wa." This was a pleasant change. The D train is more crowded than usual (I am typing this on the train) and it was only when I tried to recline my seat and take a nap that I discovered that I am on the "running and screaming children" car. Now that I am awake they have quieted down.

New Semester (no pictures)

As I am sure that you realize by now, a new semester has begun. Most
of my time has been taken by reading and preparing lessons. I have
also been spending a lot of time helping students prepare for the
TEM-4, the national English exam for English majors.

I have been reading a series by Larry Turtledove. While he, having a
PhD in Byzantine History, generally writes in the genre known as
alternative history this series of four books features a Roman
scouting group of 1,500 being displaced (a common alternative
history theme) into a completely fictional, but very human, world.

As with any of the books I read, I downloaded these and am reading
the series on my PDA. While I have been using it for that and
scheduling purposes, I have been using my PDA less lately. I have
been using my, Linux based, Asus EeePC more. I have been using it in
class to keep records and am using it now, between my class that
ends at 18:00, and the next one that starts at 19:00.

Of course, I can not use any Linux based PC to connect to the
Internet here. First off, it should be taken as a given that the
campus is not blanketed with wi-fi. This is a culture that is not
understanding of the idea of free services. If it has value than it
should be charged for and if it has no value then it should not be
done. Actions taken for public benefit are, simply, not part of the
culture.

Further, as I have said in the past, the computer services are
married to Microsoft. Microsoft software products are viewed as
being, essentially, free. The result is that there is no way any
competing system can gain hold. For Internet access there is a
program that is needed to authenticate, remember that there is no
anonymous Internet access; users of public Internet access points,
or, Internet bars, are required to have an Internet users
identification and access card. Private computers must use the,
Microsoft only, authentication software. This all adds up to, I can
not use my Linux computers to access the Internet and have to
sneaker-net my files on and off them.

Lesson preparation is a bit different than it was last semester. I am preparing a single lesson for the non
English majors and delivering it several times in a single week. I
then develop two sets of lesson plans for the English majors to fill
four class hours. Three of those hours are used to cover the
material in the book and the other hour is used to prepare for the
TEM-4 test.

Last year no time was spent preparing the students for this, very
important, exam and it was a disaster. While, as I have mentioned, a
lot of the failure was due to campus politics, I would still like to
see the students do better. Toward that end I am beginning to spend
time working on preparing he freshmen for the exam. The most
important of the preparations, at this stage, is to get them
thinking about the exam and taking it seriously, if they learn
anything, so much the better.

In the other three class hours, per week, where we are covering the
material in the book, we do a number of language and speech drills
that center around forming sentences and reading comprehension
quizzes.

My weekends are also taken, to a large extent, in helping students
prepare for the test. Some of the students, who re now Juniors have
one opportunity to retake the test and I am helping them to prepare.
As a result I am spending a lot of time with He Zhi Qing working on
this.

I am also continuing to learn to play the violin. I will never be
good; but I am reaching the point that I can identify that I am
playing a tune, even if the tune itself remains somewhat elusive. I
am preparing to replace my current violin with a better one. The
plan is to take the D (high speed) train to Zhengzhou and look for
one there. I will take He Zhi Qing and the violin teacher with me. I
expect that for the extra cost of buying the teachers ticket I will
get a better violin just by having someone, with me, who knows
better of how to identify a good violin.

I do not want to be in a position that I am blaming the tool instead
of the user. I expect to give my current one to He Zhi Qing. She has
been attending the lessons with me and interpreting the teacher when
some point needs clarification.

What I have not been doing as much of has been evening rides. The
weather is just now getting warm enough that riding is even a
consideration. The dam that I normally cross, on my ride, is
currently under maintenance. So, I have been riding a different
loop. I also ride to school every day.

I also have to factor in the increase in my classes. Just being a lot
busier has cut into my riding. My new schedule looks like this.

[that sure didn't work]

Which means that I, really, only have Thursday and Friday evenings
available for riding.

New Suit

Today, Monday, was the first day of our Western New Year vacation. We had Sunday off; however, we had to work on Saturday. The reasoning behind that was that we only, officially had Tuesday and Wednesday off. So, in order to have Monday off, we worked on Saturday.

It makes some demented sense. The fact that we even have a Western New Year holiday is new to this year. The Chinese government is trying to bring about a change and go away from the Chinese system of a few long holidays, where the entire country shuts down for a week several times a year, to the Western model of several short holidays. How well it works out is something that only time will tell.

At church on Sunday I had noticed the suits that both Mark and Joe were wearing. Both were somewhat similar and tailored to fit them. In further discussion they told me that they had been made locally. The process is somewhat simple and we decided to go on Monday and see about having a suit made for me.

After church I spent the day trying to get all of the data files moved over to the new computer that the college had issued me. After that I had my violin lessons.

The lessons are going pretty well, the teacher speaks pretty good English and comes over to my place once a week and gives a lesson. She is very fixated on teaching songs, somewhat before I have even gotten the basics down cold; however, I am learning some. He Zhi Qing also comes with her in order to help with the lesson. Seeing as she is, for all intents and purposes, taking part in the lessons, I have already decided that I will give her this violin as soon as I get a better one. This one is fair, but not great, when I got it I really did not know what I was looking for. Now I have a much better idea and, after my vacation with Zeneta, it is due for replacement.

Monday I called He Zhi Qing, arranged for her to come along, and the minor confusions ensued. About forty-five minutes later she called to inform me that she was waiting at the main gate. I then told her to come up to my flat while I lit a fire under Mark and Joe. I had spoken to them about an hour prior, about going, and they had said that they would get ready. Well, they were still lounging about in pajamas.

About this time Rachel, a Chinese Tourism student, arrived to help them during the day and they started moving. We then went down to find a cab and realized that there are four seats in a cab, and with the two girls, there were five of us. The good thing is that neither Rachel nor He Zhi Qing are very big and we had no issues with a couple of pretty girls sitting on our laps ( to give you an idea, next to He Zhi Qing [who, by Chinese standards, is not small] Debra looked like a giant; and, as you may recall, had giant sized problems finding clothing to fit).

We went to a clothing market that neither I nor He Zhi Qing were familiar with. Outside the shops were large bolts of fabric with the better fabric inside. We wandered to the shop that Mark and Joe had previously gone to and I looked at the fabric and pointed to a long bolt of a Grey wool. At that point the haggling ensued; little details, like the material and cost of the liner, for the coat, had to be discussed.

I will say that Rachel did an excellent job of working on the price. So, the first thing I did was to purchase the cloth. Then I was measured and arrangements were made to phone He Zhi Qing if there was a need for re-measurement. At that point the fabric was packaged for a courier to pick it up, by motorcycle, and take it to the tailor who is to turn it into a coat and pants. The total cost is 450RMB and the current exchange rate is about 7.6RMB/1USD. I have to say I am very curious how it turns out; if I like the end result I will probably order more.

After that we (Mark, Joe, Rachel, He Zhi Qing, and I) wandered for a while, until Mark and Joe saw the electric massaging chairs in a shop. At that point they were lost into their own little land of bliss and He Zhi Qing and I wandered off.

Those ain't sheep

School started and Slow Down!!!

Well, school has started again. All of the students are back and the shops along the street are open again. Of course, the renovations that are currently underway along the street are not finished so it is even more haphazard chaos than it was last year and the traffic is back up to school year intensities and the street is still torn up as the city continues with its beautification project.

Much to my surprise, I have been assigned freshman English, Oral English. One good thing about this class is that it has a book. The bad thing is that not all of my students will be English majors. This means that the level of both competency and expectations will be reduced from last year.

That means that I will be spending a lot less time in class preparation than I spent last year as I do not need to completely develop every bit of activity that occurs in the classroom. The book is a book of stock dialogues. This will be easy for the students as the Chinese students are the best in the world. Their entire educational system is built around memorizing and repeating exactly; unfortunately, understanding what was memorized is not necessary to do well.

I am not actually in class yet as the freshman will not arrive on campus for two more weeks. As with last year, the freshman do not start at the same time as the other students; however, I am officially "on the clock."

After the students arrive they will then begin their military training. When that is completed they will begin class. This means that I have about another month before I start

************************************************************

I just got the strangest message from Gao Jing. Technically, Gao Jing is not one of my students, at this point, she is now a junior and is not in any of my classes. For that matter, the way her schedule currently looks, she has no foreign teacher this year at all.

Telling about this message requires a bit of background. After Zeneta returned I stopped going on the evening fitness rides with the group because she wants to be eating dinner right when they want to be out riding.

I want to be out riding because it is important to remain active for reasons of fitness, and, I enjoy it. So, I have been going alone. I also make my loop in the opposite direction as the bike club rides. There are three reasons for this. First, it just feels like a better direction to start in from where I am living. Second, it gets the big hills out near the beginning and feels more fun. Third, because it is the opposite direction as the club rides I have a chance of seeing some of them as I am on my ride.

This evening I passed about two small packs of people from the club as I was riding and I stopped by the shop, in order to have a small repair made. My dork disk had broken. They just removed it, which was fine with me. In addition they talked to me about an upcoming backpacking trip.

Then, about nine thirty tonight I got a message from Gao Jing. The messages are text messages which accounts for much of the strange grammar. Gao Jing told me, "I just received a call from Mr. Qi (the bicycle shop owner) he asked me to tell you that you ride too fast and it is too dangerous. They are worried about very much. So please slow down and release their worry when you go riding with them next time. He also told me that the camping time hasn't been fixed."

Of course I ride fast! If I wanted to ride slow I'd… well, I'd ride slow! I also do not want them to feel like I am holding them up, and I am not riding in front (for one thing, I seldom know the way to where we are going). I am about third in the pack. I replied to Gao Jing, "What! I am not in front! I am trying to keep up with them so they won't feel that I am slowing them down."

Gao Jing's reply was, "But I do not know why he called me and just told me that especially."

Well, the reason that he called Jing was, of course, my number, that he has, is her number. We can only just barely understand each other in person; so, for him to call me directly would be a waste of time. I think that it just sunk in to him that I am out "riding by myself." They do tend to ride, and do pretty much everything, in groups. I think while I was having the repair done he looked at my trip time and distance on the bike computer and realized my route (keep in mind, in China, the word privacy has only negative connotations). It is also probable that some of the club members called him (where I saw the club members, the last couple of days, have been fast stretches).

I am not upset; in fact I find it somewhat funny. At least, when the head of the local bicycle racing club calls to tell me to slow down, that I am too reckless, I am secure that the city racing club stickers on my bike are earned.