I've been in China for two months now, but I haven't been doing much shopping for Chinese goods so far. It's getting down to crunch time and I have 7 weeks to get a ton of stuff before I head home. So far, I've gotten a few cool things for myself, nothing big. I've got a big Christmas gift for someone, and a few small gifts for a few of you too. The longer I'm out here however, I find my list of things to buy growing ever larger. I still have a lot to get myself, such as a suit, a business trench, some custom tailored shirts, and other stuff. Today, I finally purchased my first big item. A custom tailored, cashmere, peacoat. It fits like a glove and I'm pretty sure I've never been this excited about a piece of clothing. What can I say? It looks sharp. I guess that means not all things made in China are that bad after all. In between all the classes and having fun, I'm getting a little stressed out. My number one goal is to not leave China without a suitcase full of awesome stuff and the way it’s looking that suitcase is empty.
Recently, I put an ad on TheBeijinger.com advertising myself to tutor English. Well, what do you know, English tutors are in huge demand out here. I got instant replies from multiple people but the one that caught my interest was one specific program. I went in for an interview last Friday and I began tutoring on Sunday. So far I've tutored twice and I love it. Besides the fact that I have to say I'm 27 years old, pretend I've already graduated, conceal the fact that I'm currently in school here, and avoid talking about my personal life, the job is well-paying, close to school, and very entertaining. I get paid phenomenally well and get to speak my native tongue. The people I'm tutoring are extraordinary business people too.
The first woman I tutored was crazy. She wanted help with her confidential PowerPoint presentation that she had to present this Thursday. First of all, she is presenting to some retired board of directors from Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Second, her company is being audited by Ernst & Young. Last, I was talking to her, helping her speak, and learning about their transition to comply with Sox 404 tax regulations. Absolutely absurd, if you ask me. I'm 20 years old. I'm green and inexperienced in the world of business, teaching English and pronunciation to this well experienced business woman.
The second woman I taught was leaving to Singapore the very next day. During the middle of our tutoring session she has a very important phone call. She apologized for having to take it. Turns out, she said it was her distributor. Her company is working on a huge deal with Airbus because they provide the painters air filtration masks. The distributer called her and told her that they needed a price quote for their air filters. I understood the need for the interruption and we continued our lesson. Then, again, the phone rang and this time we absolutely had to take a break. She was asking me if I knew the exchange rate from Germany to RMB and of course I didn't know! Turns out, her company has multiple divisions around the world. They supply masks to distributors and her division just built a factory in Tianjin, not too far from Beijing. (Remember, Jimmy and I went to the soccer game there) From what she told me, her distributor told her that Airbus wanted to purchase the masks from the German side. The only problem is, that the masks are produced in China. Therefore, they should be a Chinese export. If Airbus purchases the masks from the German office, they avoid paying the 17% tax on the masks but in doing so, they are giving Germany millions of dollars in exports to count toward the German GDP. My student was very upset, saying to me, "I don't care about the money or the commission. I just want what is right for my company and for everyone. Those products belong to us [China] and that is why I don't want them to buy them from Germany." It was so crazy. She doesn't care about losing the commission on this deal, but she wants the money to contribute to the Chinese GDP, as it should. It was a very very nat-onalist-c ideology. I think it is amazing. I don't know what to make of it, but it is very interesting. I can't wait until the next time I tutor. Who do you think I'll run into next? Other than the "would-be-legal-if-I-was-in-the-US" issues, I have high expectations for this program.
This week is a big week for travel too. Devon, Jim and I received our visas and now we’re working on booking a trip to Tokyo. I don't think I'll be able to go to both Hong Kong and Tokyo, but we are for sure going to Tokyo. I also went back to the Forbidden City with my art class today. The second time around was great. My art teacher explained a lot of things and took us to some quieter parts of the Forbidden City. We saw some foreign diplomats being escorted by a ring of plain-clothes police. Also, I must have been looking very American today because believe it or not, I was asked to take a picture with someone and this time I didn't have an American flag on my back to give myself away. I felt pretty cool.
In other news, Jimmy was talking with a ex-TBC student at Fordham who was in China last semester. He's continuing his Chinese language studies in New York and Fordham is paying for his classes since they don’t offer any more than the four semesters I've already taken. Jim and I are jumping on that deal as soon as possible. Both of us really want to continue to learn Chinese, so wish us luck when we approach our dean about it.
I think that is all folks. Check back later.
Showing posts with label The Forbidden City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Forbidden City. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Today had a Happy Ending (not like that)
The Traditional Dinner that we went on with our group was awesome. We went with a group leader who ordered all of our food for us. We had corn and fish and bullfrog and sweet buns and other tasty treats. It was really good and all of us had a good time. We really have a great group. There was a really annoying bird at the restaurant that we wanted to kill. This thing sounded like a car alarm. We were going to cook it until we left the restaurant and the bird squawked "Ni Hao!" That was the only reason we let it live. It was really cool. We didn't do much after dinner. We watched some of the Olympics on TV and went to bed. I had to wake up really early to go to T--nanmen Sq.
The F--bidden City was awesome! It is huge and you can easily get lost inside of it. With my typical luck, my camera died after we walked through the first gate. Luckily Devon was looking out for me and we're going to trade pictures. Walking through the City was awesome. Thinking about how thousands of years worth of Chinese rulers have walked through the same grounds is a cool experience. The pagodas have beasts on the corners of the buildings to show the significance of the building. The more "beasts" the more important the building is. You can see the beasts on the roof in the pictures. Also, they have huge stone carvings and walkways that only emperors could walk on. There is a 102m moat around the whole place and there are many gardens that the emperors used to woo concubines. They said that all the trees within the City are well over 300 years old. Underneath all of the building overhangs, intricate carvings of dragons, flowers, and landscapes are painted with green, blue, and gold paint. There was one room that had some of the largest hand sewn rugs I've ever seen. They had golden threads weaved in really intricate patterns. It was a really great experience overall, but after walking around for 3 hours we were all pretty tired. We went to a dumpling restaurant afterwards and ate delicious dumplings. Our leader ordered us some traditional food, but we pretty much stuck with the meat dumplings. The place was supposedly notorious for their dumplings and had my camera been working, I could have taken pictures of the people hand-making the dumplings in the back.
When we got back to our apartments, Devon and Kelly went to the Silk Market and Andrew and I went to get our haircut. We were laughing at lunch when we were talking about getting a haircut or a massage out in China. Our leader was not shy to tell us the real deal when looking for one of these services. The main point: watch out. China still relies on the sex industry to make a little money, so naturally massages and haircuts are used as fronts for the dirty business. We joke that be careful where you go to get a massage because it might just come with a happy ending. Our leader assured us to never say "special massage" because it implies sexual favors. Also, when looking for a massage place, never go to a place with pink lights outside of it. Those are a common sign for special massages. When you want to get a haircut, they usually massage your head for free. But it is also very easy to ask for a happy ending when your haircut is finished. Everyone thought it was funny when someone asked our leader how much for a happy ending, and she simply said "It depends on the person!" This is probably a really taboo subject for most people, but it is probably good that we talked about this with our leader before we ventured out looking for anything. A Chinese massage is very well known for being inexpensive and thorough and we all really wanted to get one eventually.
Back to the story, Andrew and I went to get a haircut and thought we'd bring along our leader just in case. For my first time, I definately wanted a translator for this adventure. We found a place in an apartment building next to ours for only Y20 which was supposedly really expensive. (That is about $4). I've gotten my haircut in many different places but by far China is the cheapest I've ever seen. I got an excellent haircut, shampoo, and mini-head massage for Y20. Amazing. After the haircut, all of the 20 day volunteers got a call to head to Steve's apartment (the CCI director)to pick up an extra Olympic ticket. I got a ticket for the Men's Pentathalon the morning I have Men's Basketball Semifinals. That should be awesome.
When I got back to the apartment, everyone was pretty bored and we had nothing to do until dinner so we decided what the hell, let's go get a massage! We had talked about it the night before, but after our conversation at lunch we felt prepared to venture out on our own. Not to mention, we're all pretty stressed out around here, so what the heck. Me, Jimmy, Rachel and Kelly went outside and asked a gaurd where one was. He took us right to an apartment building across the street and on the first floor, through the back door, and down a dark hallway there was a massage place. 1 hour massage. Y68 ($11). Total awesomeness. We felt like new people afterwards. I don't really think I need to say anymore but yea. Imagine little Chinese ladies walking on your back, x10. It was great. They did my back, neck, shoulders, butt (which was a little weird at first but you just have to go w/ it), hamstrings, quads, calves, arms and hands. Feet cost a little extra so none of us did that. It was a good experience and it wasn't "special" so we think we'll have to go there again next week.
After the massage, we headed over to stuff our faces. We were really hungry after all that hard work. We sat down and ordered food. That night we decided to get a whole duck (not Beijing Roast Duck). It was really good and we had other dishes to compliment it. I ate the eyeball. It wasn't that great. Don't think I need to try it again either. By the time we were done with dinner it had already gotten dark outside. We decided to head back. Personally, I was done. I had walked around all day, was sore from my massage, and had been up since 7am. I had to wake up really early for beach volleyball the next day and I wasn't looking to have a big night. On the way back we became tourists and saw this dog that seriously looked like a lion. I don't know how to describe it other than it was medium sized, long red/brown fur, with a mane and everything. He sat just like a lion and he looked like a stuffed animal. The old man who owned it said that it was very rare breed. It probably isn't but we loved it anyway.
Random notes: I'm having a great time out here. There are too many times I think of people back home when we're out having fun and I wish I could remember all of them. But here's an embarassing moment. Giro has the habit of making friends wherever we go. He talks to the locals even though he doesn't speak Chinese and he entertains them by taking pictures with them and flashing peace signs. We were walking around our neighborhood to get Olympic tickets and there is this woman sitting on the sidewalk with tons of chihuahuas. Long haired and short haired all with brown, brown/red fur. He approaches the woman cautiously and doesn't want to scare any of the dogs that are laying down licking their paws and sleeping. He stops a few feet away and waves at the lady and looks at the dogs. The lady smiled back very friendly and Giro took another step closer to try and get to know her. Wrong move. It was like attack of the wolves. All of a sudden, the dogs get up as if an alarm had just gone off and it was WWIII. Imagine at least 7 ankle-biters barking like crazy and chasing after a screaming white guy from the states. It was hilarious. The dogs made so much noise that everyone else in the plaza stopped what they were doing to watch the scared guy run away. All of us were actually pretty afraid of the vicious dogs and we left the square before we caused any more trouble.
The F--bidden City was awesome! It is huge and you can easily get lost inside of it. With my typical luck, my camera died after we walked through the first gate. Luckily Devon was looking out for me and we're going to trade pictures. Walking through the City was awesome. Thinking about how thousands of years worth of Chinese rulers have walked through the same grounds is a cool experience. The pagodas have beasts on the corners of the buildings to show the significance of the building. The more "beasts" the more important the building is. You can see the beasts on the roof in the pictures. Also, they have huge stone carvings and walkways that only emperors could walk on. There is a 102m moat around the whole place and there are many gardens that the emperors used to woo concubines. They said that all the trees within the City are well over 300 years old. Underneath all of the building overhangs, intricate carvings of dragons, flowers, and landscapes are painted with green, blue, and gold paint. There was one room that had some of the largest hand sewn rugs I've ever seen. They had golden threads weaved in really intricate patterns. It was a really great experience overall, but after walking around for 3 hours we were all pretty tired. We went to a dumpling restaurant afterwards and ate delicious dumplings. Our leader ordered us some traditional food, but we pretty much stuck with the meat dumplings. The place was supposedly notorious for their dumplings and had my camera been working, I could have taken pictures of the people hand-making the dumplings in the back.
When we got back to our apartments, Devon and Kelly went to the Silk Market and Andrew and I went to get our haircut. We were laughing at lunch when we were talking about getting a haircut or a massage out in China. Our leader was not shy to tell us the real deal when looking for one of these services. The main point: watch out. China still relies on the sex industry to make a little money, so naturally massages and haircuts are used as fronts for the dirty business. We joke that be careful where you go to get a massage because it might just come with a happy ending. Our leader assured us to never say "special massage" because it implies sexual favors. Also, when looking for a massage place, never go to a place with pink lights outside of it. Those are a common sign for special massages. When you want to get a haircut, they usually massage your head for free. But it is also very easy to ask for a happy ending when your haircut is finished. Everyone thought it was funny when someone asked our leader how much for a happy ending, and she simply said "It depends on the person!" This is probably a really taboo subject for most people, but it is probably good that we talked about this with our leader before we ventured out looking for anything. A Chinese massage is very well known for being inexpensive and thorough and we all really wanted to get one eventually.
Back to the story, Andrew and I went to get a haircut and thought we'd bring along our leader just in case. For my first time, I definately wanted a translator for this adventure. We found a place in an apartment building next to ours for only Y20 which was supposedly really expensive. (That is about $4). I've gotten my haircut in many different places but by far China is the cheapest I've ever seen. I got an excellent haircut, shampoo, and mini-head massage for Y20. Amazing. After the haircut, all of the 20 day volunteers got a call to head to Steve's apartment (the CCI director)to pick up an extra Olympic ticket. I got a ticket for the Men's Pentathalon the morning I have Men's Basketball Semifinals. That should be awesome.
When I got back to the apartment, everyone was pretty bored and we had nothing to do until dinner so we decided what the hell, let's go get a massage! We had talked about it the night before, but after our conversation at lunch we felt prepared to venture out on our own. Not to mention, we're all pretty stressed out around here, so what the heck. Me, Jimmy, Rachel and Kelly went outside and asked a gaurd where one was. He took us right to an apartment building across the street and on the first floor, through the back door, and down a dark hallway there was a massage place. 1 hour massage. Y68 ($11). Total awesomeness. We felt like new people afterwards. I don't really think I need to say anymore but yea. Imagine little Chinese ladies walking on your back, x10. It was great. They did my back, neck, shoulders, butt (which was a little weird at first but you just have to go w/ it), hamstrings, quads, calves, arms and hands. Feet cost a little extra so none of us did that. It was a good experience and it wasn't "special" so we think we'll have to go there again next week.
After the massage, we headed over to stuff our faces. We were really hungry after all that hard work. We sat down and ordered food. That night we decided to get a whole duck (not Beijing Roast Duck). It was really good and we had other dishes to compliment it. I ate the eyeball. It wasn't that great. Don't think I need to try it again either. By the time we were done with dinner it had already gotten dark outside. We decided to head back. Personally, I was done. I had walked around all day, was sore from my massage, and had been up since 7am. I had to wake up really early for beach volleyball the next day and I wasn't looking to have a big night. On the way back we became tourists and saw this dog that seriously looked like a lion. I don't know how to describe it other than it was medium sized, long red/brown fur, with a mane and everything. He sat just like a lion and he looked like a stuffed animal. The old man who owned it said that it was very rare breed. It probably isn't but we loved it anyway.
Random notes: I'm having a great time out here. There are too many times I think of people back home when we're out having fun and I wish I could remember all of them. But here's an embarassing moment. Giro has the habit of making friends wherever we go. He talks to the locals even though he doesn't speak Chinese and he entertains them by taking pictures with them and flashing peace signs. We were walking around our neighborhood to get Olympic tickets and there is this woman sitting on the sidewalk with tons of chihuahuas. Long haired and short haired all with brown, brown/red fur. He approaches the woman cautiously and doesn't want to scare any of the dogs that are laying down licking their paws and sleeping. He stops a few feet away and waves at the lady and looks at the dogs. The lady smiled back very friendly and Giro took another step closer to try and get to know her. Wrong move. It was like attack of the wolves. All of a sudden, the dogs get up as if an alarm had just gone off and it was WWIII. Imagine at least 7 ankle-biters barking like crazy and chasing after a screaming white guy from the states. It was hilarious. The dogs made so much noise that everyone else in the plaza stopped what they were doing to watch the scared guy run away. All of us were actually pretty afraid of the vicious dogs and we left the square before we caused any more trouble.
 |
| Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
