I had the good fortune to be able to return to Beijing much sooner than I had anticipated when I left last June. I just finished spending one week here working with StudentPlanet, training teachers who are new to the program and trying to squeeze in as many friends and flavors as possible. Add in the requisite bargaining at Silk Alley, and it was way too short! Read the rest of this entry »
Breakfast with Paul Mooney at East West Happiness, a visit to see my friend Shelly Gao from RDFZ, a final goodbye to my Chinese teacher Wei Luo Jia, last minute haggling at 雅秀 (Ya Xiu), some printing for StudentPlanet, a lesson in preparing one of my favorite dishes 鱼香茄子 (Yu Xiang Qie Zi) at one of my favorite restaurants, and redeeming my last free Frequent Beaner Iced Latte at SPR–that pretty much covers my last day in Beijing. Read the rest of this entry »
Two friends from Sun Japan, Satoko and Kaori, were in Beijing last weekend and I met them Saturday evening with another Sun colleague, Jerry. I am rather dubious of tourist attractions in general, and even more so for Chinese tourist attractions, so when they invited me to see a Chinese acrobatics show at Chaoyang Theatre, I was naturally skeptical. However, it turned out to be absolutely awesome! Read the rest of this entry »
我马上要回美国了－－在北京只有十二天。我在北京的生活很高兴。我回美国以后我觉得会想北京的生活。
虽然中国的发展很快，但是人们生活的变化不快。还可以看到以前北京的日常生活。有一天我坐公共汽车回家然后我看到售票员让每个人往后走，但是所有的人都不能动了。 Read the rest of this entry »
I met Tessa at Narita airport in Tokyo on April 26th and spent five days there with her. She will be spending five weeks as a teacher’s aide at Nishimachi International School where she attended 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. We visited the old haunts, checked out the new hot spots (Roppongi Hills and Omotesando Hills) and even went indoor gym climbing. I can’t say that I was disappointed to escape from Beijing for a few days. Read the rest of this entry »
No matter what you’re looking for you can find it in one of my neighborhood markets: hardware, shoe repairs, alterations, clothes, hangers, insect zappers, a haircut, and, of course, fruits and vegetables. The action starts in the late afternoon as people begin returning from work and business picks up. There’s both an “official” market just across from where I live, as well as the street market which begins about a block away. Read the rest of this entry »
“Clean up your plate” takes on a whole new meaning in China. Last week Xu Yuan (aka Student) returned home one evening very excited and pleased with himself. After a brief hiatus, he had been to see his girlfriend again, and in honor of the occasion, very thoughtfully brought back a special treat for me. He excitedly offered me the plastic bag with his gift and gestured for me to open it immediately. And what did I find? Read the rest of this entry »
Buying an eraser sounds simple enough, right? In Beijing, make sure you have plenty of time.
I had lost my eraser (an essential tool when learning Chinese) at my favorite SPR Cafe the other day and so headed over to the stationary department at 贵友建国门店 (Gui You Jian Guo Men Dian). Although the first floor cosmetics department resembles any you might find in the U.S., the similarities end as soon as you actually try to purchase something. Read the rest of this entry »
I had lunch today with Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former Président de la République Française. Whether it’s having dinner with Namu Er Che Yang or seeing Henry K passing by in a limousine, I always seem to rub elbows with the rich and famous much more so here than in (as in never) staid Palo Alto.
Last night I received an SMS from Chunzi Read the rest of this entry »
I took the 801 bus out to Tsinghua Science Park to the Google office to attend their Partner Solutions Organization recruiting bash last night. It was a long, crowded bus ride (a topic for another blog) that took about an hour and half from the third ring road near my Chinese class. To give just a taste of the Beijing bus experience, I’m including a recording of the 售票员 (shou4 piao4 yuan2 ~ ticket taker and general passenger watchdog) below. Read the rest of this entry »
I usually check wunderground.com for the forecast before heading out each morning. They’ve been predicting warm weather for the past few weeks and have been wrong every day. Yesterday, the forecast called for both warm temperatures and smoke. The smoke part I had confidence in, but I put on my long underwear just in case. It turned out to be the nicest day since arriving here, warm and not too smokey after all. The 5-day forecast is also looking pretty good for this week. Read the rest of this entry »
I am starting to seriously go local. Last night I found myself having dinner with Guo Guor at home in his gourd, tucked securely inside my shirt, trying to warm him up just enough so that he would feel like chirping. When he gets too cold he stops chirping and since his hot water bottle had cooled off, he was conspicuously silent. I took him (her? it?) and put him inside my fleece, but that was not warm enough–I had to have the gourd next to my skin in order to warm him up. Sure enough, it worked! You can hear Guo Guor by clicking the play button below. Read the rest of this entry »
I needn’t worry about losing any weight here–Lao Zhao is very apt at producing a tasty meal in no time at all. I’m usually studying away every evening when Xu Yuan will interrupt me to announce that “dinner’s ready”. Typically, Lao Ye (grandfather) will join us at the dining room table where, as a part of the deal here, I will implore Xu Yuan to “speak English please!” (usually to little avail). Read the rest of this entry »
Winter in Beijing officially ends at the end of February, notwithstanding any solar phenomenon that might dictate otherwise. With such hubris, the officials in China probably felt that they were being generous in waiting until March 15th, more than two weeks after the end of winter, to turn off the central heating in all apartment buildings. Even as my Chinese family all snuggled in their beds under their comforters yesterday afternoon with the temperature dipping down to 37 degrees, they continued to insist that “winter is over”. Not only that, they opened a window! Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve landed and am settling into my daily routine in Beijing, living with a Chinese family in Si Hui Dong (3rd subway stop east from Guo Mao), and studying Chinese every day. I’ve decided to try this blog as a means to keep friends and family apprised of my whereabouts and exploits.
I had scoped out an intensive “university” language program last time in Beijing, but after a one day trial I had second thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »