Why I love Beijing

I love...
-having the best meal of my life for 22rmb ($3.50) over 3 courses
-hospitality of people who will be interacting with you long term
-sharing culture among co-workers
-the smiles from the elderly
-offered help from strangers
-having strangers ask me for directions even though I clearly don't belong
-the weather (pretty in the rain)
-hole in the wall restaurants
-the unity among expats
-beijing ultimate
-the stares (i've moved past them and now just feel cool)
-walking everywehre
-riding the subway like its a surf board
-street food
-cheap beer
-funny drunk chinese girls who just love white boys but can't speak enough english to tell you without writing it down
-being in a rhythm
-simplicity
-learning chinese without trying
-being told i'm a good dancer!
-the hilarious nature of my new roommate Andrew
-there being about a dozen andy/andrew's around...
-Faerie (Cheng Chen -程晨) and Summer (Wang Jing王璟)at work laughing
-Staring blankly because I have no idea what is going on
-Staring blankly but actually knowing what is going on! ;-)
-AIESEC events
-Feeling bigger than ever before and almost feeling fat
-Discussions with Talia about being fat and laughing at it
-working out and getting stared at
-feeling like I am actually in better shape than I have been in a long time

-spicy food
-watching this late night nature show that has no talking, just sound effects, greatest show ever
-watching old cartoons like DBZ I know so well that I can learn chinese by watching
-talking about international relations with people from all over the world
-picking out people by accents
-watching couples just walk and talk
-old people dancing in the park at night
-these sweet 2 wheel skateboards all the kids have!
-watching 50+ yr. olds do tai chi, knowing half of them could probably beat my ass
-Beach Hat Tournaments
-Massages and being walked on
-Propaganda
-Traffic laws and the lack there of
-Bimbo baked goods
-Bargaining
-Buying books for $1

-broken conversations
-being laughed at by 8 year olds for my chinese skills
-much more

Beefcake explained... kind of

maiTAI remix (12:30:33 PM): Hey so I read your blog and commented today. And then I asked my friend if she knew anything about the "beefcake" comment. And we have a theory.
maiTAI remix (12:32:00 PM): My friend is from Qingdao and has a few classmates who became Beijingers and she explained to me their slang.
Andy Young UNC (12:51:26 PM): oh
Andy Young UNC (12:51:29 PM): and what does it mean?
maiTAI remix (12:51:47 PM): it has nothing to do with weight
maiTAI remix (12:52:12 PM): so my theory about the transliteration was right
Andy Young UNC (12:52:13 PM): i immediately jumped to the southpark episode
maiTAI remix (12:52:35 PM): so if you translated beefcake back into chinese
maiTAI remix (12:52:37 PM): niu
Andy Young UNC (12:52:50 PM): yeah
maiTAI remix (12:52:55 PM): and the word "bing" as in moon cake
maiTAI remix (12:52:58 PM): that bing
Andy Young UNC (12:53:16 PM): i've been here, but my logic stopped
maiTAI remix (12:53:22 PM): you get a phrase that is beijing's way of saying
maiTAI remix (12:53:24 PM): hen bang
maiTAI remix (12:53:47 PM): to say that someone is niu
Andy Young UNC (12:53:48 PM): cause i got to mad cow disease from there
maiTAI remix (12:54:03 PM): means to say they are hen bang
maiTAI remix (12:54:07 PM): or li hai
maiTAI remix (12:54:25 PM): 很棒
Andy Young UNC (12:54:35 PM): strong
Andy Young UNC (12:54:37 PM): like ripped?
maiTAI remix (12:54:41 PM): the chinese characters for hen bang
Andy Young UNC (12:54:50 PM): gahahha
maiTAI remix (12:54:52 PM): no, just basically awesome
maiTAI remix (12:55:10 PM): but the thing that i found quite strange is this
Andy Young UNC (12:55:11 PM): well i was drenched in sweat from running
maiTAI remix (12:55:26 PM): oh, haha...could be it
Andy Young UNC (12:55:34 PM): well im a fatty by chinese standards either way
maiTAI remix (12:55:45 PM): "bing" is a slang for a sexual term
Andy Young UNC (12:55:53 PM): meaning?
Andy Young UNC (12:56:03 PM): was i getting hit on?
maiTAI remix (12:56:25 PM): like female organs
maiTAI remix (12:56:32 PM): but the thing is
maiTAI remix (12:56:46 PM): when you add it to niu
Andy Young UNC (12:56:54 PM): udders?
maiTAI remix (12:57:13 PM): it doesn't have any type of sexual connotation
maiTAI remix (12:57:25 PM): no, stop comparing yourself to a cow
Andy Young UNC (12:57:37 PM): this is not helping as much as i expected
Andy Young UNC (12:57:41 PM): now im a cow udder
Andy Young UNC (12:57:44 PM): jeez
maiTAI remix (12:57:49 PM): calling someone niu
Andy Young UNC (12:57:48 PM): a fat one at that
maiTAI remix (12:57:59 PM): is like using it as an adjective
maiTAI remix (12:58:01 PM): for awesome
Andy Young UNC (12:58:09 PM): whereas in the us
Andy Young UNC (12:58:16 PM): if you called a girl a cow... you'd get slapped
maiTAI remix (12:58:29 PM): for some reason though, beijingers like to add another phrase for it
maiTAI remix (12:58:44 PM): character to it*
maiTAI remix (12:59:01 PM): but whether he said "niu" or "niu B"
Andy Young UNC (12:59:14 PM): he said "beefcake"
Andy Young UNC (12:59:19 PM): in english
maiTAI remix (12:59:53 PM): (niu B is actually what it is suppose to be as oppose to 'bing") he basically means you're awesome
maiTAI remix (12:59:58 PM): i know he said "beefcake"
Andy Young UNC (12:59:58 PM): so in summation, what did he mean by beefcake?
maiTAI remix (1:00:15 PM): he meant, "you're awesome"
Andy Young UNC (1:00:23 PM): even though he never met me before...
Andy Young UNC (1:00:35 PM): i must be a badass over here... ha
maiTAI remix (1:00:36 PM): must have been amazed by the fact you had a nice body and you were sweatig
maiTAI remix (1:00:45 PM): doesn't matter that he doesn't know you
maiTAI remix (1:01:00 PM): chinese people will say whatever the hell they want to you

Beefcake?

Upon some external and internal reaction to my last posting I went back to the concept of the glare vs. stare vs. glance phenomenon and what it means and how it happens. Instead of just accepting it from my point of view I spoke to some other foreigners as well as locals in both Chinese in English since writing it. And here is what I've come to conclude 2.0. Oh and if you can't tell, I'm not doing much at work this week.

The glance is just gonna happen. I have no qualms about it, people do it to everyone all the time, its just gonna happen even more because I stand out a lot, a whole lot. But whatever, they love me :-)

The stare is much more situational than I first thought and the lack of subtlety may be due to difference in culture. I'll start with the back half of this one, the lack of subtlety. Personally, when I want to stare (let's just assume its a cute girl to set up the scenario) I've been raised to believe that I should not, its not nice. Staring is not approriate and if I'm going to do it, don't get caught! It comes off creepy, rude, and as invasion of privacy to do so in the States. If I sat on the bus and just stared at someone for half of the U Route at UNC, she might be uncomfortable, say something, or even get up and move. Here, personal space and privacy are not so common. Staring isn't necessarily smiled upon, but its also not frowned upon (unless you are the emperor, but that was a long time ago, so yeah).

The second thing that I learned about staring both through focusing on it and talking to people is the situational part of being stared at. First off, I was told to assume that if its a bunch of college age girls staring I should just assume its because I'm handsome (who would have thunk it!). So that takes out a bit of it. Second, the staring comes depending on who I'm with and what I'm doing. As a foreigner, I'm going to get less stares in either a big group of foreigners (because I look touristy) or with a Chinese person (not like a couple) because these are normal sights. Either I'm sightseeing and just here for a little or I need help getting around. However, any time I speak Chinese, the stares (and glares) tend to increase. If the chinese is good enough I will impress and please many people around me, but also open myself up as being a little more different. Being alone increases the stares to a degree, but I'm not sure why in some situations. Also, the clothes I choose are crucial. If I'm in very bum like clothes (board shorts and a T) or very dressy clothes I get extra looks. Neither of these are too normal so they stand out a bit (I guess). Finally, when I'm in a crowd, I get stared at because I can be seen. Being a whole head over everyone, I'm more visible and work as a marker to see who I'm making my way through the crowd and if my side is faster, etc.

Finally, the glare. I get glared at (opposed to other people, not like drivers in beijing who honk and glare at everyone, or things like that) often when I'm going/comign from work and when I am partaking in Chinese customs or mannerisms. So the work one makes sense, I work in a nice area and therefore am taking a job that some local could have had. Some people don't like it, just like some US citizens don't like other ethnicities for "stealing their jobs." The other is odd, because it gets a mixed reaction. Some people are very happy when I pick up on Chinese styles, whereas others seem offended that I'm stealing their culture. This can be anything from asking for the free chopsticks at some resteraunts, to not getting pushed out of the way on the subway or bus when fighting for the last spot (this one is really bipolar, some people are impressed and talk to me and others kick and glare like crazy people, even more than they do at the Chinese people who cut them off (this is the only time I really get to hear someone say "foreigner" (in chinese of course) under their breath)... oh beijing, you are special). After a little thought, I don't take these glares personally, but rather just chuckle as I realize the root is not me, so much as the person glaring. For instance, if I hold my ground, it sucks because they underestimated me and chose that route, expecting better results, or the person on the street/in the resteraunt realizes they don't get to make the extra money off the foreigner. I might be upset in those situations too, I guess. I'm just not much of a glarer, i prefer SNAKE EYES

Oh and I get looks when I exercise outside, of all three styles, probably because I run around without a shirt on. This isn't normal within beijing (so i've been told) because they wear their clothes and exercise in the evenings or inside. But as you all know, I hate shirts, so whatevs. I'm gonna just chalk this one up to me being me and not meshing with another culture 100%, so that was not even considered as part of this.

So what is my conclusion about this?
1. I don't mind the glares and stares so much because here I'm just as weird on the outside as I am on the inside. Plus I feel like a celebrity and the whole girls thinking you are handsome/cute can't hurt. So if you need an ego boost, figure out what society would find you sexy and go there and get stared out. Bam, no more lipo, depression, and eating disorders. World, you're welcome (re-read in a Stephen Colbert voice if you didn't already)
2. Racism exists in China. No matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of this, even if you control the state to a degree and carefully track who is in your country and for what reasons. The limiting of races actually may increase racism (in my opinion, having attended schools and lived in areas that had very different percentages)
3. As is hte case in the States, the loudest and worst representatives of your country are the ones that stand out, as much as you don't want them too.

So on the last point, I think that I give the wrong impression because of the handful of bad experiences with Chinese who don't appreciate me being here. I think this is the same for people in the US. I think racism barely exists amongst my peers in the US (those I chose to associate with), yet one bad comment can ruin it. Also, I think the US is very tolerant and very open about its racism which is what makes it different. Its no longer something that is being hidden. Their are racists and then there is everyone else. I mean people laugh at racist and non-PC jokes all the time, because they are funny and not because they are racist. I mean I'll laugh at about anything, no matter how offensive, even if directed at me. I know many people of many races, religions, backgrounds, and genders that will roll on the floor at some jokes targeted at their group. And you know what, thats fine. I think that once you've reached the point where you can laugh and not ever judge based on certain factors you'll be okay. I mean I don't consider myself racist or sexist, but I'll laugh at all those jokes as many of you know. I think it shows stepping past it. I mean really, I laugh at Bush, not because I personally hate him, but because its easy and he's the friggin POTUS. On that note, that doesn't mean I won't judge you heavily at first glance, cause I will, but not in the bad ways. I mean if you have terrible upkeep of your body, piercings, tattoos, blue hair, no hair, dreds, biceps the size of a small child, great teeth, brown teeth, no teeth, animal teeth (bones anyone?), a beard, clean shave, etc. I will think about what that says about you as a person and make a judgement. It won't be the Y chromosome, the color of your skin (unless its a sexy tan!), the cross or star of david you wear, etc. So for those of you who say racism exists so prevelently in the States, think about it like this, maybe you see it because people are open about it, and the racists are the loud ones, i'm pretty sure its much worse around the world, even though other people think we are. Since I arrived I have had educated university students ask me if a. all americans wanted to boycott the olympics b. we all love bush and war c. if jesus was also my personal savior d. why do all whites hate blacks. yup, loudest and dumbest. oh and they want to know why we love tom cruise even if he's crazy. *sigh* america


And finally a possibly related note(?)... I'm not sure how to react to this, a Chinese guy who spoke a bit of english, called me "beefcake." How random is that, and why with a limited vocab would you know that word? I have no clue how to take it. Basically though, I think I'm a fatty now, 100% gotta be.

Subtleties

Subtleties consume my days. I don't know as many people so I get lots of time alone to think and I think about these tiny discrepencies... 9/11 brought on a big one to me. This date is truly important to me the way it is to most Americans. I'm not somoene who wakes up and thinks about post-9/11 on the day and wonders how things could have been if Bush had done things a little better. Instead, I make sure that I take a long and serious period to think about hte day itself, the acts, what it means to me, how it has changed me and how it has touched the lives of those around me. I get angry, sad, driven, and the full spectrum of emotions. It's only after I have relived the day in my mind and heart that I will think about the last 7 years. However, even after this, I don't get the urge to "stick america's boot up someone's ass" as many do.


This isn't too say I don't think that we should have just sat back and done nothing, however, I don't think having the greatest military to ever exist means we can't take the time to think how to use it. So as I walked through Beijing, I thought about what it meant to be American. Since I didn't see another US citizen until about 7pm that evening, this was a monologue of thoughts. What it came down to for me is the difference in loving your country and being patriotic. Now before you say there is none, think about it for a moment. In my mind, at this time in the States, I feel like these words have diverged in the aftermath of 9/11. The moment tore open so many hearts and made every citizen think about what this country meant to them. At that stage, patriotism was loving your country. However, someone the word got twisted into supporrting our troops and believing that we had the right to invade anyone and act unilaterally. Patriotism was as much about the US abroad as it was about the US at home. This is where things went wrong for me. I love America, I truly do and I know this better now that I'm in China than I ever did living in the states. However, that doesn't mean I love everything that the government does, or even most of it or who is making the decisions. I believe that patriotism is turning into a neo-imperialistic word for Americans who don't understand the international situation and position of the US. Patriotism doesn't mean you should have other countries or think they are inferior and it doesn't mean that you have to support the military 100%, thats what makes the US the US. Freedoms.

And yes, this is coming from a PWAD major at UNC who studied international and national security and sat in Jackie Gorman's office on a regular basis. Patriotism does not mean being republican, pro-war, or any of that, or at least it didn't when I began following politics and policy. So if you ask me if I'm a patriot, I might have to say no because of the scourge that often comes with it, and rather I'd say I love the US. I love that anyone can walk down the streets and not get stared at by everyone, that we can have stupid politicians making stupid choices, celebrities being celebrities for no reason, and that our culture is a blend of others, not something that we claim as just our own. I love the fact that when people in China ask me what food we eat in the US I asnwer with foods from all around the world, including here, not just one simple food. I love that people are amazed that I have friends of so many races and want to know about Indian weddings, asians in the states, how different if at all are mexicans and canadians from the people from the states, and if I think kobe is great even though I'm white and from the east coast, followed by the amazement that I have black friends. I love the fact that you can do basically whatever you want (legally of course) and not be judged so heavily or stared at. Plus I love taco bell, cheerwine, and water polo, none of which I can find here.

That last part brings me to the next subtlety that I am constantly living here. The difference between a glance and a stare. Let me tell you, I get a lot of both here, being white is enough to get a glance as is being tall. So I get a lot, I mean I also glance at foreigners and tall people because htey don't blend in, its just the nature of seeing something different. I mean really, having that many eyes on you sometimes makes you feel cool, but sometimes its very unwanted. Like on the metro, I can often catch people staring for 5-10 minutes at a time. Its very odd. When its just a kid, I figure its because I'm different, but when its an adult or a group of teenagers, I question why they are doing it. I don't react negatively, although sometimes I want to. Sometimes I stare back, other times I ignore it, however recently I've started waving or even saying hello in Chinese at times. This normally ends any staring and tends to have them look away even if I talk to them. These are the stares I don't like. The glances make you feel different and out of place, but the stares are judgements, sometimes positive and sometimes very negative. One girl who couldn't speak the best english, but tried anyways whipped out her cell phone and wrote a text in english because that was easier than saying it, and it was very sweet. Other times the stares turn to glares and disaproving looks, especially on the way to work, like I don't belong in China's version of silicon valley. Its amazing how different a glance, stare, and glare can be.

The final subtlety I've noticed here is body language and ennunciation. In my comm classes (yes I was a communications major at one point) I had a teach explain that if you could speak within a time limit and with a great speech and vocabulary in a manner that someone who spoke English as a second language could understand, than you had public speaking down pat. This always made sense, and I see it here more now that I am listening to people in Chinese and am trying to understand. Those who do the best for this, don't over-articulate words like people want to when speaking to someone in a foreign language. They speak normally but with clear crisp sounds and no white noise in their voice (i have quite a bit of that!) and they minimize unneccesary hand motions. Hand gestures can be very helpful, but if they aren't directly related to what you are saying, it can be very confusing as I try to figure out why they are pointing. For everything I planned on learning here I figure out about 10 I hadn't thought of.

9/11 and walking around

I'm stuck at a point where I don't really know if people are that different, truly oblivious, rude, or so self-centered that they miss what's happening around them? This has been a re-occuring thing in my life but it was highlighted while I waited to get into the olympics and has been nagging at me.

While waiting for 45 minutes of security to get into the olympic events, I felt so alone. I really am a giant over here. I was a head over everyone within 50 people of me, an I mean everyone I felt like I was floating through a different world then the rest of the crowd. I could feel the heat on my body but luckily got to breath fresh air. I just couldn't comprehend why people would squeeze so tight and push so hard. Don't people realize that spread out and organized will get the same results for everyone and make the journey infinitely more pleasant? The one problem is that it means you have to trust others to play by the rules, which works in a lot of places, but not china. Since I could see everything I watched as people jumped fences, cut lines, and did everything possible to avoid the wait and screw over people. One guy even tried to fight his way through a small girl who was an olympic volunteer. (she stood her ground but her tried to just keep walking and go over her, in the US I would have stepped in [she was tiny and although he was much bigger than her he was still about 8 inches shorter then me] , but here, I feel like it would have made things worse for her and who knows what would have happened to me) Its people like that who really fuck over everyone else. How hard is group think? Have humans really "evolved" past whats best for the species?

I'm not saying that one should put others over oneself all the time. I'm not that selfless and I don't expect others to be. But really, if people just went along with the security it would have allowed all the people regulating the line to check bags, run x-rays machines and check ticekts, dropping the overall wait time and everyone wins... fucking bullshit. Here's the worst part, I did all this thinking as an old guy with a stroller kept trying to run me over. He had basically just been cutting through the crowd and running over peoples ankles with the baby stroller until you got out of the way. Most people moved prior because they thought he had an infant and others got hit and quickly moved. I however was different for two reasons, both coming from my unique size. 1. I saw him coming well in advance and could see over the top and into the stroller 2. There isn't room for someone my size to move out of the way easily in the crowd.

Here's the thing, there was no child in the stroller, he had camera equipment and what not. it was just some bullshit to beat the system. So got to me, I didn't move and he tried to run into me and muttered in Chinese (assuming I knew nothing of his language of course, the personailty of assuming foreigners are idiots goes hand in hand with the other stuff). I saw this coming and just put my heel on his wheel and stood there. Lets just say the man was not happy. I mean if you are trying to beat hte system and don't how pissed can you be? Had he just accepted the wait it wouldn't have been so bad to not only wait longer than you planned, but also because of a foreigner... but really, how sleazy can you be, using the premise of a kid to cut the line. needless to say when the line forked, he went the other way. I like to think I did my part to make the beijing olympics a better place.

Then about an hour later I had the most opposite experience I could have had. Inside the games, I watched an American win an event. It was amazing to hear hte national anthem and watch a packed stadium rise to their feet and respect another country while the athlete tears up. It sent goosebumps down my arms and made me miss the states. I regained some faith in humanity at that point. After that came a truely amazing moment. A Chinese man won a gold. The place went pretty crazy. However, it was the medal ceremony that got me. I could feel it in the air and I tingled all over, every hair standing tall on my entire body. The energy was like nothin I've ever felt and the place echoed with the thousands of voices following thier anthem. I don't know which was more special, having a moment as a lone American in my section (i'm assumign since I was hte only white person and the only one who was excited during the race when she won) and feeling the pride within and the respect given by thousands of others or being part of a moment for hte largest population in the world. I can only imagine during the actual games what it was like. This ties back into the selfish versus selfless. In this case letting someone else have their moment may have been greater (maybe because i knew nothing of the US athlete and don't give the para-olympics as much credit as I should)to experience. it pure volume and national pride was like nothing i've ever seen stateside in person.

so all that made me much more aware of what was going on around me an I come back to the root question of people once again: if people are that different, truly oblivious, rude, or so self-centered that they miss what's happening around them? These giant crowds in beijing make a very interesting way to observe this. The question I have is about ones awareness of others. In the streets and walkways, many people move aside and stay out of hte center and other peoples way seemingly without effort. They are conditioned as slower walkers to get out of the way. However, this isn't everyone, so people have no qualms about slowing down everyone else. I don't know if they don't care or aren't aware. I really have no idea. Personally I can actually feel someone approaching me from any direction. Until recently I assumed everyone could do this (probably b/c TV and movies show it). I figured it was just your vestibular sense in combination with your brain and other senses at work. However, apparently not everyone is as aware of their surrounds. I've had this sense of awareness as long as I can remember. I know other people have it, because I've talked about it before and they knew or did it as well. The thing is I don't know why some people never falter about it, yet at the same time other people are oblivious to everyone else walking.

My thoughts on this ability are as follow. Maybe its a thing with the brain where we that have it are the people who feel safer and better when we know everything around us. We are basically taking in intel on the world around us constantly and processsing at full speed. We're the people who like to sit in the corner and look out at resteraunts and have a view of everything around us. Or tt could arise from athletics, which is why so many people I know would have it and I have it. Everyone is capable but playing contact sports and what not makes you more aware of everyone else and you develop it at practice like anything else. Perhaps it is just a natural talent. Some people have it, some don't. Another guess that is becoming more prominent every day here is that everyone has it but some people jsut ignore it, and say fuck everyone else. Finally, it could be that everyone has it, but most people lack the sense of self to use it. Its there but our lives are so convaluded that most people will never know its there.

All I know is that I have it and I move aside on the rare time there is a faster walker (or bike) and i'd like it if other people did to. I try to chalk it up to people not knowing, but i have a strong feeling that some people just don't care.

This is all very strange because of the some cases where I see the group mentality in ways I never did in the US, more to come on this when I think. anyways, this is really long and it says nothing and i'm tired. I'll have to save 9/11 for another day when I have the energy. It was different to be in another country for it. but I can't right that small book right now, so FIN

few more pics

birds nest and what not

So my co-worker Cheng Chen (Faerie) is one of the busiest workers I've ever met which can be trouble because she often can't help train me, but that's getting better. Anyways, she got swamped in meetings and I got her ticket to go to the para-olympics which was pretty sweet. It was for track events. I went with her friend Zhou Li and got to see the sights.

First off, the architecture is amazing. The birds nest is a wonder to walk through and so cleverly made. The water cube is pretty sweet at night and the surrounding area is gorgeous. China went all out and it really shows more in person then on TV. I think its pretty obvious that China is still more concerned with internal opinions and the climate its citizens perceive than with that of the outside world. I've long been on this side of the debate, but this really pushed me even further. And let me tell you, the locals are more amazed then the tourists, so it worked. Here are my pictures from my phone, or some of them. others will get posted seperate.

building a rep during beijing ultimate

This is a quickie. Yesterday I was trying to go play ulitmate, but was too confused by the metro here, so they told me to about another group which is basically all beijingers playing. I played for almost 5 hours and it was beautiful. Some things are universal, like hand signals during the game and getting excited about good plays. it was one of the best experiences i've had yet.

Anyways, first off, Darkside (Carolina's Ultimate Team) apparently has a horrible rep in China, i'm not sure how, but they do. so do better all you people still at unc, stop causing international strife!

So let me tell you how to make an impact in china at ultimate to quickly build a sweet rep. Step 1: be really friggin tall, they like that. Step 2: fail to realize the rules they play by (i'll explain) Step 3: be really bad at their drinking game, but smile a lot.

Step 1 is easy being american, plus being tall for that, they love it when you sky and go over the top of the people who normally cna bully the shorter chinese

Step 2 was funny if you play ultimate, for the rest of you, maybe not. Anyways, most pick-up games i play with don't care if you drop a pull because we are slack. I didn't really think twice about asking (1 because i didn't know how the best, 2 because i was just excited to play) and about 5 points in after i had established the job of defending handlers and going deep, i took off as soon as they pulled. it was a very low pull by most standards and i had a good lead so just for the heck of it I jumped as high as I could which surprised even me, because i normally don't have a vertical worth shit. however, the disc nicked my left hand and i snagged it with 2 fingers, landing near midfield. everyone just froze then gasped and cheered. after the point, the other person told that they play dropping pulls is a turnover here. oh well... he said i looked like a badass.

Step 3 was easy because it was one of the leaders b-days the next day so they went out to dinner and brought me. (17 chinese and andy) and it was fun, i learned some chinese and did my best to converse. anyways, they played a chinese drinking game that i was fine at, i messed up once only to the average of about 5 and it was good. however they then moved to 7's which we play in the states. this is a game i don't think i've ever messed up on (you count in a circle and skip/say "fuck"/pass on numbers with 7 in it or are multiples of 7 and you go fast) this game isn't hard to me in chinese. however, counting really fast when the skip is in front of me, is... I CAN'T COUNT THAT FAST! at first one guy was worse then me, he got drunk and tapped out and then i was losing everything, but they laughed and thought it was great so woot!
thats beijing frisbee. happy birthday to haimin

the first work week

this post is more about actual happenings, the next is more my thoughts in case you don't want to read a lot

So I've got about a week or work under my belt at this stage and things are getting going, kinda… Right now my work really comes and goes in spurts and varies drastically. Clearly the primary reason I was hired was because of my fluency in English. They like to improve their skills and use me for some technical translations or readings. However, it isn't always glamorous. Yesterday I spent about 15 minutes describing the differences between paper towels, napkins, tissues, and handkerchiefs. Its fun because I get to practice my Chinese and generally I get to learn the Chinese words for the English I'm teaching. I also do some grunt work like scanning and editing maps for an upcoming conference. However, I do get to do some real stuff like edit webpages and specialized product announcements for channel partners. So I'll get some real skills, and I figure if I can master software like Dreamweaver in a foreign language, I should be good in English. à insert aside #1 here- who names a program Dreamweaver? I mean really, that's not gonna go to my head or anything… hell, for that matter it means I can weave your dreams in multiple languages. And since when did jpgs, html, and pretty text become the things that dreams are made of? Silly macromedia and their naming's. Couldn't they just call it: "pretty website software" or something like that, or even better, "really sweet and simple website software, so great you can do it in a different language and be ok" (that one might not fit on the box)

That being said, although I do get to do some real work, today none of it really shows, because I don't have fully employ access yet, so I was longed on under Cheng Chen, which means I was a small Chinese women all day, because I posted about 6 things onto our company website as her. I did get the urge, but didn't post anything completely random or crude because she is very sweet. But they shouldn't just hand you that much power, that could get someone fired… trusting Americans, so silly. I guess since it was Cheng Chen and she has been doing most of my training, tasking she figured I wouldn't do anything. At this stage, I guess they figure I can't do that much harm and they are too busy to care. I showed up just in time to be in the mad rush for planning an international conference. However, not soon enough to get to go to the other part of China its in :-( this means that I am sort of on the back burner until the 18th, but whatever, I get to teach myself random skills. You'd be amazed what you learn when you are trying to look busy and stay relevant. I've discover google applications out the wazoo and all sorts of cool random stuff about my company's (advantech- 研华) products and related things. I get to research GPS and random shit all over hte place so I can be fully prepared for translations. Two things that I found that were interesting were: 1-google basically did its best to stomp out a site called Search King because it was gonna compete with business. go ahead and google it, i'll wait..... nothing unless you put in the full url- www.searchking.com, you want to know why, of course not, but i'm gonna tell you cause I thought it was interesting. Search king apparently wants to do online ads different and it might compete, so google gives it a score of zero on its search engines so it won't show, and since google is all powerful it knocks it out of the picture. weird to think of how that works, that companies would use google to find ways to advertise that might compete with google adwords, meh 2-Touch screens work for between 10-35 million touches in anyspot which means you could sit there and hit one every minute from 9-5 and basically never ruin a screen unless you poked really hard like Iris Irving.

Also, at work this week, I was the the first one from my team besides the boss which is weird cause I was just on time. Apparently, they kind of do what they want and they don't even wear the most businessy clothes. Its odd to think that if you pulled this at the X (my pool for you outsiders) you'd get in serious trouble, and if you were late 4 days in a row, possibly fired. Beijing isn't the strictest of places. I think it tells you something about the evolution of work culture. When you think about it, IT companies in the US often allow this, but the big companies are much stricter because they have this engrained in them for the last few decades. Some are slowly moving to more comfortable environments because they show more productivity. China skipped right to this with its jump in the technological world. This gives me hope for underdeveloped areas like Africa. If the jumps continue and new modern businesses evolve out of international norms, then they could have a warp jump past lots of the crap the rest of the world goes through. I mean they did it with war going straight to automatic rifles that slaughtered and skipping muskets and less destructive forms of civil war that Europe and the US dealt with. à aside #2. so really as bad as Darfur and all the unrest in Africa is, its not that bad compared to the US civil war, the war of the roses in England, or napoleon and the French revolution. The only difference is they get the benefit of AK-47's, rocket launchers, etc. that put too much power in every individuals hands. If that had existed 150 years ago, who knows what would have happened in the US and if we'd be two countries or still in turmoil. The moral of the story is that if you want to settle a rebellion, do it the old fashion way with pikes, muskets and other weapons that make the killing personal and create retreats and plans, not mass slaughter.

To me, the strangest part of working in a foreign office is the language, but not in the way you'd think. I often have trouble focusing because of the Chinese in the background. I'm at that level where I can catch some of what they say and get the gist if I really strain myself and get lucky. This puts me in a really odd place, that I'm sure some of you have been at. When you know a language, you can't just here it as noise, it's the way we're wired. Try it sometime, listen to someone speak English and just hear sound, not words, its friggin impossible. However, since we know the language well enough we can tune it out when we really want to. Me, I'm not at other of those stages yet, I'm smack dab in the middle. So I pick out some words and miss other things as noise. This is an issue because I can't really focus on my work at times. I go in and out and want to listen when I catch stuff and improve, yet other times its just a phrase hten too fast so I'm lost. When its going on, I lose all productivity, which means that I've been listening to music at work quite a bit of the time. I don't know what to do cause either I'm not learning Chinese or I'm not doing my job. Language is a really funny thing. It fucks with your mind, even sober.

Working out: since you can't run so much outside due to the huge crowds and not the best air and I haven't found a pool with lanes or a gym that is either close or affordable, i've started working out in my room. now this is no easy task because there is little room. So for weights I bought some 4.5 liter jugs of water with awesome handles for upper body which gives me up to 20 pounds for an arm. Although that isn't much to lift, holding it out straight for a minute will do some work on a lanky kid like me. on top of that i found some standing ab workouts on youtube. add in the 20+flights of stairs I take each day, the 3+ miles of walking with a 30 pound bookbag and i'm feeling good. its no SRC or Ram's head, but it does the trick with no cost and no space needed. BAM, i'll be ready for BCO when the time arrives.

on that note i've been looking for sports, but that is not easy in beijing. i've spent hours trying to find some water polo to no avail. there have been two teams here over the last few years, one is womens (dang!) and the other i heard they were playing close by last month... turns out, according to Talia, they were the national team. so no dice on polo, i nearly cried. Also, volleyball is hard to find but my coworkers promised to take me when they go, sounds like it won't be til oct/nov though :-( However, they have a thriving ultimate frisbee scene here, so thats where i'm headed. also they have an emerging lacrosse culture, but i have no gear...

oh, plus i was shown a hooka bar!!

arrival

Let me tell you, for those of you who haven't ever changed time zones a full 12 hours at once, its not a fun experience. It drains your body and your mind and takes away the urge to interact with people who don't really know you or speak your language. My advice, is don't be over 6 feet tall so you can sleep on the plane without constantly getting bumped by the cart if you're on the aisle or curling up like a contortionist (I tried both). Both that brings me to my first major change of the journey... I was on the plane with a dookie and we talked and it was nice!!! Given she was an exchange grad student there with her husband on her way back to China, but still it felt weird (and a little dirty (not in a good way either!)).

Anyways, it took 24 hours to get here, plus a 12 hour jump forward. After getting all my bags, I met up with my connection here, Cissy He. She is a very nice and brilliant girl but a little quiet and quite the perfectionist. She took me to look at apartments for the next 3 hours. It was exhausting on no sleep, with no elevators, and 150lbs. of luggage. But I settled on a nice 6th floor place which has a western style bathroom and a small kitchen and washing machine (no dryer, my stuff is hanging in the kitchen as i type). It gets the job done. I haven't really met my roommates, they are never around and keep their doors closed. But I'm not here much. The bed was horribly uncomfortable, but after eating and all that I had hit about 30hours awake and physically exhausted myself, so my first sleep in China was amazing... I take that as a great sign, a deep sleep in a new place is rare if not unheard of for me. Positive omen or future karma kicking my ass?

After sleeping like crazy I started to find my way around Beijing with my tour guide Cissy and got settled in. It is an overwhelming place, very big and bustling. I did see the Watercube and Birdsnest from a bus which was cool. Anyways, I don't know where I'm going with this other than to answer all the people who asked if i'd seen olympic stuff yet, so on to more relevant stuff...

Its really friggin cheap here to eat. I fed myself when I was starving for the equivalent of about $1.20. It was amazing... You can find good cheap food if you know where to look, but there is also some very pricey stuff. Its a nice mix, but I could eat on about $5 a day if I wanted and was frugal. I'm not sure about hte nutrition, but that has never been my specialty, i like to have other people tell me about what to eat, then ignore them and have a crazy metabolism.

Anywho, thats the basics for now, I have started my job and its cool and I have a lot to share, but right now I'm tired and I just wanted to crank out a post. I've got some deeper more "andyish" posts coming (random, sometimes deep BS that I like to push :-) ), hopefully over the weekend, or if I get bored at work and finish my first project.

Let me know how things are state-side/whatever country you are in-side. Until then, just remember to think twice before buying a plane ticket, you might end up somewhere you hadn't quite prepared for.