Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Thinking weather
Autumn is a great time in Beijing. The leaves change color and the wind picks up, which is good for blue-sky days. It doesn't last long--soon it will drop below freezing, and then it's time for pond hockey--but for now, the skateboard home from the subway along our back street in XiBaHe is pleasantly brisk at 9:30pm. I always find that I think better in cold weather. Less tempting to be outside, I suppose. Also, it's almost longjohns time!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Costner: Transition
I have been long in my post in the Orient. Before deployment, my expectation was for 5 years; I am now approaching 5 and one half years abroad. This place is still of great interest to me, I feel I still have a tremendous amount to learn from the people and about their language and customs. In many ways life here can be challenging. In other ways I have come to feel a great deal of comfort in my day to day existence, so much so that I could see another 5 years passing by me quickly as I move through current obligations, build other interests, and remain swept up in the dynamism of the shifting landscape of my obligations here.
Yet there is something in me that would not be content without a big move at some point in the near future. I see others here on the frontier who seem stuck; comfortable, with all their material needs met, basking in the exceptionalism afforded them by the fact that they are exotic, different, and in demand due to some luck of commerce. But there feels to be a float in the way some people move through their time here. Contentment leads to complacency.
One is inclined to think that great ideas come only so often--they are hard sought, and, once had, lead invariably to success. I have heard a lifetime of great ideas in my time here. What I have not seen is more than a handful of men or women willing to take their idea and see it all the way through to its fruition. Seeing an idea through takes more than that special gusto that comes after the second beer at the canteen. It takes discipline, organization, perseverance. I have read somewhere that greatness is a lonely travail. I believe seeing these ideas through also requires some degree of loneliness--traveling to a place that others will not go, that many do not understand. I am not sure if I am ready for that journey. Then again, I have not yet made a very good try at it.
Yet there is something in me that would not be content without a big move at some point in the near future. I see others here on the frontier who seem stuck; comfortable, with all their material needs met, basking in the exceptionalism afforded them by the fact that they are exotic, different, and in demand due to some luck of commerce. But there feels to be a float in the way some people move through their time here. Contentment leads to complacency.
One is inclined to think that great ideas come only so often--they are hard sought, and, once had, lead invariably to success. I have heard a lifetime of great ideas in my time here. What I have not seen is more than a handful of men or women willing to take their idea and see it all the way through to its fruition. Seeing an idea through takes more than that special gusto that comes after the second beer at the canteen. It takes discipline, organization, perseverance. I have read somewhere that greatness is a lonely travail. I believe seeing these ideas through also requires some degree of loneliness--traveling to a place that others will not go, that many do not understand. I am not sure if I am ready for that journey. Then again, I have not yet made a very good try at it.
7 things you learn about the non-China world while living in China
- A well-ordered traffic system isn't as important as you might think. Oddly, one of the things that scared me the most about the more recent Die Hard where Timothy Oliphant organizes a fire sale is that--oh man!--the traffics lights would all be screwed up. Then you come to Asia and see that, despite traffic lights working most of the time, people don't really care about them and a surprisingly number of people aren't dying because of this (at least by my last count).
- Parenting skills are not innate. You take for granted that, despite also carrying on some of the baggage from the generation before, your parents are utilizing a set of skills and knowledge in raising you than Among more affluent families China is still coming up the curve in areas like, especially during Spring Festival, not letting children play with high explosives.
- "Hot mess" is also a business model. Constant change leads to constant preparation for opportunities that present themselves every day. Oftentimes, we develop services that we're selling before most folks inside our shop even know this is something our company does. Once we have customers, then everyone plays catch-up. It's a fun, if not ulcer-inducing model. If I had a nickel for the number of times, on 3 minutes' notice, I've been told I'm going to do something I could not have fathomed doing before that moment... New arrivals at our organization are constantly blown away by how quickly situations change and how one has to adapt on the fly. Those that cannot don't last long.
- Fashion makes absolutely no sense. The English-gibberish tshirts sported by young people in Beijing are silly--but are they more silly than paying $125 for a hooded sweatshirt because it says the word "Hollister" on it? "But the quality is excellent..." Not that excellent. As I've heard from a lady, there is something about Asian women that sometimes enables more aggressive fashion choices to work out well for them. As some folks from Shanghai will observe, Beijingers dress a bit like they just grabbed whatever was closest in a pitch-black closet that morning and ran out the door. What's more amazing than dressing like this is that sometimes it leads to outfits that, to fashionable people, "make sense." (So I've heard.) Don't get it.
- Weird food is relative. You're teaching the terms "often, sometimes" and "never" in a class about food. In asking about "foods you often eat," student flatly responds: "doves." More interesting than the student's response is how unfazed you are with their constant dining on the international symbol of peace: you just had one last month in Shenyang. at a curbside dove joint where the wait staff would twist their heads off in front of you (proof of freshness) and grill them up chuanr-style. Could have had a shot of blood on the side. You passed.. Maybe weird food isn't relative.
- We're all just animals. You can't help but realize this when you see how unapologetically open people are about spitting, farting, urinating, and defecating in public or semi-public. In the elevator today an otherwise coy and unassuming woman let go of a sharp, short burp that made me jump. Better out than in, I suppose. Just as the book title says, "everybody poops." Everybody also does everything else that involves expelling body gasses, liquids, and other semi-solids.
- Economics trumps politics. The residue of the Cold War, the lingering sense of a great Communist menace that many think they perceive (particularly in the US) is absolute horsewash. China is more rabidly free-market capitalist than the US was even in the days of the robber barons. Ever since Deng Xiaoping proclaimed, "To get rich is glorious," China has been a place where the "honor's in the dollar." Many politicians get into the game, not because of the power and influence they yield (usually not much), but because the chances for kickbacks and bribes that occur at different bureaucratic bottlenecks.
- Parenting skills are not innate. You take for granted that, despite also carrying on some of the baggage from the generation before, your parents are utilizing a set of skills and knowledge in raising you than Among more affluent families China is still coming up the curve in areas like, especially during Spring Festival, not letting children play with high explosives.
- "Hot mess" is also a business model. Constant change leads to constant preparation for opportunities that present themselves every day. Oftentimes, we develop services that we're selling before most folks inside our shop even know this is something our company does. Once we have customers, then everyone plays catch-up. It's a fun, if not ulcer-inducing model. If I had a nickel for the number of times, on 3 minutes' notice, I've been told I'm going to do something I could not have fathomed doing before that moment... New arrivals at our organization are constantly blown away by how quickly situations change and how one has to adapt on the fly. Those that cannot don't last long.
- Fashion makes absolutely no sense. The English-gibberish tshirts sported by young people in Beijing are silly--but are they more silly than paying $125 for a hooded sweatshirt because it says the word "Hollister" on it? "But the quality is excellent..." Not that excellent. As I've heard from a lady, there is something about Asian women that sometimes enables more aggressive fashion choices to work out well for them. As some folks from Shanghai will observe, Beijingers dress a bit like they just grabbed whatever was closest in a pitch-black closet that morning and ran out the door. What's more amazing than dressing like this is that sometimes it leads to outfits that, to fashionable people, "make sense." (So I've heard.) Don't get it.
- Weird food is relative. You're teaching the terms "often, sometimes" and "never" in a class about food. In asking about "foods you often eat," student flatly responds: "doves." More interesting than the student's response is how unfazed you are with their constant dining on the international symbol of peace: you just had one last month in Shenyang. at a curbside dove joint where the wait staff would twist their heads off in front of you (proof of freshness) and grill them up chuanr-style. Could have had a shot of blood on the side. You passed.. Maybe weird food isn't relative.
- We're all just animals. You can't help but realize this when you see how unapologetically open people are about spitting, farting, urinating, and defecating in public or semi-public. In the elevator today an otherwise coy and unassuming woman let go of a sharp, short burp that made me jump. Better out than in, I suppose. Just as the book title says, "everybody poops." Everybody also does everything else that involves expelling body gasses, liquids, and other semi-solids.
- Economics trumps politics. The residue of the Cold War, the lingering sense of a great Communist menace that many think they perceive (particularly in the US) is absolute horsewash. China is more rabidly free-market capitalist than the US was even in the days of the robber barons. Ever since Deng Xiaoping proclaimed, "To get rich is glorious," China has been a place where the "honor's in the dollar." Many politicians get into the game, not because of the power and influence they yield (usually not much), but because the chances for kickbacks and bribes that occur at different bureaucratic bottlenecks.
2 ways you know you're in Beijing
- When you sense oncoming darkness on a non-"blue sky" day you find yourself humming the tune of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun"
- When your 8-year old student comments not on whether they have an Apple device, but how many they have and the cost of each down to the last jiao
- When your 8-year old student comments not on whether they have an Apple device, but how many they have and the cost of each down to the last jiao
Monday, October 7, 2013
People watching
The chairs in the cafes, bars, and restaurants in HCMC are oriented toward the sidewalk and street, just like you would see in a Parisian cafe on the Champs Elysee. There's certainly no shortage of people watching opportunities here, like there is in France. Streams of moped riders cruise down the streets endlessly--we're told that, in a city of 10M people. there's 7M bikes, more than 1 for every adult. Collisions between riders are inevitable. We say a bad crash in the middle of a monsoon rainstorm the other day; someone rushed off the sidewalk to help, there was an exchange of words and both riders drove off. We didn't see any money change hands.
I'm looking out onto our small lane while writing this post. Meagan just walked by on her way back from some shopping, buying postcards to send back to friends and family stateside. As much as the cafes are arranged in the French way, enabling chats about the folks you see walking by, more than anything we see both locals and backpackers buried in their 3Gs, rarely having conversation even with the person sitting right next to them. Guess I'm one to judge, typing away here at my computer in the hostel dining room. It's a sad state of affairs when, as cool as the technology is, the Facebook Mobile post about the experience becomes more pressing than really taking the moment in.
I'm looking out onto our small lane while writing this post. Meagan just walked by on her way back from some shopping, buying postcards to send back to friends and family stateside. As much as the cafes are arranged in the French way, enabling chats about the folks you see walking by, more than anything we see both locals and backpackers buried in their 3Gs, rarely having conversation even with the person sitting right next to them. Guess I'm one to judge, typing away here at my computer in the hostel dining room. It's a sad state of affairs when, as cool as the technology is, the Facebook Mobile post about the experience becomes more pressing than really taking the moment in.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Vietnam vs China
1) Generally better level of English in downtown HCMC than you see in central Beijing where we live. Don't know if the American occupation has left a legacy of English knowledge, better ESL education system.. certainly plenty of foreigners here in the backpacker district employed as FTs.
2) Very different relationship to history of foreign aggression. Almost definitely because Vietnam won in the battle with America, France, China, etc.--versus "200 years of humiliation" in China--there seems to be less of a sensitivity here and openness to speak about the war on more objective terms. I was surprised to hear our tour guide yesterday remark how the commentary at the War Remnants Museum is "one sided."
Agreed that, although the war stuff has been amazingly powerful and moving, we're in need of a change of gears. Here we come, Phu Quoc!
2) Very different relationship to history of foreign aggression. Almost definitely because Vietnam won in the battle with America, France, China, etc.--versus "200 years of humiliation" in China--there seems to be less of a sensitivity here and openness to speak about the war on more objective terms. I was surprised to hear our tour guide yesterday remark how the commentary at the War Remnants Museum is "one sided."
Agreed that, although the war stuff has been amazingly powerful and moving, we're in need of a change of gears. Here we come, Phu Quoc!
Strong coffee
Waking up in Ho Chi Minh City on vacation, checking the clock and seeing 7am, it seems inevitable what the next step would be: nothing, fall back asleep. Fortunately, the coffee in Vietnam is enough to get even me out of bed before midday. After having a cup downstairs, I cruised through the rest of a small book of interviews with Lee Kwan Yew I've been reading the past couple of weeks, and I feel ready to run 3 marathons. Nice way to counter the sluggishness you usually get from the tropical heat. Even getting a blog post in before 9am!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Vietnam visa
The developing world is a crazy place when it comes to getting had. When you first get to China, you pay for your fair share of roundabout cab rides. You need to be pushy at the different haggle-based markets if you don't want to be paying triple and quadruple the real value of "cashmere" scarfs and false Ray-bans.
Soon, you get cynical, and you start getting played less--or at least less obviously. But then you begin to see, as you get to know the place better, that you do have folks peddling cheap and convenient services, people who aren't trying to screw you really badly. Oftentimes, even large government or corporate offices will outsource stuff to very shabby vendors for logistics and POS interactions, which can get confusing, as you'll be handing money to someone with no affiliation with the company you're supposed to be paying other than a very-crumpled invoice they're yelling at you to sign more quickly so they can get on to the next customer.
I guess you're supposed to have a visa to get into Vietnam. We're both very excited to get on the plane to Ho Chi Minh City and explore a new country.. but we learned yesterday that you're supposed to get a visa for entry. The flight takes off at 5:30pm, it's now 2:30 and we still have not gotten our visa. Internet search revealed an official-looking website to get visas online in 90 minutes. In the span of 15 minutes, I've exchanged 9 emails with someone named Mr Jacky Dang who can provide the visas once I've submitted $190 to them through Paypal. Five minutes ago, submitted payment and just received email from Jacky confirming the visas'll be in our email in 1 hour (3:30 pm).
Hopefully next posting will be from South Vietnam..
Soon, you get cynical, and you start getting played less--or at least less obviously. But then you begin to see, as you get to know the place better, that you do have folks peddling cheap and convenient services, people who aren't trying to screw you really badly. Oftentimes, even large government or corporate offices will outsource stuff to very shabby vendors for logistics and POS interactions, which can get confusing, as you'll be handing money to someone with no affiliation with the company you're supposed to be paying other than a very-crumpled invoice they're yelling at you to sign more quickly so they can get on to the next customer.
I guess you're supposed to have a visa to get into Vietnam. We're both very excited to get on the plane to Ho Chi Minh City and explore a new country.. but we learned yesterday that you're supposed to get a visa for entry. The flight takes off at 5:30pm, it's now 2:30 and we still have not gotten our visa. Internet search revealed an official-looking website to get visas online in 90 minutes. In the span of 15 minutes, I've exchanged 9 emails with someone named Mr Jacky Dang who can provide the visas once I've submitted $190 to them through Paypal. Five minutes ago, submitted payment and just received email from Jacky confirming the visas'll be in our email in 1 hour (3:30 pm).
Hopefully next posting will be from South Vietnam..
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