my favorite people-Robin

Robin is one of my favorite co-workers. I work in the GRO (Guest Recognition Office). Altogether there are 4 of us...Rose (our boss), Rainbow, Robin, and me. Rainbow and Robin work alternating shifts, but it just works out that he and I work together more often because he and I both work more evening shifts than Rainbow or Rose.
Robin used to work on a cruise ship in Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore, so not only is his English great, but he has a good grasp of foreign culture as well. I think his English is the best of anyone at the hotel so communicating with him is fun and easy. But, he still makes mistakes sometimes and even when there's no mistake, he's just down right funny sometimes. Here's a list of some of my favorite Robin quotes:
1. We have this really important frequent guest (Chinese, not foreign) who owns a bunch of companies and is really rich. I should know his name, but I just always refer to him as the guy with the big eyebrows. (I don't mean this as an insult to the guy, it's just a distinguishing factor). So one day Robin was telling me some story about this guy and I wasn't sure who he was talking about so I said, "Do you mean the one with the big eyebrows?" He says, "Yes, right. Exactly. Just like a monkey." I pause. He pauses. We both crack up laughing and he says between laughs, "Why did I say 'like a monkey?'" I don't know why, but it was funny.
2. Our GRO computer doesn't always work properly. I often have to ask for help doing stuff because the operating system and all the programs are completely in Chinese. So one day I was like Robin, can you help me, it's broken again. He says, "No, not broken. Just retarded." I thought it was a great use of the word retarded. I'm not sure how to explain this, but even those with good English here don't normally use any kind of slang, so it made me laugh. He also told the printer, "Come on little baby, you can do it." And today he cussed at the computer in English when it froze just as we were finishing translating a 6 page document.
3. One day I was really excited about something (I don't even remember what it was) and I came into the lobby and he was standing there and said, "Why are you so happy? You are shining in your face."
4. This one is from today. I haven't been feeling well and I had just taught 2 hours of English training, eaten dinner and had just come back in the office. He asks me, "How are you?" I say, "I'm ok." He says, "No. I don't think so because you have vegetable leaves stuck in your teeth." Thanks for being discreet about that. :) But, I did appreciate him telling me before I went to the lobby to mingle with the guests.
There are so many more, but I need to get to bed. I'll also work on getting a picture of him for you.

my favorite people-Helen

I'd like to introduce you to some of my favorite people...
Helen has been one of my best friends here since we met shortly after I arrived in 2002. I love her for so many reasons. She's fun. She has taken me to fly kites in the middle of the town square, mountain (hill) climbing in a town about an hour away by train, and taken me to eat some very interesting things over the years (cow stomach!). I love her because she is willing to eat anything I cook. Sometimes people make comments about the food being so differrent, but she doesn't care, she is such a good sport about eating Western food. She LOVES salad. I love it too, so it's so great when she calls and asks to come over and us make a salad together. (This is always a welcomed change especially when most folks always want to take you out to eat lots and lots of sheep).
Helen once told me that her friends asked her if we spoke mostly in Chinese or mostly in English. She told them that we speak our own special language. It's true. Every sentence will include words from both languages. Somehow, we always manage to communicate. (Although, the cow stomach and styrofoam are examples of when our system failed us).
Recently, Helen fixed my TV/DVD player. The DVD player wouldn't play in color. Various folks (including our American guys) had looked at it and no one could figure out what the deal was. Everything seemed to be plugged in right, but it was still black and white. Helen found some button to push that fixed the problem. She helped me decorate my Christmas tree. She delievered big pieces of styrofoam to my house. I am so thanful for a friend like her.

Christmas cookies

Saturday some ladies from work came over to make and decorate Christmas cookies. So fun!
Special thanks to: mom for the frosting (much easier than making it), Aubrey for one of the cookie cutters (a few years back, tied on to the jar with a ribbon and bell), DH for the other cookie cutters, Abbey for the food coloring, and Susan B for leaving some sprinkles.

dinner with Tom Cruise

Really, I had dinner tonight with Tom Cruise...just not the one you may know. Tom Cruise is this guy who was on the volleyball team at the Sports School when I was here before. He doesn't speak much English at all, but with the English he does have, he chose the English name Tom Cruise and always introduces himself as such. We had tried to get together a few times before, but he works out at one of the dairies which is WAY out of town, so we hadn't been able to make it work. He caught up on life, dreams, and future plans over a bowl of noodles. Fun times.

EASY MAC

Preface: This is one of those posts I hope doesn’t freak my parents out (or anyone else for that matter). So let me begin by saying that I am lacking no necessity in life here and am well-provided for. Let me also say that I can eat ALL of my meals at the hotel if I choose, so if I starve to death, it’s no one’s fault other than my own.

As am I working on updating this blog, I am multi-tasking while I also eat lunch. I am having easy mac for about the 5^th meal in a row. Here’s why:

Today is Thursday. I get paid on Monday. So, I really don’t have any money to spend until Monday. I’ve sort of been playing this game with myself the past few days to see how long I can go without spending any money at all. (I can ride my bike or walk and eat most of the time at the hotel). Also, it’s freezing outside so I never really want to go out and buy anything so I’ve been trying to put together meals out of stuff I already have at my house.

I put my Christmas tree up a while back. It was here when I moved in (left by the guy who lived here before me) and was stored in the bottom section of my kitchen pantry. When I took it out I found some pretty weird stuff underneath it. Some detergent, some bowls, and a bunch of packets of easy mac. I thought to myself, these have been here since at least before the tree was put away, which has been about a year. But then I thought about all the preservatives in easy mac and decided there was no harm in saving them to eat when I was in a hurry or something.

So, the past few meals that I have been too cold and lazy to go outside, I’ve been eating the very old easy mac that I found in the depths of the pantry under the Christmas tree.

I love my life here!

weekend fun Dec 1-3

Friday evening and Saturday morning, I helped one of the American girls move from one apartment to another. This is always quite an experience. Normally, you walk out to the street and look for guys with empty flatbed tricycles and hire a few of them, and we all take loads of stuff in various taxis until all the stuff is moved. This time, another American girl had scored a business card of a moving company...sort of. Basically, it’s a couple guys to move the stuff and another guy who owns a big truck. These guys were especially helpful since all but one of our foreign male friends were out of town this particular weekend. (Convenient for them, huh?) Anyway, these moving guys were AMAZING. One guy carried the refrigerator on his back up three flights of stairs alone. And these are not big guys. They would just tie all sorts of suitcases and stuff together with rope, throw it over their shoulders and go. None of us had ever seen anything like it. Someone took pictures, but I don’t have any.

Saturday night some of the foreign ladies came over to my house to have a slumber party. I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow having fun staying up late, giggling, and just hanging out with girl friends. All of us are 20 or 30 something and I think we all had a good time. There are pictures from this event, but you can’t go posting those on the world wide web.

So here’s a story about preparing for said slumber party: I have one double bed and one couch in my apartment. The couch is large and L-shaped, so two people can sleep there. That still left 3 people with no place to sleep. Something I had wanted to get for awhile is a big piece of foam I could put on the floor to sleep on for events such as this or for when guests are here.

I know these pieces of foam exist, because my old apartment had one, and since mattresses aren’t very common (most beds are just a piece of foam on top of wooden slats placed across the bed frame), I see them often. But, I never see them in stores and therefore, didn’t know where to buy them. So, on Saturday morning I called one of my best local friends, Helen, to ask her where I could buy one. (Later, I would somewhat regret this decision).

We often talk about how occasionally, our local friends “over-help.” This was one of those cases. Helen tells me not to buy one, that her dad’s friend owns a foam factory and she can just have one delivered to my house for free. I really just want her to tell me where I can one, because I don't want the "Over-help" nor do I want to trouble her. But free is good so, “This could be a sweet deal,” I think to myself. She said she would call me back if she could find a guy to deliver it (see aforementioned guys with tricycles). She calls back to say the factory doesn’t have anyone who can deliver it today (Saturday) but they will delver it tomorrow (Sunday) at noon. I need the foam for Saturday night, but now I feel bad that she has gone to a lot of trouble to help me so I can’t bear to tell her that I don’t need it. This means I’m still going to have to go out and buy something to use for the party and then have an extra one delivered on Sunday.

It’s a good thing I did, because what was delivered to my house on Sunday was 3 twin-bed-size pieces of STYROFOAM!

I’m not sure where our communication breakdown occurred because I know I said “foam” in both Chinese and English and said that I wanted it for a bed. So, if anyone needs any styrofoam, I know who can hook you up.

Now I am facing the problem of storage. I called my mom to tell her this story and she suggested maybe I could insulate something with them. My mom is great! So, I cut one of them and put in my bedroom window to block some of the cold wind. The other two are currently behind my couch just hanging out until I think of a way to use them.

My 4 star life

I work at a four-star business hotel located in the financial center of our city. Our 280 “well-appointed” guestrooms (as our brochure calls them) cater to the business traveler, some of whom are China’s most wealthy and influential businessmen. The hotel has 5 restaurants which include a western buffet, a steakhouse with beef imported from Australia, a Japanese restaurant and 2 Chinese restaurants. There’s a swimming pool, gym, sauna center, tennis court, and other recreation activities.

It’s a classy place. Because I work there, I spend a large portion of my time there. I am the only foreign employee of the hotel, which has a staff of somewhere near 600. Also because I am the only foreigner, I have all kinds of privileges none of the other staff have. I can eat my meals in the hotel restaurants if I choose. I can use the recreation facilities. I could actually live at the hotel if I wanted. I don’t so instead they pay my rent.

A few of the job qualifications included being “under 30 and Western-looking.” Not to mention that I had to include a full length photo so the hotel could make sure I was physically attractive enough to stand around in their lobby. (Apparently, they are NOT an equal opportunity employer :)).

Western-looking. Even before I accepted this position and decided to come, I felt like an issue I had to work through for myself was if I was perpetuating “white privilege” or in this case “western privilege” by taking this job. I wasn’t sure at that point what the details of the disparity between myself and my coworkers would be. I knew I would be paid more and work less, but I also knew I can’t live in China for what a Chinese person makes. I also knew this job would enable me to live here and do other things that I want to do, like research and writing and such. I talked to a good friend who is knowledgeable on the white privilege issue and he agreed that it was a good opportunity and encouraged me with the fact that I would not be using my position to exploit or endanger others. So I thought I had worked through it and made the decision to come.

I’m still glad to be here and I still think it’s a good opportunity, but I am also confronted daily by the inequality. Everyday, I work an hour and a half less than my coworkers. I have more days off. I get paid more than one of my supervisors. I make almost 3 times what my Concierge staff friends make. I probably do less actual work. Why? Because I am “western-looking.”

When my contract is up in August, a world (literally) of options awaits me. I have options. Because English is my native language, I can find many jobs like this one in a number of countries. I could teach English or serve in some similar role as I am doing now. I can return to the States and find a job with relative ease because I have a college degree and some decent work experience. I can go to grad school. I don’t say any of these things to be prideful, but to point out that I have numerous options. At most points of decision in my life, I have actually been overwhelmed with options, not a lack thereof.

I remember a conversation I had with my supervisor at Catholic Charities who pointed out to me that the stress of having to choose between multiple options is a kind of stress, but wasn’t an issue until society became “developed” and a larger middle class formed. The stress of having no options is very different and was (and still is) experienced by the poor.

As I hang out and talk with my concierge friends, I’ve asked most of them if they like their job. Most of them do not. One of them said, “I don’t like it at all. But, my family’s economic situation is not good, so they couldn’t afford to send me a good school so that I could go to a good college. All I will able to do with my life is carry other people’s luggage.”

I haven’t talked to very many of the staff in any department who like their job. (Actually, the ones I can think of who do say they like their job are upper level managers). Most of them feel like it is their only option. A girl who works at the front desk told me just a few days ago that she doesn’t like working at the hotel but because her degree is in business English this is the only kind of job she can get without a master’s degree.

I don’t have any of the statistics on hand, but I read an article just the other day about the number of college graduates who can’t find work here. I was talking with a taxi driver a couple months back who was asking about my job. He said, “Our own university graduates can’t find jobs even if they’ve studied English well. If more of you native speakers start coming over and getting jobs, they’re going to be even more out of luck.” This was the first time I had been confronted with the reality that my being here in some ways does actually negatively affect others. I try to justify it by saying that my job actually requested a foreigner so I’m not taking their job, but the principle of foreigners coming to take jobs does impact the locals who are competing heavily for a small number of available jobs.

Another truth I have had to face is that I am indeed wealthy. Not by any US standard of course…I don’t own a home in the suburbs or a vehicle of any kind. I don’t have any sort of investments or a huge savings account. By the standard of wealth based on material consumption in my home country, I am not wealthy. Here, I am. I have options. As I said, I make about 3 times what an average worker here makes. I don’t ever worry where my next meal comes from and I have some expendable income each month. I live in a much-more-than-adequate shelter with running hot water, heat, electricity, and many other amenities. I am indeed the “Rich American” regardless of my negative feelings about this stereotype.

One of my first weeks here one the concierge staff told me I live their dream life. Because I have options, I can choose my career, I’ve traveled abroad, and I am not stuck in a job I don’t enjoy. I live a dream life.

Multiple times that I’ve had friends over and they look through my photo albums they’ve said, “These pictures don’t even look like real photographs to me. They look just like the movies.” Or “these look like postcards because they don’t even seem like real life to me.” I’m never sure how to respond because the photos are actual photos from my actual life. My real life is a romance movie most of my coworkers only dream about.

I don’t really know what to do with any of this. It humbles me. It brings me to an awareness of my pride in the sense that I am undeserving and did nothing to “earn” the life I was given. It gives rise to a spirit of gratitude for the next time I’m in the “what’s next” decision process instead of the usual fear, struggle, and frustration. It spurs me to be more generous. It strips away complaint. It makes me truly thankful for His provision for me. It compels me to live fully, embracing and enjoying my four star life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

These are some pics from our feast! We were actually able to get all of the traditional stuff...we got some turkey from the hotel, one of the guys made home-made rolls (this invovled grinding the wheat himself!), and the girls made all the traditional sides and desserts.
We all had a wonderful day together eating, watching a movie, laughing, eating, watching another movie, more laughing and just hanging out. One tradition we have is to add a leaf to the Thanksgiving tree in order to record our thankfulness. I had almost forgotten about this since I had celebrated the past two Thanskgivings at home. It was a good reminder of even more blessings to read what I had written in 2003 and to read what others were thankful for.

highlights from my trip home--wedding

I am so blessed by Dara and Ryan and their friendship to me and I am thankful I got to be a part of the big day. It all went so well. The dress fit, the ceremony was perfect, the reception was fun, and I got to catch up with a lot of old friends throughout the course of the week with showers and other activities. It was great!

highlights from my trip home--Lydia

Just before I left for China in August my friends AJ and Derek left for Kazakstan to meet and bring home their new daughter. I followed their mostly terrible journey through their blogs and emails. I hurt for them that the girl they had been praying for more than two years might not get to come home with them. When I got word that the courts had finally granted custody, I rejoiced with them. But, when I walked into their house that Friday afternoon and saw her beautiful healthy self smiling and playing on the floor, all the emotion that just didn't quite make it out when I was so far away came out. I cried for joy that she is here and has such great parents, and I cried for AJ and Derek hearing first hand and in more detail of their struggle. I left completely challenged and encouraged by their faith having heard the thigs they learned as a result of their struggle. My time with AJ was one of the best conversations I had during my time home.

rejoice with me...

....for I have found my lost bike!!!
Yesterday I just decided to look around more in case someone moved it. I was sure it was gone for good, but just didn't want to give up yet. I found it around the corner near stairwell #5. I was one very happy girl.

highlights from my trip home--other events

I got to go to the baby shower for a friend I have known since 7th grade and I got to see my college roommate in The Magic Flute at OU. These are two things I (obviously) would have missed if I hadn't gotten to come home and I was so glad to get to attend both events.

highlights from my trip home--fall

I still love summer the best, but it was nice to be home in autumn. I enjoyed carving pumpkins with the Fusion folks and named by pumpkin "da nan gua." I went running at Little River Park by my house and the leaves would be falling off the trees on to the track as I ran. It was great. While I was in Wichita Sarah and I took this pic of these great trees that were so beautiful. Maybe the best part of being home in the fall though, was the special edition, limited time only, pumpkin pie frozen custard from Rustys. I had it more than once. (thanks Ashley and Colin for the reccommendation and Chad and Aubs for treating me)

highlights from my trip home--FOOD

I had only been out of the states for about 2 months, so I wasn't missing anything too bad yet, but that didn't make me appreciate the goodness any less. I enjoyed the home cooked meals (mom's tuna casserole and Lauren's spaghetti squash), the Indian taco, soup in a bread bowl, chips and queso on C-group taco night, snacking on whole wheat crackers with hummus, and believe it or not...I ate an entire chicken fried steak platter and enjoyed it. I thought my body might go into shock with that much meat consumption.
More than the food though, I had such great conversation with friends over meals. Thanks to eveyone who made the time to hang out, who treated me or let me treat them.

highlights from my trip home--San Francisco

I spent 3 days in the Bay area hanging out with some dear friends who are studying there now. It was so refreshing to be around these folks who know me so well and just to talk and laugh and catch up. These folks used to live here, so they all had great questions and it's always great to share about life here with people who know exactly what you're talking about. I also enjoyed seeing their new life and hearing about all that they are learning and experiencing.
JNS scored us some free box seats to a tennis benefit event. One of the things on my wish-list of things to do while home was to see a spoting event, and that was checked off on day two. It was cold, but well worth it to see 10 or so ex-pros and the current NCAA champs.

Someone be sure to tell Rod Phillips...

it REALLY was locked up well this time! Two locks even!

blue GBJNK with a white basket....I'll miss you

Today I had a good day at work followed by a decent workout. I was making my way home after a stop at the computer store, hardware store and vegetable market. I was walking up to my door with my bags of vegetables in hand, getting excited about my friend coming over to make and eat eggplant parmesan together. Then I noticed it...or I guess didn't notice it is more appropriate. It wasn't by the door. It wasn't inside the stairwell. I walked back to the gate guard's house and asked about it. I looked in the shed. It was indeed gone. Bike Number Three joins the ranks of bikes I've had stolen in my time here. Maybe it was gone this morning, but I had already planned to take the bus so I didn't notice. Now I guess I'll be taking the bus for awhile. so frustrating....
Oh, and after dinner my washing machine flooded my bathroom. But, the washing and spinning was (mostly) finished so at least the clothes were clean and not dripping with water.
I really do have a lot of positives things to write about too. In the next few days hopefully it will happen.

jet lag, anxiety, the new pillows, or old age?

The past 4 or 5 days I'ven been waking up between 4:00 and 4:45 am and not being able to go back to sleep. What's the deal??? It doesn't normally take me this long to get over jet lag. I've haven't been super stressed out, but there's been a lot for me to think about and I must say that during these episodes of insomnia, my mind is reeling. I bought new pillows yesterday but it didn't help the situation this morning. On Monday at work one of my coworkers was saying she didn't sleep well the night before and I told her I hadn't either. She told me we were both getting old because only old people can't sleep at night.

I still really want to post about my time at home so I hope to find the time to do that in the coming days. I'll get on that soon.

OKC to Blue City, 10.30.06-11.01.06

All I wanted was to be home. I had been away for more than two weeks and was ready, with proper visa in hand, to get back into life here as quickly as possible. I wasn’t feeling as settled as I wanted to before I left for the US, so I wanted to get back and get through the adjustment phase as soon as possible.

I didn’t have the ticket for the last leg of my travel from Beijing to the Blue City because Air China said they couldn’t issue an e-ticket and there wasn’t time for them to mail me a paper ticket to the US before I left. There are multiple flights a day so I didn’t think getting it when I arrived would be a problem. I was scheduled to arrive in BJ in the afternoon and I hoped to get on an evening flight to the Blue City.

The first delay came in Chicago. I got off the plane from OKC and scrolled down the departures screen for Beijing…no gate assigned and blinking words DELAYED. I would be starting my overseas journey 4 hours late already.
Other than being late, the flight wasn’t bad. I got in some good reading and our in-flight entertainment included a Josh Lucas flick.

We arrived in BJ about 4 hours late. It’s now almost 8 pm so I’m a little worried now that there won’t be any seats. After picking up my luggage (a cart full of it this trip) and going through customs I make my way to the Air China Counter. They sent me to a different Air China counter. This counter told me there weren’t any seats available but that I could get on the stand-by list. I ask where to go to get on the standby list and the Air China lady directs me to check-in counter F. I wait in line at counter F where the worker there tells me it’s not the right line. I go where she tells me. I wait in line again. I get to the front only to be told I can’t fly standby if I have luggage. That would have been nice to know 3 counters and lines ago.

I push my cart of luggage to Hainan Airlines to see if they might possibly have any flights that for whatever reason didn’t show up on the Air China computers. They have a flight at 9:30 pm the next day. I go back to Air China to ask again if there are ANY other options…that’s a negative. The first flight available is 9:30 pm the next day.
At this point, I just won’t accept the fact that I am going to have to spend a night in Beijing. I called some friends here to see if they had any suggestions, but they reasoned with me that staying the night is the only option.

I’m still not ready to settle. I go to the travel help desk to ask if there are train tickets for the overnight train. This would have gotten me there by the next morning, which meant I wouldn’t have had to miss an extra day of work, but I’m not sure how I expected to get myself and more than my body weight of 3 pieces of luggage through the train station, on the train and then off again. I asked anyway…no tickets. Not from any of the train stations…no hard seats, no soft seats, no sleepers…nothing.

I know now I’m going to have to stay the night and not be able to get home for at least another 24 hours. I sit down on a bench across from a Westerner wearing full Buddhist monk attire. I just needed a break from lines and counters before I braved the hotel reservation center. I call one of my friends from the basketball team who lives in BJ to see if she wants to hang out tomorrow during my unplanned stay. She invites me to just come to her house and stay. I normally wouldn’t have imposed on her and her family, but I think we’re good enough friends that it’s ok and I was almost at a cultural breaking point. The plan is for me to call her when I get a taxi and she will give the driver directions to her house.

I make my last trip to Air China and grudgingly purchase my tickets for the next day. I get in the long line of smoking Chinese men to wait for a taxi. I am so thankful for my friend’s graciousness, but still just want to be home.

When my taxi pulls up, we load my stuff and get in and call my friend. He doesn’t know where her house is based on her description, and I’ve never been there so I’m no help to him. We’ve already loaded all my luggage, so I’m unwilling to get out and wait in line again for another driver. My friend has her mom call my phone so that she can give him better directions. This at least gets him started, but he is frustrated and angry with me that I don’t know where I'm going and keeps grumbling under his breath. “Your friend doesn’t live in the city. I know everywhere in the city, but I’ve never been to that suburb before.” “Another driver may have been better to take you to this place.” “Why don’t you know the way to her house?” “If I drive all the way out there, I’m not going to be able to find anyone to ride back so I’m going to lose money.” “Why didn’t your friends just come to the airport to pick you up?”

I listened to his complaining for awhile. I finally decided to verbally answer him. When I started speaking the sentence out loud, I felt my chin quivering with the first few words but by the end of the sentence my words were a full-on blubbering, sobbing mess. “Because I didn’t even know I would be staying here tonight. I don’t want to. I want to go home. But there aren’t any flights or trains so I have no way to get home so my only option is to stay at my friend’s house, ok?”

I have never in my life intentionally used tears as a form of manipulation to get my way, and this time also was unintentional, but in this case it did evoke a shift of attitude from my taxi driver.

“Please stop crying. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry. Please stop crying. I promise I will get you to your friend’s house safely. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’ve just never been to that suburb before, but if we can’t find it, we’ll just call your friend again. I promise I will get you there safely. Please stop crying.” I didn’t really fully stop crying the whole drive but at least I was a little more under control than at first. At this point I was sort of half crying, half laughing that I just had a breakdown in a taxi over such a small thing. But it happens and you have to take them as they come. So, I just let the tears and sniffles flow for the half hour drive. He would just look over and say, “I promise we’ll get there.” We did indeed get there safely. My friend met us at the gate of the complex and I jumped out of the taxi and hugged her and told her how happy I was to see her face.

We had a great time together and her family was so gracious to me. We stayed up late talking and catching up and then slept in the next day…well, she did. I watched China versus Azerbaijan women’s volleyball on TV. We went to a market the next morning and then had Beijing Duck for lunch. We had great conversation over lunch and then just relaxed and watched TV the whole afternoon. No visit to any Chinese person’s home is complete without dumplings, which we had for dinner before they took me back to the airport that evening to catch my plane.

I arrived in the Blue City about 10:30 and couldn’t have been happier to look through the glass wall across from the baggage carousel to see that a wonderful friend was there to pick me. She helped me into the taxi, to my house, carried my stuff up the stairs and into my apartment. Ahhh, finally. The heat came on while I was gone and it was nice and toasty and just as I remembered. It felt so good to be home at last.

The Gate

I know my gate closes at midnight. I learned that the first time I was locked out. But, some girls were going to watch a movie late on Saturday night and I really wanted to go. I knew I would be out past midnight but I went anyway.
Also on Saturday the American friend who used to live in the apartment where I live now was back in town. I asked him how he got in and out because I know he stayed out late. He said he would just climb over. I asked him how this was possible with all the spikes at the top, but he informed me that on the far right side, where the gate connects to the building it is really easy to climb over. He also informed me that the gate guard keeps the keys to the small gate-with-in-the-gate on the window sill. You can climb over, get the keys, unlock the gate, bring your bike through, lock the gate back, return the keys and sleep in your own bed.
I don't really believe him, but I really want to hang out and watch the movie so I decide to go and figure out how to get in my house when I get home. I arrive about 1 am and of course it's locked. I see a keychain-looking-thing on the windowsill and decide at this point I don't really have another option besides sleeping at someone else's house. I leave my bike on the outside and start the ascent. It really was very easy, just like he said. But, the thing on the windowsill was not the keys to the gate. Now I'm on one side and my unlocked bike is on the other. Back over the gate. I take my bike to the next building over, whose gate isn't locked in hopes that if I park it there it won't get stolen. A third time up and over and I'm in my house and able to sleep in my own bed, hoping my bike will still be there in the morning.
I don't want to make a habit of gate-climbing, but it is nice to know I know have this option after 3 successful attempts. And my bike was safe and sound the next morning.

Why I Love the Concierge Staff of the Phoenix Hotel Inner Mongolia

1. They know everything. (Probably not, but pretty close). It doesn't matter what the nature of my question is, they always have an answer. Work related things, they of course can help me with, but even things like where to buy used TVs, how to hire a handyman, or where the best fresh produce is...they know. Most of them are locals, so they are my go-to guys for everything.
2. They are patient with my pathetic language skills. When we are not actively helping someone, we stand in the lobby near the front doors greeting guests and chatting. We try to chat. Two years without formal Chinese study is evident in these times. They see my eyebrows begin to furrow and my head begin to tilt in an expression of confusion and they already have started an alternate word choice or method of explanation for whatever it is we were talking about. They are willing to explain things multiple times and not give up until we have somehow managed to communicate. They also will listen intently to the mess of words I put together with terribly incorrect tones until somehow (divine inspiration?), they figure out what I was trying to say.
3. They are kind and helpful. Not only professionally with our guests, but they are all just great individuals. Almost all of them have offered to personally help me in one way or another. With my recent visa issues ZW has asked every single day for updates on the situation and sincerely expressed hope that things will work out. On Tuesday HW volunteered to be my handyman and fix some things at my house on his day off. I kept refusing telling him I just need to find out how to hire one. He then gave me a list of all the reasons he should help me. Some of them included: he has lived in my neighborhood for 23 years so he knows where to buy all the tools or anything we would need. He's my coworker and we have a good relationship so I should have no reason to be embarrassed to ask him for help with small things. Living here and living in at home in America must feel so different and feel so far away and if he can make it feel any more like home here, then he has an obligation to do so.
I'm telling you, these guys are nice.
4. They are so fun! One of these guys was the first one up the bungee jump platform during our trip to Beijing. The manager of the department rallied a bunch of guys to participate in the mechanical bull riding, timing each one as a competition, which he later won. When our words aren't communicating clearly enough, none of them are ashamed to act things out in the middle of the marbled-floor lobby of our fancy hotel.
I really do love my job here and having such great coworkers makes it even more enjoyable!

pictures

traveling with coworkers

The hotel arranged for all the staff to travel to some tourist sites in Beijing. My group went over the weekend. I had SO MUCH FUN! It was my first experience to travel in China, with Chinese people, traveling China-style, complete with our tour guide carrying a flag and our travel agency issued yellow hats.
We left EARLY Saturday morning to drive the 7 ish hours there. It turned out to be longer because we sat parked on the interstate for a good hour and half. Who knows why.
The first stop was the Great Wall. I had been before, but not to this portion of it and it's always just as impressive as the first time. It was WINDY and cold, but still fun to take a million pictures with the other staff. We were all cold so we didn't stay long.
We went from there to a zoo. It was a drive-thru zoo where the animals are not in cages and you sit in a tram like thing and listen to the tour guide introduce each animal.
From there we went to have dinner and then an after-dinner party. This was an outdoor bonfire/dancing/karaoke/fireworks party. At this point, I was so tired I just wanted it to be time to go to sleep. One thing that cracked me up about the dancing...you know how we have "dances" that are like starting the lawnmower or a sprinkler or other motions from life? Well, their version of that was to "pull noodles." I was definitely enterntained by that cultural similarity, but with a twist.
Finally, time for sleep. I stayed with 3 other ladies, only 1 of whom I knew well so it was good to chat and laugh with them.
The next day was my favorite. We went to a place called Long Qing Gorge or Valley or something. I'm not sure how to translate. It was really beautiful, but definitely a tourist trap kind of place. When you first arrive there is a huge dragon escalator that takes you up the mountain so you don't even have to hike. This place is complete with: a boat tour, bungee jumping, zipline, ski lift, temples, souvenir shops, two men riding a bike across a tightrope strung between two mountains, an electric bull, a bobsled type thing to ride down the mountain, and horseback riding back to the parking lot. Whew! A long and fun day!
We ate a late lunch and started back for home. I had really good conversation on the ride home, but was definitely frustrated with my lack of ability to communicate about issues that are important to me or to be able to clearly answer questions about America. 2 days of nothing but Chinese was mentally taxing and a reminder of how much I need to be finding a tutor and getting back into formal study.
We got home about 10:30, exhausted, and I had to be at work the next morning. Back to normal life.
Enjoy the pictures!

Fall is here

I think on Sunday it officially became fall. It was pretty chilly and I don't think it's going to get warm again. The only problem with fall is that it's one season closer to winter. I don't like that it's early September and I've already had to start taking a jacket for the bike ride home in the evenings. I know, I need to not think about the frigid-ness that is to come, and enjoy the pleasant, cool, brisk mornings and evenings while they are here.

is this cute?

As a general rule, I don't have very good fashion sense. Today I had to buy a suit. I start official work tomorrow morning, but my really great suit is still being made and won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon. I needed more than one anyway, so I decided to go buy one today. (With a time crunch of only about half and hour)
The good news is, it actually fit. Maybe Chinese people are getting bigger and therefore they have increased their sizes in the past two years, but I couldn't find things that fit very often last time.
The bad news is, I've only been here a few days but already whatever knowledge of cute-ness I had in America is blurred by the opinions of what is cute here. I have no idea if this suit is actually cute, but the clerks kept telling me how great it looked, how good the quality is, why it's good for this season, why the color is so great, and how popular it is that I too began to think it is ok. I bought it. I didn't have many choices because it had to be a matching skirt and suit jacket and it had to fit. Afterwards I starting wondering if I could ever wear it in America. I'm not sure, but probably not. But, my coworkers here liked it and the bosses didn't say anything negative (they told me the jacket I wore the other day was too short!) so I guess it's ok.

I'm here.

Welcome! I've entered the world of blogging. This wasn't as user-friendly as I has imagined, so we'll just see how this goes!