Interesting Day

I had an interesting day today.  while i was waiting for the school rep 
to come meet up with me, i had an aussie guy walk up and ask if i was 
Canadian.  I was surprised and said, "yes, how did you know?".  he said 
that he always asks anyone who looks like they could be american if 
they're canadian because nobody ever gets angry...but canadians don't 
like to be confused with americans and rightfully so!  i thought it was 
funny.

the school rep, penny, got there a little late, and instead of taking a 
cab to the first school, we walked, it took about 20 minutes.  it was 
their first campus, they teach mandarin and japanese at the location, 
and it was a little run down...i was surprised because of all of the 
research i had done, and it was noted several times that they are the #1 
school in china for teaching mandarin.  from there, we hopped on the 
subway (i could get lost in a subway station for years and never, ever 
see daylight or a train...they are HUGE!!), and took it to the other 
location, which was brand new, had a terrific view, and was all state of 
the art. i'm not sure why they show the first school, i think that they 
should convert it to administration, and not show anyone at all!

the class sizes are all 2 to 4 students per teacher, apparently a few of 
my classes will be one on one.  Penny introduced me to a guy named 
Thomas, who was black and from new york, originally from california.  he 
was hilarious, and i think we're going to hook up today or tomorrow for 
tea, and to have a chat.  i told him that i was surprised that he was so 
friendly, as every other american i'd met was a little less than 
friendly.  he told me that that was completely normal.  apparently, 
there's two types of americans in shenzhen:

1.  those visiting from hong kong.  they are easily identified by the 
amount of cash they throw around for no apparent reason.  they are 
vaguely amusing, shallow, and tend to irritate all of those around them 
by throwing money at anyone or anything that moves.
2.  the worst people in the world.  these people have been kicked out of 
many cities in china, as well as other places in the world, and have 
many vices and habits that it would be best to steer clear of.  he said 
that the problem is that you don't really recognize it when first 
talking to them until you take a step back, and wonder if he would be 
someone you'd hang out with at home...he said 9 out of 10 times, you 
realize that he's the guy who's going to get you arrested.  the problem 
with even hanging out with these guys at all is that they're already 
marked, and people who are seen with them regularly get tagged by the 
cops as people of interest as well.

Thomas also mentioned that there are quite a few americans who have been 
kicked out of china, and that getting kicked out of china takes a whole 
lot of work.  you have to do something very, very, very bad.  at that 
point, you will be given the opportunity to bribe the arresting 
officer.  if you're not smart enough to figure that one out, then you 
get thrown in jail.  if you decide that you don't want to go to jail, 
you can usually get someone to post bail for you, then wander around 
doing more stupid things until your second offence, after which you'll 
be kicked out of the country.  anyone who posts bail for you will also 
be followed quite closely, and you can ruin your life by helping any of 
these people out.

he suggested that it was just generally easier and safer to make friends 
with aussies, canadians, brits, and only americans that you meet at 
school, and of course, hang out with chinese people.  he said that 
another telltale sign is if someone has been here a while, and has zero 
chinese friends.  it's best to just avoid those people, if the chinese 
hold them in contempt, you probably should too.

i told thomas about my adventure on the bus and about eating random 
Hunan food in a restaurant in the middle of the city, he laughed and 
said that the only thing hotter is Sichuan food, which is "Hotter than 
the fiery depths of Hell!!"  he recommended steering clear of that and 
any random restuarants until my system rebuilds itself into something 
that can take local cuisine...apparently it takes a month or two for 
your system to stop rebelling.  (is that subtle enough to say without 
grossing you out, dad?).

he also mentioned that there's another canadian guy he'd like to 
introduce me to from vancouver, who is very laid back, easy going, and 
taking language courses.  so, it sounds like i can meet quite a few 
decent expats from him.  he highly recommended that i stay away from the 
shekou area due to the large amounts of expats, and questionable human 
beings, and that futian or luohu districts were the best bet.  he 
suggested luohu was a bit better as long as i'm near a metro station, 
due to the fact that it's a bit older and thus better priced.  the hotel 
i'm in is in luohu, and i can also easily find the local HSBC, so, i 
think those are pluses as well.

i met about 3 of the language professors and they are all very good 
people, very friendly, with a great sense of humour.  they are also very 
flexible if you decide to alter how you want to learn chinese. they 
recommend focusing on language only for the first 3 months or so, then 
going towards chinese characters at 4-7 months.  learning the characters 
only makes things harder if you don't have a base to build them on.  
also, some can be pronounced quite differently, and learning the tones 
and pronunciation is key to learning chinese.  i learned how to say good 
bye today, and it was a struggle in itself to get my pronunciation 
correct, i thought it would be hard, but i don't think that i realized 
exactly how different chinese is from english and even korean.  it is 
doable though, as long as i'm willing to put the effort in...which is a 
given, i don't know why i wouldn't, just takes a lot of studying, which 
is why i'm here after all.

tomorrow, i'm going apartment hunting, which should be interesting. the 
hotel staff here keep telling me that i should get one of the apartments 
from the hyatt, they appreciate how friendly i am, and how much i 
appreciate their work and their country.  i wonder how many they've 
talked into moving into the hotel using those exact lines!  it's around 
$5000/month to live in a hotel apartment, and while it would be 
convenient in some ways, it seems a bit much to me!  additionally, i'm 
quite looking forward to getting settled into a neighborhood, and not 
being in a hotel, i'd love to unpack, and i'm not willing to fully 
unpack until i find an apartment, too hard to pack it all up again, and 
i don't have the space to get everything out of my suitcases here, i 
don't think.  the apartments that they rent here are nice, and around 
1,000 sq ft, and come with housekeeping (complimentary) and room service 
(extremely expensive), but i think it's worth finding an actual 
apartment, not to mention the fact that it enhances the experience a 
great deal as well.  i am going to find a 2 bedroom apartment, so if 
anyone wants to visit, just let me know.

i told Penny that my family was planning on visiting, she said that with 
advance notice, i can easily take the time off so that we can head up to 
beijing or wherever, and really get to know china.  they really 
encourage that anyway, as culture makes up a huge part of their language 
and is something that they are very proud of.

i was reading the "China Daily" paper today, and it sounds like people 
are getting very, very upset with the USA again.  apparently, the USA 
has decided to back the Japanese about the island that they're in 
dispute about, instead of being the mediators that they said that they 
would be.  China suggested that the US either back off, or stop being so 
ignorant about the facts.  there was some very strong language in there, 
and i wonder what the media in the US is reporting.  it's definitely an 
interesting paper to read and has a chinese and an english version of 
the paper.

well, i'm going to go for a walk, see some more of the surrounding 
area.