GwaiLoDown 鬼佬向下

I’ll never understand moon cakes 我永远也不会明白月饼

Archive for category Life in China

Let me summarize…

Dec 8

Posted by Gwailo in Dalian, Family, Guangzhou, Life in China | 1 Comment

Wow! My last ‘real’ post was back in January. Where has the time gone?

I was going to do a top 10 list of myths surrounding my disappearance, but after I got to number 4 even I thought my jokes were pretty stupid. The reason I have been silent is a combination of work, life and lazy. Not particularly in that order.

So here is what I have been up to this year in a nice, bulleted and summarized format.

  • In March of this year, I closed the doors on the business I started when I first came to China. The financial crisis made all of my clients run for the hills.
  • I spent the next several months taking a well needed rest while playing with my boys Wyatt & Cyrus.
  • I also continued my involvement with the Guangzhou chapter of the Hash House Harriers. I love that group of people and I miss the free beer. On on!
  • In June, through what can only be called “blind ass luck” I was introduced to a person who was looking for someone to run the China operations of their company. The company is a software/hardware development company and my skills pretty much matched exactly what they had been searching for.
  • After many rounds of interviews I was offered the position. The job was exactly what I wanted to do, but it did have one big down-side. I had to leave Guangzhou and move to Dalian. My wife has a great job in Guangzhou so we determined that the only thing to do was for me to move to Dalian without my family. They would follow in spring of 2010. And in the mean time I would be flying back and forth on a regular basis to see my family and every night my wife and I talk on Skype.
  • At the end of July I made the move from Guangzhou to Dalian. My loving wife visited a month later in order to help me find an apartment to live in and not get charged too much because I was a foreigner.
  • Summertime in Dalian is beautiful.
  • On October 15th we had the official grand opening of our company here. It was attended by all kinds of VIPs including the Vice Mayor of Dalian, the Irish Ambassador to China and the Irish Minister of Finance and Trade. It was also the beginning of winter in Dalian. My first real winter in over 20 years.
  • Wintertime in Dalian is cold. Very cold. Lots of wind. Cold + Wind = Sucks.
  • Fast forward to yesterday. Yesterday my wife was offered her dream job. In Wuhan. Wuhan is not near Dalian. This means my family will not be coming to Dalian. So lots more flying in my future. Time to get a frequent flyer card. It is my wife’s dream job. All I can do is support her and know that the choices we make will ultimately be best for our family.

So that is a summary of what I have been up to. Lots more details and stories to be added as time permits. Hopefully I will get around to updating a tad more often.

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Been a long time

Sep 17

Posted by Gwailo in Life in China | 1 Comment

Sorry to have fallen off the map lately. I have recently got a new job in Dalian, China and had to move from my home in Guangzhou. Things are going great, but very, very busy. I will try to update more later.

China BloggerCon

Nov 19

Posted by Gwailo in Life in China, blogging | 1 Comment

I went to the Chinese BloggerCon last weekend.  It was my first blogger convention, ever.

Even though it was much different than what I expected, it was really a great experience and I look forward to attending future Chinese BloggerCons.  

There were many great presentations given on the importance of citizen journalisim, the history of the Chinese Internet, the way the Internet brings people closer together and how it is a force for change.  Every speaker brought a different view and struck a different set of emotional and mental chords.

Even though the speaches were mostly in Chinese, I was able to understand what was going on due to the wonderful (and free) translators Lonnie Hodge was able to coax into coming from the university he teaches at.

During breaks I was able to talk with and meet many new friends including, Shel Isreal, Robert Scoble, Paul Denlinger, John Biesnecker, Lonnie Hodge, Jon Phillips and many other great folks.

Of course a special shout out goes to Rocky, to whom I will probably always be known as Tim.

The organizers, Isaac Mao, Lemoned and Lonson did an amazing job putting this event together. 

I look forward to seeing you all at the next Chinese Bloggercon.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Nov 5

Posted by Gwailo in General Thoughts, Life in China, Politics | 1 Comment

As proud as I am today to call myself an American, I am ashamed to call myself a Californian.

Barack Obama is the new President Elect. What an amazing, historic event. Words fail me when I try to describe just how happy and proud I am that my home country reached the evolutionary point where this can happen.

But then I turn my eyes to the state of my birth, California. It has always been considered a trend setting state with liberal views and an unquestioned acceptance of people regardless of their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.   However I am watching the votes come in for Proposition 8.

A “Yes” vote for Proposition 8 is a vote to put a (state) constitutional ban on gay marriages.  And right now, as I type this the “Yes” votes are winning.  How long ago was it that cross-race marriages were treated with the same level of bigotry? We can elect a black man as President but we can’t accept that two loving people might want to get married, regardless of their sex?

California, I am ashamed to call you my home.  And my heart and hopes goes out to all the people affected by this tragic onslaught of fear and bigotry.

In China, I witnessed something very promising.  Something that filled me with hope for this country that has become my home away from home.

I was invited to attend an America Votes party held by the American Chamber of Commerce here in Guangzhou, China.  The event was held in a large ballroom at the China Hotel.  

When I got the invite, I thought that it would be just a group of 20 or so expats sitting around watching the election results and talking politics.  Since that sounded like more fun than sitting behind my office desk I decided to go.

When I walked into the room it was filled with hundreds of people.  Hundreds of Chinese people. And of course the 20-30 expats who actually had the right to vote in the election they were watching the results of.

By the entry door were several large baskets filled with buttons for McCain & Obama.  The Obama buttons went very, very quickly and the McCain buttons were practically untouched.  It was easy to see who this group was hoping for.

The American Chamber of Commerce even setup mock election booths so the Chinese people could participate in the voting experience.  Even though they knew their votes would not officially matter, it did not stop them from cueing up in long lines to place their vote.

While I stood there talking with my expat friends we were constantly approached by groups of Chinese university students and other Chinese people who all wanted to hear our views on who we voted for, why we voted for them and about the democratic process in general.

It was amazing to me just how eager they all were to see how this election went, how eager they were to see the restoration of the American reputation and how it would affect their lives and the future of their own country.  I was very proud of every person I spoke with today.  Their courage and desire to open their minds really say a lot about the promise of China’s future.

Having Barack Obama elected President shows how far America has come as a country and how dedicated they are to making it a country that the world looks up to once again.  However, the passing of Proposition 8 (the gay marriage ban) in California shows how very, very far we have got left to go.

Today America has shown that it too is like our newest President. It isn’t perfect and it will make mistakes (sometimes huge ones) but overall, it tries to do the right thing.

Hallo-what?

Nov 3

Posted by Gwailo in Family, Holidays, Life in China | 1 Comment

Halloween was one of my favorite holidays when I lived in the US.  I always looked forward to either dressing up or handing out candy to visiting kids, or doing both.

Halloween would always start with a visit to the store or a local farmers field so that I could purchase a few suitable pumpkins for carving.  Every pumpkin was screaming out a design that suited its particular shape or coloring.  However, my talent at carving pumpkins was never good enough for some of the more challenging designs that true pumpkin artists are capable of doing.

The exception to this of course was a few years ago.  I actually found blue prints and tools for making cool pumpkins. It had templates that you could rub onto the pumpkin and a saw that you could use to cut out the intricate designs.  I ended up making a very cool looking pumpkin that had a skeleton breaking out of it and a few others.  

Then, of course, there was always the fun of eating all of the candy that was left over because you ‘accidentally’ bought too much. Again.

But now that I am living in China, Halloween is not really celebrated here.  Only in a few very small expat communities will you find children dressing up. But even then the kids don’t go door to door.  Instead they go to closed parties where they can get their candy fix.

If kids here tried to go door to door shouting trick or treat while wearing masks and holding out pillow cases, they would be greeted by mostly stunned looks, several people who would be calling the police and maybe a BBQed chicken foot if they were lucky.

And pumpkins? They exist here, but they are all very small.  Too small to really make a cool carving from.

So how did I spend my children’s first Halloween? I spent it on a business trip to Hong Kong. Another place where kids to not trick-or-treat.  But man, do they use it as an excuse to party.  Of course, Hong Kong-ers will use just about any excuse to have a party.

I find myself in a kind of strange holiday-state.  Without the constant sensory input of American holidays I very easily can miss them without notice.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Independence Day, etc.. all go by with barely a thought.

On the other side, because I don’t speak or read Chinese, I get very little sensory input about Chinese holidays. So it is very hard for me to work up any kind of enthusiasm over them.  Mostly, Chinese holidays are painful because they are days I have to pay my employees not to work. But being a boss here is a subject for another day.

So it is kind of strange how quickly we lose our attachment to holidays when we don’t have the constant reminders around us. Kind of makes me a little sad. When I have the time to think about it.

Makes me wonder what traditions/holidays my boys will grow up forming attachments too.

Oh lord, its hard to be humble

Oct 21

Posted by Gwailo in Life in China | 6 Comments

As a gwailo (Cantonese for Foreign Monster) living in China one of the most common questions I get asked by locals and foreigners alike is “What’s it like to be so damn perfect?”

What? It’s true. Okay, so that is the most common question I get asked in my dreams. In reality the most common question is “Do you speak Chinese?”

That seems like a simple question but when you realize that China has 2 main languages (Mandarin and Cantonese) and hundreds of other dialects you soon realize that there is no such language as “Chinese”. However, luckily in my case, I can respond with a very simple “No” since I don’t speak any of the languages that make up “Chinese”.

I have studied Mandarin off and on for about 3 years now.  Way more “Off” than “On” and I have managed to pick up about 100 words so far that I can actually say with some degree of accuracy.

Over the course of my life I have lived in many different countries and I have learned little bits of the local languages where ever I was.  In all cases the first two things that I learn is always the same.  I learn how to count to 10 and I learn how to order a beer.  So far it has been a very useful duo to learn.

Before I moved to China I started learning Mandarin, which is the “official” language of China.  I figured I couldn’t go wrong learning Mandarin if I wanted to live and work in China.  Of course, as luck would have it I ended up moving to the part of China where everyone speaks in Cantonese.  Nice.

Mandarin is tough enough with its 5 different tones (more if you talk with linguistic Nazi’s) for every word but at least you have lots of cool tools out there to help you learn Mandarin.  And there is even an official western way of writing the words.

However, Cantonese is a different animal all together.  For each word there is 9, count them, 9 tones for each word.  There is no westernized way of spelling them and for most of the words I don’t think there is a western way of even saying them.

None the less, some people have humorous ways of trying to teach people how to speak Cantonese.
While not speaking the language here in China is a bit of a handicap it really hasn’t slowed me down at all.  As a matter of fact, I am now a better pantomime artist than Marcel Marceau.

Learning the language in any country that you live in is not really necessary to do.  However, it does make life much simpler and it shows that you respect the locals enough to want to learn how to communicate with them.

What it all boils down to is that I need to stop being such a lazy bastard and start learning the language.  If my baby boys can do it, so can I.  I hope.

Things to do in Guangzhou

Oct 18

Posted by Gwailo in Family, Life in China | 2 Comments

A friend back in the US asked me to describe a typical week so he could better understand how I live my life here. And since I am a lazy blogger I thought I would repeat it here.

First a little precursor. When I lived in the US I was pretty much an anti-social hermit. My life mainly consisted of work and goofing around on my computer. Getting out was something I rarely did.

So here is a day by day listing of my week.

Saturday: Up at 7:00. Get my breakfast and play a little with my baby boys. I normally spend most of the time being amazed at just how much they change from day to day.
11:00 I am on an hour long bus/taxi tide to the city where my wife and I meet our running club. Http://www.gzh3.com Check it out to see the strange stuff that goes on.
19:00 Running is done time for dinner with friends. I normally get back home at 22:00. Just in time to go to sleep.

Sunday: Up at 6:30, have my breakfast and play with the kids. Around 10:00 I am out the door with my wife and doing shopping for various things (normally baby stuff).
We get back home around 15:00 and I play with my kids a little more. The I head up to my home office and do a bit of work, play a computer game or watch a little tv. (TV here is either by a satelite feed from the philipines or by watching shows online.)
19:00 I have dinner and help get the kids to sleep. Then the rest of the night is spent watching the movie of the moment with my wife. Then it is time for sleep.

Monday: I am up at 6:00, grab my breakfast (which normally is a big bun and a diet coke) and start my drive to the office. The babies are normally sleeping so I don’t get to see them.
I work until about 20:00 and then I drive home. The babies are normally sleeping by then so I don’t get to see them. Talk with the wife about my day and then off to sleep.

Tuesday: Basically a repeat of Monday.

Wednesday: Starts out the same but at night I attend a social networking meeting for people in the Internet industry. Business here is all about who you know. I would be out of business if it wasn’t for networking.
I spend my evening talking with 30-40 strangers and exchanging business cards. When I get home it is normally around 24:00. Nothing else to do but grab a few hours sleep.

Thursday: Same as Monday.

Friday: Starts out the same but by 11:00 I am on a 2 hour train ride to Hong Kong. Once I get there I have time for a quick lunch then it is meetings with clients till about 20:00.
Then I have the chance to call up some Hong Kong friends and go out for dinner and drinks. This will normally go on till about 03:00. Then off to my hotel room for a few hours of sleep before I am on an 8:30 train back to guangzhou so I can go running with my wife.

So that is a pretty typical week for me. I don’t go to Hong Kong every week but I do go often enough where I needed to add extra pages to my passport.

Blogging is hard to find the time for but I do it when I can. This post is being written on my phone while I sit on the train.

Here are a couple of pictures from my window:

Waiting for a train

Oct 18

Posted by Gwailo in Life in China | No Comments

I am sitting in the Hong Kong train station waiting for my train back to Guangzhou. And I am also testing out this remote blogging application on my iPhone.

Here are a couple of photos.

Happy Birthday China!

Oct 1

Posted by Gwailo in Holidays, Life in China | No Comments

It is “National Day” here in China.  That means lots of fireworks tonight.  Fireworks are great and all, but in my neighborhood they literally don’t stop until sunrise.  And even then it just kind of slows down to the random chain of firecrackers going off.

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9 Days Off

Sep 26

Posted by Gwailo in Family, Holidays, Life in China | 4 Comments

Monday is the start of the National holiday here in China.  That means that there is a mandatory 7 day vacation for most everyone in the country at the same time.  1,600,000,000 people all on vacation at the same time.  What can go wrong?

The way they get their 7 day vacation here is kind of odd.  Basically, it is a 3 day vacation, but they “borrow” a weekend” to fill in the other 2 work days, hence giving them a total of 7 days off (3 day vacation + 2 days from borrowed weekend + 2 days of real weekend).  Simple, huh?

Now, in order to borrow this weekend they need to balance the books by making everyone work a weekend.  So before the 7 day vacation comes a 7 day work week.  Working the weekend is a way of getting the “borrowed” weekend that extends their 3 day vacation into 7.

Everyone clear on that?  Good.

In my office, I just say “screw it”, throw up my hands and admit that I hate working weekends.  So, my staff lucks out and doesn’t have to work a 7 day week.  So they actually get 9 days off rather than 7.

That will give them a bit of a jump on their travel plans.  Since it is customary for people to go back to their hometowns on the holiday they will all be jumping on busses that will take up to 30 hours to drive them home.  Just so they can turn around a few days later and spend another 30 hours on a bus coming back.

Now, I am faced with 9 days off.  What adventure do you think I have planned?

That’s right!  You guessed it.  I will be doing nothing but staying at home, playing with my kids and computer games.  Then later in the year when the rest of the country isn’t invading every other part of the country I will take some much needed time off someplace that is not in China.

So if you are planning on coming to China between now and October 5th, I have one piece of advice.  Don’t.

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