Richard's Chinese Summer!

My Advid readers are probably shocked! (2 entries in 3 days)
If you cannot tell, I am not one that particularly cares for writting my thoughts down. There is a lot that can be gained from keeping a journal or blogging but I typically find myself too busy to sit down and do it. It just takes so long to write about what has been going on. I have a free minute or two though so I will clue everyone in a bit more!

Last night Tabatha and I went into Zhenjiang with Olga to eat at Tumen. It was our weekly trip to get some good home cooked food. The food was delicious as always! We had "cha shoe goo" phonetically that is which is a form of sauted tree mushrooms, corn on the cob, chicken wings, mashed potatoes, and of course rice. I must say it was not very good for my diet though. It is difficult to lose weight on home cooked food. I suppose I made up for it though because I walked close to 10 miles.

I have recently decided that in an effort to be more healthy as well as to gain more of an understanding as to how the local Chinese people live, that I will walk almost everywhere I go. The mill provides a bus, but 3 times per day I walk to work which is about 2 miles. The miles add up quickly as you can see. The Chinese eat so much food here when they go out or if they eat as a family, but they walk and bike everywhere so they do not gain weight. It is a very healthy lifestyle in that respect.

Today was one of the more exciting days since I have been here. Not so much because of what I did but more because of who I was with. Some new friends I have made in the Research and Development department invited me to go to Zhenjiang and sing Karoke with them. I was very apprehensive because I did not really know them nor was their English very good. When we talk in the office we use Yahoo's Babelfish translator. I ultimately decided to go though - you have to live every now and then right? They showed up at my dormitory today in a white sports car. It was apparently a treat for those riding because it was the bosses car. I could barely fit in it but it was so fancy. Black and red bucket seats, the works...

As we finally got to the KTV (Karoke place) I realized it was only the 4 of us. The driver and his girlfriend and myself and the other girl. I am still not positive but I believe it was a double date. I told several of my friends I would not catch yellow fever while here but she was really cute...We sang for a few hours and then went out to eat. There was so much food - close to 20 dishes for 5 of us (a friend of the boss joined). They kept thinking something was wrong with me because I did not eat much. But in actuality I ate so much - they just ate more. The dinner experience was great. Our conversation was composed of Chinglish as I will call it with all of us speaking a broken mix of English and Chinese. It sure made for an interesting and great learning experience.

After dinner we headed back to Gold East for the night. I believe I will rest tomorrow. I need some sleep for a change. Hope all is well with everyone!

Richard
Posted by rwpridge ( Jul 05 2008, 08:03:16 AM GMT+08:00 ) Permalink Comments [1]

It has been

a long time since I have blogged. I have recently found myself extremely busy at nights when I would normally blog and have just not had the time to devote to it L

Past Few Weeks

Ultimately though, to summarize the past few weeks: I got sick ? that?s about it. I was miserable at work and when I?d come back to my apartment. I was so nauseous all the time, my throat was so sore that I couldn?t swallow, and I ended up with so many ulcers in mouth. It was very painful and for a bit I really wanted to come home. It wasn?t so much me being sick but the healthcare here could really use much improvement. I went to the doctor at the clinic here and told Steve what was wrong and he translated to the doctor for me. She didn?t even look in my throat but gave me about 5 different prescription drugs: Amoxycillin and several others. Some are not legal in the United States, one cures baldness, and one helps the ?internal fire?. Needless to say I was not very impressed and actually a bit scared. It is no wonder the world is breaking out with epidemics of new diseases and bacteria if substandard healthcare like this is the norm. It was a very eye opening experience for me. While I do not enjoying being sick I believe it was a tremendous opportunity for me to see from a first person perspective what a sick person in a country with underdeveloped healthcare systems go through for treatment.

After I was feeling a little better, Tabatha and I went to Zhenjiang after our Saturday work day to have lunch with the guys (and their girlfriends) from the printing lab we have been doing some testing in. Ben and Stella were there, as were some new friends Felix and Mr. He (pronounced Hu?h with a downward and then back up stress). It was a good lunch with food of the Sichuan Province meaning it was very hot. I enjoyed many things and especially liked something I thought was chicken. After I had completely finished the dish did they inform me I was eating frog and what was currently in between my chopsticks was the frog stomach. It was a rather interesting experience. Also on the menu was noodles, fish, squid, octopus, beef, pork, eggplant, green beans, and to make it hot, lots and lots and lots of different kinds of peppers. All of this food was specially seasoned to burn going down?

After this, Felix and Mr. He went home with their girlfriends and Tabatha, Ben, Stella, and myself went shopping for a while. It was an exciting time because Ben was proposing to Stella and buying her an engagement ring. It seems to be very different here in China. In the United States it is something that is a little more private but here they wanted their friends to come and join them because it was such a happy time for them! After going to several jewelry stores they finally found a good ring at a fair price :o) For the rest of the afternoon we just kind of walked around, tried different local snacks and fruits (one of which made both Tabatha and I very sick upon returning home). When we got back we relaxed and went to sleep ? I more or less just went to sleep because I was feeling bad. Next day, got up (Tab went back to Zhenjiang for the day, I stayed in) exercised, climbed the mountain, played tennis with Steve, and waited to hear about Tab?s day!

Present

I think I am starting to like China more and more every day. I think I have finally gotten used to it here. For the first part of the summer I thought of the paper mill more as a prison than my home. It was very difficult to talk to people and make friends. The people at the little restaurant Tabatha and I go to are probably only so nice to us because we spend money there. It seems to be a trend we have found?

More recently though, the people here have realized we are here for a while and I am starting to branch out a little more. There is a Chinese girl here that we have met at breakfast and are now good friends. She is 9 years old. Her name is Yoyo and she and her sister are both very smart. Yoyo can speak Chinese, English, and a little Japanese. Her English is much better than any 9 year olds English in the United States. Her sister Gigi picks up English very quickly from what Yoyo says. Gigi is 7. They also have a younger brother named Popo (notice a similarity in the names?). They have started to invite us to play with them. This has been a very good opportunity for us for many reasons. First, the parents love us because not only are we in a way kind of baby sitting for them but we are also helping the children to practice their English. We get lots of perks from the Parents (mostly outside food not from the mill). It is kind of nice I must say. Also, since they are students learning foreign languages themselves, they are very good at helping us to learn Chinese. They can tell us which tones to use for works and also they will speak very slowly for us when they teach us something new! They have a lot of patience for 7 and 9 year olds!

I have also started to make many more ?grown? up friends. There is another man from the US that Tabatha and I have met recently who has been here for a few months now I believe. He is a very interesting character but is kind of in the same boat we are. He lives in Zhenjiang and has a driver take him to work an hour away everyday. I would not like to do that ? but if that?s what he likes! I have also made some more local friends. Steve plays tennis so I am gradually getting better at that sport and yesterday I played basketball with a lot of the guys in my living area. It was really a lot of fun. Full court is a workout for a big guy like me but I held through for about 45 minutes. I was normally the go-to guy because I was big enough to get all the rebounds and no-one could really block me. You do have the advantage in Basketball when you are a foot taller than everyone else! I have also gone on this crazy exercise binge to take up some of the extra time. I was so bored at first because I was not getting out and finding things to day. I think I will stay busy from now on with a weekly basketball game or two, lifting weights, playing tennis, and climbing that mountain. It is also helping me to sleep so much better at night (not to mention my pants seem to be a bit loose on me now)!

I am really starting to enjoy myself though. Even work has gotten so much better here at the mill. I have a real project now which is very open ended. More than I really expected. When we talked with the boss for PM3, which by the way holds the record for the worlds fastest paper machine, he told us to work on ?Shives Problem, Fix?. That is our responsibilities for the next six weeks or so and it should be really interesting. We do not really have much guidance so we have an open door to take this project where we would like!

These past two weeks have really been a bit of a moral booster! I am enjoying myself much more than I originally was. Granted, I have a hard time not being perfectly content just doing whatever. Its kind of my nature I suppose but it is really nice to have something to do. Meeting new friends is so great and more especially finally being accepted. The life, culture, and people here are so nice. While our cultures and customs are different, the need to need to belong is the same. I finally feel like I belong.

Posted by rwpridge ( Jul 03 2008, 07:54:01 AM GMT+08:00 ) Permalink Comments [1]