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June 30 Wuxi Rain VideoI took this video early Tuesday Morning. Along with the photos also taken at the same time, it is proof incontrovertible, that it rained this morning. If you take the time to watch the video several times over, you will notice also there are no snipers hiding in the bushes and that no was killed. No conspiracies but definitely rain.
A history of Europeans having sex in Asia.From the Wall Street Journal, comes a review of "The East, the West, and Sex". The stories of fat German tourists and over-the-hill Casanovas coming here for sex are very true. And while the article does mention the fact that many of these men are escaping Christian scolds and the like. I should also like to add that they are also escaping Western Feminism. Asia is a place where women are still in women, unlike North America where women are fat, wear tattoos, and feel the need to be vulgar like sailors. A Wuxi Minute Radio Spot.If you go to wuxi guide dot net, you will see a radio player on which you can hear a Wuxi Minute Radio Spot I did ages ago. DNA test needed to get passport?I just received a message from an American who, like me, has a Chinese wife and child thereby. Like me, he is in the process of getting a passport for his child. He informed me that his consulate requires he has a DNA test done. He says he knew nothing of the requirement. I believe him. Consulates don't seem to make it easy to fill out their forms. Raining in Akicistan.It is Tuesday so I must be in Akicistan, the most wonderful place in Wuxi, China. I look out my window and see it is raining heavily. I pity the poor schmucks below who have to be going to work.
  Only problem is that I will have to stay in the apartment all day. Tony and I won't be able to do stuff. Wuxi Tony Update Three Hundred Fifty Seven
Take a tour of the school with Tony and Andis.
June 29 Wuxi Tony Update Three Hundred Fifty SixAKIC likes to think of himself as a RM (Renaissance Man). Three of his many, many hobbies include putting things on top of other things, hyperbole, and organizing his socks. In this, the latest episode, of the greatest Baby Internet Update ever made before, during, and/or after the Renaissance, you can see Tony is taking up after his father. Monday is Friday.It is Monday morning. At Casa K, it really is Friday because Tuesday and Wednesday are really Saturday and Sunday for me - they being my days off, you see. I don't have to be at work till one in the afternoon, so I can spend a leisurely time around the home. It is raining outside so, so much for my plan to take Tony for a walk. The wife is asleep so I can get a little blogging in.
I made WTU 356 last evening. I am uploading it to Youtube as I make this blog.
If you are in China, www.youku.com is a useful site. I was able to watch English language movies and t.v. shows on it. For instance, I watched Gran Torino, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the Teletubbies, and Kenneth Clark's Civilisation yesterday.
I don't have much to say about what is going on locally in Wuxi other than it is hot and humid. I have no idea what the expats are up to. However, the bit I do see and hear makes me cynical about all of them. The Chinese must think all foreigners are letches, operators, and drunks.
Ed McMahon's death went almost unnoticed. He was seen as a sidekick. And yet, of the three celebrities who died recently, he was the one whose life should have been celebrated and commemorated. Ed McMahon was a former U.S. marine. I believe he had combat experience. He did more for people than that sorry Jackson did.
June 28 Sunday Night and I feeling alright.I have recovered from the four beers I drank last night. Never again.
Here is Marc Steyn's Michael Jackson Obituary. Surely, the only one that will be worth reading about him.
In class, I asked a student if she liked listening to music. She said "yes" and then mentioned that Michael Jackson died. As I said, the Chinese students know about MJ.
I am reading articles on the Internet complaining about the coverage of MJ's death. They complain the coverage has been wall-to-wall. But it was all perfectly predictable to this blogger all the way out in China.
Strangely enough, I was able to say I was the person who did inform one expat that MJ had died. Somehow, he had not been on the Internet for one whole day.
This afternoon, I watched the seventh episode of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation.
I also watched this BBC documentary about the JFK assassination. The BBC slant on it was definitely left-wing. But, I don't have time to tell you why just now.
KempenskiLast night, I went to a bar in the Kempenski Hotel, a huge building overlooking Taihu square. It was my first trip to a pub for a long time. It was beer night for the foreign trainers at my school so I was able to get permission from Jenny to go. The pub serves German beer, expensive but alright. I drank four tall glasses of light and dark beer. I feel it this morning. Thankfully, I won't have to be going to the pub again for another long period. A band of Filipinos played pop songs and eventually got the patrons dancing.
I ran into an expat who has a daughter about the same age as Tony. He immediately told me that he had to get a permission slip to be out.
I took the bus and taxi home. I would have been in no condition to drive the scooter if I had brought it.
June 27 Photos taken on the way to work.Saturday morning, I had a fifteen minute walk to work. I took out my camera and took snaps of interesting things I saw. This snack street was getting ready for business.
I took this photo on Renmin Road. You can see the MoreSky360 standing tall in the back. Notice the half-demolished building in the center of the photo.
This is the demolished building close up and from another angle.
Dicos is a Chinese version of KFC. It is having its grand opening at a location next door to our school. Chinese reaction to Michael Jackson's Death.Michael Jackson's death was a subject of interest to my students at my English Corner last night. I asked them to describe him in one word. Most of the students said "strange'; one said "cool". Another student said he didn't like him because "he attacked children.". They all heard the stories of Jackson's skin-dying. I used the topic of Jackson's death to talk of the perils of fame and money.
June 26 Fwd: [Andis Kaulins in China] Looking out my window.......and what do I see? I see it is raining in downtown Wuxi, China. Below, you can see the stand-alone steeple of the church next door to the school. The pointy tall building silhouetted in the background is the MoreSky360 building. I don't know if you can see but the bicycles parked below are covered with raincoats to keep the seats dry.
 Exam ResultsAt this time, students are getting the results of their college entrance exams. One student, last night, reported to me that she had had the best mark in her class and sure to be able to go to the University of her choice. She wants to study international law. It is her dream to work at the U.N.
Asking the students what is on their minds, I have been told the heat and of course the exam results.
I am in the process of getting my Visa renewed.
June 25 Wuxi Tony Update Three Hundred Fifty Five.
Get your motor running! Looking for adventure! Or whatever comes our way! Oh Darling, going to make you happy (or make it happen)! Blah Blah Blah! Born to be wild! I betcha you didn't know that Steppenwolf was a Canadian band. Heck, I didn't till my parents sent me a Reader's Digest compilation of great Canadian pop and rock bands. Anyway, think of WTU 355 as Easy Rider: The Chinese Edition, rated "G: for all ages. This video is proof that China is being run by engineers. June 24 Wuxi Tony Update Three Hundred Fifty Four.
Shakespeare had his major tragedies like Hamlet, King Lear, and McBeth. Like Shakespeare, who had the genius to imitate the WTU series despite the fact that it hadn't been thought of yet when he was alive, WTU has done major tragedies and this episode, WTU 354, is one of WTU's greatest, doing a superb job of depicting the human condition and man's place in the universe. Countryside Bike Ride 062409: The MiscellaneiThis is the final quartet of photos taken on CBR 2009. Not falling into any particular theme, I dub them as The Miscellanei. I upload them for your photographic perusing pleasure.
The road near the old factory was covered with wood chips.  What photographic recounting of an expedition involving Tony could be complete without a photo of Tony? Below, you can see him on the latest Big Bridge in Hui Shan.  Tony was looking at the scene below from the bridge.  I dedicate the photo below to lily pad enthusiasts the world over. This photo was also taken from the bridge.  I suppose I could have entitled this entry: Brown, Green, and Things in Between. Countryside Bike Ride 062409: The Newer.....Not five minutes from the countryside lane, we came upon a big bridge. Another in the Hui Shan area, this was the first I had seen of it.
On one end of the bridge, you saw this...   On the other end of the bridge, there was a marquee with Olympic Rings on top. I have no idea what the Olympic Rings were doing there.   Countryside Bike Ride 062409: The Old....Note: This entry was originally published in my blogspot blog. I am forwarding it by email to my spaces.live blog - an experiment to see if it works. If it does, it will be done more often, especially for photo blog entries.
I took Tony with me as I rode the area around our apartment. Tony, being 22 months old now, is okay to ride with me. I have him stand in the area between the steering column and the driver's seat. I hold onto him with my legs. I am certain that this practice wouldn't pass Fascist Canadian Safety Council muster but the practice of taking young children on electric bikes here is standard, not at all unusual. I saw the old and the new of China on the short one-hour ride. Below, a work group is planting bushes.  The lane in the photo below took us past some very poor houses. On the other side of the lane was a stream that was used as a sewer. It was fill with garbage and green algae-filled water. The smell was revolting.  The two pictures below show a old factory. I have no idea how old the factory is but it was in a dilapidated state.   So the first stretch of CBR 062409 was through neglected area.... Five A.M. PhotosI was up at five this morning. Not because of a bladder problem or anything of the sort , perish the thought, but because the hot weather does make it hard to sleep. When I saw how light it was outside, I was then surprised to see how early in the morning it was. It seemed a good time to take some photos because everything seemed in a new light. The truck in the photo is parked. Otherwise the streets were deserted at time. A hard thing to see in this populous country.
This building, as loyal and attentive rare readers may know, is directly across the street from our apartment building.
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