| Andis's profileAndis Kaulins in ChinaPhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
September 30 A Story, A Video, and PhotosThe Story I had a most disheartening afternoon but it ended with a sense of relief. I went to downtown Wuxi, at about one o'clock, to buy a bus ticket to go to Beixing where my wife and son are staying. I found out that the earliest available ticket to go there was on the fourth of October. I had been hoping to get a ticket for second. Unavailable to get tickets, I decided I would phone my wife and see if there were other arrangements we could make, like I would get a ticket to a town near Beixing and get someone to pick me up. But I couldn't get the wife to answer my calls. I spent four hours in downtown Wuxi hoping she would call back but she never did. I then returned to the ticket booth and found out that then even tickets for the fourth were sold out. I was facing the prospect of not being able to spend any time with my wife and child over the holiday. And not being able to get a hold of my wife was irksome as I was wondering what the hell was going on. I returned home and found my wife's Xiao Ling Tong phone -- a cheap mobile phone that uses the ground line number of our apartment. On the Xiao Ling Tong, the number for my in-laws was sure to be found I reasoned. The only problem was trying to find their number because I couldn't navigate the phone's menus which were all in Chinese. I phoned the last made calls and got a neighbor at the apartment complex who can speak some English. With her help, I was able to find my in-laws' number and finally get a hold of Jenny. It turned out that her phone had been shut off the entire afternoon. The plan now is for me to try to get a bus ticket to Taixing where someone will pick me up and drive me to Beixing. If I can't get tickets for the first or second, Jenny and Tony will come back to Wuxi. I hope that I can't buy those tickets. But I do have to do some scrambling tonight on the off chance I can get a ticket for the first. I will have to clean the apartment and pack -- activities I meant to do tomorrow, the first. So this may be my last blog entry for a while, or it won't. I hope my entries come sooner than later.
The Video This is the last video I took of Tony. It shows me boarding the bus to go back to Wuxi from Beixing.
Photos I have some non-Tony photos for your enjoyment. Some of them show strange sight. Some of them show what has been for the 60th anniversary celebration. One photo is an attempt to be artsy, nothing more.
AKIC Video that must be seen.The holiday has begun! I return to work on October 8. I will go to Beixing on October 2. I will fill the blog with photos and articles to keep you busy in the interim. Below, are two videos of Tony recently taken in Beixing. In this video, Tony engages in his latest pastime (at least it was when I last saw him): walking onto parked buses.
In this video, you will see Boy Tony's great throwing arm.
Wuxi, China Tuesday TalesIn the Doghouse
I should pay more heed to the thoughts in the back-of-my-mind.
I went to the pub last night with the KoW. To be more exactly, I will tell you I went to the Blue Bar. I went to the Blue Bar. I was thinking, or rather in the back-of-my-mind, was the proposition that I should phone Jenny soon, as has been my evening habit while She and Tony have been in Beixing. But the KoW and I got to talking. I wasn't wearing my P.L.A. wristwatch. I lost track of time. Just as we got ready to leave the Blue Bar , I felt the vibration of my phone -- Jenny was calling me. She wasn't too happy. I pleaded that I was planning to phone but she would have nothing of it. I got a "fuckey off" and a quick hangup -- I did hear Tony crying in the background.
Looking at my phone, I saw that she had tried to phone me six times.
The Two Australian Pubs I went to Ronnie's on Saturday, and then I went to the Blue Bar last night (Monday evening). I don't go to these places much these days, and having once frequented them a lot, my current abstinence allows me a certain perspective on them. Entering a room of strangers is how I felt in both places this week. Normally, that shouldn't be a problem but having spent the time I have in Wuxi, it is a disappointing feeling. But that really says more about me than the two pubs. An aspect of the Expat life that I once relished is now gone for me forever. Jumbo tron At the corner of Xueqian and Zhongshan Roads, near our school and Ba Bai Ban, a big video screen has just been erected. Yesterday was the first day I noticed it. And now as I teach classes the flickering of it always catches my attention. It ain't ready after all Nix what I said previously about the Hongdo building. It isn't quite finished yet. Just coming into work, I saw that the construction elevator was still in place.
One thing to do October 1 I haven't detected any excitement in the air from the students about the October 1 holiday. No big activities, as far as I have been told, are planned in Wuxi. One student did tell me he was keen to watch the big military parade from Beijing on October 1 because he was curious to see what new military hardware the P.L.A. has.
I will try to watch that myself. Links I find interesting at the end of September, 2009.One more day of work and then I can go on Holiday! So I will present you with some interesting links I have collected over the past week. I might as well put this weekly feature, I am now doing, in historical context. Would any of my co-workers at DHL want to read Ulysses by James Joyce? I doubt it. They called me, at DHL, the Latvian schoolboy for a reason. Would any of my colleagues at the English school I now work want to read Ulysses? Would they make the effort to read the whole novel through? I doubt it. So could James Joyce ever be for ordinary folks? What from I know about Joyce he wasn't ordinary at all. Or I should say he didn't lead a life given to producing things that the ordinary man wanted.
Next to David Warren, Marc Steyn is my favourite Canadian pundit. And he not only writes tremendous columns skewering his political opponents, he writes about music. His musical tastes are pre Rock & Roll and he of course worships Sinatra. His first musical podcast, which can be gotten to using the link in the headline, has introduced me to a whole lot of music that, though not as good as Sinatra, is still nonetheless worthwhile to listen to.
Further thought: Is there a place anywhere in the world that you could walk in and listen to this type of music? Certainly, not in Wuxi. All that is imported from the West, is our noisy barbarism -- our rock & roll. Why is it that the Chinese like country music and despise the baser sorts of rock music I have introduced them to?
The headlined link above had me wanting to get a hold of this book. And not three days later, I had someone give me the book. Children's literature, now that I have a son, is very interesting to me. Perhaps, one day, I will write some stories of mine own for my son Tony.
Here is an audio interview with the author of the article.
Marx and Smith, mated in captivity Do you remember me talking about George Jonas, one of my favorite Canadian Pundits? Well, I did and I told you he is very good. Click on the line in the headline to read his take on recent Chinese history. Photos of Tony in the CountrysideThis is the last batch of photos, taken last week, worth showing.
Taking Boy Tony down a road so he can throw some rocks off a countryside bridge.This video was taken a week ago. I have almost shown you all the video that was taken that day.
September 28 Why do the Democrats want Obama assassinated?There is nothing to be gained, for Republicans and conservatives, from the assassination of Obama. All that would serve to do is make a martyr for the Democrats and for the left-wing ideas that conservatives honestly disagree with. It would make the world a worse place. (I refer to the predictions I have read of Obama's assassination from lefties, and left wing media types reporting of crazed men coming to Obama rallies)
I shouldn't have to be saying what I just said. Yet, I feel compelled to when I hear of the Lefties talking about it. They simply assume that there is a right-wing conspiracy to kill Obama because he is black, and that to disagree with Obama is to be dishonest.
I submit that there is a left-wing conspiracy or at least a left-wing desire to have Obama assassinated. An Obama assassination would a wet-dream and fantasy for every Democrat because it would allow them to do what they really want to do: be self-righteous and hateful of certain types of Americans who disagree with them.
Monday MoaningsMy October Holiday Plans
I will have eight consecutive days off in a row. The first two days, I will spend in Wuxi because I am not interested in dealing with the October 1 crowds and am interested in catching up on housework. I will the spend five days in Beixing with the wife and son. Jenny and I plan on taking some day trips around the area. Mister Moderator
I have moderator status at http://www.wuxiguide.net. The Roaring Twenties A movie starring Jimmy Cagney and featuring Humphrey Bogart. I found the movie on DVD at Nanchang Temple -- only three RMB. The movie was good -- it had the B&W look and feel that I like about the old movies. James Cagney whose screen presence I initially didn't care much for, he seemed too cocky and of limited range, has grown on me. If he is in a movie, I will buy. The Roaring Twenties is a account of the prohibition era through the exploits of Eddie Bartlett, a unemployed World War soldier turned bootlegger. Hongdo Building It looks to me like the Hongdo Building, Wuxi's other downtown skyscraper, is ready to be moved into.
Tony and Andis walk in the countrysideIn this video, we walk through down a country lane and see how some countrysiders live.
September 27 AKIC pulpiticizingIt is Sunday I am going to stand behind a pulpit and do some pulpiticizing. Breadtalk I went to the Breadtalk, a bakery chain, that is located nearest to my school in the building that was once called Ba Bai Ban. Now, it is called Wuxi Yaohan or Wuxi Haoyan or something or other. For those of you who are in the know about the location of places in the downtown of Wuxi, you will know what it is that I mean.
Anyway. I walk in Breadtalk. Let's talk bread! I says. There were no takers but many blank starers.
Nice treatment The people, at the McDonald's, that is located near my school, and that is kitty-corner (diagonally opposite) from the place formerly known as Wuxi Yaohan or Wuxi Haoyan or -- you know what I mean, were especially nice to me today. I was served with a flourish. The female manager who took my order presented, not gave, me my change in a most formal manner, standing at attention and lifting both hands, holding the notes squarely and firmly, like she was about to put the royal crown on a monarch's head. The manager of the place then held the door open for me as I left. I blushed.
Di Yah! That is what Tony says when he is not happy with the way he is being treated. As he says this, he will spin and fall to the ground.
Josie returns from Singapore Josie, a Study Advisor at our school, returned from Singapore bearing a bag of gifts. I had the honour of being able to select a gift from the bag. I choose a key chain/nail clipper/bottle opener combination bearing an image of the skyline of Singapore under which appeared the words "Singapore". Very useful.
Maralin and Joe Speaking of gifts, I got a bag of books from Maralin and Joe Fritz from Arizona, U.S.A. I now have enough reading to last any countryside ordeal I will have in the next few months. Thank you!
Walking to work on a Sunday MorningTaken on September 27, 2009.
Feeding the Tony Boy.To feed the Boy Tony is easy, not, as this video, controversial, will show.
September 26 Saturday BriefsNot self-evident after all It had been driving me crazy. All the Chinese would ask me if Tony was a boy or a girl. I had thought it was bloody self-evident that he was a boy. What were these people smoking while reading their little red books? I thought.
That was I thought, till today. This morning, I see a 27 month old child that I could have sworn was a boy. Her hair was cut short and so she looked like a boy, no question. But she was a girl; and I will now point to all that my child is a boy (xiao erzi).
Strange Student At my school, the students are generally a good lot. But every once in a while, like last night, you get a student who you would like to shoot. This student was strange the minute he walked in. After calling out his name four times, I walked to the class. This one student walked into the class and had to look at the list of names to see if he was in the class. That sort of thing gets my goat, as they say. The students are supposed to be practicing their listening. Students who continually read rather than listen are dunderheads that need to be taken down a notch. And this student then couldn't tell me what he did -- a strange thing from someone who had been in the school for nearly two months. I wondered if he was standing in for a friend -- he seemed so not-with-it. He then gave me an answer to a question that was one-worded, and insolent to boot. He had a torturous time the rest of the class and it was torture for me to see him there. The other students strangely ignored him. I have spent the last 24 hours wondering about him. I assume that he was one of those summer students who just did not want to be there.
Tony makes a friend.Actually, no. When children of a certain age get together, they instinctively flock together like Tony and this boy.
Here is the video:
September 25 Tony Boy on the streets of Beixing.Here is the Tony Boy doing his thing on the streets of Beixing.
Friday (Tuesday) HeadlinesFriday is Tuesday It really is. Learn to accept it. Change Bedrooms! Jenny's father is being cantankerous. My wife complains about him always wanting to change the room at which She and Tony sleep. The in-laws' compound has two bedrooms. Which one she has to sleep in is decided by the whim of her father.
Kill Doggie There is a troublesome dog at the inlaws' compound. The general consensus 'cept one person is to get rid of the dog. You-guess-who wants to keep the dog. I am thinking of a way to get the dog thrown off a bridge or run over by a passing truck. This dog is a mean-bite-anyone-who-comes-close son-of-a-bitch dog. It has me wishing that the prejudice about Chinese eating dogs was true.
I don't know! Ask me any questions from now on, I will tell you "I don't know!" For as Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi says "He is great who is not ashamed to admit he does not know."
Slowicity
I hate it when things are slow. The Devil finds things for my idle hands to do like go to the Wuxiguide.net comment board. I think I will ask these questions:
David Warren's latest quotes Three new columns at David Warren's website. I will cut and paste some choice quotes:
Links I find interestingMunger on Franchising, Vertical Integration, and the Auto IndustryThis podcast from Econ Talk offers a fascinating look at the American auto industry. The industry has been been politicized to such an extent by self-serving local politicians and unions that it deserved to go bankrupt. But because it has been so politicized, the industry is being kept on life support by the government. The industry has had true market competition eliminated from it. It deserves to fail so that it could be born anew and have rid of its institutionalized stupidities.
These Expats are seeking to make their fortune in China by preserving an ancient village in Yunnan province.
Since seablogger doesn't blog full-time anymore, I have been looking for a replacement. This blog at First Things Magazine seems a good candidate to fit my bill. It is conservative and eclectic in nature. Recent entries discussed The Sci Fi Dune and James Joyce's Ulysses, and not at all in a philistine manner as some would expect as First things is a religious magazine. The First Things site also contains superb blogs by Spengler and the Anchoress.
I wish I had a Jewish upbringing. Say what you like about them, but the Jews strike me as the wisest of people. This article at Jewish World Review is a keeper. Here are some quotes:
Chesterton opens this essay by saying he thinks that travel narrows the mind. A very counter-intuitive thought to us modern types but he backs up what he says with these gem quotes:
Chesterton is defending a reaction that the Chinese have to Foreigners. Nothing angers a foreigner more than to have the Chinese laugh at them. "They treat us like monkeys!" many an Expat has complained. I have always wandered what to think of stories of the Chinese laughing at black skin and stroking hairy arms. Is this somehow racist? It is a basic acknowledgement of differences. We think it is racist because we see it as somehow meaning slavery and segregation which these acts certainly don't mean at all.
And the sneering! I haven't meet an Expat, yet, that doesn't sneer at the Chinese people. I am guilty myself. But I have had this sneaking suspicion that the sneering I have seen other Expats do is a shameful act, and thanks to Chesterton I now know why. Most Expats when they look at the Chinese violate the two principles that GKC elucidates in his fine essay.
Video of Tony and BeixingHere are a couple of videos I took to "show off" Boy Tony and the streets of Beixing.
|
|
|
