Beijing Winter 2010 – after 42 days away
My emotions run up and down and up and down over and over like a roller coaster. I find it similar to my experience more than nine years ago when I was involved in the Austin mayor’s race. My life in Austin satisfies me. My job allows me to live comfortably. I have always attempted to achieve more and more while not getting bored. I am satisfied at times and then I raise my goals and get out of my comfort zone in an effort to avoid boredom. Presently my comfort zone is 7500 miles away in central Texas. I do not need to be in China. I do not need to attempt to create an entirely new world for myself because the one I have in central Texas satisfies me. Most days I enjoy the challenge.
Since my return I have only been hiking once due to my knee still healing. I have had to move apartments because of a pending lawsuit. I am experiencing a Minnesota cold winter. My bike disappeared and my secondary bike broke, and I am going into my winter (slow) work season. I now (winter blues) struggle to find things to do during my days.
Mandarin changes from 1.5 hours three days a week with an instructor to 2 hours three evenings a week in a group class beginning Monday. My new bike arrives tomorrow. I now pay no fees to ATM money out of my BAC account through any China Construction Bank ATM. This saves me $14 every ATM transaction. I now get to hike again and I have several new work projects that I am working on regularly.
Without a bike I walk and subway and very occasionally taxi around. The bicycle trumps all other methods of transportation even in 15º weather. The 12 minute bike ride equals 35 minutes on foot or 45 minutes by subway or 15-55 minutes by taxi. One day I will learn a few buses. Today I love the bicycle.
More differences about China. Comprehension of the quantity of people here for me needs more time. With the number of people being so high in such a small area many things that I don’t even think about until I experience them fascinate the heck out of me. I notice that one Chinese person in a crowd feels alone and does not appear to feel any kind of connection to those around. When I am around many people I exercise a bit of common courtesy to hold a door as I enter or exit through it. I make room for someone near me. I smile, maybe nod my head, or simply acknowledge someone else. The people here don’t even have those thoughts in their heads. They don’t wait in line. They always seem to be in a hurry to do everything. They can’t stop hawking and spitting either.
The class system exists in China. Wait persons = dirt. I do not comprehend how poor people treat folks in the service industry. I imagine that the folks receiving the poor treatment can separate themselves from their jobs. If they can not then I imagine they would kill the patrons barking at them the entire time they are around.
This time back I have begun eating much less Chinese food. I spend hours and hours drinking hot tea in Starbucks and soaking up the smoke free atmosphere at my new favorite Liangmaqiao Starbucks. I get more done when I have a room full of people (I don’t know) around me versus sitting in my solitary apartment. I can stand about two hours of work in the morning and another 45 minutes before bed on the computer in the apartment. Those two hours and forty-five minutes are extremely productive because there are no distractions.
I read and agree with an article about the efficiency (or lack thereof) of today’s society with all of the modes of communication. Thirty years ago the phone would ring or someone would knock on your door to interrupt. Today, the cell phone rings, the text message beeps, the email messages come in, the desk phone rings, the msn beeps in, the skype or g talk beeps in or someone knocks on the door. We do appear to be much busier with all of our new technology and we are so much more connected to one another but studies show that it takes so much more time to get back on task after being interrupted that if we don’t get interrupted then we would be able to get more done in less time. I try (and succeed) to work without distractions for more than three hours each of five work days each week in China. I really feel like I get many more tasks completed in those three hours than I do in eight hours of a typical Lockhart workday.
