Early September 2011 photos Beijing – Greg and friends
September 8th, 2011
Young women in this city – and their ability to casually date
August 26th, 2011
This one may sting. I intend for it to entertain.
The local young ladies do not casually date. They pick their mate, take control, marry him and that’s it. Anything different is extremely rare. At this writing I have been bere for seventeen months and I have many stories. Almost all of them want an iphone. Nearly all of them have a story to tell about the mother and an operation and time off from work that they don’t get paid for. I enjoy the entertainment. If I stick around one particular young lady too long then the story changes. My piece of advice is to tell a story and stick to it. Some of us pay too close attention so when you change your story you lose credibility. Also, be a little more creative than the next forty five ladies. I still enjoy the entertaining identical stories.
Friends in Beijing – they come and go rather quickly
August 26th, 2011
This week I lost three friends. Julia moved to Hong Kong, Lisa moved to Abu Dhabi, and the third one moved on. It’s best not to call folks by name when I have less than pleasant things to write about them. Throughout my childhood and adult life I have enjoyed relationships with (probably) thousands of different folks from all over. Now, living in Beijing for more than a year I find it easier and easier to make and lose friends. I love the variety in my relationships. It can be a lonely existence. It can also be a super full and exciting adventure. I have as many opportunities each day as I choose. I constantly meet new folks. I notice the sometimes subtle difference in values and ways of doing things from folks from all different parts of the world.
I have (what I call) solid relationships with folks whose first language is not English. It amazes me that Americans are not encouraged to learn languages and then people from other parts of the world speak (fluently) several languages. I’m friendly, non-secretive, open, and happy. I find that my way of being makes some folks uncomfortable from my own culture. Cultivating meaningful relationships with people here in Beijing takes time and occasionally does not work out. I came up against one brick wall yesterday and ended a personal relationship. In the same evening I replaced that person with at least three others. Each day I feel as though I reach my friend limit. I crack me up with my issues. Just like back in Austin and central Texas I cycle people in and out. Beijing feels more like summer camp where I squeeze two or three days worth of activities into each day. My emotions here seem to be magnified because I am far away from my home. I am not at home here yet. I think that when my Mandarin improves and I begin understanding most of what is said around me I’ll do better. Now I am visiting.
Quick Texas trip – high school reunion
August 7th, 2011
2011 Summer trips
August 7th, 2011
My sixteen day trip to Germany and France that started on June 26 included many stops and many people. I (literally) wrote about the entire trip as it transpired. Now, I attempt to type those words into my GGW blog:
The trip begins on a Sunday morning right before 3am as I board the Aeroflot plane for the 7.5 hour leg of my adventure to Moscow. I travel for many reasons. The most important part of every one of my trips relates to the people I see and meet. I can travel to Beaumont, Texas for the forty sixth time or Paris, France for the first time and I get equally excited about seeing my friends in both places. The history in Paris obviously adds to my excitement. Some people collect bad habits. Some folks collect fancy, expensive, name brand handbags. I collect people. More than anything else in the world, I love the people I choose to surround myself with. Every trip I plan includes visiting friends. I keep up with folks. I pride myself on maintaining contact regularly with nearly everyone I know. Facebook and other new technologies help tremendously with this.
Now, at a very early hour on a Sunday, June 26, 2011; I find food in the Moscow airport before boarding the (under) four hour flight on into Berlin. Because of Miriam’s schedule I spend no time in Berlin other than the commute from the airport to the train station. I find the station with little effort or drama and enjoy the 35 minute journey to the large train station.
My destination on this Sunday puts me five hours (by train) outside of Berlin in Dusseldorf. Miriam and Christina live here.
One day in early September 2010 while taking the elevator down to the ground floor in my Mandarin school I listened to an attractive young lady and her two friends attempt to say, “excuse me,” in Mandarin. At this point in my Mandarin education I knew this particular phrase and interjected. I immediately offered my friendship and quickly learned that Miriam, from Germany, arrived a very short time before this encounter and would leave a few weeks later after an intensive Mandarin education. With the hand-off of my business card I said, “call me, I’ll be your friend during your visit.” Not 4 hours later I received an email and the very next evening we enjoyed cold beer together. Our friendship continues to this day.
During Miriam’s Beijing visit, my very dear friend from Spanish college in college visited while two of Miriam’s friends visited at the same time. We sent the three ladies off on their own a few times and we all spent time together at least once as well.
I exited the train from Berlin to Dusseldorf around 4pm that same Sunday afternoon. Because of the time difference my first day in Germany lasted many hours more than a normal 24 hour day. Not one minute after exiting the train Miriam found me. We ventured barely 12 minutes by light rail from the train station to her apartment. Ingal, her longtime companion greeted us and I enjoyed meeting a person I had heard so many nice things about. The quickly fed me bread, cheese, mustard, pretzels, and water. I had already eaten two sandwiches in the Berlin train station along with two airplane meals and a sandwich in the Beijing airport before flying away.
Christina, one of Miriam’s friends who visited in Beijing, arrived for a quick reunion before heading back to her home to freshen up before dinner. We all met for a traditional sour kraut, mashed potato, pork knuckle, and beer dinner. My meal disappeared quickly. My Sunday ended after 10pm when the sun finally set.
I slept all the way until 6:30am Monday morning. Ingal, Miriam, and I enjoyed breakfast together before Ingal ventured by trail three hours back to his city for a weeks worth of work.
Miriam and I biked the fourteen minutes to her office where she left me to begin my morning adventures alone on my borrowed bicycle. Dusseldorf history spans hundreds and hundreds of years. I noticed Starbucks, McDonalds, H&M, Gucci, LV, Coach, and many more stores in the city. The city also contains museums, old buildings, and wonderfully spectacular churches. I fed my internet addiction in a local Starbucks while sipping a tasty strawberry sugary beverage that Monday.
I found my way back to Miriam’s office for a 12:30 lunch walk. She graciously picked my lunch for me.
My new bike…. again in Beijing
August 7th, 2011
This time I’ll paint over the nice name of the bike. Several weeks ago now my prized possession disappeared. I immediately replaced it with an even nicer bike. This new bike lasted all of a few weeks. This brings us up to today when I had to purchase a new bike again. This one is mirrors the last one. I locked my bike up today and ventured into lunch. When I returned 4 hours later my bike had vanished. I immediately replaced it at the bike store with an identical bike. This time I’ll paint over the name and remove all of the stickers. I believe that the good/ expensive bikes that disappear end up at bike shops and get sold again. This newest bike I purchased appears to be slightly used. I don’t believe I’ll be locking it up outside anymore because I don’t want to keep replacing it.
Europe photos
July 15th, 2011
Janet Jackson sings about it – control
June 23rd, 2011
The non-smoking and free wireless internet access at my favorite Starbucks restaurants in Beijing combination allows for my spending hours and hours each week in the comfortable environment. With music in my ears and a computer in front of me I focus, for hours at a time, on my work -most days. The occasional chat session occurs when friends visit. The commute to and from my favorite Starbucks lasts anywhere from eighteen to 23 minutes depending upon how many red lights I catch. During each commute and during a bit of my Starbucks alone time I analyze many of my interactions as well as interactions of others around me in China. From my limited experience here I see that Chinese women hold the control. If I pursue any kind of relationship with a Chinese woman I will give control of that relationship over to her. Being the control person that I am I do not see that occurring.
Hong Kong photos
June 8th, 2011