January 24th, 2008
Note to self: Do not get a haircut between 6 February and 6 March. 7 March is OK, but 8 March is the best.
Why? Well, this is a weird one, that I just learned today. Here goes…
If your mother has brothers, it is bad luck to get your haircut during the first month of the new year (Chinese New Year). If you do get your haircut during that month, the myth says one of your mother’s brothers will die. (Don’t worry uncle Jack, Jim & Bri – got my haircut today, I think I can go 6 weeks).
So, this year…Chinese people will not get their haircut from 6 February to 6 March. On the 7th they will start again, but the 8th is supposed to bring good luck (called “dragon’s head up”? .. 8 is the luckiest number in China).
Does this mean all of the barber shops/salons close for a month? I doubt it, but many probably do. Can’t say I noticed last year.
On the business side, barbers/salons are going crazy between now & 5 February and the second week of March must also be crazy.
Learn something new every day…
Posted in China | 1 Comment »
January 23rd, 2008
On the bus ride back from skiing Sunday, my assistant pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. I was a bit surprised (in a good way). But, why didn’t I know about this on the way to skiing?
Anyway, I figured one of them would just take the bottle home and likely let it sit in their apartment for years (not many people on my team like to drink).
Well, Monday morning comes … I go to stock the fridge with my cans of diet coke and what do I see? The bottle of Jack. This isn’t the first time alcohol has been in the office…there were left over beers from our beach trip last September and I did find some of those beers empty on a few people’s desks days later.
So, to keep the bottle in the office or not? I don’t know the policies about this in China (don’t think there are any … as they do serve beer in the restaurant on campus). I’m not going to drink it here – will someone else? I think I will wait and see.
Posted in China | 6 Comments »
January 21st, 2008
The story goes like this … we were all supposed to go hang-gliding … I was the only one who didn’t. Why? Basically, the guy who was supposed to take me said I was “too big” (there’s some more motivation for me!). Anyway, they told me not to worry…I could para-glide off the mountain. OK, didn’t think it would be as much fun, but I’ll do it.
I drive up the mountain with this little guy (not much over 5 feet tall), in one of the first “bugs” ever made…he may have told me it was from the late 50s (think they started to be made around then?). Anyway, we get up there, looks reasonable, not too scary. Then, we go to the “runway” (see pic below). Then, he gets strapped to MY back, with the parachute laid out behind him. Then, he tells me “stand up, walk fast” … over, and over, and over … He told me if I “sit” we would just fall to the bottom. Great!
So, here we go… stand up, walk fast … I lead the way…holy shit! But, we made it… as soon as we started floating, he repeatedly patted me on the shoulder and said good job. Yeah, I was relieved too. It was a great ride…only about 15 minutes in the air, but it was unreal.
The last pic here is probably my favorite one from the trip. I took it one of the mornings on the way home from one of the parties…
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »
January 21st, 2008
Today marked the first day of the remote training with my brother. I called him this morning … and the remote training part of the conversation went something like this…
Me: I think my shirts are shrinking, wonder why…my back kind of hurts too, I need to get a massage
Brother: No, you need to get your ass to the gym
There was more to the conversation than that, but seriously, that about sums it up.
When I got home – I went to the gym … ran, situps, pushups … that was it for day 1. Hopefully I get an email from him tomorrow with the new training plan and some new motivation
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January 21st, 2008
Yesterday, I took my team skiing just outside of Beijing…about 2 hours north of the city. I wasn’t expecting much before we got there, and it wasn’t much, but it wasn’t bad either. There was one slope that was actually really good…maybe equivalent to a black diamond in the US. They also had a bar at the top, so that was nice. Beer before every run down made it even more difficult!
The worst thing about this place was that there really was nothing in between the very basic slopes and the difficult slope. The view from the top in the picture belows shows all of the other slopes – basic.
All-in-all, it was a fun day, I’d do it again.
Posted in Beijing, China | 2 Comments »
January 18th, 2008
We finally got some real snow in Beijing yesterday and I was happy to see it! Not much, maybe an inch … but it stuck. Usually, we get some flurries, but nothing sticks. Didn’t notice any snow ball fights going on, I don’t think that’s popular here…yet.
Here’s a picture, curtiousy of NYtimes.com … I haven’t snapped any, but this is a great pic.
Picture above from NYtimes.com pics of day, 17 January, 2008
Posted in Beijing, Beijing Traffic, China | 3 Comments »
January 17th, 2008
I need to get back in the gym. When my younger brother stayed with me for a month last summer, he made me go just about every day … at least 5 days a week. When he left,
I never really kept up…maybe a handful of times each month since.
So, we decided he’ll do some “remote training” for me. The concept is, he’ll basically make me feel bad about myself via email and ask me to report on what I’ve been doing. See, he’s really good at making people feel bad about themselves. So, I think this has a chance at working. We’ll see.
The concept of remote training is out there, and I think a lot of people do it.
I guess if I also report and show progress here, that may push me even more.
Who wants to see a picture of my belly? Not me, not happening.
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January 17th, 2008
Last year, my cousin & I went all out on Paddy’s day. One of my favorite pictures below of me in Tiananmen, in my green suit, standing next to a guard. Notice the cop in the background with that curious look on his face. The guard was more than happy to pose for the picture with me … in fact, he told me I looked “beautiful” … in English. I didn’t laugh, because I knew he was just trying to say it was cool, or something like that.
I’ve got a year’s worth of pics … some funny, some just look good…will begin to put up the best of the best.
Paddy’s Day ‘08 … I’ll be in Beijing …so will my parents and my little sister. Will I wear the green suit? I’d bet on it.
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January 17th, 2008
Last week, China announced that it will “ban” plastic bags throughout the country. What does this mean? Well, the thin, flimsy plastic bags are banned completely (these are typically the plastic bags you get your illegal DVDs in). Any other plastic bags will have to be purchased from the store. OR, you can bring you own bag or whatever else you would like to attempt to carry your purchases in.
When I first heard of this, I was like … WTF! But, it’s a good idea. Plastic bags are all over this country. I have hundreds in a drawer in the kitchen, they get re-used as garbage bags. As long as you can continue to get plastic bags (via purchasing, for likely a couple pennies), this will not cause any problems for anyone.
Hopefully someone will capitalize on this and start selling clothe bags on the streets around China … just as they, daily, try to sell me socks, watches, fake Olympics stuff, etc… just add clothe bags to the inventory!
Shoppers: It’s BYO Bag in China
Posted in Beijing, China | No Comments »
January 16th, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
