2 week Asian finale in Vietnam

I'm back in NYC now, but here are my pictures from my cruise in Halong Bay, Vietnam, my stay in Hanoi, and my 10 day motorbike tour of NW Vietnam.

Link to pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Most Likely my last blog post from China... actually from Asia for the summer of '08

So, it's been 7-10 days since the last blog post. I had an amazing 3 day trip to Hong Kong starting on the evening of July 15 and ending on the afternoon of the 18th. I met up with some "friends of friends" that live over there. I re-connected with my buddy Matt from Villanova who lives over there now with his wife Shannon and their less than 1 month old baby. Finally, I met with some people who were nice enough to share their professional experiences with me and tell me a little more about their work lives, etc... I wouldn't exactly call them job interviews, but I wouldn't not exactly call them job interviews either. Sorry, no pics from HK... really just didn't have the time. I had at least 1 meeting everyday and I wasn't going to be toting my camera around with me all the time.

Nothing much exciting planned for my last days in China. I leave on July 29 and fly to Hanoi, Vietnam for I guess what could be considered the finale for my Asian experience. So on July 28 I turn in the keys to my apartment and collect my security deposit. That night I will crash at my buddy Daryl's place, and the next day it's off to Vietnam.

I get into Vietnam late on the 29th. On the 30th I will have a quick motorbike lesson to ensure that I don't crash and burn somewhere along the Mekong Delta... then on the 31st I will go on a 3 day/2night cruise of Halong Bay. Here are some details: http://www.handspan.com/?opt=tour&cId=47&tId=236

I get back to Hanoi late on August 2nd, and the next day our 5 member squad leaves Hanoi riding some Honda motorbikes along with 2 guides. It's myself, Jon from Fordham, two Brits, and one Dane. Should be a blast. Here are some details on that: http://www.offroadvietnam.com/eng/2-1.php

If anyone from this blog's readerbase would like to join last minute feel free (that's one of the reasons I am sharing the details). I believe there is room on both the cruise and motorbike tour.

I'm looking forward to the Vietnam trip as I believe it can probably be considered a once in a lifetime experience. That being said, I am missing loved ones, family, and friends more than ever and it will be wonderful to see all those people soon and nice to assimilate back into Western culture/comforts come August 14 or 15.

Starting on the afternoon of July 29 I will most likely not have any email or internet access for the remainder of my trip. My 917 cell phone # should work in Vietnam, so if there are any emergencies call me and hopefully I'll be able to hear/feel my phone ringing over the buzz of my bike's engine. It's been nice to stay in touch with people via this blog and hopefully the masses found it humorous, informative, entertaining, or at least more fun to consume than a spreadsheet, sales report, a children's book that you have read aloud 9,863 times in the past 7 months, or anything similar... you get the drift.

Final Note: John Dorrian's literal and ultra-literal human footprint will be left in Beijing, China for eternity. I have consumed many things here and produced waste just like the rest of the population, so that's the literal part. The ultra-literal part is that my running shoes smell so God awful (not exactly sure why because I really don't have a chronic foot odor problem) that I am going to toss them into one of the construction sites that I pass on my last day here... those puppies aren't coming with me to Vietnam. So even if I never return, there will always be some tangible remnants of my existence here. And in all likelihood those remnants will be on the feet of a rural Chinese migrant construction worker about 24 minutes after I toss them into his workspace. Wear them with pride my friend.... wear them with pride.

Zaidjian!

p.s. Check my public photo gallery on Google in the middle of August or late August for what will probably at least 800 pictures of Vietnam. I just bought extra memory for my camera today, so I plan on snapping away quite liberally! In case you misplaced the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Great Wall Excursion in a little more detail

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334/TrekkingTheGreatWallOffTheBeatenPath

Yasmin and I thought that it would be more fun and adventurous to tackle the Great Wall with our own 2 feet rather than take a car to one of the more touristy sites and simply get out, walk around for awhile, then head back to Beijing. That said, I borrowed some gear from my friend Daryl, packed up a couple of bags and off we went!

After a 2 hour ride from Beijing we were dropped at the base of a mountain where a small hostel was present to host the random traveler like us. We were about a 40 minute drive from the nearest popular tourist Great Wall site called Mutianyu (feel free to "google" to get info and maps). By this time it was late afternoon and I wanted to get going in order to take advantage of what little daylight we had left.

The man that ran the hostel as well as the driver who dropped us were quite concerned that we would get lost on the mountain if we went up alone (we discovered what they were saying after I called my friend to translate because I had no idea), so they said that they would give us a tour guide. Ok, fine that's no problem... so where is he/she? All of a sudden a chubby little 11 year old kid whizzes around the corner. Enter Wei: tour guide extraordinaire.

"That's our tour guide?", I said and just started laughing. "OK, let's get going." And off we went. So here is this 11 year old kid with a busted pair of sneakers and who appears to have eaten a few too many dumplings and he is absolutely blazing up this mountain. Now granted, this mountain is his backyard and full time playground, but still it was pretty impressive to see him move and weave through the terrain as there were ZERO manicured paths and the grade of the incline was quite steep.

About every 15 or 20 minutes he would amble 20 or 25 yards ahead of us, then turn around and yell "Quick-leeeeeeeee!". Wei is part motivator, part tour guide, and part little kid that probably didn't realize the weight of the packs that Yasmin and I had on our backs. It was cute and annoying at the same time.

There was another moment probably a little over an hour into the trek where Wei commanded us to, "Stop!". Yasmin and I stopped, looked at each other in confusion because up until this point Wei had been so intent on us moving "quick-leeeeeee". Then he stared at both of us, turned 90 degrees, pointed up, and said, "Look". And in between a break in the trees we could clearly see the Great Wall. And it wasn't too far in terms of distance, but it was still a ways above us in terms of altitude. Seeing the Wall there gave us a feeling of progress and accomplishment and there was no turning back. So we kept on chugging our water and followed our 11 year old Billy Goat to the peak.

We got to the top 30-40 minutes later and that was quite magical. There were amazing vistas of the mountain range. and excellent views of other parts of the Great Wall in the distance. Hopefully some of the pictures that we took captured the scenery well.

One little thing that Wei liked to do was send me up or down a much more difficult or overgrown part of the trail and take Yasmin on an easier, alternative route. He got a real kick out of this. "You" and he would point me in some direction and off I would go. He would then lead Yasmin on a different path (easier, but by no means "easy") and be belly laughing the whole way as I struggled to keep my footing, etc.... Oh Wei, you sure are one wiley little bastard.

There were some trips and falls along the way and we each finished the day with some scratches, sore joints, and bruises, but this was much more rewarding than taking a tour bus to a flight of stairs to climb. I'd opt for the more difficult and more satisfying mountain approach every time.

Scaling a mountain to get to the Great Wall

Here are 97 pics of our hike (see the most recent album): http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

I wanted to share these pictures ASAP. I just got to Hong Kong and am hungry and tired, so I will wait until the morning to script a recap of the expedition to, up, and on the Great Wall. Enjoy the photos.

Summer Palace Shenanigans

Another cultural difference.... Adults here strike the most incredibly silly poses for photos, but they are absolutely dead serious when they do so. It is hard to explain, but I guess they either have no shame or actually think the photos are true pieces of art. I tend to favor the latter, which makes it even funnier. A few times yesterday whenever Yaz and I saw some adults striking these poses we immediately mirrored them. Yaz mirrored the women, and I the men. We even doctored some of the pics up with soft focuses and other effects with my photo software to make them extra awesome.

Caveat: I am imitating what another grown male did in order to make whomever is reading this privy to the situation over here. I am sacrficing what little reputation I have to ensure that some people back stateside can get a chuckle.

Beijing Baby Fashions

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

So Chinese families in Beijing must save a TON of money due to their choice not to buy diapers and instead invest in what Yasmin and I have termed "poopypants".

I noticed these items of clothing the first couple of days I was here, and I thought they were silly and goofy and sort of gross considering what they allow the little tots to accomplish... But Yasmin has gotten a ridiculous kick out of them. I guess we view them now as a combination of adorable, disgusting, and hilarious. So we've made it a point to be paparazzis to the toddlers that don these threads... I felt creepy at first stalking these 2 year olds and snapping pics of their bare behinds, but the more pics I took I felt that more people back home could appreciate what in fact they've been missing.

See the album titled "Beijing Baby Fashion".

Preview shot:

Yasmin arrives in China!!

300 new pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Not a lot of time to write as we've been busy sightseeing and travelling. Yasmin got here on July 4th and we've been doing some Beijing stuff and we also went to Shanghai for 3 days. Lots of pics above.

We're off to the Great Wall either later today or on Sunday afternoon.... they'll be plenty of pics of that too.

Daniel Boulud and I

My most recent pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

I was able to experience the newest addition to world famous chef Daniel Boulud's restuarant empire last night. Maison Boulud has literally just opened in the past couple of days in a little square of the city called the Legation Quarter. The LQ houses about 6 or 7 former embassies and Maison Boulud is located in what is the former US Embassy. What a unique set up for a restaurant!! Lots of history in it too (obviously). The red/pink room where President Richard Nixon spent some time is still in perfect form and has been converted into a private dining area within MB.

Daniel stopped by our table and chatted with us. It was his first day in the functional restaurant and he claims that we took the very first pictures of him in his new restaurant. Sorta cool.

Here's the crew that enjoyed the dining experience. Chef Daniel Boulud is in the middle with the suit jacket and lavender shirt:

StreetMeat galore (this post is in memory of Andrew D'Auria's love for street food when he was a resident of NYC)

New pics of a night on the town w/ 3 classmates on a quest for simple, common food and I have added 3 new photos in the Laura's BBQ album too: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

So last night I ventured to "Ghost Street" in the quest for quality and non-illness causing street food. Here is one explanation for the nickname: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_curiosity/2006-07/25/content_84043.htm

Another explanation was that years and years ago there were large gates all around the city and they were each assigned a specific function. For example, whenever the Army went out to battle it had to leave through a certain gate. Whenever it returned from a battle it had to re-enter the city through a certain gate. So apparently there was a large gate right next to this neighborhood we went to that functioned as the gate where dead people were carted through. I don't think it mattered whether you died of natural causes at the age of 98, were runover by a rickshaw, or were killed in battle... your body was simply removed from the city at this particular location.

So at some point in the past this neighborhood got popular for late night dining on the street and a larger volume of people started showing up to eat than anyone expected. Some clever person claimed that the spirits from all the nearby cemetaries and graveyards were coming to eat at "Ghost Street"... and there you have it.

Raynaldo, Xavier, and Xiuxi (sp?) took the subway and walked around this area for awhile. We were sort of disappointed to see that it was more a massive stretch of casual restaurants than actual street food vendors, but that's OK. We got there sometime between 9 and 10pm and probably didn't get back home until around 1230am-ish. We were told that Ghost Street doesn't get hopping until after 2am, but we all had stuff to do the next morning so we didn't feel like staying out that late.

The cuisine in the restaurant:

• Chicken sternum - Seasoned wonderfully but the texture was terrible. There is no reason to eat something that was that difficult to chew


• Sheep/Pork tendons - Pretty good, but I forget which animal it was from. Decent taste and texture. A keeper in my book, all things considered, and a million times better than the beef tendons I tried my first week here.


• Kidney (from some animal) - not the greatest. It wasn't awful, but I really was not a big fan. It looked a tad gross and I just wasn't that into it. I let Xiuxi finish my skewer.


• Mini-lobsters - They were exactly like the crawfish you get in Louisiana. Very tasty, just extremely messy to eat. We were given plastic gloves when these suckers came to the table. Quite good though.

The cuisine in the hutong we went to after the restaurant because we were still hungry:

• A plate of green beans almost identical to edamame you would get in a sushi restaurant. Delicious, and they go great with beer.


• Heaps of boiled peanuts. Quite delicious.


• Pig's blood - I passed.


• Chicken hearts - good


• Chicken wings - just like the good old US of A

The hutong meal was more relaxing, more laid back, and of course ridiculously cheap for 4 grown men to eat until satisfaction. See the album for brief description of what may or may not be on this plate.

Grillin' and Chillaxin' - Beijing Style

19 pics from a fun party/BBQ we had at my classmate Laura's house: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

So just because you are in Beijing during the summer doesn't mean you can't grill, relax, chill, enjoy some drinks, etc!! My classmate Laura Johnson played hostess to a little shindig at her place. There was a good turnout, I would say about 30 of the 55 full time BiMBA students showed up. Some brought their significant others, some brought their children, and most importanty, every brought their appetites and a rockin' attitude.

Laura's friend from Oxford, Mark, was in charge of the cooking. I watched him for a moment and offered some pointers in the nicest way possible. He responded in the most sincere and appreciative way, "Christ, that really makes perfect sense. You bloody Americans are born with these natural grilling skills. I guess my excuse is that there are only about 2 days per year of weather in the UK when you actually can do something like this. Thanks mate."

Mark showing a valiant effort. The end-product winded up being tasty:

Random action shot of some classmates:

JD and some pals enjoying the day:

The weather held up for most of the day which was excellent. Once 90% of the crowd had dispersed we moved the festivities inside Laura's home. Here is a picture of our lovely host Laura, with Reynaldo (Guatemala) and Xavier (Spain):

Segue: Alas, some real progress in Chinese class. My teacher says in recent days I have gotten markedly better. Still a long, long road ahead, but what little legitimate progress I have made, I will notch on my belt.

2nd Annual Culinary Coin Festival @ the Ritz in Beijing

new pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

What better way to celebrate a full recovery from an ailment than to attend a Culinary festival in which some of the top restaurants in Beijing participated, in addition to 3 top chefs being highlighted. I actually had not had a single glass of wine since I had gotten here on May 8 until the festival at the Ritz. When it hits your lips it just tastes so good!! I had been craving a nice glass of red for the past 2 weeks, but wine is really just not a popular beverage of choice in this city/country. There are a couple of wine bars in Beijing that I have not been to yet, and a few restaurants have some amazing wine lists, but you can't buy any legitimate wine in any liquor stores (Great Wall brand wine does not count).

Volker Drkosch, Claudio Sadler, and Eric Johnson were the 3 chefs being highlighted at this event. Drkosch is a 1 star Michelin chef, Sadler is a 2 star Michelin chef, and Johnson is a former chef/partner from Jean-Georges. Quality pedigrees indeed. After the 3 hour open house and cocktail session each chef retired themselves to a different restaurant within the Ritz and served a set menu. I ended up going to the meal that Sadler prepared, here is the menu (the swordfish was the best item on the menu):

Sadler came over and chatted with our table. He has 2 restaurants in Italy (1 in Milan, and 1 somewhere else). He was a nice guy. He mentioned that he was opening a place called Sadler in the Legation Quarter of Beijing. The Legation Quarter is the area of the city where all the old embassies were located and it is currently being gentrified. Actually, Daniel Boulud is opening his debut restaurant in China there too. It is going to be called Maison Boulud. Sounds like there should be great eating and I would guess quality shopping in that area. I know all the restauranteurs are scrambling to iron out all the kinks of their operations prior to the arrival of the Olympic crowds.

Thanks to Yasmin and her brother I have been in contact with the woman (Jen Yang) who is in charge of opening Maison Boulud and plan on meeting up with her on the evening of Monday June 17. I am sure these places will absolutely pack the tables during the Olympics with all the multi-national tourists who have plenty of money to spend, but I am curious about whether they will be able to sustain their businesses once all the foreigners go home. Sure, there is a decent expat population in Beijing, but I am not sure it is large enough to support the growing number of high end restuarants that seem to be popping up. And in re: to the locals, well, I don't see them frequenting these types of places for 2 primary reasons: 1) the style of the cuisine 2) the price of the food. From my observations the under 40 crowd LOVES KFC, and of course, pre-packaged ice cream bars.

I wish I could buy futures on the Diabetes situation amongst the two youngest generations of the Chinese populations in cities here. They eat like such crap, the number of cases of diabetes just has to increase... it has to. Interesting idea... there is already a weather exchange (called the CCX, for I think, the Chicago Climate Exchange) where you can "invest" in weather situations. Maybe I will start a Disease Exchange.

Claudio Sadler, here's looking at you (or rather, here's to you looking at us I guess), thanks for the great meal.

A wicked intestinal virus; my first 2 classes are complete

So, I do not feel compelled to share all the details of said virus, but your truly prevailed victorious over the illness. Battling a 102 degree fever, flashing from the sweats to icy chills, and a weird burning sensation in my lower left abdomen was not fun, but it seems it has passed. The medical treatment I received was on par with Western standards for the most part, which was comforting.

My first 2 classes are complete. Decision Making, done. Advanced Finance, done (though I have to still take the final exam because I was sick until the hours leading up to the test). Only one more academic class to tackle and that is only on the weekends. So during the week I believe I will up my Chinese classes to 4 out of 5 weekdays.

Here's a picture of my Advanced Finance class. It is pretty much all of the full time BiMBA students who began the program in 2007.

FACT

The Dutch Women's National Volleyball team is the most attractive group of female athletes I have ever seen united on a single team. I could watch them bump, set, and spike for days on end.

They deserve a blog post solely dedicated to them.

1on1 Mandarin redeems itself; If you're not a professional athlete don't play basketball for 2 hours straight if you're 30 years old

So it seems the 1on1 Mandarin saga has come to an end. They have redeemed themselves in that they have offered to discount my remaining 70 hours of lessons in an effort to compensate for the fiasco which took place a week or so ago. In addition, apparently on Friday of last week, Mike (the source of all the trouble), was forcefully bought out of his stake in the firm and is no longer involved in the day to day operations. Now, I do not think that my situation was the catalyst for the event, but I can't help to think that a bit of karma was in play here.

I played basketball with a bunch of guys from my finance class on Monday afternoon. We played for 2 hours straight, my lungs were fine the entire time, and I didn't tear an ACL, sprain an ankle, or get a tooth knocked out. That's a victory in my book. Having fun, getting exercise, and avoiding a foreign hospital are all "wins".

This photo - a couple of my 3-on-3 teammates/adversaries:

This photo - the other end of the court where a bunch of undergrads were playing:

Waking up Tuesday though was a different story. I haven't been this sore in ages. I feel like I must have been using a few muscles in my legs that were on the verge of atrophy. What's sad though is that I am in good shape, and I still feel this way. I guess that makes a case for smoking 2 packs a day and being 25lbs overweight. If that was my current state I don't think I would have been able to go full speed for 2 hours, and hence wouldn't be as sore. Hmmmmmm....

I met a really nice pair of people last night while I was walking around. I was on the far end of my neighborhood where I had never been before and I was trying to locate a restaurant I had read about. So we're wandering around and a guy comes up to us and says, "Are you two twins? My friend and I have a bet that you two are twins". Now, it must be stated that they had only seen Jon and I from the back, so I guess they saw two 5'7"ish guys both w/ curly brown hair and simply made an assumption. We laughed, said no, and then asked them if they knew of the place we were looking for. They said "no", but said they'd help us find it. So Liu Zheng (guy) and Summer (girl) guided us for 15 minutes until we zoned in on the establishment. We hung out for a while with them. Really nice people. Maybe I am biased because they gave me a self-esteem boost when they argued that I couldn't be a day older than 25 years. I guess I still have those boyish good looks. Or at the very least, boyish looks.

I am going to make a best effort and try and hang out with them again later this week. It will be nice to have a true Beijing native as a friend here. I can practice some Mandarin with him/them, and they can show me the hidden secrets of this city.

Liu Zheng an aspiring organic chemist who is studying DNA and genetic manipulation (yikes!) and Summer an aspiring diplomat and translator

Mark Twain was a smart man...

I randomly found this quote today. I don't think I had ever read it prior to today, and if I had read or heard it, then I forgot about it.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Excellent meals, large portraits of Mao, new pics

56 photos in my most recent album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Ok, so this is the second weekend in a row where I have been out and about experiencing some of the nightlife of Beijing and randomly bumped into a classmate of mine from Peking U. This weekend it was Jenn Hinkle who is a captain in the US Army and a University of Notre Dame grad. We bumped into her and some of her friends a place called Room 101 where we were having a drink prior to an amazing meal (more on that later). We ended hanging out for a spell after dinner at the Stone Boat Cafe. I guess if the world is considered small at times, it is no surprise that the city of Beijing can be a small sub-world.

This article was published in the Wall Street Journal on May 9, 2008: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121028580912879025.html

Coincidentally, 5/9 was my first day in this country. Anyway, the article is an attempt to pinpoint the best restaurants in Beijing. So, Friday night we planned a culinary excursion and were on a mission to get to Guo Yao Xiao Ju. Read the linked article for a more detailed description of the establishment, but let me just say the food is absolutely amazing. Far and away the best meal we have had and we will definitely be going back sometime in the not too distant future. The Lumpy Dough soup was far and away the best soup I have ever had in my life. Nothing even comes close to being in the same league as it. The Fish Stomach Soup was good too, just not nearly as good as the Lumpy Dough. Here's a pic of Fish Stomach:

Note: On Saturday we also ended up giving Jiu Men Xiao Chi a try for some authentic Chinese snacks. Sort of comparable to Chinese style tapas. Also very good.

Tiananmen Square was pretty cool. If nothing had happened there in 1989 I guess it probably wouldn't draw as many people, but worth a quick subway ride nonetheless.

Pic of me and Mao:

The decision has been made. I will be leaving China on July 31 and headed to Vietnam for a 2 week motorbike tour of the country. This is an open invitation to everyone and anyone who is interested. I've talked to dozens of people since I have been here and they say Vietnam is an amazing country to visit, and I will be doing it on the back of a 125 CC Russian-made motorbike. What could be more fun?! Check out a couple of the companies I am considering and email me if you want me to add you to our small group (jdorrian2334@yahoo.com). We will be beginning our journey on August 1, 2008.

www.voyagevietnam.net

www.freewheelin-tours.com

My professional and completely appropriate response

Ok, so if you read the below email chain you'll get the gist of the situation. This guy Darren is a stand-up guy. One of the owners (Mike) of the this 1on1 Mandarin place is a weasely, passive aggressive twerp whose head I almost ripped off. I scolded this guy as bad as one grown man can scold another grown man. I left the verbatim "scolding" out of the response to Darren, but you use your imagination. This email could have been a lot more scathing, but I think I got my point across. Pretty unfortunate that Mike from the great city of Chicago in the US of A has such questionable business practices. Read from the bottom, as Darren emailed me sometime this morning after he got wind of what happened.

Darren,
Let me preface this by saying that you seem to be a very nice and reasonable man. You have been friendly in the office and I appreciate you taking time a couple of weeks ago to help us out in the real estate office.

Just so we're all on the same page here I will outline the chronology of events and fill in the details:
The day I came into the office for the first time I requested that you charge my entire 100 hours on my credit card. The woman behind the desk swiped my card, gave it back to me, and as far as I was concerned I was set. Mike approached me 1 week later saying that I only had been charged a 30% deposit and that I owed a balance. I was confused, but after checking out my credit card account online that evening he was correct. No big deal.

So the next time I was in the reception area I told Mike that I wanted to pay the remaining balance in cash, but it would take me 3 or 4 separate trips to ATM machines due to the maximum limit they all have (some have 2000RMB limits, some 3000RMB). I told him the balance would be paid in full over the course of the next three business days, and I offered to give him 2000RMB on the spot. He refused the 2000RMB and said that the policy was to have the entire amount paid in full by this time and that I could not take classes until it was paid. I said fine, charge my credit card right now just refrain from factoring in the 4% processing fee and you will have your money. He refused to do that too and stated the 4% service charge was policy as well. So two times that day I offered different amounts of money, and two times he refused. On top of that, he stated that I could not have class until it was paid. I told him that I was highly irritated and that he was being quite unreasonable and absolutely inflexible. He just mumbled, "that's policy, that's the way we do things around here" and walked away. Keep in mind, that this situation all could have been avoided days ago if the woman behind the desk originally charged my credit card in full. The only way to view this situation is that it is 1-on-1's fault and not mine. Essentially 3 times I offered to pay (2x in full via credit card, and 1 time with cash as a partial payment to my balance with the promise of paying it off in full over the next few days) and 3 times I was either charged incorrectly or Mike refused to take the money. I was absolutely stunned that this was the way your business operated. This all took place on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

I arrived at your offices today with cash equivalent to approximately 80% of the balance I owe. Then, to my surprise my teacher does not show up. I go to the front desk to investigate, and apparently Mike told her not to come in because I still had an outstanding balance. This is absolutely unacceptable action to take without notifying me in advance. I spoke to Grace today (who was also very nice and reasonable). I told her that I had most of the money with me, but quite frankly I did not feel comfortable giving it to anyone, because as a reflection of Mike 1-on-1's character has been tainted in my opinion. I said to Grace that I may be back on Tuesday with my entire balance, or I may decide to discontinue my classes. Either way, I told her I would extend the courtesy of giving your office at least 24 hours notice if I was not going to show up on Tuesday of next week. In contrast, this was a courtesy that 1-on-1 did not extend to me this morning when my teacher was a no-show for my scheduled class.

I am not sure if I look like a "sucker", or why Mike treated me the way he did. I do not want to sound arrogant, but the value of the money I owe to 1-on-1 for my 100 hours of lessons is completely negligible. And if ATMs allowed withdrawals of larger values, then you would have had your money by now. Instead, because of the way Mike acted and the way he treated me I am unsure I will continue with my lessons and your business will not receive any more money from me.

I have completed 19 hours of the 30 hours that my deposit payment covers. If, in fact I choose to terminate my lessons with 1-on-1 I would appreciate the value of those 11 hours credited back to my card. It shocks me that Mike acted as if your business was the only operation in Beijing that offered Chinese lessons. There are plenty of other options out there for anyone looking to learn the language to investigate and become a patron of.

Again, you have been nothing but professional inside the office, as well as friendly and helpful outside the office. ShanShan (spelling?) and Vicky (Zhao Ying) seemed to be quality instructors as well. Grace whom I met today seemed to be cut from the same mold as everyone I just mentioned. It is very unfortunate when the actions of one person can have such a negative affect.

Whatever my decision is, I will be in touch with your office no later than 1pm on Monday.

Thank you,
John J. Dorrian


----- Original Message ----
From: Darren
To: jdorrian2334@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:56:40 PM
Subject: Continue your Chinese classes

Hi John, First, we apologized that you teacher didn't show up in your class today.We totally understand your frustration with us so far, but we will do our my best to get you stay and have you as our student.so we will continue your classes next week without interruptions. Please come by whenever you are convenient today or next week to talk about more. By the way, Mike is no longer doing Customer Service, so I will do my best to answer your questions and help you out now.If you have any thoughts, please feel free to let me know.Thanks.-- Darren

Boston College folk; no power in the apartment

A group of Boston College MBA candidates are traveling around Asia currently. They have been in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, and are wrapping up a visit currenlty in Hong Kong. On Monday night a group of the full time BiMBA (Beijing International MBA) students that I have classes with hosted the group of 30 or so BC students to a dinner. Patrick (his chosen anglo name) who is the class president of the BiMBA program invited me to attend, which was nice of him. I showed up more to get to know some of my native Chinese classmates a bit better, rather than indulge in the free buffet, but that was a nice perk too. I also figured I could be a good liaison for the BC students and some of my classmates and vice versa.

The BC students were a nice group. There was a Villanova alum included, she was a frosh when I was a senior, so we had never met, but it's always nice to connect w/ a fellow Wildcat. We exchanged some contact info, they told me about their visits to Korea and Tokyo, as well as their corporate visits such as to Microsoft China, Lenovo, and some other companies which I now forget.
------------
The power just went out in our apartment. I just received the untimely news via a phone call from the roomie. We were hoping that it would last until the end of July, but I guess not. When we rented the place, the rental agent gave us the what looks like a credit card with a little microchip in it. She said we should take it to the local power office and put money on it so that we didn't run out of power. Of course, we opted to roll the dice and see how long our wattage/voltage lasted... Turns out, about 1.5 weeks. So now I have to go to that office, try and communicate w/ whomever is there, put some money on the card, and after that I have no idea what to do with it. Is there some secret slot in my apartment that I slide the card into? Maybe, but if so, I don't know where it is. I think I should try and find some candles and matches on my walk home right now...

2 of the more interesting and unique people I have met so far

I've met plenty of people in this country so far. Random people at restaurants or bars, classmates obviously, so on and so forth. I would say 2 of the more interesting people I have met so far are John Coulter and some guy named Eric.

John Coulter is an Australian economist that is doing work with Qinghua (pronounced ching-huwah) University. His research is based on how the individual economic Chinese culture is steadily swirling towards entropy. He is expecting a deterioration of the Chinese society for a couple of reasons. 1) He says that the mass majority of Chinese people only care about material things. They would rather have a new pair of Nikes a couple of times per year than take advantage of a simple investment where they could easily leverage compounding interest and build wealth. They are "consumers" in the truest sense, and haven't been saving a thing and I guess don't plan on saving a thing. 2) He was rattling off data about the world not having enough natural resources to be able to sustain the global population in the not too distant future and he expects China to be hit especially hard. Besides having such a high level of intellect on those types of topics he was an absolute character. There's just something about an Aussie, a Scot, or an Irishman that will make you smile or chuckle. He had that rascally twinkle in his eye that made you want to know more about him, but perhaps also made you hesitant of asking. Maybe you were better off not knowing! Nicest guy in the world though. If anyone wants to check him or his research out he's a friend of mine on Facebook.

The other guy, Eric, was one of the MBA students that we met from the University of Tampa over this past weekend. He along with his business partner apparently created the market for seedless watermelons in the United States. He produces the seeds up somewhere near Mongolia close to the desert, focuses on the scientific quality of the germination and other stuff I guess... Then ships the seeds to the USA where he sells them to farmers. I forget what percentage of the seedless watermelon market he said he had... I think he said about 10%, and his business consists of only 3 people. I just thought that was pretty cool. Apparently some of the larger agriculture companies started to enter the space over the past few years and he was thinking about selling his operation to them, but things didn't work out. Either way, he was a solid guy to toss back a couple of drinks with and get to know a tad better too.

Weekend of May 24 & 25: Sanlitun nightlife, The Summer Palace

Around 140 pics from the most recent weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

So it's been a busy weekend with classes, socializing, and sightseeing. Friday night Jon and I went to a local watering hole to have a couple of casual drinks then call it a night early because we had class on Satuday morning at 830am. We met some students from Penn State and Wisconsin and what was intended to be a short evening, turned out to be much longer than planned.

We both rose bright and early to attend Decision Making. I had my presentation bright and early on Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Despite a splitting headache and no saliva being produced in my mouth the presentation went swimmingly. I did a very good job. After class the consensus was to delay the visit to the Summer Palace until Sunday. We grabbed lunch and then went home and napped.


Saturday night we wanted to go to what is supposed to be one of Beijing's best sushi restaurants, but when we got there they were booked solid with reservations. The contingency plan ended up being a Mexican restaurant that wasn't half bad. Then we proceeded to a section of Sanlitun referred to as "bar street". It's a strip of about 4 blocks that is nothing but bars and the managers and owners stand outside and do anything in their power to get you to go in and have a drink in their establishment. Parallel it to the restaurant owners in Little Italy that are a bit pushy when you walk by and try to convince you to come inside and have a meal there. It's sorta like that, but these guys put used car salesmen to shame. What is sort of cool is that you can play them against each other. You say, "well, that guy over at Bar 1 said beers are 20 CNY, what will you give them to us for?". Then they'll either beat the price of Bar 1 or tell you to beat it. Very different experience, but fun. We talked this one guy down to 10CNY per beer which equates to about USD $1.40. What we didn't specify was what kind of beer. They served us some pretty gross product that Tsingtao brews called Shenzhen. I think it is the equivalent of the Natural Light of China. It was cold enough that it wasn't unbearable, but it was not tasty. So we thought we had the upper hand in the beer negotations, but the silly Americans were foiled again. The old switcharoo was pulled on us. No big deal though really.

We hit up a couple of the noisier places that had live entertainment for a bit, then headed to a quieter spot. We were sitting outside relaxing and we ended up meeting a group of MBA students from the University of Tampa. Nice group of guys/gals. We got to know them a bit better over the ensuing hour and then we went our separate ways.

Next we tried a sub-neighborhood withing Sanlitun call Tong Li or Tsong Li. The streets are shut off to traffic for the most part and people just mill around hanging out. Plenty places to grab food and drink. I bumped into a Filipino guy from my Advanced Finance class and we ended up chatting for a bit. We called it a night after that.

Immediately following class we went to the Summer Palace on Sunday. This place is enormous. Amazing that the emperor(s) had this place all to themselves as their little summer escape. Most of the photos in the above link are of the Summer Palace. Hopefully my pics captured the grand scale of the place.


Random End Note: Chinese people love ice cream bars and popsicles round the clock. I see them eating ice cream bars at 6am and every other hour of the day. Maybe it is the whole food on a stick thing that they like. Culturally meats, seafood, et al food items on a stick are eaten, so why not processed cream, sugar, milk, chocolate too? I guess, why not. Just another thing that struck me as strange over here.

May 22, 2008: Lunch @ the Kro's Nest w/ some of my Advanced Finance classmates

Most recent album is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Only contains three photos that I was able to snap @ the lunch we went to after class.

So after Advanced Finance class today a few of us went out to lunch at a place called the Kro's Nest, which has city-wide fame. And perhaps international fame from some of the foreign students that attend school here @ Peking U. Here is the establishment's website: http://www.thekrosnest.com/ . Read the history section of the website. Pretty funny. And as usual, if it weren't for New York or New Yorkers, perhaps this place wouldn't be in business.

About 12 of us (out of a class of 60) went out to lunch and Professor Wingender joined us. From what I can gather, and from what he shares with us, the below photo captures one of "Dr. John's" favorite pasttimes. I think this is in line with expectations of any jolly American from the Great Midwest.

There have not been any travels over the past few days. Quite frankly, going to class 7 days per week and having papers, homework, and presentations to prepare eats up a lot of time. I am considering a trip to the Summer Palace on Sunday afternoon as long as the weather is nice. It is supposed to be beautiful and hopefully my "shutterbug" skills are ample enough to take some really nice pics I will be able to share.

One interesting tidbit over the past few days is that on Tuesday and Wednesday consecutively I got into an argument with one of my Chinese instructors over pronunciation of words. I know that I was pronouncing certain sounds correctly, and she insisted that I was making the sound incorrectly. Now, I know anyone reading this is thinking "so this pompous American is going to tell a Chinese person who is teaching him the language that what he is doing is correct and what she is suggesting is incorrect?" Yes, that is in fact the case. I am right, and she is wrong in this isolated instance where she is telling me that I pronounce the sounds in the word "cai" incorrectly and I have an indeterminable difference in my pronunciation of "zai" and "cai". Oh dear teacher, please don't test my patience on this issue any further.

I have my only presentation for the semester for my Decision Making class on this upcoming Saturday, and once that is over I really don't have much more to do for that class. So that is exciting, considering that class is on Sat and Sun mornings... no issues going hungover now and again to that sucker from Saturday on out.

Saturday afternoon/evening my classmate Laura and her boyfriend are having a barbeque @ their home and she invited a few of us from class. Probably going to go to that and meet some new people and get to now some classmates a bit better. It should be fun.

I'll do my best to start using my camera as liberally as I was when I first got here. I'll get pictures of my Chinese language teachers, my classmates, and of course any sightseeing.

Self-deprecating post

Didn't you think that riding your bike across campus with another student and your professor was just something that happened in Berkeley, CA in the 1960s or in a movie (probably about Berkeley, CA in the 1960s)? WRONG!

Yours truly here did precisely that today at about 1215pm after Advanced Finance ended. My classmate Laura, Prof. Wingender, and myself all pedaled leisurely across campus discussing school, current events, personal lives, etc... After a few minutes of pedaling and chatting it hit me as to what exaclty I was doing. I wanted to giggle during the rest of the ride, but I refrained.

It would have been awesome if the professor was smoking a pipe and wearing a corduroy blazer with suede elbow patches and a bowtie, but he wasn't.

Still feel free to make fun of me... I know I've already made fun of me for it today.

Finally, if anyone cares the Chinese government officially recognizes me a temporary resident. I don't think I care, so really why should anyone else.

May 17, 2008: Lama Temple, Confucius Temple, Drum & Bell Towers, and real hutongs

Most recent album has a fair amount of pics. Mostly from the visit to the locations mentioned in the title of the post. Album is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

Picture of me in the Drum Tower

Today was quite a long Saturday, but a day well spent. Up early to be on campus by 830am for the first class session of Decision Making. Thankfully Professor Ma is engaging and funny enough that the 830am-1230pm class went by relatively quickly. The class should be interesting as it is really just a strategy class. The format is open discussion and debate following 2 peer presentations as well as a lesson from the professor. My presentation is a week from today and it is on some 30 page article on the Cuban Missile crisis. I'll be happy to get that out of the way because besides the individual presentation there is not a ton of outside of classroom work. Maybe that is Prof. Ma's way of sympathizing that we have class @ 830am on both weekend mornings!

We were considering a trip to the Summer Palace today, but the weather was supposed to be overcast the entire day w/ a few scattered showers and the guidebooks mention that the Summer Palace is exponentially better to visit in nice weather, so we went w/ plan B. Saving the Summer Palace for another day we hopped on the subway and headed to an area a little northeast of the Forbidden City, still in central Beijing though.

The Lama Temple was the favorite destination of the day. It was great to witness laypeople who are practicing Buddhists have religious experiences there and formally go through the motions of prayer, burning incense, and other formal gestures. Also, we got to view some prayer chant by approximately 40-50 monks. The monks sat with their prayer books in a large U-shape around a huge Buddhist statue and ceremoniously chanted for I don't know how long. They were already chanting when we entered the room, we probably stayed and watched for 20 or so minutes, and they were still going strong when we left. I am not sure if that was just their standard prayer session of the day or if we were seeing them participate in recognizing a special day, occassion, or event with these prayers. The only drawback of the Lama Temple was that you were not allowed to take any pictures inside any of the buildings. There were some amazing statues, carvings, and idols that would have made great photos. In addition, it would have been great to get some shots of the monks chanting. Alas, those images will have to simply remain in my memory instead of my computer.

Wandering around the hutongs in the Hou Hai area was great too. There is a large section of hutongs adjacent to the Drum and Bell Towers, so we spent over an hour poking around there. It is a shame that so many of the hutongs are getting destroyed due to modernization. I believe unless certain hutongs are protected by the government that whomever owns them is allowed to sell them on the open market. Once a hutong is sold it is immediately knocked down and new, modern edifice is constructed.

I can't get over what a dirty city this is. My hutong wandering experience really magnified that notion. There is just junk and crap everywhere. Literal dirt & dust like the city is one huge construction site, food scraps, wood scraps, metal scraps, cardboard boxes, et al. I have not been anywhere yet where I have been totally appalled or grossed out, but the only way to accurately describe the level of filth is "omnipresent". It's part of the charm of the city I guess. This country is ancient, this city is ancient, so I guess it makes sense for the level of sanitary conditions to be much lower. Wandering the hutongs though was a lot like stepping into a time machine, because it was so real. You got to watch people living their everyday life. Different than, for example, the Colosseum in Rome because though that building is thousands of years old, it is there simply as an attraction for the most part. In the hutongs you saw people living in their unique little mazed neighborhoods, children playing in the street, family pets lying by the front entrance of the home, laundry drying on clothing lines, etc... It was really cool.

Mahjong being played

JD & Confucius

Young hutong dweller tinkering with his bicycle

Random ending note: I was relegated to watching badminton yesterday while running on the treadmill. For any gamblers out there you heard it here first. Go big on Zakry Latif and Fairuzizuan Tazari from Malaysia... they're a lock for a medal. They dismantled some Chinese duo yesterday... simply toyed with them.

Listen closely to others when they read menus aloud; Make sure they actually speak what the words say

Most recent album has photos of the little outdoor alley market closest to my apartment and some of the nightlife spots in the Sanlitun area: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

For all those who were panicking for Jon and I the toilet got fixed last evening, approximately 4 hours earlier than we had anticipated that someone might show up to repair it. That made us happy.

We decided to get some Peking Duck last night so we glanced @ a couple of our guidebooks and located a restaurant in Chaoyang district that was recommended. Chaoyang was an area we wanted to check out in the first place, so that worked out well. We order the duck but that won't be enough food so we order a couple of additional dishes.
Jon: How about this beef tenderloing stir fry
JD: (half paying attention to Jon) Sure man, sounds good
Jon: Ok, then we'll get that plus the duck and maybe a vegetable dish
JD: Sounds like a plan.
[place the order w/ the waitress mostly by pointing to the menu which had Chinese characters, English, as well as pictures]

The food gets to the table. Duck looks great. Asparagus stir fry looks great. Beef does not look appetizing. Before I even tasted it I had a flashback to what the menu actually said. The menu was advertising "Beef Tendon Stir Fry". Ah haaaaaaaaaaa..... I chuckled to myself but didn't point out what it was to Jon because he is a picky eater in the first place. I tried it, it had an uber-chewy consistency and didn't taste that great. I waited until Jon had a bite or two and announced that he wasn't the biggest fan of the dish either. Then I told him what we were in fact eating. So we had Beef Tendons last night. Sorta gross tasting and definitely an unappealing texture, but not the end of the world.

I had my inaugural 3 hour one-on-one Chinese class this morning. It went OK. I am a bigger fan of the teacher I had for the final hour rather than the teacher I had for the initial 2 hours. It doesn't seem there will be a lot of outside the classroom busy work, which is good as my time will be occupied w/ other academic endeavors.

We have to go to the local police station and register as residents now. If you don't register you run the risk of getting fined 500/day. And potentially getting in even more trouble perhaps? I'm not sure, so we're just going to do that now.

May 15, 2008: Live chickens as neighbors, rental frustrations

So for the past two days at around 630am some guys shows up across the hall to deliver a live chicken to the family (or whomever) that lives there. The first time I heard the wailing noise I had no idea what exactly it was, but I did think to myself, "whatever that is, it sounds like it is alive." Irrespective, it doesn't make noise for too long, so I am guessing Mr. Foghorn Leghorn gets a quick axe to the neck and thrown in a pot rather quickly. I think it is a tad strange that this family gets a live chicken delivered to what is a very middle class apartment building. They could run downstairs to the outside market or butcher and get a fresh killed one I am sure. Perhaps they are just traditionalists.

Since we have moved in the toilet in our bathroom has been suspect. Luckily, neither Jon nor I have had to christen it w/ a #2... that is until today. You guessed it, there are flushing issues w/ our toilet. The shower and the washing machine have great water pressure and pretty much work fine, but the toilet is a true underperformer. I had to go back to the rental office today and explain that it doesn't work and that in fact, it hasn't worked since we've moved in. Making a concerted effort to not raise my voice, assist Vivian in forming a response when she was looking for a English word that would be considered slightly advanced, all the while getting my point across that this was a completely unacceptable scenario has raised my blood pressure a bit today. Supposedly a repairman is coming to the apartment tonight around 9pm to fix the plumbing. We'll see if that happens or not. Either way, Vivian understands that she better be ready to pay us back a few days worth of rent if the situation is not rectified w/in the next 18 hours.

Shifting gears here, I would like to broadcast that I get an absolutely delicious breakfast for USD $0.28. For 2 CNY I get these fist-sized steamed dumplings from a street vendor type lady who is located on campus. I forget their proper name, but they are stuffed with a whole bunch of shredded veggies and little bit of meat. They are really good. Can't beat it.

I took some pictures today of an outdoor market that is located in a few alleyways between my apartment and the main road in our neighborhood. This place is real old school. The only thing that has changed on these little streets over the past few hundred years is that now you'll see some of the vendors and tenants wearing Nikes and using a cell phone... Other than that it is an authentic, filthy, small bazaar where you can buy everything from bananas (which I purchased and ate) to different meats on a stick, to eel and fish that are kept live in coolers, to freshly made noodles and so on and so on. I will load those pics up over the next couple of days.

May 14, 2008: Moving into our own pad, and purchasing our own wheels. We're all grown up, Beijing style

May 14's album. Only 6 pics, so it's a quick viewing: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

So Jon and I rose early today (since we've arrived neither of us have been able to sleep past 7am) in order to check out of the campus hotel and settle into our own pad. Luckily, when I arose and began to do some last minute packing both Daichi and Hiroshi began to stir. This was the first time since I've been here that the two of them have been simultaneously up and about in the morning. This concurrent consciousness allowed me to snap this pic of Daichi (left) and Hiroshi. Now I have this memory of my two Japanese roommates in China frozen in digital time.

We tossed our bags into a cab and rode 10 minutes to our new neighborhood and apartment. After a quick unpacking and a quasi-settle in we grabbed lunch at noodle house. On the "to do" list was to get to school to pick up our course materials for Decision Making which starts on Saturday morning. We figured it would be a good idea to try and buy bikes in this 'hood and ride back to Peking U to grab our new texts. After stopping a couple of people who looked like they may speak English we were directed to a bike store (more like a hut) to browse the offerings. After a quick haggle w/ the proprietor Jon and I each had a new set of wheels for the cost of USD $25-26 (locks and baskets included). See some pics of the bike shopping process in the album.

After we grabbed our book for class on Saturday we cruised back to the apt, watched some badminton for a few minutes on TV (the options here are severely limited, not that we came to Beijing to watch television, but you get the idea), and then took a 1 stop subway ride to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies for the pad. One thing that stood out to me about this Wal-Mart was that they had staff for every product sub-segment. They had a laundry detergent specialist, they had a fabric softener specialist, they had a mop and broom guy. Essentially every aisle was manned by retail rep whose job was to inform and sell. Very different from your typical US supermarket (and Wal-Mart I assume, but I don't think I've ever been to a Wal-Mart). One thing that was different, but that didn't surprise me really was that in the seafood section of the grocery level of the store there was a huge tank of turtles to hand pick and buy for a nice homemade meal. Maybe Jon and I will give that a go before we leave town.

I'll wrap this post up w/ a photo of newest and proudest owner of bike that is bound to get stolen or break at least once this summer.

May 13, 2008 - officially tenants, Mandarin lessons, the subway, & the Forbidden City

First, a couple of random things to begin this post. 1) I'm not sure if it makes perfect sense or no sense at all, but Starbucks in China do not serve green tea. 5 minutes prior to me typing this, I went up to the counter and asked for a green tea, and they said sorry, we don't have that here. I was surprised, but then I thought about both sides of the issue and there are pretty good cases for both serving & and not serving the tea. Not Serving - well, you're in China so go to a really kick ass tea house and get some authentic tea! Serving - you're in a Starbucks, what if you want a hot drink besides coffee? Green tea would be an excellent option. Interesting to think about for a minute. I've thought about it, and still have made no progress towards one side of perfect or no sense. Oh well. 2) I went for my first jog this morning and was curious of how the air quality would affect my lungs... I was expecting the worst because just from walking around in Beijing for a few hours you can see grime and filth floating around in the air and at the end of any day you can feel a layer of it on your face, though it's not visible. It really wasn't that bad though. I think at the conclusion of my run I was a tad more "mucusy" than usual, but it wasn't hard to breathe or anything. I'm considering wearing a surgical mask (I would guess that 15% of the population wears them just walking around) when I jog next time to try and capture the Runaway Surgeon look. I'll let you know how that goes.

Today was a busy day. Jon and I secured our apartment which we are excited about. Better neighborhood in terms of people, shopping, bars/restaurants. MUCH better living space. 2 blocks from a subway. Plus, we'll both get to buy bikes so we can cruise to school everyday. Yup, that's right, I'm riding a bike to school, and no I'm not 12 years old.

After that I went to arrange 1-on-1 Mandarin lessons from a recommded school. I spent an hour there, had an assessment test w/ 2 instructors who placed me on the cusp of Advanced Beginner. So I purchased 100 hours of personal instruction. Which means beginning next week I will have Advanced Finance on Mon and Thurs, Mandarin on Tues, Wed, Fri and Decision Making on Sat and Sun. That's right, school 7 days a week until that Adv Finance class ends in June. Yikes, 7 days a week, all work and no play.

Jon and I are already pros at riding the buses in our area, but hadn't yet hopped on the subway until today. I would rank it as easier than riding in NYC for first timer. All the different lines of trains are clear, the maps and stops are clear, it was pretty easy. I was happy about that.

We went to the Forbidden City this afternoon too. I literally could not get over how colossal this place was. Absolutely enormous. My description will not do it justice. Very cool though. Check out the latest album in my public gallery for a few pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

We're moving tomorrow into our new pad. We might go to the Great Wall this weekend too. Stay tuned for more updates on the new 'hood and new adventures.

May 11 &12: WuDuKao district, My first class, Beijing Real Estate

Ok, first and foremost apparently there was a pretty big earthquake today (May 12) in China not too far from where I am. Let it be known I am fine, safe, and was completely unaware of the disaster. You can all breathe easier now.

Albums "May 11" and "May 12" in http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334 are the photos that apply to this blog post. I've added some witty captions to some of the photos. I'm confident that if you know me and my sense of humor you will chuckle. I am also confident that if you don't know me that you will probably think I am an arrogant jackass. I'm fine with that.

May 11

So Jon and I wanted to get to the WuDuKao area which we knew was not far from where we were staying, and after wandering around for awhile and unsuccessfully locating it we decided to ask for directions. Two initial attempts failed. Attempt #3 was directed towards a security guard of some sort that absolutely did not understand what we were saying, but a gentleman wandering by saw that we had a map and correctly assumed we needed help getting somewhere. He spoke OK English, but he was from a different area of China and was not very familiar w/ Beijing... BUT his brother-in-law who was supposed to meet him in 5 minutes was a Beijing native and should be able to help. So we waited for 5 minute and his bro-in-law showed up in a car, and via our middleman translator it was confirmed that this guy knew how to get where we wanted to go. And he offered to give us a free ride. What a nice old man. Here is a pic of Jon in the backseat of his car sitting next to me. And here is another pic of the nice old man after he dropped us off.

Alright, so we have arrived at our destination and we're psyched to do some exploring. WuDuKao is the "student neighborhood" as there are about 10 universities surrounding it. We're excited to potentially meet some English speaking folk, other 20 and 30 somethings, and pinpoint some watering holes we've been reading about. We accomplish all of those things quickly. We have a brief discussion w/ two girls about what exact denomination a certain Yuan coin was because they were confused. Jon didn't know. I didn't know. Glad we could be of service ladies.

We find an establishment called Lush (http://www.lushbeijing.com/) that we have read good things about. So we have lunch there and relax with a beer and as you can see from the photo album Jon needed to settle his stomach with some strawberry flavored tobacco drawn from a huka. It definitely smelled good, but I get my fix from the pollution and smog here, no need for fruity tobacco for me.

Anyway, we meet these two girls sitting at the table next to us. They are sisters (Marielle and Shauna) who are from Montreal and Marielle has been living here for almost 1 year. We picked Marielle's brain for 45 minutes, asking her questions, recommendations, etc. She was very nice and gave us her phone number to call her if we needed any more info. Thanks Marielle.

After exploring WuDuKao for a little while longer we headed back to school. We went over to the business building to try and poke around a bit because I wanted to locate the classroom that I had class in on Monday 5/12. In the photo album you will see a dozen or so pictures of the architecture, landscaping, and signage around the business building.

Gotta get to bed @ a reasonable hour... it's a school night ("Aw man, c'mon Mom 30 more minutes...")

May 12

9am - Advanced Finance. I knew prior to coming here that John Wingender, a professor from Creighton University in Omaha, NE, would be teaching this class, and I had a copy of the syllabus, but that's about it. It turns out that there are approx 60 grad students in this class and only about 3 or 4 Americans. I would say 80% of the class is Chinese, I know there are a couple of people from Spain, 1 Russian woman named Sveltana, a Brit, and I am sure a few other countries are represented. I was surprised at the lack of American representation, but I guess it doesn't matter any which way.

This class is going to be great. Prof. Wingender is extremely engaging, quite funny, very smart, and has a positive energy about him. Picture a sturdy (not fat) looking midwestern guy with a shaved head who enjoys making fun of himself as much as he enjoys making fun of his students. From what I can gather he is also at least semi-friendly with Warren Buffet. He mentioned he is out to dinner w/ him a couple of weeks ago. That's pretty cool, I wouldn't mind being buddies w/ the most brilliant value investor and richest man in the world. Long story short, I am looking forward to this class.

Apartment shopping - see photo albums for pictures

So, a 2 bedroom apartment is going to cost about 1/3 the cost of the campus hotel we are staying in, so I think I am going to have to leave Daichi and Hiroshi high and dry in room 212. Sorry guys, sayanora! This apartment shopping experience was a tad frustrating and obviously the communication barrier had something to do with it, but by the end of our day we think that we worked something out with Vivian our rental agent. We checked out some apartments, some sorta crappy, 1 super nice, and we think we are going to get the 2nd nicest place we saw. It's in the right neighborhood up in the WuDuKao by a key subway stop, bars, restaurants, and other univerisities... We're going to try and lock it down tomorrow, Tues 5/13.

This also means I am going to have to buy a bike so I can cruise to my campus in 10 mins rather than walk 30-40 mins. Yup, I've been sucked into the bike culture in less than 72 hours. You can't stop the bikes, you can only hope to contain them. Once I have my wheels I'll be sure to have ample pics of my Pimped Out Ride.

Note: If anyone has any suggestions for the format, layout, or any other aspect of this blog just email me or leave a comment.

Note II: Every Chinese person at some age or another picks an English name to use. It's pretty awesome. Sally, Vivian, Vincent, Tony, Cedric, Ellen, Wendy and the list goes on and on. I think Cedric is the least fitting name that I've encountered so far. The TA in my finance class is visually the biggest pointdexter-nerdy type you could imagine and he is Cedric. I mean personally when I think "Cedric" I think envision a 325lbs offensive lineman for the Redskins. Cedric the TA is the polar opposite of that.

Accomodations @ Peking University

Here is a link to 12 pictures of my room. Check out the album titled "JD's Current Accomodations" : http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334

It's really not that bad. It's small, yes. But it's clean, the plumbing works, the electricity works, and the bed has a nice hard mattress which I like. Besides, I didn't come to China to spend my days in a hotel or a dorm, so really it's just a spot to store my belongings and to lay my weary head. The room actually reminds me a little of the rooms I stayed in at the Peddie School (a prep school in NJ) when I went to baseball camp there for a couple of years when I was a kid. I think I like my current roomies better than the 2 weirdos I was stuck with when I was 12 years old though.

I actually hung out w/ Hiroshi for a few minutes last night. He's a nice guy and an equivalent of a senior in college. His english is pretty good and he was nice enough to let me borrow his umbrella today. I'll get some pics of me and the roomies up in the next few days.

Advanced Finance class begins tomorrow @ 9am... I'll let the world know how the professor, class, and my classmates are in a future post.

JD in China - first full day (well, not even a full day yet)

So far, so good. Who knew a 13 hour flight could be so agreeable, and I didn't even imbibe in a single sip of alcohol to make it more entertaining or palatable. China Air's performance and customer service was in-line with expectations. I hoped an affordable price for an airline ticket would render mediocre, but not disgusting accomodations and service and it did.

Capital Airport (PEK) was absolutely immaculate. I was expecting it to be slightly chaotic, but it really wasn't. I checked a single bag, and that bag made it to Baggage Claim. Sweet. Found an ATM and took out money without it eating my card or any other issues. Sweet. Waited in line for only approx 90 seconds for a taxi. Another victory for me. Showed the cabbie the address of the campus hotel I am staying at, he seemed to know where it was, tossed my bag in the trunk, and we were off. Once all the doors were sealed the aroma of Jameson's Irish Whiskey dominated the air. UH OH. Drunk cabbie? That wouldn't be cool. It really did uncannily stink like whiskey in his car though and I was nervous for a few moments... but I monitored his driving for the first few miles and he wasn't swerving or anything so I figured what the hell.

We did have to stop 2x and ask for directions, or rather Whiskey Wang asked for directions and I waited in the back of the cab hoping I wasn't getting screwed. Alas, he was a sound businessman as the fare was 12 CNY (or about USD $1.72) more than the guidebook said it would be so I know I didn't get taken for a ride (pun intended, JD's first joke from Asia... right in everyone's face (or perhaps no one's face depending on readership of this blog)).

Check into the hotel @ sometime between 8pm-9pm I would guess. I am given room 212, and I think how appropriate that the guy from 212 on the isle of Manhattan gets room 212. An omen? Sheer coincidence? Who cares, it was just the first thing that popped into my head. I walk up to 212, and I hear someone inside. Ah, probably the maid right? WRONG! It was Daichi (sp?) one of two Japanese roomies I have who don't speak a lick of English. Classic. So we have a 3 bedroom suite (the term suite is uber-generous, but I'm a generous guy). The bedrooms are tiny. I will upload some pics of my current accomodations after I actually take some pics, but envision a 10x12 room with a desk, twin bed, a pair of shelves and a decent sized closet. I think it's only costing me around USD $12/night, so I guess I'm cool with it for the time being. And hey, maybe I will know some Japanese at the conclusion of my travels with the help of Daichi and the other guy who's name I already forget.

I was up and showered by 7am this morning (thanks Daichi or other guy for letting me use your body wash unbeknownst to you... sneaky American). Next order of business - - call Verizon to see if they can help me adjust my phone's settings so that I could make international calls. Took care of that in a matter of minutes and I was off on a 2.5 hour self-guided tour of campus. The campus is about the same size of Villanova's. I think I covered about 90% of it, dipping into various nooks and crannies. It is a pretty campus. They have done their best to incorporate many gardens and lakes within the campus's walls that sharply contrast the urban exterior surroundings of the campus which slightly remind me of a mix between a commecial center in what would be a hybrid SF-NYC.

NOTE: To this point I still have not seen a single other caucasian person or heard anyone speaking English.

So I wrap up my 2.5 hour walkabout and and I see a young American looking guy in the business center of my campus hotel. Low and behold it is Deke from the University of Nebraska. Deke's a 22 year old that didn't feel like leaving school quite yet, so he signed up for a year of classes over here in Beijing. We shot the breeze for a few minutes, he answered some of questions I had. Deke is the one that pointed me in the direction of this Starbucks that I am currently typing my inaugural blog post in because I needed to find a place where I could access a wireless network. How lame is it that on the campus of the "Harvard of China" that I can't get online wirelessly without some special password and being subject to internet censorship.

So I guess for now Starbucks will be my blogging locale of choice. I am not sure how often I will post new entries, but at least I got 1 up there. I think my goal will be 1 posting per week with links to public photo galleries on either Flickr (yahoo's photo site) or Picasa (google's photo site).


I snapped a few pics this morning of the campus. See them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334/BeijingMay9102008
-jd

P.S. I have a "to do" list with 2 items on it today. 1) wait for my buddy Jonathan from Fordham to get here today and track him down, and 2) buy a towel so that I don't have to use my laundry bag to dry my sexy bod off as I did this morning after my shower. Classy.

P.P.S. Please keep all comments appropriate as there are family, old friends, new friends, ex-colleagues, etc that will be reading this blog. Thanks in advance.