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Quote:there was one day about ten years ago that someone complained about foreigners riding on a bus which contained briefcases filled with military secrets painstakingly stolen from foreign governments and from then on we were told that we weren’t allowed on that bus.
Hahahaha!
I ride to and from work daily. I wear a helmet nearly all the time. I regularly ride into oncoming traffic… Sometimes I volunteer, sometimes the traffic suddenly switches to my lane.
In either case, I think it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and know when to slow down. I have been in a couple of bike wrecks in the States. All of them were at fairly high speed because our bike lanes are designed, as are our traffic laws, to allow for people to move around at high speed with limited interruptions.
Here I have a break on my bike and I just ride much more cautiously. I have headphones sometimes in the states. Here that seems like a suicide attempt.
I’ve come very close to crashing here, but almost always at speeds much much slower than in the US. Probably the same in the west anywhere.
I downloaded the whole first two seasons from bittorrent last year while I was in China. Should be able to do that. Just get a software program like Vuze, then go to torrentz.eu and search for Game of Thrones. 10 minutes after it airs it’ll be available online. If you’re already paying for HBO, I don’t see how this would even be illegal considering you’re in a country that will never make it legally available for sale.
Chris, every time I look at your avatar pic it makes me smile. Can’t disagree with the math either. She could be my Sugar Mama. ha.
Heh heh. I don’t disagree with you in the slightest, Brendan. I think a lot of girls, in China, the US and the rest of the universe, are put into these situations either by choice or lack thereof. In the context of that particular article, I commend the girl for looking to a brighter future. Granted, going from dependent on an escort* job to going dependent on the probably slimeball one meets at such a job isn’t ideal by a long shot. But I have friends over here who were in that line of work years ago and are now successful, educated people. They went through some crap for awhile and emerged whole.
Of course, if I remove the rose tinted shades I was wearing as I typed that last sentence, it exposes the plethora of women who ended up addicted to opium or contracting HIV. I am very thankful I haven’t had to make that choice to get ahead. Very. Seriously. Grateful.
I don’t see that as terribly depressing. I’ve been to tons of KTV bars with my friends. The guys I go with invite girls to come with them rather than participate in what is essentially an escort service. I don’t partake in this form of semi-legal money-for-pleasure thing, but what she discusses in vague terms could cover the whole spectrum. For the most part it’s up to her to decide what she does and does not want to do. Is it ideal? No.
I spent nearly two years as a Mandarin-speaking CSR in Minneapolis, MN. I had just graduated with a Master’s in International Business but couldn’t find a job (not for lack of effort. I applied to well over 500 positions in less than 18 months).
I put up with my own form of being abused for money and for a living. I didn’t have to remove articles of clothing for money, but I regularly had to apologize to bosses I didn’t agree with when I knew I was in the right.
The thing that’s disgusting to some of us has to do with our perceptions of what is over the line. We all have personal moral boundaries and ethical standards that differ. She looks to what for her is a bright future. Could I do her job? Never. Do I compromise my values for a brighter future? Daily.
But then I go have a beer at Natooke or I eat hot pot in Chongqing with old friends and forget about it. Kind of like when she goes to get xiaoye with her friends afterward. She has dreams, goals, and understands what she’s doing. I can’t find fault in that. Instead, I try to stay away from people who utilize that type of service so I don’t have to actively participate in it.
Distillery is okay. They sell a lot of flavored baijiu. I’d love to trade home brew for home brew. I ended up getting a clay barrel that holds about maybe 20 gallons of brew. It isn’t the preferred method of fermenting beer, but I want to try it out anyway and see how it works. Probably start cooking tomorrow!
Thanks Charlie. It turned out a lot easier than I thought. I went to the tiny distillery across from my house and they’re having one delivered. Talk about service!
Right on Brendan.
My personal take on guanxi is that you should build as much of it as you can anywhere you go and then try to leverage it as little as possible. I’ve been in and out of China since 1994. I have friends here that I’ve known since then. I’m certain if I really needed it they’d come to my aid immediately. Some of them hold fairly high positions and could be influential on my behalf.
I would go to them for help only if I was in danger of being deported or imprisoned. If I had to pay a 10K RMB fine, I would not go to them. Why? Because you don’t just build relationships and abuse them. If I get in trouble and call a friend, he calls someone. That person calls someone else who talks to their connection and gets me off the hook, but then owes someone else a favor. If I yelp every time I’m unhappy, I end up having fewer people on my side in the future.
Take this string for example. We’re all one big community within Chengdu. If we ignore friendship opportunities here, we lose out on so many more chances to form connections that could prove useful to our personal and professional lives. Personally, my enjoyment of life in Chengdu is enhanced by people who view the world optimistically and refrain from judgmental and / or arrogant statements. We benefit from one another through mutual respect. You might be this type of person, Mr. Lovett, and just be misunderstood in this forum string. So far, however, I’m seeing a fairly belittling and arrogant approach in this forum that has had a negative impact on well-respected people in the Chengdu community. I would suggest immediate efforts to reverse that impression.
Here’s a link to a GPS tracker. I couldn’t find anything in China even with a search for Anti Theft Device in Chinese. I might have been doing it wrong though. I get that from time to time, although usually not from dudes.
http://pegtech.com/products/gps-bicycle-tracking/spybike/product-information
Not too pricy, but I think I’ll hold off on it for now.
I actually heard about and saw a picture of your bike, Brendan. It is a beautiful piece of equipment. The Natooke guys were pretty proud of it. It’s fun to be in an environment where people are passionate about what they do.
I’m hoping to find and buy back the bike that was stolen so if I should decide to go, say, to the Shamrock or Underground for a drink I can ride the cheaper bike. I was going to ask about GPS units last night, but then 雪花 beer was introduced to my mental circuitry. I’ll have a bunch of locks but it would be so much fun to show up at the thief’s lair with a cop and a bunch of Chongqing dialect profanity (shout-out to the ex-wife for teaching me that).
@Charlie, Thanks for the compliment. It was great meeting everyone last night. It’s going to be hard to focus on work today knowing I can go pick up a new piece of equipment tonight!
