The Wandering Monkey

Had lunch with my friend who is also traveling to Shanghai. We exchanged notes. He knew of a Mandarin class for adults held at a Shanghai University, right downtown. He'd been in the area before. For a 12 week program, it would cost $900 for classes plus $1100 if you wanted to stay in the dorms. This sounds like a good approach. I could judge from that what I wanted to do next. Classes only run 4 hours a day, M-F. Certainly I would learn the language this way. And I would meet many other people from all over, living the the dorms.
There is a summer session which begins July 7. That would be a tight schedule, but possible. The next one does not begin until September, which is two full months away. So I'm going to research it. One major positive part of this plan is that on a student visa you can stay up to 6 months, so long as you are taking 10 hours of classes a week. On a tourist visa you can only stay one month, then must leave and return to get another month.
The other option, teaching English, still is attractive to me, but I am concerned about committing to it. I'd like to have the option to exit China at any time without any hard feelings. I could not just leave a teaching job in the middle of the course. If I'm just a student I take off, no harm done.
In other news, I went back to the tatoo place today to see how their sketch was. I was not impressed by it, and I did not like their non-chalant attitude about it, either. So its 'no' to them. I'm still going to consider the tatoo, but we'll see when and where.

So...
Round trip open-ended airfaire to Shanghai... $760
Classes for 12 weeks.... $900
Dorm rooms ... $1100
Food ... $500
Travel & Entertainment ... $500

Opportunity of a lifetime.... well, you know.... ;-)

Today I visited a tatoo parlor. I've been considering getting one for several years. The only image which has kept in my head is a set of scales, slightly tilted to one side. It represents Balance. Balance has been my key for the last year. Try to avoid extremes, seek balance in all things. Sounds very Zen or Bhuddist or something. The scales are slightly tipped in one direction, because nothing is ever truly in balance.

Today I am feeling restless again, like it is time to move on. I think I would stop by SF to pick up some things and visit. Then go to Montana to visit with my mom for a week or so. But before I do this, I need to finish all my open business. I need to get and old document prepared for my old work. And I need to move some furniture from SF to Montanta. And I need to either sell my car or store it somewere. I also need to get my minimum language skills, arrange for a place to stay in Shanghai, and get a list of at least 5 people I could hang out with.
I've never been on a spring break, ever. I always just came home and worked. I'd like to go on a spring break. But where do 33 year olds go on spring break? Thailand, I think. The rainy season is over in August-September. That would be a good time. I hear you can live like a king out there for virtually no money. Maybe that's what I need. Rather jumping right into China and trying to work in a new profession, I can go to Thailand and truly vacation. I'm wondering sometimes, why am I vacationing in Phoenix? This town is a good place to retire, though. Granted. Not a bad place to live, either.
On the 4th of July weekend, I'm supposed to go with my cousin to San Diego. I would make sense to take my own car and just keep on going up north to SF after that, vacating Phoenix. Provided I can get everthing done by that time. Establishing a useful mailing address has got to be the most difficult part of my plan. I'm going to check online for mail forwaring services. That's what I really need.

Having lunch on Sunday with my friend who is also going to Shanghai. I imagine we'll check out language skills and ideas for life in Shanghai. Should be cool!
Those of you in San Jose, I miss you guys. Phoenix is turning out pretty well. Just what I needed.

Bentley is about 6 years old. He's a mix of corgie and basset hound, we think. He's very smart. He came from one of my cousin's old girlfriends who left him here, so no one's sure exactly his breed or how old he is. He's short of short and long, and he can run extremely fast.

I am pretty sure Bentley is taking to me. He always is happy to see me, and he follows me around everyone I go, unless he's sleeping. He'll never eat my food without permission, and if several people call him, he will always come to me. I take care of Bentley by taking him to the dog park, scratching him. I never yell at him or hit him. To discipline him, I tell him to come over to me. He usually knows he's done something wrong, so he's very hesistant to come to me. But I keep on telling him to come, and he does. Then, I tell him he's been bad and tap my finger on his nose. This seems to work. He gets the point.

Bentley has been through as many homes as I have in the past seven years, probably. He's got a lot of issues. When we are at the dog park, the other dog Dave will go around and run and play with the other dogs. Bentley will almost always just stay by my side. If I run or throw the ball, he'll run with me or fetch it back to me. But he doesn't like to mingle so much with the dogs. Likewise, Bentley does not mix well with the other dogs in the house. He always wants all the attention. If I'm petting Bentley and Dave comes by, Bentley will growl at him.

Bentley also does not like the new puppy, not at all. (Bentley just came up to me to visit). The new puppy is always jumping around, biting his tail or something. Bentley outright growls at him. They don't mix well at all.

Bentley is also very vigilant. If anyone comes over or even drives by the house, Bentley will start barking like crazy. If anyone enters the house, he'll do the same. There's no calming him. I'm working on it.

In all, I think Bentley is looking for an owner, or master, or whatever you call it. I think he wants me to be his new master. I would, too, if I had some place to take him! I'm on the road myself. Bentley would be a good road dog. He's the kind of dog who would drive with you all over the country and sit in the passenger seat. He's well housebroken and very loyal. Maybe I'll take a road trip with him, I don't know. Probably not.

If I do end up in a situation where I could keep a dog, I would take Bentley with me. I think he should be OK here in the meanwhile. I've even thought of taking Bentley with me to China. He'd be a good companion. But, as I've been warned, I would need to make sure I never left him alone, for fear of someone making lunch out of him.

In other news, I had three cavities filled today.
-J

Today I taught English and learned Mandarin. My tutor/student asked me for the meaning of an English phrase, which I told her. And another one of her students showed up to pick up that translation.
As it turned out, this guy is also going to Shanghai, and he will be there in August. He was also in Shanghai last November, which was the same time I was there. He's currently working on a semiconductor startup in Shanghai, which is the same business I was last working in San Jose. So we exchanged e-mails and information. So I have a new friend, it appears!

Today:
Massage
Chiropractor
Dentist

Today in my Mandarin-speaking group, only my tutor and I showed up, so we ended up chatting. She said the point of the group is to enhance both Mandarin- and English-speaking ability. So, since it is one of my goals to teach English, today I became the tutor and she my student.

My tutor is a native Mandarin speaker and not perfectly fluent in English. When she speaks, it is immediately apparent she is not a native speaker. I asked her to speak a few sentences and critiqued her as we went along.

Pronounciation was a problem, so I asked her to repeat sample words starting with each letter of the alphabet. Quickly I could identify 3 letters (i, e, v) which had problems. Some sounds were also difficult, such as 'th'. Also, English is terribly inconsistent on vowel pronounciation. 'Fox' and 'Dog', for instance.

Her speech was halting, just like my Mandarin. But her vocabulary is wide enough to explain nearly every concept. Her grammar was decent. She has achieved a 'critical mass' in English. She knows enough English to explain what she wants and can get more words from any English speaker. That's the point I would like to be at with my Mandarin speaking.

Searching for a topic, I asked if she could recite a recipe. She said it the first time and I corrected her as she went along. Once we had all the correct vocabulary and grammar, I asked her to repeat the entire recipe. The second time was smoother, but you could tell with almost every word that the speaker was from a foreign country.

So I broke it down to see exactly why I could detect that. Pronounciation was the first issue. Misuse of articles (like "a" and "the") was the second. Verb tenses was the third. Man, English verb tenses are downright silly. If you remember learning them the first time, we must have spent years on it. What's the point of it? English is really an unwieldy language. It's only because we're so familiar with it that we can put up with it.

Then, I asked if she was any good at writing. She said yes, but she tended to use lots of small words. I said that actually, that's the best way to write. So I asked her to write down the recipe she had just recited. I was surprised with the result. She had only one error in spelling and one in grammar in a three-sentence recipe procedure. In all I would wager that most native English speakers could not create written instructions this good, and I told her so.

We went on for two hours. She learned very quickly and did not grow tired (I tire of Mandarin after about 60 minutes!) I encouraged her to speak on any topic, so long as she used full sentences. It ws fascinating to analyze exactly what the issues were and address them.

I think I can teach her to speak fluently. And, I found this work suited me, especially with a bright student. It's like immediate feedback. Making computer systems gives you mostly negative feedback (error handling). There is satisfaction in designing a good computer system, but this is completely different.

So now I will tutor her in English and she will tutor me in Mandarin. Added Bonus : I don't have to pay for lessons anymore!

HULK
One-word Movie Review:
What-ever

Went out swing dancing again tonight. This time I hung out with some of the dancers afterwards. They were the organizers of the Saturday evening events. It's really cool that with swing dancing you can pretty much go to any city and almost immediately connect with people.
I told them about my plans for the Shanghai swing dance scene. My plans are, go there, start teaching, develop a scene, then organize the first ever Shanghai Lindy Exchange. A Lindy Exchange is when local people offer their houses for places to crash, and folks from across the world come to that city. They all dance at some event then stay with the local folks. It's great because you meet new folks and it does not cost very much since there are no hotel costs.
The Swing Session from SF have already agreed (in principle) to come to Shanghai, as have many of my friends from SF. Everyone says you'd have to get the airfare subsidized. I think this is the major key to the success of the event. There's a lot do to between then and now, but I think the idea could work.
In the meanwhile, it occured to me I could start visiting various U.S. cities which are having Lindy Exchanges. I can just drive from one to the next. This might be a good idea to get on the road again.

Today the Chinese president delcared that SARS was under effective control. SARS has been very important to me. My friend and I were in China in November 2002, right when SARS was originating in the Quandong Province. We were in Beijing and Shanghai, which is far north of there.

Since then I have been keeping up with every SARS report I could find. So far here's the facts as I know them:
-The mortality rate of SARS is 5-6%. The people who are old or already sick are most succeptible, though there have been a couple of deaths in the 20- and 30-year old age ranges.
-SARS is communicable. It can be airborne or transmit by touch. The SARS virus can live on a surface (such as a counter top) for up to 24 hours.
-There is no vaccine for SARS, nor is there a truly effective treatment other than rest, food, and so forth.
-The SARS incubation period is 10 days. If you catch it, you'll show symptoms by then.
-The symptoms of SARS include high fever and a dry cough.
-In China people suspected of having SARS may be put into quanantine for up to 10 days.
-SARS has killed over 800 people.

During SARS I e-mailed many people in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. No one I talked to had personally knew anyone who had SARS. They were, however, dealing with the fear and the measures that had to be taken to prevent SARS from spreading. Most of them warned me not to come. They said it would not be a pleasant time.

But now that SARS and the fear of SARS have diminished, the green light seems to be on again. Everything passes eventually. I knew China was not going to fall into the sea because of this. But it made good sense to wait. I'm glad things are on the mend and that measures have been put into place to control it. I hope this experience leads to better disease control and more openness in China.

I'm definitely looking for a new direction. I don't know where I'm going to end up yet. Over the last couple of days things in Phoenix have been OK.
I've been watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Every now and then I can make something out. It's good to hear it spoken out loud. The sounds of Mandarin are different than what I have learned in practice. Spoken conversation has a very different than saying everything word-for-word like you would to a child.
It's amazing how very little you can get accomplished in a day if you set your mind to it. Tonight I'm going to take care of some bills I've been putting off.
Today someone said to me that they end up being a very different person, depending on the people they are hanging out with. If they are hanging out with one individual who may be a crazy party person, they change and become more exitable and such. And when they handg with someone else they are a whole other person. I've heard a lot of people say the same sort of thing.
I'm the same way, when I think about it. And the odd thing is, when you are with each person they only see that particular side of you that comes out.
I have no plans for this weekend. I've been staying up until very late and sleeping past noon each night. I think it's in part because its so hot during the daytime. You can't really do anything until afternoon. The nights are very pleasant, though.
Wan an,
Jim

Check out this pic from Jimbo's Swingin' Party IV:
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/jszyszko/vwp?.dir=/JimbosSwinginPartyIV2003&.src=ph&.dnm=MoreofTheSwingSession.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/jszyszko/lst%3f%26.dir=/JimbosSwinginPartyIV2003%26.src=ph%26.view=t

(You may have to select the link, copy & paste it into your text bar)

I don't know how much longer I'm going to be here in Phoenix. I'm harnessing my Chi.

Our father who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy will be done
Thy kindom come
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
Amen

I actually say this now. I try to say it once a day. I find that it means something different to me most every day I say it. The two things I find most important about it are 1) the part about getting our daily bread, and 2) forgiveness.
Every time I go over the part of 'our daily bread', it occurs to me that I have eaten today. It reminds me not to take it for granted. When I get to the part about forgiveness, I find that each day it helps me get over things in my past and also to accept others and their faults. I think it possible that religion is a very good thing for getting to know how to live. I'm not so much a person who takes things literally, but I suppose I have an eye out for it.

I had a good evening out with my cousin. He and I as it turns out have more in common at the moment than I thought. For the last two months (at least), I have been telling everyone I'm going to Shanghai. And for the last perhaps six months, my cousin has been telling everyone he runs into that he is starting a gymnastics gym. Both of us were doing it for the same reasons. One reason is to bolster our own self confidence on the issue; when people raise support or people introduce criticism, hopefully you can take the energy or take the potential problem and do something with it. The second reason I think we both talk about it is because, simply, we need a lot of help to do it. And now that we've been talking about it for so long, telling everyone, if in 6 months it doesn't happen, everyone's going to be like "Yah, OK."

Five months ago I answered an advetisement for a Mandarin tutor. Why was I doing this? At that time, I really didn't know why. But I did know I'm not happy with my current situation, and I have to do something. I don't see any future here and now every moment is getting unpleasant. So you pick a direction, and you just keep talking about it and planning for it and eventually it happens. So I got a tutor. As it happened, she introduced me to some people in Shanghai who are willing to put me up for two or three weeks while I get settled. Isn't that awesome?

Seven years ago I left the Midwest to go to California, and I had no such preparations. On that trip I learned a lot of things about relocating. I had no job, no place to stay, and I didn't know anyone. I had $2000 in my bank account and I just started driving from my home town to California. (I left in February because I wanted the season to move from Winter to Summer in one week.)

I drove to L.A. I hated it. Bomb threat on the very freeway exit I was supposed to take. My cousin Eddie lived there but it wasn't too much fun there. I got tired after a week. So I went to San Diego. There I lived with a surfer for about three months. I worked for Kelly Temporary Services and started working temp jobs within a few days. I made enough money to support my rent and food. I had to make a tight budget. Did you know you can live on $5 for an entire week? Rice and vegetables, baby. Rice and vegetables.

In San Diego, after flying back to my friend Scott's wedding, I found myself out of work and out of cash. I almost went back to Chicago. I called up my friends back there and told them I was returning. Everyone acted all sad and dissapointed, as if I had told them my dog had died. So I decided, I'm not going back. I'm going to Plan B. (So What's Plan B?) I hung of the phone with my friends. I called my Cousin Eddie in Los Angeles. "Can I stay with you for a while? Yeah? Cool."

So I moved to L.A., lived with Cousin Eddie rent-free. For about two and half months. That man is cool, but damn can he talk. Call him up and ask him, he'll tell you. So I moved out and I lived on a wooden boat in San Pedro harbor. I painted and sanded it in exchange for rent. That was about the time I met my first California girlfriend, Jennifer.

Jen, as it would have it, was a fantastically cute girl who came from Chicago. We met on a temp job at Kal Kan (which is the worst-smelling place ever, believe me.) I met her at the copier machine. I remember our first conversation:
me: "Hello" (dorky smile)
Jen: "Oh hi," (looking cute). "I'm just a temp."*
me: "Me, too!"
Jen: "I'm from Chicago."
me: "Me, TOO!"
Jen: "I'm doing this now, but I really want to be a writer."
me: "ME TOO!!!"

*Footnote: Jen told me upon meeting me her first thought was, Oh I am not sleeping with him.

We ended up hanging out together, because you can trust a Midwesterner better than a Angelino. We ended up boyfriend-girlfriend for about two years in L.A. After a time, we broke up. Actually, several times we broke up. I don't know why but I felt it was not the right connection. She moved to San Francisco for a job transfer offer. She may still be there, I don't know.

Anyhow, I've gotten off track. The point of the story was, California was my transition. My old life didn't suit me anymore, and I was prepared to transition out. It worked. I can only imagine the life I would have had if I hadn't ever taken that step. And now, I can only imagine the life I'm about to step into. When I visited, Shanghai felt a little like Chinese Los Angeles. I would say more like L.A. than New York.

But on my impending trip, I know a few people in Shanghai, I have a place to stay, and I have enough funds to keep me going for a long time. Except for the language and culture barrier, I'm more prepared today to go to China than I was to go to California seven years ago.

Well, that's about it for tonight. And... if you read the previous post, here's what it means:
Ni men hao = Hello (to many people)
Wo jiao Jimbo = I am called Jimbo
Wan an= Good Night!

Ni men hao,
Wo jiao Jimbo.
Wan an.

It's becoming apparent to me that my time spent in Phoenix is not going to be as productive as I had hoped. On the positive, I am definitely getting rest and a chance to reflect. This I needed. However, my cousin is so preoccupied with open his gymnastics gym that I am never seeing him at all.
If I could arrange to have the same money burn rate in Phoenix that I would have in China, I might as well go there. I think I could get all of my goals accomplished faster. I put up an ad for renting a room in Shanghai. I'm looking to have roommates because that would facilitate integrating with the city. It's who you know, you know.
Today in my Mandarin lesson we went over pronounciation and I have about 80% of it correct. We are now working on vocabulary and continuing to review pronounciation. I told my tutor my goal was a 100-word vocabulary, and she said that was not really very difficult. With some work I could have that in a week or two, hopefully.

Didn't do the resumes last night. Still holding off.
The WHO has removed Taiwan from its travel advisory list for SARS. Now only Beijing remains in the list, Hong Kong and Singapore having been removed previously. I think it makes most sense to wait until all cities are removed from the list before traveling there.
Back in the boom of Silicon Valley, if you put your resume on the Internet you would expect to begin negotiating the next day and accept a new job within two weeks at most. That's how it was. You didn't float your resume out there until you were prepared to go that very day.
It's not like that in Silicon Valley these days, of course, but I have a feeling the job market is much hotter right now in Shanghai. I want to wrap up all of my personal business here before I sent out my resumes, and when I do send them out, I want to be ready to go at a moment's notice.
Every now and then I consider buying a house here in Phoenix because of the potential for the market to expand and increase in value. It definitely looks like it will. Houses are quite affordable (relatively). But most of the time I think is not a good idea. I have never tried an investment property before (though it would be my home address). I'm concerned that buying a house and almost immediately heading out to work abroad is a pretty non-sensical idea.
So far in Phoenix: Been dancing twice, been on one (bad) date, had a small argument with Rick, been to the gym, walked to dogs a lot, lost my sunscreen (or it was taken), and slept a good deal. Also I have had time to work on an important personal project of mine, and last but not least study Mandarin.
l8r - J

Priced it out. One-way San Francisco to Beijing to Shanghai, travel July 1. How much do you think it costs?
$330 on Air China. $450 direct flight on United.
Today I'm going to get a business resume and English-teaching resume put together and float it out on the Shanghai job posts. I think I am ready to start communicating about job postings. I would estimate it will take about a month to arrange for anything. I'd like to get to China and interview, maybe take a month there to explore around, meet people, have fun, and so forth.
There's only two remaining open issues I need to take care of before I leave. Some furniture being stored with friends needs to be shipped to my family, and I would need to sell my car. I thought about just leaving my car in Phoenix and suspending the insurance and registration, but that really doesn't make sense. I might as well sell it and buy another if & when I return.
All for now.
-J

Nice night. Sunday night. Just took the dogs for a walk. End of a weekend, but they're all weekends to me ;0
So I need some sort of thing to do to take up my time. Going to the gym is good. Studying is good. But I think I need something else to do as well. Blog writing, I suppose.
Rick's been out of town all weekend. I haven't had but one lunch with him so far. I'm thinking we may have more chances to talk later, but we'll have to see.
It's nice to have a place to stay, though. I think it would have been too difficult to go from saying all sorts of Goodbye's and all the tasks of moving and then go straight to China. Too much work all at once. This is a chance to relax a touch.
Tomorrow there's some sort of swim-excercise class that looks interesting.

I think I should just go to Shanghai ASAP.

Saturday night, going dancing.

Happy Friday everyone. Last night I connected with the Phoenix swing dance scene. It's actually not that bad. Consider that the south bay / San Jose area has just a few venues left, this place is comparable to that. It's not like the San Francisco scene, but nothing is, really.
Life is still pretty simple and relaxing. During the day I am studying pronunciation of Chinese characters. The vowels are particularly difficult. In the evenings I go out to dance either at the swing or ballroom scenes. I may plan a road trip to New Orleans at the end of the month, and perhaps visit my parents in Montana. I think I'll grow bored of Phoenix within a month or two, but that was always the plan anyhow. Moving and separating from my friends in the Bay Area was difficult and painful. Making the change is like stepping into a cold lake. Entering is difficult, but once you're in, you're in and you might as well enjoy it.
My cousin Rick is quite an entrepreneur. He's renting several houses out, and he's starting a gymnastics gym from the ground up. Considering he's younger than me by several years, I cannot help by compare accomplishments. But I can map data from one format to another! Let's not forget that ;-)
It is no secret I have not been satisfied with my job for a very long time. I never really liked it; I began doing it so that I could get a job a Activision, in the hope of making games some day. By the time I was able to make a transition into the game studio, the amount of project Activision supported dropped from 11 to 4. The only job I could have secured would have been something like Asset Manager, which is an organizational, non-creative role. I chose against it and went into consulting doing the same job I had been doing up to that point.
My job can be described as business-to-business e-commerce. Taking files from one customer and translating them into a format which can be imported into the local system. Chosing the consulting path lead to many changes. First, in three months of consulting I would gross my annual salary I had been making at Activision. Second, I was put on projects, which means I could focus on one thing without having stupid, minor tasks assigned to me. And third, I relocated from Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, which was a much more geek-friendly environment.
I worked at three major clients, and I was paid by the hour. Only once did I interview at a start-up. But by that time the Silicon Valley boom had been going so long I really doubted it could continue, so I turned down the job. My prediction turned out to be true, and just about 1 and a half years later the big dot-com crash came.
After the crash I stayed employed a lot longer than most people. I was there almost a year afterwards. When the layoff finally came, I was prepared for it and had been anticipating it. It was just a month after my last day of work that I moved out of the Bay Area.
The decision to move was a very difficult one. The most compelling reason to stay was the friends and history I had built up there. The next biggest reason to stay was the environment of San Francisco. For a small city, it really has a lot to offer. I'd say no city in the U.S. is superior to it for culture and interesting things to do. The downside of S.F. has got to be the bums, the dirty streets.
In the end, there were powerful motivations to leave. First was the job market. Former $100K jobs asking for one skill had changed to $55K jobs asking for five skills, with more people looking for them. Second was the cost of housing. To buy a *modest* 2 BR house in the peninsula costs $500K. For some reason the housing prices have not fallen yet. Like the job market and stock market, the housing market must fall soon. But either way it is not likely to appreciate too much. It just did not seem like a good investment.
The third issue was personal. It had been a difficult year recovering from previous relationships. And last, there was the question of career. I did not like my career path, and I wanted to start something new. However, to start new would mean a pay cut, and with a bad job market and expensive real estate market, it didn't make sense.
I knew I wanted to get out of my apartment in SF. At least move into a house with people around, possibly pets, and lower rent. But then I considered, if I'm moving, why would I move somewhere in the bay area? I had my friends there -- some very good ones, too. But no mortgage, no wife, no kids and and no job. And at 33 there was still time to do something adventurous and perhaps a little foolish.
I had taken a trip to China with my good friend Merry in November of 2002. While there, I realized this is a pretty cool place in a lot of ways. As a foreigner, relatively tall, blonde hair and with blue eyes, I received a lot of attention. Plus the place is really very interesting. And in Shanghai, you can feel the energy of the people running around. It felt not unlike Silicon Valley four years ago. They have more skyscrapers and intriguing architecture than any city I have seen, including SF, Chicago, New York. I suppose they cannot beat Paris, though.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/jszyszko/lst?.dir=/ChinaTripNov2002&.src=ph&.view=t&BCID=jszyszko

Doing consulting allowed me to go to any city in the U.S. and get a job withing a few weeks. So I figured my adventures have lead me to Silicon Valley, where I lived throughout the boom. If I can make an adjustment to another country, another language, and work there as well, then I could truly go to any place in the world. So why not?
I'm brushing up on Swing Dancing and Mandarin. If I teach English for 6 months I'll know if I am keen on the country and the culture. I also intend to teach swing dancing. Then we'll see where it all leads.
Peace,
Jim

Normal day today. Took care of some important items. Chiropractor, buying a desk and setting up the computer, and my second Mandarin lesson. We covered the different consonants and vowels. Mandarin has 6 basic vowel sounds, plus some 10 more compound vowel sounds. It's hard to make some of the sounds. I swear a lot of them sound identical.
I'm having fun hanging out with my cousin and his friends. It's a good carefree time so far.
No particular insight into life tonight -- too tired.
I am trying to plan some sort of July 4 week trip, maybe to New Orleans. We were supposed to originally go to France, but the tickets went from $400 to $1400 real quick, so New Orleans is a good second.
Peace,
-J

Hello All-
Today was my first lesson with my new Mandarin tutor, Yang Yang. It turns out she is female. I had thought Yang was a male name. I believe she will be a very good tutor. She is studying for her Master's in English as a Second Language. She is originally from Beijing, so I imagine I'll be learning the Beijing accent (which some people have noted I have already). We covered the pronunciation of the basic consonants and vowels.
In Phoenix, I have found the heat tolerable. It does get up to 108 or 110 during the day, but so far its not that bad. Growing up in Chicago has trained me to deal with heat, and there's no humidity out here so its really not that difficult. 98 degrees with humidity is far far worse than 110. I'm adjusting to the new house well. Getting along with everyone, and there's a constant flow of visitors.
I have wondered why I decided to go to China, assuming I do actually go. When I went to California, I learned about what people call "First Generation" and "Second Generation". This refers to immigration to America. Most people I know count "First Generation" as a person who immigrated as an adult, and "Second Generation" as a person who was born here of immigrant parents. There was also a distinction for "Third Generation", after which people apparently don't keep track. I was told that on average First Gen people have the same sort of issues with their parents and in personal relationships. Second Gen have their own set of issues, and so forth. Apparently its a topic of much discussion in California and a thing to be aware of when dating somebody.
Growing up in the Midwest there was no such terminology as far as I knew. No one really spelled it out like that.
My father is First Generation, though my mother's family has been in the States for seven generations. In a way, that makes me Second Generation. I think this has had a very significant impact on my growing up and my interpersonal relations.
Going to China will give me some of an idea of what my own father's family and other immigrants went through. There will be a big difference; I will be a priviledged foreigner, already educated and with some means. Plus I am studying the language ahead of time, and as a U.S. citizen I probably have a better position than many.
But I remember the experience of taking a train on my own from Souzhou (sp?) to Shanghai, just 60 miles. I was dropped off at a train station and had to get a ticket and get on the right train. But it was very confusing. No signs were in English, as I had been told. The information booth woman did not speak English, either. I could have going person to person asking if they spoke English but I'd have felt quite foolish as they looked at me oddly. Also, I felt like I stuck out tremendously. There were only 4 other white people in a terminal of a few hundred. When I got in line for my train I really didn't know for sure if it right line or not.
And during all of this, I had many options. I had enough cash to get another train if I went on the wrong one. I had a phone number of someone I could call to pick me up if there was a problem. And still it was a moment-by-moment experience. You really don't know what you are doing but you are taking it step by step, hoping its right.
It was the right train, and I was the only white person in my car. Someone was sitting in my seat, and it occured to me how difficult it would be to explain to them the situation, especially if they chose to be uncooperative. But I showed them my ticket and they got up OK. I hid behind a book for the rest of the trip, and I was glad to get back to my hotel that evening.
So I'm preparing now. I hope I'm up for living in a foreign country when the time comes.
Peace,
Jim

Good Monday.
I'm in Phoenix. At my cousin's place. It's hot here, just like they said. 108 degrees at 8pm when I arrived.
Just got back from Swing Dance Camp at Catalina Island off the coast of L.A. It was an awesome time. I went to the dances in the evening and hung around the island during the daytime. I was with a group of 11 who rented a house on Sumner Avenue. We took turns cooking, cleaning, and climbing the 20-foot steel pole which ran from the second-story ceiling to the floor.
The dances were pretty good. Catalina Swing Camp just does not have the attendance or energy it had over the last few years. But I did get a chance to chat with The Swing Session backstage. The singer, Pops, even poured me a drink of whiskey, which I politely sipped -- ack.
The best part of the Catalina trip was probably the boat ride. We took two motor boats with 5 people each. While motoring along, we found a frisbee floating out in the middle of the water. So we played boat-to-boat frisbee for about a half hour. That was the best!
The after-hours parties were pretty decent. I didn't have the energy for it, but some members of our group were out every night until 4am. I don't know how...
The four days of camp ended and it all seemed like it had passed in the blink of an eye. At the boat terminal back in L.A. I was saying somewhat tearful goodbyes to my swing friends, whom I may not see again for quite some time. Then, I got into the car and drove about 6 hours to Phoenix. I miss my friends already, but I think I should stick with the plan.
I've scheduled my first Mandarin lesson in Phoenix for tonight, which my tutor in San Francisco will be glad to hear.
So now I'm going to rest up and prepare for my journey. I anticipate spending from one to three months here. It sounds like SARS is getting more under control, and there was never a reported outbreak in Shanghai (stressing *reported*). So I will e-mail the folks I know out there and confirm that this is true to their knowledge.
By the way, there are now three dogs at my cousin Rick's house: Dave (looks like a yellow wolf), Bentley (a black beagle-mix) and Jack (a chihuahua-terrier mix - only 4 pounds and 12 weeks old!)
All for now. Wish me luck.