...in China! (...在中国!)

Bad Mitch, Lazy Blogger...

2011-03-17T01:23:00.005-05:00

A few updates since last time. OK, let's get started.

First, I will be making more of an effort to contribute to this here blog which the 3 of you are following and reading.

Second, I've bought my very own personal corner of the web. www.mitchwagner.net Yes, I know it is essentially just vanity plate for my car on the internet, but whatever. I'll be fleshing it out in the coming weeks, with things that I find interesting. It's also just good practice for my inner programmer. From an IT perspective it grabs my twitter feed as well as my Blogspot feed (Where this entry is originating) and parses it into my personal web page. It's setup such that I can relatively easily switch blog sources and still have the content show up on there. Also the way it is setup, Chinese viewers will be able to read my current blog and twitter posts, where normally they would not due to the Great Fire Wall. (Assuming the site as a whole isn't blocked by the PRC.)

Third, This blog is a good chance for me to practice my English. And after nearly 5 years in China I definitely need the writing practice.

Forth, I will be spending more time on iPhone development in the coming weeks to get two projects out the door. All while at the same time concurrently working on the company website. www.sellschicken.com The latter is waiting on my good friend and graphics guy, Dave, to work up a Logo/Mascot for the site. Then it will go up pretty quickly. (A week or so after graphics are finalized.)

Fifth, I will be deciding very soon as to whether to stay in China or to move back to the states. Seeing as how I am spending more time doing development and less time thinking about teaching, I think we can all guess which way I am leaning. I need only take care of one issue and then things will start to move along more quickly. For those that are curious, my preferences are in the following order. San Francisco, Chicago, Bloomington. If my choice is between Bloomington and China, I will likely just stay in China. No offense to Bloomingtonians.

Sixth, I am making efforts to spend less time reading political news and more time on things in my life that are actually productive, like hobbies, projects and exploring more of the city before I fly away one last time. Also in this category is the concept of fitness. I've often had and on-again off-again relationship with the concept of fitness. Well, it's on now. 4-5 week days each week. Weekends off, for good behavior. 4 days is the bare minimum. Each day will involve running, my evil mistress.

Seventh, Project Marx, a.k.a. Project Joaquin Phoenix (if you hate commies.)

As you can see I am now quite bearded. This is part experiment, part art project and part "get it out of your system while you can". The experimental portion is to test the density and coverage of my beard, as I have only tested "The Goatee" in the past, I felt it was time for a mature full beard test. The artistic portion is to make a time lapse movie of me growing a beard. In the beginning, one photo was taken every 12 hours. Now that the beard is longer, and it's harder to see the progress, photos are now being taken every 24 hours. And finally, If I get it out of my system, I will likely never need (or want) to grow it out again. The final movie and photos will get their own blog post when (and if) I finally shave it off.

Eighth, Last summers firearms project was a success. But also fun. Went to the range several times. Once with Tomas. Once with just mom, I think it was her first time at a range since the 1960's. She had a lot of fun. Once with Kasey, obviously outside Chicago. And one final time with Tomas again, and Alison as well as some Chinese friends. All-in-all it was a fun hootin' tootin' shootin' summer. Oh sorry about that. Also the custom rifle that I built turned out nicely, and was sold at the end of the summer. Will likely build another this summer. It's my inner geek that likes knowing how things work and are constructed that makes me build. Anyway, here it is.

Nineth, Kerry and Isaac, my beloved SF hosts and friends came to China in September right after I got back. We all had a great time. Ate many foods and shared many experiences, even though I was partially disabled at the time. (Partially severed tendon in right hand). They are definitely good reason to live in SF. (Also, congrats on buying a house!) Very much looking forward to seeing them this summer regardless of where I end up living and working.

Finally, I really do hope that I can post a little more regularly and that You all enjoy what I got to say. Starting now I will be spending more though on writing about my experiences here in China, or at least the ones I can share to the viewing public. Anyway. Signing off for now. Better spell check this first! ;)

Very late update.

2009-12-08T00:33:00.002-06:00

Not much new. Went home for the summer. Went shooting with friends. I'm becoming a pretty good shot with the 9mm. Also been researching a lot related to building an AR15/M4 Carbine one piece at a time. Seems like an interesting geeky/nerdy activity.

Summer was nice. Bonny made it to Bloomington. I made it to San Francisco. Fun was had in all places.

The school year is progressing as usual. Almost halfway finished with the first term already. I learned that I am eligible for a "permanent" resident certificate. (Permanent = 10 years) Since I have been here for more than 3 years and working with a University, I can do some paper work, and not worry about my visa for quite awhile, or at least until my passport expires! Not sure what after that.

Will try to post more as things happen!

My first iPhone App

2009-03-25T09:45:00.003-05:00

The title pretty much says it all! On March 18 (Beijing time) I jumped through all the necessary hoops and uploaded my app using itunesconnect. It was pretty easy. I was abit worried about how long it would take to be approved but it turned out to be just under 7 days. (6 days, 20 hours or so)

Clicking the above pic will take you to iTunes! Over all the hardest part has been teaching myself programming in Objective-C. But it has been very fulling. So far I have give out one Promo Code and supposed 2 have bought it. I already have a few ideas for upgrades and future versions. Namely integration with Facebook Connect and news feeds. my goal is to integrate that by April 17th.

Well I hope a few people find it interesting and mildly entertaining.

Oh, did I forget something?

2008-02-29T01:18:00.004-06:00

So as you may have noticed. I've been woefully past due on posting an update. To the tune of 8 months. Wow, um, sorry about that. Blogger is sometimes hard to reach here and I am to lazy to go fishing for a proxy that works. But I am here now and that's what matter. So what have you missed. A trip home during the summer. A birthday. Visiting with a friend that came from China to Chicago. Return to China. The first term of classes. And Spring festival. The biggest thing. I went to Hunan (湖南) and Jiangxi (江西) over the festival vacation to visit friends and meet their familes. While in Hunan I had a chance to redefine my idea of what spicy meant. It's call "Niuwa" (牛蛙) or Bull Frog, but this dish also had congealed duck blood which is the dark ingredients. Seen here:

It was very tasty it had a nice clean spicy taste. But the heat stayed only in your mouth and on your tongue, and it's doesn't go away. And let me just say DAMN, the spiciest thing I've had here. And I've had food floating in overflowing pools of oil and chillies.

Hopefully with the wind up to the Olympics Blogger.com will be more accessible here. I'll try to make more frequent updates, I promise! But in the meantime, you can catch up to date updates on Twitter.

Overdue fees...

2007-07-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

So as you can see it has been some time since my last post. For that I apologize. But I am in fact alive. It seems that every time I want to post there would be some sort of Internet problem, usually involving the "The Great (Fire)Wall". Anyway, here I am. The school year is over. Students are slowing beginning to return home, or do whatever it is students do during the summer.

Most exciting is the fact that I come/go home in just about 10 days. Sadly alone. MY favorite person was unable to get away from work long enough to join me. But it will give us a future opportunity. So it will be OK. I'm looking forward to the food/family/friends I've been missing. But I fear the time will go slow. I'll be home for 5 weeks, and be unemployed for all of it. So I hope to keep busy. I also fear forgetting all the Chinese I've learned. But I will try to study and review everyday.

These days I'm busy thinking about what types of gifts to buy as gifts/souvenirs. I'm also hoping to not come across any HP7 spoilers on the Internet. Other than that, I've just been resting and relaxing and enjoying my time. I found out what I'll be teaching next term pronunciation and history/culture again to my former freshmen cum sophomores. Pronunciation is new so I'll need to prepare for it, but history/culture I will refine my resources from last term.

That's all for now, I hope to see some of you soon!

First Bilingual Post...

2007-03-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

On saturday, some friends and I had gone to a large shopping center called Jinwuxing and bought a few things. This place was huge! I bought some badminton rackets. I find it is quite fun. And good for my health. Afterwards we went to a park to play and celebrate one of my russian classmates birthday with some yummy birthday cake. We stopped of at a bakery called Weiduomei and bought 4 pieces of cake. As we went inside I noticed the music playing, and apparently Chinese bakeries like to party. Even worse, I think it was a remix, of "We like to party".

星期六我跟些很好的朋友去一个很大的商场，名字叫《金五星》，我们去买东西了。这个地方非常大！我买了一副羽毛球拍。我觉得打羽毛球是很好完儿的！也使我的身体更好。然后我们去一个公园庆祝我的俄国的同学的生日，但是我们先进去点心店，名字叫《味多美》，买四块蛋糕。我一进去就听音乐。你知道不知道中国人喜欢“庆祝”，他们喜欢...他们喜欢...他们喜欢庆祝！

As you can see I'm making progress, but miles to go...

When it rains, it pours.

2007-02-26T06:45:00.000-06:00

I received 3 pieces of mail. 2 parcels and a letter. All this on the first day back at school. What a wonderful way to start the new school term. I miss you all very much. Thanks for the yummy treats.

From Friends:
Nestle Treasures
Chocolate Pudding
6 Pack Wintergreen Altoids
Box of Twinkies
Assorted Cookies
Pirate Stickers
Vanilla Mint Chapstick
Goldtoe White Socks
Velma Wobblehead
Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
3 Cards/Letters from friends
Deck of Indiana University Playing Cards

From Family:
Vanilla Frosted Mini-Wheats
3 Bags York Peppermint Patties
York Peppermint covered Chocolates
12 pack razor blades
Apple smoked Cheddar
Box of pens.
A big comfy green towel
Gift for a Chinese Friend
A Valentine's day card

From France:
A lovely Letter (English and Chinese edition)
Postcard
Card

Cravings...

2007-02-11T00:19:00.000-06:00

Cravings are starting to overcome me. Things I want:

Rootbeer - Prompted by the discovery of this Rootbeer Blog
Donuts - I'd prefer Krispy Kreme, or Dunkin'
Cheese - Cheddar. A hard dry sharp cheese.
Cereal - Need some Frosted Mini-wheats.
Cherry Coke - Grenadine would suffice.

These things always seem to be craved.

Unrelated...

2007-01-25T04:03:00.000-06:00

While writing the last post a song came up on iTunes and I had to stop and listen. Despite the imagery invoked, it is some pretty amazing playing. I am of course talking about "Dueling Banjos". And if you've seen the associated movie you'll know the imagery I'm talking about. Funny coincidence considering the previous post was partly about pig tongue.

First update of the year...

2007-01-25T03:31:00.000-06:00

How's this for late? The first month of the year is nearly over and I am just now getting around to posting. So bad. Well quickie update: Term is over. Most of the students did very well. Some didn't of course. Sometimes it is very hard to balance the skill level of the different students, especially in the non-English major courses. I am very happy with the performance of my freshman English majors. They all did quite well in there listening class. Also I have my final class schedule for the next term. I will have many of the freshman again in my public speaking courses. I will have one very large class covering American & British History and Culture. And one final course for grad students, covering oral English. So this term I will have one less class to teach. All of my course are in the afternoon, which will leave my mornings open for my Chinese Language classes. 20 hours a week in class studying Chinese. I hope I am not stretched too thin. I've learned a great deal this past term about preparation and time management. So all should go well.

The holidays were pretty nice. Spent time with a good friend here. New Years was wonderful too. January started off great but since then has been... Well, it's been January! That's all I'll say on that. I am not sure if I am ready for vacation. I think now I'd rather be busy. Lots of freetime! Though I may have a guest coming soon! Which will be great.

And for you fans, here is another installment of "What the Hell is Mitch eating over there?"

Need a hint?

Well Kermit would have been much happier if Mrs. Piggy were missing this!

Pig tongue. The meal that tastes you back! It wasn't too bad, odd texture, but decent taste.

Name that dish...

2006-12-28T00:21:00.000-06:00

Here is a dish I tried some time ago. Perhaps 3 weeks. It was quite yummy. It is a Sichuan dish, meaning it is a bit spicy. But I really enjoyed it and it helped me with a cold I had.

Which brings us to this week's installment of "What the Hell is Mitch eating over there?"

The correct answer would be...
"What is frog?"
"Who is Kermit?" Would also be accepted.

Yet another reason why camera phones are good. Who takes a regular camera with them to just a regular lunch. You catch all sorts of interesting dishes and bad translations. Gotta love it.

Holidays...

2006-12-27T23:36:00.000-06:00

First Christmas in China. Pretty quiet. No. Actually, quite busy. That day I had two of my Chinese language classes. In one I had a final exam. And I taught two English classes. Christmas eve was pretty fun though. Met a friend for dinner. Then we were mall rats for the evening. Lots of Fun.

I was sent a very nice care package from the family.
Contents:
Peppermint Patties. (they don't seem to combine chocolate and mint here very often) Pumpkin bread.
Two pairs of shoes. (Hard to find my size here! 47.5)
Two pullovers.
DIY Mini Christmas tree, with mini ornaments. (see photo above)
6 pack of Wintergreen Altoids.
Static window decorations.
Mini stocking with Mini stuffer!
Something from Marie.

The next holiday coming up is New Years. I am hoping for a nice evening and weekend. Since Friday will be the last day of Chinese classes, next week will be pretty light.

I now have a regular speaking partner. Her English is not so good, so I'm forced to use more Chinese to communicate. It is quite nice. And I'm getting pretty fast with a dictionary. (see below photo, far left!)

That's all for now. Will write more next year. Next year, get it? Get it? See what I did there?

Trip to Xiang Shan.

2006-11-26T07:35:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday several of us went to Xiang Shan (香山). Many Beijing natives go there at this time of year to see the changing of the leaves and to make the pilgrimage to the top of the mountain. Fall is the most beautiful time. The maple leaves are red and there is a nice cool breeze. Sadly we were one or two weeks late to see the reddest of the leaves. But we still had fun. We were in no hurry and we visited the tops of some of the smaller hills first. The we made our way up slowly to the top. We stop frequently for photos and snacks.

Two classmates from Chinese class and two of our Chinese friends. (From left to right: Chinese friend, Russian classmate, Chinese English student of mine and Japanese classmate)

This is a picture from the top. In the temple in the distance is a stone that is said to be so high that ghosts are afraid to go to the top. It was very lovely day. A bit chilly, but the climbing kept you warm!

And finally a picture of a yummy snack being made. Shan Dong Jian Bing (山东煎饼) Easiest way to explain it is "breakfast burrito", but there is batter layer, then egg layer, then Chinese onions, then some hot sauce, then a fried "tortilla" in the center, it is then all wrapped and eaten!

Hot Pot...

2006-11-15T06:12:00.000-06:00

Sunday night to celebrate a friends birthday we went to a nearby restaurant and had a famous Beijing dish. It is cold Hot Pot. It was quite yummy. Much better than the last hot pot I had. This time we had Lamp, Beef, Shrimp (More like huge ass prawns!) Vegetables and rice noodles. I opted for the spicy water. Imagine making a tea out of chili peppers and then using that water to cook meats and vegetables. The process is not entirely unlike Fondue, without the chocolate and the cheese. It was all very good and very well priced. (80RMB or $10) Sadly I don't recall the name of the restaurant. Some friends and I are going there tomorrow night to celebrate one of them taking the TOEFL. Perhaps in a few weeks we can do it again for the results, though we'll do Steak on that occasion.

Still having a few western cravings. I had a bowl of frosted flakes on Saturday. I must say that was quite wonderful. I just hung around the apartment watching movies etc. I watched "V for Vendetta" and the first 5 episodes of the newest season of Lost. So I feel a little caught up on the western world. I've not been able to track down Smallville or BSG yet. Just have to be patient. It will hopefully be easier with my switch to DSL in the coming week. And hopefully there will be less need for proxies!

Chinese lessons are going well. I'm told my pronunciation is getting better. I am still having problems here and there. Listening is a bit difficult at times. The clips are too long and too fast. They start us out on clips running at native speeds. No slowed down dialogs for us! Sink or Swim baby!

All else is well.

Cellphones...

2006-11-04T02:00:00.000-06:00

Cellphones are a very interesting topic here. As far as I can tell pay-as-you-go is the norm here rather than the exception like it is in the US. You buy a cellphone, at full price. Then you buy a cellphone number, which are not all made equal. 4's are bad luck so they make it cheaper. 8's are good luck and increase the price of the number. My number has neither 4's nor 8's so, like usual my luck is a wash. Voicemail is super expensive, so most people rely on SMS which is very cheap. I fit in very well, as I prefer txt's over talking.

My phone from the US works perfectly here. (Props to T-Mobile for unlocking phones!) But sadly it could not send or receive Chinese Txt's. So after about a month or so researching, I was able to find software on the internet for upgrading and modding (modifying) the Motorola RAZR.

I can now happily send and receive Chinese messages. This is good because the phone company will send you a warning when you're balance is getting low. The state also uses it to inform people of users of important things, like where not to go during some sort of diplomatic function. And finally it is another excuse to practice reading and "writing" Chinese.

Beijing Walmart....

2006-11-04T01:30:00.000-06:00

I know it's not very exciting but here are pictures I took during my adventure to Walmart.

This is the store front. It is in the lower level of a large hotel, so I suspect Walmart just bought a pre-existing structure and changed the signs. It is a bit confusing to navigate inside the store. I bought 2 DVD's and you have to pay for them in the movie section before you leave to do other shopping. The lowest level is for groceries, but there is no checkout there. So I bought some household items, paid for them. Went downstairs to the grocery. Picked out some things. Took them back upstairs, paid, then got lost trying to get out of the place. I was in a basement level garage before I knew it.

This is how they do they poultry section in the grocery portion of the store. It works very much like the produce department. You pick what you want, bag it and they weigh it for you. The other supermarkets I frequent are the same. The meat is generally not prepackaged in vacuum wrap. The exception is at the occasional checkout aisle, where you will find vacuum packed preserved meats, not unlike beef jerky. The example that sticks out in my mind the most were the spicy chicken feet beautifully lined up in a roll in the package. (Note: Spicy chicken feet are tasty, but too much work for too little meat, I think it is more of substitute for chewing gum...!)

Sea food is fresh. I mean FREEESSSSHHH! You pick out the live critters you want. In the picture, you see a very blurry turtle type animal. You can even buy fresh/live shrimp. How's that for fresh? They had a decent selection of dried, cured and preserved meats. Some of which I could not guess the original animal, but they sure smelled good. I'd say the grocery portion of the store was laid out pretty well. Meats, Seafood, Dried goods, Produce, Fruits, Cleaning supplies, and Snacks all together. Fewer items in a seemingly odd places. And in an interesting bit of irony, western food is in the ethnic food area. Bizarro World! ;)

And Finally, I've not had a bowl of cereal since I got here, and was seriously craving some. I managed to find some Frosties (AKA Frosted Flakes!) Here is a short but non-comprehensive list of foods I crave, but have not found; Frosted Mini Wheats, Wintergreen Altoids, Cheddar Cheese (Swiss and Gruyere are available, but they are not Cheddar! And cheese is hella-spensive!), Oh and for the love of all that is Holy, there is NOOOO Root Beer here.

...France?

2006-10-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

So, I've been in Beijing for less than 2 months and one of my best friends here is leaving for France, tomorrow morning. It really sucks. To come so far away from home, to make a very good friend only to have them leave after a short 5-6 of knowing each other. Sometimes timing in life really sucks a big one. Here's to hoping I can stay more than a year to welcome her back!

I miss you already, Amy! (And when I say "Amy", you know what word I really mean!)

Houhai Hutong Class Trip

2006-10-26T07:53:00.000-05:00

Last Friday my Chinese language classmates and I went on a walking trip to visit some Hutong (胡同). We set out from campus at about 1pm and got to the Hutong by about 3pm or so. We walked there and were in no real hurray. It was a very nice day, not too cold, but definitely not too hot either. We stop for fruit and meat-ka-bobs at some street vendors. Mostly it was a bonding experience between classmates and the teachers that went. The Hutong are a great place to visit because they are very narrow streets that are very friendly to through traffic. So it's very nice, peaceful, and most importantly devoid of cars. Another thing I liked about the Hutong, and most side streets in China I've seen so far, is that they are so well swept. You almost never see trash on the ground, or dead leaves, or plastic wrappers. It's almost surreal at times. It's also worth noting that many areas are swept by hand, no big street sweepers. Just a guy with a cart and a large bamboo broom.

Occasionally you'll stumble upon a funny photo-op,

an eye catching scene,

or just a cool statue.

After wandering in the Hutong for some time we passed through the Lotus Market area of Houhai and ended up at a restaurant where we had a nice large meal partially paid for by the school. There were about 25-30 in our party so we basically took over the restaurant's upstairs. So many dishes were ordered. Everything was good. The dessert was a candied sweet potato. Imagine a diced and cooked sweet potato dipped in melted sugar. Crunchy outside, soft yummy inside. It was great weekend overall!

Mitch Wagner, Foreign Expert!

2006-10-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

For any of you doubters or haters out there, I now have documented proof from a government saying that I'm an expert. [cough]Suck It![cough] No, not an expert jerk! Yes, I checked for typos!

Crowds upon crowds upon crowds.....

2006-10-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Last week, beginning on October 1, was China's National Day holiday. (Think Chinese July 4th) It also corresponds to Mid Autumn Day Festival. This is basically a week were a fair percentage of the country is off work and, most of them come to Beijing. The Tuesday I had a guest in town from Chicago, via Korea. We went to see many sites. Tian'anmen, Summer Palace, Great Wall at Badaling, Forbidden City, and shopping in the Wangfujing area just east of the Forbidden city. Many pictures that I hope to post at some point, if I can persuade the internet to bend to my will. Most of the sites were very scenic, which you can plainly see from the photos I've posted. Wangfujing is a pretty interesting area. Many specialized shops. (chopstick store, comb store, jewelry store, camera store etc) . And back alleys where you can haggle a pretty good deal.

On my first trip to the alleys I saw a very nice Chess set. (I had no money on me or to spare if I did!) I comment to the vendor how nice it was, how very pretty it was. His starting price was 300RMB($38 at the current conversion rate). All I could say was I had no money. He assumed that the haggling had begun. Well after a few rounds of me trying to convince him that I had no money and was walking away, the price had made it down to 10RMB ($1.25). So as you can see the prices are very flexible at times. My friends were very impressed by my haggling technique (and they are Chinese!)

You can also eat some interesting "food" in these alleys. (Deep Fried Fresh Scorpion-Ka-Bobs). I've not eaten anything too adventurous yet. But now that I've grown accustomed to the diet, I can start branching out trying more and more interesting things.

Woohoo Photos...

2006-10-02T05:44:00.000-05:00

I've finally found a place where I can upload and host photos successfully and for free. Here is the first photo. This is a shot down the main street that runs the length of my campus. Sadly uploading photos from here is slow as ass!!!

Also. Never underestimate the power of a politely worded email to the best computer company in the world. I once again have my baby MacBook back! Now all I need is internet in my apartment and all will be well!

BUPT-SICA

2006-09-24T04:27:00.000-05:00

Had a nice dinner last night with a few students. (School's, not mine) It was a pleasant little get together after we interview students hoping to join their association (BUPT-SICA). I was there to help grade their english proficiency, and perhaps be a little scary. Managed to make 3 new frieds by the end of the evening. (Props to "Dan", "Michael" & "Sally"!) I had a very nice evening. Enjoyed some good food, some more Tsing Tao beer. Then called it a night. Today has been a bit slow however. The Sunday before the beginning of a new week. It is the last week before the National Day holiday week. So when this week is over I can finally get around to seom fun siteseeing. Plus I have company coming from Chicago, via Korea. So it should be fun!

Beijing Kaoya and Mooncakes...

2006-09-22T04:11:00.000-05:00

Beijing Kaoya. Something that every Beijing traveler will likely try. It is also know as Peking Duck. I had it for the first time last night. It was not bad. A hint on the dry side. But the sides that go into the presentation made up for it. Eating Peking duck is a straight forward enough task to anyone that has ever had a fajita. Wrapper + meat + sauce + vegetables. Roll up. Eat. Evening beverage was Tsing Tao Pi Jiu (beer). (Interestingly available in cold and non-cold states. I recommend cold!)Over all I rate the food as pretty yummy. The food was good, the company made the evening! (Thanks "Amy"!)

Wednesday evening I had mooncakes for the first time. These are small (Hostess Ding-Dong sized) dessert type cakes. My company and I had 3. The first 2 were good. The last was, ODD. The first was Cheese and Chestnut. Not bad! The second was Wine and Plum. Good! The last was Beef and Tea. Huh? Did you say Beef and tea flavored mooncake? Yes, yes I did. This was the one that was not to my liking. Don't get me wrong, I like beef, tea and cake. When they are separated. But together? Hmmm. Just too odd for my western palate. Again, food was good, but the company made the evening! (Thanks Chan!)

Chinese Apples, it's kinda about China...

2006-09-22T03:59:00.000-05:00

Dear Apple Support and/or Steve,
I bought a new white MacBook at the Chicago's Michigan Ave store the week it was released. On Sept 2, I moved to China for a year long contract to teach English at a local university. The very day I got here my super drive failed. After some searching I found an apple certified repair location in the Beijing suburb of Chao Yang. There my MacBook has been sitting, for nearly 2+ weeks, as it awaits a replacement super drive, that has yet to even ship from it's origin. I know the MacBook is a very popular item in high demand, but to not have enough parts for basic repairs is somewhat irksome. I suspect this would take less than 24 hours in the states, perhaps only an hour or two at the Chicago Apple Store. I miss my Mac. I hate using this awful Lenovo PC, but I have no choice currently. I need to prepare for my students and their needs. This is all made more complex and difficult by the fact that English international support is, a bit lacking. I had to search the Apple.com.cn support site to find a repair location. Another difficult task since I'm only a being beginner student in the Chinese language.

I am sorry to complain like this. But what's taking so long? Sadly I suspect that the answer is the following:
A) Part has to be made, probably here in Asia.
B) Part is shipped to Apple, USA probably.
C) Part is shipped to Authorized repair locations, back to Asia.

Can there be a better way of handling international repairs? Surely!!! Ideas:
A) Multilingual International Support.
B) International distribution of repair parts.
C) International contact numbers on your website that are accurate. (800 810 2323 # Within China).
D) Email Support. (ie, a place to send emails like this.)

Thank you kindly for listening to this rant. Keep making wonderful products.
-Mitch

Great Walls N' Such.

2006-09-08T00:38:00.000-05:00

Ha! Thought you were going to see some snazzy photos of me and or a garden gnome posing in front of that Great Wall here in China. Well not yet. 2 things are stopping that from happening currently. 1) I haven't made it to the Great Wall yet. Interesting sidenote: One of the students that met me at the airport and helped me out has lived here (in Beijing) all his life and has never seen it. I am sure it is like Chicagoans that have never been to the top of the Sears Tower or been to a Cubs game. 2) Is the other great wall here in China and that is the Great Firewall. I have yet to figure a way of posting or uploading photos to Snapfish, Flickr or Yahoo Photos. As soon as I do I am sure the will be a glut of photos to look at. Worse case scenario I won't post any, and I'll give everybody one of those awesome boring ass Vacation Slideshows. Those are fun right? (There will be beer!) Those are fun right? That's what I thought.

I start teaching my grad students this coming Monday. (11.09.2006) And then my undergrads on the following Monday. (18.09.2006) I have only a total of 12 hours of teaching. None of which is on Wednesdays. In fact I have enrolled in 20 hours of Chinese language courses. 4 hours per day. (Less six that are at the same time as my English classes) So I teach 12 hours of English, and attend 14 hours of Chinese. Sweet deal eah?

Ni Hao Ma! 你好吗？

2006-09-04T02:57:00.000-05:00

Well I have finally arrived. I got here a few days ago. I have mostly recovered from jetlag, though I still get an overwhelming desire to take a nap at about 4pm. All is well here so far. I will have a much larger post in the coming days once I get a more consistent internet connection. In the meantime, let me share the phrase that has been bouncing around alot in my head. Holy crap, I'm in China!

Almost time to go...

2006-08-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

We're finally down to the waiting game. All the paperwork as cleared. I have my Visa and Plane ticket. The domestic to-do list seems to be getting longer however. I now have to pack and relocate all of my stuff, due to Jake being unable to find a new roommate. I suspect he wasn't really trying very hard, but whatever. Most of my stuff is going there. Some stuff is going to the Jones'. And some home to my folks. The stuff to the folks depends on a visit from a friend. Since I am take the bus home for a visit, I can't rightly take very much stuff to be stored. But if the Sargeant drives up, I'll be set. I still need to figure out how to take care of finances while I am abroad. I also need to figure out what exactly I am taking with me to China. But other than that I am just waiting. I am going home for the last weekend of August for my birthday and goodbyes. Then I come back to Chicago just in time for a Bon Voyage send-off at Sheffields. So I hope to see a few close friends on my way out.

On paperwork...

2006-07-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning I finally received scans of my paper work from China. This consisted of my work permit and letter of invitation. I went to the local Chinese consulate to finally apply for my work (Z) visa. They closed at 2:30pm. It was 3pm. I go back on friday at 12:45pm for my second attempt. They're closed from 12pm to 1pm for lunch. I go have lunch at Chili's. I go back at about 1:20pm. They're open. I wait in line. I need a passport photo. I have none. They can take one for me for $10 cash. I have $3. I got to the nearest Walgreens. They hook me up with 2 passport photos for <$10. I go back the the Consulate for the forth time. I wait in line. I have my application mostly filled out. I give them all of my paperwork. Luckily I had a feeling I would need my actual passport. Man, was I right on that one. They need it to affix the visa directly into the passport. So Currently my passport is in the possession on the PRC. But the good news... Next Thursday, July 20th I go pick up my passport with my brand spanking new Work Visa. All that is left now is to do the following: A) Book my flight. B) Get/Buy everything that I need. C) Say goodbyes. Have Bon Voyage Parties. D) Pack. E) Go.

Mini Update.

2006-07-02T08:27:00.000-05:00

I just received an update from my contact in China. I should be getting my work permit and letter of invitation sometime in the next week or so, which means I'll be able to go get my visa and start thinking about plane tickets. Also, apparently my dorm room/apartment will be nicer than I thought. It will have it's own private mini kitchen, and be furnished. Unclear if I will fit on the bed!

New Travel Toy.

2006-05-27T17:53:00.000-05:00

Last thursday I bought my first new computer of the new millennium. My old beast (Blue & White Powermac) had died just after the new year. We were bonding the only way a geek and his computer bond. No, Not internet porn! We were "Backing Up" DVD's. Anyway, he lived a long life. 6+ years, which is twice the life of a PC. But since I will soon be leaving the country I needed a computer for travel. My first "real" computer was the Apple Powerbook 1400, and I have gone back to my roots by getting the brand spanking new Apple MacBook.

So far I am totally in love with this little beast of a machine! It syncs with my Phone and my Camera. I have Parallels Desktop + Windows XP on there just in case. I don't think I could be happier with it. I hope to be using it from whatever free wifi hotspots I can find in the Beijing area, mostly to update this blog, post photos, and catch up on email with family and friends. Perhaps even write that great travel journal to be published in the near future. Who knows!

Visit me, revisited...

2006-05-25T15:27:00.000-05:00

It's official. I am taking my first ever paid vacation. Wow, I'm 30 and have never had a paid vacation. Sure I have had time off. But that was either unemployment or the result of a surgical procedure. So, what exotic place am I headed for my vacation, you ask? Well since I am hopefully going to China in August, I am opting for an inverted vacation. Instead of going abroad, I am going home. Bloomington, Indiana to be specific. Mark your calendar kiddies, from June 17th to June 23rd, I will be in sunny (maybe) Bloomington. This trip has several reasons, most importantly is so my mom can get her "My baby boy is going to China, and never coming back"'s out of the way. I also hope to be helping around their house with some minor home improvement type things. That said I would love to spend time with some of the people I know in Bloomington, assuming any of them are left. I also hope to get some hometown restaurant cravings out of the way. Irish Lion, Little Tibet, Nick's English Hut, Upland Brewery, watch out here I come. All that said, I would love to see some of you while I am in town. Please get a hold of me via the usual means!

Visit Me...

2006-05-16T21:13:00.000-05:00

For all those living here in the Midwest or planning to visit in the near future, I would love to see you before I leave in August. For those interested in visiting me abroad, traveling to China as a tourist is pretty straightforward. Passport. Vaccines. Visas. Fly. A quick search on Orbitz reveals that a roundtrip flight and 2-week stay in an average hotel will be around $1500 per person.

Mitch's Chinese Pre-Adventure

2006-05-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

Since January I have been in contact with a university in China, specifically Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, to secure a position as a foreign expert/English teacher. This is a technical research school located in the northwest Beijing district of Haidian. I recently received word that they do want me as a teacher.I am now waiting for the appropriate offices to process my work permit, and my final Work Visa, which I will be obtaining from the local embassy. According to my contact at the university, all this should go without any problems.

The school year runs from September 1, 2006 to July 30, 2007. Thus I will be gone for the better part of at least a year. Possibly longer if I like it and opt to stay. I will have a relatively small workweek consisting of about 14 hours teaching + assorted office hours and recording sessions. This will leave me a great deal of time to explore the city, learn the language and get to know the people of the PRC.

With the school year starting at the beginning of September I will be leaving in mid August. This should provide me with a week or two to recover from jetlag, get settled into my dorm room, (Woohoo, dorm living, I knew I forgot to do something in college!) and get familiar with both the university and the city.