Pudding and Chopsticks

So, first thing is first, I got a job. Yes that’s right, I interviewed, taught a free demo, had fun with some kids who were stoked on photography, and declined the job. What you say? Yes, I got the job and then I said no thanks. Why, well, here we go. About the job. It’s a legit school who actually wants responsible teachers. This is not a bad thing, but the fact is, they want 40 hours a week out of you. 25-30 teaching and probably 10 or so preparing and doing what not. I can’t provide this. I am working on a few things right now that require me to be free more than this job would allow. Yes I could of took the job and did my other items on the side, but I have been doing that for sometime now. The way I see it, it’s time to man up and do work.

This teaching job comes with a contract for 1 year. Bad, well, not really I plan on being here for probably that long, but, I could possibly come into something in the coming months. I might have to quit, if said things are better for myself and require a full time presence, then bye bye teaching. This wouldn’t make them happy, for sure. I’m not the kind of guy to leave people hanging. I could of signed on and bailed when I needed to, actually I probably should of, like I said, time to man up..

I have to wear a suit. Well, 90% of a suit. Everything but the coat. Bad, no. I actually like dressing up, people respect a man in a suit, however, the temp outside everyday has been above 95. Awesome, not. It’s hot as hell. Does this school have air, yes only on one floor. That would suck. I can’t take it, so therefor I didn’t.

I would of been teaching different groups. I would like to give private lessons to high school kids or adults. At this school I would have kids too. Not that I don’t like kids, but, try teaching rampaging kids how to say apple when you can’t even speak Chinese to them. It would of been alright but I don’t really want to teach. My focus has changed. I came to China to hangout and have some fun. Now I want to stay in China to pursue other ventures. I can’t devote the time to teaching that is needed. I’m sorry.

Will I regret this decision. Maybe. I might not have a job, money and need to go back to America. Have to move in with some bums or the parents, but at least I could say gave it a go. So whatever. I just feel like I need to give something a shot. If not now when, right? If anything I just listen to the advise my Grandmother always give: “Dear, everything will work out, it always does” Thanks Grandma. I can always count on some sort of phrase from you that puts me to ease.

So now for some photos of the past few days. The first few are what we call “Moon Cakes.” What are these moon cakes. Well, they are, hold on let me look it up on wikipedia. So mooncakes are a Chinese pastry that the Chinese people eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival is for lunar moon watching and mooncakes are a must have during this. You give them to friends, family, businesses. So the inside is usually made from lotus seed paste and covered with a thin crust. I must warn you these like “cakes” are not what us westerners would call the bees knees. In fact I tried on the other day and well, I won’t be having them anytime soon. Unless I am blackmailed to or Little Debbie starts mass producing these things, it’s just not going to happen. I would of took a photo of the actual mooncake but was afraid that my camera might vomit. Yes sorry I said it. But I tried it because I am open to other cultures. My advise, add a pound of sugar to each cake. Thus fixing the problem.

I sat on this purple couch. Pretty awesome. I would like to go back and do a photo shoot on it. Yeah, that would be cool, all I need is models.

Meat, shaved razor thin. You take these little bundles of flavor and throw them in the boiling water, then take them out and ram them into the sauce..

The sauce. This stuff should be illegal it’s so good. The bad part, well, don’t let the American FDA get a hold of it. These probably so many chemicals in there we could find new cures for cancer..

The hot pot. Boiling water for poaching goodness..

Good stuff. Anyone have any questions about China by all means let me know. I’ll just ask one of my many “girlfriends” to help me answer it. Really you didn’t think I was serious about the questions did ya?

Lately my posts have been more like twitters but I guess that’s the way it goes when you got other things to get done. Today is much the same. As I was gazing upon a Chinese baby I realized that babies are fat. Yes that’s right, fat. But then after my mind got past the fact that babies are pretty much massive air bags of fat, I came upon the conclusion that Chinese babies are really fat. Really. I tested this on the next baby that I saw. Yep, fat. This I think is a paradox. Chinese babies = fat, Chinese adults = skinny. American babies = skinny, American adults = fat. Interesting. But whatever I lost weight.

Traffic lights here in China are terrible. I mean terrible. They time them. That’s right. Some even have count down timers that count from 90 sec down to zero, when you can go. Some don’t have a timer but you know that they still count down. I spent 5 yuan waiting today in traffic lights. Terrible. Why, because they didn’t install sensors that use the data that is collected from traffic studies to help increase the flow of traffic. Like I have said before, common sense here is kind of a rare commodity. Let’s just leave it at that…

Sorry it’s taken so long. I’ve been working on another website. But with out further delay here are some photos from my lovely sight seeing trip to Hong Kong.

So here we have a panorama of the island. There is Hong Kong island and then there is the part that attaches to China. Either way it still looks way awesome. The lights from the building are amazing. I’m sure that I wouldn’t want to pay the power bill, but watch, yes. Speaking of power, it’s hot down there. Really hot. But everywhere has air. I’m not talking about oh I got a little air going, I’m talking about when people open the door to leave, if you’re on the sidewalk walking past you can feel it. You think Chanel skimps on air. No way. Which is pretty rad because whenever you get hot you can just roll in to a store and hang for a bit. I would totally live in Hong Kong, the only problem. They speak Cantonese. However awesome that is you can’t really use it except in HK or Canton. Is that bad, well, no but I can use Chinese all over China. It’s also expensive. It costs just about as much as Vail. Pretty sure that your not going to make that much to start. So it would just be an up hill battle. In any case, I dug HK and want to go back after  obtain a large sum of money. Custom suits here I come… oh, and copy watches.. I’m coming for you too..

HK money. Plastic, paper, see through, totally boss.

These my friends are two holy grails of cars. The Nissan Skyline. Can’t get them in the states. Dang politics. However in HK, you can have them all you want providing you have the dough and can drive drive stick left handed. I forgot to mention that the drive on the other side of the road. Remember, HK was owned by the British up until a few years ago. Japan spec car here I come.

So there you have it. There was a ton more I wanted to talk about but I don’t remember what I wanted to say. There are tons of people from India trying to get you to buy a suit, a watch, a camera. It gets annoying. At night there are tons of hookers at 7/11. Not all 7/11′s have a Slurpee machine. Walking around is cool. No one really stares at you because there are so many foreigners there already it doesn’t matter. Tons of people. Some good food. Water, working girls. Um. fish. Every major brand has two stores. Or it seems that way. So much fashion. Which I liked, but the lack of a job leads to a lack of money and thus I couldn’t buy anything. Bummer. Next time.

I had to go to Hong Kong the last two days. More info coming soon.

Couldn’t resist putting this photograph up.. It’s just too sick not too.

Dongguan is the place that I am staying at for the time being. Sorry mom and dad, I know I haven’t called you in a while. I’ll try to get up early enough to call you tomorrow. Yes, I am ok, and I am currently looking for a job.

It’s hot. Really hot. I’m not really a big fan of such climates. But thus far I like it better than Shenyang. For a few reasons. I don’t have a d-bag for a boss, more people, and culture.

Currently I don’t have a job. Now this could be a real bad thing. But what did I do. I buckled down and I am revamping my entire photography website. It needs to be done. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to launch it.

There’s more people down here. But I’m not talking about more people, I am talking about more foreigners. Which means this. If there is a ton of Chinese people in LA. LA will be able to accommodate them better than a city who has very few. Being this, since I am a foreigner I have to do special things, register, find a job, etc. In Shenyang things were kinda shady. Why, well they don’t know how to deal with a lot of foreigners. But here there are so many that they have to change the way they deal with us. Be more polite, helpful, etc. Business down here depends on foreigners, up north nope, they can afford to have foreigners leave. Not down here.

I know a lot more people down here. Last year when I came to snowboard I met a good amount of people. Most of which I knew I probably would never see again. But when I came back, I got the chance to see them. It just shows them, well I don’t know what it shows them, but it leaves an impression. They are helping with the job search. I can’t thank them enough.

Culture. I need it. I need art. I need things. Stuff. Design. A big city. Who knows what I need, but I feel more home here than up north. I just hope that I can find a job for the time being until I try to do some artsy things on my own.

Here in China you never have to rack your own balls. Balling…

The draw back. It’s f ing hot. 30C and above. Along the lines of 90F or more everyday. It’s not me. But who knows. I might be able to stand it. That’s about the only negative right now. So… we will see.

Hey look this glass is sweating less than I am right now.. Oh the irony. Well I suppose that’s not really that ironic unless I am a super cool person, but, then again, hell, I don’t know what’s going on.

Earlier today I landed in Shenzhen. I city that is really super duper close to Hong Kong. I swear the pilot locked the abs up when he landed. Nothing like being able to smell burnt airline rubber. Awesome. Upon arriving I was picked up and brought to my final destination: Dongguan. I took a couple photos of the road trip but haven’t had time to put them on the Mac yet. However I can tell you it looks like a cross between Arizona (the dirt color), Pasadena (hills, trees, green) and Iraq (building covered in dirt, laundry hanging outside). I’ll post them as soon as I can. For now I’m on the job hunt. I need one. Quickly if I may. So all is well. I will update soon with some thoughts about southern life, the differences from northern life, findings, photos, shopping, food, you know the usual. One thing to note right away, it’s super hot. Like really hot. At least the places that have air are super cold. Yes….

I’m sitting here, it’s 11:18pm on Monday. I helped move a friend into a new place. It’s pretty awesome. But more importantly I am watching something like American Idol but with karaoke, in Chinese. I don’t understand 90 percent but what I do understand is well, maybe I shouldn’t say. I will be watching much more of this. So Friday I head down to the south of China for a vacation or a permanent move, providing I can find a job. I’ve been looking but it seems here in China everyone is daydreaming. What do I mean, well, they want a creative person with 10 yrs experience, speaks, reads, and writes English and Mandarin, along with knowing everything about everything. No, I’m not kidding. This is pretty much every ad I have seen online. I suppose I should go ahead and let it rip anyway. Oh, I just passed a Steven Seagul movie dubbed in Chinese. That’s single handedly made my year. Glorious.

The other day I got another chance to head out, go to dinner, and walk around with a friend. It was a good time. So here are some photos.

Lots of lights at night here in Shenyang. I wonder what Hong Kong or a major city in China looks light. Probably like a alien space craft. I can’t wait.

Hi mom, Hi dad.

A museum.

Most of these photos, actually all these photo were taken at a massive city square. It’s a pretty neat place. This was a Monday night. Loaded with people. Just think I was the only white guy there. I don’t know what that means but it makes me feel special. On weekends this baby is like Cedar Point times ten or seventeen.

On a side note, I can actually hold up a conversation in Chinese. Providing it has to do with a picture of a guy model, why he’s my younger brother, he is handsome because he is my younger brother, and my parents are really happy, so that’s why girls like me. Don’t ask how I know to say most of this but, you never know when you might have to bust this one out someday.

On another side note. I had a bad habit. I have bitten my nails for um, lets just say a long time. But coming here to China, listening to a friend and having him remind me of what my grandma always said, I have come to the conclusion that China is dirty. Putting dirty things in your mouth is bad. Touching all kinds of junk here in China makes your hands dirty, thus sticking them in your mouth is not that awesome. So I quit. It’s been kinda hard. But whatever. One has to do what they can. Me, I just remember what finger nails are for, scratching man itches, and that puts my mind to rest.

It’s no doubt that Starbucks is awesome. I like me some coffee. So what do you do on a rainy day here in China? Not much. So I decided to head over to a local Starbucks with a friend.

There is a downside to getting a mermaid-laden cup full of joe here in the PRC. It’s no big secret that the Chinese don’t make much money. So one would think that the SB here would be a little cheaper. Nope. In fact it’s the same price. So take a wage cut of 50% or more and then still try to enjoy your favorite sugar filled, caffeine packed beverage. This boils down to myself only going to Starbucks 3 times since I’ve been here. Back in the ol Colorado I used to frequent the Bucks about everyday. Not anymore. But that’s ok.

We sat and talked about nothing, my favorite subject. I got to practice some Mandarin, drink some coffee, and get inspired. I don’t know what it is about drinking coffee but it makes me want to make something. Start a scrapbook, weave a basket, design a car, screen print a shirt, or something.

After my moment of creative clarity we headed to a bookstore to try to find some sketch paper. Like I said I was feeling creative. But really I had filled up my sketchbook and need a new one.  We searched through 5 floors and nothing. Not one sketchbook. Nice huh. So that was a bust. But one thing I did notice about the bookstore was the fact that all the signs are in Chinese and in English, but, every book in the entire store was written in Chinese. Weird. Maybe it makes the bookstore appear more intelligent if they put the titles to the sections in both languages. Makes no sense. But whatever, we bounced. I headed back to the apt and she headed to work. Oh the joys of not having a job.

Not having a job is pretty much the bee’s knees. We all know this. Especially since I don’ t have to put up with a bunch of bullshit. So today I was going about my day chatting online with a couple of friends, one of which was a girl, and found out that she didn’t have to work today. I have been trying to get together with this girl for sometime. She is funny, smart, and super cute. So I asked if she wanted to go to 北陵公园 or if you can’t read that (like me), it’s called Beiling Park.

Directly from Wikipedia where nothing but the truth is found.

“Beiling Park (simplified Chinese: 北陵公园; traditional Chinese: 北陵公園; pinyin: Běilíng Gōngyuán) is a park in the northern part of Shenyang City, China. The park has an area of 3,300,000m², and contains many historic buildings, pine trees and lakes.

In 1927, Government of the Fengtian Province (later renamed Liaoning Province ) established the park, which includes Zhaoling, the tomb of the second Qing emperor, Huang Taji, and surrounding area. The construction of the tomb took place between 1643 and 1651. West of the tomb are flower gardens and east are several lakes. There is also a Children’s Garden within the park.”

So yeah, it’s basically where some dude is buried. It was built in the 17th century. Pretty awesome. Considering in America nothing is more than 250yrs old that pertains to the country. We didn’t get there in time so the tomb was closed. But we did however get the chance to walk around and take some pics. We then headed to grab a bite to eat and walk around a bit more.

Pond.

This is the King guy. I think he is the one who is buried. If not I’m sure it’s someone he knew.

The entrance to the tomb. Bummer it was closed.

Wall with dragon on it. Built a couple thousand years ago.

Main entrance at  night.

Jumbo tron on a street corner.

So all and all it was a good time. Hopefully this week I will be able to do more things before I leave for the south.