So I know I haven’t exactly been posting regularly, but can you blame me? I’ve been pretty busy. I had a very nice last few days with my mom and Marie-Eve. We did more shopping, visited the 798 art district and even went to a cooking class.
798 was interesting. It was full of wacky statues and some modern art galleries. It was free to enter the area, but they charged for all the galleries so we mostly stuck to the gift shops and saw the art on postcards. It was quite hot so we didn’t spend all day there, but we had a nice time and it wasn’t quite as complicated to get to as I thought it might be.
The cooking class was amazing. It was at a place called The Hutong and we learned to make baozi (stuffed buns). We made 3 kinds of fillings (lotus root and bok choy, pork and brown sugar), learned about all the ingredients and the history and even got to take home leftovers and a recipe. The only sad part was that we overdosed on buns and thus decided not to go to our favourite bun place for lunch the next day.
I eventually caught my mom’s cold and got quite sick with a fever yesterday so I wasn’t up to doing much. We packed and went for lunch before taking a taxi to the bus station. My mom accompanied me in and then she and Marie-Eve left for the airport.
They tried to catch a plane yesterday, but the odds were not with them (since they were flying stand-by), so they are trying again today. Keep your fingers crossed for them!
I was back at work today and put the finishing touches on my Excel booking calculator. It is now completely usable and easy to update and comes with simple instructions as well as a document detailing its inner workings so somebody else can update/modify it someday.
On a different note, anyone reading this should a) like the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu Great Wall on Facebook and b) Enter our caption contest.
Showing posts with label Beijing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beijing. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Beijing Adventures
Pam and Marie-Eve arrived around 7:30 pm on Monday and I met them at the Brickyard where they had some soup before checking in. I knew that that evening was going to be my only time off while they were there so I rushed to show them around Beigou village. They got to see inside 3 of our homes (Mumanyu, Stone Forest and Big Rock House) as well as get an idea of the village. I let them go to bed and headed back to my room to pack before heading to sleep myself.
I got up early to have a proper breakfast (the best meal we serve) with them before work and saw them periodically throughout the day. As it was raining they decided to wait to go up the wall, but had a nice walk between Mutianyu and Beigou on the way home. I worked night duty and thus got to spend lots more time with them at night even though I was constrained to the Brickyard. Once most of the guests went to bed we curled up on the comfy chairs and did some travel planning.
On Wednesday Marie-Eve, my mom and I headed to the Schoolhouse after I finished the morning shift of night duty, where they stayed until the early afternoon as it was still raining. They did make it up to the wall -- but not the toboggan. I finish work at 6 so we aimed to take a bus to Huairou and then another to Beijing. However, guests were late checking in and it was about 6:30 by the time I was done. The last bus to leave Huairou was at 7 so we were in a crazy rush. Alice was amazing and organized a car to take us to the bus and we just made it there on time. Ma Hombin came with us and we got stuck with our backpacks and suitcases in the seats because the driver didn't want to open the bottom of the bus. It was quite squished, but we eventually made it there. We checked into our hostel, had a so-so dinner in a hole in the wall and went to bed.
We got up quite early on Thursday since my mom and Marie-Eve were still fairly jet lagged and had a lovely free breakfast at the hostel before heading out to Tian'men Square. We decided that Marie-Eve didn't really need to see the Forbidden City, so we just showed her the front gate before heading to a nearby park from where she got an aerial view of it. We walked all around and even took a paddleboat on the large lake in the middle.
Then we headed off to Nanloguxiang, a trinket shopping street where we bought lots of scarves and some other cool stuff. Instead of heading back near the hostel for dinner, we took a cab to the red lantern street (I don't know what it's actually called, but it has a gazillion red lanterns) to try to go to a restaurant where my mom and I had our best meal last year. However, there was a 40 minute wait so we went next door instead and had a fairly decent, though perhaps not particularily memorable, meal.
On Friday we went to a couple of markets for more shopping and some more good hole in the wall food. We ended up at Quianmen -- a restored famous old Hutong (Alley) street -- at night since the markets all close early and got even more shopping in before what was perhaps the best Beijing duck I have ever had.
Yesterday we decided to be a bit more cultural and went to the Capital Museum. We all decided it was a very poorly arranged museum, but Marie-Eve and my mom enjoyed a number of pieces they saw. It was supposed to show the history of Beijing but was sadly lacking in text and cohesion. On the other hand, I'm really not a museum person so I may be too quick to judge. We were all very hungry by the time we finished so we decided to try the reasonably priced buffet at the museum. It was by far the worst meal we have had. We didn't realise it was closing soon and assumed they would be refilling the mostly empty trays. The pasta tasted like it had ketchup on it and the Chinese food was very North American. We headed back to the hostel for a nap and bought some buns and pastries on the way, which were much tastier.
After the nap we headed out for an acrobatics show. It was perhaps not as good as some of the ones I have seen here, but the highlight was a motorcycle act. There was a giant metal ball and a man on a motorcycle rode in and all around -- including upside down -- in it. That might have been very impressive for someone who knew little about physics, but when they added a second motorcycle, nobody could deny the skill and fearlessness they must have had. We hardly dared watch when they added a 3rd, 4th and 5th rider, all crisscrossing paths and going at crazy speeds.
Apparently we were also part of the show because we had half the audience trying to talk to us -- especially my mom -- before the show started. They fed us chips and dried meat, played peek-a-boo and exchanged e-mails with my mom. One of them even asked me if all Canadians talk as much as my mom does. That made Marie-Eve and I laugh for a good long time. We had dinner with a guy who had come with us from our hostel and he is studying Chinese so he was explaining some of the characters to me. It was quite fun!
Today was a bit more of a lazy day. We switched hostels this morning and then headed to Yashow market to buy some fake LeSportSacs -- of which my mom bought many. We had a wonderful lunch of dumplings and buns at a hole in the wall place my mom and I discovered last year and headed back to the red lantern street for an early dinner at the same place we tried to go to the other night. They told us again that it would be a 40 minute wait, but we decided to stay. They were used to the large crowds so they had had bowls of sunflower seeds, water and even popsicles they were giving out for free. 40 minutes turned into 2 hours, but eventually we got in. We were very disappointed to find out that they no longer makeour favourite dish from last year, but ordered a number of others that mostly turned out to be far too spicy. It wasn't exactly what we had hoped for given how long we had had to wait, but we got some kebabs on the way home so it was all good.
It has been crazy hot and humid here, but somehow my mom seems to have a cold. We're planning on visiting the 798 art district tomorrow and then going for a cooking class on Tuesday.
I got up early to have a proper breakfast (the best meal we serve) with them before work and saw them periodically throughout the day. As it was raining they decided to wait to go up the wall, but had a nice walk between Mutianyu and Beigou on the way home. I worked night duty and thus got to spend lots more time with them at night even though I was constrained to the Brickyard. Once most of the guests went to bed we curled up on the comfy chairs and did some travel planning.
On Wednesday Marie-Eve, my mom and I headed to the Schoolhouse after I finished the morning shift of night duty, where they stayed until the early afternoon as it was still raining. They did make it up to the wall -- but not the toboggan. I finish work at 6 so we aimed to take a bus to Huairou and then another to Beijing. However, guests were late checking in and it was about 6:30 by the time I was done. The last bus to leave Huairou was at 7 so we were in a crazy rush. Alice was amazing and organized a car to take us to the bus and we just made it there on time. Ma Hombin came with us and we got stuck with our backpacks and suitcases in the seats because the driver didn't want to open the bottom of the bus. It was quite squished, but we eventually made it there. We checked into our hostel, had a so-so dinner in a hole in the wall and went to bed.
We got up quite early on Thursday since my mom and Marie-Eve were still fairly jet lagged and had a lovely free breakfast at the hostel before heading out to Tian'men Square. We decided that Marie-Eve didn't really need to see the Forbidden City, so we just showed her the front gate before heading to a nearby park from where she got an aerial view of it. We walked all around and even took a paddleboat on the large lake in the middle.
Then we headed off to Nanloguxiang, a trinket shopping street where we bought lots of scarves and some other cool stuff. Instead of heading back near the hostel for dinner, we took a cab to the red lantern street (I don't know what it's actually called, but it has a gazillion red lanterns) to try to go to a restaurant where my mom and I had our best meal last year. However, there was a 40 minute wait so we went next door instead and had a fairly decent, though perhaps not particularily memorable, meal.
On Friday we went to a couple of markets for more shopping and some more good hole in the wall food. We ended up at Quianmen -- a restored famous old Hutong (Alley) street -- at night since the markets all close early and got even more shopping in before what was perhaps the best Beijing duck I have ever had.
Yesterday we decided to be a bit more cultural and went to the Capital Museum. We all decided it was a very poorly arranged museum, but Marie-Eve and my mom enjoyed a number of pieces they saw. It was supposed to show the history of Beijing but was sadly lacking in text and cohesion. On the other hand, I'm really not a museum person so I may be too quick to judge. We were all very hungry by the time we finished so we decided to try the reasonably priced buffet at the museum. It was by far the worst meal we have had. We didn't realise it was closing soon and assumed they would be refilling the mostly empty trays. The pasta tasted like it had ketchup on it and the Chinese food was very North American. We headed back to the hostel for a nap and bought some buns and pastries on the way, which were much tastier.
After the nap we headed out for an acrobatics show. It was perhaps not as good as some of the ones I have seen here, but the highlight was a motorcycle act. There was a giant metal ball and a man on a motorcycle rode in and all around -- including upside down -- in it. That might have been very impressive for someone who knew little about physics, but when they added a second motorcycle, nobody could deny the skill and fearlessness they must have had. We hardly dared watch when they added a 3rd, 4th and 5th rider, all crisscrossing paths and going at crazy speeds.
Apparently we were also part of the show because we had half the audience trying to talk to us -- especially my mom -- before the show started. They fed us chips and dried meat, played peek-a-boo and exchanged e-mails with my mom. One of them even asked me if all Canadians talk as much as my mom does. That made Marie-Eve and I laugh for a good long time. We had dinner with a guy who had come with us from our hostel and he is studying Chinese so he was explaining some of the characters to me. It was quite fun!
Today was a bit more of a lazy day. We switched hostels this morning and then headed to Yashow market to buy some fake LeSportSacs -- of which my mom bought many. We had a wonderful lunch of dumplings and buns at a hole in the wall place my mom and I discovered last year and headed back to the red lantern street for an early dinner at the same place we tried to go to the other night. They told us again that it would be a 40 minute wait, but we decided to stay. They were used to the large crowds so they had had bowls of sunflower seeds, water and even popsicles they were giving out for free. 40 minutes turned into 2 hours, but eventually we got in. We were very disappointed to find out that they no longer makeour favourite dish from last year, but ordered a number of others that mostly turned out to be far too spicy. It wasn't exactly what we had hoped for given how long we had had to wait, but we got some kebabs on the way home so it was all good.
It has been crazy hot and humid here, but somehow my mom seems to have a cold. We're planning on visiting the 798 art district tomorrow and then going for a cooking class on Tuesday.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Thoughts on Bargaining and How I Only Sort of Failed at It Today
I haven't spent a night in Beijing in a while, so I thought I would tonight and check out one of the hostels my mom, Marie-Eve and I are staying at next week. It seems decently nice for what we are paying (a little over $10).
Nothing particularily interesting has happenned today so I will share my thoughts on bargaining instead.
In my opinion, there are two methods. The first involves knowing the price something should be and aiming for that price. This takes lots of practice and you still may be unhappy with what you get if you think the typical price is unreasonable. On the other hand, you won't walk into a different store later and find out you wouldn't have got whatever you are buying for cheaper.
The second method, and my prefered one, involves not caring what something is worth, but instead considering how much you want it. You may end up paying way too much for something, but you will always be happy with what you paid and you don't have to spend lots of time checking out different stalls/stores to find out what the typical asking price is. This technique works especially well for getting things you really don't want for cheap -- so be careful!
Numerous times I have walked away from something with what seems like a reasonably typical price because I really didn't want it, only to have the price drop by half.
On the other hand, I walked by a store and found a dress I fell in love with today (this from someone who hates dresses). I asked about the price and it was way too high. I offered a bit less than half and the lady shook her head so I walked away -- only to turn around a few minutes later and walk back because I really wanted the dress. Now in the world of bargaining, going back is the worst thing you can do because it tells the vendor you really do want what they are selling. I cut a little off what she originally offered, but still paid about twice what I wanted. Oh well! At least it represented what the dress was worth for me :)
On a different note, I'm back to being the only intern as William suddenly got on a plane and went back to Spain without an explanation the other day.
On another different note, I had a great conversation about tomatoes yesterday. We had tomatoes and egg for dinner so I was asking Li Dan (the cashier from the glass shop) how you say tomatoes in Chinese. Our conversation went a bit like this:
"How do you say tomato?"
"What's a tomato?"
"The red vegetable we had for dinner. Or, well, I guess it's a fruit, but you know what I mean..."
"Hunh?"
"You know...the red thing..."
"Oh, a tomAHto"
"hahahahaha"
Then I had to explain the "tomAYto, TomAHto" expression. It was great!
Nothing particularily interesting has happenned today so I will share my thoughts on bargaining instead.
In my opinion, there are two methods. The first involves knowing the price something should be and aiming for that price. This takes lots of practice and you still may be unhappy with what you get if you think the typical price is unreasonable. On the other hand, you won't walk into a different store later and find out you wouldn't have got whatever you are buying for cheaper.
The second method, and my prefered one, involves not caring what something is worth, but instead considering how much you want it. You may end up paying way too much for something, but you will always be happy with what you paid and you don't have to spend lots of time checking out different stalls/stores to find out what the typical asking price is. This technique works especially well for getting things you really don't want for cheap -- so be careful!
Numerous times I have walked away from something with what seems like a reasonably typical price because I really didn't want it, only to have the price drop by half.
On the other hand, I walked by a store and found a dress I fell in love with today (this from someone who hates dresses). I asked about the price and it was way too high. I offered a bit less than half and the lady shook her head so I walked away -- only to turn around a few minutes later and walk back because I really wanted the dress. Now in the world of bargaining, going back is the worst thing you can do because it tells the vendor you really do want what they are selling. I cut a little off what she originally offered, but still paid about twice what I wanted. Oh well! At least it represented what the dress was worth for me :)
On a different note, I'm back to being the only intern as William suddenly got on a plane and went back to Spain without an explanation the other day.
On another different note, I had a great conversation about tomatoes yesterday. We had tomatoes and egg for dinner so I was asking Li Dan (the cashier from the glass shop) how you say tomatoes in Chinese. Our conversation went a bit like this:
"How do you say tomato?"
"What's a tomato?"
"The red vegetable we had for dinner. Or, well, I guess it's a fruit, but you know what I mean..."
"Hunh?"
"You know...the red thing..."
"Oh, a tomAHto"
"hahahahaha"
Then I had to explain the "tomAYto, TomAHto" expression. It was great!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Chinese Math
Once again I found myself with no idea what to blog about today, so I will follow my dad’s suggestion and write about math.
His first question: "If you took the entire population of China and divided it by the prime number that corresponds most closely to the population of Shanghai and then multiplied it by the log of the current Yuan/dollar exchange rate, what would the answer be?”
The answer:
C= Population of China=1.35 billion
P= closest prime to the population of Shanghai= 14,009,999
R= Current exchange rate= 6.28073
L=log of current exchange rate=1.83749
Answer=C*L/P=1,770,060.07 (Thanks to wolfram alpha for the data)
This lead to me having to explain what a log is, but anyways...
Other numbers of interest:
Hours I typically work in a week: 54
Price of my favourite stuffed buns in Beijing: Rmb 0.8
Number of new Chinese words I learned today: 3 (wind, door and tree)
Days I have been in China: 85
Pageviews on my blog so far (including the old blog): 619+475=1094
Days until I go to Inner Mongolia: 1
Number of e-mails I wrote today: 16
Current number of interns: 2 (William arrived today)
Number of digits in a Chinese phone number without area code: 8
Temperature today: 35 degrees with 51% humidity
Number of times I said “Sorry, do you speak English?” today: Too many to count...
Chinese numbers: I have never found a language with easier numbers than Chinese. As soon as you can count to 10, you can count to 100. 21 is literally 2*10, 1 (er shi yi) and all the numbers work like that.
yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi
Now you can do it too!
Chinese also has a hand gesture for every number...unfortunately they are not the same as the ASL ones (which I know).
As for the characters, I know the first 3...1 horizontal line, 2 horizontal lines and 3 horizontal lines. I guess it would be a little tedious to continue like that. Oh, and 10 is a cross...
His first question: "If you took the entire population of China and divided it by the prime number that corresponds most closely to the population of Shanghai and then multiplied it by the log of the current Yuan/dollar exchange rate, what would the answer be?”
The answer:
C= Population of China=1.35 billion
P= closest prime to the population of Shanghai= 14,009,999
R= Current exchange rate= 6.28073
L=log of current exchange rate=1.83749
Answer=C*L/P=1,770,060.07 (Thanks to wolfram alpha for the data)
This lead to me having to explain what a log is, but anyways...
Other numbers of interest:
Hours I typically work in a week: 54
Price of my favourite stuffed buns in Beijing: Rmb 0.8
Number of new Chinese words I learned today: 3 (wind, door and tree)
Days I have been in China: 85
Pageviews on my blog so far (including the old blog): 619+475=1094
Days until I go to Inner Mongolia: 1
Number of e-mails I wrote today: 16
Current number of interns: 2 (William arrived today)
Number of digits in a Chinese phone number without area code: 8
Temperature today: 35 degrees with 51% humidity
Number of times I said “Sorry, do you speak English?” today: Too many to count...
Chinese numbers: I have never found a language with easier numbers than Chinese. As soon as you can count to 10, you can count to 100. 21 is literally 2*10, 1 (er shi yi) and all the numbers work like that.
yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi
Now you can do it too!
Chinese also has a hand gesture for every number...unfortunately they are not the same as the ASL ones (which I know).
As for the characters, I know the first 3...1 horizontal line, 2 horizontal lines and 3 horizontal lines. I guess it would be a little tedious to continue like that. Oh, and 10 is a cross...
Friday, July 13, 2012
Great News and a Resolution
I caught a ride into Beijing with Mona this morning and had to say goodbye, which was very sad. Once Wang Jing (the driver) let me off, I walked to the visa renewal office, which was a lot easier than last time since I actually knew where I was going. Here comes the great news: They told me it was impossible to get a 4 month visa, but they gave me a 6 month one! This not only saves time and possibly having to leave the country to renew it again but about $100!
I walked around the area for a little while searching for a post office -- which I found -- so I can now send my postcards! I then had lunch at Subway, which was weird because my chicken was cold. Otherwise, it was pretty much the same as in Canada
I made my way to the bus station and travelled back to Huairou without spending very long in Beijing because I wanted to catch one of the mini-buses to Beigou and they stop at 6. Once I got to Huairou I did some grocery shopping and then made my way to the mini-buses where they tried to charge me Rmb 80 instead of Rmb 5 ($15 vs. $1). I knew what the price should be so I didn’t go for that, but it’s still annoying.
I made eggplant, onion and zucchini for dinner, but it wasn’t as good as yesterday’s food.
I have decided that I need to work on my Chinese more so I am going to learn 2 new words/phrases every day. I doesn’t sound like much, but had I been doing that from the start, I would have 180 words already! Today’s are “I don’t understand,” “what are you saying?” and “work” -- yes I realize that’s 3 but I had to make up for only having one yesterday (“How much does it cost”).
I walked around the area for a little while searching for a post office -- which I found -- so I can now send my postcards! I then had lunch at Subway, which was weird because my chicken was cold. Otherwise, it was pretty much the same as in Canada
I made my way to the bus station and travelled back to Huairou without spending very long in Beijing because I wanted to catch one of the mini-buses to Beigou and they stop at 6. Once I got to Huairou I did some grocery shopping and then made my way to the mini-buses where they tried to charge me Rmb 80 instead of Rmb 5 ($15 vs. $1). I knew what the price should be so I didn’t go for that, but it’s still annoying.
I made eggplant, onion and zucchini for dinner, but it wasn’t as good as yesterday’s food.
I have decided that I need to work on my Chinese more so I am going to learn 2 new words/phrases every day. I doesn’t sound like much, but had I been doing that from the start, I would have 180 words already! Today’s are “I don’t understand,” “what are you saying?” and “work” -- yes I realize that’s 3 but I had to make up for only having one yesterday (“How much does it cost”).
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Yummy Food
Green Pepper and Eggplant
1. Chop half an onion, a small green pepper and half a round eggplant into large pieces
2. Put it all in a wok with a small amount of oil
3. Heat for a couple of minutes and add salt
4. Add 1 cup of filtered water
5. Add a handful of raw peanuts
6. When water is mostly gone, add soy sauce
7. Enjoy!
Chinese Pasta Sauce
1. Chop a tomato and quarter of an onion into large pieces
2. Heat a with a small amount of oil in a wok
3. Add vegetables and heat
4. Add 1 cup of water and some soup noodles
5. When noodles are soft (1-2 minutes) add soya sauce and remove from heat
6. Add a handful of raw peanuts
7. Enjoy!
Giulia left early this morning so I got up early to say goodbye to her. I miss her already and keep wondering when she is coming back into the room. It’s going to be really weird after Mona leaves tomorrow as well.
I went back to bed and got up around 11, at which point I spent most of my day fighting to get my VPN connected. In the meantime I read some of a book and cooked lunch (see green pepper and eggplant above). It was awesomely tasty! I went to the local vegetable store to buy supplies and apparently I’m still not trusting enough. You have to go into a cellar behind the store to get your vegetables and when I came back with an eggplant, a green pepper, an onion and a tomato the owner started weighing them to calculate the price. I kept seeing numbers like 30 and 40 on the scale-cash register thing and her calculator and I was thinking “oh boy, they’re going to cheat me now that I’m not here with Tana.” And then she turned to me and said “5 quai” which is approximately $1. My faith in nice locals has been restored!
On the other hand, when I got home I discovered that the peanuts I bought weren’t the tasty ones Mona got last time, but raw ones (hence the use of them in my recipes).
I made the second above dish for dinner and it was one of the best things I have ever tasted! Perhaps it was a tribute to Giulia’s Italianness. We were going to go to Begalar (the local restaurant) for dinner, but we decided to just hang out here instead.
I’m going to pick up my new visa tomorrow (yay!) and am catching a ride into the city with Mona.
On an even more awesome note, I’m going to Inner Mongolia with Tana next week!!!!!
1. Chop half an onion, a small green pepper and half a round eggplant into large pieces
2. Put it all in a wok with a small amount of oil
3. Heat for a couple of minutes and add salt
4. Add 1 cup of filtered water
5. Add a handful of raw peanuts
6. When water is mostly gone, add soy sauce
7. Enjoy!
Chinese Pasta Sauce
1. Chop a tomato and quarter of an onion into large pieces
2. Heat a with a small amount of oil in a wok
3. Add vegetables and heat
4. Add 1 cup of water and some soup noodles
5. When noodles are soft (1-2 minutes) add soya sauce and remove from heat
6. Add a handful of raw peanuts
7. Enjoy!
Giulia left early this morning so I got up early to say goodbye to her. I miss her already and keep wondering when she is coming back into the room. It’s going to be really weird after Mona leaves tomorrow as well.
I went back to bed and got up around 11, at which point I spent most of my day fighting to get my VPN connected. In the meantime I read some of a book and cooked lunch (see green pepper and eggplant above). It was awesomely tasty! I went to the local vegetable store to buy supplies and apparently I’m still not trusting enough. You have to go into a cellar behind the store to get your vegetables and when I came back with an eggplant, a green pepper, an onion and a tomato the owner started weighing them to calculate the price. I kept seeing numbers like 30 and 40 on the scale-cash register thing and her calculator and I was thinking “oh boy, they’re going to cheat me now that I’m not here with Tana.” And then she turned to me and said “5 quai” which is approximately $1. My faith in nice locals has been restored!
On the other hand, when I got home I discovered that the peanuts I bought weren’t the tasty ones Mona got last time, but raw ones (hence the use of them in my recipes).
I made the second above dish for dinner and it was one of the best things I have ever tasted! Perhaps it was a tribute to Giulia’s Italianness. We were going to go to Begalar (the local restaurant) for dinner, but we decided to just hang out here instead.
I’m going to pick up my new visa tomorrow (yay!) and am catching a ride into the city with Mona.
On an even more awesome note, I’m going to Inner Mongolia with Tana next week!!!!!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Kayaking to China
All my cooking was great yesterday but I decided to go to the fruit stand instead of the vegetable store today so my options were a bit more limited for lunch. I ended up with a tomato, garlic and noodle soup and some plums. Although Dragon, one of the chefs, looked at it with displeasure, it tasted pretty good.
Lee-Ann and I were talking tonight about her coming to visit. We decided that if she would walk/run to Vancouver, I would buy her a Kayak to come here. Googlemaps says it should take a little over 5 months -- if she doesn't get lost -- so I may have to extend my trip, but it would totally be worth it. I wonder if she would need a visa...Anyone else want to join? I’ll even take you out for dinner when you get here!
Lee-Ann and I were talking tonight about her coming to visit. We decided that if she would walk/run to Vancouver, I would buy her a Kayak to come here. Googlemaps says it should take a little over 5 months -- if she doesn't get lost -- so I may have to extend my trip, but it would totally be worth it. I wonder if she would need a visa...Anyone else want to join? I’ll even take you out for dinner when you get here!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Week 10 Begins with French
I always enjoy confusing French guests. There are just sitting there, talking and having their meal thinking that nobody can understand them when I suddenly pop up and ask them how they are doing in French. I actually had someone say, “we will have to be careful with what we say now” today. We get a huge number of guests from France (probably one of our three most common countries along with Germany and the US) so it is actually quite useful to be able to speak with them in French. On the other hand, I never know if when I hear their accent I should switch to French or if that might insult them.
Jim tried to kill my calculator project this morning saying that it has become too complicated to use. I agree to a certain extent, but there are so many different situations he wants it to be usable in that it is hard for it not to be complex. I’m working on figuring out how to use different date functions in excel so hopefully that will help. I have at least managed to save it for the time being. I think it either needs to be complicated to understand (for guests), to use (for staff) or to program (for me). Unfortunately Jim wants none of the above because he wants everything to be clear for guests, for there not to be too much training needed and for it to be simple to update. I still hate excel!
I had night duty at the brickyard tonight but it is still raining so there weren’t many guests. I started reading a new book that my sweet mom sent me as an unbirthday gift (the joys of ebooks) this morning and sent some e-mails.
I have 2 days off starting tomorrow so I get to sleep in. On Wednesday I am going to go into Beijing to try to get my visa extension paperwork submitted. So far, getting our company stamp onto the forms seems to be the most complicated step. Apparently there is a long chain of command. I’m glad I started early!
Jim tried to kill my calculator project this morning saying that it has become too complicated to use. I agree to a certain extent, but there are so many different situations he wants it to be usable in that it is hard for it not to be complex. I’m working on figuring out how to use different date functions in excel so hopefully that will help. I have at least managed to save it for the time being. I think it either needs to be complicated to understand (for guests), to use (for staff) or to program (for me). Unfortunately Jim wants none of the above because he wants everything to be clear for guests, for there not to be too much training needed and for it to be simple to update. I still hate excel!
I had night duty at the brickyard tonight but it is still raining so there weren’t many guests. I started reading a new book that my sweet mom sent me as an unbirthday gift (the joys of ebooks) this morning and sent some e-mails.
I have 2 days off starting tomorrow so I get to sleep in. On Wednesday I am going to go into Beijing to try to get my visa extension paperwork submitted. So far, getting our company stamp onto the forms seems to be the most complicated step. Apparently there is a long chain of command. I’m glad I started early!
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