Adventures From The Third Ring Road And Beyond

Chicken, Burgers, And Words Which Begin With 'H'
Yesterday, I went to the western part of the northern section of the Third Ring Road to meet Ali, a friend of mine from Waterloo. He is currently teaching English at one of the locations of an international chain of schools for teaching English.

I decided to walk to the place at which I was to meet Ali. The walk took me approximately 40 minutes, which is slightly less than the original estimate I made, based on the maps which are available to me.

I arrived two hours before the appointed time, so I decided to scout the area. I found many places at which I could eat, and many others at which I could buy phone cards. I decided to suspend my vegetarianism again in the name of experimentation. I ate China's equivalent of one of KFC's chicken sandwiches, and it was qualitatively no different from any such sandwich I've had in Canada. I won't be trying that again in the near future.

After I ate, I decided to watch some of the local while they were waiting for buses. During that time, I witnessed some interesting social behaviours which made me think of a good plot for a couple of dark comedic sketches involving multilingual dictionaries and two police officers, 'Juicy & Hooch'. Don't ask. If you insist on asking, send me mail. :)

I saw a woman in a pink skirt and jacket asking something of various persons who were walking past the bus stop. I have no idea what she asked them, but she was mostly ignored. I don't think that she was asking for money; at least, I think that she was too well dressed to be considered a panhandler.

Speaking of panhandlers, I have seen many of them on Beijing's streets. I have been counseled by everyone I know who's said anything about it not to give money to any of them, but I have taken a (minor) Buddhist precept to give money when I'm asked. I saw a one-armed man with an erhu, an instrument which requires two hands to play. I saw another woman asking passers-by for water, all of whom refused her. By the time I went to buy some for her, she had disappeared.

One thing I failed to mention in previous posts is the ubiquity of guards who look like boys in their daddies' guard-uniforms. Most of the guards look like they wouldn't be able to stop anyone from doing anything, but I've seen some tough-looking guards with whom I would most definitely not want to tangle.

Anyway, after some time, I decided to go into the building at which I was to meet Ali. In that building, I encountered the first Western-style toilets I've seen since I left Jennie's and George's. The toilet may have been in the Western style, but the absence of toilet paper (and the garbage can into which we should throw said toilet paper) was definitely Eastern-style. I'm glad I brought a roll of my own. :)

Ali and I decided to experiment at McDonald's. I had a Big Mac; it was not appreciably different from Big Macs in either Canada or Japan. The fries were a bit different; I think that they are fried throughout a shorter time here than in Canada. Ali and I also went to an indoor mall, which had some interesting Engrish. One was the name of a Barbie knock-off. Because this is a family-oriented blog, I won't post the name. It starts with an 'H'; if you want to know the full word, please send me an e-mail message.

We also noticed a really cute store-name: White Goatling! It's not really Engrish, but it's really cute, so I took a photo of that, too.

Other Interesting Persons
After I returned to the school, I met two of the other participants in the scholarship programme to which I was accepted, Courtney and Debi, who are from Vancouver and Victoria, respectively. I introduced them to another young Canuck, named Dean, whom I'd met a few days before yesterday. Dean's from Montreal, and he graduated from Concordia's Industrial Engineering programme. This morning, when I went to fetch my results for a Chinese proficiency test which I wrote yesterday morning, I met another Canadian, Cheryl, who's from Toronto and graduated from U of T. I am sure that many of these names will recur in my subsequent posts.


Traffic
I've been forced to revise my outlook on traffic. Traffic on the freeways is like that in L.A., but traffic in the streets is like that only at LAX. The traffic on the streets of L.A. is far better (and more predictable) than traffic on the streets of Beijing. I think that the drivers are able to distinguish foreigners from natives by whether or not they obey the traffic laws.

Contact Information

Here's some contact information for everyone. My cell's number is +86 136 9300 2377. My address is：
100083
中国
北京市海淀区学院路15号
北京语言文化大学8楼120号

石黝夫

Or, for those who don't read Chinese,
100083,
China,
Beijing, Haidian District, #15 Xueyuan Road,
Beijing Language And Culture University, Dormitory #8, Room #120,

Stuart Pollock.

Many Days Later ...

I've had limited access to the Internet before right now, so this post is going to have to cover many days' notes ....

24 August
4:30 GMT-04:00
Wow. After less than four hours of sleep, I pulled my sorry butt out of bed in order to ensure that everything is packed and ready to go to Beijing. For those you just tuning-in, I'm about to take a non-stop flight to Beijing in order to study Mandarin throughout a year at Beijing Language And Culture University. I'm waiting for Lin Yi and Chen Yu to arrive for that Chen Yu may drive Lin Yi and me to Pearson International Airport.

10:30 GMT-04:00
Well, I have to say that any of my trips is not an adventure if everything goes smoothly. When I went through security, I was 'randomly' chosen, as a passenger on an international flight, to be
searched. That slowed us a bit, but we had little problem arriving on-time at our gate for departure. Lin Yi is planning to sleep throughout much of the flight; I hope to sleep a bit, but I'm not yet sure for how long.

25 August
17:30 GMT+08:00
I have arrived in Beijing and I am exhausted. One of my 'mothers' in Waterloo, Doris, has arranged for me to stay with her sister, Jennie, and Jennie's husband, George, in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. Jennie sent a driver, Xiao Yu, to fetch me at noon from the airport. Lin Yi and her friend, Cheng Lei, helped me to locate Xiao Yu at the airport.

Jennie helped me to establish myself my helping me to create a bank account and to obtain a SIM card for my BlackBerry device. She and Goerge have so far been a godsend; I'd have much trouble if I were to try to do any opf this on my own. At approximately 19:00, we'll have dinner, at which point I shall be quite ready for bed.

I have to say that Xiao Yu is a masterful driver; I can't imagine myself driving in Beijing. One thing I noted is that drivers here don't use their horns exculsively to express anger at other drivers or to avoid major mishaps: horns are used efficiently as one might use a bicycle's horn or bell. The horn is used mostly as a friendly gesture, not an unfriendly one. The concept is not easy to explain, but I'm reminded of that.

Jennie also has in her employ a young lady named Tingting, who has trained to become a cook. She comes from the countryside of Shaanxi province, if I'm not mistaken. Her cooking is absolutely wonderful! One good thing for me is that Jennie is a vegetarian and, as such, her meals are quite suitable for me, too.

26 August
11:30 GMT+08:00
Wow! The nap I had after going with Jennie to create my various accounts, combined with my restful sleep last night, has given me approximately 16 hours of sleep. Despite all of that sleep, however, I still don't feel too well rested. I guess that that has something to do with the sleep deprivation through which I suffered earlier this week. I'm looking forward to spending the afternoon shopping and touring with Jennie. I'm afraid that, so far, Beijing resembles Toronto's Chinatown combined with L.A.'s driving.

21:30 GMT+08:00
Jennie is a hard bargainer. She was able to secure for me a 'fanny-pack' for a price slightly more than half of the asking-price. I've been warned many times that one should aim to bargain with vendors for half of the listed price. I hope that this bag is useful as I've been led to believe it shall be.

All of this took place at the 'Alien's Market' (sic), where I saw more than a little Cyrillic writing. The Market was intended to cater to those persons in China who came from former Soviet republics; I certainly saw many Eastern Eurpoean faces there.

Before that little adventure, however, Jennie and I went to a flower market, at which I was able to see beautiful flowers and other plants juxtaposed with the legendary Chinese public washrooms. I was told to expect the public washrooms to be dirty, but I didn't expect an almost nerve-gas level of ammonia to assault my senses. I'm glad that I felt the need only to urinate at that time.

On a lighter note, this evening we were joined by Jennie's and Goerge's eldest son, Cedric, his wife, Miranda, and their son, Eugene. Cedric and Eugene have been educated in the U.S., whereas Miranda went to University of Toronto for a Computer Science / Economics degree. They're quite intelligent, well educated, and good-natured. I hope to meet them again while I stay in Beijing.

27 August
21:30 GMT+08:00
Wow, again! This has been a hectic day. I didn't sleep well last night because of an errant mosquito, and now I am competely exhausted. Lin Yi and Cheng Lei came to BLCU's campus this morning to help me register at both the university and at the residence. After I registered as a student, I went to my residence room for that I may temporarily deposit my belongings (for that I may eat lunch and then buy some essentials).

We had the misfortune of rudely awakening a young Swiss man, named Caspar, who shall be my roommate until the end of the week. He has been at BLCU thoughout a month, studying Mandarin and Chinese literature, and he shall write a final examination tomorrow. Caspar has offered his assistance during the rest of his stay at the university, and I think that I'll graciously accept his generous offer.

I broke my vegetarianism today to have one of Beijing's types of roasted duck. I felt ill after eating only a small portion, and I think that was due to a combination of the grease, my sleep-deprived state, and the hot and humid temperature. I took the vegetables back to my room. Lin Yi and Cheng Lei helped me to shop for a number of essentials, including toilet paper, mineral water, and a power bar for my computer. I'm looking forward to having access to the Internet and posting this information on-line. I'm afraid that I've not yet taken any photos, so I have none yet to accompany my (mis-)adventures. I've seen some wonderful Engrish, though, and I look forward to sharing some of it with you, my readers.

Jennie is to have an operation on Tuesday; I hope that that works-out well for her. I plan to call her and George on that evening to see how things went.

28 August
12:20 GMT+08:00
This morning, I had my first encounter with an Eastern-style toilet. I'm glad that I've regained in my right ankle much of the flexibility I had before I shattered it in December 2004. The experience wasn't quite bad as I'd been led to believe, but I think that that's a function of being in a university dormitory, and not at a restaurant.

Caspar is a really great guy. I'm sorry that he'll be leaving at the end of the week. He helped me to connect my computer to the Internet, although I am typing this entry without yet having access to the Internet. I was told that it would be ready by 14:20, so I guess I'll just have to wait.

I met someone ths morning, named Dean, who recently graduated from Concordia's Industrial Engineering programme. He came to BLCU on his own coin, and is looking to get some sort of certification within China. He attended an intensive programme at McGill for 2.5 months, or so. I'm sorry that UW currently does not have the resources for such a programme, although with the coming of the Confucius Institute, UW and Renison may be able to do so in the future.

I secured a time for me to write (what I think is) a reduced form of the HSK (汉语水平考试 - Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, the Mandarin proficiency test offered by BLCU on behalf of the People's Republic Of China). I'll write that at 8:20 on Wednesday morning. I'd better study for that I am not placed in too low a level. Before that, though, I had better ensure that I have my papers in order for another slew of medical tests. Despite having to pay for more than $175 in medical tests in Canada, I need to shell-out another 400 RMB ($65, or so) for more tests. Enh.

12:32 GMT+08:00
I still have no Internet access ....

13:52 GMT+08:00
I had lunch with Caspar at a Japanese restaurant on campus. He claims that it's the best place on campus for eating, and I think that he may be correct. I still have no Internet access ....

16:24 GMT+08:00
Success! I now have access to the Internet. :)

I now have to finish replying to the slew of messages I've received since I last had regular access, and I must now start to prepare for the HSK.

I'm Off For China Soon

Wow! I'll be leaving for China in less than a week! It's hard to believe, but it's true.

I'm leaving Research In Motion (http://www.rim.com/, all rights reserved) at the end of the day today. It's been fun, but I'm not able to refuse this opportunity to go to China for a year of study on the tab of the governments of Canada and China.

I've heard that blogspot.com is not readily available in China, so I may have to move my blog to http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~scepollo/.