And today I’m a waiter.
Just back from a work dinner with the director of Asia-Pac for my company. It was a small group of about six people and was surely was one of the most interesting work dinners I’ve been to. Among discussions about politics, media, technology, economics and business, we got to talking about music and literature.
He mentioned that he’s mostly into reading the classics and War And Peace was the best thing he’d read.
While I’ve worked for him for more than 8 years now, growing up professionally under his shadow, so to speak, I had my first one-on-one session with him earlier in the day. He dispensed some rather sage advice on career and development; all delivered with a great level of honesty and sensitivity.
At the dinner I was surprised by how easy he was to get along with, and was rather surprised by how much he’d remembered about the people at the table - their families, hobbies and backgrounds - and how human and unfrightening he was.
It may have been a function of the fact that he is leaving the company at the end of the year. But I think it’s more just the kind of guys he is.
I think that the whole time I worked in the same office as him, sitting just meters away (literally), I never bothered to get to know him because of some perceived distance between his position relative to mine. But the biggest learning of the night was that if it it was not for that, then we could have probably been mates.
Source: thecandideye.wordpress.com
One of the most intersting parts of living in China is witnessing first hand how a culture is taught how to spend money.
Less than a month ago this same column at my local supermarket was full of Halloween stuff, now it’s all Xmas’d out. You may wonder what the Chinese care about Halloween (a pagan originated harvest festival) or Christmas (a traditionally Christian festival)… well the sad answer is that this is all about commercialism. And the fun part is that people are buying into it - no pun intended.
Soon, the massive Chinese middle class will be indoctrinated just like the rest of us. Then the engine driving the world’s commercial economy will be based here.
I shouldn’t complain. I am riding this wave after all.
A new book store opened up in the mall across the road from my apartment. This made me awesomely happy since there were no bookstores near me before this, and the chances of finding one that sells English books is incredibly rare in GZ.
This one ticks both those boxes and there’s a cafe inside!
Break on campus until 2pm.
In the library awaiting a meeting with my partner for a project due Tuesday and starting to write my final project for another class - draft due Tuesday.
Wow. I thought “Let’s merry.” was a bad Chinese translation on the Starbucks cups/sleeves here. I guess it’s a thing, then.
Source: overflowing
Had an awesome night with the crew from the local restaurant (where I end up getting a lot of takeaway from). Among other topical discussions, they taught me how to swear in Chinese.
Delay No More!
This is the story everyone in China is talking about at the moment.
Foshan City, where I actually live, is a quiet place. Usually over shadowed and kept out of the mainstream news by it’s neighboring giant Guangzhou and other larger cities in China. However, this week Foshan has been catapulted to the front-line of concern and criticism focusing on the decline of parenting skills, human decency and morals.
A two year old girl, who had wandered off whilst her parents were working was run over by two large vehicles and left for dead. Not only left for dead by the drivers of both vehicles but left by the 18 people that simply walked by as she lay crushed and crying in the road.The 19th person, a ‘scavenging woman’ who was collecting rubbish to earn money through recycling was the only person to move the child out of the road and find her parents.
How could anyone walk passed a baby in the road? Well the reason comes to this, and this is not a justification to walking by just a reason that has cropped up on social networking sites out here: The law means that if you hit a person with your car, no matter the circumstances, the person driving always takes responsibility and subsequently has to pay for the medical bills of the injured person… for the rest of their life. This has often resulted in people running over the person again or getting out of the vehicle to “finish the person off” as it is a cheaper option to do so.
The plot thickens and brings to light what perhaps the 18 people who walked passed the little girl were thinking: several people have taken full advantage of the “injure and pay” law and the stories of them doing so have injected fear into people. In an infamous case, a man had found an elderly woman who had fallen down the stairs and after helping her and taking her to hospital, she turned on him and said that he had pushed her, which lead to him paying for her medical bills… for life. This is why people are reluctant to help each other. I have seen a few crashes out here involving motorcycles where people have been thrown to the ground and nobody goes over to help.
And where were the parents or carers of this little girl? In China, people do not lose their children due to neglect as they would where I am from and Chinese people have noted that perhaps this has been taken for granted.
This is not a criticism of Chinese people or culture. I am posting this because when I was a boy I was taught the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ and sometimes I think people forget that practicing the basics of being a good person, to yourself and to others, wins every time over the ugly distractions the modern world provides.
Sad world.
I was thinking about you when I saw this on the news last night. Being Foshan and all.
Speaking to a few people at work about this, it’s pretty much consistent with what you said; combination of fear of liability from the general public and poor parenting.
Also, its not like this kind of thing does not happen in other countries, but the story involving a 2 year old victim is a high-octane fuel indeed.
One of the more interesting comments I have heard about it is that you should ask yourself what you would do in the same situation. I mean, and for example, you said that you’d seen several motorbike accidents where nobody helped… but did you?
It’s a fascinating question, because being outraged is easy but would you (and I mean ‘you’ in the general sense here, not you specifically, Mr Hunt) actually stop and help? You won’t know till you’re there, I guess.
Source: Daily Mail
Life
Just found out that one of the guys from my office died in a car accident last night. He was 22.
You know that thing you always wanted to do? Do it.
Spent the night at the ballet… The Spanish National Ballet, who were in Guangzhou this weekend. An awesome show, except for my personal misfortune of getting a seat behind a dude with a massive head.
The evening at the opera house was preceded by watching France get pummelled by New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup. I have to give it to the 100-or-so French who were there at the pub with me for being in good spirits throughout the game… then again, they were all well into the beers by the time the first try was made. Despite being Australian and South African born, I am an All Blacks supporter - and a few of my French friends seems to switch sides tonight.
Oh, and I missed the Haka this game because I had to Skype with my 2 year old nephew in Sydney and talk him along eating his dinner. I’m such a good uncle.
Four single guys go to a wedding. Wonder why they go home single.
Just back from my first Chinese wedding reception. A very casual affair with no pretensions, evidenced by a guy wearing a Burger King shirt. But this dude really took the cake.
Being my first ‘Chinese’ wedding reception it was a little disappointing to find out that 80% of it was just like a western wedding reception - only things missing were the dancing and copious amounts of alcohol. Which I guess is a good thing seeing as how it’s a Sunday night. Though, I am told that northern Chinese weddings are more likely to get on the piss.
So... guess what I'm going to be doing tonight?
Click link and scroll down… the second last picture is a doozy!
Todays breakfast: omlette with spinach, cherry tomatoes & chili.
This is the first time I have cooked in months. Loving the new supermarket that opened across the street! Now I don’t need to suffer the crowds and the subway to get groceries.
BUT… I still need to find a bread knife. None exist in China, apparrently.
chaptertwelve replied to your photoset: Last week, around this time, I was hanging off a…
Welp. Now you’ve taken all the fun out of making fun of those clothes. (Why no matching camo? Is your backwards hat a statement? Were you one who cried, be honest?)
HA! Those camo clothes were made out of 100% polyester. It was like wearing garbage bags all day. Why they didn’t match I could not say, though I would assume the custume shop ran out of something along the way…
Backwards hat + rolled up sleeves = me trying to be hood and stick it to the man. DId I mention that they made us do drills and pushups? FFS! I was so over it until we started having fun. NOBODY wakes me up at 4am to have breakfast without coffee and eat my eggs with chopsticks… except the Chinese Military, apparently.
I cried when Artax dies in the Swap of Sadness. I did not cry after we scaled that wall. I may have mentioned something highly sentimental about standing on the shoulders of giants to be received by angels, though.
Give Way. Keep Left. Cover Your Load.
