September 03, 2003

I'm back in Beijing!! So much has happened these past 2 months that I have had no time to put anything updated in the journal, and for that I feel quite bad. So, what has brought me back to China's capital city? It's a bit of a long story and I'll condense it as much as possible for easier consumption.

About 3 months ago I started feeling some real frustration with my job and everything surrounding it. I will avoid specifics in order to not irritate or offend other parties, but suffice it to say that I was reaching the end of what I could reasonably tolerate, and I was no longer content with my day to day professional life in Chengdu. Some day I may write more on the subject, but right now I don't feel comfortable doing so. Outside of work, I was still in love with the city of Chengdu and couldn't have been happier with the people there I called my friends. I seemed to have found a real connection to the city and if it were not for the work-related issues, I could have seen myself living there for a very long time. It almost hurts me now to write about Chengdu because I miss it so very much! <Lump in throat> Anyway, things were not going well professionally and I half-jokingly sent an e-mail to my good friend Zach in the United States describing my career issues and asked if there was any opportunities to work with the Follett Corporation here in China. I spent about 10 years working for one of the corporation's divisions and Zach is a Vice-President of Asia Sales for the International Sales group. Amazingly enough, Zach wrote back to say that there may indeed be an opportunity as an independent sales representative! He cautioned that It may have its limitations and challenges, but he thought that my familiarity with China would be a real plus to the organization and its customers. It was like music to my ears, and not long after, I found myself turning in my resignation and returning the the United States to be with my family and attend trainings on Follett products and services. The only real disappointment with any of this was the need for me to locate myself in a more centralized and business-oriented area of the country, hence the need for me to move to Beijing.

Saying goodbye to my good friends in Chengdu was the hardest part of making the transition to my new career. The people at the little restaurant outside the apartment complex, the store owners, some of my co-workers, and my close friends who I socialized with all seemed genuinely sad to see me go, and I felt the same way. I should also add that it was hard saying goodbye to many of the students at the school. The majority of them are very good young adults and I am certain that they will have bright futures, but for the others falling outside this group, well, I can't say I will really miss them. Sounds harsh and uncaring, but some of them were simply bad-eggs and my experiences with them were far from golden. Gawd, I hate saying that!

These past few weeks in Beijing have been extremely busy for me. My apartment had some issues I needed to iron-out with the landlord, and there were the normal legal formalities I needed to attend to as well. For anyone staying in China with more than a tourist visa, you are are required to register with the police within 24 hours of beginning to live somewhere. I described this in my journal entry of April 22, 2002 and am happy to report that it was trouble-free this time around. In fact, I was in and out of the station in less than a half hour! Other time-consuming activities included purchasing equipment for my office area and other things for the apartment. Time has certainly flown since arriving in Beijing.

My apartment is located in the Chaoyang district of Beijing which is clear on the other side of the city from where I used to live. This district is most notable for the foreign embassies, the nightlife entertainment, and foreign business offices. It is a great area to live in and I am lucky to have found a good apartment here. While it is of no real importance to me, there is a McDonalds right near the gate to the apartment complex, and a Pizza Hut only 5 minutes walk away. I usually shun these places as I prefer eating local fare, but it is nice to have for that occasional Western food craving. By the way, McDonalds here does have its differences from those in the States. Most notable is the absence of the "Quarter Pounder" (My favorite McDonald's item) and the newer types of sandwiches. The chicken sandwich, both spicy and regular, seem to be the big sellers as well as the chicken wings. Seems large slabs of beef are just not a big thing with the average Chinese consumer. There is the Big Mac, but when you really look at it, there's not a lot of meat. Well, it's usually what I do order on the very few occasions I go there, and when I do, I simply say "Yi hao." which means number one. Pretty simple stuff! This reminds me of another thing I miss about Chengdu.....the food! I have been ordering some of my favorite Sichuan dishes here in Beijing, but they just don't seem to measure-up. I guess I will have to acclimate myself more to the popular dishes in Beijing and not try to find an equal to what I had in Chengdu.

As many people know, Beijing is the home of some of the world's most interesting and impressive cultural sites. Last year, and the year prior I had the pleasure of visiting many of these places and had an opportunity to see them again. I visited the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Beihai Park, and the Forbidden City. There are still some other places I want to go back to, so hopefully that will happen before the weather turns ugly here. The best return was to the Great Wall because I went to another section called Simatai that is not as commercialized and reconstructed as the section I first visited (Badaling). The tour involved an 8 km hike from the drop-off point on the wall to the location where we would be picked up. The Simatai section of the wall can be quite dangerous if you are not careful, and it does require you to be in pretty good shape and motivated to complete the hike. Well, one of my friends who went along with me did not meet either criteria and we made the decision to take a short-cut off the wall and running parallel to it. Two ladies who were following us and exhorting us to buy water or Great Wall books and postcards from them, are the ones who informed us of the shortcut. My friend was all too eager to take it. The two ladies led us through what turned out to be a very beautiful and scenic area that allowed for some really great views of the wall. We passed small farmhouses and walked along fields growing with all sorts of things, including corn. Reminded me of home! Anyway, toward the end the ladies stopped and pointed in the direction we would continue. Feeling guilty, I decided to pay them for their help. Well, this nice gesture on my part revealed the fact that the two women really didn't like each other and were unwilling to share the money. Before realizing this, I had given the money to one of them and told her to give half to the other. I noticed she was refusing and the other woman was becoming upset and yelling. Then the first lady tried to give the other only one-third, and this set off another round of yelling. Finally, I put on my best angry face and repeated my request that the first woman to give the other half the money. She finally did, but you could see how angry she was to do it. This whole greedy episode just about ruined the whole experience for me. After leaving the two ladies behind, my friend and I wound our way to the area where we would be picked up. The time we saved allowed us to eat at one of the little restaurants while we waited for the rest of the group to finish. Aside from the terrible experience with the two ladies, the shortcut ended up being a really good decision and I would recommend it to others in the future. Just be wary of the people who follow you all along the wall as you hike it. They may seem to only be helpful and informative, but in fact some of them, then again nearly all of them, are interested only in the money you're carrying. So interested, you would be amazed at how far they will follow you as you hike the wall.

I know I have said like things before, but I have to say it again. I will really try to get the next entry posted in less time than it took to do this one. Things have just become much busier for me and I no longer enjoy the lifestyle of a college student. Something has to give right? Next time: McDonalds Pics!