Category Archives: China

China Day 3

May 13, 2012 By in China, Uncategorized Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Try to avoid looking like this man

Our Third Day in Beijing was all about adventure and exploration. Unfortunately, it was also about lessons learned. The above picture is of Cliff after he realized that the taxi driver from this morning had given him 5.10RMBs (RMB is Renminbi the Chinese currency) instead of 15RMBs for change. The wrong bills were tucked underneath the appropriate 5RMB bill on top, and Cliff didn’t realize until later that afternoon that he had been had. When dealing with foreign currency and people you never know what you might get so be careful.

798

Our day started with said driver taking us to the 798 district about 20-30 minutes drive away from our hotel. We had heard it was this amazing place with a real artsy vibe and wanted to check it out. It did not disappoint. Especially for someone like me who likes to take goofy photographs of people. Here are a few that I took in the area:

Big Tiny

Right after I took this picture, a group of touring Koreans walked by and took pictures of each other grabbing the sculpture’s balls. My propensity for “artsy” photos must be a Korean thing.

Running Man

You gotta love anyone who is willing to let you do this to them. This whole area is surrounded by cute shops and museums. Art students and locals enjoying the scene. Every few blocks there would be models and photographers doing photo shoots.

In the Alley

I found myself walking along the streets, and looking down different alleys, there would be great setting like this to just enjoy. It really is a great place to explore.

After enjoying the morning at 798, Cliff, Chase and I headed back to make a 12:30pm reservation at Da Dong Restaurant. A few people had recommended the place as being great for Peking/Beijing Duck.

Da Dong Duck

I don’t know why, but looking at this photo, I feel like it’s so “chinky”. The restaurant itself is actually really awesome. Very contemporary and chic. Evening would be dressy code but lunch was definitely more casual. We ordered the half duck, but I must admit, I don’t think it was enough. I’m a flexatarian and 1/2 duck did not seem sufficient for Cliff and Chase (10-year-old boy). They actually ended up going to another local restaurant for more duck that evening to satisfy their fix. The food was terrific, but I swear, the waitress we had was either slow, or “slow”, if you get what I mean.

Afterwards, Chase wanted to chillax (Chill + Relax) and Cliff and I decided to explore more of the city around us.

Communist Street

When you turn off the main shopping street you can find yourself in the local bazaar, or I we call it the “bizarre”:

Can you find the tourist in this picture?

After we walked through, we headed to the street food section of town. I was not disappointed:

Yum

Word of advice: Eat a good breakfast because you might not be in the mood for Sheep Penis later in the day.

IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA

  • Style & Money: I want to revisit my impressions on my first day. I cannot say the Chinese are necessarily as stylish as the Koreans, or Japanese, but it’s not like they don’t have the goods. There were plenty of people wearing jeans and no one was waiting for their toilet paper ration. In fact, I’m not exaggerating when I tell you, within a 6 block radius there were 3 Rolex and 3 Cartier boutiques! Looks like heaven to me. Just kidding. Not really. ;) but you get my point. It was all so disorienting to me. Our guide Lilly had also mentioned that residents of Beijing who lived in the old neighborhoods in run down old-style homes (hutongs) could all wake up tomorrow and be multi millionaires if they chose because the property value within Beijing was so high.
  • Babies: Everyone knows about the 1 baby rule in China, but even that isn’t absolute. If you are an only child and happen to marry another only child, you can ask the government for a waiver and have another baby! Of course you have to pay a fee, but according to Lilly, you can turn a profit at the baby’s birth day when guests will bring you money as gifts.
  • Cars: Since rationing births worked so great for the population, the government thought it might work controlling traffic. You are only allowed 1 Car per household and you have to enter a lottery to be granted that privilege. Sometimes, people who don’t even want to drive enter the lottery just so they can have the grant, then they turn their “license plate” around and sell it to someone who is dying to have their own car but didn’t win the lottery.
  • Men & Women: I was thinking all this time that China was full of men because girls are so worthless (not me talking). But according to Lilly, Men:Women is 49:51 percent! That whole thing about killing girls babies just applies to country folk. Just like in the US.
  • Human Rights: I don’t know if Hillary knew about our plans or if it was just coincidence, but she happened to be visiting the same time we were there. When I saw her on TV talking about all the suffering Chinese and their oppression and that blind Chinese man being persecuted I wanted to gag. I don’t know who I hate more, liberals or journalists. I didn’t see 1 riot or 1 unhappy Chinese person the whole time I was here. What I did see was a LOT of entrepreneurialism, people wearing Rolexes and people eating tasty duck.

Until next time…

 

China Day 2

May 9, 2012 By in Chase, China, Cliff, Kathryn Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Brass Ones

Today’s Itinerary: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Silk Factory.

Despite redefining the term “Balls to the Walls” yesterday, today looks like even more walking and discovery.

Mao’s Dead Body Behind Us

TIANANMEN SQUARE

There is a main street in Beijing known as Peaceful Avenue. On one side is Tiananmen Square. On the other side is the Forbidden City. It is where Chairman Mao is laid to rest for anyone who wants to visit and remember the good days. There is also the Gate of Heavenly Peace and a National Monument for Heroes. It is said that the square can accommodate 1 million people. Amongst all the tourists and locals walking around, there are also undercover police helping to maintain the peace and making sure no one gets run over by tanks. Chase forgot his cap today and of course it was sunny and I just couldn’t take seeing his bare head uncovered, so we broke down and bought him a cap. Haggle everything. Don’t ever pay the asking price.

FORBIDDEN CITY

Inside the Forbidden City

By walking toward Peaceful Avenue and through an underground tunnel you are able to access the Forbidden City. This is the last residence of the last Emperor. Everyone knows the number 8 is considered lucky in China and Asia in general. But did you know 9 is considered the Emperor’s number? Lilly also informed us that yellow is the imperial color. I asked her about the movie “The Last Emperor” and she said it was pretty factual, and that movie is the only movie production ever allowed to film inside the City. Looks like someone is going to Blockbuster. The Forbidden City (FC) is vast and can take all day. It’s funny how you know something is called “Forbidden City” but you don’t actually think it’s going to be “city-size”. They even had different departments for the Emperor’s enrichment as well as for all his concubines. The emperor was known to hoard the prettiest ladies. It is thought there were probably 3000 concubines in the city just for him. Of course they had to be educated too because the Emperor wasn’t all about looks. There was something affectionately referred to as CU: Concubine University. I came across a department that seemed appropriate for Chase:

Class of 2012

We finished our tour of the FC at the Imperial Garden. At some point, you start feeling like, once you’ve seen 1 pagoda, you’ve seen them all. Then you hit the Imperial Garden and it is truly amazing. Evidently the Emperor had a thing for coral and ordered his minions to collect as much coral as possible and created an entire garden from it:

Imperial Garden aka Coral City

As we walked out of the FC, Lilly informed us that we would have to walk a few blocks because taxis were forbidden to stop near tourist attractions. This is the government’s way of avoiding traffic jams in these popular tourist spots. When Lilly was able to get a taxi to slow down, he would take one look at us with our foreign clothes and fanny packs and drive off. Evidently, foreigners have a reputation for being too slow getting in and out of taxis. Because the government has cameras all over the place, if they get photographed stopping within a certain radius, they get mailed a hefty fine.

TEMPLE of HEAVEN

Cliff at the Temple of Heaven

Next stop, Temple of Heaven. Built in 1420, it is the largest temple built without nails or cement. Incredible. This park/temple area was only visited by the Emperor twice a year. He would fast in the palace for 3 days and ask heaven for good harvest. Even though he was always carried around in a jiao by his servants, only at the Temple of Heaven was he expected to walk. The park itself is a favorite place for locals to come and sit, picnic, dance, hang with friends. It’s such a peaceful place.

At this point, we have processed our large breakfast and are ready to eat lunch at the “local” restaurant Lilly has picked for us. This place was supposed to be good for noodles and other dishes. It was typical of local restaurants in that it was loud and bustling. You find a place to sit and order when you are ready. You pay after you order, before the food comes. No cool, wet cloth to wipe your hands either. You normally eat dishes as they come out. They don’t wait for all the dishes to start eating. I have learned, Beijing people like to talk and their food hot. I also learned, sometimes, Beijing people find clothing optional.

Shirt Optional

SILK FACTORY

Chase peeking through the Silk Worm nests

Last stop: the Silk Factory. No trip to China would be complete without visiting a silk factory. The lady in the picture was the resident silk expert. She showed us silk production from worm to fabric. I suffer from an intense fear of worms so the experience made me queasy and I found myself averting my eyes a lot. Once we got through the science part, we started the shopping part. Suddenly, I’m feeling better. Cliff picked up a silk duvet for our bed. Convinced that it is better than down filling. I went into the fabric room and found 2 fabrics I fell in love with to re-line some jackets I have at home. All in all, great finds. The silk expert gave Chase his souvenirs:

Silk Cocoons with Worms inside

Another exhausting day over. Day 3 is enjoying the city and walking around on our own.

Until next time…

China Day 1

May 8, 2012 By in bicycle, China, Kathryn Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Beijing 2012

We arrived in China late Wednesday night May 2nd. Even at night, as we drove through the streets of Beijing, I couldn’t help but think, “This is Communism?” Someone forgot to tell the Chinese. Where are all the oppressed people wearing Mandarin collars and grey dentist tops? I actually asked one of the locals if China was still Communist because Beijing is nothing like Russia or North Korea. There were no long lines of people waiting for their toilet paper ration. In some ways, it took me back to college, when Communism sort of made sense.

Our first day in Beijing ended up being sunny and in the 90′s. So of course our plans included touring The Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. Strange how the first vacation I take after my mom’s death is visiting tombs everyday.

MING TOMBS

Front of Ming Tombs

This area is the preserved land of the Ming Dynasty Emperors. Our guide Lilly was a tremendous wealth of information. I’m not going to reiterate historical facts you all can Google yourselves. I’m just going to describe our journey. It is really amazing when you see in person all the amazing structures that the Chinese created without the help of internet. Chase drove us crazy with his constant desire to buy a rice paddy hat. You know, the large straw hats you always see in oriental paintings? I don’t know why, but he was obsessed. I finally told him if he asked one more time the final answer was going to be “no”. Walking the grounds and listening to Lilly talk to us about the afterlife, it was hard not to think about my mom. It was nice to talk with someone who was so convinced in an afterlife that was supposedly so beautiful and peaceful. She told me that after a person dies, you’re supposed to burn their favorite things so they can have them.

GREAT WALL

Great Wall

Our next stop was the Great Wall. I honestly should have turned around at this point, but you see, that’s how the Chinese are so smart…. They posted this sign halfway through the climb. I was stuck clutching the stone walls trying to catch my breath as senior citizens with canes hobbled past me.

I could barely hold the camera straight

We passed an interesting section of the Wall, popular amongst newlyweds. Evidently, it’s sort of a ritual to climb the wall, attach a lock together and literally throw the key over. Our guide said she brought 2 keys and threw the fake one over. I knew there was something I liked about Lilly. I call this picture “Wedlock”:

WedLock

In the end, we made it to 5 pagodas (which in Chinese must mean “pee in the corner”). 4,000 miles and no portoJohns, so plan your fluids. Chase ended up Christening the Wall at one point with Cliff’s blessing. I was still huffing and puffing a few flights back.

Made It!

After the Wall, we had lunch at a local restaurant and ate dumplings, a corn dish, bok choy, and crispy chicken dishes. When picking restaurants, high-end restaurants are easy. They are high-end. Outside of this, you have “local” restaurants and “local-local” restaurants. Local restaurants are good food, clean, and reasonable prices. Local-local restaurants may have tasty food, but are questionable in the clean department and are dirt cheap.

JADE MARKET

Once our bellies were full, our last stop for the day was at the Jade Market.

Lilly, Jade Market Manager, Chase

It was very eye-opening to see all the Jade and how it is produced and finished. The Olympic Medals from the Beijing Olympics are actually the only medals which had Jade incorporated into each medallion. We ended up picking several pieces which are amazing and had a lot of fun haggling. Piece of advice: try not to negotiate with a 10-year-old boy who thinks he has money, but, if he has to be around, make sure he knows to stay in the back and just look tough and not say anything.

CHINA CLUB

China Club

We ended our day at the China Club for dinner. Before we were seated the host showed us some of the accommodations also available. Cliff thought it was just a restaurant, but there are actually amazing rooms that you can stay in when you come visit. I highly recommend it.

We arrived in Tokyo Sunday Night and it is Tuesday. Every time I see a staircase now, I start to sweat and feel dizzy. I don’t think it is jet lag necessarily, maybe PTSD from the Great Wall. I swear, my legs get weak very quickly now. I am doing a lot of yoga, trying to find my breath again. But besides that, I am going to the grocery store and making “salad dinners” every night. Sometimes I feel guilty but it usually passes. Most of the time I just feel like I’m in one of those Public Service Announcements for Depression. Walking around in my robe aimlessly. Today on my way to yoga, I fell off my bike on a busy street and thank God there wasn’t a car behind me. I got up and looked at all the road rash on my butt and my bleeding feet and shoulders, but you know what? I just re-rolled that damn yoga mat and biked on. I probably grossed out the other people in the class with my bloody prints on my mat, but I don’t care. It felt good to hurt physically. Felt good to move forward.

Until next time…

China, Moss Bonsai, Wine with Lunch

April 30, 2012 By in China, Cliff, Daily Living, Japan, Kathryn, Mom, useful Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Before I leave for China, I thought I should tie up some loose ends:

April 17th I picked up our visas for China. Of course I got into line as early as possible and managed to score the 2nd spot. Once I went in, I went to one of the windows on the first floor. I handed her the receipt and she handed me another ticket that I had to take to a machine and pay the visa fee (15,000 yen/US Citizen):

Pay money here

Sorry for the blurry quality. I had to take the picture on the sly because all these police-y looking men already warned me once “no pictures”.

Then, the machine gave me a ticket which I had to return to the window and show the lady. At this point, I was handed our visas. You can’t truly understand how process oriented Japan is until you live here.

The other thing I was going to blog about was a Moss Bonsai class I took at Tokyo American Club (TAC). 

We took raw materials:

Materials for Moss Bonsai

And turned them into this!

Moss Bonsai! Wah-lah!

They turned out so nicely, I thought, “Instead of designer handbags, I’ll just give these as gifts for my girlfriends!”

I look at that picture and think, “That was a girl with a mom.” See how happy she was.

Sunday, Cliff, Chase, and I went to Shibuya. Shibuya is known as the “young people” area, so Chase and I fit right in. It was soooo hot and crowded I literally felt nauseous:

Taken from Shibuya Station

I promised them I would meet them after baseball for lunch, so I picked out a place known for its udon and we checked it out. I still haven’t gotten used to the crowds. It is so hard to be outside and constantly jostled around and waiting for slow people in front of you.

Today is the Emperor’s Birthday and the first day of Golden Week so Cliff had the day off, but Chase did not. We have an unspoken understanding when Chase is in school but Cliff is home, that we have lunch date. This morning I went to ashtanga yoga at Under The Light and planned to meet Cliff at a new Italian restaurant near our place. I still feel shaky and I don’t know if it is the grief or jet lag, but I just know yoga will help me so I am forcing myself to go. By the time I got to shivasana, I closed my eyes and I just started crying. This is like the 3rd or 4th time I’ve cried during or after yoga. There is something about all the stretching, twisting, breathing, and pain that just releases a person. One of my teachers at Balance Yoga in Atlanta theorized that because we carry so much of our stress and anxiety in our muscles and joints, yoga pulls all that out and helps us rid ourselves of their physical manifestations. I believe it. While I practiced today, I just felt like my mom was with me.

I left early, just because I was sniffling and I didn’t want to interrupt everyone’s shivasana. On my way to the restaurant, I saw an elderly couple where the wife was being pushed in a wheelchair by her husband (so much like my parents) and that just took me over the edge. I got on my bike and was bawling out loud through the streets of Tokyo. I’m sure people thought I was crazy.

When I got to the restaurant Cliff was already sitting. I told him to order me a glass of white wine as I ran to the restroom. I think the waitress felt sorry for me, because she kept filling our glasses. It definitely made me feel better. I also wondered, “Am I that woman? The woman who has wine with lunch? Where Happy Hour starts at 12:00?” Am I going to have my “special” thermos in the truck when I am waiting in the carpool line? I don’t know. One day at a time, right? I do think I am going to have to start knitting again:

Wineholder

Until next time…

Good Times

April 15, 2012 By in Chase, China, Cliff, Cub Scouts, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo Tags: , , Leave a comment

Stamped & Approved

VISA FOR CHINA

After 3 visits. Success! Last Thursday, at 8:15 am I assumed my position in front of the Chinese embassy (all documents in hand) and got my receipt! I pick up our visas on Tuesday. Cliff has booked the hotel and flights. We leave May 2nd and return May 6th. Of course, you all will get the play-by-play as we continue in this adventure we call life.

Friday was the Opening Day for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. The first performance was for 4th, 5th and 6th graders at 1:30pm. Because Cliff and Chase were going camping with Cub Scouts on Saturday at 5:30am, I attended the elementary performance and came home so we could all eat dinner and I could help Cliff and Chase pack. The performance went fine. I thought their last rehearsal was better, but at this point the quality standard deviation is probably 10%. I’m still incredulous that we ended up with such a decent show given how it was looking just 1 week ago.

Knowing Cliff and Chase were going to be gone this weekend, I was really torn as to what to do. I knew if I made plans to go out, as it got closer, I would end up wanting to bail. However, I also know if I stay home all day and night, all I will end up doing is eating junk food and watching Columbo or Korean dramas. So by Friday, I started inviting myself to other people’s plans.

Proud Scout

Saturday arrives and Cliff and Chase have managed to leave without getting me up (so nice). When I do get up, I realize it’s raining. Not just mist, but a steady pour. I feel badly for Cliff and Chase for about 2 seconds, and then start getting ready for my day.

One of my goals Saturday was to find a very unique tailor. Cliff somehow managed to create a tiny hole in the front of one of his suit pants. After taking it to my alterations lady, she told me this was beyond her realm of abilities. I needed a kakehagi specialist: Someone who specialized in invisible cloth repair (WTH?). Believe it or not, I ended up finding a boutique that has been around forever through the TAC member services. So after spin class, I took Cliff’s pants to the American Tailors shop, where ironically, there are no American Tailors, and no one speaks English. Estimated Cost: 5,000-6,000 yen.

By the time I start heading back to the apartment in the rain, Nghi and I have made plans to get together for dinner at 7:00pm.

SaturNight 6:50pm. I walk out of the apartment with my Tokyo Black leggings, knee-high boots and bustier. Cliff cracked me up once when he said, “So let me get this straight, you put your bra on to go to bed and take it off to go out !” Mmmhmm. That’s right. I expect my boobs to flop around when I’m dancing, not when I’m trying to sleep. At this point, Cliff has been sending me all kinds of pitiful photos of himself and Chase trying to camp in the rain:

Trying to dry his wet sleeping bag over the fire

I would send back pictures of me having fun:

Subject: What I'm Doing Right Now

I explained to Cliff that I was strictly going out because I couldn’t have a blog about living in Tokyo and not have a night out in Roppongi. Roppongi is known as the “party” district. Full of bars and clubs and stuff to get you in trouble. I go through Roppongi all the time during the day, so seeing it at night and partaking in its wild weekend scene was really fun. An interesting thing to note is Roppongi gets very “dark” at night. I mean this literally and figuratively. You hardly ever see black people during the day in Tokyo. And please, don’t misunderstand where I’m coming from. Black people do not bother me. I con’t have trucks with Dixie Flag stickers on them, I like their music, and sometimes their food (I say this all tongue in cheek of course) plus, I’m going to play the Atlanta card. However, when I say Roppongi gets “dark” at night, I’m talking Nigerian dark. According to sources in the know, these are people who are paid to bring customers into clubs/bars or sometimes they are pimps. Nghi and I had difficulty walking 2 blocks without coming across someone trying to “recruit” us. Michael already told us if we earned any money, we needed to give him 10%. After dinner, Nghi and I started looking for a place to have drinks. We checked out GasPanic but I had to leave. Felt too much like rehearsals. Lots of kids. I then remembered someone (over the age of 35) had recommended Motown as a fun place to go after dinner. There was a nice range of ages, and it is one of those places that plays great music and even though there isn’t a dance floor per se, people just get up and dance when the mood hits them. We had a GREAT time.

Drunk picture

By the time we were ready to leave, it was well into the wee hours of the night. The rain had stopped, the temperatures were pleasant and the streets were still packed! It was definitely a good time, but I don’t think my knees could handle doing this on a regular basis.

SUNDAY

I woke up feeling like I had a mouth full of cotton balls. I checked my phone and saw Cliff had emailed me already:

5:30AM and 28 degrees. Not the warmest place to be. We will or at least I will be doing nothing else today upon arrival.

Survived the Night

OK. He wins.

Until next time…

School Daze & Trying to Get to China

April 8, 2012 By in Chase, China, Cliff, Culture Shock, Daily Living, Japan, Japanese Excursions, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, School, Tokyo, Transportation, useful, Weather Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

SCHOOL CLOSING

In the States, I have experienced or known of unexpected school cancellations due to snow, ice, hurricane, and violence. Last week, I experienced my first school closing due to High Winds. Because so many students in Japan commute by trains, if the winds are too intense, much like a ski lift, the trains have to stop running. It does seem ironic that Tokyo can survive earthquakes, but if the winds get too high they worry about trains flying off their tracks. Truth be told, I have never experienced winds as crazy fierce as those in a Tokyo typhoon.  Oh well, Chase got an unexpected half-day and because my cooking lesson wasn’t canceled, he ended up meeting Cliff for lunch and spending the rest of the afternoon being “home-schooled”.

HITTING THE WALL: CHINESE VISA

My second attempt for a visa was again unsuccessful. My first attempt happened to coincide with the Chinese holiday Qingming Day, or Tomb Sweeping day. It’s hard to believe anyone can make a living with all the holidays. Remember, call first before you go anywhere.

On my second try, I thought I would take pictures depicting the waiting line as it grew. We live very close to the Embassy so I get to see it regularly. I never expected to actually be a part of it. I decided to get in line at 8:15am even though it opens at 9:00am:

8:15 am

My spot is marked by the pink backpack. There was actually a family of 4 in front of me when I assumed my position.

8:35am looked like this:

8:35am

When I went across the street to take this picture, the police officer chastised me for jay-walking. I had to walk to the crossways every time.

As 9:00am arrived, some Chinese embassy officials popped out of the building and set up a table ala airport security-style with baskets for “metal objects”.

8:55am

It was so funny watching people get dropped off in front of the Embassy and watching the realization on their faces that they had to walk another block to get in line. Once the doors opened, we rushed in and you have to go to the 3rd floor and go from window to window. They checked my papers. I didn’t have a photocopy of my (and Chase’s) passport and alien card so I had to get in line for the photocopy machine (luckily I was early so I didn’t have to wait for that) but then I had to get back in line at window 1. You basically go to Window 1 for a ticket to get to Window 2. When my turn came up, I went to Window 2, and she said I needed my hotel reservation and plane tickets. With that, she quickly  handed me a copy of the application procedures along with all my papers and shut the window. It was all very Wizard of Oz, Dorothy-San style. As soon as I left, I of course called Cliff to thank him for wasting 2 hours of my life. Will let you know how much further I get on the “yellow-brick road”.

THE GRADUATE… years later

Last night, we finally rendezvoused with Andrew. He’s so cute and very “fresh” (vampire term). Cliff met him at the station, and Chase and I met them at our favorite soba restaurant in Azabu Juban. I don’t know if it’s a sign of maturity or maternity, but as Chase and Andrew sat next to each other, I couldn’t help wondering what Chase would end up being like when he goes to college. How would he act if he was traveling overseas on his own? Andrew got on Chase’s good list as soon as he realized they could talk about video games and DragonBall. Andrew got on my good list as he talked about his interest in Japan and his desire to explore the city. He’s our first visitor and it is so nice to see the city through “new eyes” as only a visitor can bring.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

So the countdown is on. Friday the 13th is opening night. I’m not going to say it’s Glee, but it’s definitely a show. I do have my favorite numbers and my favorite cast members. It’s been an interesting experience and I have enjoyed working with some of the kids. I have also made some interesting observations about people who choose to work in high school settings. Not being faculty and being more of an outsider, it has been a revelation on many levels to work with the kids and adults. If it sounds like I keep talking around something, it’s probably because I wish I could say more, but I have to  wait until we’re out of the country to spill my guts.

Until next time…

 

 

The Graduate & China Part 1

April 4, 2012 By in China, Cliff, Culture Shock, Daily Living, Getting there, Tokyo, Transportation, useful Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

This morning, Cliff told me Andrew finally arrived in Tokyo. Andrew is one of Cliff’s best friend’s grandson who is going to attend Japanese University. I met Andrew a very long time ago when Cliff and I were just dating at said friend’s party, and at the time, he was just a little boy. Anyhow, I am very excited to see Andrew again after all these years. Worst case, he’s some shy, pimply faced kid with glasses. Better case, well, anything outside of that. Since he has just arrived, I know he hasn’t started classes and he’s probably looking for places to explore. This morning Cliff and I had this conversation:

  • Cliff: Andrew just arrived in Japan
  • Me: Who?
  • Cliff: Remember Andrew?!? I told you he’s coming for school?
  • Me: Oh yeah… excitedly So when are we getting together? Will he come for the weekend?
  • Cliff: I don’t know. Probably not.
  • Me: Well, let’s get together for dinner Friday (darn! I have rehearsals) maybe Sunday brunch?
  • Cliff: Okay. We can talk about it later.
  • Me: Why don’t you give me his email and I’ll contact him directly.
  • Cliff: Mmm, no. I’ll take care of it.
  • Me: Don’t you have more important things to do?
  • Cliff: silence

Mrs. Robinson. Paving the Way for Cougars

I know what is happening here. I felt like maybe I should have reminded Cliff my last name is Wright not Robinson. Am I a bit Pavlovian at the sound of lawnmowers on a summer day? Maybe. Do I like to surround myself with attractive people. Guilty. Am I living vicariously by reading the Twilight series? Yesssss. But do all these things warrant his reluctance to letting me get my hands on this young man? I should hope not. I don’t think of myself as a cougar anyway. Puma, maybe, but cougar, no. Will let you know when and how the reunion goes.

I finally broke down and started reading the Twilight series. I’m hooked. As I get older, I find myself relating to vampires more and more. Who knows? maybe one of these days I’ll start dressing in torn up black clothing and paint my face white like they do on Harajuku Street:

Girls from Harajuku

GOING TO CHINA

On a completely different topic, Cliff and I have decided to go to China with Chase. So this will be the first in my “China” series.

I hate filling out applications so you can imagine my dread when Cliff brought home 12 pages (6 for Chase and 6 for me) of Visa application forms. Then, I had to get color passport pictures for Chase and myself but these are not hard to get because there are photo booths everywhere in Tokyo. Most thoughtful husbands delegate this application process to their eager-to-please assistants at the office, but in Cliff’s world, everyone’s an assistant.

Visa Application

I checked the website for the Chinese Embassy (which happens to be a couple blocks down from our apartment) and in addition to the application you need:

  • Passport with enough pages
  • Alien registration card
  • Photocopy of Passport & Alien Card
  • Photocopy of Hotel Reservation Certificate
  • Photocopy of 2-Way Ticket
  • Visa Fee (for American citizens it is 15,000 Yen or $181.29)

I don’t have a Hotel reservation certificate or 2-way ticket, but whatever. When in Japan, one quickly learns you never have the right or enough documentation and you will often be coming back at a later date. I did notice that the Visa fee for Japanese citizens is 3000 yen and for any other citizen it is 4000 yen. WTH? Just another example of how the Chinese are fleecing Americans. Maybe I’m being too quick to judge. Maybe our visas get us on the fast boat to China.

[insert Chinese gong sound here]

Until next time…

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 62 other followers

%d bloggers like this: