asian ramblings from a life in China

I’m a star of stage and (small) screen. That’s right, I’ve walked the red carpet (no, not the doormat outside my apartment), I can wear a borrowed suit and host a televised event like nobody’s business. I’ve been wined and dined. My services are in demand, baby. Should I get an agent?

The Stevo’s fame is current limited to seven-year-olds. But, they will pass word of his magnificence and his fan base will grow. In the not-too-distant-future he will be, in the words of Wanda, bomb diggity. Hopefully, before all his hair falls out.

I was in a show back in February to celebrate the end of the Chinese New Year festival. I didn’t have a speaking part, because the sound of my voice would have driven my fans into a mad frenzy. I stumbled upon the photos on the shared files drive in the office.

Strange, it’s almost as if I’m hiding.

Ya, The Stevo isn’t visible. It adds to his mystique.

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I want to thank everyone for the avalanche of email. Yes, we are fine. The students and my school are fine. We are quite a distance from the earthquake zone and didn’t feel a thing yesterday during the event.

I would be there in Sichuan lending a hand with the relief efforts if that were realistic. My lack of language skills somewhat limits my participation. What I can do is collect funds for the efforts. Look in the upper right sidebar. If you’re able please donate a buck or two. I’ll see that it gets to where it’s needed most.

Thanks, my friends. Say a prayer if that’s your thing, or send your best wishes out to the universe.

Classmates, or, tong xue (同学）. Or friends,  pengyou (朋友). Here endeth the lesson.

Captured: April 14, 2008.

Carrie at My Several Worlds found out last week all the content on her blog had been stolen and posted elsewhere without crediting her. She, in her own words, was pissed.

She did some research and took actions. I suggest everyone read her post on how she solved the problem and busted the spammer.

Nancy is comically short.

Grade 1 students are small but Nancy’s proportions place her in a different visual class than her contemporaries. I nicknamed her “The Ewok” out of affection. If she was hairier she could easily be one of George Lucas’ Return of the Jedi characters.

I was standing on the stairs between classes. The classrooms are on the 4th floor and Grade 1 students need a little assistance getting to their lessons in a non-tardy manner. A cavalcade of things can distract a seven-year-old: A rowdy classmate, a puddle, or a nearly invisible piece of lint can cause the young ones to stray from a path a straight forward as a flight of stairs.

Nancy stopped beside me. I ceased my shepherding.

“What’s this?” Nancy asked. [Read more →]

The Star Ferry is a venerable institution in Hong Kong. It carries 70,000 travelers each day from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. There are eight ships currently in service, 44 years being the average age of the vessels.

Captured: May 7, 2008.

Outside my window. I’d rather watch this than Survivor, or the evil and vacant Tyra Banks on ANTM.

Captured: May 2, 2008, Shenzhen, China

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
– Flora Whittemore

I have an affinity for doors. They’re open, they’re closed. New possibilities. A shut away past. Something new, something forgotten.

It was the door of an airplane (several, actually), and a ferry, that I stepped through coming to China. I walked through those doors into a new life. I didn’t shut the symbolic door behind me, I can still turn around and leave. But I won’t.

Captured: May 3, 2008, Shenzhen, China.

Above the seventh floor, Shenzhen, China.

Captured: May 2, 2008.

It’s been a challenging week for The Stevo. I mentioned my new desk, complete with credenza and movable cabinet. Thursday morning saw me trying to shift furniture around an impossibly small space. Somehow, the cabinet portion became locked after I shut a drawer. After 20 fruitless minutes I was forced to grab ye ole meat cleaver to defeat the high security device.

My desktop computer has looked disemboweled for several weeks. I added a massive SATI drive and never put the guts back in the tower. Given the new desk, I decided to reassembled my old friend. The heat sync over the CPU was dirty. I mean really dirty. There was black gunk all over the cooling fan. I’m sure it wasn’t healthy. I want my computer to be both efficient and semi-clean.

I will say to all and sundry: I DID NOT KNOW THE HEAT SYNC WAS GLUED TO THE CPU. My bad. Now, the pins on the CPU are bent and the machine is temporarily unusable. It’s kind of like the Bush administration: The computer is a physical presence, but contains no brain. My computer guy, accommodating Samaritan that he is, is coming this evening to pick up the soulless box. Hopefully, he can fix it without me buying a new (and costly) CPU.

Update: The computer guy, Mao Ming, fixed my computer in my apartment, for a whopping 50 Yuan ($8 US). I started this post on my laptop and finished it on my delightful 17″ monitor.

What else happened this week?

• I have received 2 fake 50 Yuan notes. Stupid is as stupid does.
• I waited over 3 hours to catch 2 taxis.
• The friend that was supposed to help me move furniture either fled or was too hung over, or still too drunk, to answer his door.
• I discovered an incredible amount of crap stashed away by Mrs. Stevo as I moved furniture.
• My beloved tourist map of Hong Kong, that I have had since I first arrived, has gone missing. Yes, Chateau Stevo has a Robotic Dog that sings a Shania Twain song, but no maps.

What’s ahead?
My trip to Hong Kong tomorrow coincides with the Olympic Torch Relay. Instead of being able to take my beloved ferry, I will have to cross the border by land, early, because immigration and customs will be a total biatch. I thought about delaying the trip, but I’ve already canceled my appointment with the doctor three times. I fear if I don’t make the journey I will be karmically unable to in the future.

When it rains it pours. I go through misfortunes and misadventures on an epic scale every few months. I often wish I could hibernate.

Update: I did not go to Hong Kong. I am here trying to organize my new workspace, watch DVDs, and sleep. Yesterday I watched Cloverfield and Bikini Bloodbath, the former being better than the latter.