Jerod In China

There is an old children's nursery rhyme called the "Itsy Bitsy Spider".  You may remember it. The itsy bitsy spider crawls up the water spout, it rains then the itsy bitsy spider gets washed out.  Then the sun comes out and drys up all the rain, maybe several hours or a day later and the itsy bitsy spider goes on back up the water spout.  Chinese spiders are going to have to wait a long time.  No sun. 

It rained yesterday here in Beijing.  The rain was accompanied with a full band of thunder and lighting.  There wasn't much thunder though because I had a lighting strike outside my apartment and no sound.  Does it thunder and lightning when you seed the clouds?  But however the rain came, maybe by prayer, it was worth the wait.  Beijing was getting a little uncomfortable.

Seeing the sun in Beijing is like seeing the moon.  It comes once every month or so.  I've seen the sun for two days since I arrived here a few weeks ago.  It stayed one afternoon and by the next afternoon it was gone.  I haven't seen the moon in its full glory.  I was tricked once into thinking that I saw the moon from my apartment, but this was only a light in the top of a building.  Seriously!

To keep the spirits up I'm mixing up a batch of this Nestle Orange drink with Vitamin C.  It kind of tastes like Tang, which they have here in China.  I have to create this internal sunshine to make up for the lack of rays.  Don't get me wrong, you can still get a sun tan or a sun burn even when the sun is being blocked.  I guess I kind of miss the sun, and as PBS painter Bob Ross would say "White Puffy Clouds".

Getting Out and About.......................

The schedule I have allows for some time to explore the city.  There is always the common trimming of being a foreigner in China.  These include being on the subway and listen to some guy selling maps of Beijing with 2 prices.  One is the China price and the other is the foreigner price.  Sometimes knowing stuff is not saying. 

These small moments can add to the bill of just being in China.  This is whether or not you are a foreigner.   Maybe it is a small price to pay when you pay so little for electricity, bus/taxi/subway fare, food, products.   I'd pay anything to see the sun for a few days.  Spiders have water spouts to climb.

Time spent here in China has gone by quickly. Everyday there has been something new to discover about my little world. This past weekend, I discovered how to get from the heart of Beijing to my apartment in the northwest section of the city using mass transit. There is always going by foot, but muscle and bone can only take so much and I find I would spend more stopping to have a rest, maybe a beer or something to eat. Subway and bus travel in Beijing are affordable and easy.

It takes about an hour or more to accomplish something a taxi could do in half the time. Traffic as it is, it didn't hurt to find an alternative way to get to where I need to go. Beijing's mass transit are a conglomeration of people all going in a million different directions. Buses cost about 4 Jiao ( $.05) with a card I bought last week. Using the same card for the subway costs about 3 RMB ($.40). Subway isn't cheap, but it was one of my small victories last week.

Being that this is Monday, I'm due for some small victory this week. I'm already claiming victory as I create this blog. It took some courage to throw my ideas and personal triumphs onto the internet. This is in many ways an experimentation in journalism and I hope you enjoy.

Minnesota life in Beijing...................
As it may be, I met a Chinese-American man who owns a restaurant near to the building where I work. He was born in Beijing, perhaps he never gave up citizenship, but grew up on the East Coast. I told him I was from Minnesota and he said that we lived in White Bear Lake for 2 years. He might have been a grown up at the time and may only remember bits and pieces of Minnesota life. I got a strange look when I mentioned I was from Oakdale.  You can get the same look from people who live in the Twin Cities.

His restaurant, Pier Restaurant and Bar has a full bar and serves Chinese food, seafood, steak, and more. I was with a friend so we split the steak. He and the owner happened to be good friends. To make a long story short we paid half of what the bill was stated while having a Heineken, shrimp done well, a Chinese dish and a steak that could easily be cut with a butter knife. That was lunch for Sunday, July 29th. I prefer the Heineken before the Chinese beer and will try to save some money to have a pint of Guiness.