OCTOBER, 2004

2005: JULY, JUNE, MAY, APRIL, MARCH, FEBRUARY, JANUARY,
2004: DECEMBER, NOVEMBER, SEPTEMBER, AUGUST, JULY, JUNE

Sunday, October 31, 2004 - My alarm went off at 8am and I text messaged Tina that I was not feeling too well and unable to make the 9am rendezvous. She replied with a "ok feel better". I remember the days when calling in sick was just not an option, and if I was sick for some reason, I best be working from home. I slept on the couch until 11:30 and walked home to change and shower. I had taken Amy's keys, as I wasn't quite sure where mine were; I thought I had lost them the night before, but I couldn't be sure of it. I made a strong cup of coffee and ate some baozi - steamed buns - on the walk to Metro City. I taught from 1-3, not two of my best hours, but I got through it. Tim, the full-time teacher there, met me after class and informed me that he would be taking over my entire schedule, an interesting bit of news. Curiously, my partner at Sun-Moon, Robert, had failed to inform me of any changes to my schedule. There was nothing I was going to do about it then, as I had another class starting in 50 minutes twenty-five minutes away. I had no lesson plan, and little idea of how I was going to fill 75 minutes of classtime with students of varying English abilities. I was scribbling wildly in my notebook as I negotiated the circuitous subterranean world of Xujiahui. I dropped some important papers, a nice guy caught up with me and handed them to me. I made it to International House and requested a page copied. The office assistant looked around the office for a piece of paper with a blank side. After a few minutes she found an acceptable piece of paper and fed it to the machine. Paper, at 0.008 yuan in China, is still a commodity to be conserved. I called Amy, and she opted to call in sick for her English Corner, instead of cabbing it to International House, cabbing it home, changing and showering quickly, heading to Metro City to teach a class that no one might show up for. The first fifteen minutes of class were awkward - jokes missing, bad grammar on the chalkboard, culturally insensitive questions to the students. I eventually got into character and things progressed well. This was an open class - a placement class - so a third left after thirty minutes, then the rest stayed and signed up. I walked to Jim and Mike's, picked up Amy, and cabbed home. I watched three or four Sopranos episodes and slept well.

Saturday, October 24, 2004 - Amy and I both worked at ten am, so we headed out very shortly before that towards Metro City. I was meeting Vicky again. I nursed a coffee on the patio outside overlooking Xujiahui and killed an easy two hours making conversation with her and referencing the Side by Side English textbook every now and then. At noon I got some lunch, then went upstairs to teach at Sun-Moon. I was pretty sure Robert had double-booked us, but why bring that to his attention before the fact when we could both get paid? I took the two hours, as she wanted to meet a friend for coffee and could get credit for it anyways. The classes went smooth and I headed home for a brief reprieve before meeting up with Tina from Ladder for my classes out in Changning. We took a bus for about 45 minutes out near Gubei. I taught some 8 or 9 year olds the same tired lessons 7 & 8. Most of the kids had undiagnosed A.D.D., and few of them learned anything. 8pm is not a time for kids to be in school on a Saturday night, nor should I be in front of a classroom. I had been dropping lines about my stomach aches, as I knew I would be calling in sick the next morning. I paid for a cab back and began to get my costume together. I tore down the second layer to my curtains and tried a few ways to get it wrapped around me. The mask and tinsel hair turned out to be pretty solid, as I would see later on that night. I put on some leather gloves I'd bought as well, and a studded bracelet. I commented to Amy that my costume looked like shit, but I was coming correct, nonetheless. As an American abroad in a city that celebrates Halloween, I had certain unalienable responsibilities. Amy was dressed as a flapper, and put together a pretty good get-up. We jumped in a taxi and headed to the Kiwi Bar to meet Mike and Paul to start things off. There were a few people in costume, but I was over the top. I would see this scene repeated throughout the night, but I felt like Hunter S. Thompson in Vegas - there was little I could do about anything that was going to happen that night. After a beer there we motivated out into the night. We tried to meet up with Ben at Mint, but when we walked in we were met with a sea of suits. Mint is a bit high society, and it didn't look like there were any two meter tall Automans welcome there. I apparently bought an Automan mask from a Halloween store, so I was in character as a chinese cartoon character. I even learned a few Automan moves from my students. We u-turned from Mint and walked to Malone's, which was supposed to be having one of Shanghai's biggest Halloween parties. Mike was TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL and didn't deem it necessary to make any efforts in the costume category. Two-pump CHUMP. I gave Mike the other Automan mask I had brought out, but he gave it to a taxi driving the other way down the street. I got the mask back and gave it to him just in time for him to go through the door of Malone's and not pay the 50 yuan cover for those not in costume. The pub was packed, and there was 15% costumed people, and a live band. We got drinks and Mike informed me of their Halloween prize - RT airfare to Ko Samui, Thailand - to the best costume. Apparently I had a decent chance of winning. He advised me to get out on the dance floor and make my rounds, I would need the support later. I managed 30 minutes of this, then learned that the contest was another hour away. We packed it up and headed to another club where Mike was trying to meet up with some friends. It was dead, and no one was in costume, so I caibashed that option. We headed over to Zapato's for the benefit of Miss Abrom, though that was another dead end. We ended up at the Eager Beaver, always a home away from home. Peter was on point, making his rounds to the peeps in his bar. We found a table to relax at and met a Dutch guy and his 16 year old girlfriend. Mike was telling me how old she was, and apparently she heard and got mad. At this point in the chronology, we could not be bothered with such bad omens. I bought some red bulls and we added some flask vodka. Ben checked in from 5 on the Bund, or some club/bar. We made it there, but the crowd was decidedly anti-Halloween, and I just wanted to go outside and scare more chinese people on the Bund. My costume had a strong effect on the chinese - they are very superstitious people and don't like to see people dressed up as scary futuristic robots. Out on the Bund (big sidewalk along big river) I realized I'd left my phone at the Eager Beaver. We called the phone, but no luck, then headed back in that direction, as its close to our hood's. The phone was not there, and the night was winding down, so we walked to Mike's new place to drink some OJ to reddening sky. I fell asleep around 6:30 or so. It is not necessary to go into the harrassment I experienced at the hands of Mike and Amy.

Friday, October 29, 2004 - I met with Stephen at from 10-12 as part of an English-Chinese language exchange. His english is not great, but much better than my chinese. I'm still getting the sounds down. cut me some slack. I taught from 1-3 at Sun-Moon, then began a string of errands - Tina at Ladder, a metro ride up at Shanxi to register for *an event*, then Linda at International House to try and see what the hell I was supposed to teach the kids on Sunday. I met up with my chinese friends at Tian Sheng around 6pm to celebrate a birthday. We had a nice hot-pot, then went on to my flat to play some tunes and drink some of the beers leftover from the Century Club party. Around 10:30 we took off for the Red Club, an excellent club not far from here. The girls all kept calling it Red Ant, for reasons unbeknownst to me. It was a San Francisco or New York style DJ club. There was a very good DJ spinning in the back at the DJ booth, though there was not much of a dance floor. Michelle's friends were there buying up all the Chivas Regal they could. I think I spent 15 yuan all night, as dinner and the Red Club were taken care of. I had a great time there, will definately return, and made an early exit with Amy, as we both had 10ams the next morning.

Thursday, October 28, 2004 - I met up with Emma, Michelle and Amy and did some costume shopping at the Holiday House. I picked up my Automan costume - which consisted of an Automan mask, silver tinsel hair, a studded bracelet and two leather gloves. $8 goes a lot further in procuring costume accessories than it does stateside. I headed to the Jiao Tong track and put in ten miles of dodging soccer balls and trying to remember what lap I was on. I headed up to Jin'an for my tutoring gig with Vicky. She met me at the metro and we walked to a restaurant. I got a nice meal and a coffee and gave her something resembling an english lesson; she just wants to practice speaking english so I don't need to spend much time with the past participles. She requested another 6 lessons on top of the 4 she'd already paid for, bringing me to 3,000 yuan ($380) received total in two meetings for just talking to her and correcting her every now and then. I left a content man and headed home.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - I taught 1-3 at Metro City, then 7-9 in Pudong before heading over to Henghshan Lu and meeting up with Amy, Mike and Jim. We got some dumplings for dinner, then Mike and I headed over to Harley's with Amy. We played some darts and drank a few cheap beers before calling it a night around 2ish.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - I headed to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square, which is supposed to be one of the best museums in the world. It was built in 1952, but totally renovated in the '90's. It was pretty cool, a VERY nice museum, though the exhibits were not as incredible as I would have hoped and had heard they were. They had separate bronze, jade, furniture, coins, dress, painting, calligraphy, pottery and sculpture exhibits. The jade and painting were the best. I would have liked a little different content, I guess, or something a little more interactive than looking at an old vase through glass. They had one exhibit that showed how they actually made some of the bronze pieces, back in the day, which was cool, but little of that in the rest of the museum. Maybe I'm more of an Exploratorium museum goer. Still, it is an amazing building. I would like to go back and be able to afford the audio guide, which was about five times the price of the admission (the English audioguide at least, go figure). I spent about two hours and saw just about everything they had, so I feel satiated. Quiet night.

Monday, October 25, 2004 - Mike came over for breakfast and I made coffee and a variation of huevos rancheros. I taught Keith, Tina and Lily again from 1-3. I learned that there are wild dogs in China, and that a Chihuahua is basically called the same thing in the English, Chinese and Spanish speaking worlds. Small dogs are becoming en vogue with the fashionable crowd here, as well. Someone has been doing some good marketing. I met Mike at the gym, worked out, then ran. Treadmill running sucks. I'm wearing rollerblades from now on. I went out to a decent Malaysian restaurant on Wanping Lu for dinner. Excellent red curry. Watched the first episode of the first season of the Sopranos.

Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 8am came very early. I showered, made the indispensable cup of italian coffee and walked around the corner to the school. I was in a dream, more or less, not so much because of the Century Club or the sleep deprivation, but Sunday at 8am I am almost always in a dream - no way around it. Hopefully I'm in a warm bed and not in front of 15 eight year olds. I'm a professional and taught two impressive classes before going over to Sun-Moon at one for a few hours there. I cleaned up the apartment when I got back. It was in bad, bad shape. The beer had dried on the tile, cementing the shards of broken glass. Sweeping did little but coalesce the cigarettes and larger pieces of broken beer bottles and shot glasses. The two vomit scenes on different floors of my stairwell were cleaned up promptly by the building maintenance crew - thanks. The job was something I could have paid a maid a few bucks to take care of it, but jgeil is not afraid of a little work*. I met up with Amy at Metro City, walked through Xuijiahui Park to Jim's (and now Mike's) place and enjoyed a few episodes of the Sopranos while eating some soggy pizza.

Saturday, October 23, 2004 - The landlord came over around 10am to give me the bed he promised. It's not as cushy as I like it, but better than the last one. Tina, my liaison with Ladder, texted me at 10:37 - "where are you?". I had a 10:45 class. I persuaded my landlord to leave with me and I ran the quarter mile to the school. I got a call from her as I approached and told her to relax, the second graders would learn English today yet. The one class I had went smooth, though I am working off of the same lesson plan for every class, so the teaching gets a little repetitive. My jokes get recycled, my examples get stale, my games get boring. It's a new class everytime, so they don't notice. I bought some beer for the Century Club party on the way home, but had to leave right away and meet a girl named Vicky at the Jin'an Temple Metro station. Mike lined up some tutoring for me. We met, found a cafe and she bought some coffees and toast. A few minutes in she gave me an envelope with 1200 rmb ($150) in it and asked if I could meet her three more times in the next month. Hmm, I thought deeply, I might be able to manage that. My time is very valuable, as we all know, but it can be bought here in shanghai for the bargain basement price of $18 an hour. We chatted for a few hours, on and off the English instruction, and made plans for the following weekend. Apparently she's paid a lot of money to schools here with little success and wanted some 1:1. I walked the two or three miles home, looking for speaker cable. I asked in at least ten stores, but no one had it. You can find just about anything on the street here in Shanghai, but speaker cables you apparently need to know someone. I bought some more beer and ran into Amy in the store. There was chaos at the check-out counter as I thought I had paid for Amy's stuff as well as the beer, but didn't look at the change I got back. The lady wanted more money. If I knew I was right I would have walked out, but I didn't think I was getting hustled, so I capitulated. I had another two classes around the corner from my house, so I taught from 5-7, picked up some take-out chinese food and got the Case de la Geil in order for the evening festivities. People started showing up around 8pm, and by 9:30 we had 15, maybe 20 people. There were Brits, Kiwis, Aussies, Americans, and a third chinese, I was happy to see. We started once everyone arrived, as there is little sense in pre-partying much before Century Club. I had to explain the rules a few times to everyone - there are one hundred songs on my iPod, all timed out to the best minute of the song. When a song changes, you take a shot of beer. Inattentive people would miss several song changes, but there were a few charismatic people that would announce the transition and police those not imbibing on a regular schedule. Things got progressively ugly. Tom, a British bloke, was taking shots from two 2/3 of a shot shot glasses. By 60 or 70 he was no longer in control of his body. He took out a bookshelf, sending beer and other accouterments everywhere. Half and hour later he took out the same bookcase and we moved it into my room. Shortly after that I walked by the bathroom and saw him thrashing around - holding on to the sink faucet and jerking around like he was on a mechanical bull. I hoped he was throwing up, a hope I don't have for my friends very often. I walked on... The cops came in the early nineties. My windows were open, as was my front door, which probably wasn't a great idea. It was only 11pm and I was not very concerned. He saw that there were a lot of laoweis and quickly left. The music was down for six or seven seconds until we made vague attempts to soundproof the party a bit better. Century club came and went. There was little fanfare for 100, so we started back up with 1. Around 115 I changed the music over to regular songs. One of the chinese had a chinese hip-hop album, so I got the cd player from my room. It did not work, so I imported it on to my computer and played it from there, which was a very bad idea, considering the melee that had occurred to my entire apartment already. There is little reason to get your laptop involved in a party of this intensity, but I was determined. Amy thought it was really good, Jim thought it was crap. I'd tortured my Chinese guests with enough Whitesnake and Skid Row, I figured it was time they had something to dance to. Around 1am we were down to Mike, Ben, Amy, Jim, Tom, CD and myself. Tom made an amazing recovery and was somehow able to accompany us to the bowling alley. We bowled a game. Tom could not see straight and sent his ball down the wrong lane several times. Sometimes he threw two balls. His ball got stuck down by the pins so he ran down after it. He beat me, as did Amy. I bowled a 50 or so. My spin was off, that's what's going on the record. Chinese lanes are smaller and more narrow than the lanes back in the states, I contend. After bowling I flipped a coin to see if I would join the posse at Tang Hui, as I had class in five hours or so but hate being the first of the crew to retire. I threw a heads and we all went to the club. We got an elevated table, the Japanese/Nepalese kind where you take off your shoes and sit around a small table. I got Ben's number from Mike and began texting him, pretending to be a girl at the party. My messages were very chinese "why u no no no me, I pretty girl at party!" He left in the middle of the exchange. He has a girlfriend, but it went on for 30 minutes or so before he finally called my phone. We put Amy on the phone - "are you sreeping ben?", but the gig ended quickly. He acted very admirably, in his defense. I caught a taxi home and sreeped very well for 4 hours.

Friday, October 22, 2004 - I taught from 1-3 and intended on going to the gym after work, but I had to go down to Shanghai Stadium to buy some shot glasses for the party. I got lazy and went home and read Wei Hui's Shanghai Baby. Jim called and talked me into going down to Xuijiahui park to play some basketball. I met up with him there around 7:45 and we played for an hour or so until the courts closed. I played like shit, but still better than most of the other players. Bless my height. We walked to Jim's place and met up with Mike, Amy, and eventually Ben before piling into a taxi and going to Abdul's, our Xinjiang restaurant. We had what some might consider a five course meal with lots of beer, 40 kuai a head. Abdul's has the worst bathroom in Shanghai, that I've seen, but Amy didn't seem to mind too much. She's a trooper, despite whatever has been written in the Chronicle social column. We left the restaurant, bought some cans of beer, and hopped into two cabs to go go-karting. I didn't race well, getting lapped by Ben, which always happens, but beating Mike and Amy. There were lots of crashes, as Ben likes to pass people by bumping them and making them crash. I would do the same too if I knew how to make my car go faster. I raced a second time with Mike and Ben, coming in third after Mike took an opportunistic pass while Ben and I were up against the wall. It's damn good fun. Amy and I cabbed home while Mike, Jim and Ben continued their long day's journey into night and back into morning.

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - I wanted to go to the Shanghai Museum, but I got held up at Sun-Moon with some interviews, and we did not get to People's Square until 4 or so. I showed Amy the Taco Bell Grande, an upscale restaurant with white table cloths, maitre 'd, expensive entrees and pretty much the same menu as a T-Bell stateside. We walked down Tianjin Lu to the Bund, then over to Captain Hostel to check out the view from their bar. I taught an English Corner for an hour, then called it...

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - I had to interview a few students at Sun-Moon, then I walked over to Int'l House with Amy to have her interview there. I thought I had lined up a tutoring gig, but they were being a bit jewish (is that not a PC observation?) with the hourly rate. We walked back to Sun-Moon and met with Robert. He is a schmuck, if I have not already mentioned that. I taught from 1-3 while she interviewed with him and walked around Metro City. We ran some errands after class - got her lined up with a gym, got her a sim card for her phone, had some lunch at Rendezvous, then returned home. I had to trek out to Pudong for a 7-9 class. I met back up with Amy around 9:30, and we went to the 88 Bar to see some Chinese students I know celebrate a birthday party. There was a mini-keg of beer, a bottle of tequila, fruit and a cake, which ended up getting on everyone's face by the end of the night...

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - After a quick gym workout I caught a bus to the airport and picked up Amy. I had a few beers ready for the ride home, a Shanghai tradition. We got her settled her at the pad on Wanping Lu, then walked over to Tian Sheng for a hotpot dinner. She seemed to like the hotpot dinner, but really, what's not to like?

Monday, October 18, 2004 - I taught at 1pm, then went over to International House to try and secure a schedule. There was a chinese student who needed to procure a tutor - which his company would pay 250rmb (over $30) an hour for. I was quick to offer my services. Apparently he wants to start with a woman, which means he's more interested in flirting with a white girl than really learning English and the proper male accent. C'est la vie. I didn't even really get any hours. I went around the corner to the track at Jiao Tong University for another track workout. I ran five miles in 32:48 (a disappointing 18 seconds off my intended 6:30 mile pace - Harvey Sargent will definitely have some harsh words to say to me) as dusk fell. I returned home, did some shopping to prepare for the arrival of princess and read some short stories of Paul Theroux - "You are your stories. I protested, No, no - my stories are better then me, and went away." I met up with the gang for dinner at the Hunan restaurant I went to last week with Eric's parents. Lots of good food and beer. We stopped by Sugar's for a beer, tried to play foosball, then I walked home with Mike.

Sunday, October 17, 2004 - Early Sunday mornings should be the end of Saturday night or a pre-dawn summit attempt. I found myself in Pudong at 8am, preparing to teach 3 classes. I held a wildly popular spelling bee in the second class, but afterwards the teacher informed me that the children had not learned anything and that she could give them a spelling bee. "I don't swim in your toilet, so don't pee in my pool!" I responded, borrowing a phrase from the Green Valley Pool daze. In the third hour I touched upon some of the key concepts covered in the second hour. I returned back to my neighborhood, ate a despicable lunch of rice, liver and onions, and fried gristle and beef bone. Sometimes you just don't know what you're getting here. I had one more class, an uneventful 2-3 around the corner. I napped for awhile, then whittled the evening away in my living room with Mike, Dave and Jim over a handful of Tsingtaos. A little after midnight we sauntered over to the Tianyaoqiao Lu BBQ joint for some do-it-yourself bbq.

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - I had class from 2-4 in Pudong, so I made my way over the river and to the Ladder Language School. The two classes went smoothly, more or less - more 8 year olds. We launched into an exciting 20 minute game of Hangman to finish both 50 minute classes. When I asked my second class where they thought I was from, one boy asked, "Iraq?". Later that class, when asked to use "it's awful" in a sentence, this eight year old responded, "The people in Iraq think that Americans are awful." I didn't proffer a comment. I bused over to Xuijiahui to International House to teach an English corner. It went very well, 20 or so Chinese people rapping about travel and transportation. English Corner is free for them, and they usually come and go, but they stayed past the hour and explained to me the legality of motorcycle taxis as I explained hitchhiking. I met up with the crew again for dinner - as well as Eric's parents - around a table at a Shanghai standby - can't remember the name. Good Shanghainese food. We reconvened at Tang Hui for a pitcher of Jack and Tonic, then moved on to C's. I only stayed until 1, as I had an 8:30 class across the river.

Friday, October 15, 2004 - I got stood up for my 1pm teaching gig, so I went to the gym, then back home. I picked up a new teaching schedule for Metro City at 5:30, then walked over to my first elementary classes, just around the corner from my house. The first set of kids, 15 or so 8 year olds, were unresponsive. Either they were bored and did not want to be in school at 6:30 on a Friday night, or they were too shy to participate. We played some games that attempted to expedite the approach of 6:50 and 7:50. Eric was in town, so I met up with them at the Bamboo Bar. We met up with Mark, Christina, Jim, and Ben, played some foos and shuffleboard, then walked over to Windows. The spirits flowed at Windows as our numbers dwindled. Eric, Mike and I walked over to Julu Lu for the best Shanghai has to offer in the way of nightlife. Eventually we piled into a taxi with full beers for the short drive home.

Thursday, October 14, 2004 - Woke late, made a double one-eyed Jack with coffee, then headed over to Dangerous Dave's around 3pm. I taught a trial class for 45 minutes or so, picked up work with a third English Institute right next to Jiao Tong University. The lady told me that they'd had lots of problems with foreigner teachers showing up drunk and not coming to class because they were hungover. She asked me if I was liable to continue this proud tradition. For shame! I am a professional. I'd like to work there a lot, as it's right across from the Kiwi Bar, and right next to their nice track. Webber just hit a half-courter. The Kings are up 5 over Yao Ming and the Rockets at the beginning of the fourth. Ming is from Shanghai, so they kinda get crazy for him. I did a track workout into dusk and dark. Five miles on a track is not as much fun as running along the Bay Area coastline, but it beats a treadmill. Managed a pretty good clip, thought about running the Shanghai Marathon this weekend, but I'd have to cancel a bunch of classes. The weekend is cash-money when it comes to teaching English here. I walked to the gym and did another workout, this time focusing on the egg muscle, which is right above the elbow. Inspiring. Picked up some soy sauce, a 22 of Tsingtao, soap, an onion and a pepper for about $1.85, then sopme rice from the restaurant next door for a quarter. I made a decent stir-fry with a bunch of veggies, shrimp and the rice while watching the Kings game. Strange ice cream for dessert. Mike is at Malones and will be going to Pegasus for some hip-hop, though I seem to be very comfortable right now, though its only 9:48 and I don't teach until 1pm. Don't we have anything better to be doing right now?

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - I taught from 1-3pm, then met up with Pointer at the gym. Got home at 5:15 and the English Director called me to tell me I had a class in 90 minutes across the river. I headed back out, took the metro into Pudong, and taught three nice girls from 7-9. They were bored and all wanted to go home and go to sleep. I took the metro back, watched Harrison Ford in Frantic.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - A nice breakfast in my new apartment - fried egg, bacon and cheese sandwich (the standard) with a strong cup of espresso-coffee. I headed out to meet Mike at the gym for a two-hour session of running the hamster wheel and moving heavy objects around my body. Good fun. Came home, showered, then met up with Robert, the evasive, shifty, "Director of English" at Sun-Moon. He offered me 12 hours a week, which I took, cause the classes are super easy, very close, and I'm teaching adults, not children, which I imagine is much harder, though Dangerous Dave describes it as glorified babysitting. Went over to Mikes, watched Football Factory ("Are you gonna sit in some poxy office with a cunt for a boss telling you what to do as you count your pennies trying to make ends meet in a country that's sinking into strikes and wars and at the end of the day you go home to your cosy little flat in 'nowheresville' and pull your IKEA curtains shut to hide from the big bad world and pretend it's not happening? Or are you gonna stand up and be counted, make a difference and feel the rush? Just for once say "fuck it". I'm coiled up like a spring and I'm ready to burst and wanking ain't doing it anymore. I need violence to make me feel I'm still alive. I know what I'd rather do, mate. Tottenham away. Love it!"), then walked to Fuxing Lu to meet up with Mike and Eric West's parents. We ate at a Hunan Restaurant, a good, spicy meal. The waittress spilled my beer all over my lap, didn't seem to care, didn't stop requesting my order. I requested longxia, little red crawdads, they went out and bought some big green crabs. We didn't want 'em. Bought Open Water and Old School to begin my dvd collection, though I don't have a dvd player as of yet. We walked to Huashan Hospital where their friend was recovering from pneumonia, dropped off the 'rents, then grabbed a beer at Lawsons for the walk to Cotton. Abby was leaving town to go back to London tomorrow, so we got a drink with her and her gay brother. I made a few comments, "The LA stereotype is frosted tips, sunglasses at nightclubs and superficial people, while the San Francisco stereotype is ahh, hippies, yes hippies, we'll leave it at that." Tom's down though. Walked home around 1am.

Monday, October 11, 2004 - I moved some stuff into my new apartment on Wanping Lu, then went over to Dave's to print out my CV. I dropped it off at a few places near the Kiwi Bar, then cabbed it over to Gubei to interview with Lele. The terms of the agreement were, again, less than ideal - only four classes a month (one class a week), 120 yuan the first month, then a schedule to be determined at that point. I made the mistake of bringing home one of their books to prepare the first lesson, but now I'll have to either mail it or take it over there myself. I went to Carrefour, the super-mega Target type of store with a large grocery section (with lots of western goods) and bought some cheese and canadian bacon. I decided to walk the three miles or so down Hongqiuo Lu back to Xuijiahui. I bought some groceries, then some dinner at a cafeteria style place. Rearranged Casa de la Geil to suite my needs...

Sunday, October 10, 2004 - I had an interview with another English school, though the terms were less than favorable, again. Classes will be all over town, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting as early as 8:30 on sunday morning. Es no bueno. She tried to screw me on the salary as well, quoting me 40 rmb less than what she paid Eric and Mike. I got a steamed bun and walked around my new neighborhood on Wanping Lu. I found a place that serves Longxia, little lobsters that is, a bird and plant market and a half dozen tea houses. Also an interesting Hutong. I dig the new digs. I took a well deserved nap and then went to the gym with Mike. I used to think that sitting on top of a bus with goats and people with machetes was my idea of fun, but now I think that has changed to exhausting a muscle group to the point where I can't do six push-ups. Good stuff. I met up with Dave and Marie to close on my new flat. 7755rmb, a hefty sum. Not sure what I'm going to do when the first of the year rolls round, but I'll cross that bridge then. Might have to ditch out on the deposit, might try and sublet, might just try and not pay the last month I'm there. Live and Let Die. Mike joined us and we ate at a decent chinese restaurant next door. Beautiful older Shanghainese woman, may have been the owner. Potential dvd night, even though its after mid...

Saturday, October 9, 2004 - Hmm, gym, starbucks, then another couple of apartments. The first was ok, very traditional chinese, but the second was the best of the four I'd seen. 3300 rmb, pretty reasonable for the location, size, and amenities. I opted to think about it again and met up with Mike and CD. They were eating at the Hong Kong restaurant that just opened up next to his apartment. Three places went up the same day, about a week or so ago, and we've eaten at all of them. The Bullfighter's Brazilian BBQ may get a return visit, but the other two are passable. We went over to CDs place, then cabbed to O'Malleys. There was an important soccer game going on, as at least a hundred people were outside watching a big screen TV. I think this is the bar that all English expats are required to go to once a week. bloody expensive though - 45 yuan for a carlsberg and 60 yuan ($7.50) for a Guinness. We had a Tsingtao in the cab on the ride over; it tasted the same as the Carlsberg but retails at 3.80 yuan. We talked baseball, then took off with Ben and an english bloke named James to go go-carting. It wasn't too far away, and indoors. It was mostly empty. We ordered some pitchers of beers and played some foosball while a couple of Germans were taking the racing much too seriously. You could see that the go-carts could go much faster than they should be allowed to go. This place would never exist in the States. Liability would be through the roof. I heard a few stories of people who got fuct pretty bad crashing into things at top speed. They did corner very well, and the acceleration was not bad. We had three 8 lap races. I didn't do exceptionally good or bad, second or third each time. It was a blast though. Legal drunk driving. It was like playing a video game, but you were actually in the car. Only 145 yuan for three races. We finally got kicked out around 2am and cabbed back home.

Friday, October 8, 2004 - Applied for more teaching jobs, went to power company, sat at starbucks, which has lots of free energy. English tea has a perceptible amount of caffeine. Making plans to see another apartment and get back into the language exchange with a chinese guy named John. I met up with Dangerous Dave and had some chili con carne he whipped up. He's off the sauce cause his bird moved in, so he has lots of time and money for other pursuits, though he's married to his computer. Mike came over and we watched and listened to Marie karoake some of the ktv cds she had. We could have stayed there all night and enjoyed the free concert, but we opted to walk around the corner to Lawson's and drink two Tsingtao.

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - I got up at 9:30 to look at an apartment with Dangerous Dave and his girlfriend Marie. She had lined everything up. Amy Bromstead is coming out from California, so I need to get a two-bedroom. We walked about ten minutes south of Xuijiahui to a spacious apartment for 3500 yuan - a bit high for my price range, but not a bad spot. I decided to continue looking. Dave and I got breakfast at Rendezvous, then I returned home. Our power was shut off, as we did not pay the bill. Mike and I did a gym workout, then I worked a bit at Dangerous Dave's, then looked at another apartment on Yisan and Nandan Lu. It was nice, 2800 yuan, the only problem being a somewhat small living room. Dave, Marie and I met up with Mike and Prince Paul at Tian Sheng, the hotpot across the street from our apartment. It's a great restaurant, and food and beer always comes to about $3. After dinner Mike and I bought Super Troopers and Touching the Void. The people who designed the cover for touching the void did very little to distinguish it from Vertical Limit type Hollywood mountain movies. But I stand by Touching the Void. Possibly the greatest self-rescue alpine story ever told, raves the TTV publicist. We watched half of Super Troopers at Dave's place, then went to our blacked out apartment.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - Another boring gym workout, looking at Arnold Schwarzenegger posters of him posing, and movie posters of him with Sinbad in Home for Christmas or something dumb like that. I met up with some chinese student-friends for a language-exchange. I wanted to work on my pronunciation, which is horrificable. We got some longxia and noodles for dinner, then went to the same teahouse-ktv-karaoke joint. I learned a few extremely useful phrases - Nide chang hen piaolyang (your voice is beautiful) - but think I'll have to cross KTV joints off my study locations list. I cabbed over to meet Mike, Ben, Marielle, Mark and Christina at Cotton, an upscale beer garden style bar/club in Heng Shan. We had a beer, then headed over to Big Bamboo by Jin'an Temple for foosball and shuffleboard. Mike and I began walking home around three or four. We stopped in a Kedi convenience store to try and buy beer, but the beers were warm (even though they were in large refrigerators. I don't know if they turn them off at night, or if their beer is always room temperature). Mike delivered a scathing diatribe to the two women working, voicing his disapprobation of the French-owned KEDI chain and informing them that he wouldn't shop here anyways. Zell Moller would be proud, though mike is no party hatchet. I wisely talked Mike into taking a taxi, as the walk was over two miles. We did stop at a 24 hour restaurant near our house for curry chicken, soup and fried chicken. They had a microphone for addressing the staff, so Mike and I took turns singing songs. There must have been at least ten people working at 4am, though we were the only customers. The cooks loved us, the waitresses were scared of us. We have precious few opportunities to sing "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" to an empty restaurant and a waitstaff of ten at 4am, so take these opportunities we must.

Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - Mike and I went to the gym, then after a Melrose Pizza dinner I watched Empire of the Sun. Good movie, though I did not know it was another concentration camp movie. I like all the shots of shanghai. It was shot in the 80's, I believe, and its supposed to take place in the 40's, but its amazing to see how Shanghai has transformed the last 20 years. I'll have to pick it up for my dvd collection.

Monday, October 4, 2004 - Mike and I headed down to Jiao Tong University to run again on their track. We put in a couple miles and raced a quarter. We both ran under 1:10, but we both should be running a bit faster and a lot easier. It comes down to a little something called pride and desire, something both Mike and I are sorely lacking. We stopped by the Rendezvous for more eggs and bacon, another nice 2pm breakfast. I met up with Robert from Sun-Moon for yet another negotiation session. I've had more interviews and contract and salary negotiations than I've had in my entire life, which is ironic, as this is China. It shouldn't be this hard to procure a teaching job here, but now I know what not to do, I think. We settled on 135 yuan an hour, with at least 15 hours a week. I hope to get up above 20 hours a week so I can get into a more fiscally respectable position. Meeting up with some Japanese kids for an all you can eat japanese dinner tonight, so I'm having tea for lunch. The meal situation in Shanghai is interesting - breakfast at 2 or 3, dinner at 10 or 11, then a late supper sometime a bit later in the early morning. Sometimes we will eat breakfast at 7 or 8am when the Rendezvous opens, then get another breakfast a bit later in the afternoon. I'm not sure how to regard that. I have an unfortunate compulsion for western breakfast. You can put just about any kind of meat in front of me, along with vegetables I've never seen before and a colorless liquid in a small glass delivered by a smirking Korean waiter - and I will dig in enthusiastically. Breakfast, however, should not be a steamed bun and a sip of tea.
Mike and I met some japanese and chinese students for an all you can eat and drink sushi meal. It's nice to order whatever you want off the menu - and drink all the beer you can - though sake was not included. We had a nice big raucous meal, then met up with some people at Windows. We danced a little, but I had more fun playing with the kids outside trying to sell roses. I almost lost my phone, but a girl quickly gave it to me, so I bought her one of her roses. I'm bankrolled, what is $0.60 to me? I cabbed home and beat mike by our usual 30-45 minutes.

Sunday, October 3, 2004 - Mike and I woke up at a predictable hour for a Sunday, and motivated quickly to go do a track workout. We did check online to verify that certain events presaged in our nightmares had indeed come true. The A's and Giants, battling their Southern California counterparts, lost their playoff chances on the second to last. I think the Giants were still technically in it as of Sunday, but the no-name Asstrooze swept the lowly colorockies. Baseball in the Bay Area is quickly becoming a metaphor for another big dance. You have a date for the Prom, everything is going well, things look promising, you're even talking a little game, then when it comes down to it at the end of the night everything falls apart and you end up sleeping in the car while Chris Zaloumis HAS YOUR GIRL! This is a metaphor, remember, a hypothetical metaphor. Mike and I ran some laps and I sprinted a quarter, running a very tiring 66. If I started out under a minute, there would not be a lot of room for improvement. That's a tip kids - start low - keep expectations low - then everyone isn't disappointed when you bring home a C or lose the division on the LAST REGULAR SEASON SERIES OF THE YEAR. If the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers or Astros take the WS, I'm moving from my live/work loft in Chinatown to Shanghai, China, make no mistake. I'm serious this time. If the Dodgers and Anaheim are in the WS, I'm going to start following cricket. Mike and I were supposed to meet up with a few others for dinner at Baron Area, one of the restaurants that opened up Friday right across the alley from our apartment. CD and Dangerous Dave bailed. We had to take an elevator to get there (bad), were greeted by 4 (four) people once we got out on the third floor - and these were greeters - no other responsibilities (bad) and sat down at an empty restaurant (bad). The place looked like an LA restaurant in Shanghai. TV's on the wall with eerie programming, anachronistic pictures, and too much red. We had 50 yuan vouchers, but we couldn't figure out what they were for - neither could the wait staff - so we ordered a few things. We had some cold Sichuan chicken and some other forgettable dish, then waited for our egg rolls. Two large cream puffs arrived, which the waitress assured us were in fact egg rolls. We consulted the menu, and verified what we had ordered and what they thought we had ordered. It is absolutely amazing how often the chinese attempt to write english, and how frequently it is wrong. I've thought about setting up a consulting business, where I will verify the basic grammar of a sign, menu, or anything in English, and my bilingual staff can make some basic translations. In the end it was easier to reject the cream puffs and ask for a bill. What were the cream puffs doing as the first thing on the Appetizer list anyways? Mike and I figured our bill would come to around 50 yuan, but they only asked for 10. We payed, told at least a dozen workers thank you, but we wouldn't be coming back (including the same four people manning the elevator). We walked to a noodle shop to get a bowl of noodles, bought a few Tsingtao as this place did not serve any drinks. Not only that, they did not have any glasses. Mike drank his beer out of a bowl. I stayed in the rest of the night, watched Tom Hanks and an awkward cast in The Ladykillers.

Saturday, October 2, 2004 - I tried to go to the gym, but the damn National Holiday has closed it up. I made some one-eyed Jax for breakfast, then met up with Dave at Starbucks to get some work done. Dave's girlfriend of three years is moving in to his place this weekend, though he didn't seem to have a lot of say in the matter. I'm curious to see how that goes. Didn't get much work done. Went back home, changed, then went to Xuijiahui park to make some money. The basketball courts there are quite nice - and always packed with lots of people. As a tall laowei, I get picked up quickly, though my game is a bit hurting these days. I need to play more than twice a year I guess. Still, I can score a few points and get a few rebounds. I like to pad my rebound total by missing my first shot, getting my rebound, then putting it back in. The kids who play down there are a bunch of nancys and call everything. Any brush against the shoulder - whether you have the ball or not - is a flagrant foul. I've been called for offensive fouls, and I'm not an aggressive player. I understand their game does not involve as much contact as b-ball in the states, but they're playing basketball as if you're not allowed to touch the other players. C' est la vie. Mike met up with me there and we walked home. We stopped by Dangerous Dave's and watched the end of the new British movie [that he says is big in the states] about zombies and living dead and five british people who have to get to their favorite bar and fight the zombies. British humor is interesting, to say the least, but some American humor is just embarrassing. I went back and showered and met up with Dave and Mike at the Bullfighter's Brazilian BBQ. This restaurant opened up on Friday right across the alley from our apartment building. They built three restaurants simultaneously. When I got here on the 21st, it looked like they had another 3-4 months before they'd be opening. Construction proceeds at a much quicker pace than in the States, though, and they work around the clock to get the business open. We signed on for the buffet, which wasn't bad. Some meats, fruit, pasta, and lots of stuff I'd never seen before and didn't know what it was and of course tried. The Brazilian BBQ angle in China is great. 10 - 12 different meats are brought out from the kitchen on a large skewer. I saw large shish-kebabs, rare prime rib, sausages, bacon-wrapped meat, a whole baked pig, bright red chinese meat, and lots of other variations. There was a very bad band playing right next to us, an unnecessary element for a restaurant that could actually be decent and reasonably priced. This is China, though, and I shouldn't judge their restaurants by my jaded American standards. The meal was quite good, and we got to watch a gorgeous Xinjiang belly dancer for dessert. She got Dave up on stage, who lasted for about 60 seconds. His girlfriend is moving in with him, so he can't be doing things like that anymore. Shame. After dinner Mike got a call to meet a guy at the Kiwi. I walked down with him, but wasn't feeling it, and left after 30 minutes and an embarrassing game of pool. Mike was 30 minutes behind me. Domestic evening.

Friday, October 1, 2004 - Mike and I hit the gym again. I skipped on dinner at the Korean restaurant, and tried to make an appearance at the Autumn Moon Festival at Metro City. Sun-Moon was supposed to be there, and Robert had offered me 100 yuan and reimbursed beer whenever I made it down there. There was no one there when I got there, so I ate some meat/onion/batter balls and got in a taxi. We had a colorful conversation about the difference between jin'an Lu and jin'an Su. I eventually got to Windows to meet up with Jim and Mike for some foosball. The friday night scene was getting going, and I took two games before we took off for the Eager Beaver. Pete was giving away free beer to get The Eager Beaver on to people's hit list. It had been a very long week and I did not intend on staying out all night. I grabbed a stool next to the beer girls and talked with Marielle for a while. Her boyfriend Ben was there, as were Tom and Abby. We stayed until 2 or so, then headed over to Mural for the end of all you can drink for 50 yuan. I stayed until that was over, around 4am, feeling like a big Nancy because I was leaving early. I had a nice run home through Xuijiahui Park.

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