July 1, 2009 Happy Canada Day           

In just two days we fly back to Canada for a few weeks.  I'm not ready.  There is so much going on here now, between erhu and pipa lessons, Chinese lessons, my bicycle helmet campaign and other projects. The prospect of traveling for a month feels like dropping everything.  But I am looking forward to seeing friends and family,  and meeting the new grand daughter.  Right now I'm trying to line up the flight tickets to let me spend a week with Ruth in Winnipeg,  to camp out at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

The Wuxi Studio Tour

My movie producer friend, Robert, came for a visit today. He wanted to see the Wuxi film studios. So after three years in Wuxi we finally got around to visiting the famous Three Kingdoms City,  Water Margin City, and Tang City,  all three created (re-created) for Chinese movies and TV series and now attracting hordes of tourists.  Since today was a Wednesday, the hordes were mercifully thin.  And after the torrential rains of yesterday,  the air was clear,  the sky blue,  and life was pleasant indeed.

 

 

 

Our Very Own Driver

Our favorite driver,  Xiao Chen, drove us to the studio and then was all prepared to sit with his car and wait for us,  or come back and get us.  Against his objections we bought him a ticket and dragged him along with us through the studio theme park.  It was the least we could do.

     Having Chen's phone number is like having a private limousine driver.  He comes to our door, almost always on very short notice, to take us shopping, and waits while we shop.  He never seems to charge for the time he spends waiting for us.  In fact,  his charges are reasonable to the point of embarrassment.  For our shopping trips, it's a ten minute run to the supermarket where Chen waits for about 40 minutes to an hour, and then a ten minute ride home.  For this he charges 35RMB ($5.90 Canadian). Today we tied him and his shiny late model car up from eleven in the morning until four-thirty in the evening,  and he wanted to know if 100 RMB  ($16.80 Canadian) was too much to charge.  I had the feeling I could have knocked him down 20 RMB if I had tried.  As it was,  Robert kicked in another fifty above the charge for taking them back to the bus station.
     One of the pleasures of China for me is that there is no tipping tradition here.  I think the Chinese believe you have to be crazy to be willing to spend more money than you absolutely have to.  I'd hate to spoil that by forcing tips on people.  But sometimes, with a guy like Chen, we just feel he is undervaluing his service,  and we really want to pay him more than he is asking.  So far, he names his price and refuses to take anything more.
    As an added bonus,  Chen has caught on to the fact that we want to learn Chinese.  He speaks very little English, so it's easier to keep the conversations in his language.  Once he figures out what we are trying to say, he puts it into correct Chinese sentence structure and shows remarkable patience for correcting our pronunciation while we repeat the phrase or sentence over and over.

Passing on the Flame

Our friend Simon (right in this picture) found us our wonderful Chinese teacher, William, (left ) but William is going to Guilin to work toward his PhD.  So Simon has found us Falcon (center), our new and equally wonderful Chinese teacher.

  

We've finished our Chinese lessons for this term,  but we're looking forward to great progress next term.

The Problem with our Chinese Friends

Ruth asked our friend George to help her exchange some money at the Bank of China downtown.  George responded by inviting us to lunch with his cousins, and picking up the tab.

 

And this is the problem with our Chinese friends.  They go so far out of their way to be kind and generous, we'll never be able to repay them.  We're simply forced to live with the guilt.  Thanks for everything Zhu Kai Ning (George). You make us glad to be in China.
     The dress under the clown nose brought up the question,  why are they called "polka dots".  Naturally, somebody else has already asked this question and the answer is to be found on the Internet.  Of course.  Just about everything is answered on the Internet, except for the things nobody knows.  And for those things there are lots of conjectures.  Once again I marvel at this resource we have at our finger tips.

June 26, 2009 A Pipa Teacher at Last

I bought a pipa in Shanghai on our first visit there,  three years ago.  It's been hanging on our living room wall ever since.  Last week I saw a woman in the student cafeteria carrying a pipa case.  So in my fractured Chinese I asked if she could give me lessons.  That's how I ended up with my new pipa teacher.

Double click the picture to download a video clip of 陈楚阳 Chén Chuyáng demonstrating the pipa.

Meet 陈楚阳 Chén Chuyáng.  This picture is a frame from the video clip I took on my little still camera, which doesn't capture broadcast quality by a long shot. Then it's been compressed to get a reasonable file size (still over 9 megs) , which makes the image jump in a very strange way.  But what a wonderful sound.  
     Unfortunately, the pipa seems to be as difficult as any other instrument I have ever tried to play, and all the plucking techniques are exactly backward to the guitar.  It's plucked with the backs of the fingers, rather than the front.  Sigh.  Another learning curve coming at me.  But it is exciting to finally get started at another instrument.
     The instrument itself seems very crude compared to a guitar.  It weighs a ton, and feels like playing a log.  With no sound hole in evidence,  it surprises me that it makes so much noise.  No doubt it will start to feel familiar after a few hundred practice hours.

June 23, 2009 A Sendoff for William

Our favorite Chinese teacher, William, invited us to dinner with his friends.  He's going to Guilin in September for studies toward an advanced degree. We gathered for another feast in a local restaurant to celebrate his acceptance letter. 

    

Congratulations,  William.  And congratulations to Kelly, who will be going to Beijing for her further studies.

Pipa Lessons at Last

It's all arranged.  Tomorrow evening a young lady named  陈楚阳 (Chén chu yáng) will come to our place to give me my first lesson.  The pipa has been hanging on the wall since we bought it in Shanghai last year.  It will be good to tune it up and actually learn to play it.

June 21, 2009 Catherine and Belle visit from Canada

I caught up with my sister,  Catherine, and cousin, Belle, at the tail end of their China tour.  Through the magic of mobile phones we managed to meet in the middle of Shanghai in the old city.

There we were in the middle of a tourist shopping Mecca, and the tour wanted to take them to a shopping center?!!  So we pulled Cath away and had a great time looking for silk boxer shorts in the warren of little shops.

After they checked into their hotel we met them for dinner,  and then crashed their night cruise on the Huang Pu.

  

  

Next morning we caught the 8:14 D train to Wuxi.

 

This was on Belle's agenda.  I think she was making a point for her sister, Reta.

 

Some thing in China you just want to take home with you.

The day was sweltering and very muggy,  so rather than walk around the campus we called our favourite driver and gave the relatives a drive by tour. 

 

Then we headed downtown to the local temple market and another boat cruise on the canal.  A stop at Starbucks for coffee and then they were off again to Shanghai.
     I tried to call them last night to make sure they got back okay,  but every number that Howard Johnson's publishes for their many Shanghai hotels,  whether on the web or on the cards they hand out in the lobby, is invalid.  I don't know how they ever get a reservation.  Belle and Cath will just have to wait until they read this to find out I was thinking of them.
     Both Catherine and Belle say they had a great time touring China. Catherine wants to come back.  She's a very highly qualified teacher,  specializing in early childhood education and language development.  Back home in Canada she runs Kindermusik,  a program that introduces children and parents to the joy of learning through music, with amazing benefits for the development of emotional intelligence,  physical coordination,  and mathematical aptitude.  She has a lot to contribute to the children and students of English in China.

June 19, 2009 Letter from Angel

This letter from Angel speaks for itself,  so I'll just let it do that.

Subject:  hello David Dear David, Long time no see. I hope you are not forgetting the name Angel. I have been your student since the first grade of college, and i used to be the leader of English fly bar, which held a lot of English corner. You and Ruth devote a lot of time to that. And I always ask for your favor on some translation work. You never get tired of helping me. I'm going to graduate this month, actually I already left the school and now I'm working in a company in Wuxi. It's such a regret that you are not there while we took graduation picture. I do hope you have happy days in China and I look for further contact with you guys. PS: The girl gesturing victory in the picture is me. Best regards! Angel

Good luck,  Angel.  Congratulations on graduating,  and on finding a job.  I'm sorry to hear that you've left the university,  but I hope you will keep in touch.  Remember, I'm always just an email away if you have a question about English. 
Angel sent this to both Ruth and me,  but Ruth did a much better job of replying to her than I did:

Angel, Congratulations on graduating! It is an accomplishment that you can be proud of. And thank you so much for the taking the time to write and express your appreciation. Hearing from students such as you is what makes this job worthwhile. If you learn and grow and improve in your work life like you did in my Practical Writing class then you will do very well indeed! Good luck to you in your future. Feel free to write again, especially if you have any questions about English or Western customs. Warmest regards, Your proud teacher, Ruth

June 17, 2009 back from Guangzhou

It was a whirlwind trip.  Twenty-six hours in a soft sleeper compartment down to Guangzhou,  a morning meeting,  one night in a hotel, and twenty-six hours in a soft sleeper back to Wuxi.  That's a lot of time on a train in three days,  from 4:00am Sunday morning to 8:00am Wednesday morning.  I lucked out on the way down,  and had the whole compartment to myself for all but the last couple of hours.  This meant that I got in a lot of erhu practice.
   I was almost as lucky for the ride back, even luckier in some ways, sharing the compartment with a young mother and her four year old daughter.  That was fun,  and included a bit of Chinese practice.  They even put up with some erhu practice.

 
                             I'm getting to be quite Chinese with my automatic "V for Victory" salute.              - David Scott photo

So,  was the trip worth it?  Hard to say.  Nothing definite came from the meeting, other than I have a deeper understanding of the bicycle helmet industry in China.  Mr. Jiang and his boss,  Mr. Li Jr., and their assisgent met me at the Guangzhou train station.  They took me for a great dim sum breakfast,  which turned out to be the same style of dim sum that I'm used to eating in Toronto or Vancouver,  but hadn't found in China.  Delicious.  We talked about helmets.  Then they took me to visit the factory,  and to meet the founder of the firm,  Mr. Li senior.

It's obvious that Mr. Li,  and the other helmet makers here that we've contacted, do not think they can sell to the Chinese market, at least not at a price that makes it worth while.  I've been giving this a lot of thought.
     A businessman looks at the consumers and tries to decide what they want,  and then provides that for them.  An advertising man, on the other hand, looks at the consumers and tries to "create a need" for a product that the consumers do not know they want.  I guess I'm much more of an advertising man than a businessman.  And of course there's the big question:  is it possible to create a need for bicycle helmets in China.  Right now everybody thinks they get along fine without them, despite the fact that China has seven times more head injury fatalities per rider mile than western countries.  That's a lot of heads getting broken.  But the danger is not immediate and obvious to the bicycle riders,  so they don't think a helmet is important.  Then there's the issue of price.  I have been selling helmets for just 10 RMB,  which almost covers my cost.  But I haven't been happy with the quality of those helmets.  Mr. Li's company makes high end helmets of obvious superior quality,  but also at a much higher price.  I would be barely breaking even if I sold them for 100 RMB.  Many of the students are riding bikes that cost just a couple of hundred RMB.  It's going to be hard to convince them to spend a hundred or more on a helmet.
     I think what is called for here is some testing.  Some testing and a marketing plan to test.  The plan will be my summer project.

Note on the erhu Practice:

I almost left my erhu behind in Wuxi, just because I didn't want to carry it around. I'm so glad I took it with me - the train practice session was extended and intense.  I've been trying to master a bowing technique on the erhu that has the rhythm of horse hooves. On the train, I finally found this sound.

Double click for a video clip of the bowing technique.

      It's so strange the way these things must be discovered, a bit like whistling,  or bending a note on a harmonica.  You can never teach anybody to do these things. You can only show them that it's possible, and then they have to put in the time and experiment endlessly until they figure out how to do it.
     It's been the same with this bowing technique. Every time I picked up the erhu, I could tell I was a little closer to finding it. And now it's easy. Well, almost easy. But I would never be able to describe the movement (though I think I could give good hints since the learning curve is so recent.). No more than our teacher could accurately describe it to me.

June 13, 2009 Soft Sleeper to Guangzhou

Yesterday, Panda went with me to the train station.  On the way she gave me a Chinese lesson, and we stopped in at a music store to pick up some strings for my sister's 古筝 gǔ zhēng (A 21 stringed instrument that looks like a giant zither. I took a spare set of strings to Canada when I delivered the gǔ zhēng   but managed to break two strings, the same strings of course, on the first tuning.). At the train station, Panda helped me buy a soft sleeper ticket to Guangzhou.  Train tickets here are a bit of a mystery.  It's as if they have never heard of computers.  I couldn't get the soft sleeper ticket on campus,  but one was available at the downtown ticket office.  Return tickets are not sold anywhere.  Very strange.

I'll be on the 02:21 train.  Yes,  that's two in the morning,  which really feels like very very late tonight, but it's okay because it's a soft sleeper. I'm taking my little public service spot (see the June 11 posting below) for a meeting with the execs of a helmet manufacturing company. 
     I'm looking forward to 26 hours on the train.  I love traveling in a soft sleeper compartment,  watching China roll by outside the window.
     This morning I'm checking out a Chinese dentist.  Expect a report this afternoon.

An Evening of Dance

Yesterday I got a call from our boss,  Ms. Liu,  with the news that she had two tickets for a dance performance that evening.  Ruth had to pass on the experience,  because that was when the car was coming to take her to the train station.  She's off to Xi An and points west with her old high school friend Doug,  her co-star in the public service video we just finished.

Double click the picture for a video clip.

 I could and did attend,  and as usual was blown away by the talent of the students here.  It was a wonderful evening of high energy and very accomplished dance,  with some numbers like the one in the clip above demonstrating amazing acrobatic ability,  and some like the clip below showing some stunning Chinese beauty.

Double click the picture for a  second video clip.

Once gain,  thanks to Ms. Liu and the folks in the administration office.  Great seats.  You make my life here very rich.

Teeth So Clean it's a Shame to Use Them

For the past three summers I've been to see my dentist,  Dr. George,  back in Canada for my annual  checkup and professional cleaning.  But this year I decided that if I'm going to earn Chinese wages,  I'd better get a Chinese dentist.

                                                                                                              - David Scott photo

Enter Dr. Zhou Wei An.  He's on campus two days a week to look after the students' dental problems, and I met him here when I needed a front cap glued back in place.  He speaks excellent English. He told me to come to his office downtown for the cleaning. 
     I think finding a dentist in a foreign country is naturally going to cause a waiguo a bit of anxiety.  But Dr. Zhou's equipment and methods are the equal of anything back home.  In fact, he used one technique I've never had before - following the standard ultrasonic descaling with something very similar to sand blasting with baking soda, followed by the standard mechanical cleaning.  He did a great job.  The price - 230 RMB ($37.63 Canadian at today's rate).  A bargain.  I'm not sure what I've been paying for a cleaning in Canada,  but it's always one of my major expenses of the summer.

June 11,  2009 The Bicycle Helmet Campaign Heats Up

Classes are finished for the term.  I've done my assessments and paperwork.  Now I have a little free time to devote to the helmet campaign. 
     I've come to realize that nobody will put on a bike helmet out of fear.  The danger of brain injury is simply too remote.  But there are other things that motivate the youth of China.  Competition for the top jobs is one of them.  With this in mind,  I just finished this 30 second public service spot, aimed at the Chinese university grads.  Hopefully it hits its target.  I'm going to try to get it on the television stations here,  but you can get a preview by clicking a still from the video. 

  
Double click either picture to download the video.

The file is 3.935 megs,  so it will take a few minutes to download.  Hopefully it's worth it. The Chinese narration on this is:  竞争中，你必 须出 类拔萃。(jìng zhēng zhōng, nǐ bì xū chū lèi bá cuì。- In the middle of the competition, you must stand apart from the others.) And the tag at the end is 带上 头盔，尽显 风 采。 (dài shàng tóu kuī, jìn xiǎn fēng cǎi. Wear a helmet. Look smart/elegant/sharp/stylish/cool - all implied by fēng cǎi)
     I'll be taking this to Guangzhou next week for a meeting with a helmet company.  I'm not sure what will come from that meeting,  but I'm looking for allies,  and helmet manufacturers seem like an obvious place to start.  Sooner or later, somebody is going to see the potential of the Chinese market for bicycle helmets,  and then we're going to save some lives.  That's a nice thought.
     Many thanks to my cast - Doug, Ruth, George and Simon - and to my boom person,  Panda.  Also thanks to Simon for the translation and Chinese narration.  Great work guys.  Oh yes,  and thanks to the Foreign Affairs Department of Jiangnan University for permission to film in their boardroom.  I appreciate all the help,  cooperation,  and encouragement.

June 05, 2009 RIP David Carradine

It was a shock.  Last night this text message came in:

TheFlyingGodesssays:        6/4/2009 10:48:13pm not in the mood to chat ...but got a call...now on the news...found david...carradine,..dead in his hotel room in bankok lon location...i'm... very upset...talk later ok?jjust wanted to let you know

The Flying Godess is also known as Marina Carradine,  David Carradine's former wife.  I drove down to Los Angeles with my kids to attend their wedding.  So very thoughtful of her to let me know when she must have so much on her mind.

- AP Photo/Ric Francis      He was a remarkable man, and an amazing artistic talent.  He could take a big lump of plasticine and turn it into a perfect likeness that looked like it had come from the hands of Rodan.   He could take a smashed Martin guitar and patiently repair it to playable condition,  and then play it.  He could sing the blues.  He could compose songs of his own. He could do a passable piano lounge act.  He could tap dance. He also wrote books.  Actually wrote them himself,  and they were not only readable,  they were fascinating.  Most of all he could act.  He could act far better than most people will ever know.  Take a look at "Bound for Glory",  the Woody Guthrie story,  if you want to see David outside of his Kwai Chang Caine persona.  The guy had chops.       One episode of "Kung Fu,  the Legend Continues" stays with me.  It was really Chris Potter's show,  and Chris was putting his heart into it,  doing a great job.  David only had one line - to walk through a surrealistic nightclub where his beloved wife,  deceased, was sitting at a table,  pause and say: "I can't talk now.  I have to save our son."  David,  who at that time,  was drinking heavily,  walked into the scene,  paused,  delivered the line, and a single tear rolled down his cheek on cue.  When I called "cut" the crew applauded. A rare event on any jaded television series set.      On his way off the set,  David turned to Chris and said, "Top that,  kid."      A bit later,  sitting on the curb outside the nightclub where we were filming,  I said to him:  "David,  you're a prick."      "No I'm not," he replied.  "I'm mischievous."  And he was.  This,  after all,  was the guy in the fringed buckskin jacket who rode his horse to the take out window of the Dairy Queen.      I don't mean to take anything away from Chris Potter by telling this story.  Like I said,  Chris was doing a great job and is a talent in his own right.  He really aced that episode ("The Bardo" for all you K.F.T.L.C. fans.) But David was a star,  and everybody knew it.  He lit up the screen,  as he did in his big come back movie, "Kill Bill".  He had his demons.  But what I loved about him was that he was human all the way.  He gave me insights.  He talked to me, and he didn't get mad when I talked back. I'll miss him.

I should add that I expected David to be dead within months of the cancellation of his series.  Booze was obviously killing him. It's a tribute to Marina that he had a few more good years, and a comeback career.

June 2, 2009 One out a Billion Plus.  But it's a Start

The other evening our old friend and former Chinese teacher,  William, came by with the news that he was going to ride his bicycle from Wuxi around Taihu,  the big lake near our campus, to Suzhou.

This is some serious bike touring.  He said he needed a helmet,  so of course I gave him one.  I'm thrilled to think that there is at least one Chinese head protected by a helmet.  Then today we got this report,  along with a few pictures.

Dear Ruth and David, I`ve returned from Suzhou after two days` travel by bike. With the help of compass and Google Map, and the red helmet you presented, I arrived in Suzhou smoothly. I met with a friend of Soochow University at Tiger Hill (虎丘). It is regarded as an eastern Leaning Tower of Pisa. We also walked along the ShanTang Street（山塘街）which is one of the most oldest street in china with a lot of traditional architectures. The next day we had a tour around Suzhou and enjoyed ourselves by bicycle! (Some pictures attached ) Best wishes! Yours William

   Way to go,  William.

Street Food

Today we went into the nearby village market to pick up some supplies.  Couldn't resist a street food snack.  This is a husband and wife team.  She bakes the bread in a charcoal oven,  and he takes care of the hard boiled egg,  pork, noodles and veggies filling.  Mmmmmmnnnnn good. 

 
Double click either picture for a short video clip.

This is one of the things we enjoy about China.  Just watching street food being prepared is fun,  and then we get to eat it.  Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

What Will They Think of Next?

I bought this folding bike because I fell in love with its design.  It does an Inspector Gadget trick and collapses into a backpack.  It's also pretty easy to ride.  What a great idea,  a bike you can take on a bus or train. Unfortunately it achieves a light weight at the expense of durability.  It came with a warning that the load limit is 187 pounds.  I should have taken this seriously,  because I've broken it already.  I haven't been 187 pounds since high school. Oh well.  Fun while it lasted.

Time to archive again:  So soon.  So much has happened in the past few months.  The really good stuff is in the archives,  folks.  I hate to bury it back there,  because I fear that nobody will ever click on the links.  But you should.  Really.  I promise.       

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