that’s whacked

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Thursday, Oct 14. 2004  –  Category: ChinaBlog

Ahhh….down to my last 14 hours in China. The past few days have been rushed with last-minute shopping, and trying to finish up stuff at work so we don’t leave too much stuff hanging.

We never did get to see the Summer Palace.

What did we do in this final week…hrm… well, we played with the door to our floor, which if you leave it open for a while, says a sing-songy rhythmic “[da da da da da da] please close the door”. We can’t figure out what it’s saying in the front, but we like to think it’s saying “Poornaprajna Udupi - Please close the door”.

Or in the event Poorna starts singing along with his music (there’s something really cool about playing mp3s streamed from my laptop to his SunRay w/ XMMS) out loud without realising it, we like to think it says “Poornaprajna Udupi - please shut the fuck up.”

On a complete whim last night, I bought a Japanese CD from a local CD shop. It’s by a group called ‘J’, and the CD is called ‘Red Room”, it’s basically Japanese hard rock. Pretty good stuff…and a welcome change from all the Chinese pop we’ve been listening to. Yes, thank you Poorna, you can stop singing “Superstar” by S.H.E now.

I’ve got to admit, I had a blast here, and part of me wants to spend more time here working with our Beijing group (they’ve been a great group to work with, btw) - but the other part of me is definitely missing home. I don’t know that I could do a full 3 month rotation, I think I am too attached to the Bay Area, what with Wendy, my family, and my house being all there.

Things I’ll miss about China? The ridiculously cheap shopping. The fun bargaining (”special price my ass!”) experiences. The public fights. The great food (well, I know I’ll miss it…not so sure about Poorna). The insanely cheap food. Beer from a bag. Yong He and their 75 cent breakfast of Shaolong Bao & soy milk. The feeling of living on the edge and near-death that you only get by riding shotgun in a Beijing taxi when he runs a red light making a left turn into oncoming traffic and mis-shifts his gears. Among many many others…

WR (workplace resources) finally gave me my nameplate for my cubicle…. 2 days before I leave Beijing…

Zai jian!