Minna1004

couldn't resist the alliteration of the subject title, hehe. reality is i'm busy doing a lot of grunt work- printing, cleaning, and stuff like that. at least i'm not doing the cold calling for clients, hehe- the other boss does that! i think JQ hired someone today, but since this is china, who knows if they'll show up or how long they'll stay. i had a good impression of him, though. the water cooler arrived yesterday and JQ decorated the walls with sketches and biographies, so now the office looks even more complete. skype sessions with rich are proving fruitful- we got him the info needed to start up the website. i'm feeling quite lucky to be part of a capable team! the weak link is me, i'm the one who needs to get in gear ... read more

i've been back in china for 8 days now... 4 days in beijing, 4 days in nanchang. noteworthiest of all news- from now on, no more atm fees for me! i found out that china construction bank is linked with bank of america, and i can withdraw money without incurring the $5 + 1% fee that china merchants bank was charging me. and it only took me three years to figure this out! i've come a long way from trying to western union myself money. ;) good weather today- high of about 60 degrees, sunny, and a good day overall for walking around trying to find a place to set up the office. stopped at wal-mart to get lunch (don't ask...) then rode over to JQ's and spent the day looking at potential places to rent. ... read more

so.... i was contemplating a mc d's pineapple pie when my dainty self fell down a couple stairs, twisting my ankle, and literally almost passed out from the pain. after ten minutes of sitting on the ground (and being somewhat amused as an elderly man immediately whisked away the coke bottle i dropped) i attempted to walk again. i actually thought i was doing quite well hobbling along, but wei decided upon inspection that i had to go to a hospital and get checked out. i resisted, but wei insisted the hospital was close, and i wasn't in any condition to run away. so off we went to a "really good hospital, not a cheap one" as wei promised. they don't check for ID- you just sign yourself in. so i let wei sign me in ... read more

today wei went to get a haircut and on the way home we stopped at a fruit market. i got my first-ever dragonfruit, some strawberries, and some oranges. there was a lot of exotic stuff that i had never seen before- google told me the purple things that look like a plum-persimmon cross are actually mangosteen (i have mangosteen lotion, but for some reason i thought the fruit would be more, uh, mango-like), that the red fig-like things are rose apples, and the hairy/spiny red lychee-looking things are just that- hairy lychees. seems so weird to come across so many exotic tropical fruits in the middle of this foggy cold weather... speaking of which, i'm planning to go to hainan before my trip back home to chicago. i'd like to go for a week and then ... read more

for christmas, the management for our apt/condo building decided to decorate the lobby. i came home the other day to be greeted by bunches of pastel colored balloons- very easter-appropriate- all over the front entrance. loose balloons on the floor, balloon bouquets taped to the walls, and balloons strung up in arches to decorate doorways. somehow, i just am not in a holiday mood... i don't mean this in a negative way, really... it just doesn't feel like christmas. this is also despite wal-mart playing one song on repeat, a chinese girl with a heavy accent singing "jingle bells", in a fake cutesy voice. it was maddening to the point where i had to leave- after about the tenth time hearing the song, it felt like it was being sledgehammered into my brain. this afternoon we ... read more