Scooter Legality: Is It Even Worth It?

In looking back over my goals for this year and next, most were accomplished, but the overall bugaboo of trying to legally ride and register a motorcycle or scooter in Shanghai remains exactly that: a huge bugaboo.

I'm beginning to rethink whether it's even worth the attempt to 'get legal'. Of course, I'm still going to ride scooters and motorbikes in Shanghai, there's no question about that, but the whole rigmoral of getting licenses, registration, etc. may be a needless waste of time and money.

Now that I have a motorcycle license from Canada, it may be easier to abandon the plan to register a bike, and just go for a Chinese motorcycle drivers license itself. It would mean upgrading the current Chinese car license I've got. Will start looking into that next year.

That way, with a license and no registration, it would be "more legal" or "semi legal" as opposed to no license and no registration. I've even used my car drivers license to get out of difficulties when stopped by police, which happens maybe once a year.

And this is the thing, the chances of getting stopped by police are extremely low to begin with, so why even bother with legit plates? Fake plates are good enough, which I've got.

On the other hand, the city has long wanted to get rid of any and all motorcycles within the downtown core, regardless of whether they have legal plates or not. The plates and licensing for bikes really means squat compared to the bigger picture of the Chinese obsession with private cars and the government drive to back it up. Since cars are higher up the food chain, then it's a simple matter of making them a higher priority and sidelining the motorcycles and scooters. To that end, I have seen a lot more streets with bike bans in the past few years, and of course the recent introduction of gas stations that refuse to fill up bikes downtown.

Basically I always get my gas in the suburbs and continue to use a system of jerry cans developed last April.

To put it simply, the city doesn't want bikes. I would imagine an outright ban in the years to come, like Guangzhou has done, but it's hard to predict when and if this would happen. The telling point will be the beginning of 2012 when city governments always want to enforce any new traffic rules.

Will see what happens, if anything does. Meanwhile I'm not exactly rushing to get legal plates.

2011 Almost Finished

Today's weather: High = 12 Low = 7
Cloudy

I really like this time of year as once we pass the Christmas threshold with a genuine 3-day weekend, then it feels like the worst of the workload is over with, and there is a nice break in sight.

The beginning of November and December, as I’ve mentioned several times already, are the worst two months for the type of teaching work I do as it feels like there is no end in sight to the relentless workload. But there is an end in sight, and Christmas is the indicator for that.

Interestingly, the weather has taken a turn for the warmer and this winter is already a lot milder than the same time last year. Hopefully this global warming trend will keep up, as it means my scooter went out of hibernation and I've been enjoying the fun of blasting around town on it recently.

Overall I was quite satisfied with how this year 2011 has gone, and I would rate it as a great year, one of the best experienced so far. A huge reason for that was the simple fact that I spent it living in Asia. It seems the majority of good news and positive experiences came out of Asia this year, while there was a whallop of bad news out of the west.

On the global stage, we heard of the death of 3 dictators / terrorists within the same year, namely Bin Laden, Gaddafi, and Kim Jong Il. Not only that, but two long-time authoritarian regimes of Egypt and Libya experienced sudden collapse, and one would hope making a path towards democracy. Economically, East Asia and SE Asia did very well this year, which has also greatly benefited me personally. Things weren’t all rosy in Asia, as Thailand experienced severe flooding, of which I experienced a bit. But taking a holistic view, it was quite evident that Asia shined brightly as a star this year, with tons of good news coming out of this continent

At times like this I feel very happy and privileged to be living, working, and traveling in Asia for yet another year, and this is clearly the place to be, and at the right time. It’s not always peachy, especially as Asia demands a hard work ethic and long hours. I wouldn’t exactly recommend this continent if your cup of tea involves lots of play and laziness.

Even so, despite the job stress, it’s been a damn fine year. It has also been an extremely productive year for me, the best of my entire life. Highlights would include the trip to Indonesia in winter and Thailand in summer, some of the best travel to date. Also beginning a math masters degree online and teaching AP calculus at school for the first time. Other things included getting a motorcycle license officially back in Canada, moving apartments twice in Shanghai, and selling off my old motorcycle for a scooter. A lot of other things happened also, and it was a very good year socially to say the least.

What made it possible to do so much was the comparative lack of traveling around in China. The fact of the matter is that China travel is a bitch. It is no fun, always exhausting, frustrating, and draining. My goal for 2011 was to avoid it like the plague. which was more or less accomplished. As a result, I felt more established in this city.

Celebrating Christmas

Today's weather:  High = 7  Low = 2

Sunny

 

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had this idea on Christmas Eve.  Some of the worst traffic I've seen as locals packed the restaurants, bars, clubs, stadiums, and other venues downtown all evening which turned all the streets into a parking lot until the wee hours.  Thanks to my new white gas scooter, I was unaffected, having learned from my mistakes on previous Christmas Eves in this city and Wuhan.  Good luck getting a taxi, that's all I can say!  Fortunately I blew past the whole mess, both going to and from various parties, and there were no issues with that.  It does, however, bring back a nightmare of 3 years ago when I lived in Songjiang and actually tried to get a taxi home that night.  Ever since then, I've been adamant about riding scooters on nights like this, even though all my friends thing I'm crazy for doing it.

 

What amazes me is how the locals have taken to celebrating Christmas Eve as there were more young people out on the streets than with a major Chinese festival.  With that, the police and security forces were are also out in droves to keep order.  You'd think it was Chinese New Year or something.  But no, it is not, they are merely imitating western holidays with a passion that is frightening to say the least.   

 

Anyways, despite all the crowd ruckus, I still had fun.  Started the day off with a nice sleep-in, and put a dent in the huge pile of marking I'm saddled with as the end of term approaches.  Since one of my colleagues is out 6 weeks for surgery, I ended up taking over her classes, in addition to my own.  It means a surge in the marking load, and this was a good weekend to do something about that pile.  After that, a nice and relaxing Christmas Eve church service in the daytime, for the expats.  Later on that night, they had a massive series of church services for the locals, one every hour, which contributed to all the traffic jams that night in the French Concessions area.

 

Later on, I pounded treamills in the gym and skipped lunch, in anticipation of a big Christmas Eve feast later that night, which certainly turned out to be true.   I've been pounding the gym every single day now, since last week, to try and lose weight and get in shape for my upcoming bicycle trip in Thailand.  Unfortunately I'm still gaining weight as this season is nearly impossible to exercise, but it makes me try all the harder.

 

The Christmas party itself was really great, celebrated with a bunch of the young people from the SCF church  (Shanghai Community Fellowship) and also in conjunction with a house warming party for someone who recently moved into the French Concessions area.   It is of course a favorite area for expats, but the rents are astronomically high.  The apartment I went to was in an old-style house, and rather small, but she was paying 3 times my monthly rent.   Basically I live out in Minhang District which is a little far away from downtown, but nothing compared to where I used to live in Songjiang.  Still I could never live in th city center, as it's too expensive.  

 

Anyways, at the party, I got stuffed with salad, German dumpings, lamb, turkey, and all kinds of other food and desserts.  Secret Santa gave me an electric blanket which is much appreciated.  In turn, I pawned off a gift of assorted chocolates that the Chinese school administrators gave me the day before.  Having no need to get fat off expensive chocolates, I re-gifted this, and put it in the Secet Santa pile at a non-work related social event.

 

Another unexpected bonus.  While riding the scooter to the party in the insane traffic, I stumbled on a cake shop.  The shelves were totally cleared of cakes as locals had bought them all out.  There were a few nice pastries, cookies, and lemon bread still there so I brought in a massive pile to the cashiers.  This would be my dessert contribution to the Christmas party, and was expecting at least 100 RMB to pay, but I got an insane discount for only 28 RMB.  The shop owner spoke perfect English and said it was a Christmas discount.  I didn't even have to bargain.

 

 

 

 

Christmas: A Prelude to the Holidays

Today's weather:  High = 7  Low = 0
Sunny

It's nice to have a long weekend, or a short break for Christmas, in anticipation of the much longer break for Chinese New Year.  Ideally we should have a 2 week holiday for Christmas and a 3 week break for CNY.  Even better, a 2-month break from mid-Dec to mid-Feb that spans both holidays, but we know it's not going to happen like that.  Meanwhile, we're quite happy to settle for a shorter Christmas and to play down this particular holiday, in exhagne for the 4-5 week break in mid-January for he Chinese New Year.
 
The only problem in this line of reasoning is that people don't want to play down Christmas, they want to play it up.  The arrangment we enjoy in offshore schools in China is nearly perfect because the shortened Christmas break makes it possible to enjoy this holiday for what it's really about:  a silent night, to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  If the commercial aspect of Christmas is played up in China, like it is in the west, then we have to replay the yearly nightmare of festive filler and obligations. 
 
Things like gift-giving, Secret Santa, Christmas performances, and all sorts of other filler activities end up wasting class time, when this could be better used to prepare students for the term-end exams.  Sine the school year doesn't stop around Christmas, then my argument is that we should play down this whole thing, enjoy a quiet celebration, get on with teaching, and prepare for the real holidays which are Chinese New Year.
 
We can still enjoy something for Christmas during this short break (more on that in the next post) but I think it's reasonable that we should downplay the whole Christmas thing while in China.  Since we are living in a different culture overseas, then I only think it's fair that teachers should adjust their expectations and not pine for the comforts and sentiments that were voluntarily left back in the west.  For goodness sakes, we get all this time off to coincide with the lunar new year and can easily catch a flight to South East Asia.  That is a very generous deal, and if it means downplaying Christmas, then I'm perfectly OK with it. 
 
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that back in the west, you would not be able to take 4-5 weeks off starting in mid-January and catch a cheap flight to Thailand for a paid vacation.  Back in the west you would get the 2 or 3 weeks off for Christmas, and then what?  Suffer at work from January until March during the coldest and wettest time of the year.   Of course, we're doing just that right now in December, but  it's nicer to get this over with first.
 
 

Good Riddance Dear Leader

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/World/2011/12/20/North%2BKorea%2BNation%2Bin%2Bgrief%2Bfor%2BDear%2BLeader/

 

 

NORTH Koreans marched in their hundreds to their capital Pyongyang's landmarks to mourn Kim Jong Il, many crying uncontrollably and flailing their arms in grief over news of the death of their Dear Leader.

State media proclaimed his twenty-something son and heir-apparent Kim Jong Un the "great successor."

After 17 years in power, Kim died of heart failure on Saturday at age 69 while carrying out official duties on a train trip.

Kim died "from a great mental and physical strain," the Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim, who had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases over a long period, suffered "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock" on the train, it added.

The report said that every possible first-aid measure was taken immediately, which failed to save Kim's life, adding that an autopsy was done on Sunday and "fully confirmed" the diagnosis. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008.

On the streets of Pyongyang, people wailed in grief, some kneeling on the ground or bowing repeatedly. Children and adults laid flowers at key memorials.

"How could the heavens be so cruel? Please come back, general. We cannot believe you're gone," Hong Son Ok shouted in an interview with North Korea's official television, her body shaking wildly.

 

The death comes at a sensitive time as North Korea prepares for next year's 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. The preparations include massive construction projects as part of Kim Jong Il's promise to bring prosperity.

Some analysts, however, said Kim's death was unlikely to plunge the country into chaos because it was already preparing for a transition. Kim Jong Il indicated a year ago that Kim Jong Un would be his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

What the Bleep Do I Know

Today's weather:  High = 8  Low = 1

 

The idea to quit Shanghai / China comes and goes in waves, and I'll admit these dark cold and endlessly busy days I'm feeling rather keen on quitting. Nonetheless this city has formed a major part of my identity and social life and it makes more sense to stay here unless I have a clear idea of where I'd be going next from here if I did leave. 
 
What it did occur to me over the weekend is that the more I learn or think I have "figured it out" or arrived somewhere in life, the more I don't know and there is a true sense that the journey has barely begun. In other words the 10 years spent here are only a small part of what may be next, whether I stay in this city or move on. It seems everything my own culture has taught me is a lie about the need to arrive at a state of self actualization. That never happens, and one risks the dangerous sense of complacency and pride at having achieved a sort of pseudo-arrival, where one becomes convinced he can then cruise along in his actualized state of knowledge until retirement and eventually death.
 
Maybe I know a few things about math or whatever and it can make me feel smart but I am coming face to face with the fact that I really know diddly squat. This latest proofs course for my masters degree brought that one home. There is a lot of truth embedded in a proof and I feel like with each day there is more I don't know, just as the saying goes. The good part is that the learning will go on for quite some time, and I don't expect to "arrive" at a state of self actualization. Not now, not ever.

Scooter Hibernating Again

Today's weather:  High = 5 Low = -2

Sunny

 

Oh well, I got two weeks riding out of it.  Meanwhile it's now going underneath the school parking garage for hibernation, as the chilly winter is here to stay. 

 

The last hurrah of riding involved discovering a tunnel by fluke that goes to Pudong.  There are dozens of tunnels and bridges that cross the river between Puxi and Pudong, but most are either off-limits to motorcycles (actually they all are) or too busy.  I just happened to find a lightly-used tunnel that is not enforced either, and this would make a good passage if I ever needed to get to Pudong on a scooter.  For the past year or so, I often regarded Pudong as off-limits to a scooter ride, but maybe not any more.

 

The nicest part of the tunnel was feeling a bit of warmth from the freezing cold as it has that beautiful nice insulating effect.  But I got cold soon afterwards and then took a 30 minute long hot shower back home after the fact. 

 

Anyway, this cold weather is doing damage to my bike, as well as myself.  Time to hibernate it and figure out some other way to get to work.  In a word, pedalling.  Speaking of which, I'm going to be hitting the gym rather frequently to start the training and weight loss trend for the upcoming winter holiday trip.

 

 

Trouble at the Provincial Border

It goes without saying that every time I ride a scooter to or from Sino Canada, things get dramatic.  I seldom go out there anymore, but when I do, I'm continually reminded and baffled as to how I managed this particular run over 100 times back and forth when teaching at that school from 2008-09.   Talk about adventure.

  

It turns out that Sino Canada is a BC offshore school, very similar to where I'm currently teaching  (Nanyang Model School in downtown Shanghai).  Yet conversations with teachers over at Sino are once again making me jealous of the holiday schedule they enjoy and we don't.  Such as 2 weeks for Christmas break and 3.5 weeks for Chinese New Year.   We don't get even close to that.   Oh, and who can forget Friday 11am dismissals which they get and of course we don't.

 

So there are times, such as now, when I'm tempted to go back to working at Sino since they have the 2 week Christmas holiday which might even make it possible to head to Vancouver Canada and spend it there.  Imagine that.

 

Even so, the drama involved in commuting to or from that location is a little bit much.  Regretably, it detracts from the major relaxed schedule that a teacher could certainly enjoy over there.  3 years after the fact, nothing has improved with the transport situation, and it's actually gotten worse!   As usual, you need a scooter or a motorbike to do this, and making the occasional trip out there is a humbling experience.

 

The key difficulty is the provincial border checkpoints between Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces.  Public transit doesn't go through the border, and the police are ruthless in stopping bikes and scooters that go through as the traffic is very, very sparse in general.    There are two checkpoints, both active now, and I often avoid them by taking backroads which I'm quite familiar with.  But yesterday I had no choice.   It takes nearly a half tank of gas to scoot this run from Shanghai, and gas stations are sparse in the area.  With the fuel levels low on my scooter, I was hoping to get gas at the local station but it was closed, already, at 7:30pm.  

 

Moving on, I ran out of gas about 2km from the provincial border.  No choice but to get off, walk, and push.  Of course, the cops stopped me at the checkpoint, but I played the fool and pointed to the empty gas gauge.   It worked.

 

 

0.5 Credits Down, 3.5 To Go!

Today's weather:  High = 9  Low = 1
Sunny
 

At this point, it's not entirely certain if I actually passed the second 0.25 credit course for my online masters degree, but it's highly likely that I did.  Calculations showed I needed to get 45% on the final written assignment to pass, which I'm confident I did, but will know for sure this weekend.

 

Even so, this latest course 'mathematical proofs' was by far the hardest one.  Conversations with other colleauges who have done this same course showed they also found it tough.   Through a celebration dinner last night I learned a lot more about the course, and the fact that one needs 4 credits to graduate.

Most of the online courses are 0.5 credits which last a little longer than 3 months, and can be taken in any of the three semesters  (Jan-Apr,   May – Aug, or Sep to Dec).   There are a few "half courses" that count for 0.25 credits, such as the two that I just completed.   Software, and proofs.

 

As tough as it's been so far, the discouraging part is that I'm only 1/8 of the way through the program.  It doesn't take a math major to figure that if I keep up this pace, it will take up to 4 years to complete the degree.   This is way off my original prediction of two years,  which in hindsight, I have no idea where that number came from.  It could have come from people who actually quit their jobs and did a masters full time, which, traditionally, does take two years.    Or potentially from colleagues who are doing "ed masters" or education degrees while working also, often in two years.

 

Regardless, it is going to be a long slog to get this degree, and I will have to revise my earlier plans.   I'm no doubt going to stick it out, as this particular type of masters is right up my alley.  In response to others' inquiries, I have no desire to do an "ed masters" as frankly, I consider it to be fluff and a waste of time and money.   The one that was offered by Maple Leaf, for example, in ESL pedagogy, sounds nice in theory but you can learn all that stuff on the job.

 

The advantage of the current masters I'm doing  (MMT:   masters of math for teachers)  is that it's online and also project-based.  But the disadvantage is that it's a ton of work.  Based on the time commitment involved, a lot more work than other masters programs.   People often ask me whether this has anything to do with teaching, as there is hard core math content involved and not a lot of pedagogy. 

 

As mentioned above, actual teaching is learned on the job, not with a masters course.  The idea with the MMT is to increase the teacher's content knowledge of common high school math topics.  For example, we learn in-depth calculus proofs while the students don't, but knowing the proofs helps to get a deeper understanding of the material which helps for teaching it.

 

 

Year Winding Down

Today's weather:  High = 7  Low = 0

Sunny

 

With yesterday's cold wave beginning to moderate now, most of us teachers are glued to the weather forecast to see what's coming up next.  After a slight warming trend this week, there is another cold wave attack before next weekend.  It's actually a very predictable trend, where this happens every 6-10 days.  

 

Stage 1:   The winds are out of the south and sunny as temperatures warm up   (4-5 days)

Stage 2:   It gradually gets overcast and begins to rain.  The winds shift to the north or northeast   (1-2 days)

Stage 3:   The rain stops and the wind intensifies, shifting to the north and temperatures plummet   (1-2 days)

Stage 4:   The wind subsides and gradually switches back to the south, where stage 1 repeats again

 

Basically, once it starts raining in the winter in Shanghai, the temperature always drops.  Stage 3 can be particulary brutal as it's not uncommon for the temperatures to decrease throughout the entire day after the rain stops.  That is, the morning "low" can actually be the high temperature as the warming sun isn't enough to counter the cold front effect.

 

Meanwhile, the school year is wrapping up.  First thing to finish is the dreaded masters degree course on mathematical proofs that has been dogging me for the past 6 weeks.  With the latest written assignment scoring a sweet 90%, that has bumped up my average and there is less pressure on the final assignment  (due Tues) in order to pass the course.   Having said that, I'm nearly done the final assignment and it's looking more and more likely that I will pass this course.

 

On the anticipation of this happening, I'm heading out to the boonies to Sino Canada in order to celebrate with a colleague over there who also had to suffer through this same online proofs course.  The idea is that we'll be drinking some alcohol.  

 

Meanwhile, there are still two weeks of course teaching before Christmas, and then we get a 3 day weekend from Dec 24, 25, 26!   Colleagues over at Sino get 2 weeks for this break, which seems unfair, but then they also live in the boonies while I'm teaching in the middle of Shanghai.  So it balances out.

 

However, a colleague at the school I teach at is undergoing surgery at the hospital and I'm covering classes, and coordinating a team of other subs.  This is a ton of extra work and thank goodness it won't overlap much with my masters course, otherwise I would undergo sure meltdown.   They are compensating me nicely for this sub work.

 

Once Christmas is done with, then New Years will happen.  In this case, we must follow the Chinese school calendar which gives Jan 1, 2, 3, as holidays.  That means, yes, we work on Dec 31 which is a Saturday.  Will I actually do any work that day?  Hardly.  It will be a day of showing movies in class.

 

Shortly after that, it is final exam season, marks, report cards, and I've already got my flight booked for Jan 13.    If my predictions are correct, we'll only have to suffer through 3 more cold waves, 4 tops, before taking off.  I'm also hoping that the flights out won't be affected by adverse weather as they were last year, given the ice and snow situation.  Will just have to see what happens. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

It Got So Chilly

Today's weather:  High = 2  Low = -3
Sunny
 
The weather speaks for itself ... a remarkably fast change from summer to winter over the course of a week.  While November was a record warm month, a massive cold wave came in from the north before the weekend, and the chill continues to set in as I type.  Barely.  The inside of my house started off a lot better than last year, but the rapid change in weather caused the window panes to shatter outside, and now it is freezing inside as the buffer has been effectively lost.  Will have to get that fixed soon.  Similarly, the cold weather played havoc with my new scooter.  The fuel line essentially froze, the battery kicked the bucket, and I ended up replacing both parts at the stop in addition to a new carburetor replacement and fixing the spark plugs.
 
After a mere short week of riding that scooter, I've now parked it inside the school underground lot where it is warmer, and it will remain there for hibernation, or until it gets warm again.

Another Massive Crunch

Today's weather:  High = 13  Low = 7

Rain

 

This one came unexpectedly, to say the least.  A colleague had to get surgery and is out of commission for the next 6 weeks.  Now we're dong internal coverage, and a complicated system of switching back and forth between classrooms.  It went really messy today with just about everything going wrong you could think of.  The good news is we're getting handsome compensation for this coverage. 

 

But extra work combined with an impending final deadline on one of my masters courses next week, this is murder.  I'm eagerly anticipating the grade on my latest assignment so I can then calculate the minimum mark I need on the final assignment to get a 70% passing mark for the course and be done with it.  This crunch will then be over next week, and will gradually decompress as Christmas and New Years holiday approach. 

 

Thank goodness for the scooter, as that eliminates the commute hassle.

Life is Great on a Scooter!!

Today's weater:  High = 16  Low = 9
Sunny
 
Now that I'm back on a scooter, life has suddenly gotten a lot more positive!  Of course, the workload is still heavy and there are 40 days to go until the winter break, but cutting down on the commute drudgery helps a lot.  Riding a scooter makes the whole thing fun again, and it even makes it possible to go home during lunch now and take a nap.  That wasn't possible before without the bike. 
 
Part of the problem why November was so difficult was because I didn't have a scooter.   It really is the ideal choice to get around the city, even better than a motorbike because of the lightweight feel and the increased agility in traffic without having to shift gears all the time.  But for longer distance commutes and trips, the motorcycle is the better deal, given that you want something which can do sustained high speeds.  The scooter isn't really fit for that kind of riding.  Even when I get the Yamaha YBR250 eventually I will likely keep the scooter for city commuting.  There is a downside and that is getting fuel, but I've got an earlier system devised from squirreling it away in jerry cans that will need to start again.

Got a New Scooter

Yamaha 125cc Cygnus, white color.  Will post pics if I can.  It's a knock-off Yamaha, but still runs very well.  Got it used from an American whose girlfriend didn't want him riding the scooter around town.  The price was incredible, 3600 RMB.  Too good to be true?  Maybe, but I snatched it up in a heartbeat.  This will be the ideal transitional scooter until next May or so when I pick up a 250cc motorcycle for longer distance rides.
 
Meanwhile, in terms of a city commuter, the scooter is really the ideal choice.  The ride to/from work has now been reduced to 15 minutes each way.  Basically, if I was using the subway as a comparison, by that time I'd have barely gotten on the first train to start the commute. 
 
So to summarize:
 
Subway and walking:  40-45 minutes
Bicycle:  30-35  minutes
Scooter:  15-20 minutes
 


 

 

Cold Outside, Not Inside

Today's weather:  High = 12 Low = 3

Sunny

 

As the weather temperatures indicate, seasons change fast in Shanghai.  It literally goes from summer to winter over the course of the weekend, and sometimes back again.  Meanwhile, the cold weather is causing a lot of complaints from colleagues about how cold it is inside the house.  This was certainly the case for me last year also.  However, this year I'm really fortunate with my new place.  It has an outside balcony with a window that closes, as well as another window from the balcony into the house.  So it rarely gets cold inside.  Combined with my space heater, I'm not complaining this year of the cold, and the electricity bill is also rather low.

 

 

Thanksgiving Past Weekend

Today's weather:   High = 22  Low = 10

Sunny and bliss

 

An unexpected bout of sunny and warm weather has ended off a difficult month, and appropriately, it is also Thanksgiving.  We had a nice house party to celebrate that.  Mainly, I'm thankful for:

 

1.        The wonderful friends and community I am part of here in Shanghai, both expats and locals, who may as well be family.  While this was the most difficult work month I've gone through, being able to put that aside and attend meaningful conferences, events, dinners, gatherings and house parties for the last 4 Saturdays in a row is something to be very thankful for.   Having lived in other Chinese cities with a similar workload around this time of year, I am acutely aware of the pain of this time of year when such community of other expats and locals does not exist.

An interesting fact here.   The latest census showed close to 500,000 expats living in China.  About 90% of them were living in either Shanghai, Beijing, or Guangzhou. 

 

2.       The great weather today.  A perfect day for motorcycle riding, which a friend let me borrow.   I sure appreciated the 'power trip' of tootling around on a high-powered bike after having pedaled on a bicycle for the last month.

 

3.       Having made it through this month.  4 weeks until Christmas now.  Nuff said.

 

Gonna Tough it Out and Stay

Today's weather:  High = 12  Low = 1
Cloudy

While checking out another school in town yesterday, I had to realize that we still have it pretty good at our current gig.  Even though conditions are not as good this year as last, they are still a lot better than other schools.  In this sense, there's no reason to change.  What I found shocking was that I went to this other school at around 5pm and the teacher prep rooom was still full of people working.  The school itself had a culture of "stay after hours and do clubs, hobbies, extra-curricular work" which is an automatic fail in my books because it is a 'culture of sacrifice'.   5pm is too late to be at school every day when the work day begins at 7am, even earlier.   Plus the compensation for housing isn't even close to what is offered where I'm at now.  
 
To make a long story short, I'll do one more year at this current place, no changes.  Even so, the original plan remains where I'm looking at June 2013 tops to end this current career and then transition into something else.   By then I'll have a secondary income source as well as the masters degree should be nearly finished, so I'll be in good shape to hit the Himalayas for a few months to regroup and figure out the next move in life.
 
In the more short-term, I've got two razzle-dazzle trips lined up.  Winter break is going to be South Thailand and Burma.  Summer break is going to be Tibet, Nepal, and India.