National Holiday Staycation

Todays weather: High = 23 Low = 18
Cloudy

The weeklong national day begins and I'm making it a staycation. Ironically I've had to be a rebel about this and staunchly reject the notion of traveling during this time. When the masses hit the roads in China you want to stay at home, simple as that. The week break is rather nice and it actually feels like a holiday this way. Hitting the crowds at the Great Wall in Beijing or West Lake in Hangzhou right now doesn't strike me as a holiday.

More importantly though, travel during this break should not be expected or encouraged because it isn't guaranteed if new teachers will have their passports or visas ready in time.

I've seen it happen year after year where teachers are on the edge of their seat wondering if they'll get their passports back from the PSB office in time to travel for national day. In this context making plans for this holiday is sketchy. Also the Chinese seldom book trips more than a month in advance due to things always changing at the last minute.

This year was no exception for the new teachers although I was fortunate to get my visa done ahead of time last June. Nonetheless I was a new teacher at this school last year and had to face the same kind of uncertainty.

What made matters worse was family expectations to attend an event in Vietnam last year (long story) and demanding I show up during national day despite not knowing when I'd get my passport back with a visa. Given this uncertainty I hadn't booked any flights and I would need to at the last minute which would be outrageously expensive during peak season.

It was a total nightmare, mess, and gongshow, and the conversation got ugly fast. I was even told by my own father to bribe the PSB or go to other extreme measures to get my passport back and expedite the Chinese visa, which I'd then need the passport to apply for a Vietnam visa, all within a few days before national day.

These conversations took place in Shanghai on a cell phone at the world EXPO last year. My enjoyment of the event that evening was totally ruined by such unpleasant conversations demanding I get my ass to Vietnam when all practicalities dictacted this would be extremely difficult if not impossible.

In the end I showed up, first by getting my passport back with simply a tourist visa extension and the school would apply for the work permit again later. Then I showed up to Pudong airport with only a suit as luggage and flew standby to Shenzhen. Then I booked two Air Asia flights on the spot to get to Hanoi Vietnam, with a stopover in Bangkok. I slept in the BKK airport lounge that night. Next day got the Hanoi flight.

There isn't much more to say about that particular Vietnam trip except that I showed up as ordered. Even then it was a disappointment as many things didn't go well at the event and there was no real sense of community or feeling that this was in fact a wedding, where we would expect some kind of joy and togetherness.

Consequently, shortly after then I left and headed back to China using land borders to cut costs on flights. The trip began to pick up after that where I met two travelers from South America on the same bus. They were new to China and I tried to give some travel tips as best as possible. This is of course difficult as China travel will throw curve balls to even the veterans.

Nonetheless we became good friends on the bus and I helped them out of a jam at customs where they got detained at least an hour. I went through first no problem and was able to persuade immigration (in Chinese) to let them also through after repeatedly bugging the guards and vouching for these travelers. I then held up the last bus for them and we got into Nanning rather late. Next step was to help book their train tickets which was a disaster due to crowds but they settled on a 5am departure the next day.

Meanwhile I got a free dinner out of this and am still in contact with these travelers. My next flight was out of Nanning the next day and it was cheap.

Sadly I haven't been in contact with my family much after last year. My father threatened that my actions not to go to Vietnam during national day would result in alienation but I concluded that would end up being the case whether I showed up or not.

Meanwhile this year`s national holiday finally promises to be a solid rest.

Subway System Glitches

From today's paper.   That settles it, I'm geting another motorcycle as soon as possible.

 

 

---------------

A total of 284 injured passengers have been treated at hospitals since a subway train rear-ended another on Metro Line 10 yesterday afternoon, Shanghai authorities said today.

By 9am today, 95 were still hospitalized. The others were discharged.

Metro Line 10 is closed today between the Yili Road Station and Sichuan Road North Station as the affected section is undergoing safety checks.

The closure put great pressure on road traffic during the rush hours. Traffic authorities deployed 100 buses to shuttle between the 12 closed stations to send commuters to work.

Many commuters said they had no idea of the Metro suspension, which was announced last night.

"I saw many people coming out of the Hailun Road Station to take buses this morning," said a woman surnamed Lu. "The Siping Road was in a great jam," she said.

It is still not known when Metro Line 10 will return to service.

A signaling glitch caused the rear-end accident near downtown Yuyuan Garden Station at about 2:50pm. A slowing train rammed into another that had stalled in the tunnel for nearly 40 minutes.

-----------

 

-----------

THE Shanghai subway system has suffered crashes, halts and breakdowns from time to time over the past few years.

Two trains collided in a Metro Line 1 tunnel after a power glitch on the morning of December 22, 2009. There were no injuries because one of the trains was empty and both were running slowly. But passengers were trapped inside the damaged train for up to four hours on that occasion. And tens of thousands of commuters were stranded at eight Line 1 stations for the entire morning.

On August 2 this year, a Metro Line 10 train broke down shortly after it left a station and none of its doors could be opened. Passengers were forced to evacuate one by one through the driver's cab.

A few days earlier, on July 28, an error on a signaling system being tested on Line 10 caused a train to take a wrong turn. The train, which should have been heading for Hangzhong Road after leaving Longxi Road, instead took the other line on the Y-shaped intersection and ended up at Hongqiao Railway Station.

On March 10, a power failure in downtown Shanghai forced thousands of Line 2 passengers to evacuate stranded trains which were stuck in tunnels and stations.

More frequently, signal system failures have caused train delays along the city's Metro lines. A signal system failure on Line 6 caused trains to be delayed for about 40 minutes and left huge crowds waiting at the Jufeng Road station in Pudong on May 27.

Lines 6 and 8 reported frequent delays at the initial stage of operation in 2009 for signaling modification.
-------------

 

Shanghai Subway Crash

This one was brutal, thankfully no deaths.
 
The days of high-speed trains and transport are over.  Sometimes riding a motorcycle s the best way to go after all. 
 
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2011/09/28/Subway%2Btrains%2Bcollide%2Bsending%2B271%2Bto%2Bhospital/

 

2-Year Exit Plan for BC Offshore School Teaching

Today's weather:  High = 28 Low = 22

Partly Cloudy

 

As mentioned in a few conversations with friends and colleagues, I'm looking at two more years of teaching math/science in the BC Offshore system, then making my exit and doing something else entirely.  This is actually the best year I've had so far doing the job, and the last 3 years have seen steady improvement, but conversations have indicated it's getting time to move on.

 

By the end of two years, including this current one, my masters degree program  (MMT - masters of math for teachers) should be complete and I will have gotten two years of AP experience under my belt.  There are no plans to leave Shanghai during those two years and quite possibly I'll stay here longer.

 

But come June 2013, whe that school year is done, I want to make my exit from the BC system.  The reasons for this are rather complicated to get into, biut an in-depth conversation with the English teacher at our school who's had nearly 10 years of experience at Dalian (before he came here) has revealed a lot of interesting stuff.  To put it simply, there are many good things about the offshore system but it's getting time to move on. 

 

What is most likely going to happen is that I would teach math at universities, prep colleges, or A-level international schools in Shanghai, that is ones which use the IB curriculum or some other international accrediation.  Other options are to go into curriculum development.

 

The general idea is to stay in Asia of course, but even if I did return to North Amerca I would stay clear of the BC system.  Offshore or not, the BC high school education system is going down the tubes, and the latest thing has been the dumbing down of the math curriculum to include "Pre-Calculus" 10, 11, 12 which really has very little to do with pre-calculus.  Also, the provincial exams have all been dumped entirely, except for Engish 12.  Now schools are reporting the ever-inflated "school marks" which students use to apply to universities.  It is not fair as there are different standards for different teachers, and they can make up whatever exam they want now --- or choose not to even bother with an exam.

 

In a nutshell, the education system is become a lot less rigorous and standardized in the name of being more "student centered" and there is no way anymore that kids in BC could hope to compete with their Asian counterparts in math -- if they ever had a chance in the first place.

 

I'd rather go for the universities in future where I'm sure there are opportunities in Asia, and a masters degree would help.

 

However, before doing any career changes I'm going to take a year off and ride a bicycle around the world, getting the money from other sources of income besides work.  Stay tuned to this blog for more information.  All these mini-trips to Thailand over the years have proved to be of much use, and I've met scores of characters over there who have given me ideas on how to make alternative income sources and travel on the cheap in Thailand.  As a general rule of thumb, I don't travel unless I'm somehow getting an income at the same time, and there are many creative ways to do so as I have been learning.

 

Hilarious Math Spoof

Subject:  Teacher arrested at JFK Airport

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.  At a morning press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.  He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

 

"Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.'  They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.  As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'there are 3 sides to every triangle'.

 

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.'  White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.  It is believed that another Nobel Prize will follow.....

Cheers

Motorcycle Pro-Ride Course 2 Months Later

Today's weather: n  High = 27 Low = 21

Partly cloudy

 

As predicted, many of the skills I learned during the training course in July back in Vancouver don't apply in the Shanghai context now that I'm riding here again.   Dominant lane positions?  Forget it, the cagers will do anything to get past you, including very dangerous and aggressive moves.  Shoulder checks?  Also forget it.  In the Shanghai context, you have to focus on multiple things ahead of you, and also use your peripheral vision.  When it gets very busy, such as in rush hour, you can be keeping track of 5-6 objects simultaneously and avoiding collision courses.

 

Riding in Shanghai is a skill that is just like air traffic control!  You're watching for multiple things and you are responsible to avoid the accidents.

 

In this sense, shoulder checking is useless because it is a habit designed to look out for *single* hazards.  During that split second you're turning your head to look at a potential hazard, you are not focusing on the other 6 hazards that you need to keep your head straight in order to see them all.  Back in Vancouver where the population is sparse and you have the space to focus on one thing at a time, then shoulder checking works.  Here in densely populated Shanghai that habit is actually very dangerous.

 

On the other hand, there are transferable skills, and I don't regret the Pro-Ride course at all.  The two most useful skills are emergency braking drills, and braking in a curve.   The mantra they taught us of 'look straight to brake' applies well here, and I routinely practice this drill in the parking lot as they told us to. 

 

I got a chance to apply this today when some dumb-fangled moron riding an electric bike proceeded to do a wide turn in front of me during rush hour, and go straight on a collision course.  Like a flash I did my emergency braking drill as I learned during the course, and missed this idiot within inches.  He took off, my bike stalled out.  Then I proceeded to give him the finger and yell at the top of my lungs, but he was gone like the wind.

 

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes

Today's weather:  High = 26  Low = 20

Sunny and couldn't be better

 

This is really the best time of year to visit Shanghai and it'll remain so for another few weeks before it starts getting cold.  Already the sweet pleasant osmanthus flowers are beginning to bloom

 

The Yamaha YBR125 bike is nice to have these days again :-)  I was tootling arond on it the last few days and noticing something finicky with both the chain and the clutch.  Especially throttling at low RPMs the chain would slip.  Pretty much the same as what my buyer (the German guy) was.  Not a big problem, but it was feeling a little rough and a quick trip to the shop made the bike feel like running almost new again!
 
Basically they shop relaced the chain entirely as they mentioned it's a good idea after 10,000+ km.   The old chain was not greased properly (my fault for that) and it was too long.  They couldn't pull it back anymore as it was already too loose and the whole thing needed a replacement.   So it was a brand new chain with front and rear sprockets installed. 
 
The clutch was also replaced as the inside rings were worn out pretty ragged.After these repairs, it runs in real smooth shape man!  Holy moly, was testing it out and it felt like brand new again

 

The German buyer is getting a really good deal on this.  He bought it, lent it back to me for National Day, and now he'll have the bike returned in better shape. 

 

Ironically, the shop guy who fixed the bike today wanted to buy it off me for 5500 RMB.  He kept upping the ante after I showed little interest since I alredy sold it to a German guy.  Damn it, well it's too late as I already sold it for 4500 RMB but that was too low an offer in hindsight.  Anyways, I would never do something like sell it again, make more money, screw the German guy and take off, although it's incredibly tempting. 

 

In a society with no morals such as China, a local would jump at a deceitful opportunity such as this and not think twice about it.  But that's precisely why there is no trust in China.  So to counter this fact, I will be the first to act honestly, and maintain the trust.

 
Besides I like this German guy and he deserves to have the Yamaha as I know he's taking good care of it.  The clutch and chain slip-up are my fault actually as I didn't maintain that enough.  Meanwhile, the German guy put some additional work into the bike on his own dime, so I don't want to charge him for the work I did on it  (around 500 RMB or so)

 

Another thing, I ran into another contact for new YBR250 bikes, which I'm almost certain I'll be getting, but am going to wait until after Spring Festival as money is too tight right now and I still need to legalize my Chinese license.
 
This contact says he can get the bikes for around 23,000 RMB plus 8000 RMB for the HU-C suburban plate.  Probably cheaper if buying in bulk.  I'm teaming forces with the German guy and others to see if we can get a better deal.
 
As for the Jialings or the CFMOTO650 I've heard things about them, not necessarily bad, but I'm simply not sold on the idea of buying Chinese bikes.  Would rather pay the extra cash and get a Japanese bike because of the quality assurance, even if it means scaling back a bit on the CCs.  Actually another German guy I was talking to seemed pretty happy about the YBR250 and said it can maintain a nice cruising speed on the highway.  He's even taken it to Huangshan, quite a long trip.