Back!

Well, here's the post we have all been waiting for! I am back in the USA!

Phew! IT was actually pretty painless traveling. I managed to sleep on the flight from Beijing to Chicago and I got to catch up on The Office, Glee, Simpsons, and even CSI. I also watched Harry Potter 6....and the guy next to me must've though I was crazy because I always choke up when Dumbledore goes down.

Getting through customs was surprisingly easy. I have not flown in to the country in a few years, and now the government makes you watch a video about going through customs. And...it scares the poop out of you. It really really really really really does. Ever other sentence is, "if you lie, then you will be severely fined and punished." I have to say- I'm from the family of I only claim $100 dollars just so I can get through customs ASAP....and all of a sudden I felt like the USA government was about to give me the shake down. Put me in a room by myself with the single, hanging lightbulb. I would crack so easy: I confess! I have Chinese Candy!

But I made is through. Had to go back through security, which is always a joy. And I would like to announce....that I got the full body scan....and have lived to tell the tale. I felt bad for the girl next to be in line, who couldn't stand up because of the cast on her leg. She couldn't do the scan and had to get the pat down. AND they had to pat down her cast! Poor thing!

I promptly got a bagel with cream cheese once I was in the terminal. Oh man was it good! Had to wait around for a few hours....killed time calling people on my CELL PHONE! Finally got on the little tiny jet to DC and landed at 11:50! 5 minutes early!

I finally met Ainsley- the most beautiful little girl in the WHOLE world. She's so tiny and snuggly. Eamon is of course huge. I've included a picture of him impersonating Michael Jackson.

We ate Mexican food. I took a power nap. We mostly decorate the Christmas tree. And hung out with the fam. For dinner we did Mama Lucia's Pizza. Which was just about the best thing ever, ever.

ALSO- My reintroduction to faceybook has felt so good. I really am having to tell myself not to post every 5 minutes...

But I love you all! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Happy Holidays!

PS- I hope you like the picture of Emma playing jianzi. I know that dog was Chinese.

Screen Shot FROZEN

Here...for your viewing pleasure...a screen shot of my dash board.

Please note the CURRENT temperature in Beijing China. 10 F. 10. As in...the one after 9. 

And still no snow.  I will be walking to work today...and hoping I freeze to death on the way.....

You may also note the countdown clock that tells you I am down to 4 days 22 hours 59 minutes....before I get on an airplane bound for the USA.

Bad Blogger

 Well- I've been a bad blogger. Look at me. Starting out with 28 posts in July, then down to 18, then 13, November with a pitiful 5(!) and December will now have 6 blogs.

It's not that I don't miss everybody.

Life has just swung into full blown monotony. Or maybe I've lost my cleverness.

Maybe I've just been so darn frustrated by work lately. One thing about Chinese culture- is that when somebody messes up- nobody has to pay for it. Not that I believe in vengeance, but where I come from: you screw up, you get told WHY you screwed up and how NOT to screw up again and everybody moves on. Right? Right. But here in China you can do pretty much do whatever you please. And cause all your coworkers as much strife as you want.

Our sales department is the BEST at just doing WHATEVER they want. They like to schedule random classes at random times. Then they don't tell us- you know the ones who have to TEACH the classes. We also have one worker here who I'm pretty sure is a misogynistic PIG. I think he thinks because I am female I don't quite have the same capacity that he does. And let me tell you- this boy is NOT the sharpest tool in the shed, nor the brightest crayon in the box NOR (and in honor of the season) the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. He knows better then me or Jill or anybody in the education department. If there is a 10 student limit for a class then they SURELY can have 12 students. Or how about this: He can just add students willy nilly to art classes at the last minute. Never mind there might be stuff to prepare for the students to paint.

I explain to my managers why this can't be done. And they say they talk to them and ask them not to behave that way again. And sure enough....3 days later... he'll do it again. What has happened is- I personally grab a translator and speak to him sternly about it. But it's rather useless. It's more or less like buying a puppy and letting him pee on the floor. Solution: Kindly ask him not to do it again. The dog doesn't understand or care....and neither do my co-workers.

On top of the stress of those classes, I'm still writing RnR curriculum, interviewing candidates for positions, AND re-painting the RnR murals. I took on a lot because I was having to do a lot of the work either way. Only after somebody did it wrong the first time around. And we had a hiring incident here- where they hired somebody completely wrong for the job. Her only qualification being that she spoke English. She lasted 1 month. Since then I have really wanted to be in the loop...and thus the work load.

So phew: There is my venting.

I'm also excited about coming home. But have sh*t tons of work to do....and can't manage to see over those piles. I just...I can't wait. As I post this we are down to 6 days 6 hours. And I can't wait.

Love. Love. Love you all.

10 days out....

checked the 10 day forecast......

Snow for Chicago and D.C. For the first time in my life....I'm praying for no snow.

Temple of Heaven

SO busy! And swamped with work! But wanted to share pictures...from another Beijing Landmark.

Temple of HEAVEN....if you want to learn more.....wikipedia it! haha sorry!

3rd update today *UPDATED* this IS REALLY why I don't drink coffee

Chinese baby cuteness! To the MAX!

Why DO American's win at the Olympics every year?

The above question was posed to me a few months back by a Chinese co-worker. And I really didn't have the answer....

But I am starting to get an inkling why....

Last weekend we had a company vacation. We went to the north end of Beijing to the natural springs. There are many large complexes all surrounding some hot spring pools. We got a free night's stay, a pass into the hotsprings, and breakfast! It was awesome to have a little vacay time. It ended up being a little more stressful then intended. Our co-workers were indecisive to say the least, and we really lost our voice because of the language barrier. They were so wishy washy- Jill and I were just along for the ride. There was so much debate about what to do at the springs and then last minute everybody decided to go get dinner...but they didn't know where. When finally we got sick of it- and went off and got full body massages. In the time it took us to get the massage and to join our co-workers at the restaurant, our co-workers were only able to  decide on a restaurant and transport all 25 of them to the restaurant and eat appetizers. 

We returned back to the resort and got into the hot springs. It was really gorgeous setting- which we were NOT allowed to take pictures of. :( They had 8 small pools filled with 3 feet of water; one large pool with water falls and about 3 feet of water; and one olympic size swimming pool that was 5 feet deep of water.

Jill and I- without hesitating- jumped into the big big pool and started splashing around. We were excited because a few of our co-workers had told us they knew how to swim. But once they got in the pool they all clung on to the edge for dear life. They got scared that they would drown in the 5 feet of water-  Out of the 15 chinese female employees, 2 claimed to know how to swim. Out of the 2 that claimed to know how to swim, 0 actually did any swimming.  Even worse they started ooh-ing and ahh-ing that Jill and I knew how to swim. And then got quite cross when we wanted to continue swimming. Out of our 3 male employee's- all three could swim. But not that well.

Now- I'm not trying to stereotype. But let's look at the facts. 0% of the female employees demonstrated swimming ability (although 13% claimed they could.) 100% of the male population could swim- but not that well. 

Here is my confusion: Are they naturally not as genetically pre-disposed to being athletic.... OR are they culturally not expected to be. AND- furthermore: If Americans are naturally more athletic- why are we so much fatter?

Just to prove a point: yesterday at the gym I was waiting for a machine that works your pectoral muscles and shoulder muscles. A gentlemen about 6' tall and slim was on the machine. I waited patiently while the gentlemen grunted and puffed and when he finally got off the machine, I jumped on. He was lifting 22 lbs. This is a machine that I (a weaker, smaller, female) can at least lift 33 lbs. And this is not a-typical. Jill and I typically run a 5k in anywhere from 25-30 minutes (Jill being more on the 25 minute end- I on the other.) We regularly have people who get on the treadmill next to us, check our speed, crank it up to match, and run for about 5 minutes. Then too winded- they give up and go do free weights while checking themselves out in the mirror.

I'm not trying to stereotype. There are many people here who are super athletic.  I'm trying to be a reporter of observations. But as I said earlier...I am starting to understand why our medal counts...tend to be a little higher.