Opposites Day
As I sit here looking out our hotel window I feel it necessary to tell you that in my house we celebrate Harry Potter. First we celebrate the books, then we celebrate the movies (as it should be). Are these books about witches, wizards, and sorcery? Yes. Are there also redemptive themes that we can emphasize and use to educate our children? Kristi and I certainly think so.
If you haven't read the books or seen the movies I will not wait for you to do so. That is something that should be enjoyed slowly, like a cigar around a campfire. It isn't something you should do while you know someone is waiting on you. Why do I bring this up? Great question...
Do you love yogurt this much?
After starting our day at breakfast we took a short bus ride to the local pearl market. The weather is warm but rainy and I figured we'd be outside in make shift booths getting drenched while shopping to support the local commerce. According to our guide there are quite a few small businesses in China and many of the owners have little to no education in running a business. They just try because they don't have any other options. Instead I was pleased to see that that "market" was actually a five story building with a common area in the middle. I'd consider it a mall in China as many malls are multiple stories high and consist of many different stores all under one roof. I handed Kristi my wallet and said have fun sweetheart (major points right?) and off she went. Actually she and Ben picked out some nice necklaces for the girls back home and a jade "life saver" for Ben. It's actually a necklace too but it looks like a lime green life saver. I was off taking Joshua to the sitting room while they did their shopping.
If you aren't familiar with my family here are my two daughters who had to stay home for this adventure. Madeleine is on the left and takes after her mother. Kayleigh, the sophisticated one is on the right and is the spitting image of me. If you believe that I have a Nigerian prince I'd like to introduce you to.
Having completed our shopping at the pearl market we wandered up to the silk embroidery store where we were just going to browse... until we saw some nice wallets that replace failing wallets back home. The best part of the store was they took American Visa!!! We are in a weird quagmire of not having enough cash on hand, not wanting to take out too much RMB cash that we have left over at the end of the week, and having American money that is difficult to turn into RMB. So if a store accepts the "American" Visa we are fans. (Turns out Visa isn't really everywhere I want to be) Our final shopping destination was Shamian Island which is home to a little store called Jenny's (they too accept American Visa) where we were able to get updated Chinese clothing for the kids. Shamian Island is also where we get back to the Harry Potter nonsense at the beginning of the post.
Shamian Island must be cool because it has it's own Wikipedia entry. I do not. The Island was a French and British hotspot back in the day, and legend has it a prominent Chinese girl married a British Sailor and the powers that be jailed her entire family because of the marriage. I'm not sure if they were upset she married a Brit, or a sailor. Regardless you can see on parts of the island that there is a great deal of French architecture in the buildings. Our guide mentioned New Orleans and it was clear walking through parts of the Island that it could be mistaken for parts of the New Orleans.
In the Harry Potter books there is a place where the students get their supplies located in London called Diagon Alley. It is a nice place with nice clean stores and everybody who is there seems to be having a good time and a good if not great life. Our first stops at Shamian Island were like that. Nice, clean, and fans of the Oxford Comma.
However, somewhere near Diagon Alley is another place called Knockturn Alley. Knockturn Alley is the place you tell your kids never to go even if they are with a friend. It's a place where even if you need flesh eating slug repellent, you don't exactly announce that you are going there. When all the shopping was done we walked to the "other side of the river" to the market where they had weird stuff. Fish scales, scorpions, deer parts, bugs, herbs, spices, and a variety of other things were all over this part of the island. This side of the Island made it click that todays' topic should be opposites, or the difference between Diagon and Knockturn Alleys.
The pictures don't necessarily do it justice, but hopefully you can see the difference walking 1/8th of a mile makes. Kristi mentioned it was a little uncool, unfair, or just plan cruel to parade a bunch of Americans past these people as if they were some sort of side show on the trip. I hadn't given it much thought but she's probably right (you can count that one sweetheart) in her statement. There are probably many deep conversations that could be had, but the very bottom line for me is that there are people who have some and are working to get more, and there are others who have even less, but they too are working to get more. Regardless of class it seems that everybody is taking responsibility to try and do something to make a living. I think that is the end of my deep thoughts for now.
At the conclusion of the Island adventure we stopped for a treat at Subway. It was a meal of firsts as both Josh and Ben learned they can eat ham and cheese! As a father and fellow picky eater I was quite proud of boy #1. Boy #2 seems to eat most anything so he's already cooler than me. Upon returning to the hotel we took a quick nap, family hot tub session, and then it was off to a local noodle shop for dinner. Kristi even managed to get a photo of me with noodles in chopsticks. Who needs portion control when you have chopsticks? I get so tired of trying to eat I just give up.
Joshua seems to be doing very well and is responding quite well to the family so far. I'll stop short of making any bold proclamations that will come back to bite me, but he's a little guy with a big personality so he'll fit in quite nicely.
Dear Vladimir
Hey Vlad,
Can I call you Vlad? I'm just going to try it and see what happens.
How's it going?
Turns out not so well now that I Googled how to spell your name. Sounds like you need to get a few things in order. Good luck with the British Troops and all... Enough about politics though, I want to talk about hacking.
Earlier today my wife and I took our newly adopted son to the doctor where he was poked, prodded, and otherwise boy-handled until he was crying and sporting quite a nice bland brown band-aid. The good news is that he's ok, nothing out of the ordinary and we may even have received good news that his hypospadia may not be an issue. If you don't know what it is don't Google it at work. Here is a hot pic of us at the doctor:
While Josh is getting examined Ben is brushing up on his playlists, podcasts, Khan Academy courses, but most of all Angry Birds 2.
After the doctor's appointment I ventured out for bread and other items so we can make our gourmet meals in the hotel room. Nothing beats a "free" sandwich for the week at a price that beats a single bottle of Evian here in the hotel room. I managed to navigate an underground train entrance, an overpass, and I even paid with awkward change just to confuse the nice teller at the store. Somehow I thought an extra 2 RMB would make a difference. It didn't. Having finished our lunch Ben and I wandered the grounds and then met with Sir Richard who put our papers together for the consulate meeting on Tuesday. Following that we went for a family swim in the freezing pool and pouring rain that will be a good story someday I'm sure. Here's a hint: we ended up wet.
Now comes the point I wanted to make. Dinner. Last night was gourmet nuggets at McDonald's which means that tonight old fashioned Chinese food was on the menu. Being the man of the house I chose a spot and we set off dodging raindrops on our way to dinner. Our first choice was a bust as the Chinese food didn't include noodles which is the extent of Ben and my "Chinese" food. We hit a few other spots including a Korean Barbecue, and Japanese sit down, and we finally ended up at Paddy Field Irish Pub. That's right, only a true man with unquestionable navigation skills can set off for Chinese food and end up in an Irish Pub.
Whilst we were enjoying our slightly pricier but oh so delicious mistake in navigation it came to my attention that the POS (Point of Sale) systems employed by the Guinness guzzling gestalt showed a pretty prairie picture on screen when switching between windows. Now, to the untrained eye this may have appeared as nothing but a mere personal prairie preference for one's desktop background, ahhh but to you and me, Vlad, it was the tell tale sign of an out of date POS system that is in dire need of an upgrade. That's right, they are running Windows XP! (Insert scary sound effect here).
April 8th, 2014 was the final day that Microsoft sent out security patches for much beloved and widely deployed Windows XP operating system. At the time it was a bittersweet day as Microsoft was pushing the Metro-themed and mightily confusing Windows 8 variant, and Windows 7 just hadn't had the deployment reach that Microsoft was hoping for. I'm sure that Paddy Field is just one of many local establishments that are still making their money using antiquated and highly vulnerable software. So, Vlad, I ask this of you: Please stop messing with Americans in the United States and instead mess with unsuspecting tourists trying to get a good burger in the middle of China. These poor desperate chaps will walk through pouring rain storms with a single umbrella amongst four of them to get their grubby hands on a greasy burger or fabulous chicken fajitas (only $10.99!!!) and their credit information is prime for the picking.
For a quick recap we have:
- Joshua has so far passed all his medical exams
- Ben still likes to swim even if the water is 20C
- Steve still struggles with Chinese Food
- Kristi is likely on her way to sainthood for this trip
- Russia should spend their time compromising POS systems in Guangzhou and leave America Alone. If they are in fact doing anything. (Don't want to get busted for libel)
That is my quick recap of my day and for the credit conscious consumers worried that the old POS system is going to ruin me... I paid cash.
Don't forget to check out www.kristivandyk.com for the real story of the day.