#116 Brides & Beach

I have a few more interesting pictures from my day in Qingdao. After the sailing event was over, I had a couple of hours until my flight to see some Qingdao sights. The tour guide on the spectator boat recommended a place called "bā dà guān" which means "eight big passes". I got in a cab and asked the cabbie to take me to bādàguān and he took me directly there.

I found nothing resembling the "eight passes" but there was an attractive beachside neighborhood of tree-lined streets and an old colonial residence called "The Granite House" built by a Russian aristocrat in 1930. From the top of the granite house I was able to see the beach, so from there I walked down to the water.

The most striking thing about this place was the number of brides and groom who were out having their pictures taken. Everywhere you turned, there were white dresses and white tuxedos, like I had stepped onto a movie set about 100 brides. I am not sure if it was a special day, or if every Tuesday afternoon in Qingdao is wedding picture day.

Finally, you can see a picture of Qingdao "No. 1 Bathing Beach". It was a short walk away from the Bride & Groom beach and appears to be a fine place to enjoy a Tuesday afternoon dip with a few hundred thousand friends and neighbors. I wonder how busy it is on a Saturday !

#115 Canoeing w/ Kids

Juliana and Joseph went out on the canoe for the first time today. We had a bit of rain this morning which cooled things down nicely. Before that we were having some seriously humid and hot days. There was a nice breeze today on the lake and we took the boat across to check progress on the ferris wheel. Next we skirted Island A to look for birds and fish. No wildlife spottings today.

Upon returning to the dock, we met a man and his son named Michael and Walt. They are a new family in the neighborhood from Belgium. Michael is here to open a chocolate factory in Suzhou. Belgian chocolates - maybe we can volunteer for some "voice of the customer" feedback on his pilot production. Walt is Joseph's age and is one of three children. They are relocating here from their last assignment in Saudi Arabia. It sounds like China will be easy compared to living in the arab world of covered faces and strict religious laws. Perhaps we will recruit Michael for poker. After two years in Mecca, he is probably overdue for a night of drinking and gambling !

#114 Family is Back

Kathleen and the children returned this week. Kathleen had an interesting tale of a 10,000 mile journey with four kids and 11 check bags. Apparently, as she was packing on Monday night, our neighbor Greg was dispatched to Walmart to purchase more duffle bags to carry the bounty of daily trips to Target, GNC, and Barnes and Noble.

One key item that Kathleen was kind enough to carry back was a wheeled cart for the canoe. According to Kathleen, this item was the main cause of her need for excess baggage. The canoe cart will allow me to move the canoe to the lakefront without asking a neighbor to help me carry it. Also it means I won't have to suffer the embarassment of a neighbor watching while I launch the canoe and fall in the water.

The kids had lots of stories of their weeks in Peoria. One highlight, was that Marco won the spaghetti eating contest at the annual Italian American Festa. His is my hero. Joseph got four teeth pulled. Juliana's friend Carsten got a new inground pool this summer that all of the kids got to swim in. All four children went to summer academy at St. Mark's for a couple of weeks and saw some of their old classmates. Each child also got a single day alone with Mom to shop for clothes and go to their favorite restaurant for lunch. They had an evening at Chuck E Cheese that sounded like a hit and the home leave was capped off with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. G-ma and G-pa kindly stayed until the Tuesday morning departure date to help take the Cazzato and their 42 bags to the Peoria Airport.

As you can see from the pictures, they are still a bit jet lagged from the 14 hour plane ride and 12 hour time change. This is the typical scene that greets me each night as I arrive home from work. I know how they feel - my first week back was challenging also. The kids' friends are starting to filter back into town also and I think that Kathleen, like every mother, is looking forward to the start of school.

Today is the one year mark since our move to China. We talked tonight about how the novelty has worn off a bit and there is a fresh adjustment period after an extended stay in the U.S. But all in all, China is treating us well and we are enjoying the chance to live and work here.

#113 Olympic Sailing

Photo Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency

Photo Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency

I had another fantastic (and fortunate) day of Olympic adventuring. This story starts back in March when I decided that in addition to Track and Field in Beijing I should try and see some Olympic Sailing in Qingdao. I found an American website and ordered two tickets for Aug-19th for a total of $240. The tickets were supposed to arrive in July and they never showed up. I soon learned that the company had declared bankruptcy and run off without delivering any tickets. Luckily I paid with my Visa card and Visa was kind enough to refund the charge to me.

By the time I learned of the scam, I had already bought my plane ticket from Qingdao on Thursday night, so I was committed to go, even though I had no sailing tickets. I decided to try to buy a ticket on the street or worst case, watch the sailing race from the shore. Qingdao has a lot to see, so I figured if the sailing didn't work out, I would just spend the afternoon doing some sightseeing.

Well the sailing most certainly did work out. I asked the first couple I saw on the street holding tickets whether they had an extra ticket. They did and sold me a ticket for face value of 120 RMB (~$17 U.S.). I walked right into the sailing venue and within 30 minutes was on board one of four spectator boats headed for the sailing course.

The situation gets even better because the race this afternoon was the Laser class medal race for the women. There are five different classes of sailboats raced in the Olympics and the Laser is the single-handed sailing boat. There are also catamaran, windsurfing, 2-man, and 3-man sailing classes. The Laser class, however, is special to me because I own a Laser which I only now use occassionally, but I used to race now and then in Chicago. Any sailboat race would have been fun to watch today, but the Laser is of course my favorite, so I was more than pleased with my lucky timing.

The race turned out to be a fantastic event as well. The wind was light and shifty, enough so that most boats were towed to the starting area. Two boats were over early including Anna Tunnicliffe, the American. In a sailboat race, boats that cross the starting line early are required to turn around and restart while the other boats continue ahead. So the U.S. racer started the race in last place and was still in last place after the second mark (halfway point).

I was thinking to myself that this must be quite disappointing for Tunnicliffe, being the #1 ranked woman in the world. However, she did not give up. On the second windward leg, she decided to try the left side of the course while the rest of the fleet went to the right. The tactic paid off for her because the left side was windier. By the next mark (3/4 point) she was miraculously in first place. She finished in first and won the gold medal. Fantastic performance and great encouragement from the only American spectator in sight - Me.

#112 Track & Field

When we entered the stadium, the women's discus throw was underway. This is an unique sport, though hard to view the competitors from our distant seats. The crowd roared everytime the Chinese athlete took her turn. An interesting feature of the discuss was that they used remote controlled cars to carry the discs back from the field to the launch pad. Though a bit of an oddity, the discus turned out to be exciting because an American won the gold medal and we got to see the medal ceremony and sing along to the national anthem.

Shortly after we sat down, one of our colleagues pointed out that the woman sitting in front of us was a gold medal winner. We took our picture with her, but I actually do not know who she is or what she won. Sorry !

The other events we watched over the course of the night were Men's long jump, men's 800m, men's 3000m steeplechase, women's 800m, and women's 400m hurdles. The highlights of the evening, however, were the women's pole vault and the men's 400m hurdles.

The excitement of the pole vault and the 400 hurdles events came near the end of the night. The triumph of the evening for us Americans was the men's 400 meter hurdles where the U.S. won gold, silver, and bronze - a clean sweep. I was glad I bought the American flag earlier in the day at the super center. We had so much fun watching the three men in blue fly over the hurdles and pass us with a clear lead over the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, the medal ceremony was planned for the next day, so we did not see them stand on the podium. However, the three of them took their victory run together around the stadium with American flags around their shoulders. It was magnificent.

The pole vault took place for more than an hour while the races were being run on the track around them. The favorite and world champion in the pole vault is a Russian woman named Elena Isinbayeva. She was having a good night and had little trouble staying ahead of her rivals from the U.S. and Poland. Her closest rival, American Jennifer Stuczynski, topped out at 4.65 meters. The excitement came when Isinbayeva went on to jump at 4.90 meters to set and olympic record and then jumped at 5.05 to set a new world record. It took three attempts to land the world record vault and the excitement and drama grew with each attempt. It was fun to see the crowd cheer her on and let out a roar when she cleared the bar on her last attempt.

I called home to Peoria just after the mens hurdles and talked to the kids, Katheen's mother Margie, and Kathleen. All during the phone call, the pole vaulting cheers were building. In between the cheers, Juliana and Joseph only wanted to tell me about Michael Phelps' 8th gold medal. They were excited to hear that I was inside the bird's nest. I wanted them to be excited about the American hurdlers and the pole vault but they kept asking if I had seen Michael Phelps yet. I wonder if the rest of the the American atheletes might also already be tired of hearing about Phelps.

#111 Beijing Olympics

The Beijing Olympics are underway and thanks to some advance planning and good luck, I have secured eight tickets to track and field on the evening of Monday, August 18th. I bought these tickets through the U.S. ticket lottery last summer before I moved to China and bought enough for the whole Cazzato family. As it turns out, the rest of the Cazzato family is spending most of the month in Peoria, so I had to find seven willing people to take my extra seven tickets. These included my boss, Dan, his family, and three of his neighbors in Beijing. Dan invited me to stay at his apartment in Beijing so I had no worries about paying inflated prices for a hotel room the night of the event.

I flew to Beijing on Monday morning, had lunch with Dan and Marguerite at their very cool downtown Beijing apartment. We then took the subway in the mid-afternoon to the Olympic Green. We had a beautiful, blue sky, 75 degree day in Beijing - those emergency air quality measures seem to be working - and we spent the afternoon checking out the scene around the National Stadium. The Olympic Green contains five or six different sports venues including the now famous Birds Nest and the National Swimming Center where Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals this week.

The area is populated with display buildings for the major olympic sponsors - Coke, Kodak, Samsung, Volkswagen, GE, and others. These are essentially Disneyworld-style, walk-in commercials with long lines, and in the case of the Coca Cola building, a free cold soda at the end. We rather enjoyed the Coke "Shuang Center" with the pounding music, olympic torch display, and history of Coke exhibit.

Next we spent some significant time at the largest souvenier shop in the world - the "Olympic Super Center". Again, there was a magnificently long line, just to get inside and shop. I bought some T-shirts, pins, a U.S. flag, and a coffee mug. Surprisingly the prices were not overly inflated - $10 for a T-shirt and $5 for a coffee mug is probably a fraction of what you get soaked for at a U.S. event of this magnitude.

Those two simple activities filled the afternoon and we had one hour until the start of the evening track and field session so we had dinner at the largest McDonalds I have ever seen. There were probably 50 separate lines for purchasing food and over 200 people working behind the counter and in the kitchen. What a mass production operation ! And they were very fast and accurate in filling our orders. Very impressive.

After dinner, we walked the length of the Olympic Green back to the birds nest, taking lots of pictures on the way, and found our way to our seats in the upper deck. The stadium is such an impressive building with the randomly criss-crossed steel girders. It was a long climb up the stairs to our seats, but the view that greeted us inside was stunning.

Pictured above are Marguerite guiding us through the Beijing subway, the Coke "Shuang Center", Jackie, Kristen, and I with one of the Fuwa characters, and two shots of the birdnest at twilight.

#110 Suzhou Scooters

Tonight as I sat and watched yet another China vs. China Olympic badminton match on Phillipine TV, neighbor and colleague Bill stopped by with daughter Sonja to invite me on a scooter trip to Cold Stone Creamery. This was really nice of Bill to think of me, as I was just sitting in the house thinking that I should get up and go find a way into town for something to eat.

Bill bought the first scooter some time ago for Sonja to cruise around the neighborhood on. Since that time his wife realized that it was handy to scoot around town when she needed to go somewhere and did not have the driver scheduled. Recently, Bill bought the second scooter so, as he put, they did not have to feel like prisoners on the weekend when the driver has the day off. They can move their family of three no problem with the two Chinese electric scooters.

Bill and Sonja rode on Bill's scooter to Rainbo Walk - according to Bill it has a top speed of 35 miles per hour. I rode Sonja's which tops out at probably 25 mph. It was quite a nice way to get around if, as Bill warned, you keep a close eye out for the crazy fools elsewhere on the rode and in the scooter lane. There is little evidence in China of traffic rules.

I chose the Coldstone Mango smoothie and Bill took some kind of Blueberry Madness ice cream. It was a fun time. Afterward, Bill and Sonja dropped me off at Xin Du Guan Chang where I had dinner at Mr. Pizza. With nothing else on the schedule, I decided to go to the Dragonfly Therapudic Spa for a two hour head, foot, and body massage. It was a good outing.

#109 Home Alone

It is my final weekend home alone while Kathleen and the children remain in Peoria. They will return on Wednesday and once again my life will be filled with activity. It will be nearly a month since I left Peoria and I certainly miss my family.

Actually, here in China, it is very common that two working parents life in different cities far from one another and see each other once a month or even once a year. I personally know at least ten people at Caterpillar who do this. I am not entirely sure why this is so common in China. It seems that with so much economic growth in nearly every city that it would be easy for both spouses to find jobs anywhere they chose to live.

On factor, I think, is that both husband and wife work and the child is cared for by one or both of the couple's parents. This means that if they were to relocate their immediate family, also means relocating their parents as well. I suppose the parents are often reluctant to leave their home town and thus the child care keeps the child and one of the spouses in the hometown.

Another factor seems to be that the privelige of going to public school is not transferable in China. That is, your child may have the right to attend school is his home town, but not in the new town. Chinese citizens have something called a "hu kou" which is like a residency permit for the town they live in. When they move, they may or may not be able to get a hu kou in their new town. It is a very different system that is hard to understand and perhaps has its roots in the former communes of the communist system.

I digressed from original intent of writing about my solo canoe adventures this Saturday afternoon. The weather is overcast and sticky, but not too bad out on the lake. My colleague and neighhor, Jon, helped me carry the canoe to the lake today. He got to witness an embarassing launch when I sat in the boat and tipped sideways on the ramp. I got half submerged in slimy lake water, but so far have suffered no ill effects. I also saw a handful of swimmers again today, so perhaps my fears of Jinji Lake pollution are overblown.

During today's waterborne wanderings, I paddled through Li Gong Di and attracted some attention from the locals. You can see one couple snapping pictures of the crazy lǎo wài (me) in the xiǎo chuán (little boat). The Chinese bridges were interesting to see from this perspective. I had never noticed the statues of the fish and dragon on one of the multi-arched bridges at Li Gong Di before.

From there I went across the lake to Rainbo Walk which is directly across the lake from our home at Jin Shui Wan. This is about two miles away, so I was covering some good distance. As I crossed the middle of the lake, I was approached by a man on a jet ski who seemed to be concerned about me. He gestured, I think, that I should stay closer to the shore and I told him I was returning home. He seemed satistied and left.

Next, I went by the same island as last time, got an updated picture of the ferris wheel construction and returned home, altogether after about 2 1/2 hours.

#108 Suzhou Sunday

With the family still in Peoria, rather than attending Chinese Catholic church on Sunday, I have been doing some shopping and errands in Suzhou. This past weekend I went to B&Q, the Chinese Home Depot, to walking street in downtown Suzhou, and to lunch at a noodle shop on Shi Quan Jie. Along the way I snapped a picture of one of the "Walking Street" sidewalk vendors hard at work on an afternoon nap.

#106 Amusing Pics

Here are some amusing pictures. The first one shows a drug store in the shopping plaza near my old office where we often go for a pizza or other western cuisine. Viagra is apparently an over-the-counter drug in China. In this case it is being heavily promoted in this case as "Man's Best Friend". What would Rover think of that sales pitch ? Why not "Woman's Best Friend" ?

While we are on the subject of odd observances, I snapped the second picture during a taxi ride from the erectile emporium to my home. First, let me note that Suzhou is at approximately the same latitude as Houston, TX and it is extremely hot and humid in August. On the day I took this ride, the temperature was over 95 and the humidity was high. This taxi had no discernable air conditioning, yet the woman driving had safety-pinned a surrogate sleeve onto her polo shirt and was wearing fleece mittens. While she was improvising ways to keep warm, I was experiencing heat stroke in the back seat, dying to get home to the overcooled comfort of my expat housing. This was one of those instances where I wished I had the language skills to ask the driver a question - why the tacked-on sleeves ? So I can only convey my observations and wonder along with you what is going on here.

Final picture shows two dudes on an electric scooter. You see many people here sharing rides on a scooter, but this one was unique because the guy on the back is reading a book as his buddy weaves them through the traffic lanes.

#105 Powerhouse Gym

I mentioned earlier that I would write some more about the Body for Life program that Kathleen and her China friends have been promoting. Body for Life is a bestselling book by Bill Phillips that promotes a nutrition and exercise program which promises to transform your body. The basic tenets are 1) eat six smaller meals instead of three large ones, 2) eat modest and balanced portions of protien and carbohydrates, and 3) make weightlifting an integral part of your exercise routine. The program rejects the idea of eating only protien or only carbs and suggests that the combination of six meals and lifing weights will contribute to raising your metabolism and shaping your body.

I am not going to give a stump speech for the plan, but it does seem logical and we have some very healthy looking friends in Suzhou and Peoria who have followed this plan with obvious success. Kathleen claims to have dropped a dress size and both of us have lost about five pounds so far. I contrast this to years of running long distances and not losing a pound.

To weave the China angle into this story, I am having an interesting experience with my morning weightlifting workouts at the Powerhouse Gym in Suzhou. The Powerhouse is U.S. brand franchise gym, similar to Golds Gym. However, in China, they do things differently, and in this case different is not better. First of all the gym does not officially open until 7:30 AM. I have explored a couple of other gyms in Suzhou and one of them opens at 9AM and the other at 11AM. When I ask them whether they can open at 6:00 AM so I can get to work by 8:00, they employees look at me like I am from another planet. The Chinese, apparently, do not consider an early morning workout to be a normal, natural, or even acceptable practice.

The Suzhou Powerhouse, although, not officially open at 6:00 AM, posts a janitor whose apparent duty is to watch TV until he turns the lights on when they open at 7:30AM. However, he leaves their entrance unlocked at this early hour, so a couple of other hardy waigoren (foreigners) and I walk in and start our workout at 6:00 in the dark. We are apparently free to workout, but I have to use my iPod display to see the numbers on the dumbells! There is also, of course, no music or TVs playing in the gym except for the Janitor's Chinese soap operas.

The final craziness, is that the gym does not turn on the air conditioning, even on these stifling hot summer days when the temperature outside at 6:00 AM is 90°F. It has been so hot these past two weeks, that at the end of my workout and after my shower, I am still sweating too profusely put on my dress shirt. I have to wear a T-shirt instead, then cool off by cranking the A/C in the car for the 30 minute ride to work. I then finish getting dressed in a conference room at the office (thankfully, it has a lock).

I am finding this to be a bit of hardship now that the weather is so hot and after working out for a few days at a beautiful (normal) Gold's Gym in my parents town of Albany, NY last month. Nonetheless, I am determined to maintain my commitment to the weight workouts. I think they are doing me some good. So please let this be an inspiration to you. Any one of you folks in America could easily join a gym that provides a superior and pleasant experience. If I can exercise in China, what's stopping you ?

#104 Maiden Voyage

Today was the maiden canoe voyage. My friend and neighbor, Patti, helped me carry the canoe to the boat launch in Jin Shui Wan. We drew a small group of interested spectators from within the compound club house. Within moments, I was off and paddling and having a terrific time.

I had delayed the launch until late in the afternoon because earlier today, there were high winds and whitecaps on the lake. I was glad that I waited because even after the wind died down, the comparatively small residual waves were enough to rock the canoe uncomfortably. My greatest fear, of course, is falling into the polluted waters of Jinji Lake. But I did not and it was a beautiful afternoon for a boat ride.

I made a direct course for one of the islands visible from our compound. The island was quite scenic and I saw many birds hanging out in the reeds on the island shore. There were also two people sitting on the shore of the island and I was very curious to know if they live there. I saw at least three buildings on the island, including the tall pagoda which is visible from all around Jinji Lake. On the way to the island, I saw a dozen people swimming in the lake ! After seeing that they were very much alive and happy in the water, my fear of falling in was lessened.

When I returned to the marina, my friends Bill's 12 year old daughter, Sonya, joined me for a speed run out to the new ferris wheel. They seem to be making rapid progress on the Xin Dai Guang Chang amusement park - the kids will love it when that place opens up. It is only a mile from our house (less by canoe).

So I am excited about the new paddling hobby. I think I will quite enjoy exploring the lake and canals of Suzhou and it seems to provide some form of exercise as well. It is a rare opportunity to live next to a lake and will be great to spend time on the water. I think the Cazzato children with enjoy it as well.