blog.marcwiesner.com

Written Mid-January:

Well…I needed a new jacket anyway. I don’t know how I got the idea in my head to collect locks from the cities I visit; I seem to be doing pretty well in under-dressing for the weather. Turns out Nanchang is colder than it seemed in the weather reports. I’ve bought a thick beanie and heavy jacket to protect myself from the cold. I should have worn my boots onto the plane; the cold bites through my canvas shoes. Vegan they may be but warm they aren’t.

After realizing a semester spent teaching here would pay about as much as a month painting in California I’m considering giving up the teaching stint to take up more lucrative; international business. Who ever needed a degree anyway?

For now, my kingdom for a hot bath.

Maybe I should hate that I do it, but I can’t stop thinking of omens while I travel. Last time I left SFO there were more unknowns, but I clearly remember monks in the terminal on their way to Taiwan. Zen retreats, I believe. This time, I know where I’m going, how I’m getting there, and the layout of most of the terminals I’ll be going between. For some reason though, the lack of monks in SFO strikes me.

Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to justify the heavy-heart I’m traveling with. A strange thing in its own right. Maybe because I let myself get too comfortable at home this time. Not sure. I know I’ve got to go though, I started this journey and I intend on seeing it through. I’m sure once I get into China I’ll be able to relax a bit more. I won’t have to worry about a late plane or no train tickets.

My flight leaves SFO at a bit past midnight SFO local time and arrives in Taibei about 6 AM TPE local. Flight to Hongkong at 7:40, arrive before noon. An hour for the train into Shenzhen. About 12 more hours from Shenzhen into Nanchang and then to the apt I’ll be staying in. More than a day and a half? Maybe I should have packed some sleep aids

Boarding in 15. Back in the Silicon Valley before she knows it.

Leaving for China this Wednesday. I’ll arrive in Jiangxi province on the 13th and start work late February. Setting up should be fun but there’s the issue of not knowing where I’ll be living immediately. Not too much of a worry; there’re always places to stay

There’s a bit more anxiety in going this time. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because I still feel like I just got home and now I’m leaving again. Maybe because this will also be the start of my first real job.

I’ll be a good and fun experience though. I’m quite sure. I’ve got places I know I want to go and people I know I need to see. Focusing on those anchors is helpful.

Four days left.

I’ve been working on business cards for CollegeConfessional and realized with the New Year here, the cards could make a nice little marketing device. If anyone wants one tagged on his or her myspace , email confessitall@collegeconfessional.net

Happy and Healthy New Year!! 

A little over two weeks now until I’m back in China.

Awww…..I know…and the weather these last couple days has been so fun and windy and all that.

I was looking for something to keep me busy during the holiday break and found a couple good projects. TiffanyCollector.com and blog.tiffanycollector.com. I know they look like the same thing but that just means more time was spend coding the looks to they synced up.

My dear sweet mother’s been having a simply amazing time dealing with ebay who decided to suspend her account for selling fake Tiffany (which, of course, she wasn’t) and then place listing limits on it. Because of the suspension, ebay says she doesn’t stand a chance of getting those limits lifted until Febuary. Turns out she isn’t the only one. Sellers of designer items all over ebay are going through the same mess. The work around is to open a new account, which sellers of fakes don’t mind doing, but that isn’t really isn’t an option for sellers of legit pieces who make their living on their good name.

Well….instead of sitting on her hands and merchandise until Feb, I set her up with an online store and a blog so she can keep listing and moving product.

Now that building’s done, step two: Marketing

The leaves changing, the frost in the air. Real soup and sandwiches weather, isn’t it?

And I’ve been taking proper advantage of it. Found a job to teach in China’s Jiangxi province this coming semester. Got another ticket after my fist attempt to flee the country failed (though the positive repercussions were greater than could have been imagined). I get to spend the holidays with my family and travel China during the holiday break over there. Since I’ll have about a month to travel around I’m hoping to see, at least, Guiyang and Yunnan before I start teaching.

Mike’s about fully moved to his new place, even has roommates lined up AND a cat. CollegeConfessional is returning about 200 hits a day on average and the viewer ship for MajorFashion is also on the rise after starting a marketing campaign through GoogleAdwords. 

That and some tooling around with cars and it’s been pretty low key. 

They’ve done it! My years of suffering with less than five blades are over! Finally there’s a five blade face razor for men. That’s right…men only. Because, clearly, it takes a man to handle "the comfort of five blades." Umm…I mean…a real man needs "the comfort of five blades." Because….ummm…oh right! Because after centuries of shaving with single-blade razors men need comfort….umm..cause real men use so much lotion and their skin is so sensitive.

Fortunately, any man who considers himself more manly for buying face creams and blade laden razers because it’s the manly thing to do won’t be offended by the following: the men who so casually let themselves be led around by the balls by the marketeers deserve the economic castration they’ve undergone!

So teaching in Taiwan didn’t work out. No matter. What problems? I enjoyed traveling Taiwan for couple of weeks and have been back in California for a few weeks now. I found a job teaching in Guizhou province but after a mix up with the airline (which, crazy person that I am, I interpret as an omen) I’m now thinking of a three months, three provinces travel plan where I can work and travel around my own schedule. 

It’s strange being back here. Aside from things being more expensive and transit being less convenient, things feel a bit too much as they did when I left. That and the colder weather (think, Taiwan at night is as warm as the Bay Area during the day when I left) has be looking forward to getting back to China

The couple of weeks I had in Taiwan were great. Went to a couple beaches and hot springs, made some awesome friends, saw some fantastic sights.  

Once again planning an escape… ^)^ 

Sill in Guangzhou. I had planned to leave by now, but getting a VISA for Taiwan’s looking a bit more complicated. Something about needing to buy an exit ticket before I file for my VISA makes me a bit uncomfortable. Since processing the VISA takes a few days, I’m going to aim to get to Hongkong early on a Monday and hope to get the VISA back before the weekend, with some time to spare in case I need to go BACK to EVA Air and get a return ticket. Bah..

I’m starting to think I’m spending a noticeable amount of time at the cafe mooching their wireless. Last night one of the girls handed me a VIP card for 12% off purchases. It’s nice to be loved ..now if only they had a bathroom >_< . But that is, I’m sure, the least of my concerns. Getting out and getting on are really priorities. At least I’m having fun.

This morning I went out for KTV (in the company of about a half dozen lovely college students) and the other night I wandered (maybe was dragged, who’s counting) to the University’s English Corner where, despite feeling a bit like a spectacle (an arc of students taking pictures with everything from a point-and-shoot to a cellphone can do that), I was impressed by the comfort students there could speak English when in an encouraging setting. The club president even childed me that Mandarin wasn’t allowed after I responded to a question with ke neng “maybe.” For the Jewish New Year Veg and I drowned sins in the Pear River and I got to see the neighborhood I was staying in when I was here two months ago. Fun time little stroll down memory road. It’s fun to return to a place like that. Since I’ll be here for almost another week maybe I should make up for only seeing some of those clubs from the outside

I didn’t realize it until yesterday, when I was doing a little mental inventory of things that I DON’T take with me when I’m roaming the dark, narrow passages of new cities in foreign countries that I left my Lonely Planet travel guide up in Wuhan when I left five days ago. My guide to interesting places and safe hostels had become a bit obsolete. I’ve got enough mandarin to ask about night markets and hotel streets, to get suggestions about interesting sights within a city, and to tell a taxi I’ll give you 10 ? to go here and don’t use a meter. Besides, I’m in Guangzhou. I’ve been here twice before and know where I can stay if I need to but I’ve got Veg looking for a place for me to stay. What is there to worry about? Next time I’m in Wuhan I’ll pick it back up. At least long enough to see the best place to grab the trans-Siberian from China. Though after two failed attempts at vegetarian cuisine in Beijing…

Coming to terms with Guangzhou. Not bad at all…finding some of those fun dark places. Night markets (why is that starting to sound a bit raunchy?) and cafes, lounges and noodles. Yep…starting to see how a person can get comfortable here.

But the trouble with Taiwan, yes…still no news back about employment. I don’t think it’ll be difficult to rejuvenate my options once I’m back on the Island, but I still hate to see a fine job slip by. Maybe the school was crooked. Yea…I can sleep better knowing I didn’t get suckered into that business. One of the guys who came to Wuhan from Inner Mongolia had come to sort out some trouble with his sister enrolling in a fraudulent school, wouldn’t like to take the fall for some shady dealings because they’ve got my name on a piece of paper, how would I? Nope Nope. I’ll get things sorted out some how. I’ve gone this long without an arrest, theft, major injury, or taking the wrong train (though I HAVE come close to all at least once), I’m confident things will work out in Taiwan too ^_^ .