Random Musings

Like Lady Sov, we're gonna get random...

First, yesterday's post credited Shenzhen Undercover for the great entry on strange local sanitizing habits, but didn't include a link, so here is that great post.

For those who haven't read it yet, an American recently went through a 30 day trainee program at a Chinese barbershop and wrote about his experiences (I know for one reader or two it might be of even greater interest because it happens to be in Fuzhou). He deals with a lot of the reader comments and acknowledges that he really can't get a complete feel for how things are because of his outsider status and the temporary nature of his employment, but it does offer a lot of great insight. It also interested me because at times after having graduated or in between political jobs, I sometimes thought about saying fuck it and going to work at a friend's massage parlour in Tianjin and while they were willing to have me, I never actually went that far.

Now, I spend my days (and a lot of nights) working at a MCLF (I might explain that abbreviation later) ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifften dealing with problems coworkers have with drafting English language documents. Therefore, it is extremely frustrating when at night, when I want to get away from work and have a drink and a Cuban on my balcony a la Denny Crane, my beautiful view of the city is ruined by a horrible, ugly red advertisement for TCL that includes the subscript "Reading Floweriness." It doesn't help that I have to see that annoying sign from my office window, too. Is this some kind of zen eastern thing? It seems more likely that, despite efforts to get rid of Chinglish cities like Beijing and Shanghai, its still alive and kicking here in Shenzhen. If I have to see that sign for the next 6 months, it will drive me to the point of insanity and, by then, I won't be legally culpable for whatever crime I commit...Don't even get me started on the Chinglish of "I'm proud to fly so high"...

I don't always like Sinocidal, but when they're on, they're really on, and this post on
the evil, devil in a Mao jacket Dashan is absolutely laugh out loud hilarious. While I am starting to fall for Canada, I must remember that while America has committed many wrongs and the evilness of Bush and the Iraq War, Canada's sin of releasing Dashan on the innocent Chinese populace might just be far worse. I have an idea, get Dashan to Guantanemo, beat the shit out of him, let the other detainees teach him Arabic (and let the Uighyrs beat the shit out of him, too), and send him to Iraq. That will solve the problems highlighted by sinocidal and will make the Iraqi people love all things American, right? Electronic dictionaries for everybody!

Damn. These. Ads!

A great article in Time about why Americans should accept amnesty. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but its one that we need to accept for many of the reasons highlighted in the article and more. So many of the arguments against it are just racist, overly protectionist, and/or based on a pre-globalization outlook on things. The article also goes to show that this isn't only the situation in cities, but even in small towns. There are very few Americans who go through their day without working alongside or receiving some kind of service from an illegal immigrant. The success of our economy, especially now, depends on them as so many industries would simply shut down. I'm a little disappointed in those connected to the restaurant business not stepping up and throwing down, this seems a perfect topic for Bourdain, so where the hell are you Tony (a million aplogoies if I've just missed the entry)?

Finally, an interesting article from the IHT/NYT on how women employees have effected the drinking culture in Korea. I was surprised that at the one night outing that took place at my MCLF there was a total lack of drinking. I'm not sure if its because many of them have experience in the US and/or UK or if its because the females so outnumber the men (on this occassion it was 8 to 4). While I know China's drinking culture isn't as extensive as Korea's, it is still relatively common here as an after work activity, but I've yet to encounter it at my workplace.

What is up with blogger? I can write entries, but lately I cannot view my own page (or anyone elses) other than through rss, is this a common thing in China, does it signal another potential full block or what?