Tao does it again

I don't know where Tao gets the time and energy to take on projects of this magnitude, let alone see them through to such impressive results, but if he ever finds a way to harness this energy for the powers of evil, God help us all.

Last Saturday, Tao previewed at Wiggly Jiggly (confirmed: worst bar name ever) the Beijing Ultimate 2009 Slideshow. It's pretty impressive and hilarious, even if you aren't in the community. I suggest you grab a beer and popcorn, huddle the family around the computer, and let yourself be entertained for the evening for about 23 minutes. Or longer, if you have a slow internet connection!

Click here for links to all three parts of the slideshow.

If you need further entertainment, as an encore, i would suggest checking out Tao's previous work: The Jim Show.

The Jim Show disclaimer:

TheJimShowmaynotbesuitableforyoungchildrenandwasproducedundertheeffectsofalcoholandjimisnotactuallyatransvestite.HoweverTheJimShowisstillprettyhilarious.

~Kev

The Beijing Pirates

No, The Beijing Pirates is not the name of a local soccer team. Although, it probably should be.

In Beijing, everyday is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Dialects and different accents of major languages can be found in every corner of the globe. In Spain, they speak with a lisp unfamiliar to North Americans accustomed to Mexican Spanish. And more specifically, in Galicia they speak Gallego, a Spanish-Portuguese blend. In Ghana, i heard an English spoken that was unique and pleasing to the ears, not unlike Pidgin English. And if you live in China, you are certainly aware of the Beijing accent, and if you live in Beijing, you likely speak it. I know i do.

In Beijing (and Tianjin), the locals add an "er" (儿) to the end of many common words. The result sounds to foreigners like "Aaarrr". Examples:

• Curmudgeonly taxi drivers chew their way through directions - on the right - "zài yòu biān'er", 在右边儿.
• Waiters, known as fú wù yuán'er, 服务员儿, sullenly bring you beer and lamb kebobs, yī píng'er pí jiǔ hé yáng ròu chuàn'er, 一瓶儿啤酒和羊肉串儿.
• Playing some ultimate frisbee is wán'er yī diǎn'er fēi pán, 玩儿一点儿飞盘.

My initial year in Beijing was pretty worthless for Chinese. I listened to Podcasts and picked up a few things along the way. But, if i arrived as a one, i only improved to a two. However, since i started taking classes at That's Mandarin last May, i've progressed to a five. Sure, i'm making this scale up, but whatever. I'm now proficient enough to get myself through any everyday situation, can communicate on the phone, and can read a Chinese menu. I'm a long way from being able to really read, but that hasn't been my goal yet. This year, maybe it will be.

Oh, and jokes! I've learned about six jokes in Chinese, from my new teacher. Of course, none of them are actually funny, per se, but i learned them!

~Kev

The Wall as never seen before

Well, at least, nothing i've seen in my six previous trips to the wall. Do yourself a favor and click on these pictures below.

I can't stop staring at them. I even entered them in a photo contest. Pictures sometimes don't do a place justice, but these seem to capture the winter wall in all its white-washed, frozen glory.

The hike up this past Sunday was pretty easy, as the path had been trampled sufficiently to allow for easy passing. And without 40 pounds of gear slowing you down, we made it up in record time, probably 25 minutes. The five of us, jim, joe, hilco (cool Dutch dude), therese and i, summited at roughly noon.

At the top, we were actually warm. The wind was mild, there was occasional sun, and we had just worked our asses off climbing a freakin' mountain! The views were stunning as always, but somehow, this time was even more majestic.

Maybe it was the fresh tracks we laid...

... or the untouched patches of beautiful snow...

... or the dose of adrenaline from winter hiking.

We were happy.

We visited our usual tower.

... And introduced it to jim.

Hilco faced his fear of heights.

And, as the only aptly prepared one, joe blazed trails through deep snow for everyone.


Therese and i chose to head down about 30 minutes early, to get warm and relax. We retired to our usual family restaurant. However, we learned they do not usually operate in the dead of winter. Still, they recognized therese and i and invited us in immediately. They offered us hot tea, noodle soup, and egg tomato... all hot and all very delicious. We spent the time chatting with the little 6 year old boy and he showed us his comic books.

Therese tried to read him Winnie the Pooh and he tried to read her Mogulfat the Space Trotter, or some crap. Neither were too interested in the other's book. But it was great fun anyway.

And i learned that i don't quite yet have the Chinese proficiency of a 6 year old, but i'm really close.

~Kev