So
my Japanese class went on “hiatus” for over a month coz they had a break from
school and their families all went back to Japan. When they came back, poor little Suzuma was
NOT wanting to be separated from mommy and was sobbing big time just outside
the gate to the Disney clubhouse where I was doing “pre-class” stuff with the
other kids. When they finally coaxed him
in and to my table I waved at him and said, “Hello Suzuma, how are you?” Still sobbing, he hiccupped at me, “I’m
great.” Bless his little heart.
So
I forgot to talk about the interesting custom on Chinese New Year where people
give “hongbao” (literally “red envelope”) to each other. These red envelopes have money in them and is
a more common tradition here in the south.
While it is most expected of older, married people, single people will
give hongbao to work subordinates, or
as a wedding gift, etc. Around CNY, all
the Center Managers in Guangzhou, as well as various regional managers, went to
each center and gave all employees hongbao. Even though the amount was not very much,
with a couple dozen employees, on average, at each center, you can imagine how
this adds up. I got about 7-8 hongbao, with anywhere from 5 to 10 quai
in each (in other words, just over $1 U.S.), but I ended up with enough for a
nice meal, so that was cool. When my LP
Amy just recently married, the other LPs were teasing her about how she’d have
to give them all hongbao next year! J
A
LinHeDong Legend is gone. Kai Kai – the
bizarre little monster in one of my classes - did not renew his contract and
has left the building. We actually
toasted this during one of our D.E. get-togethers at McCawley’s. There are some kids that become famous
throughout the center, no matter whose class they are in, and Kai Kai was
definitely, as mentioned, a Legend.
Firstly, let me say he is a smart little boy (he had only recently
turned 5 when he left). But, too, he has
issues. Serious issues. I am not one of those persons in favor of
medicating children, but if ever there were a textbook case of ADD, possible
ODD, and just downright weirdness,
this boy had them all in spades. It’s
hard to describe fully so you get all the “flavor.” Yes, he pulled his pants down once in class
and started twirling his pecker like a little “Magic Mike.” Yeah, he would out of the blue kiss my leg,
arm, Amy’s leg, and on some occasions, literally kiss her ass in class. He would pitch random fits, chant and/or yodel
during class, run around touching everything, try to run screaming from the
room in terror if we showed a Mickey cartoon that had even vaguely “scary” (in
his mind) music, spout bizarre and random things in Chinese that I never
understood but could tell from the look on Amy’s face that they were weird.
The other kids in the class were, I think, torn between complete and
utter revulsion and yet also a sort of “wow, look at this train wreck”
fascination. If Kai Kai was absent from
class for any reason, we’d always tease the other kids about how they missed
him and would get THE most extreme/vehement denials. I have to say I’m curious as to what will
happen with him – he’s one of those boys who will either be a brilliant
nerd/geek or a misunderstood loner who shoots up the school (fortunately, the
latter simply does not happen in China – Hey, I finally found something that
China rules at over the U.S.!)
I
also forgot to mention my long ago visit to check out the GZ library. Definitely one of the coolest ones I’ve
seen. I posted a pic of it on Facebook,
but google image it if you didn’t see it.
It is very cool from an architectural standpoint, very new and modern,
and was quite large. Definitely a GZ
gem.
NOT
a gem was my pathetic wino night. I
bought this bottle of wine for something like 6 quai one day, figuring, “Hey,
even if it’s crap, I’m only spending a dollar on it – that even beats Trader
Joe’s two buck chuck!” Anyway, when I
finally tried to open it one night, of course the cheap ass corkscrew I had in
my apt, broke off in the cork. I was
able to dig out about half the cork, but the remaining half was still lodged in
tight. But I was determined to try this wine!
I used pretty much every knife in the house trying to cut/dig the effing
cork out! I couldn’t believe how firmly
it was in there – for 6 quai! At one
point, I ended up chipping the top of the bottle, tried hammering/forcing it in,
etc. At the end of the day, I don’t know
HOW long I worked on that fucking cork, but when I finally succeeded in pushing
it in, the resulting cork-filled glass of wine was, of course, absolute shit. Pathetic.
I
also “finally” took a trip to Shenzhen – about an hour or so by train south of
us and borders Hong Kong to the north.
This is literally a new city – it was built from scratch about 35 years
ago, so I am older than the city.
Weird. We only spent a couple
days and spent both at gigantic amusement parks: one was Window of the World
and consisted of various scale-level (some full scale) of major monuments from
around the world, including the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower,
etc. It was a trip. The place was huge. There were a few random rides (including a
below zero alps building with skiing, snow tubing, and the like that we all got
a tremendous kick out of), but mostly it was these monuments. Definitely one of the more interesting places
I’ve ever been. The next day we did the
nearby China Folk Cultural Village which was like WoW except for China. It showcased the various culture,
architecture, etc. from all the different regions/peoples of China and it was
almost as diverse and interesting as WoW.
Of course, were the U.S. to do a similar thing with the vast array of
Native American cultures that peopled the N. American continent before we wiped
them out, that would be pretty cool, too.
Shenzhen is a very Chinese place.
Sprung up overnight, still leery and goggle-eyed at tourists (Bex and
Nicky were asked numerous times to pose with locals for pics), and yet very
modern. Truly interesting.
Trip
to U.S. Consulate
After
my fourth trip to Hong Kong, I am leaving China with well over double the
amount of Disney pins I had when I arrived.
I still usually only get villain pins, but have bought a handful of “limited”
or “special” edition pins as well. It’s
kind of disturbing how into it I get when I’m in the Park. When I was collecting back in the states, I
refused to engage in the whole “pin trading” thing with Disney cast members,
thinking it beneath me and preferring to just buy whichever ones I liked. But for some reason, in HK, I started
noticing the ones the cast members had and realized that most all of theirs
were pins you could not buy in the park.
Grrrr! So I would use my cast member
discount, buy a set of “bleh” pins that were cheap and then use them to trade
for more funky/unique pins. I have also “manipulated”
a few “anti-pin” folks who have come with me to HKDL into getting their own or
at least think about starting to
collect. I’m such a good Disney “ambassador.”
And
that is the thing I will miss most about leaving China: the fact that I no
longer work for the Walt Disney Company.
Yes, I know Walt was no saint, and that Disney has some strange policies
and history, but on the whole I honestly believe – for a corporation of its
size and scope – that Disney is a far scale “better” than other behemoths like,
say, Wal-Mart, Nestle, various oil companies, Dow Chemical, etc. So I’ll cherish the fact that, at least for a
year, I got to work for a company I grew up loving and still love to this
day! J
