When in China... do as the Americans do

been quite a whirlwind trip the last couple weeks. honestly did not feel like vacation at all, mostly because we spent it with either my parents or aileen's parents the entire time. and that is quite an effort.


in any case, some quick musings from the last two weeks. 


- overall, my cousins from my side and aileen's side are super cool... would love to hang out with them more often.
- i didn't realize that i didn't see a cloud the whole time in beijing until we landed in qingdao. you can't even see two blocks without smog getting in the way.

- chinese people are extremely selfish and impatient. i'm glad that it's hard for them to enter the US.

- MIL is even weirder than i first thought. everything aileen complains about her was dead-on. she's like the most over-bearing yet not over-bearing MIL ever.  but i think it's worse that aileen does the exact same thing while simultaneously yelling at her mom about it.

- i will never again share a hotel room with a parent.

- just because i didn't get some status benefits, i was very upset. then i was even more upset knowing that i'm acting like my dad.

- chinese people sure like audi.

- MIL goes through one roll of TP a day!

- i'm going to be in sticker shock once i get back to the US.

- aileen's grandmother is extremely healthy for a 93 year old. i think aileen is going to live a very long time.

- i have to remind myself that the MIL grew up without a mom.

- i find aileen's chinese-speaking abiliity very sexy. made me want to speak korean... but not BE korean. big difference.

- i got approached by a prostitute in an elevator. she tried to follow me to my room. and i was definitely panicking on the inside.

- imported goods are so much more expensive in china. my tag watch is $3K. my S5 retails for 998K RMB, which is about $150K USD!!! a new iphone 3gs is $1K USD.

- chinese food consists of very little rice.

- people drink tsingtao beer like wine. it's served at room temperature and with wine glasses.

- chinese people are a lot nicer to you if they know you have a lot of money. doesn't matter if they are relatives, strangers, or anything else. i don't think it's as true for the US.

- tiannamen square riot picture of the student vs. the tank. i understand why it's such an impact now... a car actually stopped for a pedestrian.

- always check to see if the toilet flushes before using it.

- there are different tiers of counterfeit... the super cheap and the high-end (but still cheap).

- no matter how small (or large) you think the world is... it's still smaller.

my grandmother

i think i just saw her for the last time...

family

when i'm with extended family, it's weird how i automatically just give them the benefit of the doubt for anything and feel an instant bond like we've known each other for years... even though i've only met them a few times my entire life.

it's also real interesting how my dad's side of the family is the complete opposite of my mom's side. could not be any more different.

sympathy

working in the service business has made me a lot more sympathetic to servers in hotels, restaurants, etc... their job really sucks, and i know first hand how they get treated like crap sometimes. so that's why whenever my dad starts complaining or demanding something that he doesn't really deserve to get, i get really defensive about it. it's true, the more you complain and the bigger stink you create, the more you get. i know that first hand, especially since i give away so much as part of my job to customer complainers. but i hate that even my dad knows that and uses that to his might where it's just embarrassing. it's a stupid philosophy, and yet i still give in to it every time i get a letter or call or any other complaint.

packing

i learned today that:

1. my socks and boxers take up a LOT of room
2. i have 14 pairs of boxers. not sure if that is too little or too many, but thought it was interesting nonetheless. aileen now knows why she has to do laundry all the time.

buzz words

are key when you want someone to latch on to your idea. words that the other person can easily identify with and already have a positive image of.

Improv Everywhere

what a cool project!

www.improveverywhere.com

Nintendo Wii Fit

why do they use Panda heads on the soccer game on Wii Fit? seems rather cruel to kick a beheaded panda bear head at a soccer game.

zynga

i should have applied to work there years ago! they supposed got a $100-$200MM injection from Google as part of an initiative for a new social networking site.

toy story 3

so amazed on how creative people can be with such simple things and integrate the most mundane thing into such clever actions. using a cubby holes as jail cells for toys or a snack vending machine for a secret hideout.

humidity

i think it affects my stamina at a enormously exponential rate. i sweat so easily, 10 minutes into a set, i can barely grip the racquet because my hands are so sweaty.

IP addresses

ever wonder if there aren't enough IP addresses to go around? well, there aren't. there are actually different IP address versions, and the one we are on now is slated to run out by 2012. the new standard, IPv6, will hopefuly solve the problem indefinitely.

French Laundry

only serves lunch from 11-1pm and they only have 16 tables for the whole restaurant.

when aileen drinks

she becomes a whole other animal. and i love it!

wall street, the movie

kind of sad, but i know so many people who are just like the characters in 'wall street'... and the sad part is sometimes i get jealous of their success.