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Shoes!

Sunday, April 16th, 2006

100_0889.JPGShoes are on my mind a lot these days, probably because I am desperately trying to find a pair that I like, that actually FIT!  Chinese shoes are generally available in sizes up to 245, or 38.  Problem is – I am a 39, or 250 (so close, yet so damn far!). 

But now I am starting to notice shoes, everywhere!  For example, last week we were hit with heavy rains, the result being that many locals slipped ‘plastic grocery bags’ over their shoes before riding their bicycles home (that’s right, plastic bags).  Reminds of those cold wet winters back home in Montreal when I was a kid – I remember Mom wrapping our feet in plastic bags before slipping them into ugly old brown winter boots lined with fake white fur, with a buckle on the side.  Anyone else remember those boots? (fashion disaster for sure!).

And yesterday I walked by a shoe repair shop which displayed several pairs of running shoes outside to dry in the sunshine – but, they all had fresh ‘white paint’ on them! Apparently one does NOT let one’s running shoes get worn and dirty, despite being in the polluted environs of China.  Where I come from, the first thing we do after buying a new pair of running shoes, is try to ‘trash’ them up a bit, so they don’t look so new – anyone with pearly white running shoes was usually labelled a ‘nerd’!  But, here they bleach them or paint them, anything to keep them white!

Now, keeping work shoes looking spic ‘n span is quite easy too, because many people in Hangzhou have set up shop as ‘mobile shoe cleaners’!  We have several who pop up in front of our block each morning, with 2 stools, and a work box, and set up shop on the sidewalk.  They serve as many customers as they can, before the police show up, as they invariably do, each and every day.  I even have my regular gal who cleans and polishes my shoes for just 3 kuai (that’s about 50 cents), and I won’t let myself be tempted to use any of the other blokes who litter the sidewalk. 

The same goes for my ‘flower guy’.  Every afternoon, many ‘bicycle vendors’ stop their bikes in front of our block and, again I always look for my favourite guy – I am slowly teaching him some English too!  I still remember one evening seeing him out there at 9:00pm – I was shocked and told him to go home, but my friend explained that he didn’t want to go home until he could make some more money.  I then tried to buy some flowers, but of course he wouldn’t let me; instead, he wanted to GIVE me some flowers!   The Chinese people have a lot of pride you know, but we finally compromised, with me paying for one bouquet, and he throwing in a second one for free!

Life is pretty good these days – the weather has improved wonderfully; it is finally Spring.  Now, we just have to prepare ourselves for the sweltering summer months ahead.  But, for the next few weeks we can all head down to West Lake to enjoy the warm weather!

A Three-Hour Tour, NOT!

Tuesday, April 4th, 2006

DSCN2610.JPGDSCN2612.JPGDSCN2614.JPGDSCN2624.JPGDSCN2628.JPGDSCN2623.JPGDSCN2622.JPGDSCN2620.JPGBus Tour Last week, some of my school employees and I were invited to participate in a group tour set up by Hangzhou Tourism.  They called it a Tour Guide Competition, but I believe the real purpose of the tour was to film some promotional video for the upcoming World Leisure Expo later this month.  This would explain both why the trip was free, and why a partially-finished amusement park was one of the stops.  The second stop on our tour was Orange Culture Park.  It has an active Buddhist monastery, meaning that Buddhist monks still live and practice there.  Song Dynasty City was the third and final stop on our tour. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to explore much, so I’ll probably have to make a second trip to check it out.  All three sites are within a one-hour drive of downtown Hangzhou, so they will make great daytrip destinations over the next few months!

Where did the time go? I’m 48 years old!!

Monday, April 3rd, 2006
Well, my birthday has come and gone (on April Fool's Day no less!). I can't believe an entire month has gone by since I last posted on my blog. The only excuse I can give is that I've ... [Continue reading this entry]