January 2, 2016

Woke up in hotel room after a good nights sleep. I couldn't help but have a good one,  had stayed up for so long leading up to the flight(s), and could only lose consciousness a few times on on those flights- nothing steady. Man, that Detroit to Seoul-Incheon was a nightmare. It felt like my entire life was just sitting in that chair, helping the old woman beside me order food (she was too quiet to be heard) and trying to watch some tv. Amongst others, I tried to watch "What We Do In The Shadows"  think that's what it's called. A faux documentary about vampires in New Zealand, but I couldn't stay conscious enough for it.

Will Arnett's "The Last Man in the World" kept my attention though.

There was a lot of English in the Korean airport, enough that I didn't really feel uncomfortable at all. There's a lot less English in China.

The checkpoint going into, I suppose you'd call it the Chinese terminal, had my passport and visa getting checked again, as well as my backpack getting the once over. It was a very cursory look, checking the tiny top zipper with my house keys, chapsticks, and various pins that have no back and are therefore a sharpness hazard, as well as, in the larger pocket, checking my toiletries bag. The gentleman dug through wanting to see all my nailclippers and whatnot, handling everything with his bare hands- no protective gloves or anything. Unsanitary. But whatever. The glovelessness is the only negative, otherwise the process was far less invasive than the Pearson aiport experience- do we really need to ditch our shoes? Come on guys.

Flying into China itself took longer than I had expected- the plane dropped some screens and started showing "The Martian" (which I just watched on the flight between Detroit and Seoul) which freaked me out because I KNEW how long that movie was. Fortunately the screens stopped playing around the time Matt Damon gets stuck on Mars. So, ok.

Over Dalian I saw fewer lights on than I'd expect from a city. There was a section that was almost like a fork of land, jutting into the water, and on each block (or tine) was a long block of city. It was odd, seeing these tall buildings surrounded on three sides by water, with its brother buildings a water jump away. I'd really like to explore that area sometime.

Landing at the airport, both here and in Korea but emphasized more so here, are signposts advising of health screenchecks. I wasn't feeling the best after, you know, the 22 hours or so of travel, but I'm glad I didn't leave two weeks ago when I actually was sick. They'd probably have turned me right around and sent me back.

I was given an arrival card of some sort, where I had to write my information, name, visa and passport number, where I was staying, etc. etc. I hadn't looked at the card to fill it out before I wondered into the checkpoint that wanted it completed. Everyone at this checkpoint is dressed in a military garb, contrary to a security guard I saw a moment later that basically looks the same as any security guard in Canada. The man at the desk sort of grunted at me to take the arrival card over to a side area with some pens (and other arrival cards written in various languages) I took awhile to find the address informaton in my folder, so a nice woman came over to see if I needed any help. I didn't really, not at this point, but it was appreciated.

Using the bathroom I see the first instance of the famous "squat-over-a-hole" toilets. The urinals were basically the same as anywhere, so score on that front. Good luck, ladies!

The sink had automatic faucets as well as a sign about conserving water- once activated every single sink only dripped a tiny amount of water. Half drops to wash my hand. That sucked. I'd already lathered up, so it was like washing a car with a squirt gun. I stayed for a few minutes before I resorted to paper toweling the rest of the soap off my hands.

My luggage was waiting for me on the last conveyor belt, spinning around by its lonesome. I was just glad it was there- I thought I heard something about me needing to transfer it manually at some point, which was information that didn't make sense to me, but I still just crossed my fingers that my bag would end up where I did.

Toddling off to the exit, there was yet another checkpoint for me to drop my luggage and backpack off to get x-rayed or something. I hope these x-rays don't negatively impact my computer, like erase files or give it cancer or something. Nearing the doors I was on the lookout for my contact, a man named Tyler who was supposed to have a sign with my name. Two problems arose: my phone couldn't get a signal once we'd hit the korean airport, so I had no idea what time it was once I'd landed in China, and there was no one standing around with a sign. The exit wasn't at all crowded, the entire airport was sparsely populated, so I should have been able to spot him immediately- or he should have been able to spot me immediately, the only white guy with a red sweater that says "CANADA" on it. Possibly he could have seen me by my stink lines, I'm not sure, I didn't ask.

I was approached by a man who immediately offered to drive me from the airport. I told him I was waiting for someone to meet me here, which he may have understood from the context, but he clearly knew very limited English. I pointed to the phone number I had for Tyler, which he called and didn't get an answer. I felt like that was enough of a good faith effort on my part to find Tyler, at least, again, without knowing how far behind or ahead of schedule I may have been, and decided to go off with this stranger in his car. Maybe he'll have some candy with him!

In case my joke wasn't obvious, yes, of course I was aware of the potential for danger here. I feel like I have to explain my thought processes here, otherwise, as usual, I'll get the side-eyed look that says (assuming you dn't flat out tell me this) "wow, you are a naive idiot". Well, I needed to get to my hotel, that was the immediate concern. I didn't find this person to be a threat physically. I had studied the map enough times to have a good idea of the route a taxi would take, any deviation of which could set off my mental alarm bells. As usual I stayed friendly, asking his name, but he didn't understand the question, so I layed off with the asking, focusing on my surroundings and any surprises from him. He played straight, got me to my hotel. I feel like he overcharged me a bit, but it was within the realm of fairness, so better to leave well enough alone.

The road to the hotel was pretty straightforward, as I had anticipated, what I hadn't anticipated was that my driver must be without a licence and blind in one eye or something. Outside the airport were a series of dividers about a foot high, which I assume were meant to direct us to some other entrance onto the main road- my driver immediately hits one, and then course corrects, not to find some actual entrance onto the road, but navigating his way THROUGH these obstacles. I thought for sure we'd be trapped between roads, but we made it through okay, whereupon my driver proceeded to favour driving inbetween two lanes, fighting for the right of way with other traffic and buses, and nearly running into some two dozen pedestrians. And, although my driver seemed to be an extreme case, EVERYONE was driving like this. And there was jaywalking as far as the eye could see. The roads here are dangerous, is, I think, the main thing I'm trying to communicate right now.

We passed by the Roosevelt shopping center, with its giant English lettering, and was relieved to know everything was on the right path.

My hotel, the "Home Inn", has friendly, uniformed staff, that also do not know much English. I showed the paper printoff about my reservation, but realized 99% of that page was English, so that was unfortunate. The main source of embarrassment on the part of the hotel people was that I was on the 6th floor, that it has a sloping roof, and that the elevator only goes to the 5th floor- all of this was communicated with a smart phone translating device, something I need to get as soon as possible. I waved all those concerns away as nothing, because, you know, whatever, it's all good. For some reason though there was still an issue- a newly guest translated that they wanted me to pay an amount now that I would get back after I left the hotel-- OH, you guys want a deposit! Cool, that's fine.

There's a man, possibly a security guard, sitting at a couch in the lobby, smoking. Smoking is gross, by the way. The 6th floor, if no other floor, has a no smoking sign. I've also got an ashtray in my room. I'm getting mixed signals here.

My room requires my electronic card key to sit by the door in a slot on the wall to activate the power in the room, which is also cool. There's just a bed, tv, desk, bathroom (I immediately checked the faucet, which had a good flow, no drips. I was immensely relieved.) If I get a new phone that can take pictures I'll have to take a picture while I'm here.

I wanted to do some reconaissance, so I took a shower in preparation to step out fresh. The shower stall was filling up with water, I pretty much just finished my shower before my cup runneth over, so to speak. I figured out that what looked like a clear drain was actually some kind of drain cover, so that was an easy fix. While showering, the room phone kept ringing. I decided not to zip out and pick up, and finished showering. I kept getting called so I didn't have to wait long for a chance to pick up again. And it was Tyler! And he was sorry we missed each other! And he was glad I was safe! We decided to meet in the hotel lobby, so down I went. I didn't want to wait for the elevator, so I stayed on the stairs until it got dark and spooky and it was going to lead me outside instead of to the lobby. I didn't want to end up outside and loose my bearings quite yet, so I decided to return to the inside of the building proper and find the elevator-- which took forever, man I got turned around. And I kept seeing this one room with an elevator like doorway, but nope, there's a knob right there. That was dumb.

Found the elevator (which, by the way, only activates with a door key swipe) and hit the lobby. I wanted to keep cool, so I waited outside the doors (I was only wearing my blue sweater, it was pretty warm last night, something like six degrees? It actually felt much warmer, a really nice night, comparable to Toronto as of a week ago)- the hotel clerk waived me back in, I had a phone call- of course the person had hung up before I could pick up. But a minute later there was Tyler coming out of the elevator with his girlfriend Lilian. I suppose they had tried to meet me at my room? I told them I was going to the lobby...

Tyler and Lilian were really nice and friendly, and neither of them currently work at the Web International English center that I'll be working at. They both used to work there, and Tyler was conscripted to get me despite working at another location. I guess he lives in the area? I wanted to walk over to the Roosevelt center and check things out, so we walked over. I ended up walking into some sharp branches sticking out of the fence of what may be a school, which was embarrassing. Tyler and Lilian were the first to admit that the drivers are crazy here, so it isn't just me. Tyler held up his arm to keep me off the road, he thought I was about to get run over by this car driving up like I'm Mr. Magoo, but I was actually staring at the driver the whole time. Despite notions to the contrary, I can cross a street.

Right at the corner of Roosevelt Center and whatever (not the actual street names) is a statue of fishes flying up in a screw pattern. I commented on having seen that picture when I looked up Dalian online.

Entrance to the mall is blocked by heavy matts that keep in the warm air- it's fun, sort of like I'm about to walk through a car wash. The Roosevelt center is standard, very much like the Eaton Center. It's nice, but not particularly different. There's a McDonalds right by the entrance.

The place where I'll be working is very nice- bright lights, open concept classrooms with glass walls. Very quasi futuristic- it's why I signed up with them after my interview, I saw how nice it looked even back then. Obviously part of the glass walls thing is to keep on the teachers at all times, making sure they work to maximum efficiency. But let's pretend it's just for the good vibes. Apparently my class sizes will generally be 4 people, adults. That's amazing- but even so, I'm starting to worry about whether I'll do a good job here. I hope so! The pressure is really there.

Tyler and Lilian took me up a floor to a cafeteria type place and we toured around looking at the different options. It should be interesting. As of this moment, and for the sake of convenience, I'm expecting to take all of my meals there. You purchase with a card that you pre-load money on to. I put on 100 yuan (pretty sure there were no other options, but how would I know?)- items I saw ranged from 7-16 yuan, which should be okay, though I haven't been brave enough to do the mental budgeting just yet. I skipped off eating just then, as I'd had plenty to eat on my various plane rides. I'm definitely going to slim up some on this trip, which I think I could use. Fingers crossed I don't go too far.

I parted ways with Tyler and Lilian at the subway, assured them that I could find my way back to the hotel (again, almost a straight line) and walked back. Noticed the degree to which the city is not accessible by wheel chairs.

Back at the hotel I got to work going through my bag looking for various chargers and attempting to connect to the internet. I don't see my phone charger, so I must have left it behind. I figure I've got about a day of charge before it becomes useless- and it's actually connected back to something, so I've got the time again, at least untl it runs out of power. I could even make calls, though at a high cost. I set an alarm for 10am the next day, though, as I'm writing now, it's 10:18am and I've been up for a couple of hours now writing this.

Attempting to use either of my two plug adapters while my computer, with its old battery, was chugging away felt like trying to defuse a bomb with half an hour on the clock. You know, there's time, but you're worried. I'd almost given up on the adapters after it seemed like neither of them fit- and that was when I got scared. On the other side of the world, no local language skills, no map, no phone, no clear indication that I can access my bank funds and I've got limited cash on me.

But I didn't give up on the adapter. It seems I just needed to be a bit more forceful than I was comfortable with to get the thing in, to get it to work.

That's what you'd call a metaphor for my situation.

I flipped through some tv channels for about 5 minutes, but wouldn't you know it, none of my favourite shows were on. I turned in for the night at just past 9pm Dalian time, and again, slept really well.

Woke up, did some push ups- I'll have to get back into the push ups habit, which will be good for me. Housekeeping came by and dropped off two fresh water bottles. I didn't drink either of the two that were here when I arrived, so I'm collecting quite a collection, and will therefore not die of thirst (I'd been warned off drinking straight from the tap here). I suppose I'll have to use a portion to rince my toothbrush and mouth after brushing my teeth.

It's a little hazy out, which I'm not crazy about. The weather is cool, but I think just the sweater will be fine again. There was a bird outside my window that looked like a pidgeon but with a longer tail-end, and with brighter colours, like a muted blue.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to post this, nor am I sure whether I'll be able to write as much as I have just now. I wrote a lot, right? Yeesh, it's 10:40. I'm due at Roosevelt at 1pm, and I need to find some food and whatnot.

Wish me luck, have a good day

The end of 2014

Since I started mentioning my Christmas toy donation tradition on this blog I've appreciated it as a record of which toys I've picked up- depending on the toy it tells me what kind of message or value I'd like some kid to pick up: responsibility, hope, diligence, etc. etc.

This year I donated a Spider-Man, specifically "Blitz Board Spider-Man"

I, and I assume most every kid, was never a fan of the various alternate costumes they gave figures- I always wanted to play with the character as seen on tv or the comics. So part of the reasoning behind this choice was that the Spidey figure itself is a regular costume.

Also factoring into the equation was the fact that the container wasn't in the best shape. Oh, it was fine, just that the glue that held the plastic on wasn't quite up to snuff. A kid could easily rip into it at the store and score a free Spidey. As a result the toy was half off.

If you've talked to me at all lately, you know I'm broker than I've been in years. Everything has been getting dumped into school, while I've also been working far less because, duh, I'm in school. A part of me is worried I cheaped out on the kid to get this deal, but the other part of me knows I need to be really smart with my money.
It would be super great if at some point I wouldn't need to use that sentence any more.

As for my Christmas haul? Jordan got me season 5 of the Venture Brothers, Simon got me the complete 80's Ninja Turtles show, which is amazing, and Cool Geoff got me the Shakespeare Star Wars collection, which I hadn't even mentioned to anyone how I wanted that. Thanks guys!

Been a while, here's some library books

I haven't been by here in quite some time. Things haven't been great at all, they've been mighty tough, and I didn't particularly want to share.

Still don't.

But I'm about to return some library books and I wanted to give them lip service- though I will also have skipped a bunch of other books, like 'Flashman' and some of my beloved Horatio Hornblower's (maybe just the one..)

so there was 'How Not To Be Wrong' by Jordan Ellenberg which I thought would aide my argument-making abilities. Nope, just talked about math stuff. I learned about the Laffer Curve, which is basically the representation of effective taxation for the purposes of raising government revenue where you raise the least money ($0) at 0% and 100% taxation, and therefore finding that sweet maximum point in between is what it's all about. And by 'it' I mean deciding what tax rate is the best.

I got super bored with the rest of the book, and was reminded by a girl at work that I didn't HAVE to read it.
Huh. She's right! I'm done with you, boring book!

Then there're two autobiographies

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. Look her up, she's internet meme famous for the "ALL THE THINGS" picture, which is in fact in this book. Quick read, fun. Recommend.

Then I've got the embarrassingly titled "Never Have I Ever: My Life (so far) Without a Date" it's got a bunch of hearts all over the cover, and perhaps this wasn't the manliest book to read on the subway. Whatever. It was really fun. Curse those heartless men, they shoulda been dropping like flies at Katie's feet!

There's an exercise book that I'm going to have to return today, can't renew it. I'll get it back later.

Joke gaffe and mental exercises

The family sat down to watch Robocop last night. Yes, that is a particularly bizarre choice for us, what with the constant sweating and hyperviolence (obviously it would be fine if it was just us younguns).

At one point Simon said "He's more machine now than man." And my dad said something along the lines of 'that could be a line from The Six Million Dollar Man'.

Now, that is exactly something that I would say, it's right in my humour mill- to say something is from X when it's clearly from Star Wars. I mean Y. But I was pretty sure there was no intention of this.

I says- "Dad, you just said something that, were it done on purpose, would be REALLY funny to me. You know that line Simon just said is from Star Wars, right? Specifically The Empire Strikes Back.. no, wait, Return of the Jedi."

But, yeah, no. As expected, total accident. Bummer.

In other news, I've been getting exceptionally tired at work lately. While it's possible to attribute this to my increased frequency of gym attendance, more likely it's the case that with crackdowns and a changing workforce, I'm just not getting chatted with enough to keep me mentally stimulated.

Did you hear it takes 14 minutes on average for people to fall asleep? Yeah, sounds about right.

Considering how ridiculously easy it is to get a second wind with the slightest bit of social interaction acknowledging the fact of my existence, today I took to engaging MYSELF via mental exercises. First I concentrated on pokemon type match-ups; strengths, weaknesses, resistances, and how they stack up. Then I got to thinking about those cool feats of mental ability on t.v. when people play chess in their imaginations. So I pictured a board, figured out the check/space nomenclature (I'm guessing using the best available knowledge.. again, my own head.)- A-G, by 1-8, and then made a white move, followed by a mental flip of the table before making the mirroring move (you'd have to be insane to think I made some different move and was ACTUALLY playing against myself. I wish! That'd be really cool! And totally unverifiable!)

I made three moves and their mirror- the kings side knight to D3, the C2 pawn to C4, and the kings side bishop to C2, along with the corresponding moves on the black side of the board.

This actually helped to pass the time pretty well. I should get to work on some writing that I had previously worked on in my head so I can clear space for a new project, the enthusiasm of which would surely carry me for a few days at any rate.

Yes, I definitely need a new job!

Meet Mr. W.M. Hackman

I had a brainstorm today-

I want to write more, I have a number of projects in my head that want to exist outside of there, but one of the largest stumbling blocks is how impossible it seems to me to take these ideas and make them perfect things, wholly communicative outside of myself. Because of course that's impossible. Wires get crossed, oppourtunities missed, and it just won't ever be perfect. But the attempt is a daunting thing.

But what if it wasn't?

What if I created an alternate persona to do my initial writing for me- a self assured hack that could bounce from one project to the next, comfortable in the notion that whatever he writes will be "eh, good enough for me" and that eventually his old editor Isaac will get to re-emerge, to take these scraps, remold them after the fact, and steal them as his own.

It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

So, a pen-name's the thing, a pseudonym.
Readers are a cowardly and superstitious lot.

I shall become "Will Manning Hackman" (a well-meaning hack...man.)

(This could be the opening chapters for a strange re-telling of the Jekyll/Hyde story. Not that that story really gets all that much stranger)

Anyways, yes, this is just a trick to psych myself up. I'm not actually going insane. Probably.

Pokemon Tournament

Just got back home from the YAMA/York Anime Club's pokemon tournament. Although I got beaten by Jordan in my second round of the singles match-ups (in a supremely bum rap- our first match there's a connection issue, I bring it to the judges attention, Jordan says "I was winning though" and therefore Jordan is declared the winner. Whatever.) our next match-up Jordan legitimately beat my team I guess, but that was hardly a best two out of three situation, is it?

More importantly, in the double battle tournament, Jordan and I started with a buy, then we faced each other (AGAIN? these guys seriously need to figure out a better system..) I won, then faced Mike, who I beat thanks to my skill and luck, mostly skill (thankfully late in the game I had a bunch of misses that really slowed me down, so I feel it kind of balances the number of times he was paralyzed and at my mercy). I won, then lost to Jonas in the finals.

But do you know what that means?

I GOT SECOND PLACE IN THE DOUBLE BATTLE TOURNAMENT AGAIN!!

Two years in a row! I'd been bragging about my standing all this past year, and now I get to do it again!

But I'm tired now, I'm going to nap (10pm naps aren't the norm...)

Thanks for playing! And thank YOU, Keymaster the Klefki!

January is packed

Besides a draft that I started a few weeks ago and never published, this will be my only post for the month again. And right this second I don't have much time to do it- I need to go get comics, go to the library, pick up some groceries for the coming week, do some story discussion stuff over at a buddy's place, go to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (which will be great) and then go to a comedy show to round everything out. Augh, too much. I'm trying to cram four days of stuff into two days without going nuts.

I'm probably failing at that.

I've been working hard, doing the security five days a week. The writers room commitment is over, but I still need to actually write the sitcom the whole thing was for. Man, I need to do that. I've got a month, and I'm not sure my characters will work how I want them to.

Alright, I need to get moving.