Monthly Archives: January 2006

New Year’s Redux: More Bang, Less Suck

Welcome To The Year of the Dog Today I begin my second journey through the noisy, exciting and sometimes dangerous world of the Chinese New Year. Though last year was simply amazing, in that I had never seen anything like it before, this year has afforded me an experience even more unique and rewarding – …

January 28, 2006
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Mad(e) In Canada

The following is my response to an e-mail forward sent to me by my friend Katie in Canada about Canada losing jobs to lower wages in developing nations. The original FWD is below. I think my perspective is perhaps biased because I’ve met people here in China who work at these factories that build things …

January 28, 2006
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Googlie Eyes & Google-ish Lies

Right, despite my post yesterday about The Freezing Point… the big big China Watchers news lately seems to be about Google.cn’s launch. Following in the footsteps of MSN and Yahoo, Google has opened a .CN affiliate so all the Chinese can feel special about viewing targetted advertising, country specific searches, and more newsworthy, have their …

January 27, 2006
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A Hundred Flowers Bloom

“Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.” / “百花齐放，百家争鸣” – Chinese Poem I’ve long advocated that “free country” and “free press” go hand-in-hand. A free press acts as a watchdog for the government, assuring that they aren’t misappropriating the public’s money or trust. It might not be a perfect system …

January 26, 2006
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I Hate Minorities

Hell, if that subject line doesn’t give me some hits… perhaps posting some photos of how they “farm” cats for food here in China might. But yeah. The votes are in, no signs of a recount, and despite being OH so many thousands of kilometres away… I would like to firmly shout… ‘WHAT THE HELL …

January 24, 2006
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And It Begins With A Bang

Xiao Nian Kuai Le 小年快乐 (Happy Small New Year) Hey, so it’s all beginning. It’s one week out from the Year of the Dog (ç‹—å¹´) and as such today is considered Small New Year, but you wouldn’t know it from all the fireworks going off. I had foolishly forgotten exactly what I was in for …

January 22, 2006
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Hu’s On First

Here is a meeting between the American President and his National Security Advisor. (We take you now to the Oval Office.) George: Condi! Nice to see you. What’s happening? Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China. George: Great. Lay it on me. Condi: Hu is the new leader of …

January 15, 2006
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Primary Motivation

Right, so I just finished working five straight days at a primary school, and my poor white ass is whipped. My god, is teaching in primary schools ever a different experience than teaching in an additional learning centre like Future School. The school, YuWen (育文), is not far from where I live in JinSanJiao (金三角). …

January 14, 2006
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Tradition Verses Political Agenda

It’s an ever-constant source of amusement to me to think of what it must be like behind that red curtain where the buttons and levers are pushed and pulled by the Wizards of China. I mean, you’ve got this group of people who are charged with the daunting task of keeping things running in one …

January 3, 2006
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All Is Quiet On New Year’s Day

Well, it’s been 2006 for 16 and a half hours… and I really don’t see what’s so ‘new’ about this New Year. In one of the most inactive New Year’s eves I’ve had in my adult life, I did absolutely nothing. Because Future School gave us no time off for the ‘holiday’, I had to …

January 1, 2006
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