KLB - Beijing (19)
To go along with my new life, I am going to start a new blog finally. Stay tuned for more details.
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written by shawn matthews
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KLB - Beijing (18)
Here are some more of the pics I was too lazy to post last night as well as a sneak peak shot of the e-book I'm working on slowly but surely. It will feature lots and lots of photos and the usual inegenious commentary.
Now it's off to the visa center and over to Roline's place and then to her health club for some exercise and swimming again. Looks like I will be free until the beginning of September. Jake is working on getting me in at his Korean international school which has a nice schedule (9-2) and pays in US dollars. There's also a Korean hagwon down the street someone at my health club referred me to, as he is friends with the owner. I went there last week and they were surprised with all the experience I have and that I could speak Korean - they really got a kick out of that. They want me to work there from next week, but I told them I have to wait a bit to see what happens with this other job. Anyway, seems it won't be a problem getting a decent job/pay in this area. If all else fails, Jake says it will be easy to get a lot of private students. There are literally thousands and thousands of Koreans around here.
Oh, some people have been expressing that it may be too soon for me to jump into another relationship or at least too soon to talk about it online after Julie. Well, I don't see what the point is moping around or hiding. Our break up was a long time coming and on a mutual basis. I, at least, harbor no ill feelings at all and wish her true happiness. I am all but sure she doesn't read this blog anymore and last I knew she moved on with her life and met someone else, too. We just weren't meant for each other and that's that.
There's no need to worry about me either. I not only have a new girlfriend, but I also have many other things going for me, including many new friends. I pay rent now and so this is half my place. I'm studying Chinese, playing guitar a lot, writing and exercising and I also have those job prospects. I'm taking it easy for awhile in the meantime. Why not? Everyone should. Life is good and I welcome change. That's how I ended up in Korea in the first place. I don't have any regrets and I think I have a good spirit and outlook on things. I am happy with myself and with my life.
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written by shawn matthews
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KLB - Beijing (17)
Roline left today. We spent the past 5 days together, so I guess we needed a little break, though I've been invited to her place tomorrow. Then it's back to the visa center, which is near her place by chance. Pay more money, get more visa. China is very simple. One month, three months, six, whatever.
Tonight I learned how to type Chinese. I supposed I never really thought about it much, but I always assumed it must be very complicated to type. I imagined some strange keyboard with lots of different shapes you have to punch together to make characters. Man, was I wrong. All you need to do is type the "pinyin" for a word, which is the romanization (English alphabet) of Chinese. Type, for example "hao" meaning "good," hit the space bar and there's the most relevant character. Hit enter and there you have it: 好 (this probably won't display right when published on Blogger but trust me, it's the right character.)
Nothing else going on. On a side note, John, my friend from Boston, finished his job and is leaving Korea tomorrow for good. He's going to Japan for a week to look around, then back to America for a month then back to Japan for a year, so he plans.
Thank you Roline for getting Chinese to work on my Korean laptop and teaching me how to use it.
Here I am sneaking a photo of her as she prepared for the previous shot. She's relecutant for me to take her picture now because "your camera makes people look ugly!" And all this time I thought I was just ugly - and here it was the camera's fault the whole time! Phew! Really, though, Canon seems to be better for outdoor, scenic shots. She just got a new Casio model recently which she likes (in her hand in the previous shot) and her phone takes pretty decent 2 MP pictures too. I'll see if she will send me some shots later...
Guess I'll need to change the name of my blog to go along with my new life sometime soon...
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written by shawn matthews
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KLB - Beijing (16)
I just got back from 2 days at Roline's (Lou Li Rong's knickname). By the way, she is 24 and she shares a surprisingly nice (I was shocked, to put it simply) apartment with her 27 year old sister, DanDan, who has taken a genuine liking to me, thank God.
I was a bit nervous about meeting her, especially coming from Korea where it's very rare to meet a girl's family members (though I did meet Sona's parents, the girl in the IOF book) - not to mention being invited to spend the night two nights in a row! But her sister is just as kind as Roline, and also just as beautiful, though more traditionally Chinese. She can't speak English much - nothing like Roline who works as a translator and is fluent. But she studied singing and once she was comfortable around me sang some famous traditional Chinese songs and even a Sarah Brightman tune, Scarborough Fair. She will be opening a Si Chuan style restaurant next month, too. They are both from Si Chuan province in Southern China and treated me to a feast at their favorite homestyle restaurant. If you happen to be in China, let me know. DanDan, after meeting me and seeing how happy Roline and I are together, has suddenly become very interested in meeting a foreigner, one who hopefully is tall, can speak some Chinese and wants to get married and make a "beautiful mixed-blood baby" someday. I'm not kidding. She said this to me. No more Chinese men. She even went out yesterday and bought an English study book for beginners. She's inspired!
Later, while we were at the Olympic swimming pool at their fitness club, she got me to ask a foreigner to talk to her. The guy thought she was beautiful and reluctantly admitted he had a girlfriend and saying that "if I didn't have one this would never happen to me in a million years." If you could see DanDan, an extremely pretty Chinese girl, in her bikini looking at him longfully with "give me a mixed baby eyes" you would understand his agony.
So anyway, I was very surprised to be invited to sleep at their place and to feel so at home and welcome. The three of us had so much fun together. I guess I should note that they slept together in DanDan's room and I slept in Roline's, very comfortable on a nice bed in the pleasant air conditioning in case anyone is thinking something kinky took place. Dandan, who cracks me up by the way trying to speak English to me, wanted me to spend the night there yet again, a third time, but I wasn't about to wear the same underwear once more.
I am honestly touched by how easily these girls have befriended me and treated me so nicely already. It was as if I was family. They are so giving and warm hearted and genuine. They've even invited me to stay with them at their second apartment in Si Chuan in October and to meet the rest of their family who lives down there - including, gasp! - their mother.
Well that was more than I planned to write in this update and Roline is here at my place now and has just finished translating some documents for her boss. We're both exhausted after another long day bicyling though Beijing and swimming and exercising at the fitness center. Stay tuned. I have some more pictures of her I will post when I get them onto the computer.
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written by shawn matthews
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