I am very tall. And very white.

These are two facts I knew about myself, but they seem to be new thing for many people.

Asia is a fantastic place to visit long-term. I honestly can’t imagine living here forever any more than I could envision myself in Morocco forever. Today, Sunday, I went to the all-denominational church here and was stunned at the number of ex-pats who have relocated here for the long term.

I just couldn’t do that. I have a friend who’s traveling now, scouting locations for her retirement community. She’s in Thailand this weekend. That’s not for me. I’ll wind up in Florida again at some point and not stay abroad for the rest of my life.

But in the meantime, I don’t mind being a two-years-at-a-time nomad, and Asia is a really good place to be stationed for awhile. It’s cheap (well, the parts I frequent are, anyway, the food is good and there are massages to be found everywhere.

Guangzhou has quite a few massage places. Since I mucked up my shoulder at Christmas during an all-body massage after hiking those mountains in Hangzhou, I’ve shied away from those a bit and have instead opted for the foot massage.

To most Americans, feet are those things on the end of your legs that house Nikes, but somehow here a foot massage goes all the way to your scalp. It’s pretty cool but can definitely be painful.

As I’ve been training for this 10k, my legs are absolutely killing me, especially the right calf. A foot massage to rectify that is absolutely the way to go.

I went with a colleague to a place that was new to me. Technically, I think it was new to him, too; it was a place he’d seen on his way to an acupuncturist a couple of weeks before. It said “Amazing Foot Massage,” and no one ever lies in advertising, right?

Since I speak not a word of Mandarin, I tend to just point to things like menus and hope for the best. This particular colleague had some Mandarin but we still had some issues but fortunately found ourselves directed to these big comfy chairs that reclined completely.

Massages here involve tea and fruit, in this case, watermelon. We’d finished the first round with our feet soaking in more tea when the masseuses returned to the room. My colleague, an extrovert, was chatting them up. Completely oblivious to the content of the conversation, I was just trying to relax as my masseuse was working on my feet and legs.

He translated some for me, telling me they’d asked him where he was from originally and then who I was. He’s maybe 5-3 and is a Vietnamese-American. I told him to tell them I was his daughter and mess with their heads.

I don’t know if he did that or not, but my masseuse just kept looking up at me, kicked back in the chair. She finally asked my buddy something and he laughed.

She’d wanted to know about my ancestry because I was so “very tall and very white.”

Whirlwind weeks

Yeah, I missed a week posting. The way things are going, I can barely keep up.

We’re getting lots of new people. Between this past week and the end of the month, we’re getting 10 people in my department. One of the newbies in the other department came from a post where there were only 12 Americans TOTAL. We were talking about some stuff and the contrast in perspectives was rather jarring, not in a bad way; just in a “wow, I forgot that kind of thing was possible” kind of way.

So Thursday evening I was at the airport, waiting on one of the newbies to arrive. We had three people coming in on that flight and four in that night. Of those, only one was not in my department. (He is one who is in the same position I am, though, in another department, and is on his third tour, so I am looking forward to meeting him.)

Looked bizarre so I thought I'd try it. "New feeling of soda beverage"? .

Essentially, it seems that this many new people is just some kind of record. Last year, IIRC, they were more spread out. The way the foreign service works is when you start, you come in and go through training with a “class,” then you get put into the first of two “directed tours.” You get a list and then “bid” on positions. Most posts have one, maybe two, positions available. Well, we’re getting a total of 10 from one class. It’s just insane.

My department has one big boss, two “deputies” who double as “unit chiefs” and then two more unit chiefs. Of these, I have a new big boss, one new deputy and one new unit chief. It’s been a lot of turnover at the top, and the entire atmosphere of the department has shifted. And it’s shifted in a good way.

This is not to say it was in a bad way before. I do not mean that whatsoever. But the new combination of people seems to mix differently than the previous combination of people. So far, the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

When you do teamwork workshops and all that, they say that there are four stages of a team: storming, forming, norming and performing, and you go start over at each personnel change. With a total of over 60 Americans in the department who are on two-year tours, that’s an average of one team member coming and one team member going every two weeks, that’s a lot of time spent in the “storming” phase, just because you can’t get out of it.

But so far, it’s been nice. Of course I say that with the top redone but the first-tour turnover just starting. A bunch of people already left and their replacements are the ones who are starting on Monday.

And the new boss. … I love him. It’s just a very different managing style than before, and I have been included in it. One of the first things he noticed is that I’m it in my position. Everyone knows that somewhere in their brain, but the realization of me having no backup struck him, and he’s already made queries to rectify it. If I am on leave, there are two people (local staffers) who sit at my desk, but my work goes largely undone. Someone who could jump in if I wanted, say, a three-week vacation, would be welcome.

New Boss also was shocked to learn that I am not included in managers’ meetings. I’m not a manager, so no automatic invite makes sense, but since I am “the closest thing to omniscient” that we have (this is what the other new unit chief told me; he’s a fast learner), it makes more sense that I am clued in on what is happening now and what is being considered. I was also given a chance to speak about some administrative issues and encouraged, as well as empowered, to do something about it.

It’s a definite change of pace. I’ve had several people walk up to me and congratulate me for getting this new boss, although I had zero to do with it. (He did say, however, that in his two decades or whatever, I was the most informative and thorough in reaching out to him as a new employee. All three of the higher-up newbies were utterly shocked that I said hi, then handed them their business cards, which I’d ordered months ago.)

It’s been so good this first full week that the old “deputy” told me she was a little concerned that it just could not possibly be this good, so there had to be some inevitable doom headed our way.

Until then, though, I am going to enjoy it.

I have, however, been incredibly busy trying to get people settled in and close out the old regime while starting on the new. Several times over the last two weeks, I have franticly working on something and realized that people were walking past my desk in droves. (I sit near a door.) I looked down at the clock on my screen each time and realized it’s past 5 p.m. I’m just that busy right now.

That’s a little funny because it reiterates every post is different. I was communicating with a friend in Astana and she asked me what “my consular officers” were doing. Taken aback because we’re so busy, I asked for clarification. Apparently they have one person in that department there and that person has gone on vacation because there’s nothing to do. My folks, on the other hand, are examining applications for 150k visas each month, and they have had up to 20 temporary workers to help them out. This might be a slow time for some, but it’s not for us.

Another friend who just left here worked in a different section. There are only maybe nine people in it, but all but three changed over. She’s just arrived back to the U.S. (and is eating well, I hear) and asked how it was going, saying the transition was almost over, right? Uh … for your department, maybe. We’re just getting starting.

But so far, it’s looking good, even if it is going to be super busy for awhile. I don’t mind busy.

Today, I took the couple I sponsored to the glasses market and to see a couple of things around the city. We went to this place where you can buy all kinds of Chinese chintz and I found a little dresser things that I like. I’d seen a similar – but way higher priced – one in Hong Kong earlier and I got the guy’s card. I’ve been to that place one time before and was overwhelmed but did better this time. It’s something like seven floors of crap – very intimidating. But if you think you need it, it’s there. You just have to find it. Zippy would love it.

No great plans for the rest of the weekend. I’m just basking in the happy work environment.

My new boss brought me Junior Mints. How awesome is that?

Pixar planning

Back from the weekend, where my sole goal was to see “Inside Out.” We just don’t get that many pictures here, but Hong Kong usually has better odds. A couple of weeks ago, I decided I was due again and made plans to go.

Originally, I tried to go last weekend, but the first three trains were full, so I postponed it. Sadly, I’d forgotten how quickly movies come and go here. The week before I made plans, “Mad Max” was also showing and I thought I’d do a twofer, but by the time the weekend rolled around, that one was gone. And it looked like the odds of seeing “Inside Out” were dwindling, too!

Fortunately, I did wind up seeing it and completely loved it. First, it’s Pixar, and for the most part, the movies are awesome. I really can’t pick my favorite. It’s like trying to name your favorite Coen Brothers film. I know what’s not my favorite, but that really narrow it down.

Second, I had no idea the main character was named Riley and loved hockey. Sold! Just a fantastic movie.

Anyway, backing up to the planning stage again, I had my ticket in hand and some hostel reserved when I started to verify where the movie was playing and discovered that show times had really been cut drastically.

It was no longer showing in the theater next to where I was staying (and had planned to stay for that reason) and the theaters where it was staying had dropped it to once daily. So long as the timing’s good, that’s not a problem, but logistically, I was scheduled to arrive around 10:30 Saturday morning and leave at 2:30 on Sunday. An 11:30 showtime doesn’t mesh well with either one of those, and that’s what was turning up.

I finally found one theater fairly near the train station (like maybe a total of metro stops on two different lines) at 11:20 and figured if the stars aligned, that would work. My back-up was an 11:30 p.m. showing in what would have been a long way from where I was staying, but that was the only other option.

And the stars aligned, but then fell out of the sky. I got in, breezed past customs (thank you, dip line), got on the train and found the right metro station with no problem. And then the problem. The theater’s ad had said there was a shuttle bus from the metro station to the theater, but it neglected to mention where it left from. There were lots of bus stops, but they were city busses, not shuttles, and everything else was written in Chinese.

At the very least, I figured if I walked really fast, I could get there in time for the thing to start. And I probably could have – if there had been a road. Instead, both exits on the metro put me on the opposite side of where I needed to be, and it was a solid building walking for 5-7 minutes in either direction. It had to have been the longest city block in the world. I didn’t have the address written in Chinese, either, so I couldn’t just flag a cab.

So … no 11:30 showing. Dejected, I went out exploring at that metro stop, which I hadn’t done before. (Hong Kong is a lot like New York – there are just all kinds of places to visit each time you go.) And, upon exiting through a shopping mall of some type, I surfaced outside with a completely different theater in front of me. I went in and discovered that they were showing “Inside Out” as well, but only once a day. Fortunately for me, the English showing was at 8 p.m., so I bought the ticket really early. As it was, there were only about 6-8 seats left.

Deliriously happy that I was going to see the movie, I ran across a Ruby Tuesday’s (American food!) and paid way, way too much for a meal of chicken, broccoli and pasta. I never should have done it, but it was good.

Upon finding my hotel, I went to my fallback Saturday plan, the one where I would still have something to do if I couldn’t see the movie. I went up to a beach and had a great time a wandering around.

The coolest things I discovered (while looking for rocks for me and Riley) were glass rocks. I’ve never seen them before, but the rocks appeared to have been beer bottles in former lives. I found bluish, brown, white and green. They were really awesome and I got a handful. I really don’t know how they got broken and churned up, but they were smooth on the edges and wouldn’t cut you no matter what. I ran into a mom and a little girl collecting them, too. They were going to put them into a bottle to display. I didn’t get that many but maybe I should have! Anyway, I really liked how God used the ocean to return trash to something useful. 

 

While searching the beach for some brown rocks – they were harder to spot – I found a TINY sea urchin shell! It was amazing, but it didn’t survive the trip home. It was not a full inch high. Completely intact until my bad packing job. I opened the little box I put it in and it disintegrated. But trust me, it was beautiful.

My trip was so successful that I decided to quit while I was ahead and head home early. It was only an overnight trip and my ticket was for the 2 p.m. train but I was able to change it and get back by 1:30 p.m.

The train is just phenomenal. I got off the train at 12:45 or something and by 1 p.m. I was solidly on the metro. The train station is only three stops away, so by 1:30 p.m. I was not only home but had stopped at the grocery store.

My roommate, who departs for good on Tuesday, is also out of town so I have the house to myself. I took advantage and cooked, then went back to the grocery store to get the drinks, cups and plates for my boss’ going-away party (still having nightmares over that one) and then baked the world’s ugliest cookies for it. I have no idea what is up with that sugar cookie recipe, but it does not work for me.

So I’m pretty much done for the evening, which is good because I am exhausted. The hostel was fine, but the walls were thin and the bed really hard. I did not get much sleep at all.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day – my new boss starts. So for a week I have two. Not sure how I feel about that part of the deal.