You lose!

We have something in this line of work called a “losing post.” It looks like Guangzhou will be one for me.

A losing post is the opposite of a gaining post. These terms are used in this job for, when you transfer, your old job site and your new one.

When you plan your departure, you have about 60 days leeway and you are supposed to “negotiate” with the two to figure out when you can leave, what training you can take, and when to arrive. In these negotiations with you – allegedly on your side – is sort of a job advisor.

I’m about six months out from changing posts, so I have to start thinking about the transfer. I thought this was an easy thing, since I already had a proposed training schedule and everything.

My new start date is supposed to be May. That was back when I was to leave here in December. At that point, the higher office here that controls staffing in China asked me to stay longer. I’d been scheduled to take an 8-week language class in February, but I agreed to stay – with the backing that I would get a 6-week course in HR, which I really want. That class is scheduled to start May 2 and go until June 10. I got the OK from the gaining post that it should work.

However, that was back in May. There’s a new person in Istanbul now, and I learned this week that I am not going to be allowed to take that class, one reason of which is because I am expected to arrive in May.

And that’s a wrinkle. A really, really big one. See, I also have what’s called home leave. This is a time when Congress tells all foreign service people that they must be in the U.S., in order to stay in touch with America. Congress mandates that a foreign service officer must take at least 20 days, but I will have just over 30 days. And you know what? Since I am not being allowed to take the class I want, I want to take ALL my leave.

So even if I depart the first day I am able to from Guangzhou – April 1 – using 33 days of home leave would put me in D.C. on 5/18 or so. There is one class that I must take and it’s an entire week, so I’d have to take it the following week.

Well, that Friday is Memorial Day. I shouldn’t have to move over a holiday weekend. And if I don’t, then I can’t leave until May 31, which would put me arriving on June 1. Which, last I checked, is in June.

So I just can’t figure out why I can’t get an extra week or so of class. Even if I can’t get the one I really want, there are other classes that DC deems more appropriate for my career. (Note: The reason I want the HR class is because it would have been so very helpful in my current assignment. My new assignment is even more HR-laden, so it seemed appropriate.)

Anyway, the job advisor person isn’t on the same page as I am. This is a three-party negotiation, and so far two of the parties have coughed up a lot. My current post is willing to let me leave on April 1 – they’d like me here until April 30 – and I am forfeiting a class that I really, really want AND that the new post told me I could have. Beyond that, I gave up an 8-week language course. So far, the gaining post has continued to chant “May! May! May” and yielded nothing.

And my job advisor came up with the brilliant idea of forcing me to leave Guangzhou in mid-March. This is not something that I want, nor is it something that Guangzhou wants.

I’m trying to schedule a time to call my job advisor about it; I’m wondering if wires haven’t gotten crossed somewhere. It just shouldn’t be this hard.

Back in town

After three weekends away, I’m finally back. For awhile, anyway.

Last weekend, I went to Taipei. A group of people had gone from all over China, maybe about 30 in all. I’d been there before but this time around went to a little touristy city up on a mountain.

When we planned this weekend, we hadn’t realized that not only was it Columbus Day, but also Taipei’s national day. Last year, that wasn’t an issue because we chose to go to Hong Kong, but this time, the city selection proved a little silly. It was super crowded and we couldn’t get deals on hotels like we had in Hong Kong.

Nonetheless, we all found housing. We also found people everywhere, especially in the little mountain city. (It’s where some film, “Spirited Away,” was set. I’ve never seen the movie.) The big thing to see was a little narrow street with all kinds of cool shops. It was also filled will all kinds of people, and by that I mean mostly Japanese tourists.

We also did food and the night market, which are the things to do in Taipei. I also did my thing, which involved Krispy Kreme. Yes, so far as I know, it’s the nearest Krispy Kreme to me, and I made the most of it.

In the end, I was glad enough to have gone again. It was nice to be with people and not just go somewhere alone. I’m not as big a Taipei fan as are some that I work with and wouldn’t have gone back on my own again, but with the group, it was a good weekend away.

Having three holiday weekends also meant three less-than-five-day work weeks. We had a four-day, a two-day, and then another four-day. Quite honestly, I am ready for a five-day, which is good because those start again tomorrow.

On Friday before my weekend in Guangzhou, my department took a cruise. For mostly everyone but me, it was fun. For me, it was a logistical nightmare. For a select crew that I have not yet figured out, it was a no-go, because they missed the boat.

I’d sent out an email wherein I said “the boat leaves at 7:30” eight times. Basically it was every other line in the email. I’d arranged with the boat guy to buy me another five minutes, just in case, and what do you know but people didn’t even make that.

I held out as long as I could, but the boat guy was taking off so I left my “wave ‘em in” spot and got on. We started the engines to pull out and I heard a commotion at the dock. Looked up and there was another person, so I frantically waved her in. She made it, but started berating me, saying I “should have told them in the email” that it could take awhile to get there in a cab. Seriously? It’s a city of 15 million people and it’s rush hour. Can you not figure that out? Or, you know, ASK SOMEONE?

So basically that just added to my stress. I know of there people who definitely didn’t make it. I have no idea how they will react tomorrow. I just hope they don’t expect a refund. It was pretty darn clear what time the boat was going to leave. (Indeed, I found out later that, at 7:33 on the boat, when I was still waving in people, the folks on board were wondering aloud why they hadn’t left yet.)

But all in all it was a success. Next week’s project is to continue collections for Marine ball tickets, of which we will purchase as many as possible and then hold drawings for winners. Right now, I have collected enough for maybe five tickets (of which I purchased one). Last year, we had 11.

And now I am on the tail end of what’s been a successful weekend in Guangzhou. I did 14K on the treadmill in 90 minutes Saturday morning, then napped til 10, worked 1-4, then hit the wet market and bought veggies for the first time in a month. Also finished a book that I didn’t really like but had invested a lot of time trying to figure out, so I stuck with it.  Then I chilled out – well, sweated, anyway – in the steam room and sauna.

After setting my alarm for 12:24 a.m., I got up, remembered in a haze why I’d set the darn thing, I Slingboxed the FSU game until 3 a.m., crashed until 6, then got up and did 10k on a couple of milder settings. My hips hurt so bad yesterday it was not funny. I was limping like crazy. I have no idea what I was thinking on this 10k. I’m going to die.

Anyway, I got back into the usual weekend routine by hitting the grocery store, which redefined crowded and raises your blood pressure, cooking my week’s meals and then getting a massage. I’m still sore but not limping. My other task was getting a light bulb changed, which is harder than it seems. It involves contacting the front desk and explaining what I need when I have zero language skills, but I got it done.

Basically, it’s been a really domestic weekend and I don’t mind a bit. I still have a couple more things to do, like wish Leila a happy birthday, but I’m really glad to have not commuted to or from either the airport or the train station this week.

Next week is in town, too, but the following weekend I head down to New Zealand. This has been in the works for awhile, but I haven’t done much planning beyond signing up for a tour of the south island. Now it’s finally the “next trip” and I guess I should get in gear.

Fill ‘er up in Dhaka

Banyan tree with a temple thing

 Now there is one. Coming into a two-year tour in Guangzhou, I had a whole slate of South, East and SE Asia that I hadn’t visited. Since I’ve been here, I’ve visited the Philippines, Mongolia, Bhutan and even Kazakhstan. My travels started in earnest about March 2014 (I can’t count Seoul – nice, but not exotic enough to make this list) in Bangladesh. And what do you know, with just one more to go – Brunei, and I’ve no idea how/when I can get there – it circled back to Bangladesh.

I’m not sure whose fault that was. The whole issue confused me during my entire three-day stay in Kathmandu. Yes, I finally got to Kathmandu! (And of course, I can’t get the dadgum song out of my head.) This had been in the works for awhile, but I was really kind of freaked about it.

Seriously, I tried to get there previously. I’d even bought tickets for Memorial Day, and then the April 25 earthquake happened, and China Southern canceled my direct flight. I opted to go to Burma instead. Oh, yeah, left that off the list. But Kathmandu remained on it, and I finally repurchased flight tickets, though not through Expedia – I’m done with that.

The thing is, China Southern either did away with or cut back on its nonstop flights, so I had to go indirect. Being from Tallahassee, where even if you crash you still have to go through Atlanta, this wasn’t such a big deal, but the only flight I could get was on Malaysian, that of the “go missing” flight.

Rubble from Kathmandu temple

So … Kathmandu on Malaysian airlines. What could possibly go wrong with that, right?

Fortunately, nothing. I just got back and had an amazing time. Granted, I’m dragging right now because my two-leg flight started at midnight and ended at 2 p.m., but I’ve done laundry, loaded up my photos and have eaten dinner. I’m trying to hold out to 8 p.m, after which I plan on melting into bed.

Anyway, after Bon Jovi for the Mid-Autumn holiday, I decide to do the rest of Golden Week – Chinese National Day – in Nepal. I knew I wouldn’t have time to do any trekking to Everest Base Camp or anything like that, but I figured even if I just wandered I’d be fine, assuming no other earthquakes hit.

And they didn’t. I hired a guide (got the name from the Kathmandu embassy and would recommend the guy) and we wandered through the valley for two and a half days. The rubble is phenomenal, but plenty remains. I have to say I am so very tired of temples, but I saw more temples. (Honestly, I don’t know or care about the differences between Hinduism and Buddhism, but I do find the different art interesting.)

For Zippy. I also saw Applebee and S.U.B.way.

The religions – just don’t get. And I get those two confused all the time, but we would go to one thing and Kumar would explain that this was for the god of _____, and people would come and leave stuff. In one place – and this completely blew my mind – there was a “living god.” He went on to explain this ritual where 4-year-old girls go through the equivalent of beauty and dare contests to be chosen/nominated/voted/not sure of the right verb as a “living god.” At least until menstruation, anyway. Then they do it again. But in the meantime, she is dressed up in an outfit that makes Jon Benet Ramsey look like a redneck and kept in this courtyard, where her feet never touch the ground. She’s either walking on velvet or being carried around. I just don’t understand.

Second-floor chicken

And the kama sutra. Bhutan had penises, but Nepal had sex ed carved into the temples. Never seen this before. Apparently the child brides of the past were taken to the temple to look at pictures for a how-to guide. They still stand today. And bend over, too.

But temples are the thing to do in Nepal, at least if you’re not hiking, and I did temples. I went to 3-4 UNESCO sites and saw lots of cracks in the rubble and beams holding this or that up. They really are trying to rebuild, but how do you rebuilt something from the 17^th century.

The one temple that Kathmandu was named for was completely leveled. Others still had the little deities standing, but they were facing a pile of rubble. I also saw more rats than I have since walking home from the Jakarta Globe.

Predates the fuel shortage, I'm sure

The Kathmandu valley is just that – a valley between mountains, including the Himalaya. So we had to transport back and forth between the places. Normally, this isn’t a problem, but this time it was, and from what Kumar told me, it was all India’s fault.

Somehow, and I still don’t understand this, India and Nepal are in talks about this or that (I tried to read some article, and “diplomats disagreed” popped up over and over). As a result, there are protests and holdups. One of the holdups is that India is not getting fuel to Nepal anymore. And this is where the fuel comes from, so there are few taxis. What they have, though, are lines of taxis and buses – like 20, 30, 40 – lined up, engines off, in phantom lines for gas.

The taxis that are running are gouging riders, especially tourists, because they have no idea when they will get gas again, so they have to make it worth their while. (And let’s face it, because tourists are easy prey.)

One alternative is the city buses, which reminded me of Morocco’s. And as much as I love Morocco, the transport system is not enviable. It’s downright scary, but that’s what we took.

Loved the view

The buses are very suspect, even before you realize they’re crammed with three times the safe number of people. The count includes those extra three people sitting in a two-person seat, the guys hanging on for dear life outside the open door and the ones sitting on the roof.

This was my transport for two days. My guide kept apologizing for it but it really wasn’t that bad. Again, it reminded me of Morocco. I certainly don’t miss that part of Morocco, but I lived through that and I made it through the weekend here.

On Day Three, we could only get to one other location and just couldn’t get a bus, so that was it for the trip. Kumar wound up walking home and I wandered back to some of the places I’d visited previously and started spending money. I bought two pairs of pants and three shirts for myself, but they’re not exactly the kind I can wear to work. I have a lot of trouble splurging on myself. On one pair of pants – one I’d returned to after seeing the first day – I had to, literally, sit myself down and talk me into it. They were $5.

Kama sutra  temple. In case you thought I was lying.

I didn’t get a yak shawl, which, now, I think is a shame. I don’t wear shawls but have several; this was my reasoning in not getting one. They were 300 rp, which is about $3. I haven’t worn the one from Bhutan once, so I decided to skip it. Then I wound up with 700 rp left over. The changers wouldn’t just give me $6 – they said their fee wouldn’t be worth it to me – so I wound up spending it in the airport, on a 5-pack of Oreos, two baby canned juices (pomegranate and pineapple) and a Twix bar. That was about $7. I would have been better off with two shawls, even if I never wore them. Sigh.

The fuel crisis lingers, and it wasn’t limited to auto fuel. Tourists restaurants were running low, shuttering them, and then on the way back I got thrown for a loop at the airport. I’d gotten a notice the day I left for Nepal that the arrival of the flight to KL had been postponed by an hour. Not the departure, just the arrival, and that confused me. But hey, I can roll with that, right?

But when I checked into the airport, I got the explanation: we had to pull over in Bangladesh to get gas. There’s no airplane fuel in Nepal, either.