Highlights of what these 5 million people have been taught:

*Don’t match white socks with black shoes (one of my personal pet peeves!)

*It is bad taste to wear more than three colors.

*Only shake hands for less then three seconds.

*Don’t jump queues (lines we call them in America).

*No spitting.

*People were discouraged from visiting neighbors in pyjamas and slippers.

*Men were told to refrain from helping women carry their handbags. (This has definitely not filtered down to Shenzhen where everyday I still see a couple holding hands while they walk with the man having a purse slung around his shoulder or carrying down by his side. And I had just assumed it was his purse all this time!).

*Visits to new friends should not last longer then 10 minutes.

*Don’t swear.

*Women were told to stand with their feet slightly apart, in a V or Y shape, when wearing skirts.  Why is that??

*Males and females were cautioned against putting their faces too close to members of the opposite sex when talking in public. (Must have something to do with the rampant problem of halitosis).

I find it sad that so much effort has been made to try and change the face of Beijing for the tourists who will be visiting during the Olympics. Does anyone really care how others dress? Spitting, though disgusting, has more to do with the pollution problem rather then poor manners. Clean up the skies and I guarantee I will cease to have the need to spit in Shenzhen. Of course waiting patiently in line is an expectation that Americans have, though I have become quite accustomed to jumping queue and find it can be quite time saving even when driving. Though I have never carried a purse, I do always get a smile when I see some bloke carrying his girl’s purse and wonder why no mention was made of the man who carries one while walking solo. And what is with having women stand in a V shape?? Who cares how a woman stands, at least she isn’t squatting. Speaking of squatting, I have finally mastered the technique but hardly find it comfortable to rest that way in public let alone private. Wonder why no mention of not squatting when not in the bathroom?

On the other hand, any effort to have a city of well dressed citizens, smiling while they patiently wait in line keeping their swear words in their thoughts and spit in their mouth can only be a good thing. Wonder if these classes would work in say, New York?

Only a few minor blips as I updatetd WordPress and the K2 for the website. After the last fiasco I backed everything up numerous times. Though I have said it countless time, I really am going to try and start not only blogging but posting photos and keeping our websites current. That will provide me with plenty to do during my next trip to the States in just a few more weeks.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with family at the end of my last trip to the States in May and Pei Lin flew over to join me in celebrating a family reunion on my father’s side. It was the first time in 12 years that me, my sister and three cousins had been together. Even though we don’t keep in touch regularly we caught up like old friends do and reestablished our bond. It was also a great opporunity for Pei Lin to see just why I am the way I am…

We arrived back in Shenzhen to a week of rain before taking a long weekend to Sanya over the Dragon Boat Festival. Our departure was delayed and after what seemed like forever we finally took off and the next morning waking up and taking a walk on the beach made the delay seem like a distant memory. I realized how much I love the beach and the peaceful noise of the waves rolling in.

This past weekend was my birthday and a day of reflection. This year has been good to us and am hoping not only the next 6 months are but many, many more years.

All the thoughts I have for now…Am hoping to write more, especially since on holiday next week in the States followed by a week in the office, so some downtime to pen a little more.

On the upper right corner is a link to the blog Lost Laowei which has links to various ways to contribute to aid relief efforts and will be updated regularly.

First the Shenzhen relay was postponed because the flame reached the top of Mt. Everest and it can’t be in two places at once. The 208 Shenzhen torchbearers were told they only had 1 minute to cover 200 meters each rather then the originally planned 2 minutes which isn’t that big of a deal. Then apparently based on reports in the South China Morning Post , “The Olympic flame was extinguished briefly during the torch relay in Shenzhen yesterday, and witnesses reported that people tried to grab the torch and had to be wrestled to the ground.” And another story indicated that planned route was abandoned because there were too many people and the organizers wanted to take a safer route which angered the tens of thousands of people who had been waiting at the corner and led to some rioting. Mainland media reports, however, said the flame was extinguished because the crowds were too excited and that “normal precautionary measures” were taken to ensure public safety. And not surprisingly, Chinese television, which was filming the progress of the torch, hurriedly cut away. None of the Chinese media carried the story and the South China Mornng Post, in Hong Kong, concentrated on the triumph of the torch reaching Mount Everest.

Maybe the passage of the Olympic torch on the mainland may not be as smooth as expected…

Some Links with more stories and details:

Jesse Warren’s Flickr Site with Photos

Shenzhen: Local Chinese Extinguish Olympic Torch in Protest?

Shenzhen Olympic Torch Relay, The Corner The Relay Forgot

Unknown protesters in Shenzhen attack Olympic runners and extinguish the flame

One of the people who I am grateful to know and blessed to consider a friend works in the accounting department at our corporate office. Since our first meeting almost 6 years ago she is always happy to see me, inquires how I am doing and those in my life I love. She used to send me lots of jokes until I said “too many” and now they are few and far in between!

Two weeks ago while in the States, I stopped by her office to say hello and would have had to be blind to miss the fact she must love purple. Purple dress, purple jewelery, purple shoes, purple flowers and a purple lai! Not usually one to be funny with words, not sure I managed when commenting on how she must have gotten “laid”. Lame, huh? She busted me for not blogging and must admit she is the inspiration on the last few blogs and the updates trying to make to my site, what an rush to know someone actually reads my little piece of the internet!

My purple lady, thanks for your love, friendship and encouragement. You are always a ray of sunshine and a delight to see. Hope you won a few dollars at the casino! I will be back in a few weeks, see you soon!

Overindulging isn’t always bad, just need to learn patience…

The first weekend in Aprils was our first long holiday weekend in celebration of Qing Ming, which means clear and bright in Chinese. It is a festival to hold memorial ceremony for the dead and express one’s grief for his lost relatives. People often go to sweep and weed graves with whole family which are often in the countryside. Hence the English name, Tomb Sweeping Festival. Since Pei Lin and I weren’t able to make it back to his hometown for Chinese New Year this year we decided to return for Qing Ming and spend the weekend with his family.

It had been over a year since our last visit but the neighbors were as excited to see me as the first time I visited Pingtan. Or at least that is what I thought, actually they were excited because Pei Lin drove up and parked in front of his parent’s home. We had rented a car in Chongqing and drove home rather then take the bus and taxi route. Let me tell you, much much more comfortable!

The next day we drove further into the countryside and hiked a couple of hours to Pei Lin’s great-grandfather and grandfather’s tombs and while we didn’t do any sweeping we did give some offerings. We carried in fruit, wine, firecrackers and paper money that were ceremoniously left at each of the tombs. The paper money is burned so that the dead have money in the after life, to buy the things they need I suppose. The firecrackers are to scare away evil spirits. The fruit so they aren’t hungry and the wine to quench their thirst and have a good time. Several of the tombs were very similar to crypts found in traditional American cemeteries and several weren’t marked at all.

This particular list contains some things that are on my personal goals list but most aren’t and doesn’t contain anything I have already done (at list currently).   So without further a do, here is the beginning of my life list…

1. Visit all 7 continents

2.  Sail around the world (or at least across the Pacific or Atlantic)

3.  Attend an Olympic event

4.  Re-learn to play the piano

5. Publish a book

6. Own my own business

7.  Scuba the Great Barrier Reef

8. Be in fluent in at least three languages (English, Chinese and Spanish)

9.  Cherish my soul-mate each and every day for the rest of my life

10.  Attend my 20-year high school reunion in better physical shape then when I graduated.

11.  Ride the Trans Siberian railway

12. Participate in building a Habitat for Humanity home

13. Run a mini-marathon

14. Renovate a home

15. Blog at least weekly

Well, that is a good start… More to come.