SinoPenn

As my job takes me out of town quite a bit, I thought I’d share some of my experiences as I travel.

Dandong is up north in Liaoning province, right on the border of North Korea. All that’s standing between me & 1/3rd the “axis of evil” is the winding Yalu River. Two bridges stretch across the border, though only one of them is actually complete. At night, you can see where the border is as only the Chinese side of the bridge is lit.

I’ve yet to attempt to cross the bridge, knowing all the warnings about shooting westerners on sight & such.

Dondong’s local beer, also called Yalu River is okay, comparable to Suntory or most other local brews around China. There’s a few expat bars in town. One right around the corner from the Aston English School is the Sunlight Bar. It’s famed for having the coldest beer in Dandong, and rightfully so. Other than that, from what I’ve gathered so far, most foreigners here hang out at Korean bbq’s & outdoor restaurants… when it doesn’t rain.

It rains quite a bit here, but the weather is still mild, compared to Shanghai. Pullution levels are down, but the humidity can be a killer at times. The city itself boasts around 300,000 in the city limits, more than a million if you count the outlying areas. Right across the river is the North Korean version of Dandong, though I haven’t gotten it’s name yet.

I finally got to North Korea yesterday… sort of. I went on one of those boat trips mentioned in the article I posted above. It was just that. Chinese gawking at the North Koreans along the beach. One thing Sinuiju has that Dandong hasn’t is a good sandy beach! There must’ve been a few hundred kids on the beach yesterday. Close to the beach is a school where they learn about their “beloved leader”. Down river a bit more were a few rusted out boats, and a couple of what I imagine is their military vessels. Every so often on the shore, you could spot one of the guards, rifle in hand. Inside the city of Sinuiju itself, the women supposedly have to wear a certain kind of outfit. White & blue striped shirt with a blue skirt, probably similar to what some of the schoolkids in China wear.

The boat tour in total lasted about 15 minutes. Back on the shore, sellers were selling North Korean money. I managed to buy 115 RMB’s worth for 15 RMB. It could be fake, but as Sabrina explained to me, it could be real because no one here wants North Korean money, and the North Koreans themselves have no real use for it.

I’ll try to get the pics online on Monday when I get to Shenyang.

I’ve been in Baoji for the last month, doing things like promotion classes, flyering, scheduling, unscheduling, rescheduling & signing up tons of new students for the new term. This is the gist of my job.

I’m basically the harbinger of doom, the enforcer & the company hitman if need be.

If I come to a school, it basically means something got seriously fucked up. Not everytime, but most of the time. Case in point, Baoji. The former manager managed to single-handedly fire just about the entire english speaking staff. The two that were either too nervous to say anything, or just didn’t speak English, survived the mass cuts. That same manager has since then been demoted back to Teacher, and eventually fired from that role as well. Hence I enter the scene.

My job this time had me assume the role of manager, get the staff back, get the students back & rebuild the school’s reputation with both current students & their parents as well as new students & parents. The Chinese manager, Erin Lv (sounds like Lu) when I first got here, was back in her hometown getting things ready for her marriage. The rest of the staff was basically back with the firing of the former manager, so that was easy. The hard part came with trying to convince them that not all foreign managers are ready to can the Chinese at the drop of a qipao. Fortunately the staff here are excellent, hard workers who honestly want the school to succeed, and Erin’s a smart person who knows what it takes to get this place whipped back into shape. That made convincing the parents & students all the more easier.

We hit every local school with thousands of flyers, organized promotion classes to get the people in the door, collected some old debts from other schools & basically pulled people off the streets and threw them right through the 2nd floor window to get them into the promo class.

The hard work is starting to pay off. Numbers are up, the promo classes are filling, and best of all, the new foreign manager is here now, and THAT means I can finally get back to Grace & Shanghai once again.

By the way, THIS is a qipao. Imagine your girl wearing (or dropping) this!