Dancing with Obama's Brother.

  This week's blog is dedicated to Mark Nesti and Wes Oetinger.  Mark, my brother, turned 55 this week, and Wes, my other brother, turned 48.  Happy Birthday again guys!!!

CIVILIZED QUESTION:  Is it more civilized to be politically correct or to tell it like it is? Hmm!!!  Case and point.  The other day, Cecelia and I were walking and we came upon an empty cigarette packet on the ground.  As I picked it up to throw it away, I noticed some large writing in big black letters covering the front of the packet that said "SMOKING WILL KILL YOU".  It also said on the side "PEOPLE THAT SMOKE DON'T LIVE AS LONG."  Unlike our country where the Surgeon General sugar coats it in number 6 font on the side of the cigarette packet.  I personally like the Chinese packet better.

TEACHING:  Teaching this week, as I mentioned last week, was rather uneventful.  I did a sample lesson on Monday for some teachers in my department.  I did a dynamic lesson on adding like terms.  I incorporated drawing and design into the lesson.  I also used the SMART board, which by the way wasn't very smart because it didn't work.  I had to scrap that part of my lesson and improvise.  Such is the nature of teaching and attempting to use technology.  Most of the comments were great.  The thing that you need to understand is that most of the teachers were English teachers.  The English teachers liked the lesson, because most of them finally understood the details regarding adding like terms.  The comments I received from the Chinese teachers were pretty good except the one in which they said it was too easy for the students and whether the lesson was actually in the book.  Anyway, my students enjoyed the lesson and most of the students finished.  For such an easy lesson there were still a couple of students that had a difficult time finishing.  So much for making sure that the students understood from the previous year.  Their teacher from the previous year was the same one that said it was too easy.  The rest of the week was uneventful at school, other than trying to reconfigure the touch screen smart boards to English on my days off.  Amazing how my part of the school is supposed to only be speaking and working in English and yet all the Windows versions on the SmartBoards are in Chinese.  They want me to do a training on the Touch Screen Smart Boards, but I can't until they change all of the versions of Windows to English.  Great way to spend three days off, not!!!!!!!

ADVENTURES:  Obviously from the previous section you probably got the impression that I wasted the days that I had off.  I didn't really.  On Tuesday,  I took my girls out to lunch and played Badminton with the them.  After that I went with my new friend Tim and gave him a golf lesson.  We then went and had coffee for a couple of hours.  Tim is a great guy and is from England.  He is an entrepreneur and currently works in plastic design and manufacturing.  He has a goal to create a live in entrepreneurial school in the French Country Side.  I didn't charge him for the lesson, I just told him that one day I would call on him to do something for the family.  I was impressed that he got the Godfather reference and he said he didn't have a problem with that.
  Wednesday was spent working on an article that I wrote for a Golf Website.  It isn't just about golf so if you would like to read it, you can go to www.impactzone.com.  The article is called "Did you say 10 cm swing bottom or  qiu gan bai dong 10 li mi???"  I am proud to say that they published it and I got rave reviews from some of my colleagues in the golf industry.  Even if you are not a golfer, it is kind of a funny article so it is definitely worth the read.
  Thursday I did play golf.  I have to say I am touched and impressed with those of you that have been concerned about me not playing as much golf.  The extra practice on the chipping green and driving range has really been paying dividends.  I shot 76 and that was with two balls in the water.  I am hitting the ball better than I ever have.  I played with my new friend Michael.(There will be more later about Michael and the dinner invitation that he gave Cecelia and I.)  Later that day, I went and picked up my scooter buddy Paul.  We got back from the airport around midnight.  We are all glad to have Paul home in China.  He was missed while he was away for 10 days.
  Friday was supposed to be the lead into a quiet weekend, but the school magazine came out with an impromptu dinner party for those of us that were published in the magazine.  Paul and I both wrote articles that were published.  The magazine has a subscription of only about 6000, but it is a very nice magazine.  I think there will be an internet version very soon for you to check it out.  The editors were very impressed with our articles and we have been asked to be continuing writers for the magazine.  I was also honored with them wanting to publish parts of my blog in it as well.  I think they are using the Mr. Cute Squishy Fish story next month. (By the way Paul's real Chinese name is Bao Yu.)  After the dinner party we went out for a drink or two with some of our friends.
  Saturday!!!Saturday!!!Saturday!!!  I mentioned earlier that while playing golf my new friend Michael invited Cecelia and I out to dinner on Saturday evening.  We weren't expected to go out until 6:45 pm so we had a quiet morning and then went on a scooter ride with Paul.  He really loves his scooter and commented that he really missed it while he was away.  So we took him to the Cobra restaurant to show them to him and then onto the driving range and grocery store.  It was a beautiful fall day, if you can call the days here fall.  It was about 70 degrees with a slight breeze.  We actually got a little chilly riding the scooters in shorts.  I have been watching the weather back home each day, can't say I miss it!!!  Anyway when we got back to the house, Cecelia and I had planned on going upstairs and taking a short nap before we went out.  This was about 4:30.  About 15 minutes later I get a call from Michael asking us where we were.  I told him we were at home and that I thought we weren't getting together until 6:45.  Apparently it was supposed to be 16:45, which is 4:45 military time.  I obviously didn't imagine us going out to dinner at 4:45 so for some reason I didn't understand the 16:45 time.  So Cecelia and I threw ourselves into the shower to do a quick clean up.  We put on some moderately nice clothes and then headed out the door.
  At this point in the story I have to explain a little about the relationship I have with Michael.  When I first started going to the driving range I had an issue with my ATM card.  He was kind enough to help me out and speaks decent, but not great English.  Which means that since I don't speak great Chinese, when we are together it can be dangerous.  Michael is the owner of self service water purifying systems.  He supplies many of the factories in the area in which we live.  I began helping him with his golf game at the driving range and we have become fast friends.  So, as I mentioned it before when he invited us to dinner with him and his wife on Thursday, I told him that I needed to talk with Cecelia and then I would let him know.  I talked with Cecelia that afternoon and we confirmed the dinner date.  Now understand my wife was concerned about what to wear to the dinner party, so I sent a text to Michael to have his wife email Cecelia what to wear for the evening.  I should have known that when Cecelia didn't get the email that this was the first glitch in the plans.  So, anyway when Cecelia and I flew out the door that evening we were dressed nice but casual.  Cecelia was still concerned with her black velveteen pants and long grey shirt.  In my opinion she looked hot. When we got to where we met Michael's friends and wife she felt a little better.  Michael's wife was wearing jeans, Converse tennis shoes and a long sleeved shirt.  By the way, Michael was wearing a plaid dinner jacket with a totally different plaid shirt underneath and a tie that had diamonds on it.  He also had jeans on and black patent leather shoes that were as shiny as tux shoes.  I was good, since I had black slacks on with a nice matching golf shirt and grey cardigan sweater.  My wife thought I looked rather dapper.
  Enough about fashion.  We then loaded into Michael's car and headed out.  While on the road I said 'Dui Bu Qui", which means I am sorry and explained to them in English and my limited Chinese about my error in time.  They said it wasn't a big deal and we had a pleasant ride teaching each other Chinese and English.  I was enjoying the ride so much that I didn't pay attention to the fact that we had driven into Guangzhou.  As I have mentioned before Guangzhou is about 45 minutes from our house.  Cecelia and I realized at that point that we were in for a late night.

Sitting in the Rickshaw on the craziest night so far!!!!

  The rest of this story is so surreal that Cecelia and I can't believe it really happened.  Anyway, when we get to Goungzhou we pull into The China Hotel/Marriott.  The China Hotel is the oldest and first five star hotel in Guangzhou.  It is very beautiful and very international.  There were many people from all around the world in the lobby.  Cecelia and I were feeling that old apprehension about whether we were dressed appropriately for a dinner in a five star hotel.  Michael informed us that we had arrived about an hour early, so he took us out walking in the city.  He showed us another wholesale clothing district.  This place not only has the clothes to buy, but has separate stores for the designer bags and tags to give to the customers when they leave.  There were also mannequin stores available.  They are a little creepy at night.  Anyway, we made our way back to the hotel and still had not met up with Michael's other friends, Ken and Mr. Lee.  Michael made a call and we then walked to another area of the hotel.  As we approached the front entrance to the Marriott section of the hotel, Cecelia and I realized we weren't dressed appropriately.  In the lobby there was a group of men wearing tuxedos and ladies with circa 1920's dresses on.  The were dressed to the nines as you would say.  We thought we had one last reprieve as they walked up a giant Paramount sign and we were directed to an escalator that went up a side entrance.  When we got to the top of the escalator, the reprieve was over and we were thrust into a 1920's Shanghai Movie themed ball.  We were promptly checked into the party and given sunglasses.  I was then grabbed by Michael to take a picture with one of the characters at the party.  Unbeknownst to me I had my picture taken with the most important man of the evening.  I didn't have a clue who he was, and he was apparently a famous American in the movie industry.  After that we wandered around and had some hourdevous and a glass of wine.  It was an open bar and originally we got the amount of wine that you would get at a wine tasting.  I learned one very important lesson that evening.  When you tell a Chinese bar tender that the wine is excellent he is very appreciative and will pour half a bottle of wine into your glass.  I walked back to Cecelia and she was amazed at the amount of wine in my glass.  I shared with her my lesson learned.  After having wine and some food, Cecelia and I started to loosen up about the dress code, because there were others that had been as surprised as us and were unprepared.  Cecelia and I took the picture in the RickShaw and then we finally caught up with Michael's friends.  Of course the conversation got around to talking about golf.  We then got to know Ken and Mr. Lee better.  Ken owns a company near our home that manufactures the lighting in large buildings.  His latest contract was with two airports in America and a train station somewhere else that I don't remember.  Mr. Lee is the CEO of a copper processing and manufacturing plant.  As teachers, we were beginning to feel out of place.  The only thing we had in common with these movers and shakers was golf.
  At this point the crowd began to move out of the rooms. We were apparently  going in to have dinner.  Now just imagine going back in time to the 1920's and walking into a ballroom all decked out with some minor 20th century touches added.  The tables were tricked out with five course dinner plates, fresh roses and these amazing bread sculptures that looked like Davinci sculptures.  I was afraid to touch them during dinner because they were so amazing.  There were also Chinese fans adorning the candle lit tables.  Linen table cloths and silk napkins finished it off.  Oh and I forgot to mention the water and two glasses of wine already filled waiting for the guests.  As we were escorted to our tables we had a personal waitress that pulled out our chair and adorned us with the silk napkins.  Finally there was 1920's music being played with a laser light show to dazzle the senses.  As you can imagine, this was definitely not what Cecelia and I had remotely in mind when we were invited.
  After we were all seated I had the good fortune of sitting next to a young women named Jessica.  Jessica spoke very good English and had gone to school at San Jose State.  Cecelia and I hit it off with her instantly.  Jessica was there representing her husband's business.  They own a solar power co.  She was the first one to explain to us what we were at and what the occasion was for the ball.  The ball was hosted by Guangzhou's version of their Chamber of Commerce.  It was their way of thanking some of the major businesses that used Guangzhou as their base.  Since 80% of everything purchased in America and the rest of the world is produced in this area, Guangzhou is very grateful to have the businesses that were represented.  Some of the businesses that you would know are Nike, Taylor Made, Midea and others.
  As the ball began a man came out with a spotlight on him with two Chinese girls dancing by his side.  According to Jessica he is a very popular actor in China.  He is from Hong Kong and was famous in movies.  I never caught his name, but he was the MC for the evening.  He began by doing a raffle.  The raffle prizes will give you an idea of the high rollers we were hanging with this evening.  The first raffle prize was a table prize.  This meant that every person at the table won the prize if your table number was called.  It was for a watch valued at 12,000 rmb.  So, quickly do the math in your head.  Divide 12,000 by six and you get the amount in U.S. dollars.  I know you are scratching your head and saying to yourself, did I do the math right? Yes, you did the math correctly.  Each watch was worth 2 grand.  The next was a pendant for everyone at the winning table worth $500.  There were a number of round trip plane tickets to the states.  Cecelia and I were hoping for one of those.  The most expensive prize was a one night stay in the Presidential suite.  It was only valued at 48,000 rmb.  $8000 grand for a one night stay!!!!!  They didn't detail what you got for that, but come on what could they really give you for that amount of money in one 24 hour period.  Even if Cecelia and I got massages, a manicure and pedicure for her, breakfast, lunch and dinner in bed it wouldn't be worth it.  Maybe I am too simple minded to imagine what you could get for that amount of money.  Plus, who wants to stay in a hotel room for 24 hours anyway.  Those of you with wilder thoughts than mine, feel free to go to town thinking about it.
  The next surprise was the representatives from the American Consulate came on stage to give a special award to one of the individuals at the ball.  Remember the guy I told you that I took the picture with earlier, yep that was him.  Apparently he has been the chairman for American Chamber of Commerce in south China for the last 20 years.  On top of that he has done it as a volunteer.  His name is Harley Seyedin and he was given a special award by the White House.  The award that he was given has only been given to 11 people in the United States since Thomas Jefferson designed and minted the award himself.  You can look him up on the web if you want to learn more.  After the award was given, I was then whisked from the table with the rest of the men to go give our congratulations.  I thought it strange that only the men went, but I went along anyway. (One note for you western women, the women are always pushed into the background.  It isn't a rude thing that happens, but the roles are just set and they are followed.  Of course there are some exceptions that I will explain about in a minute.  Remember this country has been around thousands of years, so don't think that womens' liberation is coming here anytime soon.  Now before you get ready to slap me across the internet for being a chauvinist  I am not saying I agree with it, I am just telling you what it is like here.  We may not agree with it, but the women don't seem to mind and are not unhappy. Remember, don't kill the messenger.)  While we were waiting to give our congratulations to Harley, a man stood up and introduced himself.  You won't believe it, but it was none other than President Obama's brother Mark.  Mark lives in Shenzhen and has done so for the last nine years.  He was very gracious and attentive.  He chatted with me for about five minutes before Harley came by.  Now, remember my blog is not a political diatribe.  It was a social event so I did not get into any in depth questions about politics or social issues.  To tell you the truth, all we talk about was China and learning the language.  I really enjoyed the conversation and it was a pleasure meeting him.  After talking with him I went back to the table where all of the ladies were sitting.  I told Cecelia who I had just met and she couldn't believe it.  At this point I mentioned to Jessica that as a man married to a western woman, I would never get used to leaving my wife behind when meeting people.  She said that it was great that I thought that way and grabbed Cecelia and took her to meet Mark Obama.  The spent quite a bit of time talking with him.  When she returned we agreed that he was a very sincere and interesting man.  Anyway, while all of this was happening we had dinner served to us.  It was amazing food.  After two large glasses of wine, I was thankful for the food.
  The last part of this story is going to be the hardest for you to fathom, but it really did happen.  If you don't believe me you can ask Cecelia.  She was living the delusion with me.  I have to premise this last paragraph by telling you that while all the visiting and eating were happening there were professional dancers in period costumes dancing on the dance floor to 1920's music.  We were then served an equally amazing dessert and then a beautiful young women in a flapper outfit came out to do a mix as a DJ.  If you haven't heard about Gangnam style yet, look up the edited version on YouTube.  This song has apparently been sweeping the world.  Anyway the DJ starts a music mix with Gangnam style as the base background and people that are filled with good food and alcohol begin to dance.  I decided that I had had enough wine to give me at least as much rhythm as Kevin James in his role as the buffoon in Hitch.  Now, after watching Hitch I learned that those of us that have no rhythm can dance if we do what he recommends.  He says to "Keep it in Here", which means the hands never go higher than the belt and you just move from side to side.  I am good with that, I have danced at Reggae concerts before.  So, as Cecelia and I moved onto the dance floor I began to get the rhythm and started to really enjoy myself.  After about five minutes I threw all caution to the wind and began dancing like the guy that was dancing like John Travolta.  I even threw in a couple of poses like him in Saturday Night Fever.  You know the one with one finger pointing in the air and the other pointing to the ground.  At this point Cecelia will tell you that I was getting totally out of hand.  I had a group of guys and girls around me dancing like me.  Even the Travolta guy was following along.  I could see Cecelia laughing and not believing what was going on so I got really bold and threw out the sprinkler.  It was an instant hit.  To top it off when I did a Kevin James spin I turned around and there was Mark Obama dancing along with us.  I couldn't believe we were dancing with Obama's brother.  I have to mention a weird thing that happens in China on the dance floor.  Remember how I told you that the women defer to the men, well they do the same thing while dancing.  So you can imagine how freaked out I got when I look around and all I have dancing near me was men.  All the women were dancing in a circle outside our man circle.  When the circle started to tighten up, I got sober really quick.  I grabbed Cecelia and headed out with the premise of using the restroom.  Now, this is the part that most of you will not believe.  The Travolta guy stands up as I walk by his table and gives me a knuckle bump and shakes my hand.  As I return to the table after using the restroom, Ken, Michael, Mr. Lee and their dates stand up and toast me.  They tell me I am a great dancer.  I was stunned and my wife was laughing hysterically   Finally, someone recognizes my talent as a dancer.  It nearly brought me to tears, I couldn't believe it.  To tell you the truth, I don't know that I can come back to the United States after that.  Mr. Lee, Ken and I continued to toast the rest of the evening and Cecelia and I danced a bit more.  This time we did some swing dancing, which I can really do.  I am actually better than most guys in that particular area of dancing so we really impressed them then.
  The cherry on top of the evening was I saw a few guys light up cigars.  So, I went over to ask them where they had got them.  The first guy I talked to said that he wasn't sure, but they came out of the box on the table.  I found the guy that owned the box and asked him where he got them, because I would like to purchase some.  He didn't give me any details, but opened up his box.  He then introduced himself as the owner of two places in Guangzhou called The Tavern.  He then proceeded to hand me a Cuban Cohiba Cigar, the finest Cigar Money can buy.  I thanked him and promised to visit his establishment.  He gave me his card and told me to look him up while I was in town.  I walked back to my table and showed my wife the cigar and she was as stunned as I was with such a generous gift.  I was going to save it for my 50th birthday, but my new dancing and golfing buddy Mr. Lee brought over a lighter immediately.  So I obliged and lit up.  There is nothing like a sweet Cuban cigar.  I took a couple of puffs on it and then handed it to Mr. Lee to share.  Mr. Lee handed it back to me and I had just taken a couple more puffs on it when Michael let me know that we had to go.  I handed the cigar back to Mr. Lee and told him to finish it.  He thanked me again and gave me a parting toast.  As we were walking out the door, Cecelia commented to me that she couldn't believe that I wasted that cigar.  I said to her "Oh Honey trust me it wasn't wasted", she then got my point and just gave me a smile.
  We then finished the evening off with a nice drive home talking to Michael and his wife.
  Like I always say, "Some of the best things happen on the golf course," can anyone argue with this example.  I think not, now get out there and learn to play golf!!!!!!!  I will be home in about eight months if you want a lesson.
  Sunday was all about recuperating   We went to Guangzhou and then to church.  Man, and here I was complaining to Cecelia that I wouldn't have anything to write about earlier in the week.  Like Paul and I keep saying "Everyday is an Adventure in China"!!!!!!!!!!

My beautiful girls with their Sunday Going to meeting hats on after shopping in Guangzhou.

Oh by the way, for those that I told that they would have to wait to hear about the special surprise.  Cecelia apparently told some people already so the cat is out of the bag.  In January and early February I will be sending you the blog from Thailand.  You'll have to wait for the details then.