October was a relatively uneventful month as far as all things go. I’m still green at this current job and, while it isn’t as mindlessly soul draining as previous jobs I’ve had, it does wear on me quite a bit. There’s a lot involved with being a teacher, and more than a few conversations with management have led me to believe we’ve got a fundamental disagreement in organizational structures and responsibility due at each level of the hierarchy. That being said, I still find a lot of satisfaction in the job; it’s just a huge time sink for now.
The first thing of note since you last read me was my triumphant return to the gym. I’d been working out in my hometown before leaving for Shanghai once again, but before that it was really inconsistent and there was no telling whether it’d become important once I got into the groove here again. Thankfully it did! Despite being ill this week and seeing a friend last week, I make it 3 to 5 times a week to exercise.
Then some mystical confluence of nerdism breeched the multiverse. Magic: the Gathering has appeared many times on this blog, something that might soon not end. Anyway, back when I was first thick into MtG in the mid 2000’s, my favorite series was a long-running sci-fi show about an alien who can change his face while traveling through time and space. That would, of course, be Doctor Who. A show that is actually celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Well, for whatever reason the guys at Hasbro decided that Doctor Who would make a fantastic IP for MtG. I bought all four decks because of course I did. I wasn’t going to let two core franchises of my past mash up and NOT spend money on it. I’m mostly taking a break from Magic these days – despite having found the local Commander group – but I’m still glad I bought these things.
A little while later was Halloween. I originally wasn’t going to do anything for this holiday. For some reason in my adult years, Halloween has seldom been a thing I get excited for… I rarely dress up, and generally put little effort into my costume. This year wasn’t terribly different – I didn’t know what I would be until four days before – but I put more thought into it than the other years.
Anyway, I’m a dead poet. The originally plan was to go around telling people I had my own society, but that seemed like it’d get old quick. I wanted to include the crowds somehow, make this more than a solitary event. What do poets do? Write poetry. Where do they do it when life comes at them fast? A small little book. Eventually, I settled on having a poetry book with a few terrible, terrible poems, that I would then ask drunk people to add their own. It went pretty well, much better than expected! Got a few good lines in this book. Just a shame that drunk people are more willing to engage than the sober.
Two days after that party weekend, the school had its own Halloween festivities. We did games, sold snacks, and helped kids get community service experience. It was an enjoyable time, I just think they should have totally canceled classes instead of giving us 40 minutes per class.
Sometime after that my two good buddies Scott and Calvin – the dog loving dudes who are essentially the entire reason I was able to get set up in Shanghai in the first place – had a raclette party. When they mentioned it, I had no idea what raclette was other than “some French cheese.” I spent probably two months believing it was some funky fondue the way it was described to me. It was not at all like fondue!
Basically, you grill some bread or veg or other small items as per your fancy. While they grill, you place some of the raclette underneath the grill and let it melt slowly to desired crispiness. Once it’s all done, you slather the cheese atop and add the small bits for a delightfully delectable morsel you pop in your mouth once or twice.
It was at least tasty. More than tasty, really. I have no idea how much started out on that table but even for 6 people it was a lot, and we couldn’t finish it all. This doesn’t bring up the essentially free flowing wine being served. Those two know how to throw a party, and I left it far, far drunker than expected.
Speaking of food, I should bring up the amazing food I’ve been stuffing my face with since I’ve returned. I’m unsure whether it is the company I keep or another factor I’ve yet to identify, but this time around my palate is remarkably more western in what it is I’m eating. Don’t get me wrong, I have Yuxiangrousi at least once a week, and cook my spicy cabbage at home when I cook, but I gravitate far more toward nonlocal foods thus far. Might have to do with my embarrassment having forgotten all my Chinese in the last few years.
It is slowing down the desired body transformation significantly. I’ve definitely lost some fat and replaced it with clear muscle mass, but Pistolera’s nachos, Al’s Diner Cinnamon Pancakes, and Cage’s Buffalo wings on the weekend keep my chiseled form at bay.
I nearly forgot to mention one of, if not the coolest, events of the previous two months. Jamie, good friend forged in the horrors of South Korea, came to visit!
He wasn’t here specifically for me, more so personal family business having to do with growing up here since the 90’s and working in the city for a year. That didn’t mean he wasn’t as eager as I to hang out and go about the city doing all manner of cool things together.
First of all, he bought around $4000 worth of Magic cards. That was cool to witness. Happy it wasn’t me but happier he got joy out of it. Beyond that it was a lot of exploring and drinking. I took him to my favorite speakeasy “Speak Low” and the other one, “Flask” (where you may or may not have had me tell a tale of goring a teddy bear to get a drink), which he’d not heard of before. We liked both but I think Speak Low has the overall edge in my mind based on drinks and atmosphere being amazing.
We visited Tianzifang which he had somehow never heard of despite living here for so long. We marveled over a packet of matches from long dead but much-loved M1nt night club from before the 2020’s. We had hookah, played Magic, danced our asses off at Specter’s, and overall just enjoyed each other’s company. I do hope to see the other boys from the Playgroup of Destiny at some point, but if they never bring themselves across the water at least one of them got to see the city I love alongside me.
Finally, I took a day trip to a little-known city nearby Nanjing known as Yangzhou. I was seeing a girl from here for a couple months and, while that sadly didn’t work out, she did give me the idea by mentioning West Lake more than once. No, no, not that West Lake, the other West Lake. Slender West Lake!
I spent a few hours walking around the park marveling at the landscaping employed here. I always feel like Chinese parks hit a little bit different due to the amount of effort they put into their park layouts. And this was in the depths of Fall! It’s basically a huge garden, but the majority of the plants aren’t in bloom. I can only imagine the beauty of this place at the height of summer. I shudder, however, at the thought of the crowds.
They also have this cool new Grand Canal Museum. So new that Google Maps doesn’t know about it (it’s banned, yeah, but they still update and even do business in the country). I had to choose between this and the local museum, and this once won out because I find the Chinese Grand Canal to be a fascinating relic of history.
For any of you who don’t know what the Grand Canal is, imagine the Eire Canal except it includes all of the Ohio River and they started building it 2500 years ago. They then finished it a thousand years later and it served as basically the economic lifeblood of the country until around the 20th century. That simplifies the situation a bit but it’s good enough shorthand. It blows my mind that any human civilization was capable of something even remotely close to that before the steam engine.
But why haven’t you maybe heard of it since your grade school history class? Well, the majority of it is no longer used at all. Some of it is, yes, and there’s certainly economic factors determining its disuse. But the fact that something with enough national importance to be maintained for over 2000 years is marginally irrelevant simply shocks me. I can hardly find clear evidence of the thing in my travels thus far; though I may not be searching in the right spots. That’s why I so badly wanted to visit this museum!
Except Chinese museums have this asinine policy these days that was unheard of when I lived here before. You have to register your visit on location, and if you arrive too late to be accepted that day then you need book it for the next one. I showed up with about an hour and a half until closing and was denied registration because that was too close to closing. I mean, I kind of get it? But I’m a spontaneous guy and showing up to a random museum that looks interesting is right up my alley. Also, where is this policy stated beyond the museum entrance? Maybe online, but I can’t identify it there. So, sadly, I wasn’t able to learn any more about the Grand Canal on this trip.
And that was it for these last two months. We’re going into December now, and the SAD is hitting hard. That isn’t just the 11 hour days or work I need to take home with me. I recall this hitting pretty hard last year as well and hopefully some happy things will come my way with Christmas on its way. Thanksgiving already came and went, and I did what I could with what I had on hand – thanks Aldi!
I have three weeks off starting December 22nd. First stop will be Korea to see old friends and pick up my MtG collection. After that? Who knows. Stay tuned!