Oasi Concert Cancelled

A few days ago I mentioned I would be attending an Oasis concert in Shanghai next month. Kimi and I received our tickets and I had already booked two days off from work. A couple of days later, Alex -- who you may have seen on the blog -- sent me this link confirming that the gig would be delayed "indefinitely" without reason. I was annoyed and disappointed, Kimi too. I imagined it was probably another disagreement between the Gallagher brothers, or maybe one of them just couldn't be bothered. These are the kinds of stories that have appeared in the news about the band previously, it wouldn't be a surprise if it turned out to be one or the other.

As I checked my emails this morning I noticed one from my father. He explained that on the BBC news last night there happened to be a story about Oasis's China concerts. In a nutshell the real reason behind the cancellation is this (the full BBC article is here):

The Chinese authorities have banned both concerts from taking place in Beijing and Shanghai because Noel Gallagher played in a Free Tibet concert twelve years ago.

Petty is not even the correct word to use here, in fact I would go so far to say that it is infant behaviour, like a spoilt child who won't share his toys. To think that it is people like this who run the country is quite frankly terrifying.

An Oasis in China

400 RMB for each ticket

A few days ago Kimi noticed that the band Oasis will be playing in Shanghai in April. Fortunately for me, Kimi actually quite likes some of their music (and I like The Beatles -- something which Oasis have always tried very hard to be), so after a brief discussion we booked a pair of tickets. I have never seen them live in Manchester before, which would have made more sense considering that is where they are from and I am from. It will be a strange experience seeing them in a city and country that is thousands of miles away from our own. I didn't think they had a huge Chinese fan-base, but it can't all be laowais filling out the stadium.

Home Studio Feng Shui

One of my hobbies (I guess I can call it a hobby now) is making use of, and adding to my home studio. I studied a music degree at university, and started piecing together a DIY studio in my second year there. I decided that I wanted to compose, record, and produce some music in the comfort of my home. At university everything was time restricted and of course there were many students in the building. I sometimes felt inspiration was hard to come by this way. After much researching I realised that I could put together some of my work at home with the right gear. This is where the credit cards came involved (I'm still paying them back now). After a few months I managed to rig together a fairly impressive studio that I could use for many musical purposes.

After finishing the course I decided to take a break from music altogether. My aim was that this would be a temporary thing. I would work for a while, have a holiday in China, come home, and start it all up again. Things obviously didn't turn out that way. Once I had decided to come back to China I knew that leaving my keyboard (a Roland Fantom X8) at home would be a mistake. Not only would it be neglected for a year or two, but it would also be devaluing by the day. So I logged onto eBay and sold it immediately. Actually, the money of the sale paid for my plane flight and financed my first two months in China.

I returned home 5 months later, and felt that more of the equipment should go. Just like the keyboard, some of the other items would just get old. New technology is released all of the time, it is wasteful to keep them in my bedroom collecting dust. So I sold some more. By this point my studio was down to more than half the size.

Today I posted off the remaining pieces of gear that I own: my Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro mixer, and my M-Audio BX8 speakers. The reason I had kept these for so long was that I didn't want to see them go. Unfortunately I don't know how long I will stay in China, and after reading an article about Feng Shui the other day, I realised that getting rid of them was the right thing to do. When I do return from China for good, I can slowly rebuild my studio again -- I hope.

Mackie Mixer, I will miss you the most

My studio speakers (confusingly, in music we actually call them monitors, not speakers)

Practise Makes Perfect

I am sorry to myself that I have not posted much on my blog since I returned to England. I don't know why really, maybe it is because currently I have less time at home by myself (Kimi doesn't live with me in my Wenzhou apartment). I keep thinking about posting something on here, it has been at the back of my mind for a few days, but then another night has gone and I have forgotten all about it. I nearly ended up not writing anything today, but I have forced myself onto the computer before I go to sleep.

Just like when I played the piano and the trumpet on a regular basis, I found that sometimes I had to make myself practise just to keep the momentum going. If I didn't do that then I could easily imagine weeks -- if not months -- going by without touching an instrument. This was not at all because I didn't enjoy playing the instruments, but once you commit to doing something in life that is long-term, sometimes you need a little push to keep on doing it. In reality, it has not been weeks or months since I played the piano and trumpet, but actually years. The last time I was really playing must have been May 2006, just as I finished my course at university. I never would have expected my life to turn in such a strange direction. I really must do something about that soon, I do miss playing music a lot now.

My old and broken trumpet (my newer one is in China)

Anyway, I am saying all this because although I love writing my blog, I feel almost guilty for not adding to it much since I returned to the UK. I know there are many genuine reasons for this, but I am only scared that this blog may end up like my music if I don't do something about it now.

I have spent a few days in my holiday working with my dad at his shop covering for my mum who has been ill with the flu. She is almost back to normal now, but I will be going to work again tomorrow and earning a few fairly worthless £'s.

The shop window at night

Halloween, Health, and Huh?

I am writing this entry in my office at work because I've just been handed the rare gift of a cancelled class. For the past twenty minutes I've been scouring the internet on Tao Bao --an eBay style website -- trying to find the clothing for my Halloween costume, all to no avail. I can't write Chinese which is obviously a huge hindrance with this kind of thing.

My manager has asked me to host the party on Friday, which will consist of telling a group of people in a bar where Halloween came from and why we celebrate it. Then, with a tutor, Candy, we will introduce each game that will be played. Games include: mummy wrapping (who can wrap a person with toilet roll the quickest), magic box (students will put their hands in a box and guess what they are touching), and the only traditional game of the lot, bobbing for apples. It should be fun I hope. Just need to find my costume now.

Yesterday I began trying to do some exercise again. Since I came to China it has been difficult to join a gym due to the money I never seem to have spare. For quite a few months I have been using my Nintendo Wii as a convenient way of exercising -- and it really works. I don't have Wii Fit yet (although I would love to get hold of it) because the console is region locked, so buying a copy in China would be a waste of time. Instead I have been playing the only game that came bundled with the machine: Wii Sport. For anybody who doesn't know, you have to physically move the controller in real-life to make a change in the game. For the Wii Sport game you have the option of playing Tennis, Bowling, Baseball, Golf, and Boxing. By far the most physically challenging is the boxing. Each morning I have been playing the boxing for twenty minutes or so, and by the end I am quite exhausted. The game has become so hard I now spend each round dodging punches, which is much harder than you would expect.

However, since I bought the guitar a few weeks ago, the time spent on exercising has been spent on practising instead. Yesterday I decided to switch the Wii back on and try to get into a better routine (I think getting to sleep and waking up earlier would be a good start). Now, as I am writing this, my arms are aching like I've never even considered doing exercise before. It always amazes me how quickly the body can revert once you stop using it.

My "Mii" on the left in the blue, I ingeniously called him Chriis.

On a different topic, in my previous class at Web, we were asking questions which somehow got around to the t-shirt I was wearing. I told them it was bought in England, and they thought it was probably made in China, possibly even Wenzhou. I looked on the tag but there was no sign of the country of origin. Then, to my amazement, one of the women in the room said, "Why don't you take it off and you can have a really close look then?". I sat there stunned as she smiled back at me.

A Red Envelope Day

In China it is customary to give a red envelope with money inside as a gift on special occasions. Whether it is a birthday, Chinese New Year, or a random act of kindness, if you are giving money to somebody you are required to use one of these.

At Web, a policy came into place three months ago where each teacher would be assessed at the end of every month. Whoever received the highest marks would win a small cash bonus of 500 yuan presented in the traditional red envelope (see top left), and be known as the "Super Teacher". I didn't like the idea, the thought of competing with workmates did not motivate me in the slightest. They seemed to think this would be a great incentive for us, it wasn't. However, I was actually lucky enough to win the prize a couple of a times (I wrote about it here), which boosted confidence in my abilities greatly.

Yesterday Johann was announced as the winner for the month, and well deserved too. Then Grace -- our manager -- had some news for us. Our boss had decided that the rules of this scheme would change to make things fairer. Now, the assessment period would still be at the end of each month, but the prize will only be given each season -- once every three months. OK, no problem, I can understand that they will get a clearer picture of each teacher's performance from this. But here comes the completely ridiculous part: the cash prize will still be 500 yuan each time, not three times more which would be expected. Once again, it all comes down to money and the fact that they don't want to spend an extra penny if they don't have to. We were given a lame excuse about other branches of Web adopting this method, so it was up to them to follow suit. But I know for a fact they do not comply with many of the other branches' policies. In fact, as they are all franchises they can all do what they like up to a point. It is certainly reassuring to know that my employers have no problem clicking their fingers and changing contracted policies just like that.

An already dismal idea for staff moral has been turned into a scheme that is completely irrelevant. The only perk of the prize was the money, and 500 yuan over a period of three months is ridiculous, almost insulting.

In other news, my guitar practise is going quite well. My left hand finger tips have stopped hurting and I can string together seven or eight chords. I wish I'd taken up this instrument sooner. I hope my neighbours don't mind me practising, and if they do I can call it payback for the all the hammering that occurs at 6-7am on certain mornings.

Tian Na!

I took my usual route home from work tonight which takes me past: a noodle restaurant, a couple of bakeries, a large shopping mall, a café, an electrical goods store, KFC, and a handful of small restaurants and shops. As I walked past the noodle restaurant I heard the sound of a running tap very close to my right ear. Something about this didn't work out in my head:

"Running tap + unusually high placement for a tap + not remembering a tap ever being near this restaurant before = it can't be a tap."

So I took a glimpse to my right, and what did I see? A BOY PISSING OUT OF A DOORWAY!!

I couldn't believe it. Standing about six steps up, there he was, calmly firing right into the street. Sure, I have seen a lot of things since I moved here, but this was a new one. The boy was well over the age-barrier to be let-off for this kind of thing, he must have been five or six years old at least. I was certainly in splashing distance, but lucky for me I came out unscathed, however I don't know if the guy with the nice leather bag behind me was so fortunate. If this boy had been raised by dogs he would have learnt the courtesy to do it up a tree or lamp-post, and if he was under the care of a cat he would have learnt to completely bury all traces of it. It's just unfortunate for him he has been brought up by humans.

Moving on, I had two great classes this evening. In one, we were talking about direction and location. The students had to draw a map on the board, each one telling the one drawing exactly what to draw and where to draw it. I don't want to sound like a primary school teacher who enjoys displaying their student's artwork (see below), but after doing this class numerous times before I thought their map was by far the most excellent (bear in mind these weren't children, they were fully grown adults). I actually had good fun in this class, and I think they did too.

"Dyned City"

This has been a painful entry today -- the finger tips on my left hand are killing me from practising the guitar. It's not all bad though because I can now semi-successfully string together 2 chords: E major and D major. I only have to learn one more and I'll be able to play the whole of Status Quo's back catalogue.

Money-Making: The Chinese Way

Last night I had a rare quiet moment at Web and was chatting with a couple of my favourite students in the "Web Café". One of them, James, asked me if I could go to his apartment after work to give my opinion on something. His home is very close to mine so I thought it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

He lead me into the same building that I previously mentioned here. This time it was to the seventh floor. As we made our way up the floors in the lift, I asked him how much he pays to live in such a place (it's a standard question in China, not taboo in the slightest). The price he gave me was astonishing, only 550 RMB (about £45) a month. After my painful experiences of apartment hunting in China, I couldn't believe such a good area and modern building could be so cheap. Why couldn't I find such a deal? I was given my answer as soon as we came to the front door -- which was already open.

The apartment was divided into seven different bedrooms, with two people in each. There were two bathrooms and one laundry room for everybody to share, but no kitchen. It was like a halls of residence for first year university undergraduates. I was also surprised to see one of my colleagues, Cucu (pronounced "cuckoo") there. At first I asked her, "what are you doing here?", not even thinking that she would be a tenant. When she replied that she was indeed living there, it hit home that as a lao wai in China I am getting paid considerably more than my local workmates. It's not fair and I don't like it, but it seems to be the way every school in this country is being run right now.

As I sat in James' bedroom the conversation came back to the original reason I was there: for my opinion. I was very interested by now to know what he wanted my point of view on. He walked to his wardrobe and revealed a grey suit jacket. In fact, it was a fake Dior suit jacket (see top right), and he wanted to know if he could make any money from selling them. I couldn't help but think, "why has he asked me here for this? I'm the last person who knows anything about clothing." He told me why: apparently I wear stylish clothes and if I think it's good he'll think it's good too (which is ridiculous, but very flattering all the same). Of course, my first question about the jacket was how much it cost him to buy one. He told me, 100 RMB (about £8). Wow, even in China that is a bargain. We spoke a little longer and discussed selling them together on eBay to the UK or USA. If there is a market for it I am convinced we could make a little more than £8 for each suit jacket online. He's going to buy twenty more and we might give it a go....

Guitar lessons have been going well so far, I found a great website with some well-structured lessons on it. Results have been quick and I'm finding the lessons pretty easy. This false sense of security is only due to my brief learning of the guitar previously, and the fact that I know all of the theory already. I am waiting to hit the brick wall of progress in a month or two. For anyone who doesn't know, this is the time when improvement suddenly becomes painfully slow, only motivation and sheer perseverance keep you going.

I've also started keeping a diary of Chinese words that I learn during each day. I had become fed up of forgetting everything that people tell me. If I come across a word I consider to be helpful or necessary I will write down the pin yin in my little green notebook (see left). Unfortunately I'm constantly having to carry it around with me in my pocket for it to be of any real use (which isn't too bad because it makes me feel a bit like a homicide detective). To memorize the words I will attempt to read them before I go to bed at night and then again after waking up in the morning.

It looks like October is a good month for starting new things.

New Guitar

I spent some money on myself yesterday and bought an acoustic guitar (see left). Now, I can't actually play the instrument yet, but my hope is to teach myself to get my head around a few chords and go from there.

In the music shop Kimi found they had an impressive array of acoustic, classical, and electric guitars. The man in the shop demonstrated a couple of them for me that were around my price range. I guessed he was trying to flog me the more expensive one, even going so far as to tell me that an obvious cosmetic defect on one was designed to be like that. In the end I went for this black one, and got a classy tuner thrown in too. Not bad for about £50.

I've been wanting to get back to playing music for some time now. Recently, the more I listen to music the more I want to play....something, anything! When I finished university I was tired of playing my two chosen instruments, the Piano and Trumpet -- the latter of which I have played since I was eight years old. I felt like I needed a break from them with what I originally guessed would be quite a short time. Obviously I had some distruption in my life by coming to China, and now, all of a sudden it's been two years since I properley played either instrument. About a month ago something triggered inside me, and now I'm desparate to play some music again. The time, effort, and motivation needed to play the trumpet is not winning me over at the moment, and buying a piano is simply out of the question. So, what better instrument to choose than the guitar?

In fact, I briefly began teaching myself to play in my final year at university after my parents bought me a classical guitar as a gift for Christmas. I was begining to get into the routine of practising and making progress when the workload of third year university caught up with me. After I graduated and decided to take a break from playing, I just never got around to picking it up again.

Here's hoping round two is more successful....