Mr. Zhang
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At least let’s call him Mr. Zhang. The fact is I made the regrettable mistake of failing to inquire as to his name. But since ten percent of all Chinese people are surnamed Zhang, I have a one in ten chance of being correct. This Mr. Zhang, typically enough, wore the clean and dressy clothes the rest of his lower-middle-class Chinese peers wore. His hair glistened with a modest amount of hair product and revealed a combed over thinning spot when viewed from the correct angle.
As I strode about purposefully after dinner, my mind full of things to do and accomplishments to accomplish, Mr. Zhang motioned me over to his table in the courtyard of the hotel. He bade me sit down and we were soon chatting away, him with a cup of baijiu and me, thankfully, with a nice cup of tea.
It turns out Mr. Zhang had never spoken with a foreigner before. “I’ve seen them on the street, but we do not speak the same language, communication is impossible, and we simply passed by. I had no idea even what country they came from,” he told me. “But now here I am, speaking with a foreigner, and I am very happy,” he said, expressing an emotion he would heavily emphasize throughout the evening.
Shortly we were joined by Adam and Pete. Drew walked by, also hoping to get something done before going to bed, but he was snagged like me and wound up having to explain in elegant Chinese that he was shopping for bungee cords. “Ah ha!” cried Mr. Zhang, “Do you know how much a bungee cord costs? Three yuan?” Drew, who’s knowledge of bungee cords is anything if not impressive, replied, “No, two yuan.” “Yes,” affirmed the impressed Mr. Zhang. He asked Drew where the bungee cord store was. He told Drew where he could buy some bungee cords. He intimated he himself possessed bungee cords. What was going on? Mr. Zhang called his wife (?) over and commanded “Go get some bungee cords!” “What?” chuckled his wife, “I don’t know where your bungee cords are. You go get them!” Then proceeded a long discussion of parts of a room and locations wherein one might expect to find bungee cords. After Mr. Zhang’s wife returned with three, Mr. Zhang inspected them carefully. “This one’s broken!” he stormed upon finding a perceived error. “Broken?!” his wife rejoined, “You’re the broken one!” After Mr. Zhang’s wife had returned with the bungee cords, he presented them to Drew, and spare no ceremony in so doing.
September 29th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
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Nice! Treat to read, Jim! I hope all is well with the FBR crew! Living vicariously…
September 29th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
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jim, your dad now has your phone and all the phone numbers of your friends. Glad to hear that you are drinking TEA. The blogs are all so interesting… thanks so much for taking the time. love to you and safe journey with all your buds. love, your mamma
September 30th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
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Jimmy!
Happy to see that you are wearing my bracelet! I love you and am SO sorry I’m constantly missing your calls. Please don’t give up and try again soon! How do I get ahold of Kei?
Jim
Wonderful words and photos. I hope you remain safe, and after looking at the photos, dry. Good luck. Any update about the Myanmar and Iran passages?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
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Love the bungee cord story!
November 12th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
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Jim,
I am enjoying the FBR blogs, keep them coming.
What a wonderful adventure!
Is it possible to indicate your present location on the route map?
It would be great if I could follow your progress on that map.
Mike
September 5th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
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Still cheap fuel.It’s costing us here in Southern Ontario 78 cents a litre, that’s the cheepast it’s been in two years. Normal round here is anything from $1.00 to $1.30 a litre. And a litre is about the size of a US quart measure.And our dollar is rated about the same as the fuel, 81 cents compared to the US dollar so in comparisonour fuel is even more expensive than yours.I do drive a Honda Civic though damn good gas mileage
February 20th, 2015 at 1:26 pm
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Yup, yup, you definitely need to grab a few from. Those lttlie dudes make all the difference with computer or video equipment.Also something well worth considering is an UPS. We sprung about $45 a piece on 3 APC brand uninterruptable power supplies one for each PC (and DSL modem, router, printer, etc.) in our home office and one for the TV/DVD/TiVo stuff in the living room. The UPS units have paid for themselves many times over.
March 24th, 2015 at 1:07 pm
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I’ve seen those power squids in CT and Home Depot (if I realcl correctly). I know I’ve seen them around somewhere. But that would certainly help your power bar situation.
April 26th, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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Nice job on the yak cart.It looks very easy to build and use. Plus, I’m sure it’s easy to strap down and take with you as you paddle.Tight lines and Paddle safe all.Rox