Day 5

The Mr. Sun who worked for the Zibo Development and Reform Agency drove us for an hour and a half to another city to catch a bus to Jinian, where we would catch a high speed train back to Beijing. Because of construction we almost missed the bus. The bus ride was two hours with no stops. It was clean, but my seat was broken so I had to ride in one position throughout. They showed movies and no smoking was allowed on the bus. We were able to commandeer a taxi at the very crowded bus terminal, and made it to the train station with 20 minutes to spare. This high speed train was also very nice. We had fruit left over from dinner which was much healthier than the snack food offered on the train. Professor Wang told me that the cooked food on the train was not very good and overpriced.

Because he wanted to go directly to the hospital, and could do so quickly by subway, I took a taxi home. I ran some errands and made some telephone calls to try to straighten out the Internet situation. Oliver told me that he would come over the following night to work on that problem. Then I rode my electric bicycle to Victor’s, an Indian restaurant recommended by Laurens Tans. There were only two other people in the restaurant when I arrived, and they left shortly thereafter. The food was excellent, but very expensive by Beijing standards in that area. During dinner Oliver called, said that he was on a bus to my place, and expected to arrive in 30 minutes. Since Victor’s is 15 minutes by electric bicycle from my studio, I gulped down the rest of my dinner and hurried back to my studio.

The problem was not mechanical. What happened was that my phone and Internet service had been cut off and I needed to reestablish both. I thought I had prevented this problem when I installed the connection six months ago, but obviously I had not.

Day 6

This was a classic misunderstanding. When the Internet was installed I tried to make arrangements to pay in advance for both the Internet and related telephone line charges, so that service would not be interrupted in my absence. I was told that this was not a problem and that I would be billed at the appropriate time. I explained to them that since I spent most of my time in the United States, they would not know where to send the bills. I said that I preferred to pay in advance to avoid any problem, but was told that this was unnecessary and could not be done. Previously, China Mobile took away my original cell phone number without telling me because my balance was too low. I did not want this to happen again, since it was extremely time consuming and expensive to get a new cell phone number. I was told not to worry.

Obviously, there was a major misunderstanding. The information regarding the supposed nominal cost for the dedicated telephone line and Internet access for the next year and, that if there was any money needed I would be billed either by mail in the United States or by e-mail, was all untrue. I have no normal telephone service for the Internet telephone number. However, they apparently tried to call that number, rather than my cell phone number, and did not receive an answer. When the bill had not been paid for 10 days my number was cut off. It took an entire day to only partially solve this problem, regarding past due and future Internet charges. The local Internet company was unable to handle it, so I was referred to a larger office. That office explained to me that there was a unique special offer when I signed up for the Internet service, but that offer had been terminated, so I would be charged normal rates for high-speed Internet connection after 20 days. There was also a 250 RMB charge to reestablish my account with China Netcom. China Netcom was unable to get in touch with the phone company, which had been changed from China Mobile to China Communications, to see if my original phone number could be reestablished. Therefore, I had to take a new phone number and then had to wait 5 to 7 days for an installer to come to my unit to reestablish the telephone line for my high-speed Internet connection. My payment to China Netcom included connecting the telephone line until May 8. This office advised me that I could pre-pay for the Internet charges, and I did do so for the next year. They told me that after my Internet connection was reestablished, I could go to the telephone company and pre-pay for the connecting telephone line. Hopefully this advice will be accurate!

Back in the studio I drafted drawings for a metal worktable in the studio. Because Li Gang had lost these drawings on two prior occasions and was complaining he was too busy, I decided to look for one of the metal fabricators he had originally introduced to me, but was no longer using. I was fortunate enough to locate him and his facility, which is very near my studio. We went over the plans and I tried to explain to him that when it came to price I was dealing directly with him and not through Li Gang. I did not tell him that Li Gang was no longer recommending him. We worked everything out. I was supposed to meet Abraham for dinner. He told me that Christina wanted a massage, and they should be back at their studio by seven o’clock. At seven o’clock Abraham called and said that Christina had gotten sidetracked with some personal errands, and that they still were on their way to the massage parlor. I opted to pass and go to dinner by myself.

I began to think about some new ideas for glass sculptures on my next trip. I also worked on a woodcut that I started in the United States. I was looking forward to tomorrow and hoping that everything would go well when I met Leslie at the airport.

Day 7

Huang had previously shown me a new way back to the studio from the flower market. I noticed that there were a number of building supply companies, including some that sold metal rods and squared tubes. The places appeared to have portable metal saws, so I figured they would know where I could buy a portable metal chop saw and other equipment needed for my studio. That morning I set out to accomplish three things before picking Leslie up at the airport. First, was a trip to the bike store to find out why my electric bicycle would not go very fast. I thought that the owner would remember me. He did, and asked his mechanic to look at my bicycle. The mechanic pointed out that there was a green button by the right handlebar which would put me into the second and third level speeds. He was correct. I realized that my inability to read Chinese can be a problem. I rode to the flower market, which also has a small kitchen market, to pick up some decent teacups, a teapot that would hold the tea leaves separate from the water, since I was tired of trying to sip tea without eating the leaves. I also bought a small pot for reheating food, etc.

My third stop was the building supply area. I rode around the area and noticed two large new buildings that appeared to be empty. I then asked one of the retail steel suppliers where I could buy a chop saw. She was nice enough to lead me to one of those large buildings. Although the building was almost vacant, there were four small stores which had just opened, two of which were industrial tool stores. Many of the items I needed were there, but they only appeared to have either stick or TIG welders and I wanted a MIG welder. Apparently the two owners knew each other, so I suggested that they get together and work out prices for the items I needed on the list I gave them. I told them I would return.

Huang to take me to the airport to meet Leslie. Her flight was on time and she looked rested and terrific. She did not need a nap, so when we arrived at the studio we decided to take a brief tour around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it began to rain heavily so we returned home.

I had made arrangements with Huang to pick us up and take us to a cocktail party sponsored by Amcham, the Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, when we called for directions the Sofitel hotel did not answer the phone. We made a calculated decision to drive to the general area where the major hotels are located, hoping that we could get them on the phone to give us directions. What should’ve been a 20 minute drive was almost an hour and a half. We finally got them on the phone, but they could not tell our Chinese driver how to get to the hotel. After another 30 minutes we gave up and returned to our area. Ironically, the next day we spotted the hotel and we realized that we were only three blocks away, but the Sofitel hotel was not able to give the appropriate directions to the driver. Leslie and I had a lovely dinner of Beijing duck, some vegetables and cold pijo.

 Next >