Weifang Math

So we’re trying to check into a hotel in Weifang. It takes all 3 of us to speak Chinese. I’veb een here the longest, so I can understand the most, then I tell Jeff and Fresca the gist of what’s just been said. Jeff says “Oh, reservation? That’s on page 151 of the little blue phrasebook,” We look it up and then Fresca pronounces it because she can make the tones the best.

The room costs 400亓. I say ok. Jeff tries to pay the clerk 400亓. She says, 600亓. I say, what? She says 400亓 today, and something something something 200亓tomorrow.

I ask her how much for 1 night. She say 400亓. I say ok, and try again to pay 400亓. She says, 600亓. I ask how much for 1 night, she says 400亓.

We go a couple rounds of this when some new guests walk into the lobby. After taking a few pictures of us, the new guests ask the clerk what’s going on. She tells them. They laugh. They take another picture.

The clerk writes down what she’s saying. In Chinese. Just as a sidenote, if I could read and write Chinese, wouldn’t I have done that already? Another sidenote, even the characters I can read are only legible in print, not in the 10,000 flavors of Chinese cursive, and she’s definately not using Times New Mandarin. It’s more like one of the goofy fonts you use to make your reports seem longer. I remind myself that in this culture, my handwriting is idealized and beautiful, and try to think of a new game plan.

One of the guests decides to be helpful. “Fou hunded money!” he shouts.

*Flash!* Another hotal guest takes our photo on his way out.

I use the pencil to write down 400 and 600 and say it in Chinese. The clerk agrees with me, which means there’s no Weifang dialect in which sz and liu are homophones. She writes down 600-400 = 200. I’m pleased that we’re still in a universe where simple math works, but it doesn’t help me get a room.

“Money! Hunded! Fou!” shouts the helpful guest.

I think of the hours spent playing text-based games and I ask the clerk every variation of “What is the price for one night?”, “Is it 400亓 for one night?” and “How much for one night?” Each time she says “400亓, I try to hand her 400亓, and she says “No, 600.”

The helpful guest has now used Fou! Hunded! and Money! in every possible order, but he seems to derive great pleasure from communicating with the lao wei so he keeps going.

One of his friends stops taking pictures of us to do a little pantomime and I shout:

“ROOM DEPOSIT!”

We pay for the room, then I leave Fresca and Jeff comatose on the beds and check out a bar down the street. While I’m there, with the good phrasebook in my pocket, the toilet overflows in our room.

Driving through Snowy Wyoming

Monday, October 10, 2005 Rawlings, Wyoming It’s Crazy!!! Early October and it’s Snowing … Last night, after work, we saw the rain storms coming, and driving down those two track dirt roads for hours to get to civilization I felt the cold rain come. Exiting the high desert where I work, I noticed it was in the low 30’s.

Too cold for an open window. I could see the tarantulas migrating fast across the road searching warmth - late bloomers who didn’t migrate fast enough. The rain storms were horrible, but nothing compared to what met me last night around 9 pm, just north of Colorado Springs … hard core rain turning to a blinding blanket of snow. Many not used to driving in snow, skidding everywhere, wrecks all along the journey, cops pulling people over. It got so slippery and crazy, I pulled over and slept at a rest area outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s in the high 20’s. This morning, woke up frozen solid, my car covered in snow, digging my way out, feet frozen. Soon enough, the car defrosted after removing piles of snow off the windshield - wondering if the cracks in the windshield got worse. Grabbed a Wyoming map and had a frustrating and edge-of-your-seat drive from Cheyenne to Rawlings. Slipping, cars skidding, cars turning over, Semis-overturned. finally once over the mountains, got down to some plains before the next set of mountains - it’s still snowing, but its lightly sticking. I may not get to Seattle tonight, depending on what snow lies ahead … It’s still around 32 degrees F.

snow storm in Wyoming early October 2005 ©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

Pictures of Gators @ Big Cypress, Florida

My adventures have brought me as far as i can get away from Seattle in the continental United States … I’ll be excavating in an archaeological excavation in Miami Florida for the next six months. One weekend while exploring the Everglades in Big Cypress, Florida - I came upon an opportunity for some great pictures of some alligators. Here’s a couple … Enjoy!

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