5 Daze 2 China

The days are flying by so fast at this point, its hard to pause for a few moments and write about what is going on.
Yesterday the final piece of the essential puzzle was put into place for going to China. I received the Visa back from the San Francisco Consulate of the People's Republic of China with my Z visa included in the passport. I was granted one single entry and a friendly reminder that I need to go to the securities office within 30 days to get my residental working visa.
It is somewhat shocking to stare at this piece of paper that ended up costing $150us to allow me into the country. It took a lot of little steps to get through in order to get the Visa going to get to this point where I am today.
Where am I today?
I am laying on the bed that has already been sold, my room a complicated mess of various items that I have yet to decide where they need to go, what needs to be done with them. The house could be declared a disaster area with all of the various items laying about. This is truly the liquadation of my life. I am learning more and more that these possesions that we buy, so much of it we don't really use and hardly any of it really retains it true value.

I have discovered that this blog might not actually work in China, sadly enough. We will have to see if it is blocked by the great firewall of China--there seems to be varying opinions about how the firewall is actually blocks the information from going through. From what I have gathered, Chinese citizens have less access than expats, so I might be safe, but it might be difficult to access at first.

Some people have asked me why China? The answer is quite simple and might even seem slightly scapegoatish. Politics really have an effect on me personally. Things have really changed in this country over the last decade and I don't feel that I am getting the fruits of my labour in the U.S. I think that our government is the most dishonest it's been since the Nixon administration and George W. probably even outweighs Nixon in that catagory. How this country does not directly blame an oil tycoon for causing the worlds oil problems is beyond comparision to me. At least the Chinese are honest about what they are doing--they let their people know that they intend to be intrusive. Where the United States is losing their ground in innovation, the Chinese are picking up the slack and becoming a powerhouse in the world market. I am interested to go to a country and experience their customs and culture and attempt to compare it to ours in a fair and just setting.

What is Americana? This is something that I have been thinking about for several months. There are going to be things that I am going to miss, but not much that I cannot live without.
Anway, enough for now.
Its time to get this day rolling.
Lot of shit to do today. Read more!

Beer Bust

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Hundreds of looters battled police all weekend at the site of a beer train wreck in violence that left one woman dead, South African police said on Monday as they kept a heavy guard on the remaining alcohol.
The train carrying 180,000 crates of beer from South African Breweries derailed on Friday night near Waterval Boven, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Johannesburg, Superintendent Izak van Zyl said.
By Saturday morning, police were battling up to 200 people from the nearby township trying to make off with crates of beer.
"It was a lot of trouble from one train crash," Van Zyl said. "They were firing rubber bullets into the crowd. The issue was the beer."
A 19-year-old woman in the crowd was killed when she fell under the wheels of a truck, he said.
Police handed the site over to railway security staff but were back again on Sunday morning, firing more rubber bullets as looters converged on the train. Officers raided nearby houses, recovered three out of 500 missing cases and arrested six people.
Van Zyl said 20 officers would remain at the site until the overturned wagons and surviving beer crates could be recovered, an operation that could take up to a week. Read more!

I am trying, however I can, to be productive, get things that I need to get done and blog as much as I can so as to document all of this that is happening at the speed of sound. This has been a very overwhelming, but pivitol set of moments as I say goodbye to a chunk of life that has been bittersweet at times.
Seattle is a changed city and I did not enjoy my time nearly as much as I had previously. This is mostly due to how much the city has changed in the time that I have been gone. The main problem that I see are the growing pains it always has have not been resolved, but the housing prices are up and wages are the same they have always been--not competitive. Sure, some are doing well and some aren't, its the nature of capitalism, but this place in particular is seething with uncertainty.
I would love to write more, but... its time to go show off my Volvo wagon. Read more!